Vocology (Voice Science)

The Straw Ain’t the Whole Toolbox

June 2, 2022 No Comments

We ALL want THE thing that’s going to solve ALL the problems. Tumeric anyone?

The toolbox analogy is a great way to think of any set of skills for fixing things. Including voice inefficiencies.

We love the straw and straw phonation for voice, but you would no more pack your toolbox exclusively with hammers than you would ONLY use a straw for voice exercise.

Tools are made for specific purposes. Think of the straw as a specialized tool that counters fatigue, creates more efficient resonance or “ring” in the middle of the vocal range, helps visualize airflow, gets the vocal folds into the best position and thickness for singing, and helps you look silly in public.

Did you know that there lots of reasons NOT to use a straw for vocal exercise?

Straws can cause someone to feel like their voice is out of control or highlight imbalances that cannot be overcome in a few minutes. It can cause too much back pressure and be difficult to do! In some ways the straw can be considered a refining tool, something to polish the sound. Sometimes we need more weight on the barbell, not more frosting on the cake.

You have permission to make all the sounds and collect all voice tools you want. Some tools are more powerful than others, and over time you may get all Marie Kondo on your vocal toolbox, but please stop looking for a magic cure for all your voice woes.

My preference is to travel light and carry a few but very powerful tools, then learn to use them like a ninja. The straw will go with me forever, but it doesn’t travel alone.

Have fun out there experimenting with sound. It’ll never end and what works for someone else may not work for you. Your toolbox will be your own.

Vocal Athleticism, Vocology (Voice Science)

3 Common Straw Phonation Mistakes

March 31, 2018 4 Comments

To supplement the plethora of free straw phonation resources online, here is more to think about. Aren’t you excited?

Did you know there are mistakes you can make while using a straw for your singing or speaking voice?

If no, then read on dear voice friends . . .

#1 Air and sound leakage

Whether you prefer to use a cup of water with your straw or not, it’s important to keep the lips sealed around the straw while phonating. This keeps all the sound and airwaves contained in the tube of the straw, which has essentially become an extension of the vocal tract.

Looking to the physics of a moving column of air through a tube, the length (L) of the tube is very important for calculating how that air behaves. The length used in these calculations assumes a sealed tube with no leaks. By letting air (and sound) leak out at the level of the lips, you won’t the same effect as keeping your lips sealed. With leaks the equations are upended, and the system is compromised.

(There are other good reasons for keeping your lips sealed, but that’s another post for another time.)

Free voice resources, Vocology (Voice Science)

Voice Science and Voice Pedagogy, Better Together

February 17, 2018 No Comments

“Nothing is beyond question.”
-Ken Bozeman, Interviews on Voice Matters, 12/19/17

In the most recent episode of Interviews on Voice Matters, Ken Bozeman made the point that voice teachers and voice scientists need each other. He was saying that voice scientists are not the ones in the trenches hearing voices all day, and likewise, singing teachers do not typically have science backgrounds.

If we are going to learn more about the voice, each type of voice professional has to come to the table. There are no discoveries about voice that DO NOT require a village to raise, apparently. And I wholeheartedly agree.

I’m looking for more of a balance between (right now) what I would say are three legs: voice science, historic pedagogy that has a proven track record, and then innate human response.

I point out that the conclusions and observations that I made back in ’89 – and first observed where my vowels wanted to turn over – required that I had seen a voice science chart of first formant locations. The scientists didn’t tell me that. It took someone in a voice studio dealing with voices all the time to observe that. So, it’s really a very important dialog we need to have.

And to this day, for example the things I’m doing in my application of [Ian Howell’s] work, I’m not getting from voice scientists. It’s coming from pedagogues. But it’s totally grounded in information that the voice scientists supplied us with. They’re playing a vital role.

-Ken Bozeman, Interviews on Voice Matters (34:41)

Which lead me to say further along in the interview, “we need each other.” Just like a happy, functional tribe, we work better together. We get more accomplished together. We are better able to help each other – together.

Vocal Athleticism, Vocology (Voice Science)

5 Things To Know About the Soft Palate for Singing

February 9, 2018 No Comments

“Raise the soft palate.”
~almost a bazillion voice teachers, across time

There is much to know about the anatomy of vocal tract for singing and voice teaching. The soft palate is one of those structures that both mystifies and intrigues us, and (at first) isn’t easy to control.

Just this week I went tête-à-tête with a client about whether her soft palate was lifting or lowering during a particular sound. Turns out the soft palate was lifting, but she was 100% convinced it was lowering. Once she saw what was happening by looking in the mirror, the conversation was settled.

How can that be? How can we be so convinced that the soft palate is moving in one certain direction, to only find out that it is doing the exact opposite?

(Don’t get bent out of shape one way or the other, y’all – we have ALL experienced soft palate confusion. Either that, or we haven’t sung a note in our lives.)

Here are 5 things to know about the soft palate that may help you on your vocal journey.

1. Learn where the soft palate is and what it looks like

The following video is a graphic and bizarre look at the soft palate. But, before we head off into *strange,* find the soft palate in your own vocal tract. Take the tip of your tongue and run it along the roof of your mouth, starting at your teeth and moving backwards. You will reach the edge of the “hard palate,” and run right into the soft palate.

The soft palate dips down and can be seen at the back of the throat when you open your mouth. The uvula is that little dongle that hangs down from the soft palate, just in case you needed to know that.

Another name for the soft palate is the velum. In case you needed to know that, too.

Honestly, the following video originally inspired this post. Be warned: it is not a pretty video. It’s quite bizarre, but it’s also an unforgettable demo.

I shall put it after the “read more” tab below so you have time to prepare yourself for this little bit of weirdness.

Vocal Athleticism, Vocology (Voice Science)

What is Voice Habilitation?

January 31, 2018 No Comments

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change this world.”
-Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society

I first heard the word habilitation in 2012 at the Summer Vocology Institute in Salt Lake City, UT. It came up in association with the treatment of injured voices and was the topic of much discussion that summer. (It continues to be the topic of much discussion, it turns out.)

Most of us are familiar with rehabilitation as a medical term, but what about habilitation? It carries a different meaning than rehabilitation and, in the opinion of vocology experts, deserves a conversation – both for the sake of voice practitioners and consumers alike.

As defined by the text Vocology,

“habilitation is the process of enabling, equipping for, or capacitating. Voice habilitation is therefore more than repairing a voice, or bringing it back to a normal state. It includes the process of building and strengthening the voice to meet specific needs.” (Titze, Verdolini Abbott, 2012 pg.11)

Rehabilitation vs. Habilitation

Let’s look at habilitation and rehabiltation back to back. Merriam Webster online defines the verb habilitate as:

Habilitate (v) : to make fit or capable

When compared to the verb rehabilitate, the nuance between habilitation and rehabilitation becomes more evident:

Rehabilitate (v) : to restore or bring to a condition of health or useful and constructive activity