Vocal register

A vocal register is a range of tones in the human voice produced by a particular vibratory pattern of the vocal folds. These registers include modal voice (or normal voice), vocal fry, falsetto, and the whistle register.

Registers originate in laryngeal function. They occur because the vocal folds are capable of producing several different vibratory patterns. Each of these vibratory patterns appears within a particular range of pitches and produces certain characteristic sounds.

In speech pathology, the vocal register has three components: a certain vibratory pattern of the vocal folds, a certain series of pitches, and a certain type of sound. Although this view is also adopted by many vocal pedagogists, others define vocal registration more loosely than in the sciences, using the term to denote various theories of how the human voice changes, both subjectively and objectively, as it moves through its pitch range.

Clifton Ware's 1998 definition is also commonly cited.

A register consists of the homogeneous tone qualities produced by the same mechanical system, whereas registration is the process of using and combining the registers to achieve artistic singing. For example, a skilled singer moving through their range and dynamics smoothly so that register changes are difficult to notice could be described as good or clean registration.

The term register originated in the 16th century. As teachers started to notice how different the ranges on either side of the passaggi (or breaks in the voice) were, they began to make comparisons to different sets of pipes (or "registers") in an organ. Before then, they referred to different "voices".

Vibratory patterns

Speech pathology

Vocal registers arise from different vibratory patterns produced by the vocal cords. Research by speech pathologists and some vocal pedagogists has revealed that the vocal cords are capable of producing at least four distinct vibratory forms, although not all persons can produce all of them. The first of these vibratory forms is known as natural or normal voice;

Vocal pedagogy

While speech pathologists and scholars of phonetics recognize four registers, vocal pedagogists are divided. Indiscriminate use of the term register has led to confusion and controversy about the number of registers in the human voice within vocal pedagogical circles. This controversy does not exist within speech pathology and the other sciences, because vocal registers are viewed from a purely physiological standpoint concerned with laryngeal function. Writers concerned with the art of singing state that there are anywhere from one to seven registers present. The diversity of opinion is wide with no consensus.

The confusion which exists concerning the definition and number of registers is due in part to what takes place in the modal register when a person sings from the lowest pitches of that register to the highest pitches. The frequency of vibration of the vocal folds is determined by their length, tension, and mass. As pitch rises, the vocal folds are lengthened, tension increases, and their thickness decreases. In other words, all three of these factors are in a state of flux in the transition from the lowest to the highest tones.

Vocal pedagogists teach that, with study, a singer can move effortlessly from one register to another with ease and consistent tone. Registers can even overlap while singing. Teachers who prefer the theory of "blending registers" usually help students through the "passage" from one register to another by hiding their "lift" (where the voice changes). However, many pedagogists disagree with this distinction of boundaries, blaming such breaks on vocal problems which have been created by a static laryngeal adjustment that does not permit the necessary changes to take place. This difference of opinion has affected the different views on vocal registration. Chest voice and head voice can be considered the simplest registers to differentiate between. However, there are other sounds, or timbres, that a voice can make through physical changes in vocal fold vibrations and muscular changes in the laryngeal muscles. These timbres are known as glottal configurations and exist on a continuum that is more complex than singing purely in chest voice and head voice. A glottal configuration is the area in which the vocal folds come together when phonating. These configurations happen according to the intersection of two phenomena: adduction and abduction of the glottis (adduction when the posterior of the glottis is closed, and abduction is when it is open) and activation of the thyroarytenoid muscle (activated for chest, not activated for falsetto). During adduction, the interarytenoid muscle is engaged.

Vocal fry register

The vocal fry register is the lowest vocal register and is produced through a loose glottal closure which will permit air to bubble through with a popping or rattling sound of a very low frequency. The chief use of vocal fry in singing is to obtain pitches of very low frequency which are not available in modal voice. This register may be used therapeutically to improve the lower part of the modal register. This register is not used often in singing, but male quartet pieces, and certain styles of folk music for both men and women have been known to do so. The whistle register is so called because the timbre of the notes that are produced from this register are similar to that of a whistle or the upper notes of a flute, whereas the modal register tends to have a warmer, less shrill timbre.

Passaggio

The Passaggio is a bridge or transition point between the different registers of the voice. Singers are often trained to navigate this area in the voice. Instabilities often happen in this bridge while the voice is phonating on pitches within this location. When a singer does not navigate this area sufficiently the voice folds temporarily lose the mucosal wave pattern resulting in an audible crack. These cracks can be navigated often through changing vowel. The female voice has two passaggios, primo and secondo passaggio. The male voice has two passaggios as well, however the points of transition lie differently than those of a treble singer and are also navigated in a different manner.