The effect of singing mode and seating arrangement on choral blend and overall choral sound /

This study examined the effect of choristers' vocal production and seating arrangement on evaluations of choral blend and overall choral sound. Two singing modes were studied: (1) "soloistic" singing, in which choristers attempted to maintain normal solo vocal production; and (2) "blended" singing, in which choristers tried to maximize homogeneity of ensemble sound. Seating arrangements examined were: (1) random sectional seating, and (2) sectional seating according to "acoustic matching" of voices Crossing the 2 factors produced 4 experimental conditions.An ad hoc choir, composed of 22 university voice majors, was recorded singing 4 choral pieces under each experimental condition. Thirty-seven choral conductors, 33 voice teachers and 32 nonvocal musicians rated the performances according to 7 standard evaluative criteria, and wrote comments. Eight of the choristers were recorded individually during the performances. These choristers was also recorded singing their parts as solo songs. Twelve voice teachers evaluated the vocal production of these a choristers. They ranked the 5 performances of each piece (4 choral and solo) by each chorister, and wrote comments. All choristers rated the 4 choral experimental conditions for each piece on a 5-point scale, according to vocal comfort and choral sound, and wrote comments.Analysis of choral performance ratings revealed a significant seating arrangement effect in favor of acoustic seating over random seating. Singing mode had a significant effect in favor of blended singing over soloistic singing on choral conductors' ratings for all seven criteria. This effect was observed in the voice teachers only "blend/homogeneity." Otherwise, no significant singing mode effect was voice teachers and nonvocal musicians.On the basis of individual vocal production, voice teachers ranked solo singing significantly higher than the 2 choral singing modes, and soloistic choral singing higher than blended choral singing. Moreover, they ranked acoustic seating higher than random seating.Choristers rated acoustic seating higher than random seating for vocal comfort and choral sound. They preferred blended singing to soloistic singing for choral sound. For vocal comfort, sopranos preferred soloistic singing to blended singing, tenors preferred blended singing to soloistic singing. Altos and basses showed no singing mode preference for vocal comfort