Register (music)
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In music, a register is the relative "height" or range of a note, set of pitches or pitch classes, melody, part, instrument or group of instruments. A higher register indicates higher pitch.
In woodwind and brass instruments, the word register usually distinguishes pitch ranges produced using different normal modes of the air column, with higher registers produced by overblowing. Often the timbres of different woodwind instrument registers tend to be markedly different.
- Example 2: The Western concert flute plays approximately three and a half octaves and generally has three complete registers and one partial register. The musical note C4 (corresponding to middle C on the piano) would be in that instrument's first register, whereas C5 (one octave higher) would be in its second register.
However, on the clarinet the notes from (written) G4 or A4 to B♭4 sometimes are regarded as a separate "throat register", even though both they and the notes from F♯4 down are produced using the instrument's lowest normal mode; the timbre of the throat notes differs, and the throat register's fingerings also are distinctive, using special keys and not the standard tone holes used for other notes.
The register in which an instrument plays, or in which a part is written, affects the quality of sound or timbre. Register is also used structurally in musical form, with the climax of a piece usually being in the highest register of that piece. Often, serial and other pieces will use fixed register, allowing a pitch class to be expressed through only one pitch.
[edit] Register in singing
In singing, registers are determined by the character of the vibrations of the vocal cords. There are four vibration patterns, or methods: the fry, model (normal singing and speaking), falsetto and whistle. Although, ideally one would like to say that a trained voice only has one register without breaks or holes, the realistic theory is that each voice has three registers. In a man's voice registers are most frequently called "chest," "head," and "falsetto." In a woman's voice they are "chest," "middle," and "head." A singer can move from one register to the other without even noticing. Registers can even overlap while singing. Teachers who like to use this theory of "blending registers" usually help students through the "passage" from one register to another by hiding their "lift" (where the voice changes). Basses largely sing in "chest" with some use of "head" for very high tones; their falsetto is never used, except for comical effects. Tenors sing in "chest" up to F4 or F4 sharp, then passing into "head" up to at least an A and then enter into "falsetto." Sopranos sing largely in "head" and altos highly on "chest." It is when both voices find their "middle" register and how to get into it that their vocal development really begins.
"A register is a series of consecutive homogeneous sounds produced by one mechanism, differing essentially from another series of sounds equally homogeneous produced by another mechanism, whatever modifications of timbre and of strength they may offer." (Garcia 1894)
[edit] Source
- "Hints on Singing". Manuel Garcia. New York: Joseph Patelson Music House (1894)
- "Singing the Mechanism and the Technic" by William Vennard (1967)
[edit] See also
de:Register (Musik)es:Registro musical fr:Registre (musique) nl:Register (vocologie) ro:Registru (muzică)
