"The cords themselves: Your vocal chords are to your body as a bow is to a violin."
Your vocal cords are actually incredibly tiny. Imagine a single choir boy in an enormous domed church. The tiny ping of his voice carries and resonates gloriously through the entire space with no amplification. That choir boy is to the church as your vocal cords are to your body. Each one of your delicate cords is about the size of the white tip on your pinky nail. If you've never seen a pair of vocal cords (or even if you have) take a look. This is a video of Dr. Christopher Chang performing a Stroboscopy. Skip to about 50 seconds in order to see the actual cords phonating.
They're soooo tiny. So how can something so small make such a large noise? And moreover, how can we produce those sounds without causing damage to our delicate instrument? There are a lot of things we could talk about on this topic, but we're only going to focus on a few here.
Very simply put, our voice is essentially a reed instrument. Our chords come together, we send air through them, and this causes vibration, also known as sound. That sound is then amplified by the surrounding cavities and body parts.
What is most exciting about this (at least for people like us who like to geek out on vocal technique) is that volume is not created by sheer force of will or extra effort. It is caused by the natural amplification of the body. And when it's done properly, the cords exert no more effort for a huge belt or operatic high note than a quietly sung lullaby in the evening.
So how do we produce this effect? We learn where our resonance chambers are, and then we learn how to direct sound to them. Have you noticed that when you touch something that's vibrating you begin to vibrate with it? And have you noticed that when you open a door to a room where music is playing, that it gets louder? This is precisely what we're going for in your voice. We want to open the doors to your resonance chambers and align them in such a way that your entire body begins to vibrate. It's not as daunting as it sounds.
Try flaring your nostrils while inhaling through your nose. You may look pretty funny the first few times you try this, but you've just opened up some of your frontal sinuses. If you can continue to stretch this open while singing your resonance is going to change. Now... whether it will change for the better or not is completely dependent upon the sound you currently have, and what muscles you're using to flare your nostrils. Either way, you've accessed a resonance chamber.
Each chamber adds a different quality and color to your sound, and this is where the artistry comes in. You get to pick and choose which colors you paint your voice with. Now imagine what it would sounds like if you had about a dozen of these vibrating at the same time. Some people feel vibration all the way to their extremities when they sing. Imagine what that might sound like...
Now... The other major point I want to talk about. How do you take care of your vocal cords in order to make sure that they stay healthy? How do you mind such a delicate part of the body? Much of it has to do with using resonance for volume instead of shoving your cords together, but there's more to it than that.
The vocal cords are just another part of your body; one part of the greater whole. So simple things like hydration, sleep, eating well, smoking (or not) directly affect your sound quality. If your chords are dry they're going to vibrate differently. If they're burnt to a crisp they're going to vibrate differently. One of the most important things in our experience is that the health of your cords is consistent. You'll be tuning your air flow and many other things to the way that your cords vibrate, and if you don't take care of yourself, and wake up one day to a different instrument, everything may suddenly feel unfamiliar. So take care of you body - consistently!
Also: Coughing. This is a bit of a pet peeve. Wikipedia states that air is expelled at a rate of about 100mph every time you cough, and that the cords come together to block the air, and then it bursts through them. Ouch. Can you imagine such a delicate bit of tissue being busted aside by 100mph winds? Even clearing your throat sounds painful when you think of it that way. And you might say "but clearing my throat doesn't hurt". It affects the quality of your sound. Think back to last week when we talked about developing calluses on your cords... Even if it's subtle, it makes a difference in the equilibrium and resonance of your instrument. So if you have to cough, see if swallowing or sipping on tea helps. Granted, if you're really sick and you're coughing things out of your lungs there's probably not much to be done except cough less often. But this is one of the best ways to protect your voice. Avoid coughing and clearing your throat. Simple as pie.
Well... We're getting off of our soap box for today. But as always, feel free to ask question and start a conversation on here. That's what we're here for!
Thanks for stopping by!
- Vocal Forum NY
