Hi, Brittany.

 

You have identified the chief advantage and disadvantage of a mixed formation, but I would add one more potential disadvantage: if the choir doesn't know the music really well, singers will be unable to discern which cues or cut-offs are intended for them in polyphonic-textured music, due to the inability to look at the section for which the gesture was intended.  I would definitely avoid mixed formation in the process of learning a piece.  I would only consider it once the piece is learned and learned well.  This will minimze the effect of the "cons."  

 

There are other things to consider when placing voices within a section that you would be well advised to explore.  (Different conductors have different theories about this.)  These concern where to place strong voices and weaker voices, good readers (leaders) and weaker readers (followers), and the practice of placing singers next to one another based on blend or timbre.  In addition there are different theories about how to organize sections in relation to one another based on numbers of singers within sections, or for tuning or other desired advantages.  Several books on choral conducting (which are in my office and I don't have access to at the moment) have chapters dedicated to formations and the philosphies behind them.  It's an interesting topic, and you'll find many opinions about it among choral conductors.  I'm sure more will chime in as this thread continues to appear on ChoralNet.  

Hi Brittany,

 

I believe the most important thing in a choir's arrangement is the preference of the conductor.  This could extend from simple aesthetic considerations to musical needs to things that any given score may request. The choir that I sing in currently is arranged (from the conductor's viewpoint) with sopranos and basses on the left half and altos and tenors on the right half, 2 rows of men behind 2 rows of women.  The voice parts move from high to low in the women from left to right, while the men's voice parts move from lowest to highest left to right. 

 

It looks something like this (two rows of each):

 

BII  BI  TII  TI

SI   SII  AI  AII

 

This allows the outer voices to tune more consistently and the inner voices to better hear each other. But, really, it will depend on what you think is most important in the choral sound you are putting out. For example, if you want a very blended 'wave' of sound, then the completely mixed formation may serve you best.

 

I hope this helps!

Brittany:  Some people have very strong feelings about this.  I don't.  With a small ensemble I often ask how they would be the most comfortable on individual pieces, in sections or in quartets.  (Sometimes not full quartets, of course, if you don't have balanced sections.)  The larger the ensemble, the less flexibility you have, of course.  But I've observed that ensembles like the Kings Singers and Chanticleer do more around into different configurations.

 

If you feel that they are shaky on the notes, then clearly sections is best to promote confidence.  But if they are solid you have more choices, including riser stacking, the basis of which is working with individual singers rather than sections and placing them where their voices don't stick out and do reinforce the voices close to them.

 

In other words, like so much else in life, "it depends"!!!

Brittany,

 

I agree with what has already been written by the previous experienced and well informed colleagues, and I would like to suggest three practices that are "beyond" (but related to) the question of arranging choirs in a section formation or a mixed formation.

 

1. The first practice is choral singer spacing regardless of formation (assumes the alternate spacing of individual singers between the shoulders of the singers in the row in front of them):

 

   a. ask all the singers to place their left hand (or right, it doesn't matter which) on their left hip so that their elbows are extended to the left, and to allow that amount of lateral space between themselves and the singer to their left.

   And, if possible, move the rows of singers (1st row, 2nd row, etc.) a bit forward or back so that there is a bit more 'front-back' space between the rows of singers. Sing in rehearsals and performances with that amount of space

   between the singers. I know that the number and size of choral risers (and riser-less venues) will likely be a factor in this recommendation. My perspective is to find a way to be well spaced no matter what it does to where the singers

   stand (see below).

 

Why? (1) Researchers in choral acoustics, and in vocal auditory feedback among groups of singers, have established the fact that when singers sing in close proximity to each other, each individual singer's ability to hear the sound of her/his own voice is diminished (true in both music classes and choirs). As we all know, the ability to hear the sound of one's own voice (including the pitch)--over time--grows the ability to sing with confident independence, with greater pitch accuracy, and with more desirable tone quality. (2) Those researchers also have established that when choral singers are in close proximity to to each other, the acoustic sound waves of their voices are blocked/diverted by the bodies in front of them, AND the hair and clothes of the in-front-of-them singers absorb some of their voices' acoustic energy. More often than not, music folders (if used) are held in front of singers' mouths and approach being vertical. That blocks vocal sound waves. So:  With folders held below mouths and closer to horizontally, and with increased space between the singers--laterally and between rows--more of a choir's vocal sound waves will radiate toward the audience (including the conductor). That means that a comparatively small group of singers that are well spaced can produce "as much sound" as a group of 50 or more singers that are shoulder-to-shoulder with more closed-in rows. (3) Social communications researchers have established that, in our culture, people who are communicating with each other need to have a minimum space of 18-inches between them. If one communicant moves in closer than that, the other communicant becomes uncomfortable and leans back or backs away. So what happens to the bodies of singers who are shoulder-to-shoulder (or whose shoulders are interlaced laterally) and have singers near their front so they have to figure out where to 'put' their music folders? They can't lean or move away, so their bodies react by "pulling in." That will diminish their breathing ability and their breath capacity. In addition, the muscles of their 'vocal mechanism' will tense up to a degree so that they will sing with some degree of muscular inefficiency. That inefficiency will include a degree of overworking in their larynx muscles and a contracting of their vocal tracts, and those conditions will change the quality of the vocal tone that they contribute to 'choral tone' and their ability to sing in tune.

 

   b. When the amount of space between the singers in a. becomes comfortable and ordinary, ask each singer to step about six inches to their left (or right) and there will be an even greater advantages to the singers and to the "choral

   sound." With even more space, up to a point, the advantages will continue to increase.

 

2. In rehearsals, teach singers how to sing with more and more vocal efficiency, especially how to sing with appropriately open 'space adjustments' in the throat and mouth parts of their vocal tracts. Many common 'vocal techniques' have a shortening and narrowing effect on vocal tracts--especially on the throat parts of vocal tracts--which robs voices of tonal 'fullness' and balanced resonance. And actually, a too-narrowed vocal tract triggers unnecessary overwork in larynx muscles--a phenomenon that has been labeled "acoustic overloading of the vocal folds."

 

3. If you haven't already, learn how to communicate to singers with your language and your whole body--including conducting gestures--so that the singers are 'invited' to sing with open and free fluidity of vocal tone.

 

[An aside, Brittany: Seriously consider attending the summer course(s) offerred by The VoiceCare Network in Minnesota. All of the above conductor knowledge and practice are addressed (plus a lot more), and in a "human compatible" way. Working with male and female adolescent voices is included, too.]

 

Hope this helps. Be well and keep up the good work that you do!

 

Leon