Does your church say "You're not welcome here" to 20% of the people who come through its doors?
What if you told 20% of your visitors, "you may listen to the music, but we're really not interested in letting you sing." That's about the same thing as saying "not welcome," isn't it? Yet that's exactly what many churches are communicating to men who happen to have low voices. Worship songs are led by high voices, and no tools are provided to help the low voices join in.
I've been visiting a lot of churches recently, and in most of them, there are legions of men sitting toward the back, silently mouthing the songs or not participating at all. In the churches with the highest-pitched music, it appears that many older men have stopped coming altogether. I've noticed the same thing from the platform: when the pitch goes up, the men shut down, unless an effort is made to enable them to sing.
Not only are these men made to feel unwelcome. They have no place else to go. Many churches are doing the same thing at the same time, as they transition away from hymn books and toward projected lyrics and contemporary praise songs.
If your church suffers from the "missing male," it may be a physiological response to your worship style, not the spiritual crisis which is so often blamed.
This issue is particularly important if you want to have a multicultural congregation (such as this 1980 study by Hudson and Holbrook) indicates that black adults have a lower vocal range than whites.
There are many ways these churches could improve their low-voice ministry, if they cared to. They could sing some songs with a lower tessitura (possibly alienating the sopranos and tenors!), place low voices on their praise teams, choose song arrangements with wide harmonies, take time to teach harmony parts to the congregation, choose arrangements which don't clobber harmonies which the congregation already knows how to sing, use a choir as song leaders, choose instrumentation to guide the low voices, mix sound so as not to bury low pitches, or even use hymnals or songbooks to accommodate those who read music.
Yes, I sing bass. In many churches, even as a trained musician--with some choral and barbershop singing background, and experience playing instrumental harmonies to many of the songs--I have great difficulty hearing my part. Surely it's even harder for those without the training.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
More on duet dissonance
See Duet dissonance: the experts speak for an update
I mentioned that two violins playing in unison usually sound out of tune. I've heard a rule of thumb that "any small, even number of stringed instruments will sound terrible."
Is this true? If so, why does it happen?
Much of the energy in a violin note isn't in the fundamental tone, but in the overtones. When two violins play the same note, the fundamental tone is in tune (we hope!), but some of the overtones are most likely not in tune. The frequencies and relative strengths of the overtones are affected by the violin string and the structure of the violin, among other things. A listener will hear "beats" as the out-of-tune overtones move in and out of phase with one another. Adding a third violin greatly increases the complexity of the overtones (we could call this "richness of the sound"), making any given pair of overtones less obvious.
I suspect there are some deeper physics and psychoacoustics in this phenomenon. Helmholtz roughness curves are a promising approach. There is quite a bit of research out there on consonance and dissonance (possibly because it's a realistic topic for undergraduate-level laboratory research). But in my casual reading and Googling, I haven't found any research which directly addresses this particular problem.
Comments are welcome.
I mentioned that two violins playing in unison usually sound out of tune. I've heard a rule of thumb that "any small, even number of stringed instruments will sound terrible."
Is this true? If so, why does it happen?
Much of the energy in a violin note isn't in the fundamental tone, but in the overtones. When two violins play the same note, the fundamental tone is in tune (we hope!), but some of the overtones are most likely not in tune. The frequencies and relative strengths of the overtones are affected by the violin string and the structure of the violin, among other things. A listener will hear "beats" as the out-of-tune overtones move in and out of phase with one another. Adding a third violin greatly increases the complexity of the overtones (we could call this "richness of the sound"), making any given pair of overtones less obvious.
I suspect there are some deeper physics and psychoacoustics in this phenomenon. Helmholtz roughness curves are a promising approach. There is quite a bit of research out there on consonance and dissonance (possibly because it's a realistic topic for undergraduate-level laboratory research). But in my casual reading and Googling, I haven't found any research which directly addresses this particular problem.
Comments are welcome.
Two violins
Two violins playing in unison always sound terrible.
When two violins play the same note at the same time, the overtones and vibratos combine to create beats which make them sound out of tune, even if they are perfectly in tune. If you have two violins in your church band, do whatever it takes to keep this from happening. If the two violins are playing completely different parts, there shouldn't be any problem.
Violin duets usually sound best when there's lots of movement in both parts. Good examples include the revered Bach double concerto, or the hymn arrangements played by Ben and Alex Russell.
Some options for dividing the parts include:
For congregational singing, the violinists might want to ask themselves a few questions: Is the part I'm playing helping the congregation stay oriented (through fills and introductions which clearly indicate when to start singing)? Is the part I'm playing helping the congregation find the right note to sing (by playing melody or harmony parts in a register which will be audible)? Or is the part I'm playing a distraction (yanking attention from the overall mix and making people wonder what you're going to do next)?
Sound reinforcement for a duet usually consists of well-matched pickups or a shared mic. If the two violins are playing parts which are very different from one another, it is possible to use pickups which are less matched.
When two violins play the same note at the same time, the overtones and vibratos combine to create beats which make them sound out of tune, even if they are perfectly in tune. If you have two violins in your church band, do whatever it takes to keep this from happening. If the two violins are playing completely different parts, there shouldn't be any problem.
Violin duets usually sound best when there's lots of movement in both parts. Good examples include the revered Bach double concerto, or the hymn arrangements played by Ben and Alex Russell.
Some options for dividing the parts include:
- For orchestral arrangements, one violin plays the Violin I part, and the other plays the Violin II part.
- For hymns, one violin plays the melody (sometimes up an octave), and the other plays the alto line.
- For pop songs, one violin plays variations on the melody, and the other plays along with the bass.
- One violin plays the melody, the other improvises a high ostinato.
- One violin plays drone notes, the other plays a rhythmic fiddle patterns.
For congregational singing, the violinists might want to ask themselves a few questions: Is the part I'm playing helping the congregation stay oriented (through fills and introductions which clearly indicate when to start singing)? Is the part I'm playing helping the congregation find the right note to sing (by playing melody or harmony parts in a register which will be audible)? Or is the part I'm playing a distraction (yanking attention from the overall mix and making people wonder what you're going to do next)?
Sound reinforcement for a duet usually consists of well-matched pickups or a shared mic. If the two violins are playing parts which are very different from one another, it is possible to use pickups which are less matched.
Monday, March 24, 2008
One violin
This is the first in a series of articles about how to use different numbers of violins.
A lone violinist provides a wide variety of options. The violinist is free to choose almost any style of playing, as long as it fits with the rest of the group. The violinist is free to improvise (if they are able) or to play from sheet music (if it is available).
Since many contemporary worship albums these days include solo violin parts, imitating those parts by ear is a good option. Unfortunately, many of those solo parts are not available as sheet music (sheet music tends to assume the presence of an "orchestra," and doesn't precisely match the most popular recordings).
Since there is no need to blend with other violins, sound reinforcement options are unlimited. The solo violinist can buy electronic toys and not worry about obligating anyone else to buy matching equipment. You can play with effects to your heart's desire--anything from subtle reverb to distortion and crunches. The perennial favorite, however, remains a sweet, pure violin sound with just a touch of reverb.
The violinist can be physically positioned just about anywhere. If you like the sound of a conventional mic, the violinist can easily be positioned away from loud instruments and monitors. If you want to have close interaction between the violinist and another player, they can be placed near each other. With a wireless pickup, the violinist can even move around.
A lone violin can present a bit of a problem for richly orchestrated works (including many musicals). Avoid the temptation to add a chorus effect to try to simulate a full violin section; the result is inevitably artificial sounding. Sometimes, however, I've succeeded in using a subtle chorus effect for a very short passage of music. If you need to fill out the string sound, a better option is to use a keyboard with a realistic strings stop, then carefully blend in the solo violin. To ensure seamless communication, be sure to place the violinist right next to the keyboardist, and consider giving both of them IEMs (in-ear monitors).
A lone violinist provides a wide variety of options. The violinist is free to choose almost any style of playing, as long as it fits with the rest of the group. The violinist is free to improvise (if they are able) or to play from sheet music (if it is available).
Since many contemporary worship albums these days include solo violin parts, imitating those parts by ear is a good option. Unfortunately, many of those solo parts are not available as sheet music (sheet music tends to assume the presence of an "orchestra," and doesn't precisely match the most popular recordings).
Since there is no need to blend with other violins, sound reinforcement options are unlimited. The solo violinist can buy electronic toys and not worry about obligating anyone else to buy matching equipment. You can play with effects to your heart's desire--anything from subtle reverb to distortion and crunches. The perennial favorite, however, remains a sweet, pure violin sound with just a touch of reverb.
The violinist can be physically positioned just about anywhere. If you like the sound of a conventional mic, the violinist can easily be positioned away from loud instruments and monitors. If you want to have close interaction between the violinist and another player, they can be placed near each other. With a wireless pickup, the violinist can even move around.
A lone violin can present a bit of a problem for richly orchestrated works (including many musicals). Avoid the temptation to add a chorus effect to try to simulate a full violin section; the result is inevitably artificial sounding. Sometimes, however, I've succeeded in using a subtle chorus effect for a very short passage of music. If you need to fill out the string sound, a better option is to use a keyboard with a realistic strings stop, then carefully blend in the solo violin. To ensure seamless communication, be sure to place the violinist right next to the keyboardist, and consider giving both of them IEMs (in-ear monitors).
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Sitting this one out
This is the first Easter in about 10 years when I haven't played in an Easter musical or Easter Sunday production. It's worked out well, though. I've had a cold which would have greatly impaired my ability to rehearse. I plan to attend an Easter service at Calvary Worship Center in Colorado Springs, and just worship and enjoy.
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