Dear Colleague …

Welcome to the latest edition of the Vocal Process ezine. We have news on Integrated Voice and forthcoming courses. We also have the next of our short features on the larynx, focusing on function.

Vocal Process Certification - Integrated Voice

Module One began at the end of February with participants attending Meribeth Dayme's course Vocal Anatomy for Voice Professionals. Meribeth's course combines solid in-depth information about physiology and anatomy with hands - and voices - on experience that helps participants to remember the work more easily. This included exercises for observing changes in posture with the effect these might have on voicing, and building your own larynx and tongue (showing extrinsic muscle attachments) out of plasticine. Gillyanne sat in on the first day and enjoyed revisiting a course she first attended in 1997. Meribeth emphasises the importance of knowing the bones of the skeleton, the origins and insertions of muscles and the direction of muscle fibres. These provide a basis for understanding what she calls 'the logic of the body'.

Introduction to Computer Voice Training was the next unit of Module One and took place on 13 March 2004. All who attended the course were interested in using the computer as a teaching or training tool, either in their own institutions or for personal development. Numbers for the course were strictly limited, ensuring a great deal of individual attention for all participants. During the day, Jeremy covered some basic acoustics (harmonics, formants and sound source), the practicalities of dealing with a spectrographic programme, and provided information on freeware and shareware available on the Internet. The group identified a range of topics for study: comparing voice onsets and offsets; vowel clarity; tongue and larynx positions; nasality; twang; and levels of work in the vocal folds. Following the course, Jeremy distributed a number of spectrographic examples together with descriptions and watch points for improving accuracy.

Musical Theatre Workshop at the Batt School, Witney, Oxon

Forty youngsters from local drama and dance groups attended this Vocal Process Inset workshop, organised by Paul Herrington and given by Gill Main. Their ages ranged from 6 to 16, with most being between 6 and 12. The aim was to give the participants an experience of the thrills and demands of performing in musical theatre along with a healthy dose of vocal technique. Paul Herrington felt it was particularly important for the group to work with someone who is currently training professionals in the field. People who are enthused about performing need to be encouraged to develop all of their skills, musical, vocal and physical, in a creative way. Gill took the group through various voice qualities using the 'Ballad of Sweeney Todd', and worked on retraction of the false folds, twang, using thick and thin folds, and finding body stability and strength with anchoring. The workshop ended with a question and answer session.

Forthcoming Courses - Practical Phonetics

This will be our next public course, led by Matthew Reeve, teacher of voice and speech at Mountview Academy and Estill Masters licensee.

The importance of phonetics in spoken voice training has long been recognised for its role in clear speech, accent work and as a means of identifying speech patterns. In singing training there seems to be little emphasis on phonetics other than for the pronunciation of foreign languages. Sometimes singing teachers and choral trainers are unclear about the placement of consonants and their impact on vocal production. By clarifying how and where the sounds of speech are made, this course can help you improve your auditory skills, give you tools for trouble-shooting problems of articulation and enunciation, and offer insights into speech patterns that might interfere with clarity in singing. Phonetics novices are welcome!

Practical Phonetics
London, Saturday 3 April 2004
Standard fee £85
Teacher+Student fee £130

Core Training
London, Friday 16 April to Sunday 18 April 2004
Standard fee is £400

Feature - The Functions of the Larynx
by Matthew Reeve

Following on from the feature in the last edition - The Structures of the Larynx - Matthew Reeve continues his beginner's guide to the larynx, and discusses The Functions of the Larynx.

As voice users we often get a little preoccupied about the larynx being the 'voice box'. But biologically the larynx has many other priorities.

Protection of the airways. The need to keep the airways free from obstruction is paramount for our survival and is therefore considered the primary function of the larynx. The true vocal folds, false vocal folds and epiglottis each act as a sphincter to form a barrier that prevents food and foreign bodies entering the trachea and into the respiratory system. Every time we swallow the larynx rises, the epiglottis folds down and both sets of vocal folds come together. Three sets of muscles are in place to close and tense the true vocal folds, an indicator of the importance of the primary function. There is only one set of muscles to open the true folds. Think how the body responds when food goes down the 'wrong way'. This happens when the triple 'valve' action of the larynx mis-times. In fact this is a natural reflex, the vocal folds are programmed to close immediately when stimulated from foreign objects.

Pressure valving. The ability to control pressure in the thoracic cavity is important for the efficiency of other bodily functions. These include going to the toilet, childbirth and the ability to fix the thoracic cavity when lifting heaving objects. In pressure valving the larynx closure helps to stabilise the upper body, which in turn provides a solid framework for strenuous muscular effort. Do the following and notice what can happen at the larynx: sit on a chair and raise your feet off the ground; then, whilst seated, inhale and try lifting yourself and the chair off the ground.

Phonation. On the biological survival scale, phonation is considered a tertiary function. The larynx has evolved well to cope with noise-making, enabling us to cry and shout with ease - a baby can cry loud and long. As singers and speakers we capitalise on the phonatory ability of the larynx with complex linguistic tasks such as speech and song.

So, two of the natural functions of the larynx are reflex actions that involve constriction. This protective behaviour is often high on the agenda of the larynx. For instance, if something goes wrong in a rehearsal and we get upset or angry, the protective reflex can be triggered, and the larynx may constrict. This will clearly impede on vocal function. We need active measures to counteract what is biologically normal when singing or speaking in stressful situations.

The next instalment will deal with the structure of the vocal folds. More information on the larynx can be found in the Resources of the web site, alternatively if you have further questions on the larynx, why not use our 'Your Questions Answered' section?

In the meanwhile …

remember to monitor your effort levels!