Judy Rodman - All Things Vocal Blog: January 2021

Training & insights for stage and studio singers, speakers, vocal coaches and producers from professional vocal coach and author of "Power, Path & Performance" vocal training method. Download All Things Vocal podcast on your fav app!

Monday, January 25, 2021

Help for thin, weak, hooty, lifeless, nasal and edgy voices - updated 2021

Let's get some color in there!
NOTE: The audio player should appear below, if not, please click on the title of this post and go online to hear. 
Available also on iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon, Android apps
PLEASE REVIEW at ratethispodcast.com/atv

Vocal tone communicates the meaning of words carried on that tone. Having problems with the way the voice sounds is a frequent reason singers and speakers contact me for vocal lessons because the wrong tone is not going to get the right response to what is being sung or said. Let's start with what causes your vocal sound to be limited.

What causes unwanted vocal tone?

Thin, weak, hooty, lifeless, nasal, edgy and other limited vocal tones have one thing in common- the "resonance cave" of the voice is not completely open. These vocal sounds are not nearly as "listenable" as rich, clear, bell-like, multi-textured musical sounds of voice when the throat is open. If you want to have a weird character or cartoonish sound for some reason, you can limit your tone on purpose, but for normal speaking and singing purposes, you want all the rich colors and musicality of tone that your voice can produce.

Sometimes a person is so used to speaking or singing with a compromised voice they don't even know it's possible to change it. But with vocal training to open the throat, you will be amazed at how great you can sound. 

How vocal resonance is created:

The "resonance cave" of the voice involves a forked channel. The channel goes from the larynx in the throat upwards where it forks into the mouth and the nasal and sinus passages. The nose is actually huge inside. The top of the nasal membrane goes all the way up to the eyes. Resonance is created and modified by the state of the channel. This is the way it works:
  • The vocal cords vibrate the larynx.
  • Sound waves coming off the larynx go through the channel to bounce against other tissue surfaces and cavities in the throat, mouth, nose and some sources say even down the trachea.
  • These alternative resonation zones add their own character to the sound waves.
  • If the channel is open, more vibrations can reach more surfaces, and the resulting sound gathers and comes out the mouth much richer than when the channel is constricted anywhere.
Another very important point is that different pitches need to vibrate through different resonation zones. If your throat is tight anywhere, that will keep vibration from freely traveling and you will experience limited range (for both singing and speaking) - and vocal strain if you try to hit notes that you are making inaccessible.

Tips to open your throat and gain resonance you never thought possible:

  • Record yourself 
First of all.. record yourself speaking or singing something so you have a baseline from which to assess your progress.
  • Open your nose
If you have what is commonly known as a "nasal" sound, the nose is actually constricted - like when you have a cold. Paradoxically, to get away from the nasal sound, you need to sing through an open nose - not just your mouth! Try singing or speaking with a flared nose to see the difference.
  • Activate your eyes
Another thing that can help open the nasal portion of the throat channel: Use your eyes!! Try counting to five LOUD with your eyes small and frozen. Then count again with your eyes wide moving like you're communicating to a baby.
  • Articulate in front, not back, of mouth
To open the throat channel where it forks into the mouth... Articulate your words in the front of your mouth... not at the jaw hinge! You may not realize you're speaking from the jaw so try this... put your knuckle in your mouth and try to speak. Then take your knuckle out but try to speak like it's still there.
  • Make chewing circles
It can help tremendously to circle the jaw with a slight chewing motion to keep from locking it on a note or passage. 
  • Morph vowels
Morph, or shape-shift your vowels instead of freezing them!  For instance, try sustaining the vowel 'ee' as in 'me', or  'oo' as in 'you'. First, freeze the shape of the vowel, then morph the shape by doing that slight chew and move your face expressively. 
  • Imagine ping pong ball
Try speaking or singing while imagining a ping pong ball is on the back of your tongue and you don't want to crush it.
  • Keep head over tailbone
Another thing that affects the channel at the top of the throat and back of the mouth: Don't hold your head forward! Try doing wall work: Stand against a wall (head and heel against the wall, flexible spine, chin level and floating) and speak or sing. Notice and/or hear a difference?
  • Pull with mic
When using a mike, pull your mouth back from the mic like you're playing tug of war. Don't go too far, just a little stretch. Your head should go back and to the side a bit, and keep your chin flexibly level.
  • 6 way inside stretch from Power, Path & Performance training
If you have my 6-disc vocal training course, study the section on the "6-way inside stretch" to learn more about expanding your channel. It's important to make the stretch equidistant so as to keep the larynx from lifting or dropping, and instead allow it to float in place so it can rock back and forth slightly as it adjust vocal cord length and width. 
  • Control breath
And one last point... sometimes the throat tightens to try to defend the vocal cords from too much breath pressure. That's why I emphasize the three cornerstones of Power, Path & Performance vocal training - studying breath technique along with open throat and performance communication. Put them all together and you have your best, most expressive, healthy voice! 
  • Let me know how you do with these suggestions by clicking the comment link.

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posted by Unknown @ 8:00 PM   4 Comments

Monday, January 4, 2021

Chat with Susan Berkley: The Billion Dollar Voiceover Industry

Susan Berkley                                                       Judy Rodman

NOTE: The audio player should appear below, if not, please click on the title of this post and go online to hear. 
Available also on iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon, Android apps
PLEASE REVIEW at ratethispodcast.com/atv

Did you notice the 'B' word in the title? Billions of dollars are now being made in the multi-niche field of voiceover. Even when the wounded music industry gets going full steam again, professional singers of all stripes (recording artists, backing vocalists, session singers, club singers, jingle singers, etc) are always going to have to deal with potential financial insecurity. There's a reason Tammy Wynette famously kept her hairdressing license renewed!

This interview I did with veteran voiceover talent and coach Susan Berkley offers you a glimpse into the real possibilities of a successful vocal career where it doesn't matter what you look like, what you're wearing, how old you are or where you live. (Except as Susan says, you need broadband, baby:) I think you'll enjoy it, and you might want to sit with the idea of at least a side alternate income stream using your voice. 

Some topics of our conversation:

  • Susan takes us into her own ongoing voiceover career
  • How the requirement to have 'the voice of God' for success as a voice talent has morphed into the preference for more diverse, normal every-day, authentic voice.
  • Susan takes us int o many of the 14-plus niche markets she's identified as now actively seeking voiceover talent... including broadcast and non-broadcast roles. For instance:
    • commercials
    • political ads
    • cartoons
    • terrestrial and satellite radio
    • store P.O.P. (point of purchase) radio 
    •  E-learning (teaching anyone how to do anything) - now a $150 billion niche!
    • computer telephony
    • traffic/weather/siri, etc
    • medical professional training narrations (a huge field)
    • audio books (last year alone 40,000 were recorded, now raking in $1 billion with a skyrocketing demand for more)
    • video gaming character voices ($250 billion niche market with as many as 90 voices per game, all ages.)
    • Simulation narration for projects including military fighter pilots.
  • We talk about the skills needed (and not needed) for a successful career in voiceover
  • We discuss ways of deeply connecting to the person you're talking to, and delivering the script
  • Susan gives examples of how to make small and sometimes very weird stories important with empathy for the person you're talking to.
  • Susan shares some tips for actually marketing and promoting your voiceover career like a business. We chat about the entrepreneurial spirit, empathy that makes selling a 'holy art', and 
  • We also talk about gear, plugins, iso booths, and how singers can be especially good candidates for voiceover.
  • Susan shared some links to her training.

About Susan Berkley

Susan Berkley is a veteran voice talent, radio personality, author of ‘Speak To Influence: How To Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Voice” (avail on Amazon) and creator of her ‘Mic to Money – voiceover training system. Her credits include being the signature voice of AT&T and the branded telephone voice of Citibank. She is the founder of The Great Voice Company, which today is a full-service audio production company providing voice talent for projects including large, complex multi-language, mission critical applications. Her clients include Citibank, AT&T, Google, Home Depot, Principle Financial Group, Express Scripts and tons more.

Susan is also a renown teacher for voiceover talent. 

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posted by Judy Rodman @ 6:01 PM   2 Comments