Since the beginning of the Summer School for the Solo Voice, otolaryngologist Dr. Gore-Hickman has been donating a day to the school each year to help singers learn how to take care of their voices.
Gore-Hickman, clinical assistant professor of surgery at the University of Saskatchewan, has a special interest in vocal care and physiology as it pertains to the singer. He holds educational sessions at SSSV annually, and holds lectures for medical professionals as well.
His lectures at SSSV include an in depth look at the physiology of the voice, video-laryngoscopies of different techniques in singing and speaking as well as video-laryngoscopies and discussions concerning vocal health and care of the voice.
Some of the videos he uses are of school founder Lisa Hornung's vocal cords, so she sits in on the lecture, too.
Opera singers have a "shelf-life" says Gore-Hickman, with sopranos having the shortest, and that shelf-life can be even shorter if proper care isn't taken of the singer's instrument, the voice.
Using video-laryngoscopies of Hornung's vocal cords, Gore-Hickman pointed out their function and what a healthy larynx looks like.
He and Hornung pointed out in the videos, which included sound, how things such as the placement of the tongue, or tension in the surrounding muscles affect the voice.
The videos also showed the source of vibrato in the voice, a sympathetic vibration of the tissue around the larynx.
He also showed video-laryngoscopies of diseased, damaged and aged vocal cords from other subjects, explaining how the various damage can be done and, if they can be repaired treated, how that would be done.
The voice has three purposes, said Gore-Hickman. They are to provide a warming system, to provide a form of communication, and to create music.
The first purpose is the most basic and the most important in terms of human survival, because a warning system can be the difference between life and death.
The second purpose, communication, is less important in terms of survival, but more important than the third purpose. Communication by voice among animals is most developed in the human race.
The third purpose, creating music, is the least important, however, it is the mark of an advanced society, having the leisure to create music, rather than simply find ways to survive.
The more music and singing there is in a society, says Gore-Hickman, the more advanced it is.
But giving a voice to its owner is not the only purpose of the larynx and the vocal cords it contains.
"The openings into the body are well protected," he told SSSV students.
The larynx and vocal cords protect the lungs. If something goes down the tube to the lungs instead of the oesophagus, the vocal cords slam shut, causing you to choke.
The tiny muscles in the area also contain more nerve endings than the much larger gluteus maximus muscles. That explains why we might feel we have to clear our throats or cough when we have a cold or after eating or drinking.
Gore-Hickman and Hornung explained it is the sensations picked up by the multitude of nerve endings telling us the environment has been changed that can fool us into thinking there is actually something on the vocal cords. If there were, they said, referring again to their protective function, the cords would snap shut.
Although regular hydration is crucial to the health of the vocal cords, drinking water to clear them when they feel clogged doesn't work because, again, if the water were actually touching them, they would close.
In these cases, they said, clearing the throat or coughing is tempting, but should be avoided. A better way to make the area feel clearer is to hum or vocalize in some way, or to perform a "silent cough," by blowing air quickly out without making a any vocal sound.
And rest your voice if your vocal cords are inflamed, they emphasized.
