Hands-on vocal technology in York

We’re giving a How YOUR Voice WORKS course in York on Sunday November 22, and we’ve invited two special guest presenters to join us.

Professor David Howard and Ms Jude Brereton from the Electronics Department of York University will be talking about and demonstrating vocal acoustics and how they affect our singing (both inside and outside)

Professor Howard is well known as a tv presenter, acoustics expert and allround voice boffin (even more than me!). Jude Brereton is an acoustics and voice researcher, and is helping us organise the course in York. In fact, Jude will also be joining me later in 2010 as co-presenter on the Computer Voice Training course, bringing her hands-on knowledge of voice analysis programmes to the table.

The day in York is very much a hands-on, do-it-feel-it-understand-it day, with practical exercises, vocal and musical information and the latest vocal knowledge to improve your singing. We’re including a recommended vocal and physical warmup in the day, and there will be three main topic headings –
BREATH, RESONANCE and STAMINA!

True to our practical voice science nature, we will also have a number of stations available where participants can try out the electroglottograph, and watch their voices on spectrographic analysis programmes. David and Jude will be on hand to guide you through the programmes, and it promises to be a fascinating day.

The first time we ran this course, the event was sold out several days before, with a waiting list. The York venue is actually smaller than the Cambridge venue, so we are more likely to run out of spaces early!

You can find out more and book your place on the course by visiting the dedicated webpage at http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/howyourvoiceworksYork.htm

We’ll see you there!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Thoughts on breathing

Last year Gillyanne was interviewed by Rena Cook, the Editor-in-chief of the Voice and Speech Review.

This is the major publication of the Voice and Speech Teachers' Association in America that comes out once every two years.

Well, the VSR has just been published, and parts of Gillyanne's interview have been included. We've got a copy of it in this month's Vocal Process eZINE (edition 38), and the topic is breathing.

Rena questions Gillyanne about her take on breathing for Musical Theatre (or Musical Theater if you live in the US), and it makes for interesting reading.

You can get your copy of Vocal Process eZINE 38 free from the Vocal Process website - just go to the homepage and click on the magical appearing box. We'll send you the current copy of the eZINE and put your name on the list for future editions.

We'll also include the latest Cheer emails, a collection of music and language-based jokes and misquotes that come out every week (see the previous blog for more details)

eZINE 38 is due out this Thursday (24 September) and includes details of our courses for the next six months, a report on the sellout Cambridge How YOUR Voice WORKS day, and some phenomenal feedback from our presentation for the Wellcome Trust in London.

and of course, the interview!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Hallelujah!

Last Saturday we ran our first How YOUR Voice WORKS choral day in Cambridge, sponsored by the prize-winning Cambridge Chord Company.

We're used to a good response to our courses and products - after all, our first training DVD sold out within six hours. But we weren't expecting to have to close the booking several days before because so many people wanted to join us!

We ended up with over 90 participants who had signed up from many different choral backgrounds - including barbershop, classical, gospel and show choirs.

We had stated on the publicity that this was a solid technique day, and that we wouldn't be singing lots of songs. However, we needed something that everyone might know, that would work very quickly, and that we could mould to various technical tasks.

About 10 days before the course, I decided to use the opening of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. It works a treat, can be additionally "arranged" for the TTBB or SSAA barbershop lineup, and is blisteringly fast to learn.

What I genuinely didn't realise was that the BBC and English National Opera have just got together to create a UK-wide project in November and December which "encourages people to find their voice and discover the joy of singing through the Hallelujah Chorus".

Nice to be able to say to the Beeb "been there, done that, and we'll be selling the t-shirts soon...

Incidentally, we had some amazing feedback from the day, with 95% of our respondants saying they had gained from the course, and 75% saying it had changed the way they voice their voice.

Result!

PS We're running How YOUR Voice WORKS in York on November 22, and we'll have two special guest presenters joining us with some voice measuring toys to play with. More details later!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

How Your Voice Works in Cambridge

We're doing a brand new singing training course at one of the Cambridge Universities in a couple of weeks' time.

How Your Voice Works is aimed at choral singers and hobbyists who want to improve their voice and singing, but don't have the time to get regular singing lessons.

We giving them a full day of hands-on techniques - the vocal tips we use every day in our singing studio.

It's being sponsored by one of the UK's top prize-winning choruses, Cambridge Chord Company (they were Llangollen Eisteddfod Choir of the World). The Saturday is open to everyone, and on the Sunday we're giving the chorus a full day's private coaching.

I've posted details on the Vocal Process website, so if you're in Cambridge on September 12, check out this page and book a place now, before they all go!
(We've had 40 people signed up already...)

http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/HowYourVoiceWorksCambridge.htm

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD

The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!

The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:

the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)

86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)