Revealed: Why You Can't Understand What An Opera Soprano Is Singing

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 1-8-2004 | Roger Highfield

[blam]

Revealed: why you can't understand what an opera soprano is singing

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
(Filed: 08/01/2004)

Physicists have discovered the reason why even operas sung in English are hard to follow. A study has found that in order for sopranos to be heard above the sound of a large symphony orchestra, they tune into resonances in their vocal tract to amplify the sound at the high end of their range.

Although this enables them to make a sound that can fill the Albert Hall, it sacrifices intelligibility because the vowels sung by sopranos in full voice all sound the same.

The discovery, reported today in Nature, was made by Dr John Smith, Elodie Joliveau and Prof Joe Wolfe at the University of New South Wales, Australia. "For sopranos, the price of being heard is a loss in comprehensibility," said Dr Smith.

The physicists studied nine sopranos with an average classical training of nine years and followed up the suspicion that the singers used a resonance effect to boost high notes. "The evidence for this is that they tend to open the mouth and smile more as they sing successively higher notes," Dr Smith said.

The vocal tract (including tongue and mouth) has several resonances that boost or amplify sounds produced in the larynx and the team measured the frequencies of resonances as the sopranos sang ascending scales. In the top half of their range (but not the bottom half), the singers did indeed tune one of the resonances to match the pitch they were singing, producing more sound for the same effort.

But the vowels end up sounding nearly the same, which makes words more difficult to understand, while consonants are affected to different degrees. "The tuning of resonances from their normal values means that different sounds such as la, lore, loo, ler and lee sound very much alike in the high register," said Dr Smith.

"What we've shown is that trained sopranos boost the sound from their vocal chords by 'tuning' or adjusting the shape of their vocal tract so it matches the pitch they are singing," said Prof Wolfe.

"The effect is a little like the amplifying effect you get by singing in the bathroom," he said, adding that even if this did not occur, "the vowels would be hard to distinguish because there just isn't enough frequency information at that high pitch." He added: "It's possibly one reason why local opera houses use surtitles even when the words to an opera are in English."

The effect has been remarked on before, notably by the 19th century French composer Berlioz, whose book about orchestration even warns opera composers to take it into account.

[muawiyah]

Before attending an opera it is wise to read the text.

As it turns out, the soprano is usually given something less than the main part of the story line so it doesn't matter whether you understand what she's saying.

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[bcoffey]

Interesting article.

I have been a vocal coach to a number of folks (including a couple of names you'd recognize). I try to remind them that since there are 5 vowels and 21 consonants in the English language, that only singing the vowels does not convey information.

The "music" is in the vowels.

The "information"is in the consonants.

(Plus, since most consonants are formed with the mouth closed or partially closed, one must emphasize the consonants in the singer's head so that the overall effect sounds "right" to the listener.

Thanks for the post, blam - brings back memories.

[LPStar]

I often find it hard to distinguish the accent of a singer (e.g. it's sometimes hard to tell an American from a Brit), and I wondered why that was. Now I know. Much of an accent has to do with vowels, and if they all sound the same, then it would be hard to distinguish accents.

[LauraJean]

But what is the reason behind popular music.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Another thing. Opera singers look better from the cheap seats. They look less fat, and all you see is the stage makeup.

I tried going a few times, the expensive tickets, and fancy dress. BORING! (And I can sit listneing to orchestral music for 2 hours without complaint.

Opera is the jack of all trades (singing, acting, costuming, orchestral music, dancing) and the master of none.

[Lazamataz]

"For sopranos, the price of being heard is a loss in comprehensibility," said Dr Smith.

Ay, yo. I nevah seem t' have a hard time
being undahstood. A guy has a hard time hearin' me,
and Badda Bing, Badda Boom, all of a sudden his hearin' clears up nice. Capish?

[_Jim]

Was there a question buried somewhere in that statement?

[supercat]

Even without the resonance issues, opera singers generally round out their vowels so as to get volume at the expense of intellegibility. Vowels like the long "O" or long "E" tend to be sung more like a schwa or a short "I".

[Little Bill]

Every year I go into Boston and listen to the Messiah, all of the tenors and sopranos sound like they are being roasted over a hot fire, singing beyond their range.

[secret garden]

Saw this and thought of you ping.

[supercat]

Before attending an opera it is wise to read the text.

I once bought a libretto for "Madame Butterfly" which had the Italian and English neatly lined up line-by-line, with the first page of Italian on page 1, the first page of English on page 2, the second page of Italian on page 3, etc.

How do people publish such brilliancies?

[RightWhale]

That's what my voice coach said, too. Consonants get lost right away. You have to hit them hard if anything is to get out. Vowels are fine. You come to appreciate a vocalist who takes the trouble to hammer the consonants for the audience.

[novacation]

It depends on the language. Operas sung in German are easier to understand because it is a much more articulate language. English is not a great language for singing.Soprano Anna Moffo is very easy to understand. Some singers just slur more.

[mrsmith]

I don't understand most opera lyrics- but I never, never have trouble understanding Gilbert and Sullivan.

Well, "hardly ever!"

[bcoffey]

Actually good diction is not about overdoing the consonants in an "affected" way (you know what I mean -- exploded "t"s and so forth) as much as it is doing it consciously and in a large group doing it exactly the same way and exactly at the same time.

Goes for public speaking as well as singing. We as a people tend to be quite lazy with our diction.

[Hon]

This is not news. The louder one sings the more the vowels flatten out. Also the higher.

Verdi and the other bel canto composers always put very light orchestrations under crucial passages they wanted to be sure would be understood.

[muawiyah]

The "text" is irrelevant in opera.

[novacation]

I'm a big Gilbert and Sullivan fan also.Oh bliss, oh rapture! Oh rapture, oh bliss!