Learning the altissimo register of the saxophone
(2017)
author(s): Emma Jones
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Emma Jones
Main Subject: Classical Saxophone
Research Supervisor: Pete Saunders
Research Title: Learning the altissimo register of the saxophone.
Research Questions: What are the different approaches to teaching the saxophones altissimo register? Can a combination of these approaches lead to a confident and comfortable use of this register?
Summary: This paper looks at how the altissimo register is taught by a number of performing saxophonists and teachers and how advice from lots of different voices can lead to the moment of understanding with the altissimo register. Several method books exist to help access the register but there are few resources for the initial stages of its performance. A collection of short studies based on selected standard repertoire have been composed as a resource for students who are approaching works that demand the use of the altissimo register. A recording of the study and the excerpt of the original material accompanies a small pedagogical text to help the reader towards success.
Biography:
Emma Jones is a British classical saxophonist. She graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire with a 1st class honours in 2015 studying under Naomi Sullivan and is in her final year at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. She aspires to perform regularly as an orchestral saxophonist and makes up half of the Element Duo who released their debut album in 2015.
The use of Bel Canto singing in the Italian opera of the XVIII century
(2015)
author(s): Mariana Andrade Pimenta
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Mariana Andrade Pimenta
Main Subject: Early Music Singing
Research Coach: Inês de Avena Braga
Title of Research: The technical principles of Bel Canto in the 18th and 19th centuries:
an experimental case study on dynamic range
Research Question: How did the vocal exercises from Bel Canto singing influence my
singing technique, especially in the dynamic range associated with pitch?
Summary of Results:
The format chosen by the author for this investigation was the Research Paper, as this
study required an investment on knowledge about Bel Canto singing technique and the
application of the latest into her singing practice, which resulted into a deep reflection
and reached new conclusions. The focus of the practical sessions of the author was on her
dynamic range. The purpose was to increase flexibility in her dynamic range in the
different registers of the voice. The research went through the following process: (1) an
audio recording of G. F. Händel aria: “Se Pietà di me non senti”, from the opera Giulio
Cesare; (2) in this same phase of the research, she used the software Voice Profiler 5.1 to
record her Voice Range Profile (VRP), the same piece and the vowel /a/, throughout the
vocal registers, exploring the complete dynamic range of her voice; (3) after three months
of practicing specific exercises designed to train the dynamic range, the same recordings
were made and also a comparison with the first ones. The results indicated that the
training had an impact: An increase of flexibility in realizing Messa di Voce was verified
in the author’s middle vocal register. This impact did not happen in the highest vocal
register, where technical differences were not detected by the VRP recording. The latest
result is also applicable in the Händel aria. This method has proved to be beneficial in the
middle section of the author’s vocal range. The appliance of this method is a work in
process, which the author believes that it should bring more beneficial results; it offered
the author a much bigger awareness of the breathing system, which resulted in a better
quality Messa di Voce. The knowledge gained from the sources from the 18th and 19th
centuries, guided the practical study in this investigation. In future studies, the author
wishes to further research Italian vocal technique and use this important knowledge of
historical information by transferring it to her singing practice. The outcome of the
present study is an interesting interdisciplinary fusion between Old Italian vocal
pedagogy of Bel canto singing and advanced vocal technology.
Biography:
Mariana Pimenta is a soprano born in Madeira Island, Portugal. She graduated in
Classical singing in Aveiro, Portugal in 2011 and started her specialization in Early
Music Singing at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in 2012. As a performer Mariana
has been performing as a soloist and in ensemble singing, in some countries, as The
Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Ecuador.
Searching for the Top Range in Early Nineteenth Century Bassoon Repertoire from Sweden: Issues of Material and/or Technique?'
(2014)
author(s): Donna Agrell
published in: KC Research Portal
It is not uncommon to find a range of three full octaves in late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century bassoon repertoire, but passages ascending above b-flat' or c' were relatively rare. Composers active in Stockholm at the beginning of the nineteenth century such as Bernhard Crusell, Eduoard Dupuy, Franz Berwald and Eduard Brendler wrote pieces encompassing a range of Bb – to e-flat'', inspired by the Preumayr brothers, in particular the youngest, Frans Preumayr, who was an internationally known soloist and principal bassoonist in the Swedish Royal Orchestra from 1811–1835.
In conjunction with my current PhD research in the docARTES program at Leiden University and the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague, dealing with early nineteenth century bassoon repertoire in Sweden, one of my goals was to discover the means of reaching these top notes and integrating them into a fluid technique which would enable historical bassoonists to perform this extraordinary repertoire composed for the virtuoso Preumayr. I wondered if the keys to the high register might be found in a special reed type, or a physical technique involving, for example, jaw position? Was Frans Preumayr's ability dependent on a particular model of bassoon? Or could other factors be involved that I hadn't yet considered?