Vocal technique

Breathing Details

The compulsory prerequisite to access one’s voice is a deep, healthy breath in a relaxed posture. Then the body is totally available to the resonance vibrations.

This means breathing deeply in the intercoastal aerea, the diaphragm region up to the sides of the lungs Then the abdominal belt (internal obliques, pelvic floor and intercostal muscles) actively accentuates the diaphragm’s natural movement, going up as the air is exhaled with the correct pressure.

Those are the basics of vocal support. It must be done in a continuous way, with some specific peaks which will be chosen according to the intensity of the speech.

Laryngeal mechanisms

There are four laryngeal mechanisms:

M0 or fry, which is similar to the slip point in a motor. Vocal folds are jittering with a very short glotto opening duration. This mechanisms helps to softly warm up the voice and connect it with its deeper frequencies.

M1 or chest voice. It is the natural voice register for men and lower for women, with the most important vibrating mass.

Laryngeal mechanisms

M2 or head voice. It is the falsetto register for men and head resonnaces for women.

M3 or whistle voice, which enables to access shrill.

Mastering these mechanisms is a compulsary prequisite in order to feel the different ways vocal folds work. It gives as well access, with the correct effort, to expressive registers of the voice (authority with M1, passion with a mixture of M1 and M2, etc).

Breathing and Stress

Besides its role as a foundation for a well poised voice, breath control is extremely helpful when it comes to cardiac coherence.

In a panic situation, the heartbeat frequency rises and cortisol is produced.

When you breathe deeply and calmly, the dopaminergic canal balances itself. This enhances the dopamine and endorphin production, consequently regulating the cardiac rhythm and bringing a sensation of well-being.

Voice resonance

Here are a few examples of sounding resonators for the voice In order of importance:

  • Chest
  • Head
  • Hard palate
  • Soft palate
  • Pharynx

All these resonators are interconnected, whether it is the tongue, the soft palate, the glottis, the epiglottis sphincter, the pillars, and the rhino-pharynx. All this relies of the intake of air, directly responsible for the sound production.

The understanding and mastering of all these resonators allows you to access an optimal anchorage and projection of the voice, hence reducing the feeling of physical and vocal weariness.