Tag Archive for: Wolfgang Saus

Wolfgang Saus Lecture (German): Overtones – Discover the Magic of Your Voice!

Overtones – Discover the Magic of Your Voice

A lecture on the effect of overtones at the Symposium Music Resonance 2024 in Bad Zwesten: Discover the magic of your voice – Experience fascinating sounds, calm your mind and create unique worlds of sound.

This lecture is currently going a bit viral, with 10,000 views in just two weeks, which makes me very happy. Because I think the content is absolutely worth spreading – of course, otherwise I wouldn’t be giving it. I truly believe that with the voice and enhanced listening you can change consciousness and the world and create the new world we wish for.

Quotes from the comments:

“It’s 0:40 and I can’t interrupt this.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has such a multispectral intelligence. You share something, you have something to say.”

“YouTube suggested a real gem of a video to me; I’m flashed; it’s totally fascinating.”

“I had so much planned for today. I listened to the lecture instead. So incredibly good.”

Still, still, still – for Overtone Singing and Keys

Still, still, still is an Austrian Christmas carol from the Salzburg region. It first appeared in print in 1865 in a collection of carols with the following text, which is no longer common today:

1. Sleep, sleep, sleep, my precious baby sleep!
Maria sings a lullaby sweet
And lays her true heart at your feet.
Sleep, sleep, sleep, my precious baby sleep!

2. Great, great, great, the love is more than great.
God has left his throne on high,
To walk the street, to come us nigh.
Great, great, great, the love is more than great.

3. Rise, rise, rise, all Adam’s children rise.
O, kneel at the feet of Jesus now,
Our sins to atone he did vow.
Rise, rise, rise, all Adam’s children rise.

4. We, we, we, ee all implore Thee:
Open for us heaven’s gate
Let your kingdom be our fate.
We, we, we, – we all implore Thee.

5. Rest, rest, rest, allow the Child to rest.
Saint Joseph snuffs the candle out,
Angels are guarding all about.
Rest, rest, rest, allow the Child to rest.

(Translation wikipedia)

Performers:
Michael Reimann – Keys
https://michaelreimann.de/
Wolfgang Saus – Overtone Singing
https://www.oberton.org/
Video – josephphackney pixabay
https://pixabay.com/

Wolfgang Saus at the Freiburg Stimmforum

Radio Feature: Between two tones – The art of overtone singing

You first have to learn to hear overtones. With this program you can do that. Whoever learns it will change his entire listening experience. This is because completely new insights into the essence of sounds and realities are opened up.

Radio Feature by: Tanja Gronde. Broadcast from 09.05.2020 on BR Bayern 2 and BR Heimat.

More about the broadcast [BR Bayern2 and BR Heimat].

Laughing woman holds her ears shut

Do You Hear a Melody? – Take the Listening Test

In just 3:20 minutes, this listening test opens your ears to a new dimension of hearing that only around 5% of musicians are aware of: overtone hearing. This ability is essential for learning overtone singing. And it is a prerequisite for the practical implementation of vocal and choral phonetics.


New Videos

 


In 2004, a research group led by Dr. Peter Schneider at Heidelberg University Hospital discovered that people perceive sounds differently depending on which hemisphere of the brain processes them. They developed the Heidelberg Hearing Test to determine whether someone perceives fundamental tones or overtones more prominently in a sound. →Take the Heidelberg Test here

My hearing test is different. It evaluates whether someone recognizes vowels or overtones more strongly in a sound. In the second part, it trains the ability to shift the perception threshold from vowels to favour overtones.

→Watch a video about the background.

Saus’s Listening Test

Relax and listen to the first sound sample. I sing a sequence of nonsensical syllables on a single pitch. If you recognize a familiar classical melody within it, congratulations! You have exceptional overtone hearing and belong to the 5% of people who can perceive this spontaneously.

Audio Example 1

Download mp3

If you don’t hear the melody, don’t worry. By the end of the listening test, you will hear the overtones.

In the next audio examples, I gradually remove more and more sound information from the voice that the brain interprets as part of speech. Next, I will sing the syllables by changing only the second vowel formant while keeping the first one steady in a low position. The syllables will then only contain Ü-sounds [Y], making the melody clearer to some listeners.

Audio Example 2

Download mp3

If the melody is now becoming clear, congratulations! At this stage, 20-30% of people can hear the melody. Perhaps you only suspect the melody but aren’t sure if you’re imagining it. Trust your imagination. Your hearing picks up the melody; it’s just that a filter in your consciousness tells you the information is not important. Speech recognition is much more important.

At this point, I’ll reveal the melody: It’s “Ode to Joy” from the 9th Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. In the next audio example, I’ll whistle it tonelessly. This will help your brain learn what to listen for. Afterward, listen to Audio Example 2 again.

Audio Example 3

Download mp3

Is it clearer now? If not, listen to the next example.

In Audio Example 4, I remove the consonants. At this point, the Broca’s area, the brain region responsible for speech recognition, has nothing to do and transfers auditory attention to other regions.

Audio Example 4

Download mp3

Now, about 60-80% of listeners can hear the melody. If you still can’t hear it, you are likely classified as a fundamental tone listener in the Heidelberg Hearing Test. This has nothing to do with musicality. You are in the company of some of the best flutists, percussionists, and pianists.

In the next example, I completely modify the sound. By using a specific tongue position, I lower the third formant by two octaves until it matches the frequency of the second formant. This creates a double resonance that does not occur in the German language.

Audio Example 5

Download mp3

This technique is called overtone singing. The ear now lacks familiar sound information, and individual partial tones become so loud due to the double resonance that the brain separates the sounds and informs your consciousness that it perceives two tones.

You likely hear a flute-like melody alongside the voice. Overtone singing is an acoustic illusion. In reality, you’re hearing more than 70 partial tones. Physical reality and perception rarely align.

In the final audio example, I go backward through the entire process to the beginning. Try to keep your focus on the melody the entire time. Feel free to listen to Audio Example 6 multiple times; it trains overtone listening and improves your ability to perceive sound details with confidence.

Audio Example 6

Download mp3

Our reality is created within ourselves. And it is changeable.

 

Wolfgang Saus Lecture (German): Overtones – Discover the Magic of Your Voice!

Overtones – Discover the Magic of Your Voice

A lecture on the effect of overtones at the Symposium Music Resonance 2024 in Bad Zwesten: Discover the magic of your voice – Experience fascinating sounds, calm your mind and create unique worlds of sound.

This lecture is currently going a bit viral, with 10,000 views in just two weeks, which makes me very happy. Because I think the content is absolutely worth spreading – of course, otherwise I wouldn’t be giving it. I truly believe that with the voice and enhanced listening you can change consciousness and the world and create the new world we wish for.

Quotes from the comments:

“It’s 0:40 and I can’t interrupt this.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has such a multispectral intelligence. You share something, you have something to say.”

“YouTube suggested a real gem of a video to me; I’m flashed; it’s totally fascinating.”

“I had so much planned for today. I listened to the lecture instead. So incredibly good.”

Still, still, still – for Overtone Singing and Keys

Still, still, still is an Austrian Christmas carol from the Salzburg region. It first appeared in print in 1865 in a collection of carols with the following text, which is no longer common today:

1. Sleep, sleep, sleep, my precious baby sleep!
Maria sings a lullaby sweet
And lays her true heart at your feet.
Sleep, sleep, sleep, my precious baby sleep!

2. Great, great, great, the love is more than great.
God has left his throne on high,
To walk the street, to come us nigh.
Great, great, great, the love is more than great.

3. Rise, rise, rise, all Adam’s children rise.
O, kneel at the feet of Jesus now,
Our sins to atone he did vow.
Rise, rise, rise, all Adam’s children rise.

4. We, we, we, ee all implore Thee:
Open for us heaven’s gate
Let your kingdom be our fate.
We, we, we, – we all implore Thee.

5. Rest, rest, rest, allow the Child to rest.
Saint Joseph snuffs the candle out,
Angels are guarding all about.
Rest, rest, rest, allow the Child to rest.

(Translation wikipedia)

Performers:
Michael Reimann – Keys
https://michaelreimann.de/
Wolfgang Saus – Overtone Singing
https://www.oberton.org/
Video – josephphackney pixabay
https://pixabay.com/

Wolfgang Saus at the Freiburg Stimmforum

Radio Feature: Between two tones – The art of overtone singing

You first have to learn to hear overtones. With this program you can do that. Whoever learns it will change his entire listening experience. This is because completely new insights into the essence of sounds and realities are opened up.

Radio Feature by: Tanja Gronde. Broadcast from 09.05.2020 on BR Bayern 2 and BR Heimat.

More about the broadcast [BR Bayern2 and BR Heimat].

Laughing woman holds her ears shut

Do You Hear a Melody? – Take the Listening Test

In just 3:20 minutes, this listening test opens your ears to a new dimension of hearing that only around 5% of musicians are aware of: overtone hearing. This ability is essential for learning overtone singing. And it is a prerequisite for the practical implementation of vocal and choral phonetics.


New Videos

 


In 2004, a research group led by Dr. Peter Schneider at Heidelberg University Hospital discovered that people perceive sounds differently depending on which hemisphere of the brain processes them. They developed the Heidelberg Hearing Test to determine whether someone perceives fundamental tones or overtones more prominently in a sound. →Take the Heidelberg Test here

My hearing test is different. It evaluates whether someone recognizes vowels or overtones more strongly in a sound. In the second part, it trains the ability to shift the perception threshold from vowels to favour overtones.

→Watch a video about the background.

Saus’s Listening Test

Relax and listen to the first sound sample. I sing a sequence of nonsensical syllables on a single pitch. If you recognize a familiar classical melody within it, congratulations! You have exceptional overtone hearing and belong to the 5% of people who can perceive this spontaneously.

Audio Example 1

Download mp3

If you don’t hear the melody, don’t worry. By the end of the listening test, you will hear the overtones.

In the next audio examples, I gradually remove more and more sound information from the voice that the brain interprets as part of speech. Next, I will sing the syllables by changing only the second vowel formant while keeping the first one steady in a low position. The syllables will then only contain Ü-sounds [Y], making the melody clearer to some listeners.

Audio Example 2

Download mp3

If the melody is now becoming clear, congratulations! At this stage, 20-30% of people can hear the melody. Perhaps you only suspect the melody but aren’t sure if you’re imagining it. Trust your imagination. Your hearing picks up the melody; it’s just that a filter in your consciousness tells you the information is not important. Speech recognition is much more important.

At this point, I’ll reveal the melody: It’s “Ode to Joy” from the 9th Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. In the next audio example, I’ll whistle it tonelessly. This will help your brain learn what to listen for. Afterward, listen to Audio Example 2 again.

Audio Example 3

Download mp3

Is it clearer now? If not, listen to the next example.

In Audio Example 4, I remove the consonants. At this point, the Broca’s area, the brain region responsible for speech recognition, has nothing to do and transfers auditory attention to other regions.

Audio Example 4

Download mp3

Now, about 60-80% of listeners can hear the melody. If you still can’t hear it, you are likely classified as a fundamental tone listener in the Heidelberg Hearing Test. This has nothing to do with musicality. You are in the company of some of the best flutists, percussionists, and pianists.

In the next example, I completely modify the sound. By using a specific tongue position, I lower the third formant by two octaves until it matches the frequency of the second formant. This creates a double resonance that does not occur in the German language.

Audio Example 5

Download mp3

This technique is called overtone singing. The ear now lacks familiar sound information, and individual partial tones become so loud due to the double resonance that the brain separates the sounds and informs your consciousness that it perceives two tones.

You likely hear a flute-like melody alongside the voice. Overtone singing is an acoustic illusion. In reality, you’re hearing more than 70 partial tones. Physical reality and perception rarely align.

In the final audio example, I go backward through the entire process to the beginning. Try to keep your focus on the melody the entire time. Feel free to listen to Audio Example 6 multiple times; it trains overtone listening and improves your ability to perceive sound details with confidence.

Audio Example 6

Download mp3

Our reality is created within ourselves. And it is changeable.

 

Jean-Christophe Rosaz

Tag Archive for: Wolfgang Saus