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GREAT SINGER ON GREAT SINGING
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Shore:
Jerry, you have certainly given voice scientists something to consider
for study. It would be fascinating and informative to do EMG's on your laryngeal
musculature to see exactly what your exercises did. I am almost reluctant to
make any comment for fear of jumping to a conclusion, but
if I had to make a guess, I would say that you may have discovered a way
to defeat one of the main effects of aging on the vocal folds. Dr. Titze has
recently written about the effects of aging on the vocal folds. He says that
since muscle cells of the vocalis muscles atrophy with age, the vocal folds tend
to bow (Ingo Titze, "Critical Periods of Vocal Change--Advanced Age",
The NATS Journal, March/April 1993). It could be that when bowed vocal folds are
brought together by the lateral cricoarytenoids, greater adduction forces may be
required to completely close the glottis. Otherwise the bowed vocal folds could
allow too much air to pass through. That
could possibly cause the loss of strength and timbre in the middle and lower
voice that you described as typical of your older colleagues. I am guessing--we
certainly need studies to really tell-- that you used your squeezed vowels to
teach your lateral cricoarytenoids to supply more medial compression than they
were accustomed to supplying when you were younger.
Hines:
That sounds right. And when I was younger I wouldn't have needed so much
because the cords were different.
Shore:
That is possible. You'll need to let a voice scientist like Dr. Cleveland
or Dr. Sundberg study you to be more certain. The only aspect of your
description which I think is in error is the idea that the "squeeze"
or medial compression corresponds to chest voice. Dr. Van den Berg's studies
showed that medial compression is found in falsetto as well, although it may be
less active (Van den Berg, Vennard, et al, "Voice Production: The Vibrating
Larynx"). Both Dr. Van den
Berg's and Dr. Hirano's studies seem to show that chest voice is the product of
vocalis muscle stiffening, not predominantly medial compression. (Sundberg, The
Science of the Singing Voice, pp.53-54). In
fact, the bodily vibrations in the chest associated with this register are much
stronger when the medial compression is just sufficient to keep the vocal folds
together. In "pressed phonation" there is great "squeeze"
but very weak vibrations are sensed in the chest, according to Dr. Sundberg (Sundberg,
Ibid. pp.161-163).
Hines:
You're right. The squeeze is only a part of it.
Shore:
Tell us what you got from Margolis.
Hines:
The factor I got from Margolis that has kept Bob Merrill and me singing
so long is fast moving scales. We basically sang fast moving scales with a
slight impulse which he called a half "h" between the coloratura, not
quite a detachment. Maximum speed and flexibility and
maximum volume. He wanted a big sound produced with flexibility. That
flexibility has a lot to do with keeping the voice young. There is a tendency if
you have a large voice to get muscle bound.
Shore:
And you have always had terrific coloratura.
Hines:
Yes, the voice should keep that flexibility and that will help keep the
singer young. With Curci when I was young I had that depth of sound as well as
the brightness. And now that I've restored the low voice with a rich sound this
spacing under the sternum explains something more to me. Rosa Ponselle told me
Caruso always told her to keep a "square throat". That didn't make
much sense. Now I think I know what he meant. When you sense this spacing under
the sternum, which you keep as you go up into the higher voice, that's the
square throat.
Shore:
You have mentioned that sensation several times.
Does that spacing have anything to do with the way you use the diaphragm?
Hines:
I think there is something laryngeal happening.
Shore:
It could be that the sensations you have are actually produced by a
breathing technique which increases the degree of tracheal pull on the larynx.
All of your empirical descriptions of the sternum and space, with the impact on
tone quality and range, are consistent with a strong tracheal pull. Von Euler,
Leanderson and Sundberg have shown that the tracheal pull on the larynx provides
just such benefits in tone management, especially on high notes (Sundberg,
"Breathing Behavior during Singing," The NATS Journal,
January/February, 1993). Your sensations would be great material for studies.