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Episode 5: The Pleasure of Phonation with Professor Anne-Maria Laukkanen

Episode 5: The Pleasure of Phonation with Professor Anne-Maria Laukkanen

Released Wednesday, 9th October 2024
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Episode 5: The Pleasure of Phonation with Professor Anne-Maria Laukkanen

Episode 5: The Pleasure of Phonation with Professor Anne-Maria Laukkanen

Episode 5: The Pleasure of Phonation with Professor Anne-Maria Laukkanen

Episode 5: The Pleasure of Phonation with Professor Anne-Maria Laukkanen

Wednesday, 9th October 2024
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0:02

Hi, everyone. Welcome to the UEP podcast. Today, we take you to Finland to speak

0:08

to our friend, Professor Ann-Maria Laukonen.

0:10

She's a speech technique and vocology professor at the University of Tampere.

0:15

Besides extensive research on voice, she also teaches speech techniques,

0:19

proper voice use, and voice research pathology.

0:22

Her book, The Wonderful Human Voice, fundamentals of sound use and speech technique,

0:28

evaluation, measurement and development has been used in Finnish University

0:33

for speech therapy and vocology since 1999.

0:37

Hi Anne-Maria, very good to have you in our recording today. How are you?

0:42

I'm fine, thank you. Thank you for agreeing to joining our UEP podcast and I'm

0:48

really glad that you bring your expertise to us today to talk about I believe,

0:52

this topic of your passion. How did you end up in this position with a background of interest in voice and

0:58

what brought you to come to this topic of research?

1:03

Well, my interest in voice started long ago when I was studying classical singing.

1:09

I wanted to know how we produce voice and what makes our voices sound so different,

1:15

what the professional singers do differently so that they sound so much better

1:22

than me and why we are supposed to do various exercises.

1:27

So I entered the university to study

1:30

philosophy but since I was so interested in voice I started to search for subjects

1:37

that could give me answers about voice and singing and I I ended up studying

1:44

speech communication and voice research and speech science,

1:48

which is also called phonetics.

1:51

Wow, that is a really fascinating background with you applying philosophical

1:57

principle into your voice research.

1:59

So what is your main research interest at the moment?

2:02

During the years, I have done quite a lot of studies on semi-occluded vocal tract exercises.

2:13

Exercises but in addition I have

2:16

studied also expression of

2:20

emotions in voice both in speech and singing and how the voice quality of the

2:28

speaker affects impressions we get on the speaker and effects and mechanisms of vocal overloading.

2:38

At the moment, I'm leading a project on singing voice, funded by the Academy of Finland.

2:44

The project concerns efficiency and economy in two different kinds of loud singing,

2:52

namely classical Western operatic singing and so-called belting in rhythm music.

2:59

You mentioned a really wide range of research topics in your portfolio,

3:03

which I'm really interested in most of them. Maybe we could start focusing on

3:07

the semi-occluded vocal tract exercise based on your research.

3:11

What does it do to our voice and why do you teach this?

3:16

Yes, semi-occluded vocal tract exercises, SOFTI, they are exercises that constrict

3:24

or prolong the vocal tract. And when we constrict or prolong the vocal tract, it reduces airflow during

3:34

phonation, and consequently the overall air pressure increases.

3:39

And that reduces the difference in air pressure below and above the vocal folds,

3:47

so-called transglottic pressure, which is the driving force of the vocal fold vibration.

3:54

So the amplitude of vibration of the vocal folds decreases and the vocal folds

4:03

get into contact more gently.

4:06

We can say that the so-called impact stress diminishes.

4:12

And at the same time, we also feel sound vibrations in the vocal tract more

4:19

clearly, more strongly, because the air pressure in the vocal tract is higher.

4:24

And so, these kind of exercises give us an example of how it feels when the

4:32

sound production is economic and efficient.

4:35

Also, the air pressure built in the vocal tract, which is diminishing the airflow

4:43

or slowing down the airflow rate,

4:46

it gives sensation about how breath support feels like.

4:51

That is the sensation that you have air in your lungs and you do not push it

4:58

out, but you keep it, you control the airflow rate.

5:04

Typically, the voice sounds louder and phonation feels easier immediately after softy.

5:14

That is really, really great explanations in terms of the semi-occluded vocal

5:19

track exercise or softy that we're going to call it.

5:21

Is this something that you think is suitable for everyone? one?

5:24

Well, softy can be used for people who have breath-definition.

5:31

So it suits to different types of problems, not for every problem.

5:38

For instance, if we are talking about voice disorders like spasmodic dysphonia,

5:45

it doesn't respond to this kind of exercises.

5:48

But otherwise, voice. They are quite nice exercises both to train normal voiced

5:56

people and to be used in voice therapy.

6:01

If there are different types, what are the main difference between them?

6:05

What is common to all soft is that they reduce airflow rate because they constrict

6:13

or prolong along the vocal tract.

6:16

But there can be different types of softness.

6:20

For instance, the main difference can be whether you have one single vibrator,

6:27

that is the vocal folds vibration,

6:29

or if you have a double vibrator that interrupts the airflow and makes the overall pressure oscillate.

6:38

For instance, if you produce lip trill or tongue trill sound or if you phonate

6:48

through a tube in water and the water starts bubbling.

6:53

And there are different kinds of mechanic buzzers that interrupt the airflow

6:59

and thus make the oral pressure oscillate.

7:03

This oral pressure oscillation in the vocal tract can be felt like massage,

7:08

relaxing massage in the vocal tract.

7:12

Using the airflow to massage it, is that right? What gives this massage effect

7:16

is that when the airflow is interrupted repeatedly,

7:21

that makes the oral pressure oscillate and that That gives you this massage effect or feeling.

7:32

And then there are, you can differentiate softy into low resistance and high resistance exercises.

7:41

If you have a very thin straw, inner diameter below or at 3 millimeter,

7:49

then you have high resistance exercise.

7:52

And if you have a tube with inner diameter of one centimeter and you phonate

8:00

into it so that the outer end is in air, so then you have a low-resistance exercise.

8:07

With this high-resistance exercise, you can get more clear results.

8:13

There is plenty of research on that,

8:18

but this low resistance exercise may also be good, for instance,

8:24

for transfer, for the period when you change from the high resistance exercise into speech or singing.

8:34

Then you can use these low-resistance exercises in the middle.

8:39

And of course, if you have a wider tube and you put it into water,

8:44

then you can change the resistance.

8:47

If you have the tube submerged maybe two or three centimeters below water,

8:54

then you have a low-resistance exercise with double vibration.

8:59

Or if you put the tube deeper in water, like 10 centimeters,

9:04

beneath the surface, then you have a higher resistance exercise.

9:10

If we compare this situation, that you have so-called resonance tube or flexible laxbox type tube,

9:18

which is, they are wider tubes in a diameter about one centimeter and the length

9:26

about 30 or 35 centimeters.

9:29

If you put that 10 centimeters in water, you get relatively high resistance,

9:36

but not as high as you get with a thin straw, the outer end in air.

9:44

Is this something that, I mean, most people can try at home,

9:48

or do they need to see someone specific to tailor what they need for their exercise type?

9:54

I think that it's good that everybody gets some kind of instruction how to use these exercises.

10:01

But it's important that you have good body posture,

10:06

your head position is good, and you use your respiratory muscles and do not

10:15

strain from your laryngeal muscles.

10:20

The UEP VoiceBox would now like to thank and acknowledge our episode sponsor,

10:25

Dr.Vox, a company dedicated to the research and development of the human voice.

10:32

The Dr.Vox voice therapy technique is a multidimensional treatment and training

10:36

system for voice professionals. In the voice clinic, the Dr.Vox therapy system is a holistic therapy.

10:43

Just a couple of benefits you'll enjoy with the Dr.

10:46

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10:51

The Dr. Vox devices are based on functionality, high-quality materials, and hygiene.

10:57

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11:02

For more information, visit DrVox.com.

11:07

As we always say, voice is produced using our entire body as an instrument,

11:11

and obviously the voice box is the most important part.

11:14

And I really like the idea that you explain where there is difference in the

11:17

pressure that can then generate a difference in pressure resulting in the massaging

11:21

effect that can really improve the voice production.

11:26

And is this something that, you know, if one is deemed suitable to adopt this

11:31

exercise, are they meant to do this every day or any particular type of the

11:35

day or before certain exercises or activities?

11:38

Well, in general, if we talk about people who do not have any particular voice disorders,

11:45

you can use these exercises for warming up your voice before you use your voice

11:52

or cooling down after some working day when you have used your voice a lot.

11:59

Something like five minutes per day in the morning, in the evening.

12:04

Meaning that's something, maybe a guideline, how you can use it.

12:09

And I think that it's important that everybody tries what feels good.

12:15

That is really useful. I mean, can this be harmful, you reckon,

12:19

with this exercise itself? Well, basically, softies are quite safe to use because, firstly,

12:28

they are quite natural. We have various semi-occlusions in our languages.

12:34

We have trills and voiced fricatives, and then we have nasals.

12:43

All these are different types of semi-occlusions. Also, closed vowels,

12:49

for instance, y or u, are semi-occlusions, so they are natural.

12:55

And the second important thing is that by nature, semi-occluded vocal tract

13:02

exercises reduce vocal loading because they reduce this transglottic pressure.

13:10

So they are quite safe from that point of view.

13:14

But of course, it's possible that whatever you do, when you phonate loudly and

13:21

effortfully and for too long, you may get tired.

13:27

But we have some recent measurements, estimations of this impact stress.

13:34

Which is the main loading factor in voice production.

13:37

And we were able to see that, yes, if you produce semi-occlusions with effort,

13:44

it increases this impact stress a bit, but not so much as loud phonation without any occlusion.

13:52

And this is a good thing to know, that you can train high subclotic pressures,

13:59

which you may need, for instance, in high-pitched, loud singing.

14:06

So you can train these with a thin, high-resistance straw without getting the

14:14

vocal folds too forcefully into contact.

14:17

But there can be other loading mechanisms, like you need to use your adductor muscles a bit more,

14:27

adductor muscles that put the vocal folds closer to each other.

14:32

And if you do that kind of phonation very long, your adductors may get tired,

14:39

and that may give you unpleasant sensations in the larynx.

14:44

And there may be a small risk,

14:47

which you need to be aware of, that if you do this kind of high-resistance exercising

14:52

very often, very long time, you may get a tendency to use more hyperfunctional voice.

15:02

That is to use adduction a little bit more than you need to or what is good.

15:10

And that means that now I try to make the adduction stronger.

15:15

First, it's like I normally use, and then I can make it tighter.

15:20

And this was an example of phonation, which is called pressed or hyperfunctional.

15:28

There is more adduction between the vocal folds.

15:32

This kind of results have been observed in clinics after patients have used

15:40

PEEP, positive expiratory pressure exercises,

15:44

blowing through a tube into water or into some resistance-offering devices.

15:52

This kind of treatment is used to clean the airways.

15:58

And after this kind of PIP training, some people start using a hyperfunctional voice.

16:06

So you need to be careful that you really increase the effort with expiratory

16:12

muscles and not using at the same time increased adduction.

16:17

It sounds like it is giving the vocal muscles like a stress training,

16:22

but in a non-harmful way, so you can then increase the stamina and also with

16:26

the volume projections as well. Would you agree with that?

16:30

Yes, yes. There are results showing beneficial effects immediately after softening.

16:37

There are results that subclotic pressure is a bit higher,

16:43

voice is louder, the vocal tract may

16:46

adapt a more beneficial position the

16:49

larynx goes down a bit the pharynx is

16:52

wider and epilaryngeal tube

16:55

just above the vocal folds it gets narrower it may be just a result of this

17:03

pharyngeal widening and laryngeal lowering and this kind of a vocal tract so

17:10

to say a good resonance space.

17:14

And your vocal folds, when your larynx goes down a bit, your vocal folds get a bit separated,

17:23

and that gives them freedom to vibrate and reduces vocal loading.

17:30

So this kind of changes are beneficial, and they may take place soon after this kind of exercising.

17:39

But of course, it's always with exercising that you do not get permanent big results right away.

17:47

That is so true with the sustained effect. You do need the persistent effort.

17:52

Is there something you do yourself as well before you start your singing?

17:56

Well, if we think about what I do in teaching, I use semi-occlusions,

18:03

but also other types of exercises.

18:06

And especially, I think that boundary condition exercises are very important to start with.

18:13

Such exercises that make the body adopt a more relaxed, better position,

18:21

starting from the whole body and your head position,

18:26

your body position, your larynx goes down freely, your jaw is relaxed,

18:33

your pharyngeal constrictors are relaxed, to your tongue.

18:38

The back of the tongue is flat and completely relaxed, and the diaphragm goes down.

18:47

You feel it as some stretching in the back, low back, and some pressure in the pelvic floor.

18:57

And this kind of boundary condition gives freedom to the instrument to just

19:03

play itself instead of of the idea that we would make the sound.

19:10

And I have two favorite exercises which aim to get everything important at once

19:18

because they are somehow innate to everybody.

19:22

Try this. If you take a good body posture,

19:27

I like to find it so that I raise my hands high up, Then I inspire and stretch

19:37

the body up, and then arms down,

19:41

the palms up, so that you get your shoulders in a good position.

19:47

Then you check that your pelvis is in the mid position.

19:53

Then you are longer in a free way. And now, if you look somewhere very far,

20:00

and you open your eyes wide, that you see something very, very surprising.

20:05

If you're able to get this kind of image in yourself, it can give you everything,

20:13

which is very, very good phonation.

20:16

Namely, I can feel that my jaw drops.

20:19

It's completely relaxed, mouth opens a little bit, larynx goes down,

20:25

and I feel a kind of pressure on the pelvic floor, and my feet,

20:31

they get more tightly against the ground.

20:35

Then I'm ready to speak or sing.

20:39

And everything comes immediately at the same time.

20:42

If you're able to really get this astonishment in your body.

20:48

Another thing is a little bit yawning. If you have your mouth very lightly closed

20:55

so that your jaws are separate from each other, you breathe through the nose.

21:03

And you think that you feel like yawning, but you don't want to show that you are yawning.

21:09

You may think that it's not so polite to start yawning, so it's just the beginning

21:14

of yawning that you feel. And what happens then is that your larynx starts going down,

21:21

and your palate, soft palate,

21:24

goes up a bit, and your vocal tract gets a good position for speech and singing.

21:32

You may try this. You can even make your sound bigger from this position by

21:39

spreading a bit your nostrils.

21:42

If you add to this beginning of yawning, this spreading of nostrils,

21:49

you get more space in your vocal tract.

21:52

The palate goes up and the larynx goes even more strongly down quite freely.

22:00

Everything happens automatically. And now you can try this, that you first produce M sound,

22:08

like humming sound, so that you bite your jaws close together,

22:14

bite your teeth, and then there is your tongue is up against the palate,

22:23

like glued to the palate, and then drop your tongue.

22:29

Back of your tongue, let it drop.

22:32

Let your jaws drop while you are producing this humming sound.

22:37

You feel that it's easier, your sound is bigger.

22:44

Bigger and darker. And if you add spreading of the nostrils,

22:51

it gives even more volume to the voice because the soft palate goes up.

23:00

So this kind of exercises, boundary condition exercises I use in teaching and

23:06

also for myself, I find them very, very nice because they are innate,

23:11

they are automatic, and you can train your voice without phonating at all.

23:17

You just feel how your body functions when you get surprised and when you start yawning a bit.

23:25

The UEP VoiceBox would now like to thank and acknowledge Our episode sponsor, Dr.

23:31

Vox, a company dedicated to the research and development of the human voice.

23:36

The Dr. Vox voice therapy technique is a multidimensional treatment and training

23:41

system for voice professionals. In the voice clinic, the Dr. Vox therapy system is a holistic therapy.

23:48

Just a couple of benefits you'll enjoy with the Dr. Vox method are improved

23:53

vowel quality and better control of breathing. The Dr.

23:57

Vox devices are based on functionality, high-quality materials, and hygiene.

24:02

The research and development process continues with new advancements.

24:07

For more information, visit DrVox.com.

24:12

I have been trying to do this while you were instructing us.

24:16

I know we're doing this podcast so people can't really see, but actually I do

24:19

feel the difference where you were talking about being astonished and looking

24:22

with the position and how you relax.

24:25

So increase the resonance space that you have

24:27

within your sound track in order to produce the voice

24:30

i think that is really interesting exercise i'm going to start doing

24:33

it on a regular basis now and i also particularly like you say you don't need

24:37

to have particularly making sound in order to train your voice and i think that

24:41

is really interesting you mentioned earlier that you you also teach voice you

24:46

have provide vocal training so what are the main goals and how do you proceed

24:50

to these goals when you trained vocal use.

24:54

The main goal is balance, phonation balance, maximum output with minimum effort.

25:02

So that the voice is free, it's well-functioning, effortless.

25:07

It improves vocal endurance.

25:10

It gives pleasure for phonation. And I start with this kind of boundary condition exercises.

25:19

One thing I didn't mention yet about respiration.

25:24

I've started to train respiration in an inverse way.

25:29

Not so that I put all focus on inspiration, but rather on expiration.

25:37

Because if we focus on inspiration and how you should inspire,

25:42

that makes you do too much, exaggerate, and you may start using panic breathing.

25:50

You breathe high up in the lungs, and that is not good.

25:56

So instead, I start by exhalation, by actively using abdominal muscles,

26:04

particularly the lower part of the body, of the torso, and you exhale all that you can.

26:13

And then you relax the abdominal muscles. And what happens?

26:16

You breathe without thinking of it. And the same, by the way,

26:20

happens when you get surprised.

26:23

You breathe without thinking of it at all. And at the same time,

26:29

you breathe deep breathing. You can feel it, your feet meet the ground more strongly when you get surprised.

26:37

And when you let inspiration be automatic,

26:42

after you have first exhaled so that you blow the air out by using your abdominal

26:51

muscles, then you let them be free, relaxed,

26:55

and the air comes in and you don't have to think about it.

26:59

So that kind of automatic inhalation, I think it's very beneficial for voice

27:04

production. And it is also something that everyone can do any time of the day, pretty much, really.

27:10

And it does help with the relaxation, as you were talking about earlier.

27:14

So I think that voice training is important.

27:17

It should be included in the curriculum of all future voice professionals.

27:24

Absolutely, because it would improve the skills needed in a vocal profession.

27:30

And it would make improvement in communicational skills and give pleasure in

27:38

voicing and increase self-confidence. Attendance.

27:42

I couldn't agree more with the way that you explained that we have to be able

27:46

to use our voice in a good way so that you can enjoy your voice and at the same

27:51

time not overstraining it. Someone who has not got very much of voice training in the background,

27:57

not really a professional voice user, but use voice on a regular basis as many

28:02

of us do with work or face-to-face interaction,

28:05

online meeting, and perhaps talking to children at home,

28:08

sometimes shouting at them inevitably what do

28:12

you have in terms of exercises that one can do

28:15

on their free time that is quite adaptable do you

28:18

have any recommendation well i think that these which i already mentioned this

28:22

silent voice training these boundary conditions exercises and then softy some

28:30

nice bubbling into water with a tube trying to keep the bubbles slow Slow,

28:38

steady, without effort.

28:40

These kind of exercises are very good.

28:43

It is important, I think, to realize when there is overstraining and when there is not.

28:52

Because I think that we are very vulnerable. Everybody.

28:57

Also, voice trainers and professional speakers and singers are vulnerable for

29:02

voice problems due to stress.

29:06

And bad working conditions, bad bodily postures and so on.

29:13

So it's very important to feel when your voice is relaxed, when your larynx is in good posture.

29:22

One big reason for voice problems is the fact that we have two opposing,

29:31

very strong, innate mechanisms.

29:36

That of swallowing and that of breathing. We need those, they are vital and

29:42

they are strong and they use the same part of the body.

29:47

And so they are somehow competing.

29:49

And we get not so good results for boys when we start using such muscles and

29:57

muscular patterns that are related to swallowing.

30:02

The larynx goes up and the pharynx gets smaller, the vocal folds get tighter together, and so on.

30:11

These changes are related to swallowing and stress, because these are security actions.

30:20

The main goal there is that you don't get anything in your lungs when you're

30:26

swallowing, so you squeeze your vocal organ.

30:30

And if you start doing that during speaking and singing, that causes you problems.

30:36

You need to use more effort and you increase your vocal loading.

30:42

While those muscular patterns that are related to breathing,

30:47

they open up your vocal tract and spread your vocal folds a bit apart.

30:55

Part and that gives you good basis for relaxed phonation.

31:00

Everybody feels how it is when you swallow and when you breathe and try to make

31:08

yourself remember how these two actions feel and whether you feel something

31:16

while you are phonating. It's good when you don't feel anything. You just feel relaxed and nothing else.

31:24

And that's the goal also during speaking and singing.

31:27

That is a really beautiful explanation because as you say, the larynx is functioned

31:32

as voicing, breathing and swallowing.

31:35

I think that is really, really important to be aware.

31:38

Breathing can really affect your relaxation of your laryngeal muscle,

31:42

providing you breathe in the correct way and not, as you said earlier,

31:47

over panicking inhalations with inspiration.

31:50

I think this is a really interesting session that I've learned so much.

31:55

Well, thank you very much, Professor Larkin. And I think this is such a pleasure

31:58

that we have you in our episode today.

32:02

I hope that everybody finds pleasure of phonation and finds the potential that

32:10

we all have and that we can find when we set our vocal organ free.

32:16

Before we go, do you have anything else you want to tell our audience?

32:21

We are so over controlling very often and instead we can get a lot of potential

32:29

to use from our vocal instrument when we just let it play itself so to say like a musical instrument,

32:40

thank you so much I really like the way you explain this is such a beautiful

32:45

way of looking at voice and particularly learning how to enjoy our voice and

32:50

this is something that we have all in ourselves and we should use it to our

32:53

pleasure economically efficiently and also not overworking it,

32:58

knowing how to preserve it and to exercise it.

33:02

Well, thank you so much again, Professor Larkin. I'm sure our audience will

33:06

really appreciate this episode. Thank you again, and I hope you have a good day. Thank you for listening to

33:11

the UEP podcast today. See you next time.

33:19

We hope you enjoy listening to the UEP Voice Box, a podcast by the Union of

33:23

European Phoneticians. The UEP Voicebox is a podcast created by the Union of European Phoneticians,

33:29

hosted by myself, Shih-Ying He, with sound engineering by Martin Isagunde,

33:33

and produced by Nicky Martinez. For more information, please visit us at www.uep.phonetics.eu or listen to more

33:42

episodes at uepvoicebox.com.

33:45

See you next time.

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