Camryn-McCoy Chapter 6

 This chapter talked a lot about voice analysis, and different ways to view the voice through graphs. I really like how the author emphasized that a computer "can help its user understand what is happening in a voice; in cannot, however, tell if the sound is beautiful or musical". These tools are supposed to be used to view the technical characteristics of the voice, and how changing different parts of the voice reflects on the shape/size of the graph. Because of this, I do believe that it is best to use these tools as a teaching aid. At some point, the brain and ear must learn how to make certain changes on their own. Students cannot be dependable on computers alone. 

In theOnset/Offset of tone section, the author talks about how spectrograms can reveal significant information about how sounds begin and end. I though it was funny that the author "called singers out" for continuing the habit of "scooping" or "sliding" our pitches. In middle/high school, my choir teachers would always make comments to "not scoop our notes" as we began a piece, or re-entered a new section of a song. Although we'd correct our voices that day, we'd still have issues throughout the school year. Every once in a while, I'll listen closely to how I start and sing through random songs, and I will notice the sneaky slide, or scoop that occurs in my voice. I would try and correct it, but find it difficult to move pitches without sliding a tiny bit. I don't think many singers are aware of this nasty habit, so I'm glad the spectrogram reveals these technical issues to bring awareness of the habit. 

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