There are three attacks or ways to sing. The attack is the onset of of the voice. It is what the singer physically thinks and does at very start of the sung tone.
The first attack and the most famous is the diaphragmatic attack. This attack pre supposes that the whole voice should be built upon breath. In this attack the singer does things like taking a lot air into the belly and squeezing the air our very forcefully. Sudden, "ha, ha, ha," movement are used. Or, techniques like, "sing like you are shouting at someone across the street breaking into your car." This attack is very bad for your voice. It is a technique not based on how a good voice works naturally. It was invented by a failed opera singer/coach who invented a scope to look at his vocal cords and came to the assumption that more air was better because it made the vocal cords vibrate and that upper head resonance needed to be pushed and forced out. Singers that use this method suffer from: Vocal fatigue after singing just a couple of hours....to the point where they may be hoarse even the next day, damaged voices and a strained production that often sounds loud but not pleasant. The tone from this attack often sounds very wooden and produced from the chest as it has little overtone.
The second attack is the glottal attack. This involves a sort of coughing that causes the vocal cords to zip up for higher tones. The problem with this attack is that it causes the whole throat and larynx to clench up. So, the voice is literally squeezed through a throat that is forcefully held in a clenched position. This attack is painful and most people that do it very quickly stop because it hurts and causes the singer to produce an unwanted gritty tone, like someone who has been smoking cigarettes most of their life. The only singers who really use this are bad rock singers who scream very badly from the throat and sound like three year olds throwing tantrums.
The third attack is the attack of the mask. The attack of the mask is how the voice is meant to work. Singers who sing naturally well do this instinctively. It can however be very easily taught. The Vocal Release course focuses on the attack of the mask. When you sing with the attack of the mask the voice is free and easy to use. The tone is round, pleasantly forward and resonant. Singing feels as if humming with your mouth open, even on very high and or powerful tones.
It's important to note that the attack of the mask is NOT forcing air through the nose and honking. The vibrations felt in the mask are resonation. This resonant placement becomes the control panel for a singer that knows how to attack the voice from the mask.
The attack of the mask can be used for any style of music, from screaming rock vocals, to light jazz or country or R&B. The attack of the mask produces the best possible vocal tone in any singer.
When you sing using the attack of the mask, breaks disappear instantly. There are no registers. There is no chest, head and middle voice. The whole voice resonates forward into the mask. Breaks and registers and the need to, "blend over the bridge area," are things caused by inferior attacks and vocal instruction. They cause the breaks and registers and bridge areas they are seeking mastery of.
The lowest bass notes and the highest whistle notes are all sung best using the attack of the mask.
The attack of the mask causes breath support to happen by reflex. The wavering you may see in the belly of a great singer is not the singer consciously thinking of diaphragmatic support as the onset of the tone. This is a reflex to a voice properly placed in the mask. There is no conscious thought about how the diaphragm moves in the mind of a good singer.
In fact everything below the mask will happen by reflex. The throat will stay relaxed and open and the vocal cords will stabilize and vibrate and zip as needed. So, you can see how easy learning to attack the voice from the mask makes singing. This is the center point of Vocal Release, learning to attack the voice from the mask.
If you are currently going to a vocal coach or using another online course and it does not teach you to directly and specifically sing using the attack of the mask then you are WASTING YOUR TIME.
The attack of the mask is the one and only end all, ultimate secret of great singing. Vocal Release is the only course that teaches it.
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