A Voice Apart

With respect of the voice disorders and voice problems, the symptoms are pretty much similar - the hoarseness, the difficulty to speak and/or to sing, raspy-ness, cracking and spasming voice, mucous-y and crackling voice and thus, unclear enunciation and pronunciation and sometimes a very muddy, deeply drowned, voice. The causes of the above, however, are all different. As I mentioned in my previous blog, that for example, the cause of spasmodic dysphonia is an emotional and neurological disorder. But with respect of the growth on the vocal cords like nodes, nodules, polyps, is just simply an unawareness of the proper application of the voice, speaking or singing. Peculiarly enough, after a singer, for example, acquires some growth on their vocal anatomy, he/she becomes emotionally disturbed and troubled. Now he/she too needs life coaching, to restore the emotional balance besides the physical one. So, as you see, the symptoms could be quite similar, but the causes definite...

Sexually speaking, there is a myth suggesting that the size doesn't matter, it's what you do with it...? I highly disagree with such notion.  Size matters always and in all instances.  Let's say your shoe size is 8, but you are offered a shoe of size 10 or size 5. Would you be able to wear it with comfort?  I personally don't think so.  We are all different sizes, weights and heights and respectively, our internal and external organs are different in sizes and appearances as well.  The sound produced by the singer very much so depends on his height, weight, and the actual circumference of his/her body. For example, if the person is tall and slender, usually that person would have longer and thinner vocal cords.  Therefore, there is a myth that the opera singers with big and rich voices, are naturally big and fat.  Big in sizes, maybe, but being fat, not necessarily, and actually can be counter productive.  I...

One of my former students, who, for some time, has been in the development of becoming a well-known artist, reconnected with me recently. This time, she ended up being signed with a major label and also having her personal/artistic manager whereas unlike before, when she was only a young girl who was just starting out when she first came to me. Introducing me to her team, the manager and songwriter, she kept repeating over and over, "Diana had unlocked my voice. I want her to do it again." Out of curiosity, both of her crew members had asked her what she meant by that. She said, "My voice felt before like it was locked in my throat and in my neck muscles and once I took a course with Diana, it started to soar..." Of course, now eight years have passed and the voice evidently needed some tune-up, so to speak. Lots of shows were performed, and lots of different producers were giving their comments on my student's vocals. However, the majority of times, t...

Several months ago, I received an e-mail from a middle-aged woman residing near Ottawa, who was inquiring about non-surgical voice repair , caused by an unhealthy environmental condition, which occurred in her own, newly bought house, quite a few years back.   Due to the above, she acquired quite a few health problems and her severe (seem to be untreatable) voice disorder was one of them. She said that she was able to con qu e r the rest of her health challenges, but nobody could help her with her voice. I was her last hope. She got diagnosed with Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD).  Spasmodic Dysphonia , per se, is not really treatable, at least, not by conventional methods. In my opinion, this disease is considered to be  a neurological disorder voice disorder, however, it is not necessarily always the case.  Colloquially, I define Spasmodic Dysphonia as equivalent to, so to speak,  “vocal epilepsy”. The voice is spasming uncontrollably and produ...

Teaching, consulting and repairing voices for close to four decades, I thought I've seen it all. Some of the clients had been very serious and very dedicated, some of them not serious enough and taking it lightly, but some of them had appeared to be overly dedicated and almost addicted to their own voices and the sound they had been producing. I definitely prefer the serious and dedicated people, who understand the value of my services, and experience the greatest results. However, some of my clients appear to be obsessed with their own voices and sound and almost paranoid of their present and future results. While being completely out of balance, they get themselves exhausted to the bone and exhaust me to the absolute max of my tolerance. While I appreciate their dedication and commitment, I could barely stay alive, as it is very hard to keep up with somebody who is literally addicted to something - and in this case, as odd as it sounds, it is to their vocal success. I...

Nowadays, my practice consists of at least 85-90% of Non-Surgical voice repair clients. It is unfortunate, but it is a fact. One of the reasons is that people, overall, are getting to be not as healthy as they used to be. Our earth is deeply polluted and respectively, and the food we eat and the air we breathe is also very toxic. A lot of voice disorder cases I am receiving are being affected environmentally, and then of course, a lot of them have been misusing their voices while speaking and, or, singing. But, first and foremost, the problem with the majority of cases begins with their inner health inadequacy. Also, a lot of those people are very intense, loud and extremely emotional. Right away, speaking loudly and forcefully, they are putting their vocal cords, and the whole vocal box in general, in great distress. They are straining their vocal cords and twisting their larynx on a consistent, everyday basis. Their posture is usually not intact as ...

Everybody knows, and will be awaiting with anticipation, of what the predictions are - THE END OF THE WORLD... which is supposed to take place on December the 21st of the year 2012. I personally do not believe in it, but you never know... In Russia we say "there is now smoke without the fire". Therefore, every one of us has to have a reasonable doubt in our minds, hearts and souls... If it is the truth, have we accomplished everything we planned for this short or long life we've lived? Have we lived our lives to its fullest, have we sung to our heart's content, have we expressed our love to the world and to that particular one we truly have loved? In other words, have we succeeded so far and to the best of our knowledge in the time we have had, being present on this Earth? Running my own music business for nearly three decades, I've been hearing a lot of justifications: "not now, can not afford it now, some other time, when I find a better payi...