Title =: The Art of Shaping Choral Tone A. Conducting gestures in relation to choral tone B. Diction and its modifications in choral singing 1. Introduction Every time we go to a choral or orchestral concert, we often admire the conductor’s power of commanding the forces and we are amazed at what the conductor can do to shape the tone of the designated forces. As a true listener and choral director, we need to describe verbally why.and how he can do such and such thing, and how such conducting gestures shape the tone colour of the forces, The tone colour of a choir is definitely governed by the kind of vocal production technique being employed by the choral director during rehearsals, This is a crucial element that affects the tone of a choir. However, a good and “musically authentic” choir should not only be able to produce “the special tone colour” that characterizes the tone of their choir. The tone colour of a choir must also be shaped consciously according to the style of a piece. In other words, a good choral director should be able to conduct music of different periods according to its style and interpretation. To sing or conduct all or most of the music in just one or a few tone colours or styles is certainly unfair to the composer. Choral tone must vary according to the mood and style of different pieces, otherwise the choir will sound the same with all types of compositions. For example, a singer sings differently in tone colour and style for a Western operatic aria, Cantonese opera aria, folk song, pop song and song from a musical, while the principles of voice production (i.e. breath and support ) are the same, although only few singers can sing both art song and pop song successfully in style. ‘Yeh Cheung-shing 1Different types of choirs produce different kinds of tone. For instance, a junior secondary school girls’ choir, an operatic chorus in which it consists mostly of operatic soloists, an amateur community chorus and a church choir, all sing differently in tone and have their distinct and unique tone quality. However, all vocally competent choirs can produce a wide range of tone colour within their vocal capacity and flexibility. It is understandable that a vocally incompetent choir’s concert is boring simply because of it lacks for varieties in tone and style differentiation. ‘Therefore, to shape the tone of a choir is one of the primary interests of choral directors. ‘The tone of a choir is affected and shaped by several aspects: the voice production, register, dynamics, conductor's gestures and diction. The aim of this seminar is to explore with the participants how the conductor's gestures and choral diction affect the choral tone quality. Thus the choral director will know exactly the meaning of his gestures in relation to choral tone and how pronunciation and modifications can affect the choral tone quality. Experimental exercises will also be introduced for better and clear presentations. 2, Conducting gestures in relation to choral tone Like kindergarten kids learning the alphabets ABC in their first English lesson, the first thing a choral conductor has to realize and be able to describe in words is the tone quality. The tone can be described as rich, mature, full, clear, cool, hooty, pure, white, warm, deep, heavy, light, throaty, breathy, covered, forward, open and closed. These can be called the choir’s “tone vocabularies” and they can be used in purpose for different types of music. Although some kinds of tone colour are unpleasant to our ears, like hooty, breathy and throaty sounds, we cannot say those tones are wrong ‘and undesirable, sometimes, indeed, the choir has to produce these kinds of tone for a specific work. Therefore, there is no such thing as right or wrong choral tone. It is a matter of whether a specific tone being employed rightly or wrongly in a given piece. On the other hand, a choral director needs to realize what kind of conducting gestures will produce the above “tone vocabularies”.2.1 Conducting gestures in relations to choral tone Different conductors will produce different choral tones even though they conduct the same choir with the same piece and same tempo. It is the conductor's gestures, level of conducting plane, breath support being signified by conductor’s gestures, standing postures and facial expressions that make the choir sing and sound different. Experimental Exercise | A conductor conducts a familiar phrase with three different levels of conducting plane: above eye level, at the centre of the body and below waist, Have the group sings according to these three conducting gestures and listen for the differences: The aim of this experimental exercise is to help the participants to realize the level of conducting plane will severely’ affect the breath support, tone production, heaviness and lightness of the choral tone. Experimental Exercise 2 A person standing in front of a group playing an imaginary violin on two different ways. ” The first time is to play a long note without vibrato (straight tone), the second time is to play the same note with vibrato. The group is then asked to sing those two notes after the imaginary playing and differences in tone quality of these two notes will be noticed. The aim of this exercise is to help the participants to realize the gestures is an important tool in shaping the tone, and it is the gesture that makes the difference. Experimental Exercise 3 A conductor conducts a familiar phrase with three different articulations: mareato, staccato and legato, Only one preparatory beat is allowed for each expression. The group is then asked to sing these three articulations according to the hints provided by the conductor's preparatory beat.