For a good technical description of how a voice is produced see the Voice Foundation description at https://voicefoundation.org/health-science/voice-disorders/anatomy-physiology-of-voice-production/understanding-voice-production/. I can’t guarantee that all the information on the web page is correct, but I don’t see any errors. A second more technical discussion can be found at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5412481/ .
The vocal folds, or more specifically the movement of air through the folds causes a rapid opening and closing of first the bottom and then the top part of the glottis which is the space between the vocal chords. This in turn produces vibration in the air passing through the folds resulting in a sound. As you might imagine this process requires a large number of factors to go right. The glottis must be closed, a uninterrupted column of air pushed through it, and the glottis must vibrate by opening and closing rapidly. Anything that affects the muscles that control the vocal chords, the ability to generate a column of air from the lungs, or disturbs the opening and closing of the glottis, or the smooth movement of air across the surface of the vocal chords will impact the sound produced. But by and large the body does all of these actions automatically but that doesn’t mean you cannot affect how these actions are done. The frequency of the vibration for instance affects the pitch of the sound and singers alter the pitch of their voices at will, they are therefore using muscles to change the rapidity of the opening and closing of the glottis. The loudness of the sound is impacted by the volume of air in each of the pulses through the glottis.
Once sound has been produced is then modified by the vocal tract including the nasal passages, the mouth, the tongue and lips to produces specific types of sound and words, but we will deal with that later
Back to the throat and issues that can arise that may impact the singing voice.
It would be impossible to provide a complete list of every illness and malady, injury and imperfection or activity or action that might impact the voice but we can make some generalizations
Production of Air Flow
Illnesses or injuries that impact how much air you can take into the lungs and how much you can expel in an uninterrupted flow will affect your singing. Physical injuries from accidents affecting the lungs, lung diseases etc may not prevent you from singing but are likely to impact how well you sing. There is not much that can be done to ameliorate this, but choosing the right genre, vocal range and in particular the length of singing phrases should help. Other air flow issues can be addressed. Things like Asthma and breathlessness caused by air pollution or molds, and pollens can be treated with medications or simple physical barriers (effective masks) when exposed to the irritants. If you have a job that exposes you to vapors, fumes etc, wear appropriate safety equipment. The effect of some contaminants may not make you “ill” but may make enough impact to affect your singing voice. For instance I know that at certain times of year, high pollen counts will impact my singing voice, so I tend to wear a mask when outside at those times. If my lungs do feel impacted I use a steam machine a few hours before I sing to make sure I am at least inhaling moist warm air not dry cold air. Prescribed inhalers and other medical treatments might also be useful if your doctor agrees
Condition of the Vocal Folds
The vocal folds have to be working correctly to produce a good singing voice. Physical issues such as the inability to completely close the glottis will cause a breathy or raspy voice. Other than training there is not much that can be done, however, good quality vocal training may help by developing the muscles that close the glottis. Of course a breathy or raspy voice may be ok for some musical genres
The surface of the vocal folds is critical and any damage, inflammation, or physical imperfections such as growths will also affect sound production. Surgery is possible for some issues but the outcomes may only improve but not completely remedy sound production. Many of the studies show positive outcomes for some patients in many cases a high proportion of patients, however, in most cases these are for speech not singing and often are not cures but improvements.
Avoiding damage is important and there are so many ways to do this. But lets start with the old chestnut, should boys sing during the period their voices are dropping from Trebles/Altos to Tenors/Basses. When I was that old the prevailing wisdom was to stop singing. I did not and I did not damage my voice. However, it is clear that during this time it is important to sing correctly and sing the right voice part. Do not over-sing particularly if it feels hard. During voice change it is important to continue to exercise the voice without straining it.
This is a golden rule for all singers at any stage of their singing life. I understand that if you are soloing at Carnegie Hall or the Albert Hall, you probably need to complete the performance, but if you are rehearsing and finding it hard to sing change the pieces that you are singing to ones that feel more comfortable.
Damage Avoidance Techniques I use (during rehearsals)
- Singing alternate or even every third or fourth line, ie taking short frequent breaks
- I usually have songs in two pitches so I can switch if one is proving problematic
- When I start warming up I may start two hours before a performance singing just one line every 3 to 5 minutes then increasing the frequency
- Simply miss out the hard to sing notes and focus on the ones you can produce well, then go back and try to add some of the hard notes in
- Select a song that is easier to sing until the voice is warmer
- Sing quietly without power, but with a normal tone, (ie so that you feel you are singing well within yourself) and if the note is not produced just continue without adjustment, do not strain or tighten the neck muscles to try and “get the note”.
- Particularly with rehearsals make sure that the environment is good, not too hot, not too cold and a reasonable humidity, and without irritants like smoke
It is important to warm the voice up gradually and for longer the older you are. After about 22 the vocal chords become progressively less flexible. I was always able to just sing without warming up when I was younger but the older I got the harder it was to do that. This did lead me to adopt bad techniques to produce notes and with hindsight this could have been avoided by two things
- Warming up properly
- Practicing regularly
For me now I need to sing for about an hour every day for at least 10 days before a performance to be at my best when I perform. If it is a longer performance I need to accustom my self for singing longer by increasing my daily practice times. Doing this I can sing without amplification for hours if necessary and I can do that day after day.
Inflammation of the throat either by illness (cold, cough et al) or irritants (smoke, dry air, car exhaust fumes) is a real problem and basically I don’t sing if my throat is inflamed. First of all the performance is not going to be my best, and second you risk damaging the vocal folds. A cough sweet can sometimes be a help if the atmosphere is dry, but to stop the throat getting inflamed rather than to allow you to sing with an inflamed throat. I have never tried the various “voice saver” blends that you can buy, which purport to help you sing when your voice has a problem. I try to avoid illnesses with good hygiene; I try to stay away from close contact with the audience members and wash my hands frequently, bring my own water to rehydrate, and don’t eat communal food at venues even if offered.
Relaxation of the neck and shoulders
Given that muscles in the neck are critical to the production of sound it may sound counter intuitive to say relax the neck and shoulders but its not. The muscles that control sound production are by and large on automatic. They do it without you having to think. Tensing the shoulder and neck muscles in general and doing it to try “get a note” is counter productive. The neck and shoulders should always be relaxed at all times when singing. If you have driven a long way to get somewhere or had to do your own sound system setup, you probably have tension in you shoulders and neck. I always plan to finish setup early preferably with at least 15 mins to go before I perform and do some gentle neck and shoulder stretches to relax, inhale deeply and exhale several times jut before the show a sometime once or twice before a song.
Rehydration
People alway make the comment that water doesn’t go down the airway so how is drinking water going to improve your voice. Proper hydration is critical. If you have driven a long way and done your own set up, warmed up and sat around in a dry green room you are probably under-hydrated. I drink about pint of water or more about 20 to 30 minutes before the show start time to allow it to be absorbed by my body and maintain the bodies hydration level. The vocal folds need to be lubricated by the mucus that is in the airway to work properly and that doesn’t happen sufficiently if you are dehydrated. I then try not to drink again until the end of the show, but if I need to I take a healthy chug of water and avoid taking multiple small sips, but I will explain why when I talk about the final part the upper vocal tract.
No responses yet