Sensational synthesis: an investigation of the art of the female professional singer’s performance of multiple vocal genres

Multi-Genre Singing (MGS) is an art comprised of creative and technical processes. This study aims to contribute to the formulation of a systematic understanding of these processes. It gathers accounts, explores creative experiences and collates performative features of singing a selection of Classical and Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) genres from the perspective of the female professional practitioner. It draws on three data sources: existing vocal performance and pedagogy literature on multi-genre singing techniques; interview participant lived experiences of MGS; and personal, creative, and technical insights from the creation of a multi-genre creative work. Practical, reproduceable methods, approaches, and techniques of eighteen professional female multi-genre singers are investigated through interviews. Findings from the literature and interview responses are compared with objective and subjective observations from the preparation and recording of the creative work: a thirteen-track album of nine original songs and four cover versions in nine genres. Iterative analysis of the insights from all data sources contribute to the formulation of a framework for technical analysis of vocal production parameters. Concepts and schemas for multi-genre singing (MGS) are derived from the framework. The outputs of the research therefore include the creative works, frameworks for their analysis and evaluation, and a set of working schemas relevant to the challenge and experience of female multi-genre singing.