Deaf Singer wants to improve voice

FadedRose

FadedRose

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Are there any HH singers or Deaf singers here at all?
I can sing on key ( depends on what song it is...no celine dion here!)
but I hate, hate the Deaf accent I have to my voice. I sing better than I speak which I've always thought was strange but I've been singing since I was 5 years old. I was not diagnosed as Deaf until I was 9 but was determined not to let it stop me from wanting to be into the arts, singing, dancing, music what have you.

I know my question may be rather stupid because there really isn't a way to get rid of the Deaf Accent...as a result of my hearing loss I sound just like the singer from nine inch nails trent reznor with a touch of Shirley Manson from Garbage and although it's not a horrible sound I'd like to be able to sound more like Tori Amos. I've been singing with the band Nine Inch Nails for a good 10 years now because his voice and mine are very similar you cannot tell us apart sometimes and as a result I do music similar to his because of my vocal style.

BUT :giggle: :laugh2: It's just not the kind of voice I want. It's not a bad voice but is there any technique I can use vocally to sort of mask, or hide that darned accent when it surfaces? I know there is only so much I can do with my voice but there has to be a way to improve it even if your Deaf.
I've thought about actual vocal lessons but figured once the Teacher knew I was Deaf that they'd just think I was insane to do this but if I didn't have a decent voice I wouldn't even consider it.
If you want a video hearing me sing ( a nine inch nails song ) what I'm good at I'll be more than happy to let you see it to judge what I need to do.

Thanks! I'd love to meet some of ya'll that sing depsite Deafness. I hope I'm not the only one!:eek3:
 
Keep it up!

I don't think my singing in the shower counts but I certainly play a mean piano.
 
I do sing and have sung solos at church within the past 5 years since going total deaf. For some reason I do not have a deaf voice or have been told that I don't. I have a hard time staying on key and for that reason I don't do it much at all. I prefer to play the piano than sing.

My mother, who took voice lessons, swears by the drills and such that she did. Doing chromatic scales while singing different combinations of words. Mainly like:
Lee-ee-lay-ay-lah-ah-ah-ah-ah.
See thee bee flee.
Do you moo too?
How now brown cow.

Those are some that I remember her doing.
 
I remember as a child having a wine cork between my teeth during speech therapy. I don't remember how long this continued but I was told it made a difference. Jeez.
 
Beowulf said:
I remember as a child having a wine cork between my teeth during speech therapy. I don't remember how long this continued but I was told it made a difference. Jeez.
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Seriously? I've never heard of this before .. Ugh, that must've been uncomfortable!
 
Hohtopics said:
It might be helpful to see a speech pathologist on this. The speech pathologist could give you some exercises you could do at home to improve your oral and chest resonance and to decrease nasality.

In the meantime, the following sites might be of some help:

Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss - Welcome to AAMHL!

H.E.A.R. | Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers | www.hearnet.com

Good luck!
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Thank you! I do plan to go back to my speech pathologist to get back to doing the exercises to improve my speech-It's not as good as it used to be when I had lessons. I started when I was 3 and didnt' stop til I was 19 with speech therapy. Decreasing the nasal sound to my voice is something that'd be a dream come true even in speaking voice too.

Thanks for the links!

S.
 
AlleyCat said:
Seriously? I've never heard of this before .. Ugh, that must've been uncomfortable!
Click to expand...

I never had that done but I had to have a straw in my mouth to learn how to pronounce the 'S' sound and then after I blew through it holding it up behind my front teeth it'd be removed and I'd have to "pretend" there was a straw there.

I'm Oral Deaf, ASL was forbidden when I was being taught how to speak. :shock: yep. I graduated in 2000 so it wasn't that long ago. Oralism is still strong and alive. I never learned of Deaf Culture until I did some searching and found this website and others. Since then I've learned so much that I was never taught then.

What was the wine cork for? Or supposed to help?
 
Beowulf said:
I remember as a child having a wine cork between my teeth during speech therapy. I don't remember how long this continued but I was told it made a difference. Jeez.
Click to expand...

What? :shock: Did they ever give you the reason or purpose for doing this??
 
AlleyCat said:
Seriously? I've never heard of this before .. Ugh, that must've been uncomfortable!
Click to expand...

Jaspheth said:
I never had that done but I had to have a straw in my mouth to learn how to pronounce the 'S' sound and then after I blew through it holding it up behind my front teeth it'd be removed and I'd have to "pretend" there was a straw there.

I'm Oral Deaf, ASL was forbidden when I was being taught how to speak. :shock: yep. I graduated in 2000 so it wasn't that long ago. Oralism is still strong and alive. I never learned of Deaf Culture until I did some searching and found this website and others. Since then I've learned so much that I was never taught then.

What was the wine cork for? Or supposed to help?
Click to expand...

Babyblue said:
What? :shock: Did they ever give you the reason or purpose for doing this??
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I don't recall the exact terminology for this method, but it had something to do with voice resonance. Hasn't anyone else in here gone through the same thing?
 
Beowulf said:
I don't recall the exact terminology for this method, but it had something to do with voice resonance. Hasn't anyone else in here gone through the same thing?
Click to expand...

No never.. I went through speech therapy from the age of 4 to 18. Never had any type of object put in my mouth for speech therapy.
 
I know my daughter had to suck on a Charms Blow-Pop during speech therapy, but that was to strengthen her oral facial muscles. The therapist would pull of the pop and daughter would have to hold it in her mouth without using her teeth.
 
That although I don't think I tried this method, putting the wine cork between the teeth, I think it may have something to do with trying to make the voice come out of the throat more.
 
I don't remember any kind of object being in my mouth (e.g. cork or straw, etc.) when I was learning to speak. But I may have forgotten. But sounds like most of the replies above didn't use anything either ... Probably just a method used by some, and not others.
 
I know my daughter's first 2-3 speech therapists were trying a variety of things to strengthen muscles in my daughter's neck and face so that speech would be a little easier. It took 3-4 years before anyone could understand her and before she spoke in full sentences. By that time, she was 7. Now, at 17, if she's real tired or overly excited, she slips into sloppy speech again, and I have to stop her and remind her to "take a deep breath, think about what you are going to say and try again". That usually does it, but she is beginning to get sloppy a lot these days.
 
My sister is a very talented amateur actress, majored in theater and still does a lot of community theater. I think she did the wine cork thing or something similar to work on articulation and projection.

Here's an article talking about professionals who do voice-over work. The author discusses this wine cork exercise:

"How to Care for Your Voice"

Cashman has a series of exercises to strengthen the voice, as well as the actor's diction and clarity. "Hold your top and bottom teeth together gently and go through a series of tongue twisters, forcing your lips to do the work," he suggests. Another exercise he recommends is to put a wine cork halfway in your mouth, then try to read copy as clearly as possible. "The clearer you are with the cork," he says, "the better you will be without it."
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