Kristina Lincoln

Defining Horehronie through the lens of Physics

It all began with hours of combing through grainy feed of slightly heat exhausted Slovak

people at Summer cultural festivals, hands on hips, and dutifully belting folk song after folk song

on Youtube, or Facebook, or whatever. I was in search of a recording of a Horehronie folk song

that sounded “good”, good in only the way that a know-it-all 15 year old who had been in choir

classes for years that were laser-focused on teaching Western classical music can define good.

The problem is qualities that define “good” in Classical Western Singing, are an amazing way to

characterize an antithesis to Horehronie, or Slovak folk singing. After realizing this, I began to

wonder how. How can these styles of European singing be so radically different, and why? The

answer, as with everything in this class, lies in Mechanics.

The first step in defining the difference between the Mechanics of Classical Western

Singing (CWS) and Horehronie is defining the difference in technique. In any technique, air is

pushed through the vocal folds, with vibrate back and forth to create sound waves.1 Adjustments

to the shape of the lips are able to change the frequency of the waves, which create differences in

vocal quality, pitch, and loudness.1 In, CWS tall vowels and a darker sounds are prioritized.

Physically, to produce tall vowels the mouth is contorted into a “inverted megaphone shape

(wide in the back of the mouth and pharynx with only a moderate lip opening. . .)”.2 The effect of

the CWS style was that “first formant frequencies had a much smaller variation across vowels.” 2

The first formant frequency is the acoustic energy gathered around a certain frequency in a

speech wave and is inversely proportional to the height of the vowel.3 In short, the inverted

megaphone effect characterized by lower first formant frequencies (taller vowels) with less

variation in the energy surrounding the frequency. This produces a more controlled sound with
less variation in pitch. Horehronie does not utilize this, and the megaphone shape that defines the

belting in Horehronie means that “the second harmonic (2F0) appears to be reinforced by F1.”2

F1, or the first formant frequency in a megaphone shaping (wide vowels, no attempt to raise the

soft palate) will gather around the second harmonic, or the pitch an octave above the dominant

pitch being sung. This creates a more layered “all-over-the-place” sound. Another characteristic

separating Horehronie and CWS is the quality of the sound, where Horehronie has a bright,

forward sound and CWS has a dark, covered sound.4 The dark sound of CWS is assumed to be

from shaping the lips as well. Tall vowels, and lowers the first formant frequency, creating a

darker tone.4

Since it is determined how the different techniques create different qualities of sound via

mechanics, the natural next question is why these differences would come about. CSW

originated from Gregorian chants and is largely based in the church. A technique would need to

emulate a dark and controlled sound that would create worship in a somber tradition

characteristic of the ancient Western Churches. Horehronie, on the other hand originated in the

foothills of Slovakia. It also utilizes the surrounding nature of the singer to enhance the song. In

the foothills, sound echoes. The variable sounds and soundwaves created by the Horehronie echo

better because it has some energy concentrated at the higher frequency6. This creates a more

intense and frenzied sound, which pairs well with the point of Horehronie. The topics in

Horehronie are often secular, as well as intense, there are tales of heartbreak, the pain of

oppression, and other deep themes that are emphasized by the environment.

The study of these different singing techniques through Mechanics can reveal the

fundamental functions of each technique. Understanding these techniques allows for a better

refinement of them. When one can scientifically determine what determines a “dark” sound and
why certain vowel shapes produce a certain sound, singing can be further understood, and a

vocalist has more control of what they are singing. It can also be a lens through which the

functions of these techniques is examined, providing more insight into how they are used.

Mechanics underscores everything, and a deeper understanding of even seemingly distant topics,

such as singing, can be in reach through the lens of Physics.

Works Cited
1. https://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/reprints/AIRSchapter.pdf
2. https://www.nats.org/_Library/Kennedy_JOS_Files_2013/JOS-067-3-2011-311.pdf
3. https://corpus.eduhk.hk/english_pronunciation/index.php/2-2-formants-of-vowels/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8273971/#:~:text=Tone%20quality
%20termed%20%E2%80%9Cdark%E2%80%9D%20is,lowered%20larynx%2C%20and
%20widened%20pharynx.
5. https://aura.ujep.cz/pdfs/aum/2017/01/14.pdf
6. https://www.soundproofcow.com/difference-high-middle-low-frequency-noise/