A Voice Apart

The voice is your spirit. It's also an expression of who you are and it also identifies the state of your being. That said, it is as unique as you are. The fingerprints and your DNA identify your being. The voice does the same. Some people have naturally unique sounding voices, sometimes just speaking or just singing, sometimes both. Sometimes, at the glance, some people are not sounding any different than anybody else, speaking and/or singing. Is it possible, though, to create their identity by making their voices identify with their beings? Can we directly connect, especially the singing voice, to the one's identity? The answer from where I sit, is a BIG YES. How so, you may ask? To answer your question, many years ago, I developed my own unique approach to voice mechanics, which I named the Vocal Science Technique and Method. While instilling the wholesome vocal mechanism into one's psyche, anatomy and physiology, I engage very deeply and also con

I've been religiously watching all of the available American and Canadian reality shows concerning vocalists. And now, finally, I stumbled upon a show for children and teenagers right "in my own backyard" in Canada. I've been occasionally watching auditions, which are pretty much cloning the auditions for American and, used to be, Canadian Idols. However, I have to admit that to my pleasant surprise, the judges were very sweet and positive with all of the kids - the good ones and not so good ones. On the other hand, though, that superficial sweetness, in my opinion, cause them to make some misjudgements with respect of some kids talents. I found that those who they chose - the top six so far - were not necessarily the best ones I've seen auditioning. However, the worst was yet to come. Now, they were showing the "true reality" on topics of vocal coaching , choreography, makeup and fashion. It all began with vocal coaching. What was show

Lately, listening to the radio, we hear a lot of monotone sounds. Nowadays, artists, seem to be, do not have an ambition to show off their voices, like before when they were trying to reach the highest notes possible, or even the lowest possible, for that matter. It used to be their pride and joy to say that they own a three or four octaves range. Today, the whole world is "stuttering"on one, or maximum two, notes in a non-indentifiable range, instead of what was known before as singing, at least by definition. What happened, you may ask? Honestly, I don't know for sure, but what I do know is that I have stopped listening to the radio, even in my brand new car, nevertheless, fully equipped with the sophisticated audio  equipment. All the songs sound absolutely the same and almost plagiarized, via music producers who are trying to follow the trend. They think that if the particular style of the song has once or twice made it on the charts, then they should im

Needless to say that, on a regular basis, I have been getting phone calls and e-mails concerning  voice/vocal problems from speakers and singers. To almost all of them, the doctors had prescribed certain medications to conquer their acid reflux (needless to say that, not in every case, the above diagnosis was correct). Practically all doctors (specialists or not) prescribed to people with voice/vocal problems, a vocal rest. "Vocal rest?" you may exclaim! - If so, how useful could it be? In fact, in the majority of cases, it is; as after all, if you break your leg, you should not be hopping on it and running marathons. However, the patient with the broken leg (at the very least) is offered a cast, or corrective surgery first... and then the cast. The ENT doctors evidently think that if the person would stop singing, or even speaking, the problems will correct themselves. And granted, sometimes since the pressure from the vocal box is removed due to the extensive,

Teaching and producing artists for over three decades in Toronto, I sadly have been noticing that the music industry in Canada and particularly in Toronto is subsiding to nothing.  In the previous years, the solo artists, the bands, the pop groups were, so to speak, popping out almost on an everyday basis. What is happening now in the precious present, you may wonder? Where are those exiting acts, what happened to them, and why are we not hearing anything about anybody from our own, so to speak, “backyard”? Three and a half years ago, the young Canadian band with a lot of passion, great aspirations, dreams and stars in their eyes, approached me with the idea of the vocal improvement for a lead singer (now she works for me as a junior instructor and personal assistant), and then the idea of the recording of their very good and original material, which I partially also assisted them with. Couple of weeks ago, I have asked my assistant if they are still playing, or at l

Since I am (looks like it) the one and only vocal specialist who is offering a very unique voice/vocal instruction and treatment via  non-surgical voice repair , I am getting a lot of inquiries via e-mail and sometimes over the phone. People are writing to me somewhat generic e-mails, complaining about the occurrence of their nasty symptoms usually associated with voice/vocal damage, and, guess what my reader, they want me, via e-mail, or even better yet (they think)... Zoom treatment... and, nonetheless, even a cure...? In lieu of the above, I offer to speak with them over the phone in order to clarify all their voice problems and even some other issues in general. Those who agree to do so (while keeping me on the phone endlessly) are talking about themselves and their problems for hours, not listening to what I am saying or trying to say, for that matter, to have a two-way conversation with me. While others continue writing endless emails, and quite a few of them, are insisting o

"Italy's Singing Nun Channels Madonna, Releases 'Like a Virgin' Cover" As I mentioned before, providing vocal services of all sorts for over four decades, I think I’ve seen it all and pretty much dealt with it all. However, the title (which speaks for itself) is even for me, still remains to be quite outrageous.  First of all, you my reader, may ask: 'What I mean by vocal “virginity”'?  To answer that question with more clarity, I will give you an example of a dancer who desperately wants to perform on stage, but has, so to speak, bad feet (flat feet with no arch), and also very tight hips, whereby the perfect turn out of the dancer’s body is very hard to achieve.  The above two components are crucial to the dance profession, even on an amateur or semi-professional level, let alone on a professional level. Similarly, I am receiving potential students with, at the glance, a very small mouth opening, very tight throats and quite dispropo