♬
Oh hello!
Welcome to Mutual of NYVC's Wild Vocal Kingdom.
In our travels through the wilderness areas of the world
Justin Stoney and I have seen some strange animals.
And, animals making some of the strangest sounds of all.
Right Justin?
That's right, Marlin!
It's been such an honor to team up with a fine scholar like yourself
in the interests of both zoology and also vocal science.
Marlin and I searched far and wide
to find animals that make sounds that can help singers to improve their voices.
So for the next three episodes, we're going to be
going on an adventure, a safari, a quest,
to see how the animal kingdom and the vocal kingdom
really have a lot in common.
Marlin, let's start the adventure!
We'll start our adventure with a creature
that gives most people the heebie-jeebies!
But don't slither away so fast, there's nothing to fear!
Just take a deep breath this fellow's hiss is bigger than his bite.
The snake!
Thank You Marlin.
The snake of course goes "hiss" and that hiss sound
is really great for our breath support.
It's an unvoiced fricative, that's that slow, steady,
smooth stream of air that the S causes.
This gives us resistance at the level of the tongue
which helps us with the resistance at the level of the breathing muscles.
So let's warm up with this snake hiss.
Remember you're appoggio breathing from our last episode, 92.
You're going to inhale into your ribs
you're going to inhale into your abdominals.
And then we're going to hiss.
Go go go, hiss.
[hissing]
And another inhalation and then another hiss.
[hissing]
And hold that hiss.
You're gonna feel your breath support working.
One more inhalation, and a hiss.
[hissing]
And that snake helps to train your breath.
So Marlin, what's next?
Our adventure continues with an animal that's a real hoot.
This beautiful bird is a real head-turner
if you know where to look for 'em!
That's right it's you-know-who!
The owl!
Excellent Marlin.
The owl of course sounds like hoo-hoo.
Now that's falsetto if you're a guy
and head voice if you're a woman.
It's very important for every singer to explore these registers.
Falsetto and head voice increase our range,
they increase our vocal flexibility
and they're really important for your vocal health.
That H sound is what's providing decompression for the vocal folds.
While the OO is the headiest vowel, giving us all kinds of stretch.
This is going to be 5-3-1 on an owl, HOO.
♪ HOO ♪
And, here we go.
♪
Great!
♪
That's it.
♪
♪ HOO ♪
♪
Very nice owl.
♪
Right, and use the H...
♪ HOO ♪
Beautiful.
♪
Keep it round...
♪ HOO ♪
That's it.
♪
And last one...
♪
Excellent owls!
So, next animal Marlin!
Our travels together took Justin Stoney and I to the farm!
And that's where we found an animal that was
utterly spectacular for the human voice.
I won't milk this too long...
But let's see if your voice can stomach...
the cow!
Right...
Thanks Marlin.
So the cow of course says "Moo".
But not just "Moo" but "Muhoo".
And what that's gonna give us is a low larynx,
but a low larynx plus nasal resonance.
That can often be very difficult to get both.
Now, low larynx positions help free up the voice.
And they're not just important for classical singers
but all singers.
So let it be really crazy and let's hear a "moo".
That's very good.
So now we're gonna have guys down here...
♪ MOO ♪
And ladies up here...
♪ MOO ♪
And here we go!
♪
That's right.
♪
Keep it deep!
♪ MOO ♪
That's right.
♪
Right.
♪
Nice low larynx.
♪ MOO ♪
That's it!
♪
Coming down!
♪ MOO ♪
Right.
♪
Last...
♪ MOO ♪
Very good!
♪
But we found another animal while we were in the barnyard,
didn't we Marlin?
Baa baa black sheep have you any wool!
Well these little fellas we found certainly do.
And while they never like to travel too far from the herd
they certainly can help your voice to be heard.
That's right, it's the sheep!
Yeah...
Great Marlin.
So anyway the sheep of course says "Baa".
And that's so great for our compression control
because B is one of those voiced plosives.
The A vowel is a bright twang vowel.
And in between those vowels we have a series of glottals.
This is great for developing the range and also the skillset of our mix
and our chest dominant mix.
Which relies so heavily on that compression control.
So we're gonna do a sheep exercise that sounds like this...
Guys are gonna start and then we're gonna bring in the ladies in a moment.
So here we go with guys...
♪ BA-A-A ♪
Great.
♪
That's it.
♪
Now bring in the ladies
♪ BA-A-A ♪
Very good.
♪
And use the B...
♪ BA-A-A ♪
Excellent.
♪
That's right.
♪
Very nice.
♪
Good.
♪
And use the glottals...
♪ BA-A-A ♪
Excellent.
♪
A few more.
♪
And last...
♪ BA-A-A ♪
♪
Wonderful sheep!
Uhh...Marlin?
You doing okay there?
The last animal burnt so bright in the forests of the night
that Justin Stoney and I couldn't frame its fearful symmetry.
Nevertheless, Justin says it's good for tongue retraction.
So we stalked the tiger!
Yes Marlin, yes the tiger is great for tongue retraction.
And that's the "ch-ah" sound.
Now that's a uvular trill.
When we sing the tongue often likes to
fall downwards and retract backwards.
So the uvular trill keeps the tongue forward and tall.
It also helps our breath support and not pushing the air.
It's tough to push air when you're doing a [uvular] sound.
Then we move over into the A vowel
which is a strong and chesty vowel.
This helps us to build vocal strength.
So now we have a situation where we are strong
but we can't push the air or retract the tongue.
It's gonna be a great set up.
Sounds like this...CH-AH.
And we're gonna have this exercise...
♪ CHAH ♪
We're gonna start off with the guys then we're gonna bring in the ladies.
Here we go...
♪ CHAH ♪
That's right.
♪
♪ CHAH ♪
Now bring in the ladies!
♪
That's it.
♪
Really use the [uvular trill]...
♪
Right.
♪
Keep it fierce!
♪
♪ CHAH ♪
Right.
♪
Two more.
♪
Last...
♪ CHAH ♪
Those are some ferocious tigers!
Well, that's all the animals we're going to explore today.
I hope these animals have increased your passion and your joy,
and shown you some new ways to work on your singing voice.
For even more ways be sure to find
a great voice teacher in your area.
Or you can study via Skype with some of the
finest voice teachers in all of the kingdom
by visiting NewYorkVocalCoaching.com.
If you're looking for a vocal course you can do at home,
feel free to check out the Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course
at VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
And if you'd like free vocal tips sent to you each day
sign up at DailyVocalTips.com.
Marlin, any final thoughts?
I suppose that the sum total of everything
we know about singing and animals
is just about equal to the sum of the total that we don't know.
That's why we go on studying, exploring, investigating.
For we always know that there'll be fresh surprises for us.
So join us next time as we continue
to probe the mysteries of the Wild Vocal Kingdom.
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