Santa Clarita Magazine readers send me questions every day about the voiceover business. Here’s an interesting one:
Q: Hi Marc: I’ve admired the articles you’ve written on voice acting, and as someone who is contemplating exploring the voice acting arena I’ve appreciated your valuable insights, wisdom and candor. I noticed that you said to a singer, “the strength of your voice comes from your diaphragm and not your lungs.” I’m sorry, but physiologically, the diaphragm is a muscle that (like all muscles) can only move one direction: down. The sole purpose of that movement is to inflate your lungs with air.
After a full excursion of the diaphragm inflates the lungs, a series of abdominal and associated muscles contract creating an excursion upward which essentially pushes air out of the lungs. While the diaphragm goes upward as a part of this movement, it is completely passive. It is, however, this upward force on the lungs that creates breath pressure. And it is this breath pressure that initiates the movement of the vocal cords (or to be more accurate: “vocal folds”). The amount of that breath pressure will determine the dynamic level of the sound produced, which is what we commonly refer to as the “strength” of the voice.
So, in fact, the lungs’ breath pressure really does determine vocal strength. Sorry for going on and on, but as professionals we all want to disseminate accurate information. As a teacher with a Master’s in Voice, I hoped you wouldn’t take it amiss if I added my thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to read this, all the best, —Dave B., Los Angeles, CA
A: David, you’re absolutely right and technically correct. But a strong diaphragm helps narrators take the short, tiny breaths they need in between sentences.
I’ll share more voiceover questions and answers in the coming months. If you have any questions, please write to me and I’ll get back to you.
Cashman Commercials © 2009
Marc Cashman creates and produces copy and music advertising for radio and television. Winner of over 150 advertising awards, he also instructs voice acting of all levels through his classes, The Cashman Cache of Voice-Acting Techniques in Los Angeles, CA, and does One-on-One coaching via phone and the Internet. He can be contacted at cashcomm@earthlink.net or his website, www.cashmancommercials.com .