Singing and posture–see Categories, About, Launch 4-2013

Whether a tilt affects the internal vocal cords, I don’t know.   But, it definitely affects the placement, its resulting resonance, and the jaw and its supporting muscles.

Why are these important?   A slight tilt may facilitate the sound travelling to more the forward part of the head, without such sound being muffled by the backpart of the nasal-pharynx; thus enabling greater nasal-pharynx resonance and to some degree the sinuses resonance as well.

For louder, far better controlled, and better toned highs, it is far easier to control the resonance first; which means controlling the head tilt, the neck lift and its angle, even the minor degree of the neck length and the degree of protrusion of the head from neck.

As for the comments:

thyroid tilted for a cry….

Emotions are expressed usually as external and internal muscle changes, simultaneously.   The externals are more “visible” and hence easier to affect.   They are also stronger and larger, thus these are the predominant affects of such vocal tone and expressions.  After the external muscles are affected, you might want to try to control the internal–e.g. shaping the internal muscles somehow.    However, I believe 80% of the work will be on the external.

So, the answer to your question– tilt itself doesn’t affect the pitch or tone until one determines what the pre-existing tension is already on the vocal cords.   Tilt automatically affects the resonacne characteristics, which can affect the volume of various pitches.

The thyroid is very well protected in the larynx, and it’s unclear to me how a gland is affected by a tilt.

The larynx is mostly cartiledge, andthe vocal cords are affixed to some kind of cartiledge with tissues and muscles.  If one tilts the larynx, the initial question should be, where was the larynx before the tilt?   If the larynx is not optimal positioned, it will exert some minor tension on the vocal cords to begin with.   Tilt it to the optimal position, less tension; away, more tension.

So, to reply to the tilt begins with the question, how is the posture in relationship to the larynx?

Acid reflux, Mucinex, breathing air, and posture.

The entire vocal apparatus protects itself from acid reflux by using phelgm.  So, if acid reflux, first, make it difficult for the liquid acid reflux to creep upwards.   Sleep inclined and avoid bending over.   Then neutralize the liquid acid by using antiacids before singing.

Mucinex thins phelgm, but if you have acid reflux, recall that the phelgm is trying to protect your vocal apparatus.

Acid reflux is in two forms– mostly liquid and some gas.  If you’re exhaling slighly acidic fumes into your nasal pharynx, it will naturally produce phelgm to protec itself.

Your singing technique or even eating and drinking technique may be causing you to “swallow” too much air.  If so, too much acidic gas will be going up through your vocal tract, and cause phelgm.

All these problems usually have a posture cause.   Exhaling air from the stomach is aggrevated by the degradation of the slight valve control of the esophageal tract bend–which is a posture problem.

Acid reflux is caused by weakening of the esophageal valve,which many attribute to posture problems.

Hence, though this is difficult, fix your posture as well.

Speaking and singing are usually different methods, though they can intersect.

Speaking is generally learned in one’s upbringing; hence, people in certain parts of the world use their vocal apparatus completely differently.  One good example seen frequently in the United States is to see Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian women.   They talk in an extremely high pitch– this is not their “innate” pitch range, but instead is their “natural” pitch range, developed through many years of practice.

This “natural” way of talking is usually very efficient for talking purposes, as its skills to express meaning has been developed for a lifetime.

Singing can use all kinds of methods, but one is usually resonance to create greater volume and more expression with less effort.   My belief is that this is actually “innate”– that is, good singing vocal methods are actually innate.   A concept similar to Zen Buddhism’s and Hinduism’s restoring of one’s innate natural self.   Similar to Plato’s idea that all knowledge are already within.

So, the question is, does speaking help or hinder singing.   There are lots of books I’ve read that says speaking requires more power than good singing and is more tiring.   I agree.    So, how is it that speaking can be more tiring than louder singing?  Its the effects of resonance and that “natural” speaking sets up a lot of muscles that interfere with “innate” resonance vocal shapes, and that over-tension (high tonicity) can decrease resonance shape as well vibrations of the internal resonance muscles and tissues.

So, now to give a response to your question.

If your singing and speaking mechanisms are similar, then speaking will usually strengthen your singing, because all you’re really doing is exercising your singing simultaneously.

If your singing and speaking mechanisms are different, then speaking may enhance or degrade your singing, depending on what you’re doing.

If your speaking is harsh, then you might develop a very strong singing voice or you might ruin your voice.

Restoration of the Self after experiencing Chua’s incorrect system (continued from above Chua’s incorrect premises and conclusion)

Once many of the children trained under this Chua-style Asian training system in a Western world grow up to feel depressed, lack self-confidence, and are too obedient, the question remains, how does he or she recover his original self?  How does he or she get rid of the anger, depression, sadness that has accumulated?  How does he or she now better acquire the social belonging with peers, the leadership skills—the many things he or she missed?

Unfortunately, once trained thus, these are difficult challenges to solve and western psychology is weak for solving these.   The key will be Eastern concepts of restoring the original self. 

I, of course, went through the system Chua described, but didn’t take pills to resolve my own challenges and western psychology didn’t work for me.  Again, too lengthy to explain, but once one understands that the body (and not the mind) stores most of the anger, depression, sadness, the self-restoration needs to begin through the body.   I discovered this while trying to learn how to sing, and am putting down these ideas in a blog called VocalPosture (unfortunately, most of this blog not revealed because I want a book too.  But ask me at the blog, I might answer.).  No, singing does not restore the self, but good singing is a symptom that the self’s body is restoring its natural muscular tonality, and such muscular tonality is at the heart of emotions. Social fitting in, leadership, and creativity have a lot to do with emotional tonality.

 The solution will be freedom from one’s past training.  The same freedom described in Plato cave allegory, Nietzsche’s overman, Bhavagad Gita, Dhammapada, Tao Te Ching.  In the Eastern spiritual tradition (including India and not the Confucius tradition), this means trusting that the innate self can itself restore and recover from one’s development mishaps.

Chua is correct that disciplined training can result in great individuals.   So, why don’t you take what your parents taught you, and simply try to lose the excess baggage, so you can be free and great!

Chen Sun, www.WebAndNet.com  ; http://Chen.WebBIZcard.com

The entire forward torso should feel uplifted, starting from the hips.   This is what a good posture feels like.

<a href=”http://www.WebAndNet.com”>www.WebAndNet.com</a>, Houston Strategic Web Marketing

<a href=”http://chen.webbizcard.com/”>Chen.WebBIZcard.com</a> ,a web invention prototype

from themodernvocalist.com  [quote=VIDEOHERE]hiya folks,
i’ve heard two schools of thought on these two subjects, can you let me know the better way to go?

1. when singing on stage, is it better to breathe from the nose or the mouth?…some say the mouth is better, but tends to dry the throat.

2. when inhaling should the chest be pushed up or left to itself? i know you want to expand the ribs and leave the shoulders down, but i thought it’s better to keep the chest unlifted.

thanks in advance, bob[/quote]
The nose is built for breathing, but when extra air is needed, the mouth can add.  Thereby, the answer to your question is how fast one needs to replenish the lungs.   If slowly, nose is better; if not (e.g. need air to sing next note), both.

Most people have posture problems, in particular, slouches.   Therefore, the correct position for most people is the chest pushed up, which is its natural state.  Unfortunately, most people have so much body tension that they slouch.   In slouching, the myofascia tissue, muscles, and spinal alignment actually adjust to a near-permanent tension state.   So, if the chest is then pushed up to its natural state, there is greater tension still.

So, the correct solution is to straighten the spine, which is a lengthy process.    The incorrect process is to minimize tension, which is to go into the most relaxed slouch state; which is the better short-term solution.

In short, the chest should be naturally pushed up and left to itself.

Very interesting post, Steve!  May I ask some questions?

[quote=Steven Fraser]  In singing, we train the enormously powerful #1 action of breathing to be more subtle, and we lessen (or eliminate) the motions of #2 and #3 so that they do not overpower the teeny, weenie laryngeal muscles.

[/quote]
How do these overpower the laryngeal muscles, and I don’t understand the singing-sound effects of all four.  What does, for example, laryngeal have to do with sound other than volume?

[quote=Steven Fraser]
In singing, the way that #2 and #3 are lessened is to make them part of the posture.  If you don’t move them much as you breathe in and out, they don’t add unwanted, or uncontrolled breath energy.  Its very hard to do either thing subtly.   Keeping the sternum in one place prevents gravity from powering air out of the body.  It does not necessarily have to be high… just not moving when you breathe in and out.   FYI, classical singers very often adopt a ‘high sternum’ chest position… and leave it there all the time.  It looks a bit better on stage

When #2 and #3 motions are stilled, breathing happens entirely by #1, the diaphragmatic action in coordination with the abdominal muscles.  This is very often called ‘belly breathing’, ‘low breathing’, ‘breathing from the diaphragm’, etc.  All those terms mean that only motions of the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles are involved in moving the air.   This takes us back to the kind of breathing your body does when you are asleep.  Same thing as a baby does.  You have breathed this way your whole life.

[/quote]

Also, very interesting.   My thinking is to be as natural as possible–that is, letting the lyric’s intended emotion drive the responding body posture.   Though most of the time, the body is stilled, I don’t understand how continually stilling helps to emit (create) the singing emotion.   I understand “it’s very hard to do either thing subtly.”, but what is difficult with deliberate action may not be nearly as difficult emotionally.  For example, deliberately crying is more difficult than emotionally crying.

Fundamentally, I don’t understand why stilling muscles is a good approach.

Temporary link to book review.   Not relevant to this blog.

http://webandnet.wordpress.com/

Tension is some form of continous taut muscles or glands.  Strain is deliberately exerting in singing.  The sound of strain usually has to do with conflicting muscles in use, more than overexertion due to volume increases.

 Tensed muscles are more likely to be strained because they are taut.

To reduce strain, the muscles need to work in harmony instead of conflict.  This can be accomplished whether tensed or not tense; but it is far easier when not tense, as being “detensed”, the muscles have greater freedom of movement.

from themodernvocalist.com discussion forum:

[quote=VIDEOHERE]
folks, this is such an interesting topic, i wanted to insert this again to make a point:

2 singers, singing the same song, tom “the powerhouse” jones, “richard “tenor-sounding” marx”

jones is singing 2 steps higher than marx, but marx’s more piercing timbre cut through to sound “high”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKBFj6pLz_8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBDe3O63cDU

so i think it’s not whether or not someone is a tenor or a baritone, but the vocal timbre of the vocalist.[/quote]

In follow-up to how tenors and basses affect live audiences discussion…

These videos demonstrate the effects of technology well.  Bass sounds are truncated in downloaded audio technologies.  Tom Jones has a full spectrum voice and his video’s bass sounds are reduced, it is even partially imagined, which is part of the bag of tricks in audio technologies’ truncating bass. Marx utilizes the music’s bass undertones to create his music; Marx lacks a full spectrum voice and relies on audio technologies so we imagine his sounding full.

The PCs sound card also makes a big difference in download audio technologies.  What you’re hearing may be different from what I’m hearing on a different sound card.

Also, these videos demonstrate the difficulties of capturing sounds in live recordings versus studio.  Tom Jones has to compete against an entire orchestra.

Isn’t Marx’s recording’s music also slightly lower pitch?  If music is lower pitch, it’s would be easier for Marx to cut through singing lower pitch.

I personally believe that live, Tom Jones is far more impressive because of his full spectrum voice that cuts through an entire orchestra.  In live sounds, the bassier male singers, and better yet full spectrum singers, are more impressive, have more power, stature, and can create more moods.