Voice, Greater Voice,
the Greatest Voice

by Alexander Spassky

What vibrations in voice are necessary for a coach so that he would be able, within a one-minute break, mobilize his team to gain victory in the game? What sort of a sound should a player send to his partner so that the latter would understand him within a fraction of a second? What sort on a throat should a fan have so that the referee would here his opinion? And, in general, what do we know about our voice and its potential?

In September of 1994 year the first International conference "Medicine. Self-conscience. Moral. East-West." was held under the auspices of the Peter-the-Great Academy of Science and Art. At this conference was given a presentation entitled "On disclosure of the mystery of Shalyapin's voice". The author has elaborated his own version of explanation of the sound generation mechanism used by that genius singer. He has developed a special methodology using which any person with minimal potential can master this mechanism.
Vladimir Pavlovich Bagrunov graduated from the Department of Psychology of the Saint-Petersburg University in 1969. In those days there was a famous student chorus conducted by maestro Sandler. Vladimir was one of its tenors. It was exactly at that time that he decided to unravel mysteries of singers' voices.

"In most cases we even don't realize, - says Mr. Bagrunov, - the value of the treasure given to us. And usually we don't know how to use this treasure. It is known that a moan of a wounded person is heard at a distance of several kilometers. A yell of a cat which resembles a cry of a child is very loud. And a child's cry can penetrate through walls. This indicates that the power of voice is not at all determined by the vocal chords. As it was proved by a French physiologist R. Yussone, the vocal chords vibrate as a result of the pulses generated by the central nervous system. The cords make the air vibrate at the frequency, prescribed by the central nervous system.

Assume that somebody inflicted pain to you. In your brain core an impulse is generated which controls your chords so that you produce a cry. The cry is fairly loud even if you didn't have time to breath in. This example testifies that the power of sound and its tone are not conditioned by the power of the air flow. Usually it is assumed that the greater is the stroke the louder is the sound. But this is not the case with our voice.

It may seem strange, but Fedor Ivanovich Shalyapin created himself as a singer while acting in a drama theatre. He polished his voice in those two or three phrases he used to say at a performance. His phrases were loud, distinct and melodious.

So he perfected his unique voice producing speech signals. Being asked about the sensation which he used to feel while singing, he answered: "I sing by my heels". Here we get the answer to the question about the source of the vocal power. The power of our voice is determined by resonance.

But it is not only the vocal power that we get from the resonance. Our health also depends upon it. Those frequencies which are generated when we use our voice properly provide therapeutic effect. Long lives of so many outstanding singers testify for that. A prominent professional opera singer Sergey Lemeshev had only one lung but he lived for 76 years.

On the basis of voice analysis one can diagnose physical and mental state of a person. Control of the state of astronauts includes control of their voices. If the tone or the speed of voice goes down it means that people are tired.

Our voice is not only a sign of one's destiny or one's health. Working purposefully with our voice we can make a weapon out of it. It is particularly important for those who practice all kinds of single combat. A combat-cry is used as a means of psychical suppression of enemies from the time immemorial. Using his voice one can both suppress and charm. It is also advisable that the new leaders of the country pay due attention to such a "trifle" as their voices because a better voice would certainly bring more votes to them during elections."

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