A Voice Apart

Evidently not… It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Let’s analyze what has been happening in the last few years and, nevertheless, recently: Majority of our very talented artists had experienced vocal problems in one-way or another. A lot of them had undergone vocal operations: Adele John Mayer Joan Rivers Megan Trainor Sam Smith Roger Daltrey Steven Tyler Keith Urban Michael Buble And that’s to name a few… All of the above-listed people are talented artists, but obviously, the majority of them had been lacking the proper vocal technique; and thus, they ended up having vocal issues (and some of them more serious than others). Could they have avoided the interruption of their professional lives, careers, joy and monetary loss? No doubts they could - They just could have been more attentive to the technical aspects of their craft and not just rely on their talents and love for music. Could you imagine a figure skater trying to jump a triple or quad...

How to Become and Remain to be a Professional Singer  (Part 2) But… What about the Vocal Style? Can it be taught? Let’s Find Out! In this article, I would like to talk about interesting observations that I have made over my 37 years as a vocal coach and voice repair specialist while being the founder of the Royans Professional Vocal School aka The Royans School for the Musical Performing Arts - since 1984. Since that time teaching voice has been our primary focus. Not too many people realize that there are several aspects that must be addressed with respect to the singing craft in general. Let’s elaborate on that, my dear reader: First of all, I would like to bring to your attention that when we begin talking about singing, we will be talking about two separate, but very much so related elements: physical sound and artistic performance. Before I will begin discussing anything further (regarding the above-described matter), I would like to bring to your attention, my reader, that t...

Since 1984, we have been receiving students who really wanted to make it in the music business. And a lot of them did. Many of them got signed with major record labels, as well as, had won many singing competitions including international ones. To name a few, please see below:  Brian Melo - Winner of Canadian Idol 2007  Lukas Rossi - Winner on the CBS TV Show Rockstar: Supernova Alex Norman of illScarlett (Sony BMG Music Canada)  Cindy Gomez - INTERSCOPE Records (Produced by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics) Trish (Patricia Campbell) - Signed with Capitol | EMI Records Candace Santos - Winner of the 2006 and 2007 Rising Star Contests & the 2008 Young Asian Canadian Idol Brian Pisani of One Second 2 Late (Produced by Greig Nori - Sony BMG) Jake Robertson - Lead Singer of the Any Zen rock band Jesse Dryfhout of Stabilo (Virgin Music Canada) Edwin (Sony Records) Brian Byrne of I Mother Earth (Universal Records) Rob Moratti of Saga (Inside Out Records) Nicole Hughes of Min...

A Valentine’s Day Love Story Drama... The Result: An Absolute Beginner Signs with a Reputable Talent Agency! In previous years, I had worked a lot with amateur singers who were labelled as wannabe singers. A lot of them were recognized by various talent scouts and agents, especially when they were appearing in karaoke clubs or open mic events in a variety of bars and clubs. Once upon a time, one of my beginner students was brought up by her husband to a big karaoke club to show him what she had achieved with only 5 hours of instruction (by that time) with me. On top of it, it happened to be Valentine’s day karaoke night! Understandably, my student felt very nervous and insecure... However, she also told me that she remembered (what we still call to this day) “smile and bite”, and to also enunciate and thus pronounce her words with absolute clarity and to the best of her abilities. By the time she finished the song, (to my memory, it was a song called “Time After Time” – by Cindy Lauper...

Alternative - NO BOTOX - treatment for Spasmodic Dysphonia Contact us to find out about our unprecedented results with treating this disorder naturally and alternatively! 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 and severe p...

    Vocally Speaking. The Vocal Science (TM) Method. Become Non-Orthodox! Think out of the box...  "Diana, God downloaded into you his gift"  - Patsy S of London UK. Let’s analyze; What does the Vocal Science™ method actually consist of, you, my reader may be wondering…? It does consist of a natural, holistic and completely alternative approach not only to the voice mechanics, but also to a person as a whole. What separates this method from other methods and why does this method work without failure? First a little bit about the conventional methods: There are vocal coaches for singers, there are speech therapists and speech pathologists for those who have some kind of voice disorder or voice issues and/or vocal problems. What do they really offer…? To tell you the truth, it is pretty hard to define. Vocal coaches are trying to teach their singing clients some strange (to put it mildly) exercises, which is remotely reminiscent of actual singing. Those coaches do al...