Crazy Singing Facts That Could Change Your Career (Part 3 of 5)
Most vocal teachers can’t even really sing themselves.
That when we sing: Sound comes out of our mouths at approximately 75 miles per hour. It is 1/2200 second, from the time that the sound is made until it exits your mouth.
When we approach higher notes, sound pressure builds up in the head often causing people to lose perspective of their pitch. Much like when we have head phones on and hear the same music in another room it sounds “flat” to what we heard in our “pressure” headphones.
Most people think they can’t sing because they aren’t “naturally gifted”. It is true some have more gift than others but it’s like walking. Most everyone can walk if they try.
You should not eat within less than 1 1/2 hours before a show. This will hurt support and cause regurgitation.
You should avoid any carbonated beverages before and during performances.
Adult men and women have different sizes of vocal folds; reflecting the male-female differences in larynx size. Adult male voices are usually lower-pitched and have larger folds. The male vocal folds (which would be measured vertically), are between 17 mm and 25 mm in length. The female vocal folds are between 12.5 mm and 17.5 mm in length. The difference in vocal fold size between men and women causes a difference in vocal pitch.
Vocal nodules are caused over time by repeated abuse of the vocal cords which results in soft, swollen spots on each vocal cord. These spots develop into harder, callous-like growths called nodules. The longer the abuse occurs the larger and stiffer the nodules will become.
The vocal chords (also called vocal folds) are sometimes called ‘true vocal folds’. This is because you also have “false vocal cords”. These are a pair of thick folds of mucous membrane that protect and sit slightly superior to the more delicate true folds. They have a minimal role in normal phonation, but are often used to produce deep sonorous tones in Tibetan chant and Tuvan throat singing, as well as in musical screaming and the death growl vocal style.
The oldest known account of “singing” that can be verified is 3rd millennium BC (approximately) The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BC (classical Sumerian). The earliest literary authors known by name are Shuruppak and Urukagina, dating to ca. the 27th and 24th centuries BC, respectively. Certain literary texts are difficult to date, such as the Egyptian Book of the Dead which was recorded in the Papyrus of Ani around 1240 BC, but other versions of the book probably date from about the 18th century BC. 2600 Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh, including the Instructions of Shuruppak on how to sing the “Kesh temple hymn.”