tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919674981128634746.post8042378810893091908..comments2023-11-05T07:41:34.380-05:00Comments on Kashu-do (歌手道): The Way of the Singer: Kashudo (歌手道): One Must Die To Rise Again: Rebuilding the voice from imbalance to balanceKashu-Dohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17375903978220316261noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919674981128634746.post-52076518056032144292009-04-23T21:30:00.000-04:002009-04-23T21:30:00.000-04:00MD -
I'm looking forward to the exercises you ment...MD -<br />I'm looking forward to the exercises you mentioned at the end of your initial post as I feel they will address some of the changes I have been going through vocally. While I am not changing fachs I am recovering from viral attacks that have weakened the TA/CT balance. I've been using the tongue/lip trill which has been extremely helpful, but was interested in reading that you thought the "vvv" should be used first to even out the scale. I'm looking forward to trying this as there has been one or two notes in the scale during the tongue/lip trill that are weaker than the remaining notes. I enjoy reading the posts and the comments, but at times find them a little "uber-scientific".MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03715108444546402448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919674981128634746.post-92070170759975878412009-04-17T14:47:00.000-04:002009-04-17T14:47:00.000-04:00I disagree a little bit with the statement that li...I disagree a little bit with the statement that lip trills are less safe than the [v] sound. I absolutely think that if you start right into your warmup with lip trills at full-blast, you're asking for trouble. But that's not how the lip trills are meant to be used, according to the article by Titze referred to earlier (and also by my own experience with lip trills). The lip trill does several things, but the effect I want to mention is the increased intraoral pressure.<br /><br />The one Titze mentioned is to be able to warm up the respiratory musculature more rapidly without injuring the vocal folds in the process. The high intraoral pressure provided by the lip rolls prevents pressed voice or other problems associated with excessive subglottal breath pressure. I believe the underlying principle there is that the absolute amount of subglottal pressure doesn't have a direct effect on vocal cord function; it's the pressure difference between the sub- and supra-glottal areas that results in the effects of "too much" or "too little" breath pressure. So, a lip trill done in a healthy fashion should not involve an increase of the glottal pressure gradient. In fact, the relative subglottal pressure should actually be lower than normal at the beginning of the warmup. <br /><br />If this happens, it has the effect of allowing the laryngeal muscles to be warmed up gently (as if starting on a piano tone and gradually increasing volume over several minutes to reach mf) while actually starting with enough air to give the much larger respiratory muscles a chance to warm up at the same time, instead of having to wait until the larynx is ready to produce mf, f, and ff sounds.<br /><br />Presumably, exercises done at piano and mezzo-piano intensity don't warm the respiratory muscles up because they aren't getting any more of a workout than for regular speech and breathing, and they don't get a workout until you're at a volume that would be foolish to begin an vowel-based warmup at.<br /><br />One more note about lip trills: if you gently raise the cheeks up with your hands until the lips are parallel when closed instead of downwardly curved, the lip trill becomes much easier to produce. There's no need to add medial compression to the lips by tensing up the chin muscles, and less air is required to set the lips into vibration and maintain the vibration. Plus, the intensity of the vibration at the lips is greater due to the increased vibrating mass of the folds, which allows more intraoral pressure (thus less transglottal pressure difference) for the same amount of air. My personal experience is that lifting the cheeks makes the lip trill exercise much more effective at allowing a relatively rapid and intense warmup without any risk of irritation to the vocal folds. What takes fifteen minutes to accomplish with vowel sounds will take seven minutes to accomplish with the cheeks-lifted lip trill. <br /><br />I hope this can be helpful! After all, you've just helped me. It sounds like the [v] sound is the perfect thing to use after lip trills but before nasal consonants with high vowels in my warmup. I find that the more gradually I increase the difficulty of exercises in a practice session, the better I do at the difficult ones.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08071012594331983558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919674981128634746.post-40731667016952812692009-04-16T16:40:00.000-04:002009-04-16T16:40:00.000-04:00Dear Martin,
Always a pleasure to have your input...Dear Martin,<br /><br />Always a pleasure to have your input. Yes I did mean the formants above the harmonics. Thank you for spotting the error.<br /><br />I also tried the straw trick but did not find significant results with it.<br /><br />I agree with your assessment of static vs. dynamic inertial load conditions. I think you will find that the dynamic component is very satisfying when the static component is consistent. I believe I have always had a long vocal tract adjustment, but often inexact phonation modes. Having sung as a baritone, the vocalis-CT dynamics where off (too much vocalis in the muscular passaggio point, around C#4). I find the occlusion-type exercises actually induce a better muscular dynamic and over time, the nature balance of those muscles is achieved anew. once this occurs, the resonance issues we are discussing begin to play a significant part.<br /><br />I hope you are finding success with your own voice. <br /><br />Warmest greetings,<br /><br />JRLAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919674981128634746.post-48752032924341395932009-04-16T16:29:00.000-04:002009-04-16T16:29:00.000-04:00Dear George,
Thank you for the nice comments on t...Dear George,<br /><br />Thank you for the nice comments on the clip and the [va] exercise. What I am looking for is a more release between C#4 and F#4 (the old Baritone drama area). I have found good results since the clip with the [mmm--wi] exercise. The m guarantees glottal resistance (I think occlusion like [v] and lip trills is at work here as well) and the [wi] tends to induce flow, the [u] portion helps relax the larynx and the [i] more palatal stretch (good conditions for flow phonation). I hope to post again soon with more efficient phonation. Beginning to get some nicely released Bs and Cs, a major achievement for me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919674981128634746.post-32711162810343655612009-04-14T16:18:00.000-04:002009-04-14T16:18:00.000-04:00Thanks for a very informative post, as usual!
Fo...Thanks for a very informative post, as usual! <br /><br />For a science geek like me, this part is particularly illuminating:<br /><br /><I> A simulated complete glottal closure by means of supra-glottal inertia will be achieved through a long vocal tract resulting from low larynx and high/wide soft palate and vowel choices that keep the relevant formant frequency below the respective harmonic.</I>(Just some nitpicking: It should be "vowel choices that keep the relevant formant frequency <B> above </B> respective harmonic", right? )<br /><br />Otherwise the sentence above is so true, I believe! I have just started to really appreciate lip trills, which is a new experience for me! It feels like the increased back pressure guides the phonation towards a lighter approach, so that the vocal folds does not collide so heavily, which in turn helps the vibrations become clean and harmonic. The trick is then to maintain that feeling of back pressure when singing. I interpret this feeling as inertial load, and I believe it is the same as what some has labeled as "singing on the breath" or "letting the sound oppose the breath". <br /><br />The experience of lip trills have reinforced my belief that the there is a what I like to call a "static" component to the inertial loading, created by a correct shaping of the vocal tract as you talk about. The "dynamic" component of the inertial loading is the somewhat less crucial (I think) formant placement, accomplished by vowel modifications. (The terminology "static" and "dynamic" is mine, but it is consistent with what I understand of the underlying physics.) <br /><br />I have also tried the trick of singing through a drinking straw, as Titze has proposed for the same purpose (read about it at nfcs), but that does not accomplish much for me. It feels like standing waves are building up in the straw, disturbing the phonation at certain pitches (I think the standing waves creates a dynamic load that becomes destructively compliant at certain pitches). I will try the "v" also!<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />MartinMartin Berggrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09015025825598248479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919674981128634746.post-68542789842876825882009-04-13T02:15:00.000-04:002009-04-13T02:15:00.000-04:00WOW! AS I WAS LISTENING I IMAGINED YOU AS A WIZARD...WOW! AS I WAS LISTENING I IMAGINED YOU AS A WIZARD, MANIPULATING WIND ENERGY UP AND DOWN AND SWIRLS AND BACK AND FORTH! LOL<BR/><BR/>IM GONNA BE ABLE TO DO THAT ONE DAY! LOLDaddy Squeeze Me!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14857915791876792168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919674981128634746.post-3032551100429514362009-04-13T00:40:00.000-04:002009-04-13T00:40:00.000-04:00So many great points made here. I think your hope ...So many great points made here. I think your hope of developing a language of objective facts and principles that a student can understand and apply is becoming achievable. Through your blog, your nfcs.net posts, and our discussions I feel like I am gaining a real understanding of vocal concepts that makes sense and is practical. Concepts of TA/CT balance and 1st and 2nd formant resonance are very helpful in the midst (and mist) of varying confusing language about head voice, chest voice, open, cover, etc. <BR/><BR/>It makes so much sense that much of the battle in rebalancing the voice as one transitions between fachs is the process of allowing oneself to let go of conscious and also subconscious aesthetic expectations (in addition to years of muscle memory, of course) for one's voice. A tenor may be so used to his middle voice feeling and sounding a certain way as a baritone that the psychological block could hold him back for some time. I wonder what some practical strategies for the singer to overcome this mental obstacle might be.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for posting another clip! You are achieving a nice ring in the voice, especially impressively on the Bbs. It is impressive to me to hear how you are clearly achieving the transition into CT dominance on the Gbs - Bbs on top. What's great is how the voice expands and blooms up there. I recently heard a fine young successful tenor performing in Detroit who had a very nice voice but on the Bbs and Cs the voice shrank and the sound disappeared rather than the other way around like I hear in your clip.<BR/><BR/>I love the "vvvaaa" exercises and look forward to the next post.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05064963778443393112noreply@blogger.com