How do inversions/dispositions influence the effect?
eg If the Notre Dame cadence resolved to root triad instead of second inv above bass: 1, 2, 5/2, 3 instead of 1, 3, 4, 5. That'd emphasize a root-fifth interaction, which might detract from the sus resolution of the third.
Conversation
I experience something like this effect with close dissonant chords, too, which barbershop eschews. What's going on there?
e.g. in Eric Whitacre's music, there are lots of so-called "fist chords". These sometimes produce the effect for me too! Why? Overtones aren't very aligned.
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Why is this effect so much stronger for the singer than for the listener?
There's something in being the *causer*, but it's also physical: when the effect occurs, It feels like my voice, my chest, the air in my lungs, my muscles, all resonate with the room and the other singers.
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Why is this physical sensation so powerful?
It feels almost overwhelming sometimes! Like being given over to a "higher power" for a moment. It's beautiful, moving… and a little eerie. Why do we respond this way? Odd!
"Sense and Sensation in Barbershop": jstor.org.sci-hub.se/stable/41700111
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Goofy question I've been noodling with: it's not easy for an amateur to produce this effect—so could one design a simple cybernetic exhibit to give an untrained person the experience of causing this with their voice? I have a few ideas…
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This feels like a dumb question, but: why don't we notice *destructive* interference more in vocal harmony? This figure shows constructive interference in a harmonic seventh chord—but that assumes everyone's in phase! Which… they won't be, right? Do we instinctively auto-align?
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Related, important: vm.tiktok.com/ZM8bkaJ4J/
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Super interesting thread! I've wondered about this, but have never explored possible technical reasons for it. For me, it's happened with specific people (my friend Amanda, for one), and I thought maybe our voices were similar enough in timbre that the vibrations…aligned well?😅
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Yeah, that sounds right! I think "mismatched" people can learn to match in this way: when I was music-directing an a cappella group, we'd do exercises in each rehearsal to match vowels and tone; it had the side effect of making this phenomenon happen more.
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That's so interesting, and makes so much sense! It's such a cool, electrifying feeling when it happens; you've done a great job describing it. Makes me really long to get back into a room singing harmonies with people! ❤️
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Me too! It was, like, The Most Forbidden Activity during COVID times… gotta find some folks to sing with around here after the great reshuffling. Thanks for sharing your experiences!