If you are an amateur singer ( like me) or if you want to practise a krithi or memorize it to register it into your memory for instrument playing ( again like me), most of you would have come across this problem.
Imagine you want to sing a song in the higher octave it is always easier to do agaara. For instance, I was helping my niece yesterday giving violin accompaniment to her singing practice.
There is a phrase" Valli Deivayaanai Manavala" in Kaa Vaa Vaa , varali and I lead her first in akaaram to give a shade of it. it goes like S - R - G; - pm -G; -rrs manavaala I have separated it for va - lli -Dei - va - yaa - naai manavaala. Though explaining that is easier by akaaram when she sang it , that was a bit of not so comfortable area for her, though it should not be for a trained musician. The intensity obviously lowered whereas she was easy too with the EH EH type of Akaaram. I personally feel that EH EH is easier than EE when you go up and AA at some spots. But the trick is to put words exactly with melody intact and that is a different problem. Let us make for instance Mu ru ga ve la va ne G P G R G P M in some Kalyani perhaps. Here mu ru ga is just not the UU UU AA endining but first Mu with lips sealed and so on. TO attain the same sweetness of the middle octave is sometimes a challenge. I have a friend who occassionally sings devotional songs in Benaras was impressive in explaining it. I think this is where some people could suddenly see their face going hexagoanl and pentagonal . I have observed a female PB singer doing this casually without even properly opening her mouth which is phenomenal. But most people really trouble themselves much and it is too obvious that it is not their comfortable zone. I was told that there are actually voice practices that the western singers take to overcome this. I am sure this is part of some voice culture.
I still remember those days when I was obliged to accompany every visiter who sings for (k or G)olu { Arasi, I slowed down while typing that because of you
}, and the singer doing some make beleive shots at that area G to P in tharasthayi though it is actually not the exact note they touch . The voice is made feeble there to make it seem like real. Even famous singers do that make believe gym-micks. I used to stress that strongly in my violin ( after all it is fingering , so not a problem) and take a bit of guilty pleasure in it , or you can rather say accentuating and embellishing it for a positive effect ( I am not a terrible sadist).If you really want to make sure of your perfection in upper registry , use apps like singing aid or tutor and try it out. You will see when you sing that upper registry , esp until PA phrases it is not that same perfection you get in that of the middle registry. For some fun out of it you can also take a selfie of it in HD video and show it to the kids at home who are finicky and reluctant with eating , and you will see them wolf down their food.
That apart , what are the practices and voice cultures involved to overcome it. Has this been addressed yet. Or perhaps , our music system takes it frivolously?!
Ganesh Mourthy