The purpose of this study is to compare persons with trained voices and persons with untrained voices in their abilities to utilize tactile-kinesthetic feed-back when attempting to control vocal intensity.

The document consists of a commentary on the historical background of the work and an edition of the restored score. The commentary treats its relationship to the ballad opera, sources and alternate settings of the music and libretto, a history of the development of "Hail to the Chief," biographical sketches of the primary composers, and a section on early productions in England and America. The commentary includes a history of the English and American premieres, lengths of the first-runs, and the names of the theatres in which the performances were mounted. The reconstructed score is a piano-vocal performance edition with dialogue, cues, scenery, costume and property plots indicated in detail.

The minor choral works are those exclusive of the well-known choral works. Symphonic movements for chorus are also excluded. Conflicting and incomplete information from the composer himself and from secondary sources were principal research problems. The published letters, the memoirs, and a small number of secondary sources, containing little more than passing references, form the body of the research material beyond the scores themselves. The arrangement is by opus number, with unpublished works inserted chronologically by date of composition. A description of the circumstances surrounding each work' s composition precedes a study of the music within each chapter. The last chapter delineates stylistic characteristics of the minor choral works.

The purpose of this study is to describe contemporary plans for training the boy's changing voice and to prescribe ensemble material for these voices. Specific Problems: Analysis of the general problem leads to subordinate questions, or sub-problems, which may be stated as follows: 1. What are the contemporary plans of training the boy's changing voice? 2. What are the most usable musical materials available for use by ensembles which include boys with changing voices?

The purpose of this study was to compare major theories of laryngeal vibration. The basic hypothesis of the study was that the differences and similarities between the major theories of laryngeal vibration could be made evident and clear through a comparative study. It was assumed that there are two or more theories of laryngeal vibration and that all the major theories of laryngeal vibration from 1945 to the present have been described in written form in English.

The purpose of this study is to show how standards of pitch became a matter of importance in musical performance. The existence of innumerable varieties of pitches was not an actual handicap in a time when voices were accompanied by only one instrument, or when a singer accompanied himself. But when instruments began to be used with the church organ, and ensembles were formed to play in the royal courts, a standard pitch was found to be desirable. Many factors were involved in the adjustments of pitch as small ensembles evolved into the military band and the symphony orchestra. An attempt will be made to show how many of the standards were derived, and what long lasting effects they had.

Both science and empirical knowledge seem to indicate that anatomical considerations relating to potential muscular interference be established at the incipiency of the serious study of voice. Experience shows that if this aspect of vocal development is not pursued with utmost diligence, an early deterioration of the vocal instrument is possible many years before a normal expectancy. It has been discovered, also, that the study of articulation, pronunciation, modulation, emphasis, gestures and interpretation seem to avoid, primarily, the necessity of muscular training, per. This thesis will not include, in detail, the aspects of the use of the breath, except in a perfunctory manner. The same can be said of resonance and diction. It will endeavor, however, to indicate the muscular differences of the singing and swallowing actions. Furthermore, it will advance some suggestions for the avoidance of constrictive muscular influences which might impede the singing musculature. Finally, a phonatory process will be presented for consideration as a muscular mechanism to be made operative in connection with a direct control procedure.

In this thesis, the author explores a vocal phenomenon called “vocal fry” and why this dysphonia has emerged as one of the primary means of communication for the population referred to as “Generation Y.” The first chapter defines what vocal fry is and why it is of modest value to the stage actor. The second chapter defines the physiological means by which the human body creates sound, what good sound is and how vocal fry is created. The third and fourth chapters define several generations as well as what defines Gen Y, and the communication physiologies associated with those generations. The last chapter discusses the rise of narcissism within Gen Y and how this may relate to the arrival of vocal fry as a default register for theatre students. The conclusion outlines several solutions that may alleviate the problems associated with this dysphonia.

The purpose of this study was to further develop a multi-tier model of the vocal tract area function in which the modulations of shape to produce speech are generated by the product of a vowel substrate and a consonant superposition function. The new approach consists of specifying input parameters for a target consonant as a set of directional changes in the resonance frequencies of the vowel substrate. Using calculations of acoustic sensitivity functions, these "resonance deflection patterns" are transformed into time-varying deformations of the vocal tract shape without any direct specification of location or extent of the consonant constriction along the vocal tract. The configuration of the constrictions and expansions that are generated by this process were shown to be physiologically-realistic and produce speech sounds that are easily identifiable as the target consonants. This model is a useful enhancement for area function-based synthesis and can serve as a tool for understanding how the vocal tract is shaped by a talker during speech production. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

House in Heaven is a theatrical piece for five solo voices (one soprano, two mezzo sopranos, one baritone, and one bass), two trumpets, four French horns, one trombone, two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons, string orchestra, vibraphone, timpani and a synthesizer which produces pipe organ sound. The composition consists of an introduction followed by a single act in three Scenes. The piece employs the cyclical device in engaging themes associated with particular characters. The texture grows from simple alternating dialogues to arias and, finally, to tutti passages in which all voices are combined to form a quintet, at the climactic point of the entire composition, which occurs at the end of the piece. The scenes depict imaginary events in a Church and at a flower garden. Rear-stage slide projections are used to project the scenes of these locations, and lighting is used to emphasize actions, characters and changes of scene. The singers also serve as actors. The duration of this work is approximately 20 minutes.