Unfiltered Thoughts

2023.02.14 – 0775 – Vocal Fold Haemorrhage    Continued talking may lead to ‘vocal nodules’ on your folds, which are common with loud, tense, constant talkers. (Polyps are similar but usually occur after a single cough or shout, rather than long-term abuse, and happen when the folds haemorrhage.) Know your body. If your body is hurting (even a sore throat), stop. It’s a sign that something is not ‘quite right’. Speaking when hoarse, or worse still, shouting to deliberately make yourself hoarse (yes, some people do this to achieve a lower voice), can be very dangerous in itself and can permanently damage your vocal folds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.13 – 0774 – Voice Advice From Justin Timberlake and Larry Hagman   
‘Resting’ actorsLarry Hagman was best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera ‘Dallas’ and the befuddled astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the 1965–1970 sitcom ‘I Dream of Jeannie’. For 20 years he undertook “silent Sundays” after a doctor suggested that he did not talk for a few days after he strained his vocal cords. For one day a week he said not a word to anyone.[1] Ultimately though it is reported that he had to give it up when he realised that the benefits were outweighed by missed opportunities. More recently bruised vocal cords left Justin Timberlake on vocal rest, so in 2018 he ‘talked’ about his book, ‘Hindsight: And All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me’, with Jimmy Fallon using pen and paper, plus charades-like hand gestures.[2]
[1] Source: https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/360655/How-Larry-Hagman-couldn-t-have-been-further-from-his-fiendish-alter-ego-JR-Ewing [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGMx9zuB_3M Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.12 – 0773 – Polyps, Nodules and Phonal Trauma   Treating your voice badly, shouting[1], smoking or straining it, is not showing it the respect it deserves. These actions can lead to ‘phonal trauma’ such as nodules or polyps (small growths) on your vocal folds. These can be painful and if they heal at all can take a long time. At an extreme, they may need to be removed in an operation. (Wince…) “Once, a year or two back, I’d lost my voice during the evening… really lost it and I had to do all the evening, the late news etc etc and then I had to do the Shipping Forecast [at 00:48 hrs]. I had a gallon of water beside me which wasn’t very helpful to be honest, but I just had to keep on closing the fader, having a sip of water, trying to get some sort of voice back. The listeners could just hear it disappearing, during the whole eleven minutes. It was torture! And in the end you have to say ‘and that’s the Shipping Forecast, have a peaceful evening’… and I said that and then I just said, ‘I have been Lee Marvin, goodnight.’ ”[2]Susan Rae, BBC radio 4 newsreader/announcer, “You’re On The Air” podcast December 2020
[1] Some voice professionals ‘fake cheer’ at sporting events and concerts, opening their mouths but staying silent.[2] Actor Lee Marvin had a voice once described as “like rain gurgling down a rusty pipe”. He used his gravelly singing voice on a number of occasions, duetting with John Wayne in ‘The Comancheros’, and most notably performing ‘Wand'rin' Star’ in the movie musical ‘Paint Your Wagon’, which earned him a hit single. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.11 – 0772 – The Greatest Vocal Athletes   The voice-overs with perhaps the most vocal stamina have to be the audiobook narrators. Recording day after day for a total of 70 hours is not unheard of, and on top of that (for fiction books at least) creating and remembering different voices and accents for different characters, and reading with different sets of emotions and volumes.  Another skill is keeping up the enthusiasm, perhaps for page after page of content that you are not particularly interested in, and not letting your mind wander. And painting the picture with your words… well, OK the words of someone else but you are the conduit between the page they wrote and the ears of the listener. Think of what you are doing as a heightened state of performance. Most people listen to audiobooks while doing something else, and your presentation has to cut through. Having said all that, for fiction book narrators, it’s not necessarily having a ‘good voice’ (whatever that is!), but the ability to use it properly in telling a good story; a clear voice.  These narrators are truly actors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.10 – 0771 – Vocal Conditioning Through Proper Pacing  
If your body is tired, your voice sounds tired: it’s one of the first areas where your lack of zeds shows itself.  Before a recording session, get plenty of sleep so your voice doesn’t sound too husky or in a lower register than the producer was expecting when they booked you from your demo reel.  Voice overuse and misuseTotal voice rest This is an important part of recovering from a voice injury, but not something that is advisable long-term. Your vocal folds need to be exercised if they are not to decondition through lack of use. Therefore, more than a day or so without speaking is not advisable. Better is to stop a problem from developing in the first place, with better vocal conditioning through the use of proper pacing.  If you know you are going to have to do some strenuous voice work then try and leave it to the end of the day. By then your voice will have warmed up, and you will have taken plenty of rest between readings, but the ‘necessary’ strain will not have an immediate adverse effect on the rest of your work.  Pianists insure their fingers for huge sums, ballet dancers their legs, violinists their actual violins. Your voice is your instrument, it’s your asset, it’s you! So, you need to look after and nurture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.09 – 0770 – Why Having A Secret May Be Hurting Your Voice  
Whispering – Normal speaking is with a regular airflow and closure. With whispering you get no closure and you need more effort to make a lesser sound. Try it right now and feel the strain your vocal cords are under. What you are doing is pushing them into an unusual shape and then passing extra air over them that only adds to their dryness. Instead, if you are going hoarse or are speaking secretly, don’t be careless with your whisper but just speak really softly.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.08 – 0769 – Why African Elephants In Underpants May Be Hurting Your Voice  
VowelsSay the following phrase aloud, word by word: “African. Elephants. In. Our. Underpants”. Each word begins with a vowel, A, E, I, O and U. And as we saw before, it’s these sounds that are made with a lot of potential pressure on the larynx. Say “African” again and you will feel that the initial sound is quite harsh (unlike, say “European” which is more of a gliding first sound), as the air that has for a split second been held back, now blasts past the vocal folds (‘pressed phonation’ or ‘hard onset’). The sense of holding back the air before these sounds is because of ‘sub-glottal pressure’, that is the pressure that is under (‘sub’) your vocal folds and it’s a small version of the extreme pressure that you use when you consciously close your vocal cords before you lift something heavy. Try it!  ‘Aspirate phonation’ (or ‘balanced onset’) sends more air through the vocal folds and is kinder to them such as making a ‘sigh’ sound, a breathy, throaty ‘hum’. Now, try putting a ‘silent-h’ sound at the start of each word in our phrase above, so that you glide into each initial vowel rather than ‘attacking’ it. Give it breath rather than pressure: “(h)african. (h)elephants. (h)in. (h)our. (h)underpants”. Hear and feel how this is stopping your vocal folds slamming together.  Now obviously we have looked at the extremes of the spectrum from hard, stabbing attack to an airy, breathy and light sound. You will need to find and practice a happy balance between air and muscle, to help reduce the pressure and potential damage to your folds.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.07 – 0768 – What To Say To An Anaesthetist
Surgery – Intubation is when a tube is fed into your mouth (‘endotracheal intubation’) or nose (‘nasogastric intubation’) and then into the airway to help you with breathing, deliver anaesthesia or medications, and bypass a blockage. Be aware of the potential damage to your vocal folds during intubation anaesthetics, and prior to planned surgery make sure that an anaesthetist is aware of your profession.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.06 – 0767 – How A Kettle Can Help Your Voice Steam inhaling - can help the health of the vocal folds and the mucous membranes that line the nasal and mouth cavities. Steaming once or twice a day for 10-15 minutes will:·        allow the water vapour to get into places that no lozenge, gargle or linctus can ever reach, soothing and moisturising and helping to thin the mucus, so it’s more slippery·        help relieve a tired sore or hoarse voice·        calm an irritating persistent cough·        improve your ‘voice recovery rate’ after a cold·        be useful as a ‘night-time moisturiser’ after you have used your voice heavily in a noisy or smoky environment
So, what’s going on here? Well, dryness adds to vocal strain and can cause a cough and heavy voice-use creates tension. But the steam puts moisture into the whole throat area, thinning thick mucus, increasing flexibility and encouraging relaxation and so, healing.[1]
Similar to a steamer, a nebuliser is a machine that turns liquid medicine into a fine mist. You then breathe in the mist through a mask or mouthpiece. Ask a medical professional whether a .9% isotonic saline solution, which matches the make-up of solutions in the body and so gets to larynx, might be useful for any vocal problem you have. [1] Inexpensive steam-inhaling mugs are much easier to use than the hot, claustrophobic and boring “head over a basin with a towel” method. You use just boiled water, add a decongestant if you have a cold (real lemon juice is OK but not artificial fragrances), and then breathe normally, through the nose or mouth for 10-15 minutes replacing the water once the steam has gone. (Electrical steam inhalers such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/LIVIVO-Facial-Steamer-Aromatherapy-Diffuser/dp/B01LZSVNB2/ref=asc_df_B01LZSVNB2/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309816017895&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2838250047919569824&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007135&hvtargid=pla-563356315330&psc=1 pump out a steady stream of steam.) Impractical? Inhale while taking a hot shower, like in the scene in ‘Terms of Endearment’ (Debra Winger is in the bathroom next to the hot shower, as her child has a bad cough and she’s trying to use the steam to help them breathe more easily).  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.02.05 – 0766 –Voice Problems Caused By Shouting and Smoking Shouting – causes the folds are slammed together harshly. Consider why you are shouting – perhaps it’s because of a loud and busy newsroom, or maybe you are going slightly deaf…? If you are tempted to pick up some part time work say behind a bar where you have to raise your voice to be heard, you may want to think of another job that will put less strain on your folds. Try and speak less, and less harshly and to take regular mini-breaks.  Smoking - In the past some people took up smoking to achieve a deeper, arguably sexier pitch. It seemed to work for many of them… but also made them less able to breathe deeply, created a wheezing exhalation, and promoted lung and laryngeal cancer. A shortness of breath led to a short career… and there’s nothing alluring about cancerous cords. The tar in cigarettes affects the vocal folds and lungs, causes irritation and inflammation and makes them less efficient. Vaping causes hot steam to be drawn in. That alone could be harmful to your folds, but add in the additional artificial flavourings and something else that’s best avoided. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.