August 25, 2025 • 55 mins
Your tone isn’t set in stone. Whether you think you sound too nasally, too breathy, too dull, or just “not like yourself”—you’re not stuck. Your vocal tone is malleable, and you can shift it with surprisingly simple adjustments. This breakdown explores what makes up your tone, how to experiment with shaping it, and why impersonators are proof that you're more flexible than you think. You'll learn how to explore resonance, use “silly” sounds for smarter singing, and start building a tone that feels more like you.
📍Referenced Episode: Vocal Anatomy: https://youtu.be/7m17xZeAk-s
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
a great thing I use when you're messing with your tone
(00:02):
oh we should all do it
yes um we can
we'll do it there uh
on a find a really bright really bright e like here
e e e
and then find a really open Patrick from SpongeBob
oh oh so I will all go
(00:25):
yeah I went a little
oh
you feel that yeah
that's crazy you feel that
yeah yeah
yeah yeah
so I'll take that down on that
I'll move that around on the fifth
and usually I do that mid range down
(00:54):
hey Vxs Star and what welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the three fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
(01:15):
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
if you are not fully in love with the tone
of your voice don't you worry baby cause guess what
we can actually manipulate the tone of anybody's voice
(01:36):
that's why impersonators exist
and to talk about how we can manipulate the tone
so that you can sound however it
is you wanna sound I've got three wonderful box
hip coaches in the studio with me today
hello Coach Emily hello
hello Coach Juliana hello
hello Brianna go ahead
so we're gonna be talking about tone
and shaping the tone of your voice
(01:58):
and like I said yes
we're all born with a certain tone right
and that's why when you call somebody and you know
like maybe you dial like you're calling your mom
and then you call your mom
but then your like aunt picks up
you know that now
it's not your mom on the other side of the phone
because you know
the tone of their voice is different
(02:20):
you don't need to see them to make that
to come to that conclusion
and so we're all born with a specific tone in the voice
but we can manipulate it
so there's some really good impersonators
like people that make like impressions
you know
copy other singers and then they sound just like them
and that is proof
that you can sing in different kinds of tones
(02:42):
and then there's also singers like this girl over there
Miss Brianna
that can sing all different kinds of genres
and the tone
is completely different for these kinds of genres
so today we're gonna be talking about
what goes into shaping your tone
or changing your tone
and Miss Brianna is going to give us some examples
(03:02):
of these different things
how it affects your tone um
and you know what
like lifting the soft palate does to your tone
and using your tongue and all that stuff
so let's get into it baby
oh yeah
okay that was good
well I love yeah
thank you there's something you said that I really love
(03:24):
that I feel like I'm always talking about
which is like you're born with a certain kind of tone
and your circumstances your life circumstances
like lead you to have a certain type of tone
like right now I'm talking right here
so
this part of my voice is really easy for me to sing in
and I can just stay right here
when that's someone else's break
just the worst part of my voice hahaha
but it's because I'm from
you know
an Italian family and we're talking over each other
(03:46):
and then we're talking really loud
and then we get really loud
and then I've been
actually been belting since I Learned how to talk
you know right yeah
like but then there are other things
like getting down here is not easy for me
so that takes effort and work
so I that's
that was just a great way to start with like
you're born with a certain thing and like
that's okay if my speaking voice is in your break
(04:06):
and your speaking voice is in the part that
of my voice that I really have to work to yeah
to live in yeah
yeah so I
I think I kind of like what you're saying is
accepting and learning to love your natural
rock with voice yeah
rock with what you got
and then learn how to grow through yeah
(04:28):
the parts that you know maybe are not your favorite yet
mm hmm absolutely
but I think it's a good place to start with like okay
like sure
I'm not exactly sounding how I want to
but I accept my voice the way it is
and then learning to shape it yeah
singing is so mental yeah
(04:48):
and if you're not there
it's highly likely that you're never gonna
like the sound of your voice
because it's coming out of you
hmm oh
and we're highly critical
we're highly critical of ourselves oh oh
was that you oh
oh uh oh
sorry guys no
that that was good true
like even like hearing your voice
like in a voicemail and you're like Ew
(05:08):
is that me and no one's gonna be like Ew
that's your voice like no
it's just a very weird thing to hear
like we're not programmed to do that
oh yeah yeah
I would hate hearing my voice in recording
until probably like two years ago
I I don't know
I like wasn't in therapy for it
some people it work it like
it helps being therapy for it
(05:30):
but like I think it was just a long time of being like
I shouldn't I shouldn't hate on my own voice
like that's yeah
people love me and love to talk to me and are excited
like my good friends you know
like to to spend time chatting with me
and they love my voice and they love me
so why can't I love my voice too
(05:50):
they don't think that
and they don't kind of forget about it
you don't think that about their voices
no yeah
it's I feel like
it's very rare that you hear a speaking voice
and you're like that's your speaking well
I don't don't say that but like
it's very rare that you like hear someone talking
and that sounds
like abnormal to you right
and also if it does then you're unique and that's cool
(06:13):
yes yes
celebrate our differences yes
no one's no one's made exactly the same
except like maybe very rare twins
but like even then
they're gonna have differences in their voices
absolutely yeah
yeah it's so cool that no one gets to be you yes yes
so let's talk about what goes into shaping the tone
(06:33):
because I was talking with Coach Kate on our team
and it was an anatomy session actually
if you want to learn more about vocal anatomy
check it out right here
but she says when she's listening to a singer
she's listening to like three parts
below the larynx in the larynx and above the larynx
(06:54):
so your breath is below the larynx
in your larynx is your vocal folds
and above your larynx is your
articulators and all that yeah
so um
question do all three of these things influence tone
yes or no yeah
yeah yeah
absolutely easy yes
100% yes absolutely
all of them in different ways
all of them in different ways
yes so let's incredibly
(07:16):
let's start at the bottom
let's start with the breath
cause that's the first thing we do
when we start making sound
we start exhaling right
the air travels from the lungs up into the larynx
where the vocal folds are
so in order for us to make sound
air needs to start so how does the air affect our tone
well texture
texture exactly
(07:37):
how much air goes into the tone
how much air passes through the vocal cords
OK so now my question
well also before that
like even
how much air are we pushing through the vocal tract
period Point Blank
like not
not even thinking about how breathy or pressy it is
cause that gets to the vocal fold level right
right but
(07:57):
but before that
if there is not enough breath moving through the body
we're gonna have like spotty
like the the phonation might like be inconsistent
like there might be gaps right
um and what will be flat
not enough air makes you flat
too much air makes you sharp
(08:19):
typically boom yeah
and also boom earlier today we were talking about like
um we were singing through something with less air
like I was holding back and you said
the timbre sounded yes
like so we're not just talking about pitches like yes
it'll sink your pitch
but it'll also like be kind of a two dimensional tone
(08:40):
yeah instead of a three dimensional yes yeah
just not fully rounded and yeah
like present and yes I like I say alive alive yeah
yes yes okay
very cool okay
so then what you were talking about then is next yes
you were talking about that one
travel to the vocal folds right
yeah
so that can affect how full or how soft and velvety and
(09:04):
yeah sensual yeah
your tongue can be but y'all know more about that
so that's that's vocal full closure
now that you're talking about right
we can also talk about where registration
where we are in head voice
chest voice head dominant mix
chest dominant mix
a balanced mix like we get into that whole zone
so is that thickness of the vocal folds yeah
(09:28):
it's that combo of thickness and length
mm hmm so when we're yeah
length length determines the pitch that you're singing
right yes
that your your crico thyroid
which is your head voice muscle for getting technical
um that deter
it's determines your pitch and it
the thinner your vocal folds are
(09:49):
and the longer they are right
that's what the crico thyroid does the tone changes
yeah your tone changes it thins out
you're gonna be in head voice right
when we're in chest voice
the thyroid retinoid which is in your vocal folds right
that determines thickness
that's our chest voice muscle
so I like to say when we get to mix and you know
we'll break this down in a mix thing um
(10:12):
we need to teach the head voice how to not
it doesn't always have to go that
that long and thin and the chest voice
it doesn't always have to be that
it doesn't have to just be black and white right
yes we need to fill in all the gray area
where they're kind of thick and kind of stretched yeah
yeah uh huh
and can you give us an example of like
the same note in chest voice
(10:34):
in mixed voice and in head voice
yes this is a great exercise called Messi Devoche
Messi Devoche which you know
people in the in the vocal pad community are like
it shouldn't be in one register
it should be in one register no
it shouldn't
I think it depends on what you're trying to do
so I just have to I just have to say that yeah so
(11:02):
I'm gonna ask you for one more change no
I'm not gonna do that
can we do it all on the same vowel
because I wanna really like
isolate the changes that we're making
I love this hahaha OK
it can be a different pitch
it doesn't have to be that pitch
but I I can probably do that
we'll do I'll do it in an hour
(11:31):
great you're killing it
I'm gonna ask you to make one more change
because we wanna isolate it baby
I saw your mouth opening more as you got chestier
can we literally like
try and just not do a single thing
move anything OK
let's see
so we can just isolate it to the vocal fold thickness
yeah
(11:57):
okay
I probably had a little twinge in the side of the mouth
but yeah I mean it's in incredibly hard yeah
yeah to isolate a specific part of your voice
and so
it's amazing that we have a voice master here with us
that can demonstrate this so beautifully
but I think it's cool to
to know how like tiny little parts all affect yeah
(12:19):
the end result of it so
working on isolating different parts of your voice
can be really really cool
so thank you so much for demonstrating you killed it
I actually had a my
the last voice teacher in my master's program
that was like one of our warm UPS
we started in belt and then pulled it back wow
that's true wow yeah
and we would just go up and up and up
and it was awesome it was fun
(12:40):
and then Juliana
because you were talking about vocal full closure
do you mind demonstrating that
like a going from a breathy to a connected
and back to a breathy I can try hahaha
I believe in you
this is the other message and same thing here
let's try and isolate just that
so like no face
like mouth changes to connect it to like not breathy
(13:01):
okay hahaha let me pick a comfy note
huh okay
so breathy breathy breathy huh
yeah yeah
that's it that's it yeah
and can you
can you try that again and go back to breathy
oh yeah yeah huh
(13:21):
ah
yeah yeah
there you go right
so be sure your tongue was moving a little bit
but again
like it's it's incredibly difficult to just to keep it
yeah yeah yeah
but that's exactly it and technically
the only thing that we that you changed was
how firmly your vocal folds are closing right
(13:42):
like it's not the only thing but like on paper
yes on paper yeah
on paper that's what you were doing and again
your vocal folds are shaped like a V OK
and they vibrate against each other to make sound
and depending on how firmly those
vocal folds are closing
you're gonna sound more breathy or more
I call it connected but you call it full
I call it full
(14:02):
what what do you guys call it when it's not breathy
I say firm firm
it's a breathy to pressy spectrum
yeah right yeah
so if you sound really squeezed
then there's a lot of
I just try not to ever use the word pressy
unless the student is really like gripping on that now
yeah yeah yeah
no it's it's the spectrum right yeah
definitely yeah
(14:23):
breathy to pressy spectrum
and usually we wanna be somewhere in the middle right
but um
anyways that's vocal folds closure I
I also have a tip
if you're following along at home and trying
and wanting to try these exercises
but having a hard time to just do this in general right
I use my hands to kind of tell my voice what to do
(14:44):
so I just keep on not touching or barely touching
breathy breathy as my voice gets more firm connected
pressed whatever
I'm pressing my hands together
and then peeling them apart afterwards
nice sometimes hahaha
I'm obsessed with you hahaha
(15:04):
that's awesome yeah
hahaha awesome
shut up hahaha
but it's like I
we can physically tell the body what to do
yes and this is a great way
so if you're following along at home
that's a tip uh huh
if you're not at an extremely advanced level
where you're just like yeah
let me mess around with my vocal
fold coordination by itself
(15:25):
cause yeah
the things that we've demonstrated are very challenging
yes to do
so please if you can't do this right this very second
let me just don't be discouraged
we've all been singing for more than a decade at least
yeah so
you know it's okay
longer than a decade
but I think it's still good to understand
the concept of like
(15:46):
this is what I'm shooting for
and I'm practicing to work to that
to get to that level so that's the vocal fold level
anything else I don't I don't can't think of it
we covered registration we covered closure yeah
registration and closure love it
and um how about laryngeal position
oh sure yeah
yes well
I that feel I feel like it bridges our gap
(16:07):
mm hmm no
no no
you you go well
that I was gonna say bridges the the transition
mm hmm from vocal fold to pharynx to pharynx yeah
yeah cause the um
and that when your when your larynx is raised
you're gonna have a higher adduction rate
hmm and when your larynx is raised
hold on you gotta
you gotta
you gotta explain what that means coming to you
I know what it means but yeah
(16:28):
a lot of people probably don't know what adduction
means yeah
so like we just said yeah
adduction
like think about it at the gym when you work your
no abductors and your adductors
and I don't know which is which on my legs
I think add is come together add comes together
but I don't know which one on my legs
like advocate the throne like your butt is coming yes
add 1 + 1 they come together yeah
(16:49):
AB well abdicate the throne
I always thought you get abducted so
you get separated from your family
oh no I love it
that is the perfect donkey bridge
I love it best donkey bridge ever
spice word for that Donkey Bridge I know
but like the actual oh like s o s Brook OK
(17:09):
thank you Donkey Bridge
s o s Brook
love s o s Brook making like I'm getting abducted
like that's like the the like meant like
that's how you remember what it means
like a new modern device oh yes
you know like that's what it's talking about yes
I'm does yeah it's a donkey bridge okay
yeah no word
yeah yeah
(17:30):
it it is a donkey bridge so yeah
so abductions when your vocal folds are coming together
at the vocal fold level
when something things are coming together
abduction when they're coming apart OK
so so what were you saying
higher rate of abduction
so they're gonna come together more
the higher your larynx yes
and the lower it is less
that's actually and your larynx is your voice box here
(17:52):
you can feel it with your hands yeah
and it moves up and down
a great thing I use when you're messing with your tone
oh we should all do it yes
um we can hmm hmm we'll do it there
uh on a find a really bright really bright E like here
e e e
and then find a really open Patrick from SpongeBob oh
(18:15):
oh so I'll all go E
I went a little slow
oh
you feel that yeah
that's crazy you feel that
yeah yeah
yeah yeah
so I'll take that down on that
(18:36):
I'll move that around on the fifth
and usually I do that mid range down okay
that's a very cool mid range down
that's a great way to be like
what is my larynx position
cause we hear about raise your larynx and it does this
lower
it does this and then you actually feel and you're like
literally it literally goes up and down
lower larynx
gives you more of like a dopey kind of sound
(18:57):
yeah that lower sound
yeah
dopey yeah
and but you can still bring it high and we don't
even if it's a lower layers
you can see yeah
that's where opera singing comes in a little bit
it is yeah
yeah a lot of um
my studies in like
my classical training was stabilize the larynx
(19:19):
we don't want it to move up
and we don't want it to move down either
um so
which is where we get into the next part of like
what is responsible for creating tone
which is the resonators and then the articulators
um so first the resonators
what are they they're like all the pharynxes
(19:39):
all the empty space cavity
um in your oro pharynx
naso pharynx laryngo pharynx and your nasal passages
and around the throat yeah
exactly yeah
um
and those are important because like
think of an acoustic guitar
and think of an electric guitar
(20:00):
an electric guitar is you can't even hear it
unless it's plugged in and amplified
because those strings
are vibrating and they're the same
like so close to the same strings
they're literally tuned to the same
as an acoustic guitar but an acoustic guitar is loud
right because it has this wooden body
and it has the sound hole
so the sound waves are entering
(20:21):
and they are bouncing around inside the
inside of the guitar and they are like
the whole of the wooden structure is resonating
and amplifying those frequencies
the same thing is happening for the voice um
the vocal folds are so tiny
they're so little and
if we didn't have the resonators
(20:43):
we wouldn't be able to like yeah
like hear each other even across the room like this
yeah you know
um so the resonators are where all those sound waves
that you're producing at the vocal fold level
are then bouncing around to either get really warm
or get really bright
or get really dark or get whatever
(21:04):
based on that space and
there's some parts of that space that you can't control
at all
and there's some parts of that space that you can
so that's part of it
like in thinking of in the oropharynx
um a piece that you can
control is the position of your soft palate
if you have a really lifted soft palate
you're gonna have a really like elongated yeah
(21:27):
elongated like full round stone that is just like
I can feel the notes taking up my
like moving around in the entire space the whole mouth
yeah and the second that I let it collapse
this is what I sound like
and I know I'm speaking to the same pitches
but but I have to think so hard to like
(21:50):
speak those pitches yeah
and I was speaking to the same pictures
and my soft palate has collapsed
and you can hear that it's a little bit more squished
uh huh uh huh um
I don't think you can really manipulate the nasal
pharynx very much
question Mark can we
well with the raising and lowering of yeah
when you cut off the air flow through there you can
(22:12):
but not like not as easy
not you like flare your nostrils ain't gonna do shit
yeah yeah
exactly yeah um yeah
but in your mouth too you have your tongue
uh huh that's gonna change yep
um that's gonna change your timbre
every like which that gets into articulators
that gets into articulators and also like vowels
(22:34):
yep like uh huh all of that changes your tone too yeah
consonants um
your lips jinx oh my God great minds your lips
your lips so
I'm somebody who suffers from a shouty tone
when I'm belting and it's my lips alright
like I'm like hold on
(22:54):
hold on don't go wide and spready
keep everything a little bit more narrow
so I just kind of like take my fingers and push in my
the corners of my mouth a little bit
so I'm not going so wee hahaha
so wide and spready and shouty sounding
but I'm really only changing my lips yeah
right and then how much you're dropping your jaw
(23:15):
the jaw also yeah
it doesn't yeah and it doesn't have to be I mean
we can do that
same thing that we've been doing of like ah
like yeah you know
not changing anything but just move
I'll literally do an exercise with students like that
where an e vowel it's super bright
it's super closed
and we'll get into more about what those words mean
(23:36):
exactly in a minute but um
an e vowel
so many singers will just like sing it collapse like um
what's what's a line
what's a line that has like a held out e
um
astonishing
haha yeah
but that's like a E more than an E
(23:58):
and everyone turn mean mean mean yes okay
me
and they're gonna like collapse it and it like
you can hear that my vocal folds right then were like
like what there was a wobble right
and then I'll do this exercise where I'll say OK
sing an e wee
(24:19):
and then one by one
we'll relax the lips and then we'll relax the jaw
and you have to manipulate the tongue
the tongue does have to make active adjustments
as we're doing this but showing you how you can
maintain the integrity of the vowel
but add more space in the mouth so that you can
hit higher notes on a closed vowel
like an e of like um
(24:48):
yeah that completely changed it right
yeah hahaha
give me a try in residents yes
but please on a lower pitch OK
pick whatever pitch you want
like somebody else pick a pitch
we should be harmonized hahaha
we can harmonize we can harmonize actually
that's gonna sound so cool
you pick the low one if you want Hee
(25:14):
hey
alright okay
so so everyone has their pitch and we're gonna start um
as the brightest smile is closest
most closed down e vowel like we
OK like literally teeth closed and smile wide OK
and then we'll relax the cheeks OK
and keep the jaw's face the same and then drop the jaw
(25:36):
and so let's do it
here we go
so beautiful
haha
not only did it start sounding so nice
it also felt so much easier yeah amen
(25:59):
that's usually the case that better singing feels
the better you're going to yeah
oh yeah yes
I do want to yes
bring up the positive effects of the opposite as well
though not a clenched jaw
but a spread right we don't want to be spreading like
like yeah
yeah yeah
that's not super comfortable like we said um
(26:20):
there is something it's called bite the apple
so if we had an apple we would go
and here I am yeah
yeah hey
it's gonna help me belt more than hey
depending on what we're doing right
because that little lift is part of that megaphone
mouth shape where it's a little smaller in the back
(26:42):
because we are to our advantage
we're using an intentionally lowered uh
soft palate yeah
soft palate with a raised larynx right
hey hey
but that's not hey
so I wanna clarify that there is a difference but yeah
all of these articulators and resonators
we can use in different ways to get different effects
(27:03):
yeah this is actually something I do a lot
when I'm coaching singers in the recording studio
to get them like
to help them get really good takes for their songs
like a little instruction that I give a lot of them is
give me a little bit of a smile
or depending on the person
I would use the word lift
give me a little bit of a lift right here
so not everything is getting like too heavy
(27:25):
and everything gets a little bit more intimate yeah
I I will say show me a little bit of your upper teeth
yes yes
and for some people it's really hard
they like are I well
I come from a very open loud language in Spanish
so for me it was never an issue to have open vowels
(27:46):
but I've obviously
been working with American people for a long time
and it you guys like speak like here all the time
so like especially like Californians are like
they don't open their mouth like all the way here
so opening your mouth is really hard
and like getting used to moving your lips
around is really tricky
so look at yourself in the mirror
I think yes and play around
(28:06):
I was literally just gonna say experiment
experiment with your voice
and how like those different tones of the sorry
the different
things that you're changing in your mouth
and in your whole entire vocal tract
how does that change your your tone
and just play around with it and have fun with it yeah
and then you can start connecting everything one by one
(28:28):
but breathe can you do a little singing for us
yeah kind of like demonstrate how like
one person can sing classical
but then also pop and then also like everything yeah
yeah and so for everybody who is new and hasn't seen um
Bree on the podcast yet
or hasn't worked with Coach Bree yet uh
(28:49):
Coach Bree was studying classical music at university
you actually switched from contemporary to classical
uh huh and when I swore off a classical degree yes
only applied to schools with pop degree
and and now you also have a jazz band
I do and then you also your solo project as an artist
like recording artist is singer songwriter
(29:11):
so it's three like completely different styles
so you're kind of like our versatility expert on the
on the team and I hate her
because she can sing anything and anything
and it's fine no
we love you Bree but it's so cool to see how like
tone is such a big part
of the different genres that you're singing
so what are you starting with
(29:33):
um I'm gonna do a piece of Carmen
but I wanna do the part that goes like to the
(30:25):
and then yeah
I love this one thank you
I picked it for you thank you for singing it
so talk to me or talk to us about
what did you do to get this classical sound
okay so
the classical sound is like
the opposite of the pop
sound that Emily's talking about
(30:46):
she's talking about this megaphone
we're using a raised layers
lowered soft palate
and we're doing like this shape with the mouth and um
for classical singing
it's kind of the opposite and we're really focusing um
on especially
to create the format that's gonna help you in uh
an operatic setting to beat the orchestra like tens of
(31:07):
tens of instruments
orchestra in a for like an auditorium is um
creating
like finding this ideal like frequency in resonance
and so we're kind of doing that inverted megaphone
where the back oh
my mouth is really open
and my larynx is trying to be really stabilized um
and even a bit lowered at times honestly
(31:27):
um and the soft palate is really high
so I'm creating oh
lots of space a really big pharynx yes
really big pharynx so really big resonant space um
and then
using the articulators to
portray the language
without getting in the way of that resident space
so like the tongue
she chilling on the bottom of the mouth right
(31:49):
unless you need it to come up um
that's like technically Lamour right
like Lamour but I'm not singing Lamour
yeah
I'm opening it and modifying the vowel to be more of
honestly like an open like O ah
(32:10):
yeah Lamour
you're not necessarily losing it as the audience like
you know what the word is yeah
um oh
I've always struggled understanding opera singers yeah
well I can't even understand pop singers so it's fine
well listen
even when you're attending an opera
like in your native language
they're still gonna put up subtitles
because it's totally different yeah
(32:30):
it's a totally different ball game um
right like pop and contemporary singing is so much like
sing how you speak yes
and opera is not at all yeah
um so and then head voice right
like you we were talking earlier about classical
as a female singer in classical music
you're just one hundred percent of the
(32:51):
of the time in your head voice guys
it's the opposite like
tenors are learning how to like squirt up to like a G4
it's ridiculous that's where a lot of studies came from
yeah putting classical tenors yeah
unbelievable like yeah
but female singers totally like 100% head voice like I
I had a pretty medium to under
(33:13):
ish developed head voice when I got to college
and I had a great head voice
and had totally unlocked my mixed voice
and mixed belting abilities
by the time I left because
I was spending 4 years of just utilizing my head voice
and back to like
our volume conversation from earlier today um
like using 100% of your instrument um
(33:36):
and doing that with head voice
it's like
it's like a weightlifting workout every time you go in
and it's also proof that head voice does not equal weak
no no
oh my gosh
I can hear resonate so much louder in my head voice
yeah than I ever can in my chest voice
it because it's still true
yeah yeah
yeah love that
so two bulked up registers is how you mix right
(33:58):
yes yes yes
cool love the classical example
can we hear something more contemporary
to just kind of get that
(34:38):
yeah I mean
couldn't be more different
that was beautiful yeah
yeah
beautiful beautiful beautiful
so one thing but like the first thing that I'm like
alright that
that that
that's different
that really stands out to me is like breathy
yeah right
a lot of breathy voice not only
you're beautifully switching between breathy
and more connected or more full
or whatever yeah
term we're using um
(34:59):
what else did you change less space in your jaw yep
straight tone yeah
lots of straight tone cut the vibrato to make it pop
yeah the vibrato has a place in pop
yeah but in classical
the vibrato's in every note
yeah and like
it was a big point in my lessons
like vibrato is a product of vocal freedom
if you're struggling to get vibrato
(35:20):
on every single note in your classical art
songs and arias you're not like
you're holding back or there's some tension happening
um in contemporary singing
vibrato is like used as an embellishment
and not necessarily the foundation
so there's a time and a place for it
and in a song like this
(35:41):
if I were to sing that with vibrato
it would sound totally different right like you feel
and it's like yeah
no it's not pop
like it's not as cool right
(36:02):
I love it but
I love it but no
don't do that yeah
yeah
yeah well
it and it also totally
and now it's like you don't have to sing that much
you don't have to sing that much
yes exactly yes
I I think like
totally going off of what you said
like when it comes to classical
and I say this more about musical theater
I'm not really into classical
(36:22):
um that vibrato is part of it
and when it comes to pop you need to
instead of justifying why not
why you're not doing vibrato
you need to justify why you are doing vibrato
yes yes
it's an addition it's a sparkle
yeah and we don't need to see a whole galaxy
in your song yeah
yeah because then we we lose what it's all about yeah
(36:43):
yeah
and then we have not the inverted megaphone
but the regular megaphone yeah
the less space the close yeah
the less space to close mouth
a lot more lift yeah
we're looking at your beautiful teeth
yes yeah
I was working really hard to like
my shoulders are like killing me today a little bit
oh no cause my I've been like sitting like this yeah
(37:06):
so I'm like oh
pull it back like
pull my head back over my body
so I'm not like so tense but yeah
jazz yeah
cause I'd love to hear how like
cause in the same voice right
like that's the part like
we wanna hear the different styles in the same voice
so
I wanna hear how jazz is gonna sound different for you
how how you approach it differently also
(37:29):
it's so fun haha
um
(37:56):
kiss cute
thanks okay
what did you change sounds different right okay
what do we change what do we think we changed
I hear a little bit of a lower larynx
what I identify what I hear you doing
is something I call the low and low
which is a neutral low
soft palate and a neutral low larynx
(38:17):
so we're not in that full on megaphone
where it's a little bit brighter
we're getting other timber
I also think you definitely
played around with your soft palate
a little bit got that SP moving SP
yeah there was more vibrato yeah
but I guess that just depends on the jazz
song that you sing yeah
same with a ballad like in pop music
(38:38):
a ballad is gonna have more yeah
um vibrato on it than yeah
or even like more of a a ballad in jazz like I love you
(39:00):
right like sing to me babe
that one yeah
I love my little jazz ballads
they're so fun yeah
but um
and I love those jazz gigs too
because
the amount of effort that I'm using is so little
so little so little
and also I'm having a bad vocal day
like my guys can just solo as long as they want
(39:21):
they'll trade solos all day long
like I barely even have to be there
but like yeah
it's just it's so fun yeah
smooth definitely
like looking at the registers
mm hmm uh
everything felt very like yes
you were going from chest to mix to head
but it was very smooth and yeah
like and I was like
I can consider some of like
most of where I'm sitting in that like
low register that you're gonna immediately feel like
(39:43):
is chest voice that it's actually a mix yeah
that I'm
I'm mixing even where I could be in chest voice yeah
because it's keeping it lighter right
and it's not that it's taking away power
that it's involving more um
like stretch more lengthening of the folds
yeah um
and using more air flow to keep it a little bit like
(40:04):
lighter yeah
uh huh yeah
oh yeah
more air flow as well and that's like
even if it's not coming through as breathy
it's airy uh huh
airy tone where I like
I hear the air hockey thing and I hear it as like
think of your voice as something that's porous
you know like a sponge
like air can move through it yeah
(40:24):
and it's that quality where we're yeah
like it's that side quality where we're not ah
and we're not ah
we're just yeah ah
you can hear the air flowing through it
sound really chill yeah
relax and I yes
read an audiobook yeah
hahaha
yeah I would listen to an audiobook
you could get into that I could
(40:47):
audible audible sponsors us
very cool yeah
that's great
thank you for showing us flexibility and control
all of the above killing it
I think I want to also speak to like one of
before we go like yeah
one of the most powerful tools
(41:09):
that I used in my studies to like
help me learn all these different styles is yeah
in some cases
I was like picking it apart and studying like what
what the heck are they doing
but in a very real way it was just consuming consuming
consuming the art that you wanna create
consuming um
the vocal styles that you wanna be able to embody
(41:31):
and mimic yeah
yes um
playing an imitation yeah
y'all don't even get me started on imitation
I don't know why everybody is so like
I don't wanna sound like other people
and I get that at the like
your end result it's
that's not what we want
unless you wanna be an impersonator right
but it's important to pick who you're imitating wisely
(41:54):
yeah yeah though yeah
um for sure
but yeah imitation is how we learn a new skill yeah
even when we learn how to write letters
you have to speak trace first
yeah you know
you just gotta figure it out
listen to me
did you say that no
like I sometimes host
like a weekly or biweekly master class or whatever
and I literally use that example
you've never joined that class
(42:15):
you've never joined that class
yeah and I use it every time
oh my God like
it's how we learn to walk
it's how we learn to talk
it's how we learn how to write
you know like
those pieces of paper with the a
and you trace the letter a and trace the letter B
I say exactly that that's how we learn our skills
yeah yeah
yes and being creative with your voice
that's how you discover any tone like yeah
(42:37):
I had a professor who was like
do the dory whale sounds that is like
oh
yeah like you're moving your larynx around
you're moving everything around so much
I love it I love a goofy little voice
and if I talk like this enough
and then I talk like this enough
now I'm like
totally stretching my voice in a matter of seconds
(42:57):
so I yeah
I actually have been assigning a couple students lately
I say alright come back with a 3 sentence impression
I love of any character any character voice
I just give me an impression doesn't it can be like hi
hello how are you
you know it doesn't have to be something
but something to get them to start using their voices
creatively sometimes outside the realm of singing
(43:20):
makes that a lot easier yeah
especially like accents and stuff
like when people are trying to get like a deeper tone
I'm like just pretend you're British
pretend you're Adele yeah yeah
oh OK
and it just like makes a lot more sense than like
actively trying uh huh yeah
yeah my favorite impersonation is stitch
that's awesome that's so good ha
(43:43):
ha haha
I've been I've been doing this for a long time you guys
you're a phenomenal singer
thank you that's incredible
oh my gosh wow hahaha
like she's weird no
no
but that's like you guys be afraid to make weird sounds
yes that's the point of it all
(44:04):
please be weird yeah
you guys remember you guys remember Sicky Vicky
yeah I was Sticky Vicky hi
I'm Sticky Vicky it was from sunny with a chance
oh my God
if we're going back to show how how youthful we are
sunny with a chance on Disney Channel
Demi Lovato had a character called Sticky Vicky
(44:24):
and we
I was working on that waitress song when he sees me
right which is a very bright character voice
and my student was singing it beautifully when he
what if he runs the other way and I can't awesome
but if we're getting into the characters
what if he runs the other way and I can't
(44:45):
you know it's very very bright
so I was like
let's come back and talk to me like you're sicky Vicky
haha
do something awesome hi
I'm sicky Vicky
and here are fun things to do when you're sick
you know like and now you can just I mean
you're moving your soft palate like that
I mean that's a big one
and you're also raising your larynx
but you're moving your pitch around
cause you're speaking yeah yeah yeah
(45:05):
do you have a favorite impersonation or accent
no it's okay
I saw we no
don't be sorry don't fret
we'll find you one we have so many yeah yeah
do you have one
I'm trying to think of what it is yeah
like what do I even say when I'm doing it
oh my God you I
I don't got it it's fair today
(45:26):
that's okay totally fair
I guess the the only two things that I can like
think of right now that we technically talked about
but not really is twang and nasality in your sound
yeah right
so twang I love it basically in your pharynx
yeah twang a e
s narrowing slash twang and there's a
there's actually stuff
(45:46):
research coming out about it right now oh
so um yeah
but haha but what we know is um
twang a E s your area epiglottic sphincter right
uh it is right above your vocal folds basically
or right above your your larynx
it's a narrowing in the vocal tract
to get really bright like this
(46:07):
this is the extreme of twang sounds stunning
sounds awesome
and that's how we go from dream on to right
yeah yeah
we use that twang but I'm not really I mean
I wasn't in full head
I definitely was in more of a mix second time
but that's how we get that um
effect that ping that effect that is that baby cry
(46:30):
yeah that's
that's yeah
we resonate not only are we
do we resonate in the mouth
but we also resonate in our ear canal
hmm
um and
and our instincts are like
whoa what's that sound
I need to pay attention to that
I'm leaning in it feels louder to me yeah yeah
yeah so twang and nasality is part of that
(46:51):
cause we want that lowered soft palate
that's also goes into the
the low and low
where your sound is a little more like here
I also find if you don't want to just
you know
if you want your mix belt to be
outside of the realm of brightness
that's where I think about the low and low
Kelly Clarkson Lady Gaga
(47:13):
pink Adele they sound very chest dominant and they
I would say probably are pretty chest dominant
but if you're trying to sing just because it hurts
right yeah yeah
whatever the words are um
I could sing it just because it hurts
whatever um
(47:34):
that's not quite the tone that we typically go for
on that song that a lot of people are drawn to
so maybe I'll keep the soft palate where it is
kind of low but drop the lyrics just because
gonna die yeah
and now we have a little bit of a warmer
more rounded out tone yes
so twang nasality they're connected
(47:57):
they're connected and
but you can do nasality without twang right
mm hmm yeah
and if you're stuck in a like a nasal tone
what do we wanna do
lift the soft palate with me in a P
that's the your easiest to get in P yeah if you go
sorry like no
(48:17):
I literally I was like
my garlic is all up in your face right now hahaha
I love garlic it's fine
but it's the worst thing for these mics
but yeah feel that
it's gonna lift your soft palate
I'll tell people to imagine that you like
have a hot potato in your mouth
yeah yes
hot potato yeah
and you're trying not to burn your mouth
(48:39):
and then what happens
yeah that's really good
or even like
if you have your mouth closed and like teeth together
and you puff up your cheeks
and then you maintain that pressure
but drop your jaw
mm hmm mm hmm
yeah
it's like when you like squeeze one end of a balloon
(49:00):
and then squeeze yeah
yeah yeah
yes yes yes yeah yeah
I love it very cool
I love trying those at home yeah
yes yes yes
just be playful I think with tone again
if you don't love the sound of your voice right now
first of all
learn to love it and second of all be playful
oh your tongue
(49:20):
yeah yeah yeah
we barely talked about tongue retraction
oh yes
ooh whatever
whatever
always been together all the day
sorry but yeah
that's the typical like tongue retraction yeah
the tongue retraction sound
the other is
when you hear your tone getting really thin
that's probably one of two things
(49:41):
your jaw
so I like to put my fingers on the back of my jaw
it's just a nice way
I feel immediate released that way without
and it's not very invasive
and I apply pressure yeah forward yeah
it's not invasive it's not like a full on jaw massage
but it's a nice way to check in um
so that will thin out your tone
(50:01):
if your jaw is engaged or
or tense also your tongue can be
uh you
you can have longitudinal tension in your tongue
I'm sorry what
longitudinal tension that's your tongue
longitudinal tension
yes like um
opposite down here so if you stick out your tongue and
yeah and it's really pointy
(50:22):
which typically happens with age
the sides of your tongue get weaker
that will also give you a thinner tone
um that can be kind of hard to identify if you're like
my jaw's relaxed my tongue is forward
but it could be grabbing so what I like to do is
(50:42):
oh my God how do you do that
I can't see it without moving the jaw oh
that's it
so we'll wait I can't
and the worst part is that I can't see myself
I know I can make it better
yeah I know I can make it better
get right here with a mirror
(51:04):
that'll do yeah
but I do oh my God
um I actually
I usually do it two sets of three on one note
and that works out the size of your tongue
it is well
we can get into an articulation
but this is helpful for longitudinal tension
because we're really working out the tongue
(51:25):
another jaw tongue decoupling
and you curl up the tongue
we touch here here
here here here
hmm hmm
hmm hmm
wow
without the jaw
and now your tongue's kind of going
(51:47):
like going back in
think about keeping it out and doing like a curl
yeah
I'll try this in my bathroom yeah
so I've been that one um
really helps out that one really helps out
because we're working the sides like
(52:08):
like a bicycle bro
you're literally being a physical therapist
like if I tell you that I've been in PT
for my foot and ankles
and he's giving me a star exercise like that
hahaha yeah
for my feet oh my God
that's crazy but yeah
the okay
I want to mention tongue cause it
it really gets in your yeah
we did like a whole episode on just the tongue
oh my God yeah
the tongue is the chief articulator of the vocal tract
(52:31):
my front of me is the chief
my front of me articulator of the vocal tract of like
all the articulators right
you have the tongue teeth
lips
soft hard palette
soft palette
yeah your tongue is
responsible for every single vowel that you sing
and how you sing it
I can sing E and I can sing E and I could write mm
(52:57):
hmm and those all sound totally different
even though they're kind of trying to be the same thing
um
and it's also responsible for like pretty much most
most of your continents yeah
um
and this is crazy like
I had a crazy realization lesson one time that like
a lot of what we're doing is like OK
can you move your tongue forward
(53:18):
and brighten that vowel bring that vowel forward
let's bring it back a little bit round it out
but sometimes the issue is consonants
and I have a student um
she's finished
and so that language is all in the back of her mouth
and all in the back of her throat
and it was like a t or something that was like ta
(53:40):
ta ta all the way back here
and I said can we make that a dental t like
and when we changed that it fixed the
the tone of whatever line we were working on
because the consonant was actually what was causing
the tone to come back and not her vowels
especially in pop music
I feel like some people are very like soft in their
(54:01):
like like even in the Pink Pony club
I'm gonna keep on dancing
like I'm gonna keep on dancing
I'm gonna keep on dancing like yeah
like really like punchy and like aggressive
yeah the more the better
the more the better
we need like a whole other episode on like
consonants and vowels and tongue diction
and tongue and diction oh my god
(54:24):
it's never ending we need a 24 hour live stream
but next time
tell me so I can bring my books sponsored by Ripley
yeah you're right
sponsored by Ripley
cause I'll bring my books and a hand mirror
yeah
I love it yeah whoo
okay we covered a lot for this one
yeah but there's a lot that goes into it
mm hmm so keep experimenting
(54:44):
yeah I love it
thank you ladies
thank you for the beautiful demonstration
Coach Bree thank you
we love it we love it
um let us know if you have any questions
shoot me a message on Vox
like on Instagram at Vox Tape Studios
and book a session
so we can work with you and figure out what's going on
how can we get that tone that you're looking for
(55:04):
so that you would love the sound of your own voice
because when you like the sound of your own voice
everything gets so much easier
and you can see a lot of progress very quickly
because the whole judgmental side of your brain is
it's still there but it's not negative
(55:25):
so yes yes
it's it's more neutral and not negative
it's more like hmm
that wasn't it let me try that again
and not like you suck you suck
you suck right
so anyways happy to help out
book a session if you need us
we'd love to sing with you
otherwise we'll see you in the next session bye
a great thing I use when you're messing with your tone
(00:02):
oh we should all do it
yes um we can
we'll do it there uh
on a find a really bright really bright e like here
e e e
and then find a really open Patrick from SpongeBob
oh oh so I will all go
(00:25):
yeah I went a little
oh
you feel that yeah
that's crazy you feel that
yeah yeah
yeah yeah
so I'll take that down on that
I'll move that around on the fifth
and usually I do that mid range down
(00:54):
hey Vxs Star and what welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the three fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
(01:15):
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
if you are not fully in love with the tone
of your voice don't you worry baby cause guess what
we can actually manipulate the tone of anybody's voice
(01:36):
that's why impersonators exist
and to talk about how we can manipulate the tone
so that you can sound however it
is you wanna sound I've got three wonderful box
hip coaches in the studio with me today
hello Coach Emily hello
hello Coach Juliana hello
hello Brianna go ahead
so we're gonna be talking about tone
and shaping the tone of your voice
(01:58):
and like I said yes
we're all born with a certain tone right
and that's why when you call somebody and you know
like maybe you dial like you're calling your mom
and then you call your mom
but then your like aunt picks up
you know that now
it's not your mom on the other side of the phone
because you know
the tone of their voice is different
(02:20):
you don't need to see them to make that
to come to that conclusion
and so we're all born with a specific tone in the voice
but we can manipulate it
so there's some really good impersonators
like people that make like impressions
you know
copy other singers and then they sound just like them
and that is proof
that you can sing in different kinds of tones
(02:42):
and then there's also singers like this girl over there
Miss Brianna
that can sing all different kinds of genres
and the tone
is completely different for these kinds of genres
so today we're gonna be talking about
what goes into shaping your tone
or changing your tone
and Miss Brianna is going to give us some examples
(03:02):
of these different things
how it affects your tone um
and you know what
like lifting the soft palate does to your tone
and using your tongue and all that stuff
so let's get into it baby
oh yeah
okay that was good
well I love yeah
thank you there's something you said that I really love
(03:24):
that I feel like I'm always talking about
which is like you're born with a certain kind of tone
and your circumstances your life circumstances
like lead you to have a certain type of tone
like right now I'm talking right here
so
this part of my voice is really easy for me to sing in
and I can just stay right here
when that's someone else's break
just the worst part of my voice hahaha
but it's because I'm from
you know
an Italian family and we're talking over each other
(03:46):
and then we're talking really loud
and then we get really loud
and then I've been
actually been belting since I Learned how to talk
you know right yeah
like but then there are other things
like getting down here is not easy for me
so that takes effort and work
so I that's
that was just a great way to start with like
you're born with a certain thing and like
that's okay if my speaking voice is in your break
(04:06):
and your speaking voice is in the part that
of my voice that I really have to work to yeah
to live in yeah
yeah so I
I think I kind of like what you're saying is
accepting and learning to love your natural
rock with voice yeah
rock with what you got
and then learn how to grow through yeah
(04:28):
the parts that you know maybe are not your favorite yet
mm hmm absolutely
but I think it's a good place to start with like okay
like sure
I'm not exactly sounding how I want to
but I accept my voice the way it is
and then learning to shape it yeah
singing is so mental yeah
(04:48):
and if you're not there
it's highly likely that you're never gonna
like the sound of your voice
because it's coming out of you
hmm oh
and we're highly critical
we're highly critical of ourselves oh oh
was that you oh
oh uh oh
sorry guys no
that that was good true
like even like hearing your voice
like in a voicemail and you're like Ew
(05:08):
is that me and no one's gonna be like Ew
that's your voice like no
it's just a very weird thing to hear
like we're not programmed to do that
oh yeah yeah
I would hate hearing my voice in recording
until probably like two years ago
I I don't know
I like wasn't in therapy for it
some people it work it like
it helps being therapy for it
(05:30):
but like I think it was just a long time of being like
I shouldn't I shouldn't hate on my own voice
like that's yeah
people love me and love to talk to me and are excited
like my good friends you know
like to to spend time chatting with me
and they love my voice and they love me
so why can't I love my voice too
(05:50):
they don't think that
and they don't kind of forget about it
you don't think that about their voices
no yeah
it's I feel like
it's very rare that you hear a speaking voice
and you're like that's your speaking well
I don't don't say that but like
it's very rare that you like hear someone talking
and that sounds
like abnormal to you right
and also if it does then you're unique and that's cool
(06:13):
yes yes
celebrate our differences yes
no one's no one's made exactly the same
except like maybe very rare twins
but like even then
they're gonna have differences in their voices
absolutely yeah
yeah it's so cool that no one gets to be you yes yes
so let's talk about what goes into shaping the tone
(06:33):
because I was talking with Coach Kate on our team
and it was an anatomy session actually
if you want to learn more about vocal anatomy
check it out right here
but she says when she's listening to a singer
she's listening to like three parts
below the larynx in the larynx and above the larynx
(06:54):
so your breath is below the larynx
in your larynx is your vocal folds
and above your larynx is your
articulators and all that yeah
so um
question do all three of these things influence tone
yes or no yeah
yeah yeah
absolutely easy yes
100% yes absolutely
all of them in different ways
all of them in different ways
yes so let's incredibly
(07:16):
let's start at the bottom
let's start with the breath
cause that's the first thing we do
when we start making sound
we start exhaling right
the air travels from the lungs up into the larynx
where the vocal folds are
so in order for us to make sound
air needs to start so how does the air affect our tone
well texture
texture exactly
(07:37):
how much air goes into the tone
how much air passes through the vocal cords
OK so now my question
well also before that
like even
how much air are we pushing through the vocal tract
period Point Blank
like not
not even thinking about how breathy or pressy it is
cause that gets to the vocal fold level right
right but
(07:57):
but before that
if there is not enough breath moving through the body
we're gonna have like spotty
like the the phonation might like be inconsistent
like there might be gaps right
um and what will be flat
not enough air makes you flat
too much air makes you sharp
(08:19):
typically boom yeah
and also boom earlier today we were talking about like
um we were singing through something with less air
like I was holding back and you said
the timbre sounded yes
like so we're not just talking about pitches like yes
it'll sink your pitch
but it'll also like be kind of a two dimensional tone
(08:40):
yeah instead of a three dimensional yes yeah
just not fully rounded and yeah
like present and yes I like I say alive alive yeah
yes yes okay
very cool okay
so then what you were talking about then is next yes
you were talking about that one
travel to the vocal folds right
yeah
so that can affect how full or how soft and velvety and
(09:04):
yeah sensual yeah
your tongue can be but y'all know more about that
so that's that's vocal full closure
now that you're talking about right
we can also talk about where registration
where we are in head voice
chest voice head dominant mix
chest dominant mix
a balanced mix like we get into that whole zone
so is that thickness of the vocal folds yeah
(09:28):
it's that combo of thickness and length
mm hmm so when we're yeah
length length determines the pitch that you're singing
right yes
that your your crico thyroid
which is your head voice muscle for getting technical
um that deter
it's determines your pitch and it
the thinner your vocal folds are
(09:49):
and the longer they are right
that's what the crico thyroid does the tone changes
yeah your tone changes it thins out
you're gonna be in head voice right
when we're in chest voice
the thyroid retinoid which is in your vocal folds right
that determines thickness
that's our chest voice muscle
so I like to say when we get to mix and you know
we'll break this down in a mix thing um
(10:12):
we need to teach the head voice how to not
it doesn't always have to go that
that long and thin and the chest voice
it doesn't always have to be that
it doesn't have to just be black and white right
yes we need to fill in all the gray area
where they're kind of thick and kind of stretched yeah
yeah uh huh
and can you give us an example of like
the same note in chest voice
(10:34):
in mixed voice and in head voice
yes this is a great exercise called Messi Devoche
Messi Devoche which you know
people in the in the vocal pad community are like
it shouldn't be in one register
it should be in one register no
it shouldn't
I think it depends on what you're trying to do
so I just have to I just have to say that yeah so
(11:02):
I'm gonna ask you for one more change no
I'm not gonna do that
can we do it all on the same vowel
because I wanna really like
isolate the changes that we're making
I love this hahaha OK
it can be a different pitch
it doesn't have to be that pitch
but I I can probably do that
we'll do I'll do it in an hour
(11:31):
great you're killing it
I'm gonna ask you to make one more change
because we wanna isolate it baby
I saw your mouth opening more as you got chestier
can we literally like
try and just not do a single thing
move anything OK
let's see
so we can just isolate it to the vocal fold thickness
yeah
(11:57):
okay
I probably had a little twinge in the side of the mouth
but yeah I mean it's in incredibly hard yeah
yeah to isolate a specific part of your voice
and so
it's amazing that we have a voice master here with us
that can demonstrate this so beautifully
but I think it's cool to
to know how like tiny little parts all affect yeah
(12:19):
the end result of it so
working on isolating different parts of your voice
can be really really cool
so thank you so much for demonstrating you killed it
I actually had a my
the last voice teacher in my master's program
that was like one of our warm UPS
we started in belt and then pulled it back wow
that's true wow yeah
and we would just go up and up and up
and it was awesome it was fun
(12:40):
and then Juliana
because you were talking about vocal full closure
do you mind demonstrating that
like a going from a breathy to a connected
and back to a breathy I can try hahaha
I believe in you
this is the other message and same thing here
let's try and isolate just that
so like no face
like mouth changes to connect it to like not breathy
(13:01):
okay hahaha let me pick a comfy note
huh okay
so breathy breathy breathy huh
yeah yeah
that's it that's it yeah
and can you
can you try that again and go back to breathy
oh yeah yeah huh
(13:21):
ah
yeah yeah
there you go right
so be sure your tongue was moving a little bit
but again
like it's it's incredibly difficult to just to keep it
yeah yeah yeah
but that's exactly it and technically
the only thing that we that you changed was
how firmly your vocal folds are closing right
(13:42):
like it's not the only thing but like on paper
yes on paper yeah
on paper that's what you were doing and again
your vocal folds are shaped like a V OK
and they vibrate against each other to make sound
and depending on how firmly those
vocal folds are closing
you're gonna sound more breathy or more
I call it connected but you call it full
I call it full
(14:02):
what what do you guys call it when it's not breathy
I say firm firm
it's a breathy to pressy spectrum
yeah right yeah
so if you sound really squeezed
then there's a lot of
I just try not to ever use the word pressy
unless the student is really like gripping on that now
yeah yeah yeah
no it's it's the spectrum right yeah
definitely yeah
(14:23):
breathy to pressy spectrum
and usually we wanna be somewhere in the middle right
but um
anyways that's vocal folds closure I
I also have a tip
if you're following along at home and trying
and wanting to try these exercises
but having a hard time to just do this in general right
I use my hands to kind of tell my voice what to do
(14:44):
so I just keep on not touching or barely touching
breathy breathy as my voice gets more firm connected
pressed whatever
I'm pressing my hands together
and then peeling them apart afterwards
nice sometimes hahaha
I'm obsessed with you hahaha
(15:04):
that's awesome yeah
hahaha awesome
shut up hahaha
but it's like I
we can physically tell the body what to do
yes and this is a great way
so if you're following along at home
that's a tip uh huh
if you're not at an extremely advanced level
where you're just like yeah
let me mess around with my vocal
fold coordination by itself
(15:25):
cause yeah
the things that we've demonstrated are very challenging
yes to do
so please if you can't do this right this very second
let me just don't be discouraged
we've all been singing for more than a decade at least
yeah so
you know it's okay
longer than a decade
but I think it's still good to understand
the concept of like
(15:46):
this is what I'm shooting for
and I'm practicing to work to that
to get to that level so that's the vocal fold level
anything else I don't I don't can't think of it
we covered registration we covered closure yeah
registration and closure love it
and um how about laryngeal position
oh sure yeah
yes well
I that feel I feel like it bridges our gap
(16:07):
mm hmm no
no no
you you go well
that I was gonna say bridges the the transition
mm hmm from vocal fold to pharynx to pharynx yeah
yeah cause the um
and that when your when your larynx is raised
you're gonna have a higher adduction rate
hmm and when your larynx is raised
hold on you gotta
you gotta
you gotta explain what that means coming to you
I know what it means but yeah
(16:28):
a lot of people probably don't know what adduction
means yeah
so like we just said yeah
adduction
like think about it at the gym when you work your
no abductors and your adductors
and I don't know which is which on my legs
I think add is come together add comes together
but I don't know which one on my legs
like advocate the throne like your butt is coming yes
add 1 + 1 they come together yeah
(16:49):
AB well abdicate the throne
I always thought you get abducted so
you get separated from your family
oh no I love it
that is the perfect donkey bridge
I love it best donkey bridge ever
spice word for that Donkey Bridge I know
but like the actual oh like s o s Brook OK
(17:09):
thank you Donkey Bridge
s o s Brook
love s o s Brook making like I'm getting abducted
like that's like the the like meant like
that's how you remember what it means
like a new modern device oh yes
you know like that's what it's talking about yes
I'm does yeah it's a donkey bridge okay
yeah no word
yeah yeah
(17:30):
it it is a donkey bridge so yeah
so abductions when your vocal folds are coming together
at the vocal fold level
when something things are coming together
abduction when they're coming apart OK
so so what were you saying
higher rate of abduction
so they're gonna come together more
the higher your larynx yes
and the lower it is less
that's actually and your larynx is your voice box here
(17:52):
you can feel it with your hands yeah
and it moves up and down
a great thing I use when you're messing with your tone
oh we should all do it yes
um we can hmm hmm we'll do it there
uh on a find a really bright really bright E like here
e e e
and then find a really open Patrick from SpongeBob oh
(18:15):
oh so I'll all go E
I went a little slow
oh
you feel that yeah
that's crazy you feel that
yeah yeah
yeah yeah
so I'll take that down on that
(18:36):
I'll move that around on the fifth
and usually I do that mid range down okay
that's a very cool mid range down
that's a great way to be like
what is my larynx position
cause we hear about raise your larynx and it does this
lower
it does this and then you actually feel and you're like
literally it literally goes up and down
lower larynx
gives you more of like a dopey kind of sound
(18:57):
yeah that lower sound
yeah
dopey yeah
and but you can still bring it high and we don't
even if it's a lower layers
you can see yeah
that's where opera singing comes in a little bit
it is yeah
yeah a lot of um
my studies in like
my classical training was stabilize the larynx
(19:19):
we don't want it to move up
and we don't want it to move down either
um so
which is where we get into the next part of like
what is responsible for creating tone
which is the resonators and then the articulators
um so first the resonators
what are they they're like all the pharynxes
(19:39):
all the empty space cavity
um in your oro pharynx
naso pharynx laryngo pharynx and your nasal passages
and around the throat yeah
exactly yeah
um
and those are important because like
think of an acoustic guitar
and think of an electric guitar
(20:00):
an electric guitar is you can't even hear it
unless it's plugged in and amplified
because those strings
are vibrating and they're the same
like so close to the same strings
they're literally tuned to the same
as an acoustic guitar but an acoustic guitar is loud
right because it has this wooden body
and it has the sound hole
so the sound waves are entering
(20:21):
and they are bouncing around inside the
inside of the guitar and they are like
the whole of the wooden structure is resonating
and amplifying those frequencies
the same thing is happening for the voice um
the vocal folds are so tiny
they're so little and
if we didn't have the resonators
(20:43):
we wouldn't be able to like yeah
like hear each other even across the room like this
yeah you know
um so the resonators are where all those sound waves
that you're producing at the vocal fold level
are then bouncing around to either get really warm
or get really bright
or get really dark or get whatever
(21:04):
based on that space and
there's some parts of that space that you can't control
at all
and there's some parts of that space that you can
so that's part of it
like in thinking of in the oropharynx
um a piece that you can
control is the position of your soft palate
if you have a really lifted soft palate
you're gonna have a really like elongated yeah
(21:27):
elongated like full round stone that is just like
I can feel the notes taking up my
like moving around in the entire space the whole mouth
yeah and the second that I let it collapse
this is what I sound like
and I know I'm speaking to the same pitches
but but I have to think so hard to like
(21:50):
speak those pitches yeah
and I was speaking to the same pictures
and my soft palate has collapsed
and you can hear that it's a little bit more squished
uh huh uh huh um
I don't think you can really manipulate the nasal
pharynx very much
question Mark can we
well with the raising and lowering of yeah
when you cut off the air flow through there you can
(22:12):
but not like not as easy
not you like flare your nostrils ain't gonna do shit
yeah yeah
exactly yeah um yeah
but in your mouth too you have your tongue
uh huh that's gonna change yep
um that's gonna change your timbre
every like which that gets into articulators
that gets into articulators and also like vowels
(22:34):
yep like uh huh all of that changes your tone too yeah
consonants um
your lips jinx oh my God great minds your lips
your lips so
I'm somebody who suffers from a shouty tone
when I'm belting and it's my lips alright
like I'm like hold on
(22:54):
hold on don't go wide and spready
keep everything a little bit more narrow
so I just kind of like take my fingers and push in my
the corners of my mouth a little bit
so I'm not going so wee hahaha
so wide and spready and shouty sounding
but I'm really only changing my lips yeah
right and then how much you're dropping your jaw
(23:15):
the jaw also yeah
it doesn't yeah and it doesn't have to be I mean
we can do that
same thing that we've been doing of like ah
like yeah you know
not changing anything but just move
I'll literally do an exercise with students like that
where an e vowel it's super bright
it's super closed
and we'll get into more about what those words mean
(23:36):
exactly in a minute but um
an e vowel
so many singers will just like sing it collapse like um
what's what's a line
what's a line that has like a held out e
um
astonishing
haha yeah
but that's like a E more than an E
(23:58):
and everyone turn mean mean mean yes okay
me
and they're gonna like collapse it and it like
you can hear that my vocal folds right then were like
like what there was a wobble right
and then I'll do this exercise where I'll say OK
sing an e wee
(24:19):
and then one by one
we'll relax the lips and then we'll relax the jaw
and you have to manipulate the tongue
the tongue does have to make active adjustments
as we're doing this but showing you how you can
maintain the integrity of the vowel
but add more space in the mouth so that you can
hit higher notes on a closed vowel
like an e of like um
(24:48):
yeah that completely changed it right
yeah hahaha
give me a try in residents yes
but please on a lower pitch OK
pick whatever pitch you want
like somebody else pick a pitch
we should be harmonized hahaha
we can harmonize we can harmonize actually
that's gonna sound so cool
you pick the low one if you want Hee
(25:14):
hey
alright okay
so so everyone has their pitch and we're gonna start um
as the brightest smile is closest
most closed down e vowel like we
OK like literally teeth closed and smile wide OK
and then we'll relax the cheeks OK
and keep the jaw's face the same and then drop the jaw
(25:36):
and so let's do it
here we go
so beautiful
haha
not only did it start sounding so nice
it also felt so much easier yeah amen
(25:59):
that's usually the case that better singing feels
the better you're going to yeah
oh yeah yes
I do want to yes
bring up the positive effects of the opposite as well
though not a clenched jaw
but a spread right we don't want to be spreading like
like yeah
yeah yeah
that's not super comfortable like we said um
(26:20):
there is something it's called bite the apple
so if we had an apple we would go
and here I am yeah
yeah hey
it's gonna help me belt more than hey
depending on what we're doing right
because that little lift is part of that megaphone
mouth shape where it's a little smaller in the back
(26:42):
because we are to our advantage
we're using an intentionally lowered uh
soft palate yeah
soft palate with a raised larynx right
hey hey
but that's not hey
so I wanna clarify that there is a difference but yeah
all of these articulators and resonators
we can use in different ways to get different effects
(27:03):
yeah this is actually something I do a lot
when I'm coaching singers in the recording studio
to get them like
to help them get really good takes for their songs
like a little instruction that I give a lot of them is
give me a little bit of a smile
or depending on the person
I would use the word lift
give me a little bit of a lift right here
so not everything is getting like too heavy
(27:25):
and everything gets a little bit more intimate yeah
I I will say show me a little bit of your upper teeth
yes yes
and for some people it's really hard
they like are I well
I come from a very open loud language in Spanish
so for me it was never an issue to have open vowels
(27:46):
but I've obviously
been working with American people for a long time
and it you guys like speak like here all the time
so like especially like Californians are like
they don't open their mouth like all the way here
so opening your mouth is really hard
and like getting used to moving your lips
around is really tricky
so look at yourself in the mirror
I think yes and play around
(28:06):
I was literally just gonna say experiment
experiment with your voice
and how like those different tones of the sorry
the different
things that you're changing in your mouth
and in your whole entire vocal tract
how does that change your your tone
and just play around with it and have fun with it yeah
and then you can start connecting everything one by one
(28:28):
but breathe can you do a little singing for us
yeah kind of like demonstrate how like
one person can sing classical
but then also pop and then also like everything yeah
yeah and so for everybody who is new and hasn't seen um
Bree on the podcast yet
or hasn't worked with Coach Bree yet uh
(28:49):
Coach Bree was studying classical music at university
you actually switched from contemporary to classical
uh huh and when I swore off a classical degree yes
only applied to schools with pop degree
and and now you also have a jazz band
I do and then you also your solo project as an artist
like recording artist is singer songwriter
(29:11):
so it's three like completely different styles
so you're kind of like our versatility expert on the
on the team and I hate her
because she can sing anything and anything
and it's fine no
we love you Bree but it's so cool to see how like
tone is such a big part
of the different genres that you're singing
so what are you starting with
(29:33):
um I'm gonna do a piece of Carmen
but I wanna do the part that goes like to the
(30:25):
and then yeah
I love this one thank you
I picked it for you thank you for singing it
so talk to me or talk to us about
what did you do to get this classical sound
okay so
the classical sound is like
the opposite of the pop
sound that Emily's talking about
(30:46):
she's talking about this megaphone
we're using a raised layers
lowered soft palate
and we're doing like this shape with the mouth and um
for classical singing
it's kind of the opposite and we're really focusing um
on especially
to create the format that's gonna help you in uh
an operatic setting to beat the orchestra like tens of
(31:07):
tens of instruments
orchestra in a for like an auditorium is um
creating
like finding this ideal like frequency in resonance
and so we're kind of doing that inverted megaphone
where the back oh
my mouth is really open
and my larynx is trying to be really stabilized um
and even a bit lowered at times honestly
(31:27):
um and the soft palate is really high
so I'm creating oh
lots of space a really big pharynx yes
really big pharynx so really big resonant space um
and then
using the articulators to
portray the language
without getting in the way of that resident space
so like the tongue
she chilling on the bottom of the mouth right
(31:49):
unless you need it to come up um
that's like technically Lamour right
like Lamour but I'm not singing Lamour
yeah
I'm opening it and modifying the vowel to be more of
honestly like an open like O ah
(32:10):
yeah Lamour
you're not necessarily losing it as the audience like
you know what the word is yeah
um oh
I've always struggled understanding opera singers yeah
well I can't even understand pop singers so it's fine
well listen
even when you're attending an opera
like in your native language
they're still gonna put up subtitles
because it's totally different yeah
(32:30):
it's a totally different ball game um
right like pop and contemporary singing is so much like
sing how you speak yes
and opera is not at all yeah
um so and then head voice right
like you we were talking earlier about classical
as a female singer in classical music
you're just one hundred percent of the
(32:51):
of the time in your head voice guys
it's the opposite like
tenors are learning how to like squirt up to like a G4
it's ridiculous that's where a lot of studies came from
yeah putting classical tenors yeah
unbelievable like yeah
but female singers totally like 100% head voice like I
I had a pretty medium to under
(33:13):
ish developed head voice when I got to college
and I had a great head voice
and had totally unlocked my mixed voice
and mixed belting abilities
by the time I left because
I was spending 4 years of just utilizing my head voice
and back to like
our volume conversation from earlier today um
like using 100% of your instrument um
(33:36):
and doing that with head voice
it's like
it's like a weightlifting workout every time you go in
and it's also proof that head voice does not equal weak
no no
oh my gosh
I can hear resonate so much louder in my head voice
yeah than I ever can in my chest voice
it because it's still true
yeah yeah
yeah love that
so two bulked up registers is how you mix right
(33:58):
yes yes yes
cool love the classical example
can we hear something more contemporary
to just kind of get that
(34:38):
yeah I mean
couldn't be more different
that was beautiful yeah
yeah
beautiful beautiful beautiful
so one thing but like the first thing that I'm like
alright that
that that
that's different
that really stands out to me is like breathy
yeah right
a lot of breathy voice not only
you're beautifully switching between breathy
and more connected or more full
or whatever yeah
term we're using um
(34:59):
what else did you change less space in your jaw yep
straight tone yeah
lots of straight tone cut the vibrato to make it pop
yeah the vibrato has a place in pop
yeah but in classical
the vibrato's in every note
yeah and like
it was a big point in my lessons
like vibrato is a product of vocal freedom
if you're struggling to get vibrato
(35:20):
on every single note in your classical art
songs and arias you're not like
you're holding back or there's some tension happening
um in contemporary singing
vibrato is like used as an embellishment
and not necessarily the foundation
so there's a time and a place for it
and in a song like this
(35:41):
if I were to sing that with vibrato
it would sound totally different right like you feel
and it's like yeah
no it's not pop
like it's not as cool right
(36:02):
I love it but
I love it but no
don't do that yeah
yeah
yeah well
it and it also totally
and now it's like you don't have to sing that much
you don't have to sing that much
yes exactly yes
I I think like
totally going off of what you said
like when it comes to classical
and I say this more about musical theater
I'm not really into classical
(36:22):
um that vibrato is part of it
and when it comes to pop you need to
instead of justifying why not
why you're not doing vibrato
you need to justify why you are doing vibrato
yes yes
it's an addition it's a sparkle
yeah and we don't need to see a whole galaxy
in your song yeah
yeah because then we we lose what it's all about yeah
(36:43):
yeah
and then we have not the inverted megaphone
but the regular megaphone yeah
the less space the close yeah
the less space to close mouth
a lot more lift yeah
we're looking at your beautiful teeth
yes yeah
I was working really hard to like
my shoulders are like killing me today a little bit
oh no cause my I've been like sitting like this yeah
(37:06):
so I'm like oh
pull it back like
pull my head back over my body
so I'm not like so tense but yeah
jazz yeah
cause I'd love to hear how like
cause in the same voice right
like that's the part like
we wanna hear the different styles in the same voice
so
I wanna hear how jazz is gonna sound different for you
how how you approach it differently also
(37:29):
it's so fun haha
um
(37:56):
kiss cute
thanks okay
what did you change sounds different right okay
what do we change what do we think we changed
I hear a little bit of a lower larynx
what I identify what I hear you doing
is something I call the low and low
which is a neutral low
soft palate and a neutral low larynx
(38:17):
so we're not in that full on megaphone
where it's a little bit brighter
we're getting other timber
I also think you definitely
played around with your soft palate
a little bit got that SP moving SP
yeah there was more vibrato yeah
but I guess that just depends on the jazz
song that you sing yeah
same with a ballad like in pop music
(38:38):
a ballad is gonna have more yeah
um vibrato on it than yeah
or even like more of a a ballad in jazz like I love you
(39:00):
right like sing to me babe
that one yeah
I love my little jazz ballads
they're so fun yeah
but um
and I love those jazz gigs too
because
the amount of effort that I'm using is so little
so little so little
and also I'm having a bad vocal day
like my guys can just solo as long as they want
(39:21):
they'll trade solos all day long
like I barely even have to be there
but like yeah
it's just it's so fun yeah
smooth definitely
like looking at the registers
mm hmm uh
everything felt very like yes
you were going from chest to mix to head
but it was very smooth and yeah
like and I was like
I can consider some of like
most of where I'm sitting in that like
low register that you're gonna immediately feel like
(39:43):
is chest voice that it's actually a mix yeah
that I'm
I'm mixing even where I could be in chest voice yeah
because it's keeping it lighter right
and it's not that it's taking away power
that it's involving more um
like stretch more lengthening of the folds
yeah um
and using more air flow to keep it a little bit like
(40:04):
lighter yeah
uh huh yeah
oh yeah
more air flow as well and that's like
even if it's not coming through as breathy
it's airy uh huh
airy tone where I like
I hear the air hockey thing and I hear it as like
think of your voice as something that's porous
you know like a sponge
like air can move through it yeah
(40:24):
and it's that quality where we're yeah
like it's that side quality where we're not ah
and we're not ah
we're just yeah ah
you can hear the air flowing through it
sound really chill yeah
relax and I yes
read an audiobook yeah
hahaha
yeah I would listen to an audiobook
you could get into that I could
(40:47):
audible audible sponsors us
very cool yeah
that's great
thank you for showing us flexibility and control
all of the above killing it
I think I want to also speak to like one of
before we go like yeah
one of the most powerful tools
(41:09):
that I used in my studies to like
help me learn all these different styles is yeah
in some cases
I was like picking it apart and studying like what
what the heck are they doing
but in a very real way it was just consuming consuming
consuming the art that you wanna create
consuming um
the vocal styles that you wanna be able to embody
(41:31):
and mimic yeah
yes um
playing an imitation yeah
y'all don't even get me started on imitation
I don't know why everybody is so like
I don't wanna sound like other people
and I get that at the like
your end result it's
that's not what we want
unless you wanna be an impersonator right
but it's important to pick who you're imitating wisely
(41:54):
yeah yeah though yeah
um for sure
but yeah imitation is how we learn a new skill yeah
even when we learn how to write letters
you have to speak trace first
yeah you know
you just gotta figure it out
listen to me
did you say that no
like I sometimes host
like a weekly or biweekly master class or whatever
and I literally use that example
you've never joined that class
(42:15):
you've never joined that class
yeah and I use it every time
oh my God like
it's how we learn to walk
it's how we learn to talk
it's how we learn how to write
you know like
those pieces of paper with the a
and you trace the letter a and trace the letter B
I say exactly that that's how we learn our skills
yeah yeah
yes and being creative with your voice
that's how you discover any tone like yeah
(42:37):
I had a professor who was like
do the dory whale sounds that is like
oh
yeah like you're moving your larynx around
you're moving everything around so much
I love it I love a goofy little voice
and if I talk like this enough
and then I talk like this enough
now I'm like
totally stretching my voice in a matter of seconds
(42:57):
so I yeah
I actually have been assigning a couple students lately
I say alright come back with a 3 sentence impression
I love of any character any character voice
I just give me an impression doesn't it can be like hi
hello how are you
you know it doesn't have to be something
but something to get them to start using their voices
creatively sometimes outside the realm of singing
(43:20):
makes that a lot easier yeah
especially like accents and stuff
like when people are trying to get like a deeper tone
I'm like just pretend you're British
pretend you're Adele yeah yeah
oh OK
and it just like makes a lot more sense than like
actively trying uh huh yeah
yeah my favorite impersonation is stitch
that's awesome that's so good ha
(43:43):
ha haha
I've been I've been doing this for a long time you guys
you're a phenomenal singer
thank you that's incredible
oh my gosh wow hahaha
like she's weird no
no
but that's like you guys be afraid to make weird sounds
yes that's the point of it all
(44:04):
please be weird yeah
you guys remember you guys remember Sicky Vicky
yeah I was Sticky Vicky hi
I'm Sticky Vicky it was from sunny with a chance
oh my God
if we're going back to show how how youthful we are
sunny with a chance on Disney Channel
Demi Lovato had a character called Sticky Vicky
(44:24):
and we
I was working on that waitress song when he sees me
right which is a very bright character voice
and my student was singing it beautifully when he
what if he runs the other way and I can't awesome
but if we're getting into the characters
what if he runs the other way and I can't
(44:45):
you know it's very very bright
so I was like
let's come back and talk to me like you're sicky Vicky
haha
do something awesome hi
I'm sicky Vicky
and here are fun things to do when you're sick
you know like and now you can just I mean
you're moving your soft palate like that
I mean that's a big one
and you're also raising your larynx
but you're moving your pitch around
cause you're speaking yeah yeah yeah
(45:05):
do you have a favorite impersonation or accent
no it's okay
I saw we no
don't be sorry don't fret
we'll find you one we have so many yeah yeah
do you have one
I'm trying to think of what it is yeah
like what do I even say when I'm doing it
oh my God you I
I don't got it it's fair today
(45:26):
that's okay totally fair
I guess the the only two things that I can like
think of right now that we technically talked about
but not really is twang and nasality in your sound
yeah right
so twang I love it basically in your pharynx
yeah twang a e
s narrowing slash twang and there's a
there's actually stuff
(45:46):
research coming out about it right now oh
so um yeah
but haha but what we know is um
twang a E s your area epiglottic sphincter right
uh it is right above your vocal folds basically
or right above your your larynx
it's a narrowing in the vocal tract
to get really bright like this
(46:07):
this is the extreme of twang sounds stunning
sounds awesome
and that's how we go from dream on to right
yeah yeah
we use that twang but I'm not really I mean
I wasn't in full head
I definitely was in more of a mix second time
but that's how we get that um
effect that ping that effect that is that baby cry
(46:30):
yeah that's
that's yeah
we resonate not only are we
do we resonate in the mouth
but we also resonate in our ear canal
hmm
um and
and our instincts are like
whoa what's that sound
I need to pay attention to that
I'm leaning in it feels louder to me yeah yeah
yeah so twang and nasality is part of that
(46:51):
cause we want that lowered soft palate
that's also goes into the
the low and low
where your sound is a little more like here
I also find if you don't want to just
you know
if you want your mix belt to be
outside of the realm of brightness
that's where I think about the low and low
Kelly Clarkson Lady Gaga
(47:13):
pink Adele they sound very chest dominant and they
I would say probably are pretty chest dominant
but if you're trying to sing just because it hurts
right yeah yeah
whatever the words are um
I could sing it just because it hurts
whatever um
(47:34):
that's not quite the tone that we typically go for
on that song that a lot of people are drawn to
so maybe I'll keep the soft palate where it is
kind of low but drop the lyrics just because
gonna die yeah
and now we have a little bit of a warmer
more rounded out tone yes
so twang nasality they're connected
(47:57):
they're connected and
but you can do nasality without twang right
mm hmm yeah
and if you're stuck in a like a nasal tone
what do we wanna do
lift the soft palate with me in a P
that's the your easiest to get in P yeah if you go
sorry like no
(48:17):
I literally I was like
my garlic is all up in your face right now hahaha
I love garlic it's fine
but it's the worst thing for these mics
but yeah feel that
it's gonna lift your soft palate
I'll tell people to imagine that you like
have a hot potato in your mouth
yeah yes
hot potato yeah
and you're trying not to burn your mouth
(48:39):
and then what happens
yeah that's really good
or even like
if you have your mouth closed and like teeth together
and you puff up your cheeks
and then you maintain that pressure
but drop your jaw
mm hmm mm hmm
yeah
it's like when you like squeeze one end of a balloon
(49:00):
and then squeeze yeah
yeah yeah
yes yes yes yeah yeah
I love it very cool
I love trying those at home yeah
yes yes yes
just be playful I think with tone again
if you don't love the sound of your voice right now
first of all
learn to love it and second of all be playful
oh your tongue
(49:20):
yeah yeah yeah
we barely talked about tongue retraction
oh yes
ooh whatever
whatever
always been together all the day
sorry but yeah
that's the typical like tongue retraction yeah
the tongue retraction sound
the other is
when you hear your tone getting really thin
that's probably one of two things
(49:41):
your jaw
so I like to put my fingers on the back of my jaw
it's just a nice way
I feel immediate released that way without
and it's not very invasive
and I apply pressure yeah forward yeah
it's not invasive it's not like a full on jaw massage
but it's a nice way to check in um
so that will thin out your tone
(50:01):
if your jaw is engaged or
or tense also your tongue can be
uh you
you can have longitudinal tension in your tongue
I'm sorry what
longitudinal tension that's your tongue
longitudinal tension
yes like um
opposite down here so if you stick out your tongue and
yeah and it's really pointy
(50:22):
which typically happens with age
the sides of your tongue get weaker
that will also give you a thinner tone
um that can be kind of hard to identify if you're like
my jaw's relaxed my tongue is forward
but it could be grabbing so what I like to do is
(50:42):
oh my God how do you do that
I can't see it without moving the jaw oh
that's it
so we'll wait I can't
and the worst part is that I can't see myself
I know I can make it better
yeah I know I can make it better
get right here with a mirror
(51:04):
that'll do yeah
but I do oh my God
um I actually
I usually do it two sets of three on one note
and that works out the size of your tongue
it is well
we can get into an articulation
but this is helpful for longitudinal tension
because we're really working out the tongue
(51:25):
another jaw tongue decoupling
and you curl up the tongue
we touch here here
here here here
hmm hmm
hmm hmm
wow
without the jaw
and now your tongue's kind of going
(51:47):
like going back in
think about keeping it out and doing like a curl
yeah
I'll try this in my bathroom yeah
so I've been that one um
really helps out that one really helps out
because we're working the sides like
(52:08):
like a bicycle bro
you're literally being a physical therapist
like if I tell you that I've been in PT
for my foot and ankles
and he's giving me a star exercise like that
hahaha yeah
for my feet oh my God
that's crazy but yeah
the okay
I want to mention tongue cause it
it really gets in your yeah
we did like a whole episode on just the tongue
oh my God yeah
the tongue is the chief articulator of the vocal tract
(52:31):
my front of me is the chief
my front of me articulator of the vocal tract of like
all the articulators right
you have the tongue teeth
lips
soft hard palette
soft palette
yeah your tongue is
responsible for every single vowel that you sing
and how you sing it
I can sing E and I can sing E and I could write mm
(52:57):
hmm and those all sound totally different
even though they're kind of trying to be the same thing
um
and it's also responsible for like pretty much most
most of your continents yeah
um
and this is crazy like
I had a crazy realization lesson one time that like
a lot of what we're doing is like OK
can you move your tongue forward
(53:18):
and brighten that vowel bring that vowel forward
let's bring it back a little bit round it out
but sometimes the issue is consonants
and I have a student um
she's finished
and so that language is all in the back of her mouth
and all in the back of her throat
and it was like a t or something that was like ta
(53:40):
ta ta all the way back here
and I said can we make that a dental t like
and when we changed that it fixed the
the tone of whatever line we were working on
because the consonant was actually what was causing
the tone to come back and not her vowels
especially in pop music
I feel like some people are very like soft in their
(54:01):
like like even in the Pink Pony club
I'm gonna keep on dancing
like I'm gonna keep on dancing
I'm gonna keep on dancing like yeah
like really like punchy and like aggressive
yeah the more the better
the more the better
we need like a whole other episode on like
consonants and vowels and tongue diction
and tongue and diction oh my god
(54:24):
it's never ending we need a 24 hour live stream
but next time
tell me so I can bring my books sponsored by Ripley
yeah you're right
sponsored by Ripley
cause I'll bring my books and a hand mirror
yeah
I love it yeah whoo
okay we covered a lot for this one
yeah but there's a lot that goes into it
mm hmm so keep experimenting
(54:44):
yeah I love it
thank you ladies
thank you for the beautiful demonstration
Coach Bree thank you
we love it we love it
um let us know if you have any questions
shoot me a message on Vox
like on Instagram at Vox Tape Studios
and book a session
so we can work with you and figure out what's going on
how can we get that tone that you're looking for
(55:04):
so that you would love the sound of your own voice
because when you like the sound of your own voice
everything gets so much easier
and you can see a lot of progress very quickly
because the whole judgmental side of your brain is
it's still there but it's not negative
(55:25):
so yes yes
it's it's more neutral and not negative
it's more like hmm
that wasn't it let me try that again
and not like you suck you suck
you suck right
so anyways happy to help out
book a session if you need us
we'd love to sing with you
otherwise we'll see you in the next session bye
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