A Voice Apart

One day, you wake up and you notice that suddenly, your voice is not the same as it normally is. You think to yourself; "maybe, its just morning raspiness and it will go away later in the day".  Five (or more) days pass and you realize that your voice is not getting any better.  It’s actually getting worse with every word you try to convey. On top of that, your throat feels like it is on fire and it has been burning severely. So, by now, you have come to the realization that something is definitely wrong there… Your  voice feels weak, and on top of that, it sounds raspy and hoarse . “What could I do to make it better” you ask yourself in desperation? Of course, right away, you turn to the “all reliable internet" for answers to your vocal dilemma, and find out that all of their “answers” are just generic explanation websites which, at most times, do not lead you to the best diagnosis and/or treatments. Now, you are lost completely and totally unaware

Recently, we had an inquiry from a singer situated in Europe who had been diagnosed with Spasmodic Dysphonia. …………………………………………………………………………… “I was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, and the doctor wanted to give me Botox injections, but I refused because the risk of not being able to sing well afterwards (I am a singer) was too great! So my question is, Can you help me get my voice or a better voice back? Is it possible to get instructions via Skype. I live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands!” …………………………………………………………………………… Below is my answer. Hi There, I have to note that it is a little unusual to be diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, when you are a singer. Usually, it happens to people who are not singers, but just regular (or professional) speaking voice users. But, nevertheless, it is a very serious problem and in conventional sense, cannot be treated, let alone cured. And yes, the only treatment they could offer is the Botox, which in majority of cases, will not work or

More and more people are inquiring about the difficulty of using their voice, as per normal. There are different factors taking place to prevent people from communicating efficiently and with no difficulty, using their speaking voice . When the voice, sometimes due to a lot of very loud and excessive talking, drops down to its very low position, it begins to sound hoarse and raspy and very low in volume. The person who experiences the above described symptoms is trying to push and pull that voice to the surface and, of course, the more they try, the less results they get. Sometime ago, my voice repair client from Boston who used to play in the Blue Grass band, (before her vocal injury) told me: “Diana, I pushed and pushed my voice, trying to bring it to a normal volume and get rid of the hoarseness, and last August, I knew that I have pushed it for the last time”. By pushing and pulling her voice, not only did she lose her volume almost completely, she a

When you got any voice disorder, your life could change (and not for the better), momentarily...  Just in the recent past, you were a regular person like everybody else, and that one morning when you woke up, you felt that your voice is a little shut down and that you had to clear your throat extensively to bring any sound out to the surface.  "That was quite unusual" you might have thought, and hoped that all of it would go away soon.  You started thinking that your bedroom was quite dry and maybe, in the recent past, you had some cold, and maybe the new showed-up symptoms were just the residuals of the latter.  You went through your day, still feeling uncomfortable with your voice and even feeling that something just got stuck inside of your throat.  By the evening, you also started feeling a pain in your neck and shoulders, and overnight, your throat was 'literally' on fire, as the gastric acid began burning your vocal cords .  Due to that, so

Should you just work on your physical body, or should you just work on your voice? The answer is: NONE of the above mentioned choices are right! As per usual, I am receiving multiple e-mails from all over the world. 90% of those e-mails consist of quite long letters with all kinds of stories, primarily about the voice problems these individuals have been experiencing. The majority of them possess the notion that if something is wrong with their voice i.e. it sounds hoarse, their throat hurts and feels scratchy, they have excessive mucus in their throats and some have already been diagnosed with acid reflux , muscle tension dysphonia , and whatnot; it must be happening only on a physical level. They do not realize that the majority of vocal issues become present because of the misuse of the vocal mechanics (speaking or singing). However, you cannot dismiss either of the above. If the physical body is already out of whack, so to speak, the wrong mechanics of the v

To my knowledge, at least 90 percent of the population loves to sing. Some of them are doing it for recreational purposes; others say that they do it for recreational purposes, but secretly hope that one day, someday, they will become singing stars. And lastly, the other category simply consider themselves to be already professional singers , as they occasionally perform in different venues and sometimes, they even get some remuneration. In this blog, I will refrain from talking about the real professionals with names and reputations, however, even they could stand some extra mentoring and instruction and not only vocal instruction per se. However, out of 90% of singing lovers, only 3 to maximum, 5% would make it to the big stage. Why is that, you may ask? There is a bouquet of reasons, which pertain to that occurrence. First of all, before reaching any heights at all, the majority of those wannabe singers end up with a variety of vocal problems. Some of them ar

Nowadays, a lot of singers are susceptible to a variety of vocal disorders.  That happens because in the first place they never “owned” the right vocal technique , the kind which would prosper their voice to the fullest capacity possible; and at the same time it would save and protect their voice for life.  The result – Voice Disorder .  Now the process of restoration of one’s voice begins.  A lot of those students, “who were really very good students,” have learned the wrong technique really well and formed it into their vocal habits.  Not only do we have to fix their “vocal instrument,” so to speak, but also have to get rid of bad habits, like: dropping their jaws down, sticking their stomach out, scooping and sitting under the notes, excessively using their nasal passages, or their very throaty sounds.  It’s easier said than done, though.  Those habits are usually deeply embedded in the person’s psyche and the body muscles, which are also retaining t