This ethnographic analysis examines the life stories and lyrics of four African blues singers. Specifically, it compares the cultural themes that emerge their life stories to the cultural themes at emerge from their commercially released music. The findings suggest that the singers recognize, to varying degrees, the impact of racism, sexism, and classism on their personal and careers. These same themes, however, are not present in the lyrics of the music that they choose to sing. Both the stories and the lyrics reveal internal inconsistencies that mirror one another. The conclusion suggests that the inconsistencies within their stories and music are consistent with their liminal position with regard to dominant and subordinate cultures.

This study explored the personal narratives of six AFAB (“assigned female at birth”) singers – three cis and three trans/non-binary performers of varying ages, ethnicities and locales – to understand how their experiences informed their musical, vocal and gender identities and shaped their musical and vocal lives. Using semi-structured interview process, the singers recounted their memories and understanding of significant events in their development, and together, each singer and I explored those recollections through a process of collaborative self-exploration. Emerging themes from those narratives underscored the need for further investigation into the intersection of AFAB voice, singing and gender, as both existing literature and the results of this study suggest a deeper understanding of the issues around gender socialization, normative expectations and voice is necessary to appropriately and effectively prepare singers at all levels of their musical and vocal education. Study results found that there are many sources of socially-mediated influences which shape AFAB singers’ development of self, their individual and social identities, and their perceptions of their voice – particularly in the context of normative expectations that define gender and gender identities. While all study participants clearly experienced pleasure in musical performance, the narratives revealed a complex web of expectations and influences that contributed significant amounts of anxiety, with both physiological and psychological repercussions, to the performers’ lives. The ways in which the singers both fell victim to and addressed these sources of stress suggest many topics for further exploration and discussion within the professional voice and music education community, including the role of expert influence, the development of personal agency and perceived self-efficacy, as well as the need for individualized, holistic approaches to vocal pedagogy.

Master of Music / Throughout the 20th Century, female operatic singers in most of the major European opera houses were given “grace days” (where they were not required to sing) in recognition of the effect of hormonal changes on the singing voice. Financial constraints in professional companies have resulted in a reduction of such considerations, but to date, there has been no systematic study of the effects of hormonal fluctuations on the quality of the female singing voice, or of its potential adverse effects on the vocal apparatus for singers who are affected by pre-menstrual syndrome. This study investigated the effects of hormonal fluctuations on young professional female classical singers. Female and male professional singers in training (students) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, were asked to participate as volunteers in the study by keeping daily diaries. The female singers kept a diary for two separate months beginning on the first day of menstruation, in which they recorded their daily basal temperature, mood, voice state and physical well being. The male control subjects kept daily diaries for one month. Acoustic analysis of two vocal samples taken during the second month, on days 1 and 14 of the cycle, were completed on the six most severely affected female subjects, who were identified through their diary ratings of changes in vocal quality during menstruation. The selected students assessed their own vocal samples, presented in random order, to determine whether they could reliably identify which of their samples were affected by menstruation. Vocal staff at the Conservatorium (pedagogues), who were blind to the purpose of the study, also assessed recordings presented randomly. Results indicated that self-perceived vocal quality varied over the course of the menstrual cycle, particularly during the first seven days of the cycle, that negative changes in mood affected the voice, and that fatigue, effort, hoarseness, weakness & peak performance were the most frequently affected vocal states. A surprising finding was that male self-perceived voice quality also varied over the course of one month of diary keeping. There was no consistent change in direction of scores during menstrual and non-menstrual phases. Five of the six most affected singers correctly identified their performance during menstruation but pedagogues were not consistently able to do so.. These results indicate that perceived quality of the voice through changes in the menstrual cycle may not be as obvious to a highly trained observer even though they were reliably perceived by the singer. This study demonstrates that menstruation has a discernible impact on the self-perception of female singers’ vocal quality and implies that the premenstrual or menstrual female may not feel able to present her peak performance at these times of hormonal fluctuation. Further detailed research in this area may be warranted on a larger scale to elaborate a more precise clinical management of the problem.

Master of Music / Throughout the 20th Century, female operatic singers in most of the major European opera houses were given “grace days” (where they were not required to sing) in recognition of the effect of hormonal changes on the singing voice. Financial constraints in professional companies have resulted in a reduction of such considerations, but to date, there has been no systematic study of the effects of hormonal fluctuations on the quality of the female singing voice, or of its potential adverse effects on the vocal apparatus for singers who are affected by pre-menstrual syndrome. This study investigated the effects of hormonal fluctuations on young professional female classical singers. Female and male professional singers in training (students) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, were asked to participate as volunteers in the study by keeping daily diaries. The female singers kept a diary for two separate months beginning on the first day of menstruation, in which they recorded their daily basal temperature, mood, voice state and physical well being. The male control subjects kept daily diaries for one month. Acoustic analysis of two vocal samples taken during the second month, on days 1 and 14 of the cycle, were completed on the six most severely affected female subjects, who were identified through their diary ratings of changes in vocal quality during menstruation. The selected students assessed their own vocal samples, presented in random order, to determine whether they could reliably identify which of their samples were affected by menstruation. Vocal staff at the Conservatorium (pedagogues), who were blind to the purpose of the study, also assessed recordings presented randomly. Results indicated that self-perceived vocal quality varied over the course of the menstrual cycle, particularly during the first seven days of the cycle, that negative changes in mood affected the voice, and that fatigue, effort, hoarseness, weakness & peak performance were the most frequently affected vocal states. A surprising finding was that male self-perceived voice quality also varied over the course of one month of diary keeping. There was no consistent change in direction of scores during menstrual and non-menstrual phases. Five of the six most affected singers correctly identified their performance during menstruation but pedagogues were not consistently able to do so.. These results indicate that perceived quality of the voice through changes in the menstrual cycle may not be as obvious to a highly trained observer even though they were reliably perceived by the singer. This study demonstrates that menstruation has a discernible impact on the self-perception of female singers’ vocal quality and implies that the premenstrual or menstrual female may not feel able to present her peak performance at these times of hormonal fluctuation. Further detailed research in this area may be warranted on a larger scale to elaborate a more precise clinical management of the problem.

Thesis (MMus)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It is ironic that with so much interest in singing as a career, the possiblities for trained singers are getting less and less, especially in South Africa. With reality programmes such as Idols and Superstars, the popular music world is overflowed with singers with little, if any, voice training. Then there are also singers who try to establish themselves as crossover artists and perform opera arias on stages such as the KKNK Classic Pops and Die Burger’s Afri-Klassiek concerts accompanied by South Africa’s foremost symphony and philharmonic orchestras. But what about the classical singer who cross over into other genres of singing and like some local and international artists have proved to us, musicals could be a genre to explore. This study explore the possiblity of this type of crossover from classical singing to musical singing. By listening to sound recordings and using a series of musical volumes, songs were identified that the classical singer could sing without harming his or her voice technique. One of the success stories of this type of crossover is the Capetonian soprano, Aviva Pelham. In 1972 Pelham established herself as an opera singer in Cape Town and then confused the classical world with her appearance as Eliza Doolittle in 1978. After that she had a successful career on both classical and musical stages. During her career of nearly 40 years as performing artist, Pelham appeared in 28 different opera roles, 11 different operetta roles and 10 musical roles. Aviva Pelham’s achievements were laureated with a Cape Nederburg Opera Prize, four FNB Vita Awards and in 2000 an Arts, Culture and Heritage Award from the Western Cape Minister for Environment and Culture / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit is ironies dat, terwyl daar soveel belangstelling in sang as loopbaan heers, word die geleenthede vir opgeleide sangers meer beperk. In Suid-Afrika veral is die moontlikhede beperk vir klassieke sangers. Met realiteitsprogramme soos Idols en Supersterre is die populêre musiekwêreld vol van sangers met geen of baie min sangopleiding. Daar is dan ook van dié sangers wat probeer om hulself te vestig as crossover-kunstenaars en opera-arias uit te voer op die konsertverhoë, soos bv. die KKNK Classic Pops- en Die Burger se Afri-Klassiek-konserte saam met van Suid-Afrika se voorste simfonie- of filharmoniese orkeste. Maar wat van die die klassieke sanger wat “crossover” in ‘n ander tipe styl van sang en soos deur ‘n paar plaaslike en internasionale kunstenaars al bewys, is musiekblyspele ‘n genre om te ondersoek. Hierdie studie ondersoek dus die moontlikheid van hierdie tipe “crossover” van klassieke sang na musiekblyspele. Daar word deur middel van klankopnames en ‘n reeks volumes van musiekblyspel-liedere, liedere geklassifiseer wat die klassieke sanger kan sing sonder om sogenaamde skade aan sy of haar sangtegniek te doen. Een van die sukses-stories van hierdie tipe “crossover” is die Kaapse sopraan, Aviva Pelham. Pelham het haarself as ‘n operasangeres gevestig in 1972 in Kaapstad en die klassieke wêreld ophol gejaag met haar verskyning as Eliza Doolittle in 1978. Vandaar het sy ‘n suksesvolle loopbaan op beide die klassieke en musiekblyspelverhoë gehad. Pelham het gedurende haar loopbaan, van ongeveer 40 jaar as uitvoerende kunstenaar, 28 verskillende operarolle, 11 verskillende operette-rolle en 10 musiekblyspelrolle vertolk. Aviva Pelham se prestasies is bekroon met ‘n Kaapse Nederburg Operaprys, vier FNB Vita-toekennings en sy is in 2000 vereer deur die Wes-Kaapse Minister vir Omgewings- en Kultuursake met ‘n Kunste, Kultuur en Erfenis-toekenning vir haar bydrae tot die Uitvoerende Kunste.

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Studien syftar till att få en djupare förståelse för hur sångare använder och upplever olika verktyg för att forma och kommunicera musik, vilka verktyg de prioriterar samt vilken funktion dessa verktyg fyller. För att undersöka detta har jag utgått från olika teorier om musikalisk kommunikation samt ett multimodalt och socialsemiotiskt perspektiv med fokus på kommunikation som en social process av teckenskapande. Jag har genomfört åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med sångare som arbetar/arbetat professionellt med sång inom olika genrer. Resultaten visar att sångarnas musikaliska kommunikation formas och uttrycks genom ett användande av flera olika verktyg varav röstteknik, samspel, publikens förväntningar, personlighet och tradition är de viktigaste. Sångarnas användande och prioritering av dessa olika verktyg kan sammanfattas i olika övergripande förhållningssätt som sångarna har till sin musikaliska kommunikation, varav tradition och personlighet är de mest framträdande förhållningssätten. En slutsats är att en sångares musikaliska uttryck kan beskrivas som en väv av kommunikativa strukturer och att sångare strävar efter att gestalta helheter av dessa strukturer för att uppleva mening. En annan slutats är att sångare kan betona olika aspekter av den musikaliska kommunikationen vid olika tillfällen i musicerandet, att den sker på flera plan samtidigt samt att musikens sammanhang avgör hur den musikaliska gestaltningen formas. Jag vill slutligen tillägga att sångarens gestaltande av musikaliska helheter sker genom att skapa, tolka och imitera olika resurser i syfte att skapa en meningsfull kommunikation för både publik, medspelare samt med sångaren själv. / The study aims to demonstrate a deeper understanding in how singers can use different tools to shape and communicate music, and the order of priority and functions of these tools. To attain knowledge about this, I have applied different theories of musical communication, in addition to a multimodal and social semiotic perspective with focus on communication as a social process of sign making. This has been examined through qualitative interviews with eight active and former professional singers in various genres. The results show that the singers use many different tools to shape and communicate music, of which the most predominant are voice-technique, interplay, expectations from the audience, personality and tradition. The singers usage and priority of these tools can be summarised in different overall ways of musical communication, of which tradition and personality are the most conspicuous. One conclusion is that the musical expression of a singer can be described as a weave of communicative structures, and that the singers strive to achieve a wholeness of these structures to yield meaning. Another conclusion is that singers may emphasize different aspects of the musical communication at different stages in a performance, that this may occur at different levels simultaneously, and that the musical context decides how the musical communication is being shaped. Finally, I want to describe the singers’ function as achieving completeness in the musical expression by creating, interpreting and imitating different resources by using different tools, thereby creating a meaningful musical communication to the audience, in interplay with other musicians and the singer.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the uses of the falsetto voice in training the male singer. Developing the upper voice is one of the most difficult problems facing the male singers. A most controversial approach to solving this problem is the use of the falsetto. The falsetto has been a subject of mystery among singers and vocal teachers for centuries. Some authorities have ignored it; some have denounced; others have greatly extolled this vocal enigma. Many myths and misconceptions surround the subject of falsetto. Even in the present age of scientific research and knowledge, there is little understanding of the falsetto--of its value and its use. The material dealing with falsetto is very brief and inconclusive in most pedagogy books. Therefore, there seemed to be a need for a systematic collection of pedagogical ideas concerning the male falsetto. This report will attempt to present all sides of the controversy.,

This dissertation explores the evolution of operatic idioms, especially vocal typecasting conventions, in response to social change in the volatile late Russian Empire. It complements earlier composer-centered approaches to Russian opera with a focus on the contributions of a heretofore neglected group of historical agents: singers. By examining the operas themselves as well as primary sources such as memoirs, letters, reviews, photographs, and early sound recordings, I trace the ways in which singers crystallized the Russian intelligentsia's evolving attitudes toward political and parental authority, gender roles, and political radicalism in memorable operatic characters. With four chapters devoted to the extraordinary bass, tenor, soprano, and mezzo stars who worked with composers to establish the stock characters and vocal conventions of this repertoire, I argue that art imitated life: these singers transmuted their own real-life experiences of Russian society into operatic portrayals that resonated with the controversies of their time. This dissertation thus provides a new angle on Russian opera's engagement with the political and social issues of the era leading up to the Revolution.

Ismael ‘Maelo’ Rivera (1931–1987) is a foundational Afro-Puerto Rican salsa singer. Known among his fans, peers, and contemporary researchers as El Sonero Mayor (loosely, The Greatest Singer-Improviser), Maelo’s voice became inscribed in the aural tapestry of barrios in Latin America and the Caribbean, beginning in the mid-1950s. After his death on May 13, 1987, Maelo has gained a sense of sacredness amongst fans and devotees who identify themselves as maeleros and maelistas in places such as Panama, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. My interlocutors ascribe Maelo’s songs with a particular affective strength that for them differentiates him from other salsa singers. His music has become the medium for the creation of relational bonds that respond to their particular local contexts as well as their personal and collective histories. In both countries, maeleros and maelistas listen to his songs as stories where they find keys to endure the difficulties of day-to-day life in their respective socio-political, cultural, and economic situations. This dissertation studies the friendships and relational affinities maeleros and maelistas articulate through Maelo’s music and biography, examining the creative work they do in order to celebrate his presence in their everyday. I argue that Maelo inspires a sense of secular devotion amongst his fans through the ways in which he mediates the crossing of the sacred and the profane through his repertoire and life by voicing multiple expressions from diverse Black Atlantic religions. I understand the sense of communion maeleros and maelistas share as a devotional sense of kinship in which friendship, and mainly male friendships, are central. I propose that such mediations of the sacred, and the Maelo-centered sense of devotional kinship I study, must be framed in relation to larger histories of the political definition of life in Latin America and the Caribbean. In such histories, the spectrality of the voice has served both as a tool for casting Black and indigenous groups as unworthy of citizenship and as a means for these groups to endure such marginalization. By examining the context-specific ways in which Maelo connoisseurs reinterpret his music and life in Venezuela, Panama, and Puerto Rico in his afterlife, this dissertation proposes that maeleros and maelistas enact a political theology that dramatizes the contemporary stakes of larger bio-political histories in which illness has long-been connected to delinquency as tools of power used to police and discipline modern citizen bodies. This is vital to one of the central theses of this dissertation: that Maelo’s stories of vocal illness, addiction, and imprisonment—what I call his wounded masculinity—are key to the sense of sacredness he has gained during his afterlife as a spectral figure whose songs, images, and myth accompany his fans, peers, and devotees in their everyday.