# impostado



## Vanda

¡Hola!

How the adjective impostado would be in English? Not with the meaning in this thread : http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=132558&highlight=impostar

But impostado = adjective form of impostar = *to pitch the voice*/* place the voice*.


¡Gracias a todos!


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## k-in-sc

I wouldn't know what "to place the voice" means, but I am not a singer.
I assume you want "pitched," but could you provide a sample sentence to be sure?


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## Vanda

Well, it is a dictionary entry, but let's say:
La voz impostada...


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## k-in-sc

Sorry, without a whole sentence I can't help you.
Maybe somebody else can.


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## marghera

Hi Vanda:
The term is "voice placement" or "vocal placement". The verb, is "to place (the voice)" as you already mention in your original post. As for the adjective I would imagine it to be "placed" but, if you look around on the net, you will see it's hardly ever used, if at all.
Alternatively, "voice projection" can also be used and you could easily say "projected" voice. In my view, nevertheless, there is a slight difference between the two terms (in spite of Wikipedia's description of "voice projection"): I see voice placement as an ability one develops and eventually masters. Voice projection, to me, is the implementation of the technique. In other words, voice placement is something you own, voice projection is something you do. Nevertheless, I must warn you that this is just my personal understanding of the terms. I would warmly recommend that, on this basis, you further investigate the matter before you make a decision.
I hope this was useul to you.


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## Vanda

Thank you all! I asked a fellow English native forero who happens to know Portuguese too and he said the translation for impostado in the sense I've mentioned is ''on pitch''.


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## marghera

Vanda said:


> Thank you all! I asked a fellow English native forero who happens to know Portuguese too and he said the translation for impostado in the sense I've mentioned is ''on pitch''.


 
I beg to differ. You can sing with a beautifully placed voice and do it totally off pitch (or off key). It's two totally different things. Impostado means your voice will not quiver and it will carry quite a distance. One learns to use one's diaphragm to push air up from the lungs much in the same way as in a bagpipe. On pitch means you are signing the note you are supposed to and not a different (wrong) one.


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## Vanda

Oh, my! I am lost! "projected" voice, then?!


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## marghera

If you could post the whole sentence to be translated we might be able to find a proper solution.


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## Vanda

No sentence, Marghera. It is a dictionary entry, I have to provide a translation for our dictionary.


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## marghera

Vanda said:


> Well, it is a dictionary entry, but let's say:
> ...


 
What intrigues me is that you say "but let's say: La voz impostada". And I'm not being a nosy parker. It's just that a dictionary entry does not normally begin with "La". So, depending on whether it is the term to be defined or a part of the definition itself, we'd have to look at it one way or another. My choice translation for "voz impostada" would be "voice placement". Please see if that would fit your case and if not, with the data we have, I'm afraid I wouldn't know what else to suggest.


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## k-in-sc

Is this strictly a musical term, or would it be used in ordinary conversation, like "a steady voice" (a voice that doesn't crack, quiver or otherwise betray emotion)?


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## Vanda

marghera said:


> What intrigues me is that you say "but let's say: La voz impostada". And I'm not being a nosy parker. It's just that a dictionary entry does not normally begin with "La". So, depending on whether it is the term to be defined or a part of the definition itself, we'd have to look at it one way or another. My choice translation for "voz impostada" would be "voice placement". Please see if that would fit your case and if not, with the data we have, I'm afraid I wouldn't know what else to suggest.



Easy... you've asked a sentence, I had none and didn't know if the Spanish usage would be similar in Portuguese, so I've put a chunk where it could appear.  
A dictionary entry has just a single word, you know, just _impostado _and the poor, aflita translator has to turn herself upside down to ''discover'' which word could translate that very single word.



k-in-sc said:


> Is this strictly a musical term, or would it be used in ordinary conversation, like "a steady voice" (a voice that doesn't crack, quiver or otherwise betray emotion)?
> *Yes, it is strictly a musical term, just that, like: voice, soprano, tenor, etc... you know*!


 (I'll ask Mike an emoticon for  ''entirely lost'')


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## marghera

Hi Vanda:
I have a new idea. I understand you are working on a Portuguese/English dictionary and you come to the Spanish/English forum for affinity. This is what I found for Spanish in the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (RAE) dictionary.

*impostado**, da**.*


*1. *adj. Artificial, falto de naturalidad, fingido. _Alegría impostada._

I suggest you find a similar definition for Portuguese and then add the "Voz impostada" definition as "Voice placement" within the main definition body.
This idea any use?


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