Vocal Production Bootcamp

1. Vocal Production Bootcamp For the Nashua Granite Statesmen January 2011 Steve Tramack (stramack@gmail.com)

2. Agenda • Module 1: Alignment and Tension Release • Module 2: Breathing for singers • Module 3: Phonation • Module 4: Resonance • Module 5: Registration

3. About the modules • Each module consists of: • Full group lessons • Demonstrations • Small group instruction / feedback • Homework

4. Bootcamp Goals • The three “Ah’s” • Build a better singer • Improve your knowledge of your instrument • Lots of overtones

5. Prepare for success • Please treat this with a fresh approach • Individually-focused • Can’t boil the ocean • No articulation and diction • Few ensemble skills • Core building blocks • Ya gotta wanna

6. Three Parts to an Instrument • Actuator (motor) • Something that vibrates at different frequencies and amplitudes • Resonators

7. Module 1: Alignment • Anatomy of posture – our body is our instrument • Feet • Legs • Knees • Hips and Buttocks • Abdomen – Lower and Upper • Back • Chest • Shoulders • Arms and Hands • Head “With the toe bone connectedto the foot bone,and the foot bone connectedto the ankle bone,and the ankle bone connectedto the leg bone.Oh mercy how they scare!”

8. Why the sternum and rib cage position is important…

9. Let’s Build a Singer (1 of 3) • Feet • Evenly distributed weight, outside slightly ahead of inside • No Leaning Tower of Pisa • Legs • Flexible knees, ankles • “Released” out from pelvic girdle • Hips and Buttocks • Conform to the vertical line from your feet to your head • Gentle pelvic “tuck”

10. Let’s Build a Singer (2 of 3) • Lower Abdomen • Not pulled – creates tension • Upper Abdomen • Free to move at all times • Back • Stretching along spinal column • As broad and wide as possible • Distance between hips and A/O joint

11. Let’s Build a Singer (3 of 3) • Chest • Comfortably high at all times, before breathing or singing • Don’t “hold” in place – spinal stretch • Let thoughts, not muscles, hold it up • Shoulders • Gently pulled back and dropped, settling into the socket • Remain back and down, not locked • Arms and Hands • Let gravity do its job • “Released” out from shoulders • Head • In line with body, seated on spine • “Released” up • Stretched back of neck

12. Quick Pre-flight check • Pelvic region aligned so that legs feel “released” and free to move? • Spine lengthened and broad? • Arms and shoulders “released” out? • Head “released” up and slightly forward from neck?

13. Demonstration and troubleshooting Tension is the enemy!

14. Small group instruction Alignment

15. Module 2: Breathing

16. Anatomy lesson

17. “Ya gotta have charts…” Reveille 2003

18. What’s involved? • Diaphragm • Abdominal muscles and viscera • Rib cage and Intercostal muscles • Lower back muscles • Stuff that can get in the way • Tongue • Jaw • Soft palate • Pharynx • Sinuses • Tension anywhere in the instrument It’s all about atmospheric pressure! 

19. Important terms • Breath Support • Dynamic relationship between inspiratory (inhale) and expiratory (exhale) muscles • Supply adequate airflow to keep vocal folds vibrating to sustain desired pitch and dynamic level • Air moving to the cords • Breath Control • Dynamic relationship between the breath and the vocal cords • Determines how long you can sing on “one breath” • Refers to how slowly the diaphragm and ribs return to relaxed position

20. Breathing for singing (1 of 4) • Inhalation • Beginning of a yawn • Lower jaw drops, soft palate raises, throat feels “deeper” • Breath moves into the body, down deep and out in a 360 degree circle around the middle of the body

21. Breathing for singing (2 of 4) • Suspension • No parallel in natural breathing • Momentary suspension to prepare breathing support mechanism • Equilibrium/antagonism between inspiratory muscles and expiratory muscles (appoggio) • NOT tense; NOT held breath (closes throat, vocal folds) • During brief suspension, body feels comfortably expanded – particularly in front

22. Breathing for singing (3 of 4) • Controlled Exhalation • In coordination with vocal folds, produces phonation (folds vibrating) • Antagonism enables control • Diaphragm is releasing its tension, relaxing back into place • Feeling of flexible, expansive openness in the body* * Christy, Expressive Singing, 2:35

23. Breathing for singing (4 of 4) • Recovery • Briefest of moments at end of each breath where all muscles associated with breathing relax • Also applies to muscles associated with phonation, resonance and articulation • Insufficient recovery leads to increased tension with each breath • Don’t slight the recovery, even though it may be momentary (stagger breathing in choral environment allows for adequate recovery)

24. Demonstration and troubleshooting Breathing

25. Small group instruction Breathing

26. Breathing for singers • 4 stage technique must be kept under conscious control until habitual • Key concepts • Good alignment precedes good breathing • Some sensations remain throughout entire process • Beginning of a yawn sustained • Chest comfortably high before, during, after • Don’t skip suspension, recovery phases!

27. Module 3: Phonation • Anatomy of phonation • Trachea uppermost unit • Larynx • Function: Valve and sound producer – faulty at its core! • Skeletal framework • Thyroid cartilage (Adam’s Apple) – houses vocal folds • Cricoid cartilage – foundation • Arytenoid cartilage – connected to vocal cords • Epiglottis – the valve • Hyoid bone – bridges tongue and thyroid cartilage • Musculature of the larynx • Intrinsic – internal to larynx • Includes vocal folds (vocal cords) and false folds • Extrinstic – external – moves up and down • Glottis

28. Anatomy – larynx (1 of 2)

29. Anatomy – larynx (2 of 2)

30. How do we phonate? • Breath is the catalyst • We can breathe without phonating, but cannot phonate without breath (support and control) • Three phases of musical tone: • Onset (“attack”?) • Sustain • Release

31. Onset of tone • Approaches • Aspirated – breath before the tone • Think of a sustained “h” • Simultaneous breath and production of tone • Think of a silent “h” • Glottal onset • Timbre, and the consistency of vocal cords, affected by relationship with abdominal muscle “intensity”

32. Sustained tone • Requires breath support and control • Larynx stays in relatively stable, “beginning of a yawn” position • Resonators stay “anchored” – the mouth and throat are “filled” with sound – feels like you could chew it

33. Demonstration and Group Participation Phonation

34. Release • Instantaneous – executed with precision • Don’t let sound fade or die from lack of energy • Support does not sag before release is complete • Release by inhaling (“mental” recovery phase)

35. Small group instruction Phonation

36. Module 4: Resonance • Anatomy of resonators • Chest • Larynx • Pharynx (throat) – three interconnected parts • Naso-pharynx (behind nose) • Oro-pharynx (rear of mouth) • Laryngo-pharynx (bottom of throat) • Mouth • Tongue • Mask • Sinuses • Nasal resonators • Bones and cavities • Lips, and space between lips and teeth

37. Anatomy – oral cavity

38. Anatomy - resonators

39. How to get “ahead”…anchor the soft palate

40. Resonance • Not just warmth – amplification of tone as it passes through resonators • Spin + ring + brilliance + depth • Singer’s formant (stack of individual overtones; changes with different word sounds) is a result of resonance • Affected by characteristics of resonators: • Size • Shape • Type of opening • Composition and thickness of walls • Surface • Combined resonators

41. So, what makes for good resonance? • “Chest resonance”? • Laryngeal resonance? • Pharynx (open throat) resonance? • Rest of the oral cavity (tongue position, soft palate)? • “The mask”? • Jaw position? • Lip position?

42. Demonstration Resonance

43. Chest resonance • Some sub-glottal resonance • Maximize by preparing the instrument • Exercise – “boom boom boom” • Good source of feedback for the singer

44. Laryngial resonance • Small space…high frequencies • 2800 Hertz = overtone / ring / brilliance / singer’s formant • Created by solid execution of the other aspects of vocal production and lack of tension • No conscious control; best approach is beginning of yawn feeling

45. Pharynx • The most important resonator • Position, size, degree of flexibility • Brings out lower partials of vocal tone when properly anchored • “Warmth, fullness, roundness, richness, etc.” • Increase / decrease dimensions, change tension of walls, change size of apertures

46. Oral cavity • Key: Tension-free • Tongue an important part of resonance • Soft palate should remain arched and taut, like a drum (without introducing tongue or pharynx tension) • “Beginning of a sneeze” feel; “cool spot” • Jaw remains open and relaxed • Also used for shaping tone

47. Nasal Cavity and sinuses • Main purpose: clean, adjust temperature, and add moisture to incoming air. • Nasopharynx and sinuses = “mask” • Nasal passages minimize resonance • Check your voice by singing with your nose plugged – counter-productive to resonance • Only for M, N and NG

48. Group participation Resonance

49. How to adjust resonators (1 of 2) • Larynx position • Yawning vs. swallowing vs. talking positions • “Open” throat feeling • Ideal: beginning of yawn, without completely dropped larynx • Soft palate (velum) • In short, raised “all the time” • Jaw • Changes slightly depending on word sound (though not as much as you’d think)

50. How to adjust resonators (2 of 2) • Tongue – KEY • Forward in mouth, resting on lower gum ridge • O, oo exception • Back, middle of tongue impact word sounds, resonance • Lips • Final refinement of word sounds • “Front” resonance impact • Facial structure • Find “sweet spot” and change as little as possible – different for every word sound