Singer Spotlight: The Artistry Of Whitney Houston

I’ve found success in Hollywood by empowering famous singers and entertainers through my special knowledge of how to expand dramatically the capacity (the power) of the human voice. One of my most remarkable experiences in this regard was teaching the great Whitney Houston, one of the supreme singers in American history. She hired me to help her bring her immortal tones back to life and to rebuild her legendary vocal skills.

Why was Whitney so special? There have been other exceptional singers, some of whom could even outdo Whitney in pure, virtuosic vocal ability, and still others who had more beautiful voices. Furthermore, Whitney's artistry - even when it was at her best - was not always without flaws. For example, she sometimes employed too much vibrato in her sustained tones, and she could sing with excessive force ("Didn't We Almost Have It All" - for both artistic imperfections). So why do we care so much about her? Let's start with the character of the voice itself.

Click to read more ...

How Jack Klugman Regained His Voice After Throat Cancer

Jack Klugman is one of America’s favorite television actors, known mostly for his role as the untidy sports writer Oscar Madison against Tony Randal’s highly neurotic, anal retentive Felix Unger in the hit TV show, The Odd Couple. Jack had successfully battled throat cancer, but unfortunately, one of his vocal folds had to be removed, and his remaining one became permanently scarred due to radiation therapy. His doctors did their best to try to save at least a percentage of his speaking voice by inserting a prosthetic where the cancerous vocal fold had been, but the procedure did little to bring back his voice. Jack was left with a raspy, hardly audible noise for a voice.

When I learned of Jack’s condition, I contacted him and made him an offer that he couldn’t refuse: “I’ll bring your voice back and it won’t cost you a thing.” Jack was despondent; without his voice, life offered him very little. Not only was Jack a great talker, but talking was his life. He openly admitted as much when he told me, “When someone asks me the time, I tell the person the time, about the watch that I wear, where I bought it, and what it’s made of.”

Click to read more ...

A Shot To The Throat: Restoring Larry Carlton's Voice

When I first arrived in Los Angeles, I remember hearing on the evening news that a famous jazz-fusion guitarist, Larry Carlton, was shot in the throat by an intruder on his property in Hollywood Hills. Taken to the trauma center at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank, he arrived in critical condition. Because the bullet passed through his jugular vein, doctors said he could have died instantly; that Larry survived, to be sure, seemed like a miracle. In fact, he made a remarkable recovery but for one problem: the bullet had severed the main nerve to his larynx (the recurrent laryngeal nerve), paralyzed his left vocal fold, and reduced his voice to a whisper.

Click to read more ...

Johnny Bush And Spasmodic Dysphonia

Johnny Bush lived with spasmodic dysphonia for thirteen years. At that time, there was no effective, long-lasting cure for this disorder, so Johnny volunteered his throat for experimentation. Allergy medication, acupuncture, biofeedback, hypnosis and even psychological counseling, were all a part of his desperate attempt to regain his voice. Nothing helped. Part of the problem was that it wasn’t clear what spasmodic dysphonia was; that is, was it a neurological, muscular, or perhaps even a psychosomatic, disorder? No one knew, and to this day, the causes are still unclear, although many are convinced that the condition has neurological basis.

Johnny was tempted to try two invasive techniques that promised the possibility of partial relief. One was a risky operation (developed by Dr. Herbert Dedo), in which the nerve (recurrent laryngeal nerve) responsible for the spasming vocal fold movement is sectioned (severed).

Click to read more ...

Other Damaging Ideas and Techniques In Modern Voice Coaching

The unfounded notions of mask and head resonance, diaphragm support, throat relaxation, breath control, and voice placement—and the absurd exercises that try to teach them—have done serious damage to the students of singing and to the singing art itself. And yet, today there are still other beliefs and techniques that have become popular that are equally as false and hazardous. Various kinds of lip and tongue fluttering vocal exercising, for example, are practiced in many vocal studios worldwide.

Click to read more ...