Wet 't's again from King's

[Southern Comfort]

Is anyone else surprised that Stephen Cleobury allows a couple of his trebles to get away with "wet 't's " ? I've heard
this for a number of years, but one or two were extremely noticeable this year: the very first 't' of This is the truth sent from above, and one of the exposed final 't's on "out" in the middle of the newly-commissioned Ring out, wild bells.

[JW]

Morning SC, perhaps you could explain to us igoramuses what a wet 't' is? I don't normally associate wet t-shirts with choirs.

Many catholic choirs don't bother with consonants anyway, or technique, posture and watcing the conductor. As for finding their music, isn't that what the playover is for? Catholic directors have to be careful about how s/he points out these issues for fear of thoroughly upsetting egos and provoking a mass walkout. I assume things are somewhat better in our cathedrals where choir members don't think they're doing the church a huge favour just by turning up. Rant over for now!

I missed the King's service so cannot comment on the singing. Who composed the new version of 'Ring out wild bells''? We sang Jonathan Dove's "The Passing of the Year" at Rochester Choral Society a couple of years ago. "Ring out Wild Bells" is the final movement: extremely difficult but it was very effective and we felt a real sense of achievement when we pulled it off. To my mind, this is more appropriate as a New Year carol than a Christmas Carol, so I'm slightly surprised it was included in the King's programme?

[Southern Comfort]

The letter 't' is normally pronounced by placing the tip of the tongue against the front of the hard palate immediately behind the front teeth. This gives a clean and clear 't' sound.

A "wet 't' " is usually produced when, instead of using the tip of the tongue, the part of the tongue immediately behind the tip is placed near the hard palate, leaving the tip of the tongue directly behind the front teeth instead of against the palate. The tongue is flatter and the tip further forward. The sound is difficult to describe — a breathy 't' that comes across as somewhere between a 'th' and a 'ts', and is instantly identifiable, even when surrounded by a host of correct 't's from other singers. This problem is normally (but not always) only encountered in child choristers (of either gender), and is easily corrected.

I have to assume either that perfectionist Cleobury doesn't know that wet t's are considered to be bad technique in choral singing (surely unlikely?), or that he was mortified when it happened. On the other hand, I have noticed this on a number of previous occasions.

This year, the other problem was "racing" — uncomfortably fast and sometimes unstable tempi because he and his organ scholar were trying to cram 20 sung items into what is a diminishing amount of time, now that we have not only the news headlines at 3 but also a spoken introduction to the service from the continuity announcer which seems to get longer every year. The red light can't have come on until several minutes after 3pm, and one pair of scripture readings was separated by not the usual two but three sung items.

Ring out, wild bells was a new commission from Australian composer Carl Vine, by the way. Great name for someone from the land of blockbuster wines.

[alan29]

I remember George Guest coming to spend training weekends with us when I was in the Liverpool Met Choir. The Merseyside wet "t"s used to make him titter. Surprised they should be appearing around the corner from his old stomping ground.