Die Gesangtechnik des Beltings - eine Studie über Atemdruck, Lungenvolumen und Atembewegungen

Abstract

Subglottal pressure, lung volume and breathing movements in Belting and Legit

Belting is a term commonly used for a loud, shouting-like singing voice quality frequently used in Broadway shows. Yet, there is still confusion amongst vocal coaches, when it comes to a definition of „Belting“, presumably because of a lack of understanding of its physiological characteristics. The aim of this study was to find out whether or not the belting style is associated with some particular breathing patterns. Subglottal pressure, captured as the oral pressure during the occlusion for the consonant /p/, lung volumes and breathing movements, captured by Respitrace ©, were analysed in five professional musical theatre singers, all performing belting on stage at the time of the experiment. They performed a series of vocal tasks both in belting and in the non-belting style commonly referred to as “legit”, being a more lyrical, almost classical style, which is also commonly used in musical theatre performances. A listening test was performed in which a panel of professional experts were asked to classify single tones as either belting or legit. The results showed that the tones that the panel most unanimously classified as belting were produced (1) with higher subglottal pressures, (2) with higher lung volumes both in the initiation and the termination of phrases, and (3) with slightly lower air consumption than tones produced in the legit style. On the other hand the singers produce belting with different breathing strategies and breathing behaviours.