a song should begin in the heart, not in the throat

I’m taking a group of seven women into a recording studio. As I’m in charge of the production, I will prepare the singers and make the experience an enjoyable one. To prepare them, I sought advice from experts. From my immediate network: I phoned an audio engineer. He suggested I talk to a vocal coach. I don’t sing so I don’t know any vocal coaches. That doesn’t stop me from asking questions however. I queried singers in my Twitter music stream. They ignored me. I talked with a family member who had vocal coaching. They weren’t given any information; they hadn’t any recording studio experience. Upon inquiring, the studio suggested that I tell them to bring room-temperature fruit juice.

I furthered that information with my own research. Most information from Google/Bing/Yahoo/About/Lycos searching provided a lot of information on problems with the voice.  The advice given by the studio recording company matches information supplied by other singers who have mentioned particular juices being better than others for hydration:  first pineapple juice, then strawberry juice.

If you want to view images of vocal chords, vocaldoctor.org presents video clips of vocal chords moving as singers with healthy as well as problematic vocal chords sing.

After many hours filtering through the noise, I gleaned the following information that deals with the concept of hydrating the vocal chords to help the singers function at their best and to prevent vocal injury. To hydrate the voice:

• 8–12 large glasses of water daily
• two hours of steam exposure daily
• use a “mucolytic drug” (Robitussin) to fluidify secretions
• avoid spicy foods, drinks containing alcohol or caffeine and fatty foods
• sleep with head elevated; do not eat food for at least four hours before lying down

I wanted to test the Robitussin, so I went to a local pharmacy to purchase it. It is important not to use a version that contains alcohol, so sought out a pharmacist to ensure that I purchased the right type. When I explained what I was after, they looked at me in surprise. They were familiar with its use for lubricating the voice and wondered where I got my information. I explained my research findings. They explained that they had worked in a pharmacy in Toronto (Ontario Canada) that was next door to an opera house. The pharmacist that they worked with also recommended liquid calcium to take with it to help with absorption. They led me to the vitamin section and recommended a liquid calcium/vitamin D. Mix and take the two liquids (Robitussin and Calcium/Vitamin D combination) together he suggested for this was the same suggestion given to many opera singers by the pharmacist who mentored him.

Mic Techniques:

Many of the following techniques apply to home studio recording, but could also apply to studio recording.

To create sustained breath control: hold the microphone away from you when starting a sustained note and bring it closer to the mouth as the note diminishes.

Adjust airflow through the nose, open the throat to provide more resonance, glottal attack, soft-palate edge (with vibration of the uvula), good enunciation and diaphragmatic pulsation (like a pant).

Move microphone further from your mouth, angle it to one side or lower the mic and angle it more towards the ceiling to prevent pops and hisses.

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