Can you hear the “Angel Voice” in this one minute recording?
Dear Friends, I have been looking forward to sharing this with you: this is a recording of the Vocal Sound Healing Circle presented by Shawn Hurley and Joseph Rolley – with 50+ participants – at the Sonic Bloom Festival…I took 4 one minute segments of the group singing, and mixed them together, added a little reverb, but did not alter them in any other way.
I was VERY surprised when I listened for the first time – sounds appear in several places in the recording that are NOT a human voice!!! I listened to EACH of the 4 tracks INDIVIDUALLY and these sounds ARE NOT THERE!
I have had PERSONAL experience with the” “overtone,” “fifth voice,” phenomenon … I have HEARD a “fifth voice” or “angel voice” appear numerous times when I was singing “ringing cords” in 4 part harmony in the Bookcliff Barbershop Chorus over the years…
…but the “Angel Voice” on this recording is ENTIRELY different.
From Wikipedia under “Barbershop Music/Ringing Chords”:
“The defining characteristic of the barbershop style is the ringing chord. This is a name for one specific and well-defined acoustical effect, also referred to as expanded sound, the angel’s voice, the fifth voice, the overtone, or barbershop seventh. (The barbershopper’s “overtone” is the same as the acoustic physicist’s overtone or harmonic, although the numbers differ. The first overtone, at twice the fundamental frequency, is the second harmonic, etc. The undertone is the difference between the frequencies of two sung notes and is known as heterodyning).The precise synchrony of the waveforms of the four voices simultaneously creates the perception of a “fifth voice” while at the same time melding the four voices into a unified sound. The ringing chord is qualitatively different in sound from an ordinary musical chord e.g. as sounded on a tempered-scale keyboard instrument…. The physics and psychophysics of the effect are fairly well understood; it occurs when the upper harmonics in the individual voice notes, and the sum and difference frequencies resulting from nonlinear combinations within the ear, reinforce each other at a particular frequency, strengthening it so that it stands out separately above the blended sound. The effect is audible only on certain kinds of chords, and only when all voices are equally rich in harmonics and justly tuned and balanced. It is not heard in chords sounded on modern keyboard instruments, due to the slight tuning imperfection of the equal-tempered scale.”
I know there is very likely a scientific/logical explanation for the “Angel Voice” that can be heard in this recording of the Vocal Sound Healing Circle…I am also open to the possibility that this recording somehow captured a phenomenon I do not understand that is occurring as a result of the SOUND and INTENTION created collectively by the group –
Please take ONE MINUTE to listen…I would really like your feedback!
https://soundcloud.com/shawnohurley1/vocal-sound-healing-circle-at
…to best HEAR the “Angel Voice” – use HEADPHONES (or TURN UP the volume all the way).
shawnohurley1 