Hey Singers!
I’m super excited because today we’re
going to learn that our strength comes from within.
That’s right, your vocal folds are responsible
for their own destiny.
Today, we’re going learn how to truly develop
vocal strength and power.
♬
Hi again singers, my name is Justin Stoney
and I’m the founder of New York Vocal Coaching
here in New York City.
Welcome to Episode 104 of Voice Lessons To The World.
Today’s question comes from Nicoli H. in Lugano, Switzerland.
Nicoli writes, “Dear Justin, I’ve heard I need to sing
with compression.
How do I do it?”
Well, Nicoli, it’s a glorious question.
And yes indeed, compression is a fundamental skill for singing.
It’s actually the very key to singing with strength,
clarity, and ease.
But, before we talk about what compression is,
let’s make sure we know what it is not.
♬
Compression is NOT vocal rasp, grit,
and distortion.
Rasp and distortion are related to compression,
but they’re not quite the same thing.
They’re actually various stylistic sound effects
that we might choose to add later on.
There’s lots of different kinds of rasps and distortions.
Like this one, ♪ yeah ♪.
Or this one ♪ hey ♪.
Or this one ♪ whoa ♪.
We’ll talk about this on show very soon.
So stay tuned for that.
But, this is very distinct from compression.
Compression is also not a “recording studio technique”.
♬
Recording studio compression is added to a recording to make
sure that sound levels are balanced.
So, don’t get that confused.
This is compression for the vocal studio
not the recording studio.
“Well Justin, you told us what it AIN’T, so how
about you tell us what it AM!”
Sure thing cowboy.
Let’s define vocal compression!
♬
Vocal compression is “the degree to which the
vocal folds are brought together in resistance to
the breathstream.”
That means that your vocal folds
must interact with your breath for your
strongest, solidest, and awesomest sounds.
To sing a note, your vocal folds vibrate hundreds and
even thousands of times per second.
Faster than a hummingbird’s wings!
♬
To do this, breath has to set your vocal
folds into motion.
With totally open folds, you get no sound at all.
[Breathes out]
Totally closed folds block the breath
like in a glottal.
[Glottal sound]
It’s in the “in betweens” that we get sound.
[breath - glottal]
Ahhhhh.
Some vocal registers have small amounts
of compression.
Like, falsetto.
♪ Aaaaah ♪
Other vocal registers have high amounts of
compression.
Like chest voice.
♪ AAAAAH ♪
If you get just the right balance between the two,
you can sing just about anything.
To find that balance let’s go to the lab.
♬
Here in the lab we’re going to
explore the good, the bad, and the ugly
of vocal compression.
Starting with “getting louder”
♬
Getting louder is one of the easiest ways to get
Vocal compression to happen.
But, it’s a trap!
Getting loud is caused by subglottic pressure.
That’s a fancy pants vocal term that’s means
“air pressure below your vocal folds”.
We need this.
It helps us lift heavy objects, go to the bathroom,
give birth to children,
and to SING.
But, too much of it results in bad
singing stuff.
Like a strident, pressed, or overly loud sound.
♪ AAAAAH ♪ Oh no!
Now, if you always sing too softly, lightly, or timidly,
then your first step is to add some volume.
But, ultimately, we don’t want loudness to be our
only strength.
Remember, loud is not the same thing as strong.
Next, extrinsic tension...
♬
Extrinsic tension is tension outside of the larynx.
Compression wants teeny tiny tension inside the larynx.
It’s David vs. Goliath.
Your vocal folds are two teeny tiny Davids.
Who are your Goliaths?
Neck muscles like the sternocleidomastoids.
Jaw muscles like the geniohyoids, mylohyoids,
and digrastrics.
Tongue muscles like hyoglossus or the styloglossus.
A whole host of problematic pinching pests!
We don’t want to see or feel a lot of tension in these areas.
So use a mirror and focus on staying free in the neck,
jaw, and tongue.
If you do, then you’re slaying your Goliaths.
And giving your Davids a chance to be king.
Next, larynx position.
♬
As the larynx rises, the vocal folds tend
to resist more.
As the larynx lowers, the vocal folds tend
to resist less.
Now we’ve learned on this show that it’s okay
to sing with many different larynx positions.
But, we don’t want to go raising the larynx any time
we’re trying to be stronger.
Like if this is happening:
♪ MAY-MAY-MAY-MAY ♪ [Voice crack]
And I solve it like this all the time
♪ MAY-MAY-MAY-MAY ♪ [Voice straining]
Then I can never get to
♪ MAY-MAY-MAY-MAY ♪ [Balanced sound]
So, we don’t want to force the volume,
we don’t want to strain stuff in the neck, jaw, tongue,
and we don’t want to lift the larynx.
So, how DO we find our true vocal strength?
You guessed it... from within...
♬
Start by letting your vocal folds be too loose.
Say, “breathy voice”.
Nice job!
Your vocal folds did that for you.
Next, say “squeezy voice”.
Excellent!
Your vocal folds and their muscles also did that.
Finally, say “perfect balance”.
Awesome!
This was your vocal muscles working in harmony.
Notice you didn’t have to use volume.
Perfect balance. [Loud volume]
You also didn’t have to squeeze the extrinsics.
Perfect balance. [Squeezing extrinsics]
And you didn’t have to raise your larynx.
Perfect balance. [Raises larynx]
Your vocal folds were perfectly capable of doing the job.
Now we just need that to happen on every single note
in your range.
And we will!
I’m going to give you a vocal exercise to practice in a second.
But, first I’ve gotta put myself to the test...
♬
For today’s song example, I chose a rock tune with a
wide variety of compression skills.
It’s the classic rock song “Creep” by Radiohead.
This song is a challenge because it works best
with compression sounds, decompression sounds,
falsetto sounds, chesty sounds, all working together across a
big range.
Let’s try it out...
♪ Cuz I'm a creep ♪
♪ I'm a weirdo ♪
♪ What the hell am I doing here ♪
♪ I don't belong here ♪
♪ She's runnin' out again ♪
♪ She's runnin' out ♪
♪ She run run run ♪
♪ Run ♪
So much fun!
The wide range of compression allows
for so many possibilities.
But, don’t you run, run, run.
[Hits piano]
Because it’s time for your Voice Lessons To The World
CHALLENGE...
♬
Today’s challenge is an exercise that I want you to practice.
It’s IHG-GIHG-GIHG on an 8-8-8-5-1.
It’s sound like this ♪ IH-GIHG-GIHG ♪
The idea here is that we’re starting off with
a little baby glottal onset.
[Glottal sounds]
This glottal encourages the vocal fold compression.
Then the G consonant also helps us out.
G is a voiced plosive.
We talked about this in the last Quick Singing Tips episode.
Certain consonants help us to find our compression.
So, let’s try it out.
♪ IH-GIHG-GIHG ♪
This one will have guys and ladies in the same octave.
We're gonna start off with just the guys and then bring in the ladies.
Try to stay as try strong as you can without getting loud or
without tensing anything up.
Here we go:
♪ IH-GIHG-GIHG ♪
♬
Nice.
♬
That's it.
♬
Let's bring in some ladies.
♪ IH-GIHG-GIHG ♪
Great!
♬
Mhmm!
♬
Right on!
♬
Great.
♪ IH-GIHG-GIHG ♪
That's right!
♬
Good for you.
♬
Comin' down.
♬
Mhm.
♬
Good.
♬
A few more.
♬
That's it.
♪ IH-GIHG-GIHG ♪
♬
And last.
♬
Awesome job!
As you’re working on your challenge,
keep us posted on Facebook, Instagram,
and all the usual suspects.
We’d love to hear from you as you stay strong, solid,
and toned up.
Here are some others ways I hope you and I can stay
strong on your vocal journey...
For voice lessons or Skype lessons with the NYVC staff
visit us at NewYorkVocalCoaching.com.
If you'd like a vocal course that you can do at home check out the
Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course.
This twelve part program takes you on a singing journey from beginner
to master level vocal exercises.
You can find it at VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
Or, if you'd like free vocal tips sent to you each day
sign up at DailyVocalTips.com.
And now, here's Justin with this week's vocal benediction.
Our vocal folds are a gift from God.
But God’s gifts are usually the easiest to overlook.
Your vocal folds, your voice, and YOU...
can do anything.
But you have to remember the kind of strength that’s
been placed inside you.
I see this strength in you and I’m not giving up on you.
If you keep on singing even through your darkest hour
then, my friend, you can truly call yourself
strong.
♬