What is it?
Belting is a common term used to describe notes which are sung with a lot of power and volume.
Usually, when singers or teachers use this term, they talk about high powerful notes, however belting can also be done in the middle of the range.
Other common terms for belting are – high chest tones / mix voice / chest dominant mix / high mix belts / edgy sound / scream –like tones, etc. To help clarify, here are some audio examples of belting from different female singers
A careful listening will help you notice that there are in fact different kinds of belts.
1)Belts that sound very open and direct, darker in sound and with a shout-like character:
2) Belts that have a more piercing and direct sound, with a brighter color and more twang:
and in this video (0:42-0:52) of Adam Lambert there's a wonderful example of a transition from the lower more open belt to the more piercing,twangy one, and then to a head voice. in the CVT technique terms it would be Overdrive to Edge to Neutral (more about this technique).
3) Belts that has a slight held back sound. they are also powerful, especially in the high part of the voice but not as piercing as the those in the examples above:
you might be thinking to yourself - 'ok, they sound different because singers have different voices and that's that'.. well, no.
You can also sing in these three types of belts and, of course, you will sound like yourself and not like these singers but the characteristics of your belts will fall into one of these categories.
why is it import to know that?
each kind of belt demands different settings of the vocal tract (I.e amount of twang, vowels, larynx positions, tongue position,mouth shape, etc.) and breath support.
To master belting we want to develop the coordination and balance between these elements and maintain it as we go up in pitch to make sure our voice can stay loud and safe in the high part of the voice.
Tip:
Many singers tend to unconsciously imitate vocal sounds they hear in songs or from singers they like. Sometimes that’s the best way to learn, however, please take into account that many times the sound you hear is well processed (doubled / compressed / designed and computerized to a certain extent).
Aiming to imitate, acoustically, a sound that doesn’t exist acoustically is not possible.
In addition, going for sounds that are not produced in a healthy way in the first place might drag you down this slippery slope of risking your voice for a specific sound.
There’s always a healthy alternative for each sound and if you feel strain / pain / fatigue right after singing or while singing, it’s worth it to take look into it.