A Voice Apart

The answer is… if (God forbid) you were involved in a car accident and the body of your car got damaged, you would probably need to go to a body shop…. wouldn’t you? However, on the other hand, if your engine or transmission were acting up, then you definitely would want to check with a qualified mechanic who, nevertheless, specializes in “car mechanics arts” in a manner of speaking. One of my prospective clients had been diagnosed with two (nevertheless) voice disorders, which are clearly of a mechanical nature, as one of them is Muscle Tension Dysphonia and the other is named Sulcus Vocalis (unhealthy gap between the vocal cords). Both of those voice issues are caused by a misuse of the voice i.e., by straining the vocal cords and pushing/pulling the voice out onto the surface; and instead, by default, placing it right into the neck muscles. Needless to say, during those actions, Muscle Tension Dysphonia had been initiated. Meanwhile, the strained vocal co

What do we mean by that? Firstly, any person should possess a healthy voice which is also consistent with the persons' height, weight and the their inner ‘make-up’ in general. Sometimes, and luckily not too often, you can see a quite petite woman, but yet hear her heavy and 'bassy' voice. A good example would be two well-known actresses (one of whom is also a singer). The singer/actress is Miley Cyrus and the other actress is Julia Stiles - pretty girls that are speaking with much heavier voices then their physiques would ever suggest.  We, in fact, at The Royans Professional Vocal School , would be able to get rid of the heaviness and thickness of their quite-low voices. If they (or them alike) embraced the Vocal Science technique, their voices would be lifted off of their (somewhat) heavy and thick vocal cords, which were given to them at birth. The thicker the vocal cords are, the lower voice will prevail. And, on the contrary, if the person poss

“What do you mean by that”, you, my reader, may ask?’ To explain better, I first will give you an example concerning figure skating, which will be very-much-so related to our topic on voice mechanics down the road. I think, by now, a lot of you know that I am a big fan of figure skating (and ballet for that matter); and in my childhood and adolescence, I was taking skating for many years and taking it very seriously. Given that, I know a lot about it, even though that I did not become a professional figure skater myself (to my dismay and biggest disappointment). I just recently (watching live and on TV, Skate Canada) witnessed some skaters literally stepping out of the “circle”. Our Canadian pair (Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford) skated fabulously; but then Meagan fell on a free skate, indeed, stepping out of the circle.  The commentator, Tracy Wilson, said (with these the exact same words) “She gets out of the circle and really came down hard”.

Let’s find out what you’ve got! And also, let’s find out what I mean by definition of the “instrument” and the “player”. What I mean by the “instrument” is the height and weight of the person, his/her outer and inner “opening” of the vocal anatomy as well as the pitch and tonality of their voice; not to mention many other components, which will also come into play (in a manner of speaking). Quite often, I have been asked if it is possible to increase the capacity of one’s “instrument”. I can compare it with extending an average sized keyboard to a much bigger upright piano, so that it would be possible to recite on it, let’s say, a Concerto by Tchaikovsky (or something like this of that caliber). My answer is that it is possible to a degree. Over the years, I had singing students coming to me, possessing a very small mouth, short height and small body frame overall. Due to my  very specially designed speech and singing exercises , I was definitely able to stret

The answer is: Dealing with something serious like that cannot be self-served. Nevertheless, one of the commercials on weight loss for men says: “If you could do it alone, you would’ve done it already.” -  Harvey Brooker Indeed, but some people still think that if they knew the diagnosis and somewhat (in theory) how it could be treated, they would have attempted fixing their vocal issues by themselves… The fact is that any voice problem, by definition, is already an internal problem; and thus, has to be treated very seriously and by a  qualified voice specialist . The work with a  damaged voice  is usually very detailed and very intense, which applies to both sides: The injured client and the voice repair specialist. Without the guidance of a highly qualified professional, it is virtually impossible for the sufferer to lift their voice and re-channel it into the different set of muscles altogether; and on top of that, put those muscles (facial and abdominals) to

Vocal Science™ Technique advocates not only healthcare for the voice, but also for the human being as a whole. In order to structure, place and project the voice to its aimed destination, the alignment between the subconscious and conscious mind has to take place.  In a nutshell, Vocal Science™ method is about the integration and synergy between mental, physical, physiological, emotional and vocal components. When the subconscious and conscious mind are aligned, the person is more inclined to think and to act upon thinking. Unfortunately, (especially lately and due to enormous stress), people often act irrationally and without thinking first. Some, instead, are thinking forever and never act upon their thoughts. Both statements suggest the complete imbalance of the above aforementioned components. That said, addressing the above aforementioned components could have a positive effect on the person while their voice is being fixed and/or trained. Those people who suffer

Believe it or not, asthma disorder could be very much connected to a voice disorder , due to improper breathing. If the asthma sufferer is not aware of his/her breathing patterns, it could very easily effect their voice, as the throat, at the time, becomes very dry, and also the use of the medicated puffers will dry out one’s throat in no time. One way to help the asthma sufferers with their asthma disorder and, if needed, their damaged voice, is (first of all) to teach them proper breathing, which will immensely help the sufferers with asthma symptoms during the attacks; and concurrently, due to the lift of voice off of the lower and upper respiratory system, the voice healing will be enhanced by the virtue fact that it had gotten removed from the infected area. Now let’s talk about breathing exercises : I usually do not work with clients on just breathing; it always connected to the speaking/singing sounds, syllables and vowels. The objective here

We, at The Royans Institute for Non-Surgical Voice Repair (luckily not too often), have been getting inquiries from speakers (professional and non-professional) as well as singers, who were experiencing the nasty symptoms and then, concurrently, had gotten diagnosed with a voice disorder named  Sulcus Vocalis .  Those sufferers usually experience a raspy/hoarse voice. They can also sound as if they even stutter a little (due to the enlarged gap between their vocal cords). That is because the sound of their voice (in a manner of speaking) falls in between their vocal cords/folds. Evidently, the timing of the vocal cords opening and closing (on certain occasions) does not always correspond with the actual voice formation. And, thus, the above-described symptoms are prevalent. By that point, the “alignment” between the subconscious mind, conscious mind, physical body and the actual voice, becomes exponentially challenged!   Actually, the total aim of the above described is to estab

Lately, more and more, we are getting inquiries from people concerned with their speech and/or singing problems; All of whom have been diagnosed with a voice disorder named Sulcus Vocalis. While being diagnosed with such a nasty voice disorder as Sulcus Vocalis, those sufferers usually possess a raspy and hoarse voice, which, sometimes, can even sound like a little stutter. The latter is usually caused by the enlarged gap located between the vocal cords (folds), and thus the sufferer's voice falls frequently between them.  In fact, the timing of the vocal cords opening and closing, in those cases, often does not correspond with the voice occurrence.  Naturally, it does require the “alignment” between the subconscious mind, conscious mind, physical body and the voice as an outcome.  All of the above is aimed to achieve the desired “alignment”, between the above-mentioned components and thus, to put the balance back in order. That could be accomplished by using specifically advo

Vocal Cord Paralysis (Paresis) is a very serious voice disorder . If there are (God Forbid) both vocal cords paralyzed, (which means there is no movement whatsoever happening between them), there is not much (if at all) that could be done to bring those vocal cords to their normal working order. The person who suffers from that horrible voice condition, practically, is mute, as he/she cannot formulate any words. It is indeed very sad! A few years ago, a handsome executive-looking Asian man walked in through my office doors. Luckily, his wife was accompanying him; as otherwise, I would not be able to understand anything what he was trying to say. She told me that her husband had an operation performed on his thyroid when he had, what doctors thought, a benign lump. After this first surgery, one of his vocal cords got paralyzed . At that time he, apparently, still could talk; however already, with great difficulty. Then, a year later, he was diagnosed