Is there a word for the opposite of falsetto?

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I can't think of one.

― Nigel (Nigel), Monday, 24 October 2005 00:07 (twenty years ago)

bass

― jaxon (jaxon), Monday, 24 October 2005 00:13 (twenty years ago)

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00000JQGJ.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― Chinchilla Volapük (Captain Sleep), Monday, 24 October 2005 00:13 (twenty years ago)

pedant check: um, "singing"? falsetto is a technique, not a range.

― geoff (gcannon), Monday, 24 October 2005 00:21 (twenty years ago)

stiletto

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 24 October 2005 00:22 (twenty years ago)

baritone

― fuckety shitwad, Monday, 24 October 2005 00:37 (twenty years ago)

veritastico

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 24 October 2005 00:38 (twenty years ago)

false bass

― Super Cub (Debito), Monday, 24 October 2005 01:04 (twenty years ago)

falsebass

― Super Cub (Debito), Monday, 24 October 2005 01:05 (twenty years ago)

To be pronounced "fall-SEB-ass"

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 24 October 2005 01:12 (twenty years ago)

why not fallsubbo?

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Monday, 24 October 2005 01:14 (twenty years ago)

Basso profundo?

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Monday, 24 October 2005 02:07 (twenty years ago)

actual answer: chest voice.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 24 October 2005 03:33 (twenty years ago)

(unless of course nigel is looking for a different kind of opposite, i.e. a word for a technique that allows you to sing below the range of your chest voice. i got no answer there.)

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 24 October 2005 03:38 (twenty years ago)

cookie monster

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 24 October 2005 04:04 (twenty years ago)

I'd say "brassy" would be the opposite of falsetto. I define brassy as when the vocal chords are extremely contricted as opposed to the extreme openness of falsetto.

xpost to, uh, fuckety shitwad, I'd like to stress that baritone is NOT just another word for "very deep voice". I see a lot of music writers use baritone when referring to an obvious bass voice.

― Roe Joe, Monday, 24 October 2005 04:46 (twenty years ago)

constricted, rather

― Roe Joe, Monday, 24 October 2005 04:47 (twenty years ago)

My vote's for "falsubbo," although I am sort of unclear as to what the opposite of a falsetto actually would sound like. There's not, to my knowledge, some secret other voice you can use that's not your "real" singing voice but is LOWER than your natural range the way falsetto is higher. Unless we're counting ProTools and effects pedals as vocal techniques...

― Doctor Casino, Monday, 24 October 2005 04:53 (twenty years ago)

You've got to admit it would be well cool. I think the only track I can think of is one of the minor tracks on Tom Waits's Black Rider where he makes the most inhumanly deep noise.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 24 October 2005 06:22 (twenty years ago)

seu jorge makes some inhumanly deep noises on a lot of his songs that sounds like he's departing his body and leasing it to damien for the occasional verse. it's the coolest thing he does.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 24 October 2005 06:58 (twenty years ago)

Actually, the vocal cords are not 'extremely open' for falsetto, but rather tightly constricted - causing them to vibrate lots faster when air is pushed through, which gives you the high pitch.
For the opposite you would want your vocal cords to vibrate extremely slowly, just enough for vowel sounds to come out.
But that would give you the 'creak' voice that older Tory MPs tend to speak in.

― vinegar (Koens), Monday, 24 October 2005 07:16 (twenty years ago)

I've always wondered this, as I can sing so low that people think I'm a man. And a very low-voiced man at that.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Monday, 24 October 2005 07:29 (twenty years ago)

Opposite of "falsetto" = "truetto"

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 24 October 2005 08:14 (twenty years ago)

Vinegar, I believe you're thinking of the "head voice" of the upper register rather than falsetto. The vocal cords are "extremely open" in falsetto -- so open that the two sides don't even touch.

― Roe Joe, Monday, 24 October 2005 12:38 (twenty years ago)

Tuvan throat singing, perhaps?

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 24 October 2005 12:48 (twenty years ago)

Roe Joe: if the sides didn't touch, you wouldn't hear anything (except consonant sounds such as t, k, s).
Trust me, I'm a phonetician :-)

Wikipedia tie-breaks this one for us: only the edges of the vocal cords vibrate, instead of the whole mass. So yes, the glottis can remain partly open (but never so open that the sides don't touch).
See also

― vinegar (Koens), Monday, 24 October 2005 13:02 (twenty years ago)

"singing like Calvin Johnson"

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 24 October 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

my big gay british voice instructor always refers to it as your "truesetto" har har

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Monday, 24 October 2005 17:10 (twenty years ago)

Vinegar, first of all, thanks for keeping the discussion civilized. It seems that you are probably better versed in the subject than I am. However, I'm still not sure the tie is broken. On wikipedia, it says "Falsetto is employed through the expansion and separation of vocal cords...." The separation bit would imply the sides are, well, separated.

The "see also" seemed to confirm your angle, but I didn't really understand the diagrams too well.

I did a cursory google and found this bit from http://chanteur.net/contribu/index.htm#http://chanteur.net/contribu/cLHfalse.htm

The parts that describe what I was talking about before:

Describing falsetto: "the very thin edges of the lengthened vocal folds, which do not display any tension in opposition to the stretching action of the thyro-arytenoids, are easily blown open by the breath and offers little resistance to the breath flow."

Head voice has "increased tension of the thyro-arytenoids which creates a 'tighter" and more substantial edge to the vocal folds which, in turn, resists the flow of breath and builds a more noticeable pressure below the vocal folds (subglottal pressure)."

So falsetto is described as being looser and more open, which led to my initial post saying the opposite would be an extreme tightening o' th' cords.

Since I'm a singer (rock and roll, granted, but of the crooning style) with only a couple of voice classes to my credit, I'm curious about exactly how the larynx makes these sounds, and any light you can shed would be appreciated.

― Roe Joe, Monday, 24 October 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

i believe the opposite of falsetto, taking 'chest voice' as the neutral, would be tummy rumblin'

― Dan Gr (certain), Thursday, 27 October 2005 12:35 (twenty years ago)

testicles.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 27 October 2005 13:52 (twenty years ago)

"Alex Parks"

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 27 October 2005 14:55 (twenty years ago)

I guess there is a word for those Buddhist monk chants, but no idea what it is. If there is an extreme opposite of falsetto, then that must be it.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 27 October 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

Basso profundo?
-- owen moorhead

That would be my guess too

― moley, Thursday, 27 October 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

seventeen years pass...

*revive* for potential further discussion of chest voice, head voice, passaggio, yodeling etc. assuming we want to go there.

― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 01:18 (three years ago)

Belting

― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 01:23 (three years ago)

Sirens

― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 01:24 (three years ago)

Lip trills

― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 01:24 (three years ago)

Truetto

― Do I look like I know what a jpeg is? (dog latin), Thursday, 27 April 2023 11:28 (three years ago)

oh that's been said lots of times. great

― Do I look like I know what a jpeg is? (dog latin), Thursday, 27 April 2023 11:28 (three years ago)

Cornetto, then, why not

― Do I look like I know what a jpeg is? (dog latin), Thursday, 27 April 2023 11:29 (three years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZr8iReEqMQ

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 April 2023 11:47 (three years ago)

And at the other end of the spectrum, this fascination:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC9Qh709gas

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 April 2023 11:49 (three years ago)

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