Kulning, also known as the ”Nordic Herding Call”, refers to high-pitched herding calls that were developed centuries ago in Sweden and Norway. Different regions have different names for these calls, such as kauka, lålla, kula, kulokk, and lockrop. These calls are part of Scandinavian herding music.
37-451: The songs and calls were used to guide the movement of livestock in the wilderness and to communicate inbetween farms. Kulning consists of high-pitched, directed, non-vibrato calls, sometimes ending on a high note and sometimes on a low note. The melodies are often beautifully ornamented with the melancholy typical of Nordic folk music. Kulning also includes various lower-pitched calls and sounds that mimic animal sounds or are designed to catch
74-438: A distance of 11 meters from the source, compared to 1 meter from the source. In the outdoor setting, they also found that head voice production exhibited a 25.2 dB decrease at 11 meters from the source, compared to 1 meter from the source, while the corresponding amplitude decrease in kulning was only 9.4 dB, which is a clear indication that kulning is well-suited to carry over long distances in an outdoor setting. Or, as
111-443: A family's cows know they are being called and thus respond. A number of calls contain names of individual (sometimes the "lead") animals, as herds are not very large. A study done by Finnish and Swedish universities showed that kulning, as compared to falsetto, exhibits a better contact of the vocal folds and a longer glottal closure in the phonation cycle. Using nasofiberendoscopy also showed medial and anteroposterior narrowing of
148-588: A relaxed state after a magical musical journey that is at times turbulent". The recordings of the band are not limited to music, but also contain poems and the spoken word . The references to the early ages of European cultures are also made by using texts from historical artefacts or historical poems. The languages used are varied, with German , English , Gothic , Old High German , Icelandic , Latin , Old English , Proto-Norse , Proto-Germanic , and Viking age Old Norse being used. As instruments, items are used that may have been already available to humans in
185-428: A result, many vocal instructors have redefined or even abandoned the use of the term head voice. In particular, the use of the term head register has become controversial since vocal registration is more commonly seen today as a product of laryngeal function. For this reason, many vocal instructors argue that it is meaningless to speak of registers being produced in the head. The vibratory sensations that are felt in
222-405: A singing style also developed for long-distance sound propagation. In France , briolage is a set of "techniques of calls and exhortations to the ploughing animals in most cases, intended to guide them". Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg based a few of his classical music compositions for piano and for orchestra on kulokker that he had heard. An early Norwegian opera includes a soprano aria that
259-469: A tattoo artist, so they struck a bargain: Faust offered Juul some free tattoos in exchange for help recording some poems. Thus Heilung was started. Later in 2015, Maria Franz (Juul's longtime girlfriend and a singer in progressive rock / pop-rock band Euzen in which Juul also played piano and electronics) started to work with Heilung – originally as a session vocalist. In 2015, the band self-released their debut album, Ofnir , and soon after that Franz became
296-423: A tenor high C (C 5 ) in full, balanced voice, this is referred to as "head voice". (Pavarotti's range was C♯3 to F5, but beyond D5 (E♭5 to F5) he sang in a strong or reinforced falsetto.) Beginning singers who have difficulty controlling their vocal break need to be taught to eliminate or control the physiological conditions associated with falsetto or strain in a process called "head voice." A strong falsetto
333-536: Is a term used within vocal music . The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogical circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals in regard to this term. Head voice can be used in relation to the following: The term goes back at least as far as the Roman tradition of rhetorical instruction. Quintilian (ca. AD 95) recommends teaching students ut quotiens exclamandum erit lateris conatus sit ille, non capitis ("that when
370-944: Is based on texts and runic inscriptions from Germanic peoples of the Iron Age and Viking Age . Heilung describe their music as "amplified history from early medieval northern Europe". Their music is usually about Germanic deities , the Jǫtnar , and valkyries . " Heilung " is a German noun meaning "healing" in English. Heilung was founded in 2014 in Copenhagen , Denmark by vocalist Kai Uwe Faust (a German tattoo artist who specializes in Old Norse tattoos ) and Danish producer Christopher Juul. Juul, who had operated his own recording studio, Lava, in Copenhagen since 2003, admired Faust's visual work as
407-438: Is called a reinforced falsetto and a very light head voice is called "voce di testa bianca" or ''white head voice.'' High notes that are sung with balanced physiology do tend to have better resonance than falsetto or strained notes, so this definition doesn't usually contradict the other two. Heilung Heilung is an experimental folk music band made up of members from Denmark , Norway , and Germany . Their music
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#1732856072019444-465: Is half aria and half kulning. Kulning features in the music of some Scandinavian folk groups, for example Heilung , Gjallarhorn and Frifot (featuring singer Lena Willemark ). The song " Ulveham " by Norwegian band Gåte , which they're competing with at Eurovision Song Contest 2024 , includes a kulning vocalisation on the chorus. There are also other examples of kulning to be found in other forms of modern media: Head tone Head voice
481-401: Is that since all registers originate in laryngeal function, it is meaningless to speak of registers being produced in the head. The vibratory sensations which are felt in the head are resonance phenomena and should be described in terms related to resonance, not to registers. These vocal instructors prefer the term "head voice" over the term register and divide the human voice into four registers:
518-419: The head register feels to the singer as if the tone is resonating in their head (rather than primarily in the chest or throat). According to an early 20th-century book written by David Clippinger, all voices have a head register, whether bass or soprano . Clippinger claims that males and females switch registers at the same absolute pitches. He also states that at about E ♭ or E above middle C,
555-410: The vocal fry register , the modal register , the falsetto register , and the whistle register . This view is more consistent with modern understandings of human physiology and in keeping with stroboscope videos of laryngeal function during vocal phonation . Tarneaud says, "during singing, the vibration of the vocal folds impresses periodic shakes on the laryngeal cartilage which transmits them to
592-501: The "tenore lirico," the higher part of the singing voice above the secondo passaggio at G 4 extending upwards is referred to as "full voice in head," or voce piena in testa , effectively stating the head register begins at G 4 in the "tenore lirico," not at E 4 . According to Singing For Dummies, the bass changes from chest voice into middle voice around A 3 or A ♭ 3 below Middle C and changes into his head voice around D 4 or C ♯ 4 above Middle C. In
629-522: The German and Austrian album charts respectively. Heilung performed at Glastonbury Festival 2024 . In November 2024, Heilung announced a European tour for 2025, with a final show on 17 August after which they plan to go on a hiatus. According to Faust, the name of the band, "Heilung", which means "healing" in German , says something about the style of the band: "The listener is supposed to be left at ease and in
666-795: The Iron Age, such as drums, bones or spears. According to an August 2018 interview, the instruments they use consist of: Faust's throat singing recalls the Tibetan or Mongolian style. Juul uses a chirping whisper as vocals. Elaborately designed costumes are worn by the band members on stage. These are partly based on the "spiritual traditions of the Eurasian circumpolar peoples ", or are historically correct reproductions of Nordic Bronze Age clothing. Current members Session/touring musicians Show group ("Heilung warriors Europe") Show group ("Heilung warriors USA") Studio albums Live albums Heilung
703-463: The attention of animals. Kulning was typically used mostly by women and girls, but also by some men. The song has a high-pitched vocal technique, i.e. a loud call using head tones , so that it can be heard or be used to communicate over long distances. It has a fascinating and haunting tone, often conveying a feeling of sadness, in large part because the kulokks often include typical half-tones and quarter-tones (also known as " blue tones ") found in
740-419: The authors summarize the findings: "it was shown that kulning fell off less with distance from an intensity point of view, and also that partials in kulning – but not in head voice – remained more or less unperturbed 11 meters from the singer, as compared to 1 meter from the singer. Both results help explain why kulning as a singing mode was developed for calling cattle that might be at considerable distance from
777-478: The band's third official member. The band's first performances in 2017 were at Castlefest and at the Midgardsblot Metalfestival. The Castlefest performance was recorded and released with the title Lifa on YouTube and as a live album. Their 2017 performance at Midgardsblot was listed by Metal Hammer as one of the ten best performances of 2017. Later that year, the band signed a contract with
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#1732856072019814-410: The bones in the thorax via the laryngeal depressors, and to the bony structures in the head via the laryngeal elevators. Singers feel these shakes in the form of thoracic and facial vibrations". These internal phonatory sensations produced by laryngeal vibrations are called "resonance" by singers and teachers of singing. There are seven parts of the human body that act as resonators, and of those seven,
851-412: The head are resonance phenomena and should be described in terms related to vocal resonance , not to registers. These vocal instructors prefer the term "head voice" over the term "head register." These vocal instructors also hold that many of the problems which people identify as register problems are really problems of resonance adjustment. This helps to explain the controversy over this terminology. Also,
888-401: The head register (which is above the chest register), some of the bottom end leaves the voice, but it's still, according to Martin, a voice capable of much power. Explanations for the physiological mechanisms behind the head voice can alter from voice teacher to voice teacher. This is because, according to Clippinger, "In discussing the head voice it is the purpose to avoid as much as possible
925-451: The label Season of Mist . On 20 April 2018, the two previously self-released albums Ofnir and Lifa were reissued on vinyl and CD. The band composed the soundtrack for Senua's Saga: Hellblade II . Fragments of Heilung's music were used during season six of the popular television series Vikings . Heilung released their third studio album, Drif , on 19 August 2022 through Season of Mist. The album peaked at No. 9 and No. 25 in
962-416: The laryngeal inlet and approximation of the false vocal folds in kulning. In comparison with other song traditions used in northern Scandinavia, e.g. joik , there is no evidence that kulning has been used in religious rituals or for other purposes. It has been used on farms in stock-raising since medieval times . The tradition is still alive today, although waning. Kulning is, however, similar to yodeling ,
999-514: The mechanical construction of the instrument" . However, not all vocal teachers agree with this view. Thomas Appell's 1993 book Can You Sing a HIGH C Without Straining? aimed to refute the theory that all singers switch registers at the same absolute pitch. Appell defined chest voice as resonance below the vocal folds and head voice as resonance above the vocal folds. He recorded examples of male and female singers changing from chest voice to head voice at different pitches in an attempt to prove that
1036-525: The middle register at the same pitches. The contemporary vocal pedagogy instructor Bill Martin seconds the view that the change from chest voice to head voice occurs at around E 4 in all voices, including the bass, but Martin states that in the coloratura soprano, it is more likely to occur at F 4 . A recent book by a former teacher at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and a vocal pedagogy teacher , Richard Miller , states that in
1073-437: The music of the region. Linguist and phonetician Robert Eklund, speech therapist Anita McAllister and kulning singer and speech therapist Fanny Pehrson studied the difference between kulning voice production and head voice (sometimes also somewhat erroneously referred to as falsetto voice) production in both indoors (normal and anechoic rooms) and in an ecologically valid outdoor setting near Dalarna, Sweden. The song analyzed
1110-432: The singer". When a call is made in a valley, it rings and echoes against the mountains. The animals, a number of whom wear bells tuned so that the livestock's location can be heard, begin to respond to the call, answering back and the sound of the bells indicates that they are moving down the mountain towards their home farm. The kulokks can belong to an individual, but are sometimes family-based and are handed down so that
1147-416: The tenor passes from what is usually called open to covered tone, but which might better be called from chest to head voice. At the same absolute pitches, the alto or soprano passes from the chest to the middle register. According to Clippinger, there is every reason to believe that the change in the mechanism for male voices into head register is the same as that which occurs in the female voice as it goes into
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1184-568: The term head register is not used within speech pathology and is not one of the four main vocal registers identified by speech pathologists. The following is an overview of the two predominant views on head voice within vocal pedagogy. One prevailing practice within vocal pedagogy is to divide both men and women's voices into three registers. Men's voices are divided into " chest register ", "head register", and " falsetto register " and women's voices into " chest register ", " middle register ", and "head register". According to this practice, singing in
1221-401: The three most effective resonators that help amplify and create the most pleasing sounds are all located in the head: the pharynx , the oral cavity , and the nasal cavity . Resonances and registration aside, the term "head voice" is commonly used to mean "high notes that are not falsetto or strained". For example, when Pavarotti , Stevie Wonder or Bill Withers slide from chest voice to
1258-405: The transition pitch is a function of the intensity of the vocal tone and is not absolute. At higher vocal cord tension (intensity of singing), Appell shows that the pitch at which a singer transitions from chest to head voice will be higher. At lower vocal cord tension (intensity of singing), Appell shows that the pitch at which a singer transitions from chest to head voice will be lower. This view
1295-444: The voice has to be raised the effort comes from the lungs and not from the head," Inst. 1.11.8, transl. Russell). The first recorded mention of the term in a musical context was around the 13th century, when it was distinguished from the throat and the chest voice (pectoris, guttoris, capitis—at this time it is likely head voice referred to the falsetto register ) by the writers Johannes de Garlandia and Jerome of Moravia . The term
1332-471: Was later adopted within bel canto , the Italian opera singing method, where it was identified as the highest of three vocal registers: the chest , passaggio and head registers. This approach is still taught by some vocal instructors today. However, as knowledge of human physiology has increased over the past two hundred years, so has the understanding of the physical process of singing and vocal production. As
1369-400: Was the same in all cases, and was performed by the same kulning singer (Pehrson). Comparing kulning to head voice, they found that partials were visible in far higher registers in kulning than in head voice (easily observed up to 16 kHz) and that they were also less affected by an increased distance from the source than head voice, with more or less unaffected partial patterns when comparing
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