On May 18th we began our summer workshop tour in Nashville, TN at the incredible Shameless Singing Studio, home of “Be A Singing Teacher!” specialist Lisa Haupert, and her team. After enjoying some down home hospitality, we connected with a Wednesday morning group of vocal professionals from middle school choir teachers, to church choir directors, private studio instructors, college faculty, singers, and even a Nashville studio producer.
 Participants explaining harmonics to one another at the end of Part 1. | Their intentions coming into the workshop ranged from acquiring “Better language for explaining scientific concepts practically to my clients and teachers,” to “More information as to how to connect the scientific information directly to a choral rehearsal,” “More of a knowledge of the science behind the voice,” and “Just a refresher on vocal knowledge.” We worked them through the concepts of nurturing self-observing learners, anatomy, and vocal acoustics from simple to complex, connecting scientific principals with practical application tools. Their experience and insights kept the conversation interesting and applicable. |
Here’s what they had to say about the day:
| The workshop really inspired me to learn more about the intricacies of how the voice works. I think by continuing to study this information, a lot of unanswered questions would be answered! Honestly everything was AMAZING and super applicable to my job. Your explanations of the anatomy, harmonics, and formants were EXTREMELY helpful. The way you simplified them was really special, and you put it into a form that I can now explain to clients. I just loved how you wrapped the intersection between formants and harmonics up in a little bow for me. I’ve been working with those concepts for a while, but just didn't have it all tied together. I really appreciated the information and the way you presented it. | You make complex concepts perfectly understandable, interesting, and (most importantly) applicable and practical to singing right now! I will be using what I learned in just one workshop in the singing teacher classes I teach and with my individual voice clients. I really loved learning about adjusting vowel shapes, learning exercises, and having Laurel demonstrate things with her voice. |
 | A week later in Salt Lake City we had the distinct pleasure of presenting “Acoustic Strategies and Stylistic Variance Translated to the Choral Rehearsal” at the Acoustic Society of America’s annual convention. Our presentation outlined the primary acoustic information that we’ve found useful for singers, and how we help singers acquire and habituate this information in order to facilitate stylistic discovery. |
We also heard presentations on microphone techniques and acoustic manipulation options, vocal fry, applying bel canto techniques in choral rehearsals, impacts of choral configurations on an ensemble’s potential dynamic range, the filter's potential to destabilize the source, intrinsic vowel pitch, the impact of external loudness on singer’s tuning, and perceived brightness in Japanese singers. Reconnecting with many of our PAVA colleagues over dinner, we were reminded of how important it is to share and brainstorm with others who care about the voice and have the courage to ask more questions. Thanks to Ingo Titze, Matt Edwards, Laurier Fagnan, John Nix, Mackenzie Parrott, Karen Titze Cox, Lynn Maxfield, and Megan Walker for all of the fun! The big questions we wrestled with all revolve around continuing to build deeper bonds within the vocal community, and how to break down barriers that keep us apart.
Sharing is the center of our experience, and the past two weeks have affirmed that sharing is indeed a two-way street.
On to connect with the Denver community!
Sharing is the center of our experience, and the past two weeks have affirmed that sharing is indeed a two-way street.
On to connect with the Denver community!
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