It is believed that a woman with a deep voice looks more attractive to men. It seems that there is indeed some truth in this, but the point is not at all in the timbre of the voice itself: low or high, but in the various nuances associated with it. This was proven by the results of a recent study conducted by specialists from the University of Vienna.
Experiment to evaluate female voices
Scientists recruited a team of male volunteers and gave them to listen to recordings of the voices of 42 female students who had previously been photographed. Subjects were then asked to choose the most sexually attractive among the voices. In most cases, participants pointed to girls with good looks, although they did not see their faces.
The authors of the experiment noted that the faces of the students whose voices were more often identified as “sexy” were distinguished by symmetry of features, they tended to have high cheekbones, soft jawlines and full lips. According to experts, such an appearance indicates a good genotype, which also affects the synchronization of the vocal cords, larynx and nasal cavity. On a subconscious level, a man perceives a woman’s voice as a signal that everything is fine with her sexually, which means she can become a wife and mother.
Yes, a deep voice that pronounces words with aspiration and special nuances may seem attractive. But in other cases, on the contrary, it can make a repulsive impression. And not only if we're talking about about the sphere of personal relationships. For example, statistics show that women with low and hoarse voices are less likely to get a job as a result of interviews. It turns out that many people perceive people with a “squeaky” voice as “unreliable.” Maybe because those with hoarse voices often smoke and have other bad habits.
Female voices and headhunters
A team of American psychologists once asked 800 headhunters to listen to recordings of various female voices and choose which one they would like to invite for an interview. Only a fifth of respondents preferred women with hoarse voices. The rest commented on their choice by saying that a hoarse voice indicates low competence, lack of education and external unattractiveness.
Note that women who work as secretaries or managers and often have to communicate with people on the phone tend to have high-pitched voices. Perhaps such voices on a subconscious level inspire more trust. But at the same time, voices with an overly high timbre, more like a screech, are annoying...
"People prefer voices with vocal characteristics typical of total mass population, scientists say. - Although unusual voices may be more memorable, people usually find sounding voices more attractive."
Voice modulation depending on interest in the interlocutor
By the way, a group of experts from the University of Stirling found that our voices can change depending on whether we find the interlocutor of the opposite sex attractive. For the purpose of the experiment, 110 heterosexual volunteers were asked to strike up a conversation with each other. Subsequently, all participants were asked to fill out questionnaires that assessed the degree of attractiveness of their partners. It turned out that if a man liked the woman he was talking to, the tone of his voice decreased and the modulation also increased, that is, the frequency of the tone became more variable.
The head of the study, Juan David Leongómez, explains this by the fact that although a low timbre of the voice indicates masculinity (masculinity), it is also associated with aggression and promiscuity, therefore, wanting to please a lady, a man unconsciously tries to speak in a low voice to signal his masculinity, and at the same time modulates the tone to show that he is not aggressive and reliable.
So, if during the conversation you notice that the voice of a representative of the stronger sex has become more “singing,” then most likely this indicates his interest in you. At the same time, the researchers conclude, modulations can increase the attractiveness of a given man in the eyes of a woman. So experienced heartthrobs, consciously or unconsciously, actively use this technique.
Voice timbre is the brightness of the sound, its individuality conveyed during singing. The sound is determined by the fundamental tone and additional sounds called overtones. The more overtones, the brighter and more colorful the voice will be. The natural number of overtones combined with is the secret of the mesmerizing sound of the voice.
Voice timbre, types
The most pleasant timbre is considered to be a voice that has the correct modulation, both in high and low tones. In fact, any voice can be cast with the right approach. This means giving it a professional sound. To do this, you need to learn to control the frequency of your voice, as well as the emotional coloring. This is easy to do with the help of a vocal specialist. To determine your own timbre, you need to know what voice timbres there are in general. There are several main types:
- tenor. This is the highest male voice. It can be lyrical or dramatic.
- baritone;
- bass. The lowest voice timbre in comparison with the above. It can be central or melodious.
- soprano. This is a very high pitched voice. There are lyric soprano, dramatic and coloratura.
- mezzo-soprano;
- contralto. This low voice.
What does timbre depend on?
The fundamental factor in the formation of timbre is the vocal cords. It is almost impossible to find several people who can sing equally. It is unlikely that you will be able to change your voice radically. But if you turn to a teacher, it is quite possible to improve its coloring.
How to determine the timbre of a voice?
It is almost impossible to determine the timbre on your own, without certain knowledge and skills. At home, you can only tentatively attribute your voice to one or another type of timbre. The most accurate data can be obtained by using specialized equipment - a spectrometer. It studies the outgoing sound, and then classifies it in the correct direction. You can read more about spectrometers at the end of the article.
How to change your voice tone
The timbre of the voice largely depends on the characteristics of the human body. Great importance have the volume, shape of the trachea and oral resonator, as well as the tightness of the closure of the vocal cords. Therefore, it is not possible to radically change the sound of the voice.
However, you can give the timbre the necessary coloring by adding low or high overtones and achieving their ideal balance. There are various exercises for this, for example, pronouncing the soft fricative “r”.
The shape of the lips and the position of the tongue have a great influence on the timbre. You can experiment, for example, changing the position of the jaw and talking with a fixed lower lip.
At the age of three, a person’s voice pattern changes and he becomes more constrained. We diligently control volume and intonation, strain our ligaments and, as a result, use only a small part of our capabilities. How to restore your natural voice? Exercises and techniques will also help you with this. Detailed information You can learn about them by watching the video:
What affects voice timbre?
- First of all, smoking should be noted. The longer the experience of this addiction, the lower the timbre of the voice.
- Poor nutrition, chronic lack of sleep. You need to understand that any mood, be it good or bad, affects the timbre of your voice.
- Hypothermia, cold. Everything is obvious here. You need to protect yourself from the cold, try not to drink ice-cold drinks and give up ice cream.
- The period of growing up. IN adolescence the timbre of the voice becomes rougher. Of course, it is impossible to change this process.
Spectrometer and more
The device that is used to determine the timbre of the voice is called a spectrometer. His device includes a microphone special purpose and sound amplifier. During its operation, sound is divided into components using electroacoustic filters. This entire process is displayed on the device display. Then the device examines the composition of the speech sound in certain formats, since it is the speech format that has a direct impact on the recognition of the voice sound in singing. Most often, the device recognizes the timbre of a voice by the way the first three vowel sounds are pronounced.
How to find out your voice timbre? It is best to sign up for several lessons with a qualified professional who trains the singing voice. To determine timbre, they use parameters such as tessitura endurance and some other characteristics.
In order to determine the timbre of the voice, the vocal teacher selects works that have different tessitura. This allows you to determine which note pitches work best for a particular vocalist. Singing a few musical works having different musical octaves, you can determine in which one you sing easily and comfortably, and in which you have to sing with strain on your vocal cords. Each person tends to play notes of a certain pitch. Only an experienced teacher will be able to correctly assess the range and timbre of each vocalist’s voice by the way he sings individual notes in a certain octave, and will name the main differences between falsetto and chest voice or tenor and baritone.
Voice timbre is the brightness of the sound, its individuality conveyed during singing. The sound is determined by the fundamental tone and additional sounds called overtones. The more overtones, the brighter and more colorful the voice will be. The natural number of overtones combined with is the secret of the mesmerizing sound of the voice.
Voice timbre, types
The most pleasant timbre is considered to be a voice that has the correct modulation, both in high and low tones. In fact, any voice can be cast with the right approach. This means giving it a professional sound. To do this, you need to learn to control the frequency of your voice, as well as the emotional coloring. This is easy to do with the help of a vocal specialist. To determine your own timbre, you need to know what voice timbres there are in general. There are several main types:
- tenor. This is the highest male voice. It can be lyrical or dramatic.
- baritone;
- bass. The lowest voice timbre in comparison with the above. It can be central or melodious.
- soprano. This is a very high pitched voice. There are lyric soprano, dramatic and coloratura.
- mezzo-soprano;
- contralto. It's a low voice.
What does timbre depend on?
The fundamental factor in the formation of timbre is the vocal cords. It is almost impossible to find several people who can sing equally. It is unlikely that you will be able to change your voice radically. But if you turn to a teacher, it is quite possible to improve its coloring.
How to determine the timbre of a voice?
It is almost impossible to determine the timbre on your own, without certain knowledge and skills. At home, you can only tentatively attribute your voice to one or another type of timbre. The most accurate data can be obtained by using specialized equipment - a spectrometer. It studies the outgoing sound, and then classifies it in the correct direction. You can read more about spectrometers at the end of the article.
How to change your voice tone
The timbre of the voice largely depends on the characteristics of the human body. The volume, shape of the trachea and oral resonator, as well as the tightness of the closure of the vocal cords are of great importance. Therefore, it is not possible to radically change the sound of the voice.
However, you can give the timbre the necessary coloring by adding low or high overtones and achieving their ideal balance. There are various exercises for this, for example, pronouncing the soft fricative “r”.
The shape of the lips and the position of the tongue have a great influence on the timbre. You can experiment, for example, changing the position of the jaw and talking with a fixed lower lip.
At the age of three, a person’s voice pattern changes and he becomes more constrained. We diligently control volume and intonation, strain our ligaments and, as a result, use only a small part of our capabilities. How to restore your natural voice? Exercises and techniques will also help you with this. You can find out more detailed information about them by watching the video:
What affects voice timbre?
- First of all, smoking should be noted. The longer the experience of this addiction, the lower the timbre of the voice.
- Poor nutrition, chronic lack of sleep. You need to understand that any mood, be it good or bad, affects the timbre of your voice.
- Hypothermia, cold. Everything is obvious here. You need to protect yourself from the cold, try not to drink ice-cold drinks and give up ice cream.
- The period of growing up. During adolescence, the timbre of the voice becomes rougher. Of course, it is impossible to change this process.
Spectrometer and more
The device that is used to determine the timbre of the voice is called a spectrometer. Its device includes a special-purpose microphone and a sound amplifier. During its operation, sound is divided into components using electroacoustic filters. This entire process is displayed on the device display. Then the device examines the composition of the speech sound in certain formats, since it is the speech format that has a direct impact on the recognition of the voice sound in singing. Most often, the device recognizes the timbre of a voice by the way the first three vowel sounds are pronounced.
How to find out your voice timbre? It is best to sign up for several lessons with a qualified professional who trains the singing voice. To determine timbre, they use parameters such as tessitura endurance and some other characteristics.
In order to determine the timbre of the voice, the vocal teacher selects works that have different tessitura. This allows you to determine which note pitches work best for a particular vocalist. By singing several pieces of music that have different musical octaves, you can determine which of them you can sing easily and comfortably, and which you have to sing with strain on your vocal cords. Each person tends to play notes of a certain pitch. Only an experienced teacher will be able to correctly assess the range and timbre of each vocalist’s voice by the way he sings individual notes in a certain octave, and will name the main differences between falsetto and chest voice or tenor and baritone.
Each woman has her own ideal, it can be a voice with a hoarseness, or a clear timbre, but I am one hundred percent sure that all women will unanimously say: “Of course, a low voice.”
Why does this happen? Perhaps the answer is genetics - deep voice = fortitude = success. Success may include different parameters, but in any case, be it getting food, that is, hunting (the preference of women of ancient times), childbearing (a value at all times) - still, the owner of a powerful voice will be perceived on a subconscious level as an alpha male, a kind of brutal macho. , at whose feet all the individuals he meets on the way throw themselves - some out of fear, some out of lust (depending on the situation or preferences).
“Everywhere you spit there are only pure machos, but there’s a real shortage of men”
Although, again, the same scientists give hope: even if the male voice does not have such strong charisma, it can still have an advantage for ladies. Guess why? It is unlikely that such a thing as fidelity will occur to you. Yes Yes!
This is fidelity - it is believed that in men with high-pitched voices this quality is developed to a greater extent than in representatives of the stronger sex, who with their voice, roar and, of course, intelligence try to conquer as many women as possible. So, rejoice, everyone - friendship has won! For some, victory, for others, the warmth of true love - there is plenty to choose from!
It has long been proven that testosterone affects the quality of voice in men, but its role should not be exaggerated. A very low voice does not mean that a given man has an excess of this hormone. If this were so, then the entire bass line of opera houses would be observed by specialists - endocrinologists.
And vice versa, dear girls, I draw your attention to the fact that if a man can sing high, this does not mean that he speaks high, or that he has low level testosterone, most likely a man, has a large range. The main thing is in what register he speaks.
Transitions from a whisper to a powerful chest tone saturate Miles' voice with overtones that are so pleasant to the female ear, and his large range and excellent technique allow him to hit high notes, both in the falsetto register and in the mixed register.
A little about the technique of male vocals: in the chest register, the vocal folds close tightly and vibrate with their entire mass. The vibration also includes the arytenoid cartilages. This tightness of closure creates a rich, bright, strong and sonorous voice. This requires relatively little breathing. In the falsetto mode, only the edges of the folds vibrate and a spindle-shaped gap remains between them, through which air flows freely. Therefore, the sounds of natural falsetto have a blown character, are poor in overtones and do not have much power.
Let's move on to pleasant things, so what attracts us women to men's voices?
Monotonous male voice? Enemies are afraid, women love. Researchers from the University of California and the University of Pennsylvania found that women are turned on by a monotonous male voice. Not boring, but monotonous. Without transitions to high tones and excessive expressiveness.
A man's monotonous voice is a sign of independence, power and strength. Such a person shows that he is in control of the situation. He is courageous and not afraid of danger. Women like this voice. They subconsciously feel a man who can protect them in any situation.
In this recording, British actor Alan Rickman reads Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.
What to do?
Get used to speaking calmly, without harshness or vain expressiveness. They are afraid not of those who speak emotionally, but of calm equanimity. In calm speech there is more threat and warning.
Male whisper
Many men neglect to speak in a whisper. But in vain! Scientists have found that women are aroused by male whispers. Researchers say that it is best to use hissing consonant sounds (zh, sh, ch, sch) in words. These sounds have the most stimulating effect on the female mind and body.
Legend of Russian dubbing Vladimir Eremin
What to do?
Tell the girl in a whisper in her ear: “Sasha was walking along the highway and sucking on a dryer.” You can choose other words, but remember the hissing consonants!
This conclusion was made by scientists who published their article in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society. The authors note that the ability to determine the strength of the enemy through the voice exists in animals, which is why it is possible that it is also present in people. That is why the natural world is filled with many voices, thanks to which certain species of the animal world manage to profitably “stake out” the most profitable territory for themselves. In the animal world, this is a normal phenomenon when rival individuals assess the strength of the enemy, for example, by roaring.
All singing voices are divided into women's, men's and children's. Basic women's voices- This soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto, and the most common male voices are tenor, baritone and bass.
All sounds that can be sung or played on a musical instrument are high, medium and low. When musicians talk about the pitch of sounds, they use the term "register", implying whole groups of high, middle or low sounds.
In a global sense, female voices sing sounds of a high or “upper” register, children’s voices sing sounds of a middle register, and male voices sing sounds of a low or “lower” register. But this is only partly true; in fact, everything is much more interesting. Within each group of voices, and even within the range of each individual voice, there is also a division into high, middle and low register.
For example, a high male voice is a tenor, a middle voice is a baritone, and a low voice is a bass. Or, another example, singers have the highest voice - soprano, the middle voice of vocalists is mezzo-soprano, and the low voice is contralto. To finally understand the division of male and female, and at the same time, children’s voices into high and low, this tablet will help you:
If we talk about the registers of any one voice, then each of them has both low and high sounds. For example, a tenor sings both low chest sounds and high falsetto sounds, which are inaccessible to basses or baritones.
Female singing voices
So, the main types of female singing voices are soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto. They differ primarily in range, as well as timbre coloring. Timbre properties include, for example, transparency, lightness or, conversely, saturation, and strength of voice.
Soprano– the highest female singing voice, its usual range is two octaves (entirely the first and second octave). In opera performances, the roles of the main characters are often performed by singers with such a voice. If speak about artistic images, then a high-pitched voice best characterizes a young girl or some fantastic character (for example, a fairy).
Sopranos, according to the nature of their sound, are divided into lyrical and dramatic– you yourself can easily imagine that the parts of a very tender girl and a very passionate girl cannot be performed by the same performer. If a voice easily copes with fast passages and flourishes in its high register, then such a soprano is called coloratura.
Contralto– it has already been said that this is the lowest of women’s voices, moreover, very beautiful, velvety, and also very rare (in some opera houses there is not a single contralto). A singer with such a voice in operas is often assigned the roles of teenage boys.
Below is a table that names examples of opera roles that are often performed by certain female singing voices:
Let's listen to how women's singing voices sound. Here are three video examples for you:
Soprano. Aria of the Queen of the Night from the opera “The Magic Flute” by Mozart performed by Bela Rudenko
Mezzo-soprano. Habanera from the opera Carmen by Bizet performed by the famous singer Elena Obraztsova
Contralto. Ratmir's aria from the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by Glinka, performed by Elizaveta Antonova.
Male singing voices
There are only three main male voices - tenor, bass and baritone. Tenor Of these, the highest, its pitch range is the notes of the small and first octaves. By analogy with the soprano timbre, performers with this timbre are divided into dramatic tenors and lyric tenors. In addition, sometimes they mention such a variety of singers as "characteristic" tenor. “Character” is given to it by some phonic effect - for example, silveriness or rattling. A characteristic tenor is simply irreplaceable where it is necessary to create the image of a gray-haired old man or some cunning rascal.
Baritone– this voice is distinguished by its softness, density and velvety sound. The range of sounds that a baritone can sing is from A major octave to A first octave. Performers with such a timbre are often entrusted with courageous roles of characters in operas of a heroic or patriotic nature, but the softness of the voice allows them to reveal loving and lyrical images.
Bass– the voice is the lowest, can sing sounds from F of the large octave to F of the first. The basses are different: some are rolling, “droning”, “bell-like”, others are hard and very “graphic”. Accordingly, the parts of the characters for the basses are varied: these are heroic, “fatherly”, and ascetic, and even comic images.
You are probably interested to know which of the male singing voices is the lowest? This bass profundo, sometimes singers with such a voice are also called octavists, since they “take” low notes from the counter-octave. By the way, we have not yet mentioned the highest male voice- This tenor-altino or countertenor, who sings quite calmly in an almost feminine voice and easily reaches the high notes of the second octave.
As in previous case, male singing voices with examples of their operatic roles are displayed in the tablet:
Now listen to the sound of male singing voices. Here are three more video examples for you.
Tenor. Song of the Indian guest from the opera “Sadko” by Rimsky-Korsakov, performed by David Poslukhin.
Baritone. Gliere's romance “The nightingale soul sang sweetly,” sung by Leonid Smetannikov
Bass. Prince Igor's aria from Borodin's opera "Prince Igor" was originally written for baritone, but in this case it is sung by one of the best basses of the 20th century - Alexander Pirogov.
The working range of a professionally trained vocalist's voice is usually two octaves on average, although sometimes singers and singers have much greater capabilities. In order for you to have a good understanding of tessitura when choosing notes for practice, I suggest you get acquainted with the picture, which clearly demonstrates the permissible ranges for each of the voices:
Before concluding, I want to please you with one more tablet, with which you can get acquainted with vocalists who have one or another voice timbre. This is necessary so that you can independently find and listen to even more audio examples of the sound of male and female singing voices:
That's all! We talked about what types of voices singers have, we figured out the basics of their classification, the size of their ranges, the expressive capabilities of timbres, and also listened to examples of the sound of the voices of famous vocalists. If you liked the material, share it on your contact page or on your Twitter feed. There are special buttons under the article for this. Good luck!
