Französisch singen
STIMMKLINIK
Retro, amerikanisch-québecois, urban, French variety. Vier Familien fürs Studio.
IN THE STUDIO
Man weiß nicht mehr recht, wie man es sagen soll
The language has changed. The codes for singing it have changed too. When an artist arrives in the studio, it is hard to guide them on what will suit their vocal style. It has not been formalised.
Adeline Toniutti takes this from a conversation with her manager. In Anatomie du Chant she groups these ways into four families. That is the point: not “articulate French”, but choose how you sing it.
The five pivot points remain the same instrument. The family is the colour you ask for.
RETRO
Der Retro-Stil
Man rollt die «r», à la Édith Piaf. Man schneidet die Wörter, damit die Stille leben kann. Die Vokale sind rein. Das Vibrato ist angenommen.
Barbara Pravi and Zaho de Sagazan have taken up some of these codes, the rolled “r” in particular. Chimène Badi covers Piaf with her soul style, and the vibrato stays owned. It is not “doing old”. It is a French that lets silence work, that does not swallow the vowels, that is not afraid of an “r” you can hear.
AMERICAN-STYLE
Der amerikanisch-québecoise Stil
Das nennt Adeline im Raum und im Fernsehen auch «amerikanisch singen».
Big-voiced singers take on anglophone ways. A more nasal placement. Syllables are cut like an American diphthong. Céline Dion, Natasha St-Pier.
Twang, aus den fünf Drehpunkten gelehrt, heißt bei ihr «amerikanisch singen». Céline Dion und Diane Dufresne setzen ihn ins Französische.
The palate stays raised. This is not nasalising to “do Céline”. Nasalising the sound, palate down, larynx dropping: that is the counterfeit of twang, and it puts the folds at risk. To find the flow of that French, Adeline sometimes has people sing a French song in English “yaourt”, onomatopoeia, until the line runs. At the Star Academy château, Claudia Tagbo’s yaourt with Michèle Laroque made the whole room laugh. The exercise is there to find that cutting of syllables.
Illustration © Emma Blanc-Tailleur, Anatomie du Chant, Adeline Toniutti
URBAN
Der urbane Stil
Some sounds, in the way of pronouncing or linking, come from rap or the urban.
Vitaa: an urban musicality, and a purity of timbre that is hers. Yseult, Angèle: they personalise the vowels according to the emotion. Here French is not “less sung”. It is linked differently. The vowels move with what you feel, not only with the written vowel.
FRENCH VARIETY
Der French-variety-Stil
Reine Vokale. Vibrato fehlend oder diskret. Nah am Natürlichen des Textes. Mylène Farmer, Françoise Hardy.
No rolled “r” to make a period colour. No American diphthong. French stays near the spoken sentence, but it is still singing: the five pivot points hold the gesture, the vowel stays clean. The tongue between the molars, the nasals thought upward: the same pivot point 5, another dose.
Illustrationen © Emma Blanc-Tailleur, Anatomie du Chant, Adeline Toniutti
THE PALETTE
Es ist kein Kostüm. Es ist eine Farbwahl
You do not change larynx to go from Piaf to Céline. You change what you ask of the vowels, the “r”, the silence, the vibrato, the link between syllables.
Solange die Geste gesund ist, hat man die ganze Palette. Schrumpft die Wahl, ist die Geste weniger optimiert, manchmal gefährlich.
In the studio the question is therefore not “are you articulating enough?”. It is: which family are you in, today, for this song? The same artist can cross several. Chimène Badi shows it: Piaf plus soul. Céline can take the twang off. The professional is not stuck to one family.
A TIRED VOICE
Wenn die Stimme müde ist
Whispering is not advised. Adeline would rather have you speak with accents that favour a good placement, for an organic result with minimum effort: Québécois, Marseillais, or an actress like Chantal Ladesou. A technical virtue, and it loosens the room.
That meets the American-Québécois style without forcing it: the accent puts the voice where it carries, without squeezing.
IN PRACTICE
Die Familie vor dem Take nennen
1. One family per phrase
Retro, American-Québécois, urban, French variety. One only for the phrase you are recording. You can change on the next verse. You do not mix everything in the same vowel.
2. Check the marks
Retro: rolled “r”, held silences, pure vowels, owned vibrato. American-Québécois: syllables cut like a diphthong, more nasal placement, twang you put on and take off, palate raised. Urban: rap links and grain, vowels that follow the emotion. French variety: pure vowels, discreet vibrato, close to the text.
3. If it will not flow in American-Québécois
English yaourt on the French song, then back to the text. You look for flow, not imitation.
4. The five pivot points stay the frame
Whatever the family: posture, free larynx, held exhale, cavities, articulation.
Pathology of the folds: see a specialist.
CALYP
Eine Familie beim CALYP erarbeiten
Die Methode steht in Anatomie du Chant (Marabout, 2024). Um sie mit dem Team zu erarbeiten: Termin vereinbaren.
Häufige Fragen
Welche Weisen, Französisch zu singen, nennt Anatomie du Chant?
Vier Familien: Retro (Piaf, Pravi, Zaho), amerikanisch-québecois oder amerikanisch (Céline, Natasha St-Pier), urban (Vitaa, Yseult, Angèle), French variety (Mylène Farmer, Françoise Hardy).
Ist amerikanisch singen dasselbe wie Twang?
Ja, in Adelines Jargon. Twang wird aus den fünf Drehpunkten gelehrt. Gaumensegel gehoben.
Muss man die r rollen, um Französisch zu singen?
Nur in der Retro-Familie. In French variety sind die Vokale rein und das Vibrato diskret.
Kann man die Familie von Lied zu Lied wechseln?
Ja. Eine Profi-Stimme klebt nicht an einer Familie. Man nennt die Familie vor dem Take.