A Voice Apart

Please think again!! Needless to say that, for over four decades of my voice and voice repair business, I have been getting a lot of calls where I was asked if I am a registered speech therapist and if I accept insurance which would cover  speech therapy and speech pathology . A majority of those inquirers had already been through numerous conventional ENT doctors and speech therapists. Nonetheless, according to them and, throughout my observations, they had never achieved any tangible results which they (or me), for that matter, could account for.   After their quite negative experience, my doomed potential clients decided to look for something else - like an alternative form of speaking and/or singing voice therapy. However, while trying to embark on the above-mentioned matter (alternative voice therapy), they still desperately were trying to acquire conventional benefits…?  Go figure!  I usually tell them: “When something does not work, try something els

Case Study #2 - Todd, ORLANDO, Perusini Todd ORLANDO Perusini came through our doors on February the 4th of 2008. At the time, he was residing in Mexico (he was originally from Okanagan Valley, B.C.). He had a one-millimetre nodule on his right vocal cord. He was very disturbed by it, as his speaking voice (raspy and hoarse at the time) was affecting his very prominent real-estate career. But also, Todd’s biggest pleasure in life was to compose songs (primarily in Jazz style) and record his voice singing. Nonetheless, that too was greatly compromised. Todd was suggested to undergo an immediate vocal operation. He, though, was super cautious and thus decided to try a non-surgical approach. Todd contacted us and, nevertheless, had given us quite a hard time with regards to convincing him that we could help him to get rid of his nodule non-surgically. Still being very cautious, he booked a non-surgical voice repair course and treatment for the minimum duration of only 10 hours.

Case Study This blog is primarily dedicated to our local Toronto clients. The fact is that, opposed to our international clients, they have an opportunity to come for what we call an Introductory/Exploratory Session before they commit to any courses or treatments in the case of non-surgical voice repair . During that introductory session, they learn a lot about themselves; about where their voice stands right now; what could be done with it and in what period of time. There is definitely, during that session and in a nutshell, speech and singing instruction present - to whichever degree possible. The majority of our clients, understandably, have been getting extremely excited when they hear the instant difference between how they walked into the session, during the session, and especially, by the conclusion of the whole endeavor. It’s all good! -  you, my reader, may exclaim...  It could be, but sometimes it can be compromised. How so? While experiencing the diffe

- Revised and modernized version from July 23rd, 2011 I've been teaching, consulting and recording vocalists for close to four decades. I've also been conducting group vocal interactive workshops and seminars for the longest time. It is extremely interesting to watch and experience the changes with each generation. What was happening before is history. What is happening today is reality. And today's reality is very confusing, and at times, disheartening. On one hand, people are much more advanced now than they've ever been. In what sense you may ask? Definitely technologically. Also quite definitely, intellectually, as the technology gives them access to much wider venues than they could have ever dreamt of.  Yet, physically speaking, it's another story. The Vocal Science ™  method, which I have been advocating for quite a few years, requires an integration and synergy between mental, physical, emotional and vocal components. Unless all of those compon

If you think that it does not, ask us how you can obtain it! Everybody lately is speaking about a “WOW factor”. During the vocal competitions like American/British Idol or shows like America Got Talent or Britain Got Talent, judges constantly looking for that WOW factor in their contestants. What do they mean by that? Well, first of all, they are looking for a good song suitable for the contestant and, of course, good and original interpretation of that song. Obviously a sharp performance with the proper technical and artistic merit should move the contestant to the top of his/her category. Similarly, during the speech presentation, unfortunately, a lot of times you want to “fall asleep”, a the presenter sounds monotone; and thus, very boring. He/she often does not have the proper emphasis and inflections in their sentences and, therefore, sometimes you can not even make out what they are actually talking about. This is especially annoying when those so called “presenter

We listen… We care… We are here to serve you with respect, integrity, and attention to the minutest details concerning your voice problems. If you think that you have a problem with your voice, we will be able to help . We have been specializing in non-surgical voice repair for nearly 30 years. If you have been scheduled for a vocal operation before you have contacted us, please consult with us first, as we might be able to save you from the surgical intervention, which, by itself, could be pretty dangerous. It could possibly leave scar tissue on the vocal cords; and thus, will deprive (especially singers) from pursuing their careers any longer. Also, to go under the knife or laser will not solve your voice/vocal issues. In the best-case scenario, your vocal cords will be somewhat fixed, but the application and conduct of your voice will remain to be the same. With that said, your original vocal issue (especially growths on the vocal cords; such as polyps, nodules, cysts

Spending over 32 years running my own professional voice/vocal business, I have been working with (estimated) over 20,000 clients on their speaking and singing voices.  Luckily, the mechanics (which are applicable for the speaking and singing voice) are exactly the same. Both my speech ( The Total Communicator Course ) and singing course begin with exactly the same speech exercises. Those exercises have a very important purpose, as they are designed to relieve the pressure of the sound from the vocal anatomy as a whole. The wholesome mechanism takes place to allow the voice to work in the fullest capacity possible with no pain or strain on the vocal anatomy. The voice, restructured to the facial muscles, begins to work in full conjunction and coordination with the abdominal muscles, which play the role of the support for the lifted sound. And the upper diaphragm muscles (rib cage) assure the width and the body of the sound. When all of the components of that wholesome

The voice disorder such as a paralyzed vocal cord is definitely “not a picnic” to put it mildly. Usually, this condition occurs due to a related or non-related surgery. It occurs very often during the thyroid extraction or spine fusion, where the neck is involved. It actually could occur in any surgery where intubation takes place. The fact is that majority of the hospitals here in Canada and in the United States are the teaching hospitals. What that means is that these kind of procedures are not necessarily conducted by the appointed specialist(s), but are being performed by medical interns or even by medical faculty University students. Those young doctors to be are obviously still learning and do not have experience how to insert those tubes correctly. Thus, the occurred mistakes, which could cause the patient a severe damage of their vocal box, could be crucial to one’s life.   So the patient who went in to the operating room with a perfectly good voice, woke up a few ho

By the common opinion, they hardly, if at all, can restore a speaking voice, let alone a singing voice. Usually what brings speakers and, moreover, singers in trouble, is overuse and improper use of the voice which could, no doubt, lead to a mechanical problem within one’s vocal anatomy. And thus, the voice, (speaking and or singing), becomes dysfunctional. The Singers especially need to recover their voice mechanics and none of the registered and non-registered speech therapists had been trained to do so.  However, lately, (must be due to the recession), those troubled singers are having wild fantasies of using their (or their spouses’) insurance, trying to appoint a speech therapist to work on their SINGING VOICE!!! Clearly, their upset minds do not allow them to think straight and the only thing they could think of is how to save money, instead of how to spend money wisely to get what they are after - their new healthy and rejuvenated voice and the knowledge