A Voice Apart

Recently, we received a very talented (musically and otherwise) student who has been offered a major record deal in the United States. Three years ago, this singer/songwriter/producer felt that he could no longer reach the high notes, which he could easily reach before. He experienced vocal fatigue and thus could sustain any sound only for a short period of time. He acquired fear and emotional distress, knowing that his singing voice is not working in full capacity as before. He decided to withhold embarking onto the record deal; And rightfully so, as he felt that he could've lost his voice altogether if he continued singing (and speaking for that matter) in the same fashion. Within our introductory/exploratory session, we explained to him that if he does not change the application of his speaking and singing voice, he may actually lose his voice to the point of no return. What could be a bigger fear and frustration for a talented up-and-coming singer then to lose the

In January 2008, I picked up a phone call from a person who called himself "Orlando". Right away, I was curious to know if that was his real name or, perhaps, a stage name...? Nevertheless, this person assured me that it was his real name and also added that his mother was, in fact, very creative - and thus, gave him such a name. Orlando spoke with me with a quite raspy and hoarse voice and he told me that he just visited an ENT (he called me from Mexico, where he usually spends his winter time) and revealed that, while there, he had been told that he had a one-millimetre nodule  on one of his vocal cords. With that diagnosis, he was suggested immediate vocal surgery. On this note, Orlando placed a call to me - during which he was quite inquisitive (reminded me of a KGB interrogation). Surprisingly enough, with all the desperation, he seemed to be not in a hurry to make a commitment to come to Toronto to attend my course and treatment. He, however, placed another c

Your voice IS a reflection of the state of your being. Case Study: Professional Artist – R.R (The real name of the artist cannot be disclosed due to the confidentiality code)   A few days ago, we got approached by an artist in his mid 20’s, asking us to help him to get rid of his nasal sound in his voice. He was to prepare for his tour in Europe and wanted to sound and to look his best. When we first met him (just a few days ago) for what we call an “Introductory/Exploratory Session”, he was late 45 minutes to start with, walked in looking and acting half asleep, and stood in front of us with a completely out-of-balance posture and body. It took quite a bit of effort, especially from my side, to bring him to the point from where I could actually work with him and make a difference. He, indeed, sounded quite nasal – speaking and singing. We, however, liked his songs, written in the Hip-Hop style. In fact, a very prominent Hip-Hop artist (name cannot be disclosed) actually as

This case is about Michael F from the United Kingdom: He suffered from paralyzed vocal cords due to throat cancer. ____________   Michael was diagnosed with throat cancer and, due to that, he had undergone numerous sessions of chemotherapy and well as radiation treatments. In the end, he ended up with one vocal cord fully paralyzed and the other one completely damaged (fully non-functional). His speaking voice was totally unclear and had a very high soprano tone. Obviously, the condition of his vocal cords was beyond repair; however, by employing the Vocal Science™ technique, his voice got rechannelled to a different set of muscles (facial cavities) which allowed him to speak much louder and much clearer. His voice also acquired some bass on the bottom, which was supporting the actual lift off of his vocal box and off of his vocal cords. Clearly, there was a huge improvement, as Michael was taught to employ his facial muscles (natural amplifier/resonator) in conjunct