Voice Loss or Voice Limitations: Why Does it
Happen?
Written by Diana Yampolsky
"I
have met skinny people who've looked like
pregnant ballerinas because they had heeded
bad breathing instruction"
During my 35 plus years as a non-surgical
voice repair specialist, I have seen a lot
of cases where full or partial loss of voice
has occurred.
It has affected different people, both
ordinary wannabe singers and active
professionals, it has been prompted by
different causes and resulted in different
diagnoses, but what they all invariably had
in common was the misuse and overuse of the
vocal anatomy in general.
It mainly happened as a result of the
wrongful application of ones voice. The
conventional vocal coaching suggests that
people who want to learn how to use their
voices 'correctly' should drop their jaws
down, bend their knees, feel really
grounded, and then use their vocal and other
parts of their anatomy as much as possible.
What do they accomplish by doing all this?
The limitation of the vocal range; used,
abused and strained vocal cords; and a sound
that is evidently crashing down and dying at
the performer's feet. Not very pretty, huh?!
Moreover, I have met skinny people who've
looked like they were five to seven months
pregnant because they had heeded bad
breathing instruction. By following
directions to stick out their stomachs,
their abdominal muscles had been made weaker
than they should be and caused them to
acquire disproportionately big looking
stomachs. Their appearance was much like
that of pregnant ballerinas.
The fitness world promotes the ideal of
strong abdominal muscles and nice and flat
tummies, so where then do vocal coaches get
the idea that they must work against human
anatomy by drowning the voices down deep in
the anatomy? They should be helping their
performers release the pressure of the sound
off of the anatomy and instead make it fly
above and on top of the body - much like a
spirit will always fly away beyond the
physical body and not along with it.
Moreover, the voice is a unique instrument
which every individual possesses. Once that
voice is trapped inside of their anatomy,
the whole so-called 'performance' becomes
very anatomic and not spiritual at all. The
voice that flies off of the physical anatomy
should be as unique as the finger prints of
each and every individual. I know that any
performer that I have produced over the
years has had very unique tones and voices
that could be recognised very easily, even
if you don't know the song they might be
singing.
"How would you achieve that?", you may ask.
I have found the mechanism that will allow
your voice to work at its fullest capacity
possible, yet with no pain or strain on your
vocal anatomy. By utilising this mechanism,
you will be able to restructure your voice
from the vocal box to the set of your facial
muscles which will represent a natural
resonator, or amplifier in this case, and
then put those facial muscles to work in
full conjunction and coordination with your
abdominal muscles for the greater support of
the sound and, thus, then minimise the use
of your throat, larynx and vocal cords.
However, if the voice was already damaged,
to do just that might not be enough.
Therefore, simultaneously with the proper
instruction, I would administer natural
herbs and remedies that will greatly aid
ones voice. Needless to say, those remedies
will be redundant unless the voice is
released from the vocal box and the singer
operates through the different channels and
in the new found way.
This is also applicable for singers like
Justin Bieber who, as a 16-year-old boy, is
reportedly experiencing vocal unrest as
puberty transforms his voice into something
lower and manlier. In this instance, I can
say with absolute certainty that by using my
revolutionary approach to voice mechanics,
puberty would not be an issue and any male
singer of a similar age to Justin would be
able to pass through puberty with ease and
and not let it spoil the enjoyment of their
performances. In my opinion, Justin needs to
learn the application of his voice as
addressed above and since his anatomy seems
to be somewhat strained, which is natural
for any singer when they're experiencing
difficulties in pushing for a stronger
sound, his vocal box also has to be
carefully nurtured and thus simultaneously
to be healed while he tries to reach new
heights.
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