What is a "mix"?

I keep reading in audition notices for female roles, "must have good belt/mix." What exactly is a mix? I've never heard the term before. Is that because it just applies to the female voice? Or is it a guy thing too?

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Updated On: 2/18/08 at 02:10 PM

I don't really know of a specific performance to use as an example, but it's what some people refer to as "fake belting" even though it is a legitimate style of singing. Like Pippin said, it's not a full on belt but it's not full on head voice either. What comes to mind when I think of a mix is a mezzo soprano voice.

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Hm, well Idina usually screams when she goes high, so I don't know I'd go off of that. A great example is Liz Callaway. Youtube her, great mix.

Anything Gavin Creel sings above an F is mixed. Its a really valuable tool for men, especially with musical theatre. It offers a lot of options when it comes to tone and extends your range a lot. All the really high wailing tenors use a natural mix usually without knowing it, Billy Porter, Darius Dehaas etc.

Mixing is what most men do, considering we never really venture into our head voice like women. If you ever have a teacher telling you to "belt" you should run away.

For women "mixing" is more important because some women sound more like their "belting" (using mostly chest) vs. "mixing" (think: Sutton Foster).

Personally, Mixing is a lot prettier than Belting (ie, SCREAMING!). Natalie Weiss, a popular YouTube star, has a fantastic mix.

If you feel any sort of buzz near your nose and/or head, you're mixing. HOWEVER, don't mistake this for nasality. If you can plug your nose and the sound changes, you're singing in your nose and dropping your soft pallat, which in MY opinion is bad. Others may disagree.

Sutton Foster is good example of a mix. Be careful what teacher teaches how to mix. Some teachers don't really understand the mix. Especially when teaching for guys. Look up Brett Manning online. You'll find a good answer.

The greatest example of a mix I can think of is very early Barbra Streisand. Get your hands on the Second Barbra Streisand album... her ability to switch between mix and belt is astonishing.

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Running in the Dark " you ever have a teacher telling you to "belt" you should run away. " WRONG WRONG WRONG.....Belt, Mix and Head are all legitament ways of singing. As a voice teacher and singer I teach students and have learned myself how to belt, mix, and use just head voice. If you know how to belt correctly there is nothing wrong with it Idina Menzel belts, Liz Callaway mixes mainly but knows how to do both. I use a mixed sound when I sing higher notes with power but don't want the volume of a belt. In a simple definition a belt is singing above your break in a louder volume by raising the larynx. If you learn how to do this affectively, you can sing power ballads like defying gravity. You HAVE to belt certain songs or the sound wrong or don't acheive the vocal momentum you need.

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