Vocally speaking - Part 2: Will you go to a car body shop to fix your car engine or any mechanical parts, for that matter?

It just happened to me….

I got hit by a Dear! I have to say that it was a very strange experience, to say the list! I have not seen it coming… What I saw, was a deer’s face in my windshield!

It came out of the blue, so to speak. It was just after 10 pm and I was driving at a speed of only 56 km! Thank God that I got a speeding ticket 2 days earlier, lol, Otherwise I possibly would be going much faster and thus, the impact of my collision with the deer could have been much more serious. So my car (which I managed to drive home somehow) ended up being damaged for over $11.000!  To my surprise, the body shop, where the car was towed, said that they will take care of everything, mechanics included. Now, 2 weeks later, they called me and told me that they were unable to fix the engine! Go figure! So they had to ship my car to a Volkswagen dealership after all! Now, at least it makes sense! The body shop is the shop meant to fix the body of the car and the dealership is responsible for the mechanical part of it.

I am saying that, one more time again, to compare this ordeal to the ordeal of those who have been suffering from various voice/vocal disorders.

Just earlier today, I was talking on the phone with the person residing in the Middle East and who, for some time, had been suffering from excessive silent acid reflux which, by extension, effected his speaking and singing voice. Nevertheless, he sounded quite low and quite raspy while speaking.

In his original e-mail to us, he was asking if we are doing it remotely, i.e., via Skype, Facetime or what have you…? I outright wrote to him that his problem, as any other vocal problem, is quite serious, and it qualifies as internal medicine and cannot be addressed (and furthermore treated or cured) remotely.

I also told him that if anybody will offer him that, they will be after his money and not after his interest.

Now let’s visualize my car being fixed remotely…

Is that possible? Take a wild guess……

Now, jokes aside…

Likewise, the damaged voice is a very serious matter, as it has to be restored and brought to its original state, which is easier said than done!

Apparently, my potential client has been researching all kinds of speech therapists and ENT doctors who were recommending him various medications to “treat” and even “cure” silent acid reflux.

Like my former client (band singer) from Venezuela, he too had difficulty to breathe, especially at night time and in order to sleep (at least remotely), he had to use two or three pillows to create almost a sitting position rather than actually lying down in bed.

Needless to say, both guys were doing everything and anything to make their lives easier and suffer less. (At least they thought so…)

Did that help, you may ask?

Again, it did…somewhat …hardly.

The guy from Venezuela finally (after 5 years of planning) reached Toronto and took 20 hours of instruction and treatment. And to complete his voice recovery (and for the maintenance), he attended a 10 hour group Healthy Voice/Vocal Workshop.

On the third day, he (surprisingly) was late for his morning session.

When he finally showed up, he exclaimed – “Sorry for being late Diana, but for the first time in many years, I slept like a log and did not even hear my baby crying”. For the record, he did travel to us with his whole family, including a newborn baby.

By that time (via my special speech and singing exercises), his voice was already lifted off of his vocal box and off of his vocal cords, thus releasing the vocal box and the chest from the pressure of the sound.

The voice was restructured to the set of his facial muscles and thus, was positioned quite far away from the gastric acid, which before was burning his vocal cords and interfering with his breathing.

Needless to say, his problem was solved and, as a side effect, he learned how to speak and sing.

He learned and utilized the method of how to speak and sing smart and not hard, while concurrently, he also learned how to apply minimum efforts to achieve maximum results! Needless to say, he was able to power his voice ‘upon design’ and knew predominantly what will come out of his mouth without taking wild guesses and keeping his fingers crossed and dying of fear.

There is, of course a possibility with acid reflux (as well as with some other internal health disorders), that it has to be addressed either way, and not necessarily, but rather simultaneously, with persisting voice issues.

But at least, in the interim (with the proper voice mechanics instruction and treatment), the person’s voice has been saved. It has also been assured that the voice damage will never occur ever again, (should the person retain the specific instructions embedded into him during the voice restoration sessions).

The moral of the above is:

Do not look for gimmicks, such as the “remote approach” or unneeded prescribed medical drugs! Fix the mechanics of voice first and everything else after that.

Now, again speaking of my car:

The body shop, evidently, fixed the frame of the car, not realizing that the mechanical parts could appear to be beyond repair! As of today, the Volkswagen dealership cannot figure out what is wrong with the engine and other mechanical parts under the hood. The body shop made the car look real good, shiny and clean; but if, mechanically, it’s still not sound, then all their work will be completely obsolete!

For some reason people who suffer from voice disorders (speakers or singers) think that there is something wrong with their voice…? They do not realize that the main problem lies due to the insufficient application of the voice, which could potentially cause all kinds of voice damage.

So please “try not to work on the fridge when the stove is broken” so to speak…