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January 07, 2004
High Pitched
Physicists have found the reason we can't understand opera singers.
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.
That ain't why I can't understand sopranos....it's because I have my fingers stuck in my ears. Don't get me wrong. I love opera. It's just that there's something about a soprano voice that just irritates the hell out of me...like fingernails on the chalkboard. It makes my teeth hurt. I want to run onstage & stuff my program down their throat so they'll stop.
Anybody else have that problem or am I just weird?
Posted by Rita at January 7, 2004 07:29 PM
Comments
Imagine how it must affect bats!
Posted by: Jim - Parkway Rest Stop at January 8, 2004 02:07 AM
Opera is the ONLY style of music I do not like at all. Metal, symphony, world, rap, country, new age (sans seagulls), avant garde, polka, even electro-noise, no problem - I could listen to maybe a CD full at a time. But for opera, I have the exact same "fingernails on chalkboard" visceral reaction as you describe. Intelligibility is not the issue, it is the piercing vocal quality.
Posted by: hatless in hattiesburg at January 8, 2004 06:58 AM
I love opera, both for the great tenors and the great stories. But those bloody sopranos...yeesh! My dad's rat terrier barks at the same ear-piercing squeal when you turn on the wipers in the truck.
I hate that dog.
Posted by: Rita at January 8, 2004 07:07 AM
I love opera but get annoyed sometimes with sopranos if they aren't the absolutely best quality singer. The best feminine voice class is Mezzo Soprano who have a darker, richer full bodied voice (or is that a star bucks reference?)
that can be like velvet. The best one right now is Cecelia Bartole. You should hear her sing Mozart. Bellisima
Posted by: jane m at January 8, 2004 11:01 PM