Register (music)
A register is the "height" or range of a note, set of pitches[1] or pitch classes, melody, part, instrument, or group of instruments. A higher register indicates higher pitch.
In
- Example 2: The middle Con the piano) would be in that instrument's first register, whereas the second register — where overblowing is needed — begins at E5.
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.
A "register" of the human voice is a series of tones of like quality originating through operation of the
- A particular segment of the vocal range;
- A resonance area such as chest voice or head voice;
- A phonatory process;
- A certain vocal timbre; or
- A region of the voice set off by vocal breaks.[2]
See also
- Ambitus
- Chest register
- Head register
- Organ stop and organ registration
- Tessitura
- Vocal registration
References
- ^ a b Large, John (February–March 1972). "Towards an Integrated Physiologic-Acoustic Theory of Vocal Registers". The NATS Bulletin. 28: 30–35.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-56593-940-0.
Further reading
- "Hints on Singing". Manuel Garcia. New York: Joseph Patelson Music House (1894)
- "Singing the Mechanism and the Technic" by William Vennard (1967)
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