From: Emlyn O'regan (oregan.emlyn@healthsolve.com.au)
Date: Sun Apr 07 2002 - 23:58:30 MDT
> -----Original Message-----
> From: spike66 [mailto:spike66@ATTBI.com]
> Sent: Monday, 8 April 2002 2:48 PM
> To: extropians@extropy.org
> Subject: Re: Body mods for singers
>
>
> Emlyn O'regan wrote:
>
> >Hi all,
> >
> >I had some wild'n'crazy ideas over the weekend about some
> modifications
> >specifically for singing. Here they are in all their glory.
> >
> >-----
> >1 - Visual cue to pitch
> >-----
> >Now, I came across an intriguing contraption recently
> online, the MidiVox...
> >
> >http://www.healingmusic.net/MidiVoxFrame1Source1.htm
> >
> >...I think that if you trained with something like that
> >for a few weeks, you'd achieve perfect pitch.
> >
> Emlyn it takes years to develop perfect pitch, if ever. This device
> might help, but a few weeks is surely a stretch.
It takes years to develop perfect pitch because we don't have the right
tools. If you could hum a note and see it, you'd be well on your way. You
can learn perfect pitch, it's all about feedback and practice, as far as I
can see.
Maybe a few weeks is a stretch.
Actually, I guess I could try this by setting up a mike and feeding the
signal into something which would visualise it for me, then practising in
front of a monitor. Anyone know any good software for this?
>
> >-----
> >2 - Voice mod drugs
> >-----
> >
> >More interestly, near the end of the period, the top of my
> range came back,
> >albeit a bit wobbly, and the new bottom stayed. It's gone
> now that the
> >cold's cleared up, but for a few days I had almost 2 and a
> half octaves of
> >usable range, including the ability to reach to a full basses' range.
> >
> We already know that breathing helium makes ones voice sound funny.
> I was at a band concert and wondered what would happen if one were
> to breathe helium and play a saxophone. Any guesses what happened?
>
> It made the sax high pitched. {8-]
It's ok for sax players, you can just go get an alto sax if you want to play
high. Singers are more restricted.
Ideally I'd like to not use helium; not a healthy choice.
>
> >-----
> >3 - External lung
> >-----
> >
> >This is my craziest idea, in my opinion. I've been thinking
> about the need
> >for singers to breathe. While breath is one of my personal
> strengths, I
> >nevertheless look at the ability of other wind instrument
> players to perform
> >tricks such as circular breathing, and think "why can't we do that"?
> >
> The reason singers cant do that is that circular breathing on a sax
> requires one to puff ones cheeks, close the throat and inhale quickly
> through the nose while keeping the tone playing by collapsing the
> cheeks. Does not apply to singers.
I know that Spike :-) But the key is that the breath stream to the sound
production equipment is continuous; harder to do with singing.
>
> >This leads me to the idea that creating another path into
> the lungs, into
> >which air could be pumped, would be an excellent
> modification for a singer.
> >
> OK tenors, line up here, have a hose punched into your bronchial tube.
>
> Tenors?...
How about a baritone?
I'm (semi) serious about this idea. Wouldn't an automatic air injection
system for humans be useful for quite a variety of fields?
>
> {8-] Emlyn I have toyed with the idea of having an air tube in
> the corner of the mouth while playing the sax, but the problem
> is a good player controls the tone by shaping of the resonance
> chamber, which is the back of the throat, and controls the pitch
> to a certain extent by the pressure of the air column, which is
> driven by the diaphragm. I setting my air compressor regulator
> down low enough to be sure I wouldn't give myself air embolism,
> then tried breathing the air from the compressor. I learned the
> air in the compressor tank has an oily taste. {8-P
>
> I didn't get as far as trying it with the sax.
>
> This might be a fun experiment, one which I would repeat if
> someone could suggest a way to get clean air and a reliable
> method of controlling the pressure without risking blowing
> a hole in my lungs. {8-]
>
> spike
>
Let me know how you make out with this.
Can you create a tube with a valve which will open once pressure gets to a
certain level, spilling out excess air?
Emlyn
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