Friday Review
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Attention! Voice-users
S. SIVAKUMAR
Photo: R. Shivaji Rao
SPECIALIST: Dr. Prakash Boominathan.
Anne Karpf, former Radio Critic of The Guardian says: “Technology didn’t kill off the voice, as some feared and others believe – in many respects, its importance was enhanced; but the new technologies did help transform it.”
Technology, then found its partner, medicine and these two disciplines have together “touched and felt” the human voice. The Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at Sri Ramachandra University and the Department of Indian Music and the University Industry Community Interaction Centre (UICIC) of the University of Madras have made a collaborative effort in bringing out a course primarily designed for our musicians, our voice-users. Voice Care and Conservation – the course, was formally launched in April this year, on World Voice Day. Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy, Professor and Head of the Department of Indian Music, University of Madras, is the Director of this course. Lt. Col. Professor Ravikumar, ENT surgeon and Assistant Professor Dr. Prakash Boominathan have taken it upon themselves, as coordinators to formulate the course and take it further. Dr. Prakash dwelt at length on how it all began, the phenomenal efforts made, the seminal thinking that had to take place and the progress made:
The need for special research and study about our voice-users…
Work had been afoot for the past nine years, though a formal launching took place much later. We wanted to start with data of its own, as this is really a culture specific issue, and one could not in the first place completely rely on what was already available in books and other research material about the patterns and categories of voice-users, which must have had the Westerners as its study group. When it comes to voice problems the tendency is to think only of voice-disability and voice-handicapped cases, which would be quite different from the domain of voice care and conservation. This warranted study of a different kind and a pioneering one at that. We were able to group voice-users under four types taking the risk element into account.
The formation of the working group…
We formed a working group that had an ENT surgeon, a speech pathologist, a musician, and a music teacher. We looked at vocal hygiene practices and related it to the existing practices that were being followed. For instance, sipping water with regularity, practising pranayama, etc. The next problem was the terminology gap where the client would use the terms like “Mele Ettavillai” or “Pisiru Thattugiradhu” but the case-taker would never comprehend these difficulties and maintain that everything was normal, based on their test results. The doctor on the other hand spoke too much of medical jargon that even scared the patient.
In the case of Carnatic music each guru has his own style of teaching as he begins the fundamental lessons. While varied outputs are welcome these non-standardised methods (unlike those of Hindusthani music) puzzled us as we began our collection of data.
The course — briefly…
While we were doing this study we found that Dr. Prameela Gurumurthy and Dr. S.A.K. Durga were also searching for some kind of help like this and we decided to share our findings that resulted in the collaborative venture that finally lead to the offering of a certificate course based on our research-based conclusions. Participants are put through vocal function exercises, vocal endurance tests, taught about the significance of breath-control in singing. and are also made to realise the difference between open-throated singing and loud singing.
(Dr. Prakash has done his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and has done a special course at the All India Institute of Speech Hearing in Mysore. He says all this good work has been possible with the immense help and guidance of the ENT surgeon, Lt. Col Professor Dr. Ravikumar who had like interests and the same research motive as his.)
* * *
Fact and fiction
Some Myths
•Fasting improves voice
It can only cause disorders.
•Whisper when you have voice problems
Whispering is a vocally abusive activity.
•Psychological shock makes you lose your voice permanently
It is recoverable.
•Snoring is not related to voice as the vocal chords are not put to use
True
Some lurking doubts
•Use of voice during pregnancy to be avoided.
•Relationship between the voice and menstrual cycles exists.
•Oral contraceptives does affect one’s voice.
Some Do’s and Don’ts
The Dos
•Good sleep during the night (7 to 8 hours).
•Respect your voice limits, speak at a comfortable level.
•Good body posture and alignment during singing and speaking.
•Practise giving the voice a few minutes of rest throughout the day.
The Don’ts
•Do not try to speak interminably till you run out of breath.
•Do not clear your throat or cough frequently.
•Do not drink a lot of tea/coffee – that would only lead to dehydration.
* * *
Vocal categories
Elite voice-users: Singers, RJ’s, Dramatists, Actors - where even a slight drop in the voice would result in the risk of losing their jobs (or limelight).
Professional voice-users: Purohits, Church Pastors, Vedic Scholars, Public speakers and politicians with semi- formal training – here the loss of voice runs them into a 50 per cent risk of being de-recognised.
Non-professional voice-users: Teachers and professors with no formal training where a voice-loss would entail losing control of the class, becoming unpopular that may even lead to complaints resulting in loss of job.
Non-professional non-vocal category: Home-makers, people doing clerical jobs and labourers where the risk factor is considerably less. We understood that our recommendations and prescriptions had to be viable to their kind of work and should also seen to be practicable.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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