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From: billmc@microsoft.UUCP (Bill McJohn)
Newsgroups: comp.music,rec.music.makers
Subject: Re: vocal harmony question
Summary: intonation & timbre
Message-ID: <14@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 19 Dec 89 03:39:35 GMT
References: <18807@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <365@bbxsda.UUCP> <19114@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 65

In article <19114@watdragon.waterloo.edu>, dmnhieu@trillium.waterloo.edu 
(Duy-Minh NHIEU MAPLE tutor) writes:
> ... why for some group of two people that perform the duet,
> it sounds harmonized and for other, it does not sound harmonize although they 
> sing in tune with respect to each others, does it have anything to do with the
> voice?  I mean the different timbre of the voice?  (Say a guy with a guy, a
> girl with a girl and a guy with a girl, which combination sounds the most
> harmonized?)  

What you're describing is often called blend, and it's achieved
by using the ear.

The two factors that have the most effect on vocal blend are intonation
(tuning) and timbre.  

Good intonation is critical--you don't have to get far off from a sweet-
sounding third to produce a fairly ugly one.  This requires both singers
to listen carefully to one another, as well as the surrounding
accompaniment (if any).

Blending timbres is more complex (although not necessarily more
difficult!), but it is as important as singing in tune.  The simplest 
approach is to aim for a common sound, since similar timbres blend more 
easily.  Blending dissimilar timbres is possible (orchestras do
it all the time) but it's far more difficult.

(As an aside:  classically trained singers [at least, the good ones!]
often learn to produce a tone which is both dark and bright, so they
get the advantages both of the depth and warmth of the dark voice
and the clarity and brilliance of the bright.  This makes it harder
to blend.  On the other hand, if they're willing to work at it, 
two such voices can sound really beautiful together.)

For both of these reasons, the best way to learn to produce 
sweet harmonies is a capella singing.  Sing music you know well,
with as little vibrato as you can manage, and listen carefully to 
each other.  Accept the fact that you'll probably have to change
in order to blend.  The more individual a voice is, the harder
it is to blend with.  Sing in unison, as well as in harmony, to 
develop a common sound.  Once you've achieved a sound you like, 
experiment with it--sing in different ranges, add vibrato if you 
use it, make the color of the sound darker or brighter.  In general,
expand your technical arsenal so that whatever effects the music
requires, you still sound good together.

What it comes down to is that good singing requires the
cooperation of the ear, the heart, and the voice.

Some specific points about blending male and female voices:  

--most people produce a brighter tone in their upper range than 
  in their lower range.  If a man and a woman are singing in thirds, 
  she's probably near the bottom of her range while he's near the top 
  of his.  This means they both have to concentrate on mediating 
  that difference.  

--thirds have have a denser, richer sound than sixths or tenths.
  It's easier for two men or two women to sing in thirds; it's
  easier for a man and a woman to sing sixths or tenths.  Take
  advantage of the difference in sonority and sing music that
  suits whichever combination you have.  (On the other hand, thirds
  are a lot easier to tune than tenths.)
  

Bill McJohn