Vocal Acoustics And The Messa Di Voce

This paper examines the historical development of the messa di voce, a simple crescendo-decrescendo on a single pitch. The messa di voce demands technical control over breath energy, glottal resistance, vocal tract modulations, and acoustic events. A study was conducted to examine the spectral balance in the voices of four professional opera singers as each performed a series of messa di voci in three distinct vocal registers. Employing an easy-to-use mobile phone application, spectrograms of each sample were produced and analyzed for the frequency modulations of the vocal tract, revealing common acoustic strategies for negotiating the exercise. This project proposes that spectrographic analysis can accelerate progress toward technical mastery of the vocal instrument.