How to Sing: Finding Mix with SOVT Exercises

FINDING MIX WITH SOVT EXERCISES

SOVT (semi-occluded vocal tract) exercises are exercises made with a partial occlusion or covering of the mouth opening. Dr. Ingo Titze, one of the world’s foremost vocologists, encourages semi-occluded phonation, such as straw phonation, as a means of developing mix.

Mixed voice has to do with vocal fold adduction, the bottom of the vocal fold is adducted halfway. It is not dominated by TA contraction, and also not dominated by CT contraction….(adduction is) inferior to superior adduction, or bottom to top.

The mixed register can be achieved in virtually all pitches. Mixed voice lies exactly between head and chest voice, and the feel should always be that you are halfway between chest voice and falsetto.

Mixed voice can be reinforced with vocal tract resonance, and the semi-occluded vocal tract techniques help to do that. They produce an inertance effect that helps the vocal folds in sustaining their vibration. There will be a positive pressure in the vocal tract when you semi-occlude it at the lips. This net positive pressure helps to keep the vocal folds slightly separated so that there is not a strong collision between the vocal folds.

That in and of itself is beneficial and allows one to use full lung pressure and a full range of pitches without incurring any injury… The first effect is the steady back-pressure throughout the entire oral and pharyngeal cavity.

That pressure spreads the vocal folds apart to avoid excessive collision and keeps the amplitude of vibration small. The second effect is an acoustic one, which depends on the inertance of the combined straw with the vocal tract. This inertance lowers the phonation threshold pressure and assists the vocal folds in their self-sustained vibration.

I am a strong believer in the technique of reducing lip opening and widening in the pharynx for both males and females in the range of C4-C5. The effect is greatest when the occlusion is the narrowest.

But it is not necessarily wise to always begin with the most extreme occlusion. It depends on how warmed-up you are. As far as the length (of the straw) is concerned, it is of much less significance than the diameter.

Transcript from the October 2, 2011 NATS Chat with Dr. Ingo Titze of The National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS).

And Dr. Hubert Noe tells us: Vocalizing with a more closed mouth and a semi-occluded vocal tract is beneficial in learning to mix because this method of vocalization creates a “feedback” of acoustic energy or power while preventing singers from over-adducting the vocal folds as the pitch rises.

The closed mouth helps the singer to transition from the first formant to the second formant, which is influenced primarily by the position of the tongue front or back and does not depend that much on the opening of the mouth. (Dr. Hubert Noé 2016).

Straw Phonation

Straw phonation is all the rage these days- and with good reason! Vocalizing through a small straw without allowing air to escape from the lips has many important benefits. And, the smaller the straw, the greater the benefits!

For environmental reasons, try to find re-usable straws rather than plastic. There are several options these days for beautiful metal straws that singers wear as jewelry.

• Straw phonation allows us to sing through our entire range with less vocal fold collision-and thus less trauma to the folds.
•  Straw phonation provides increased back-pressure in the vocal tract: when the mouth is partially closed, (semi-occluded) as it is when surrounding a straw, more of the pressure in the vocal tract is forced to stay in the vocal tract and more pressure is reflected back from the lips to the folds. This back-pressure resets the folds in a better position to mix.
• The more back-pressure there is in the vocal tract, the easier the vocal folds vibrate/oscillate, creating greater efficiency and reducing fatigue.
• Semi occluded straw phonation encourages an easy transition through the primo passaggio. Try sliding on an octave, then the two-octave siren using the straw.
• Straw-phonate a melody several times, then sing the melody on a syllable like n[ei] or gug, and finally the words of a song to create the correct muscle memory.
• Start with a larger straw, pinched off at the bottom, and work your way to smaller straws.
• It’s ok to let your cheeks puff out.
• For best results, use a committed, energetic approach. Go for it!