An easy way to find your mix is when you moan. Yes, really exaggerate that whiny moan. Notice this makes you sing less loud……….that’s a good thing.
Can you get through your bridge now? Did it make those high notes feel easier? It should because you are tilting your thyroid cartilage.
If it’s not helping much, then take the volume even lower and engage the muscles in the upper part of your abdomen. Do not flip into falcetto. Control that feeling without tensing your throat……….voila, MIX!!
I’ve heard it said that “mix” is dead.
I beg to differ. In my world mix is alive and well.
The term “mix” stems from the speech level singing technique. It’s not some new-found idea for learning how to sing, it’s simply a way of describing balance of resonance when you sing.
Singing in the mix simply means you have the ability to allow the shift of resonance from your “chest voice” to your “head voice” while ascending (and descending) through your entire range.
You can think of mixing as simply allowing the voice to freely move throughout each register….and especially being free in the “middle voice”. This is where register changes (gear shifts) can sometimes cause havoc to a singer. Learning how to control these register shifts simply means you can “sing in your mix”.
Questions? Are you finding your mix?
With speech level singing, one of the main directives is to sing in your mix. Your mixed voice is simply the ability to sing from the bottom of your range to the top of your range without flipping, without raising your larynx, without shouting, and without laryngeal constriction.
There are some sounds that set you up nicely for finding your mix. Try this. Make a puppy dog whimpering sound, or a small child whining sound. This will stretch the vocal cords by tilting the thyroid cartilage forward. Move this sound up slowly into higher pitches. It may feel as though you are still in your chest voice because the cords are not necessarily thinning (although they may thin as well), but they are stretching. This is a necessary set up to get “in the mix”. If you have trouble doing this (because you feel your throat tighten up), then add the feeling of a moan or a groan. Think and say to yourself “oh, poor me” in a whiny higher pitched voice 🙁
Don’t do this loud. Don’t sing it…it’s simply a sound. This coordination will help tilt the cartilage which helps you achieve higher notes. This is the mix. This is stretching the vocal cords.
There is the risk of false cord constriction when making these whining sounds. That’s why you need to practise at a medium volume that matches the volume of your speaking voice. If you find yourself getting louder as you get higher, then stay in the range where the volume is maintained.
You need to visit these sounds everyday! The laryngeal muscles will learn new movements but you need to take it one baby step at a time. If you force the sounds then you are using different muscles, and that isn’t achieving a good mix!
Try it! Questions? Let me know how it goes!