A Voice Apart

Would you consider yourself someone who uses their voice a great deal? Are you a professional singer, a professional voice artist or someone that uses their voice at work more than usual? If yes, then you know that your voice is a very important tool/resource that needs to be protected; and if used incorrectly or abused, your voice can be susceptible to all kinds of traumas. Some symptoms of certain vocal problems, disorders or traumas can include a hoarse voice , excessive throat clearing, thick buildup of mucus in the throat, coughing, trouble in swallowing, trouble breathing, etc. All these symptoms will definitely affect your voice. It may very well even effect the quality of your life!  Some other voice/vocal abnormalities may include changes in pitch and also the volume of your voice. It may also cause vocal fatigue, breaks (or cracks) in your voice while speaking or singing… And nevertheless, you also may experience difficulty being heard in noisy environments when you are

Do you experience any voice problems speaking or singing the word of The Lord? In a previous blog (titled “Calling All Pastors, Priests, Ministers, Bishops, Worship Leaders, Gospel Singers, Etc”), we have touched the topic of voice issues of those who religiously (no pun intended) worship God and Jesus, using their speaking and singing voices and, unfortunately, sometimes using their voices not always adequately and often excessively. But what about the church choirs and other religious (or non-religious) choirs for that matter? People who are singing in those choirs are usually very devoted to their causes, and thus performing their scores very diligently and with everything (so to speak) they’ve got…to the max! They are usually very animated, very energetic, and nevertheless, also using their voices to the max as well. The choir director/master always encourages the choir members to sing passionately and loudly, but not always paying attention to the technical as

I have to say that, in the past, the above sentences were not even up for discussion. Everybody (or almost everybody) were more then willing to “spread their wings, in a manner of speaking; and thus, unleash their voices and their spirits. Of course, to unleash the voice/spirit is easier said then done… It is especially difficult if the person already has some kind of a voice disorder or even just voice/vocal issues. Obviously, some cases are more difficult then others (with or without voice problems ), but some are nearly impossible to deal with; and it’s not the voice issues I am talking about. I am talking about people who are nearly IMPOSSIBLE TO DEAL WITH!! How so, you may ask..? The fact is, that especially lately, a lot of people (being stranded financially and thus, emotionally) had lost their trust in anything and everything. They, in a manner of speaking, became Soul-dead! How sad is that? Given the political situation in the U.S. and in Europe , people now

Lately, more and more phone calls and e-mails from various church leaders are pouring our way. Interestingly enough that those requests are primarily coming from the US. The US people seem to be very devoted to their church, religion and faith, which is definitely very commendable! Not only they are worshiping God and Jesus, but they are also very respectful and faithful to their leaders. We often get phone calls from somebody who inquires about voice repair on behalf of their Priest, Minister or Bishop, which is also very commendable, as those devoted people are really trying to help their peers. The bottom line, though, is such that the above aforementioned church leaders are constantly endangering their voices (speaking and singing).  They preach a lot and preach very loudly. A lot of them are using their singing voices and, unfortunately, using them totally incorrectly! So there comes a time that both of their speaking and singing voices end up being quite compro