- There seems to be some confusion out there
in YouTube land (chuckling), about twang,
and the impact it has on the sound of the singing voice,
across each of the vocal registers.
Today, I'm going to clear away the confusion,
so that you can get the full benefit
out of the clearest, focused resonance, known as twang.
Stick around if you wanna learn more.
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- G'day, welcome back to Voice Essentials,
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Twang is one of those things
that seems to fall in and out of favor
amongst vocal pedagogues.
Personally, I've always celebrated the benefits of twang,
instructing my students in the advantage
of the clear focused resonance that it provides.
But I'm always careful to fully explain what twang is,
before teaching the practical implementation of the twang.
Matthew Hoch defines twang as,
"One of the six voice qualities
"of the Estill Method (EVM).
"According to the EVM, twang quality is heard in the speech
"of many cultures, modern music theatre,
"bluegrass, and some country music."
I'd go further to suggest that twang,
is an essential tonal ingredient
in most popular culture music genres,
including rock, and pop.
But not only for the reasons you might think.
You see, most people are drawn
to the tonal qualities of twang,
with its bright and pingy resonance.
And it certainly has those sensory attributes,
but I think the grander benefits of twang,
are found in the efficiencies that it works
into the voice.
You see, the clear focused resonance of twang,
is produced in the voice
when the aryepiglottic sphincter, also known as the Twanger,
engages to form a narrowing
of the space immediately above the vocal folds,
an area known as the laryngopharynx.
If the singer draws too much air pressure through
the larynx while employing twang,
this narrowing above the vocal folds, constricts,
leaving the voice feeling tight.
Something we singing teachers
call supra-glottic constriction.
But if the singer learns to engage the tang,
twang, not Tang, twang, (slamming)
with a more balanced flow of air,
often experienced as less breath pressure, overall,
then the optimal settings of twang, come into life.
To achieve the right muscular balance for twang,
you have to learn to push less.
The counter-intuitive benefit of twang,
is the proverbial, less equals more,
because a voice with twang,
receives a massive boost in the mid-range frequencies,
around about the 2.8 kilohertz range,
and this in turn, dramatically increases
the perceived volume being produced by the voice.
So?
Well twang does form a clear focused resonance
into the overall tone.
Personally, I think the real advantage
that the voice with twang has over the voice without twang,
is efficiency.
And furthermore, twang is no respecter of registers.
Recently, Jorge López asked this question.
Can you make a video, twang versus head voice,
or twang versus mix voice?
I think Jorge is on to something here.
You see, another great thing about twang,
is its ability to deploy across all the registers,
with pulse register being the exception.
But for the life of me, I can't think of a single reason
why you would want, or need, twang
in the pulse register anyway, so no loss there.
Twang can be added to the chest,
head, and falsetto registers,
as well as the register balance, known as mix.
In fact, therein lay another benefit of twang.
It can really assist with your register transition,
as well as the blending of two registers.
So, let me show you an example of each register.
Firstly without twang,
and then I'll put it in.
So here it is, here's a C3,
like a chest voice sound,
without twang.
(piano key dinging) (rumbling)
♪ Lah ♪
And if I put the twang in.
♪ Yah ♪
It's actually easier for me to produce,
but I'm actually creating more volume,
so it's more bang for your buck.
If I sing that across a five-note scale,
without the twang.
(piano key dinging)
♪ Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪
Hopefully you can hear the difference between those two.
Let's now go up to a head voice note,
and I'll sing an A3.
Firstly without the twang. (rumbling)
(piano key dinging)
♪ Ya ♪
♪ So you can hear ♪
♪ It's quite a light sound ♪
Then you put the twang in.
♪ Ya ♪
Now, it sort of drags
as some thyroarytenoid activity up there.
But really all I'm trying to do,
is create that clear focused resonance.
How about if we sing with the A3 again,
without the twang.
(piano key dinging)
♪ Ya ♪
I think that's a better example.
You can hear the twang coming through,
without the heaviness
of some chest voice application coming up, as well.
Now let's have a listen to it as a five-note scale.
Now this time, I'll do it without.
(piano key dinging)
♪ Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪
And with.
♪ Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪
So you can hear the twang,
gives it that cut-through.
Finally, let's jump right up into my falsetto range.
And I'm gonna sing a single note on a C5,
without the falsetto,
so without the twang. (piano key dinging)
♪ Ya ♪
Had to find the note there, for a second.
(piano key dinging) ♪ Ya ♪
Now if I apply some twang to that,
(piano key dinging) ♪ Ya ♪
So it almost gives it that sense
of a little bit more body.
And my sense of the voice, as I'm doing that,
it has a little bit more core tone to it.
Now let's do a five-note scale, starting on F4,
'cause I'm not gonna sing it from F5, C5 upwards.
Starting on F4, (piano key dinging)
♪ Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪
♪ I should add a B-flat ♪
♪ So let's do that again ♪
♪ Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪
Now, let's apply some twang to that.
♪ Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪
And again, you can hear, it gives it some cut-through.
Now, let's have alisten to how a siren might sound
with, and without twang,
when I sing across my full range.
Have a listen.
The first one will be without, (rumbling)
so it's on an ah vowel.
♪ Ah ♪
I couldn't help but have some twang come in there.
Let me try that again, without the twang.
♪ Ah ♪
You can hear, my voice just wants to go
to the twang at the top.
Have a listen now,
of what happens when I put an ng to it,
which really activates the twang.
We'll really hear the twang,
all the way through.
♪ Sing ♪
So you can hear that real clean twang.
Notice how my voice struggles the transition
between the registers on the open,
and non-twang version, as well on the ah vowel,
but when I use the ng sound,
my voice easily moved through the registers,
and the transitional points.
In part, that's because the ng sound,
activates the twanger,
invoking the clear focused resonance of the twang,
which in turn, facilitates smoother transitions.
Now you might like to practice developing twang,
using exercise four and five,
from Voice Essentials 1,
and exercise 19, from Voice Essentials 2.
So the clear focused resonance of twang,
enhances the tone,
boosts the volume,
improves vocal efficiency,
can be used across registers,
and helps to smooth out transitions.
What's not to love?
But let's be careful here.
We all know what happens
if we indulge in too much of a good thing.
While I teach singers to develop
an habitual orientation towards twang,
I also want my student singers
to be able to turn the twang off, when necessary.
You need to be able to remove
the brightness of twang sometimes,
to achieve softer tones and timbres.
It's all about empowering choice for the voice.
I hope today's video has proven helpful
in further explaining, and displaying,
the benefits of twang.
Leave any comments or questions below,
if you require further clarification.
I'll see you again soon.
I'm Dr. Dan, sing well.