Speak Like You Sing: Integrating Classical Techniques From Theatre and Music in Spoken Dialogue for Opera

In order to maintain characterization throughout a production, opera singers frequently need skills in more than one vocal task. This exploratory study investigated spoken dialogue before and after two hours of training (one-hour class, one-hour tutorial) in the use of language as an actor, with breath management, pitch range, and resonance strategies of a singer. Comparative recordings of sung and spoken material were analyzed for acoustic qualities.

At the National Opera Center, New York, six professional singers from different voice categories recorded one minute of spoken dialogue before training. Approximately a week later, they recorded one minute of an aria, unaccompanied, followed by the spoken dialogue post-training, then improvised a one - two-minute performance moving between singing and speaking. Data were analyzed for fundamental frequency (F0), sound pressure level (SPL), and long-term average spectrum (LTAS).

Comparing for all singers pre- to post-training, mean F0 of spoken dialogue increased and SPL mean and range increased. Comparing aria to spoken dialogue post-training, SPL range increased. F0 ranges were closer to each other in improvisation than in separate performances of aria and dialogue. Energy peaks between 2 and 4 kHz on LTAS appeared in more than one performing condition.

In spoken dialogue post-training, some F0 and SPL data gravitated toward those of the aria and away from the initial recording, suggesting that participants were beginning to transfer production skills from singing to speaking. A perceptual study is needed to assess characterization and the use of language pre- and post-training.