It should be remembered that Judith Durham was the first internationally famous Australian singer since Dame Nellie Melba, with a possible exception of (Dame) Joan Sutherland. Judith Durham and the Seekers gave musical expression to an era of charm and innocence we will never see again.
BARRY HUMPHRIES AO CBE
Firstly, the voice production did not
age dramatically. It more matured like a good wine. Funnily enough, voices
don’t age in any of us. What ages are the poor often-abused muscles we use to
produce sound. Basically, Judith does everything to just simply let the body
‘sing’ and the consequence is this un-aging magnificence.
Notice how she
is upright in her posture. Notice how she never throws her head. Notice how her
mouth opens wide and straight down with her jaw dropping cleanly. Her chest
never raises. Her forehead never crinkles and her elbows swing out from her
body. She is always on two feet. Its simple unadulterated ‘sound production’
with no layering. As a consequence, she has a very pure production which Elton
John called one of the ‘purest voices in popular music’. The voice just flowed
with no embellishment. Beautiful.
Firstly, the voice production did not
age dramatically. It more matured like a good wine. Funnily enough, voices
don’t age in any of us. What ages are the poor often-abused muscles we use to
produce sound. Basically, Judith does everything to just simply let the body
‘sing’ and the consequence is this un-aging magnificence.
Notice how she
is upright in her posture. Notice how she never throws her head. Notice how her
mouth opens wide and straight down with her jaw dropping cleanly. Her chest
never raises. Her forehead never crinkles and her elbows swing out from her
body. She is always on two feet. Its simple unadulterated ‘sound production’
with no layering. As a consequence, she has a very pure production which Elton
John called one of the ‘purest voices in popular music’. The voice just flowed
with no embellishment. Beautiful.
‘Judith Durham, like Karen Carpenter and Eva Cassidy, possesses the purest voice in popular music. When she recorded one of my songs I was so flattered and love her version. She made the song her own – a very enviable talent.’
Sir Elton John CBE
As they say in Demtel adds, “There’s
more”. Judith’s tone was unusual.
Most of us have what is called the ‘speaking voice’. In the language of
American vocal researcher Jo Estill, this is where the larynx sits flat in the
throat and where most of us in Western culture remain in our every-day speaking
voices. You can, of course, sing in this speaking voice and then tilt the
larynx into what is known as ‘the singing voice’ as we go higher in our pitch.
(You can also speak in your ‘singing voice’ too if that is not wildly
confusing)
Where the larynx posture shifts is unique to
us all and very unique in the case of Judith Durham. Her speaking
voice range was far higher than most people and she could sing in speaking
voice to a high pitch without sounding harsh or scratchy.
As an example, try singing ‘The Carnival is over and, as a woman, I’ll
bet you go into your ‘singing’ voice. This means your larynx tips upwards at
the back and you will sound perhaps ‘pretty.’ Judith Durham’s larynx doesn’t
tip so easily and she sounds more earthy.
The psychology of this centers on the fact
that it is pure, but also strong and fulsome. From Judith Durham, we are
caressed by a rich pure sound like a strong, secure massage.
So, she has a unique voice with two qualities. It has a purity of sound
production and unusual strength in its quality. It is extraordinarily hard
to imitate.
A lot of people sing well – very few have individuality – there’s only one Judith Durham!
Sir Cliff Richard OBE
Olivia Newton John’s voice could not be more different. Listen to any of her songs such as ‘If you love me, let me know’ from 1974 and immediately you hear a different genre altogether. While, her sound production is easy and not overly complicated, Olivia only ever sang in her singing voice (as opposed to her speaking voice). It is pure, young, girl-like, often breathy and actually quite easy to imitate for any professional singer.What isn’t easy to imitate is Olivia herself. Every cell in her body is congruent. She is beautiful, warm, her smile is to die for and her behaviour (as reported by the media and also through the personal stories of her family I know) was self-less and loving through every ounce of difficulty she suffered through her life. They say ‘vocal dynamics echo psychodynamic’ and this is the sound of a soul singing from the heart of a truly beautiful person.
My idol was Olivia Newton-John… I had her poster and I would kiss it every day.
Hugh Jackman
