Everybody sings! The how and wow of your voice
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Whether you hum in the shower or yodel on stage, you can make music with your voice! But what’s going on inside of your body when you do it? And are there ways to change how your voice sounds?
Molly and co-host Kate will explore these questions and more in this episode all about singing. They’ll join Marc to watch a famous opera star do her thing and learn about what happens in our bodies when we sing. They’ll hear samples of everything from throat singing to rock and roll. Plus they'll chat with voice teacher and opera singer Mikalia Bradberry about all the ways we can learn to control our voice and sing in different styles – from Broadway belting to crooning like Taylor Swift. Plus, a noteworthy mystery sound!
Featured expert: Read more about opera singer and voice teacher Mikalia Bradberry here.
Audio Transcript
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KATE: You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.
CHILD: Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
CARMELINA TERRACOTTA: Hello, friends. I'm Carmelina Terracotta. You know, the famous opera singer? You've probably read about me in O Sole Mio Monthly, or perhaps in the Puccini Papers.
I'm so flattered that the wonderful people at Brains On have invited me to headquarters to perform a few of my favorite pieces of music. But first, I just need to do the warm-up exercises I learned in opera school. They're very serious, you know, and dignified and not silly at all. [CLEARS THROAT]
[VOCALIZING]
Why was Washington's white woolen underwear unwashed? Washington's underwear washer went wobbly.
[VOCALIZING]
(SINGING) Billy Bob Billy blabbered backstage
About what he blabbered Billy Bob blabbered boldly
Mi, mi, mi, mi, my mother met many mammoths in Montana
Many mammoths in Montana
Montana
Oh. [CLEARS THROAT] Excuse me.
(SINGING) Mi re la sol mi
Lance the large llama layered lipstick on his lips
Lance the large llama layers lipstick on his lips
Lance the large llama layers lipstick on his lips
Frankie flaunted her phenomenal flatulence fragrantly and frequently
Frankie flaunted her phenomenal flatulence fragrantly and frequently
Pi, pay, pa, po, po, pa, pay, pi
Yes! That should do it, I think. On with the show!
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to Brains On from APM Studios. I'm Molly Bloom, and my co-host today is Kate from Belton, Texas. Hi, Kate.
KATE: Hi, Molly.
MOLLY BLOOM: Today's episode was inspired by a question that you sent to us.
KATE: Yeah, I wanted to know, why are some people better at singing than others?
MOLLY BLOOM: So what made you think of this question?
KATE: I was just listening to music. And I was like, oh, everyone sounds a little bit different, and some sound a little bit better than others. So I wanted to know why that happened.
MOLLY BLOOM: Do you like to sing?
KATE: I do theater, so I sing sometimes in musicals, but I don't sing often.
MOLLY BLOOM: Where do you find yourself singing? So it sounds like you do it like in musicals. Do you ever just sing around the house?
KATE: Yes, I'll just belt in the shower and around the house.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, shower is an excellent place for singing. So what is your favorite kind of music to sing in the shower?
KATE: I like singing popular songs and Disney songs, all kinds of songs.
MOLLY BLOOM: So what's the one you start with? It's like, OK, this is my jam for the shower.
KATE: I like singing "Shake It Off" from Taylor Swift.
MOLLY BLOOM: Ooh, yes. And what Disney songs do you like to do?
KATE: I like to sing like songs from Beauty and the Beast, like "Be Our Guest." I was in that show, so I know a lot of the songs.
MOLLY BLOOM: Fun. So fun. So are you comfortable singing in front of other people, like a solo by yourself?
KATE: I'm singing small solos, but not long ones. So I like singing short, small ones.
MOLLY BLOOM: Would you describe yourself as a confident singer, or do you feel like you want to be more confident?
KATE: I would like to be more confident and have longer solos.
MOLLY BLOOM: So if there's a singer's voice out there who you really admire, who you're like, if I can make my voice sound like anyone's, I would want to sound like that person, who would that be?
KATE: I'd want to sound like Olivia Rodrigo because she has a really interesting sound. And I really like it.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, yeah, yeah. Her voice is like-- she can do so many different things with her voice. She's one of my favorites, too, for sure. So, would you say, for you, singing is fun?
KATE: Yeah, it's pretty fun to sing really loud.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, I also love singing. I'm in a choir, and we sing all sorts of music. And harmonizing with the people in my choir is one of my favorite things to do. And even if I don't sound like Olivia Rodrigo or Mariah Carey, I sing like me. And the more I sing, the more confident I get.
KATE: Singing is like a muscle. If you practice and learn how to use your voice in certain ways, your singing will get stronger and stronger.
MOLLY BLOOM: In fact, singing starts with your muscles. You use lots of different muscles in your body to do this seemingly simple act.
KATE: Like muscles in your chest, back, throat, and even your stomach.
MOLLY BLOOM: And lucky for us, there's a concert happening today at Brains On headquarters. It's that famous opera singer, Carmelina Terracotta, and she's singing just down the hall in the performatorium. We can catch a few minutes of her performance. I got Marc to save us some seats, Kate. Let's go.
KATE: Wow. This is a huge stage.
MOLLY BLOOM: It is. Oh, there's Marc. Let's grab those seats next to him and see if he brought any good concert snacks. Hi, Marc. Whoa, big crowd today.
KATE: Yeah, thanks for saving us these seats.
MARC SANCHEZ: My pleasure. Are you ready for the show? I'm a huge fan of Carmelina Terracotta.
KATE: I've never heard her sing before.
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, you are in for a treat. Her voice is like a sweet, little songbird surfing on a river of smooth caramel. Ooh, that reminds me. Do you guys want some caramel corn?
MOLLY BLOOM: Does a bear poop in the woods? Does a bird say chirp, chirp, and also poop in the woods? You bet I want some caramel corn.
[MUNCHING]
MARC SANCHEZ: And check this out. I brought my Crunch Canceling Mouth Mist.
MOLLY BLOOM: Your what the what?
MARC SANCHEZ: Crunch Canceling Mouth Mist. Just spray some in your kisser, and it cancels out all snacky sounds so you don't disturb the concert.
KATE: Let me try.
[SPRAYS]
Now a mouthful of caramel corn, extra kernels, and-- whoa, no sounds. Awesome idea, Marc.
MARC SANCHEZ: I'm full of awesome ideas-- and caramel corn, but mostly awesome ideas. Oh, and check it out. I also brought the Brains On Slow-Mo Ray.
[CLUNKING]
KATE: What's that for?
MARC SANCHEZ: Well, I'm such a big fan of Carmelina's singing that I didn't want to miss a single millisecond of her performance. I brought the Slow-Mo Ray so we could all slowly savor every note.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, Kate and I did want to talk about how singing uses lots of different muscles in your body. If you slow-mo Carmelina when she starts singing, we can really get into all the details.
KATE: The lights just got dimmer. I think the show is starting. Pass the caramel corn, please.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight's concert comes to you live from inside Brains On headquarters, featuring a performance from celebrated opera singer Carmelina Terracotta.
[APPLAUSE]
CARMELINA TERRACOTTA: Thank you all so much. What a privilege to be here at Brains On HQ. I thought Carnegie Hall was a spectacular venue, but this is by far the fanciest stage I've ever stood upon. Without further ado, maestro, if you will.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC]
MARC SANCHEZ: OK, Slow-Mo Ray, work your magic. (IN SLOW-MO) Slow down.
[MUSIC SLOWING]
KATE: Cool. OK, so singing starts with the lungs.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes, and also a stretchy flat sheet of muscle called the diaphragm that sits right below the lungs. When you breathe in, the diaphragm pulls downwards, stretching your lungs and pulling air into them. The muscles of your belly also expand, making room for all that air. One of the first things that professional singers learn is how to pull air down towards their belly to make sure their lungs stretch all the way out and get nice and full.
KATE: And then the air has to come back out.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes, the muscles around your stomach, back, and rib cage all help control the air and push it back out through the throat. That's where the air goes through the voice box and passes through something called the vocal cords.
KATE: Oh, I know about those. Your vocal cords are a couple of folded stretchy curtains at the back of your throat.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. The air passing through those curtains in your throat gets chopped up into really small, really fast puffs.
KATE: That's why if you put your hand on your throat while you hum or sing, you can feel your vocal cords vibrating.
MOLLY BLOOM: We can't hear the puffs of air because they're happening way too fast for our brains to process. Instead, we hear the vibrations they make.
MARC SANCHEZ: (SINGING) And then the singing happens!
MOLLY BLOOM: (SINGING) Not quite yet, Marc!
There's even more that goes into singing. Next, we control the sounds that come out of our mouths with our throat and tongue muscles. Our lips and tongues control the shape of what we're singing, making syllables and words.
(SINGING) La, la, like this!
KATE: So if you want to sing a high note--
[SINGS HIGH NOTE]
--your throat muscles will get tighter. And if you want to sing a low note--
MARC SANCHEZ: Your throat muscles relax. [CHUCKLES] Neat.
MOLLY BLOOM: And it gets even neater. Lots of singers can focus on where they want their voice to vibrate in their body.
KATE: And that changes how they're singing sounds.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. If Carmelina Terracotta wanted her voice to sound higher and a little thinner, she could use her throat and tongue muscles to send her vocal vibrations up into her head and face, like (IN HIGH VOICE) this. That's called head voice. But if she wanted the sound to be bigger and rounder, she could send those vibrations to her chest, (IN DEEP VOICE) like this. That's called chest voice.
MARC SANCHEZ: Speaking of Carmelina, Marc, could you turn her back to regular speed so we can actually hear what she's singing?
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, if you keep her on slow-mo, all we're going to hear are those flappy puffs of air.
MARC SANCHEZ: OK, I guess you're right. (IN DEEP VOICE) Speed up.
[CARMELINA SINGING OPERA]
[CLASSICAL MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: Wow.
KATE: I know. What an amazing performance.
MOLLY BLOOM: You know what else is amazing? The--
CREW 1: Shh. (WHISPERING) Mystery Sound.
MOLLY BLOOM: Are you ready for the mystery sound, Kate?
KATE: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
[RUSTLING]
[CHEWING]
[RUSTLING]
[CHEWING]
What do you think, Kate?
KATE: I think that it might be like somebody chewing something, maybe like a dog eating food. That's what it kind of sounds like.
MOLLY BLOOM: Definitely sounded like chewing to me. Where do you think they were chewing? What did you hear?
KATE: I kind of heard maybe grass. Or maybe it's like an animal eating something.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent ears. OK, so your guess right now is maybe a dog outside eating grass?
KATE: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Wonderful. OK, we're going to hear the sound again, get another chance to guess, and then hear the answer after the credits at the end of the show.
We are working with our friends at Radiolab on an episode about naming objects in space, and it got us wondering about Earth's moon. Other planets in our solar system have moons with awesome names like Ganymede and Narvi. Why is Earth's moon just called "moon"? So we want to know if you had to give our moon a new name, what would it be? Kate, what would you name the moon?
KATE: Maybe I think I would call it Earth, Jr., because it's a mini Earth, it's right next to Earth and smaller than it. So, maybe Earth, Jr.
MOLLY BLOOM: I like Earth, Jr. Listeners, we want to hear from you, too. What do you think Earth's moon should be named? Record your moon name, tell us why you think it's cool, and send it to us at brainson.org/contact. While you're there, send us your mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
KATE: Like this one.
CALLER: Why do we have reflexes?
MOLLY BLOOM: You can find answers to questions like these on the Moment of Um Podcast, a short dose of facts and fun every weekday. Find the Moment of Um and more at brainson.org.
KATE: So keep listening.
CREW 2: Brains On Universe is a family of podcasts for kids and their adults. Since you're a fan of Brains On, we know you'll love the other shows in our universe. Come on, let's explore.
[FIRING]
ROBOT: Entering Brains On Universe.
[GLIMMERING]
To find my favorite podcasts.
[KEY BEEPING]
Brains On.
[KEY BEEPING]
Smash Best.
[KEY BEEPING]
Forever Ago. [GASPS] Picking up signal. Forever Ago, the history show hosted by Joy Dolo.
JOY DOLO: Welcome to--
[REGAL MUSIC]
--Joy's Hall of Stalls. Every door in this hall leads to a different model of toilet from throughout history. You want to potty like it's 1999?
[DANCE MUSIC]
Right this way.
[KEY BEEPING]
ROBOT: [GASPS] Zorp. Where did the signal go? Must find Forever Ago now!
[LAUNCHING]
CREW 2: Listen to Forever Ago wherever you get your podcasts.
CREW 3: Brains On, On, On.
KATE: You're listening to Brains On from APM Studios. I'm Kate.
MOLLY BLOOM: And I'm Molly. So far, we've learned that singing is a full body experience.
KATE: It takes so many different body parts working together to make this sound--
[CAMELINA SINGING OPERA]
MOLLY BLOOM: The cool thing about the human voice is that it's capable of so many different sounds and singing styles.
KATE: Like throat singing.
[MAN THROAT SINGING]
MOLLY BLOOM: This is a kind of singing done by Inuit people in Northern Canada and also by people in Central Asia and in South Africa. People who are able to throat sing can sing more than one note at the same time.
KATE: They use their jaws and spaces in their mouth to do this.
MOLLY BLOOM: It's complicated to explain and hard to do, but awesome to listen to.
KATE: Then there's yodeling.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's when singers use the muscles in their throats to flip from their chest voice to their head voice really quickly.
KATE: Chest voice can sound like this.
MOLLY BLOOM: (SINGING) La, la, la
It's when you sing from your chest.
KATE: And head voice can sound like this--
MOLLY BLOOM: (SINGING) La, la, la
It's when the sound resonates more in your head.
KATE: So when you flip back and forth from your chest voice to your head voice, it sounds like this.
[MAN YODELING]
MOLLY BLOOM: This kind of singing is found all over the world, from Austrian folk music--
[RENATO BUI & MARTA WILD, "YODEL OF JOY"]
--to Central African hunting songs--
[BAKA BAMBUKÉ, "ETUDES DE JODIS"]
--to Persian classical music--
[SIMA BINA, "ESFAHAN, KHODJASTEH"]
--to country Western music.
[TONY VICE & JERRY BURNHAM, "LET'S RIDE INTO THE SUNSET TOGETHER"]
KATE: And there are so many other qualities the voice can produce.
MOLLY BLOOM: The powerful roundness of opera.
[OPERA SINGING]
KATE: The brassy confidence of a Broadway belt.
WOMAN: (SINGING) Being alive
MOLLY BLOOM: The lilt of Indian classical music.
[JEAN PAUL LE GOFF & KAKALI SENGUPTA, "TEMPLE'S VOICE"]
KATE: And the crunchy roar of rock and roll.
[HEAVY METAL]
MOLLY BLOOM: And that is only a teeny, tiny sample of the huge variety of singing styles used around the world. We wanted to learn more about how the human voice is capable of so many different sounds. So we've invited Mikalia Bradberry to join us today. Hi, Mikalia.
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Hi.
KATE: She is an opera singer and voice teacher from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Welcome, Mikalia.
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Thanks, Kate.
KATE: What are the different ways we can control the quality of our voice when we're singing?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: That's a great question. So we can control the quality of our voice in many different ways. kind of like how we sit or stand, our posture, how much breath we use, and how we use our articulators, like our lips, our tongue, our jaw, our voice is unique in that we can use language to articulate, which is different than any other musical instrument.
KATE: Let's say we wanted to sound like an opera singer. How do we change our singing to do that?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: So there are a couple of different ways we do that. We do it by vibrating on every note. Opera singers use vibrato on every single note that they sing most of the time. And we use our vowels and shape our vowels to become taller and rounder. So, for example--
[OPERA SINGING]
MOLLY BLOOM: So what did you do in your body and your head and your mouth to do that?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: It's kind of like if you yawn, [YAWNS] you kind of feel the cool air rush into that place, and your soft palate naturally lifts. So you just continue to kind of do that as you sing, and kind of keep your soft palate up.
MOLLY BLOOM: Do you want to try that, Kate? Make that yawn sound and see if you can open up your--
KATE: Ah.
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Mm-hmm.
KATE: How could you try to sing like Taylor Swift?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: The style of Taylor Swift is probably going to be a little more relaxed in certain ways and not as that bright sound that we think of when we think of musical theater. So you would kind of think about, like I said, relaxing your vowels a little bit, not so much, not so round as an opera singer, and a little bit different than someone who sings musical theater.
So it would be a little more relaxed, but you would still be using the same muscles as you'd use if you sang opera or sang musical theater. It's really about, like I said, those articulators and how you're changing your articulators, how you're changing your tongue and where your soft palate is and things like that.
KATE: What are some exercises we could do to become a more confident singer?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: The things I like to start with first when I'm teaching my students is breath, because all life starts with breath and breathing. So I start with things like lip trills--
[TRILLS LIPS]
--really figuring out how to support your breath and things like hissing--
[HISSES]
--and humming.
[HUMS]
Really getting your breath muscles moving and then putting tone on those things. So--
[TRILLING LIPS]
And humming furthermore.
[HUMMING]
And then starting to put vowels into things.
[SINGING OPERA]
So, things like that. Those are the kind of exercises you can start with to become more of a confident singer.
KATE: And so, for people who are trying to figure out how to pull in air through their diaphragm, are there ways they can kind of like feel it on their bodies, like tips you would give for kids who this is like a totally new thing for?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Yes, so I like to think of breathing and singing like blowing up a balloon, right? So let's pretend we blow up our balloon.
[BLOWING]
We blew our balloon up, and then we want to slowly let the air out, right? If we just let the balloon go, the air would just fly out, and it would fly across the room. But if we let the air out slowly, that's kind of how we think about support. So if we're the balloon and we breathe, we want to breathe kind of everywhere below our midsection.
We don't want to breathe as much up near our chest because that's what's called clavicular breathing, near our clavicle. And that's the kind of breathing that kind of runners use. When running a marathon, they want to get short, quick breaths in and out. Singers want to sustain their breath a little more, so we tend to breathe low. And you can kind of put your hands on your front and your back and your sides and kind of really feel them expand.
MOLLY BLOOM: So cool.
KATE: So what advice would you give to kids that feel like they're not very good singers?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: I would say, first of all, it's OK not to be good at something at first. Everyone is new at something, and it's OK to feel like you're not great at something to start off with. I would also say to sing more. Don't sing less. Sing in your shower or in your bathroom at bath time. Sing for your pets if they're willing to listen, if they like a tune.
Sing for your family, sing for your friends, sing in a choir. Molly talked about singing in a choir. And that's where I really started my singing journey, and that's where I really gained a lot of confidence in singing, is singing with other people. And then that's where I really learned about classical music as well. So shout out to all my music educators who helped me in choir, in school.
And I would say, if you're not a confident singer or you feel like you're not a good singer, know that it's also OK to be nervous. Everybody gets nervous. The most famous people in the world still get nervous. I would also say to practice. Practice, practice, practice. Practice is where you really gain your understanding of your body and your voice. And find voice lessons if you can or join a choir.
MOLLY BLOOM: So, for kids, they have these different singers they admire, like Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift. Or maybe they're Broadway stars, or maybe they love opera. Those are all very different kinds of singing. So how do you make the best version of your own voice, rather than trying to sound like someone else?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: That's a great question. I would say to not try and sound like anybody else, really. Just really sing in the ways that feel comfortable and healthy for you. And you can try to imitate the things that they do, but you really have your own special voice that you were born with. And that's a wonderful thing. It's a wonderful thing for everyone to have their own individual, unique voice. So, sing in the ways that you feel comfortable in and that really help your voice shine.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent advice. Would you mind singing a little for us?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: (SINGING) Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
KATE: Aw, that was beautiful.
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Thank you.
MOLLY BLOOM: So good. Wow.
KATE: What a delight to hear you sing. Thank you, Mikalia.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: There are tons of different ways that people sing all around the world, from throat singing to Broadway belting.
KATE: When we sing, we use lots of different muscles in our bodies, including our lungs, stomach, throat, and back.
MOLLY BLOOM: We use those muscles to push air from our lungs out through a part of our throat called the voice box.
KATE: In the voice box, the air vibrates through folds of muscles, and we hear those vibrations as notes.
MOLLY BLOOM: We can change how the notes sound by tightening or relaxing those muscles. The notes vibrate in our head or our chest, and that changes the sound of our singing voice, too.
KATE: Singers can learn how to control how their voices vibrate to get a specific sound.
MOLLY BLOOM: Because singing uses so many different muscles, the more we sing, the stronger those muscles get.
KATE: So whether you prefer singing on stage or in the shower, you can get more confident with practice.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this episode of Brains On.
KATE: This episode was written by--
MOLLY BLOOM: Molly Bloom.
KATE: And--
MOLLY BLOOM: Anna Goldfield.
KATE: Our editors are--
SANDEN TOTTEN: Sanden Totten
KATE: And--
SHAHLA FARZAN: Shahla Farzan.
KATE: Fact-checking by--
JESS MILLER: Jess Miller.
MOLLY BLOOM: We had engineering help from Alex Simpson, Mike Hamilton, and Josh Beard, with sound design by--
RACHEL BREES: Rachel Brees.
MOLLY BLOOM: Original theme music by--
MARC SANCHEZ: Marc Sanchez.
KATE: We had production help from the Brains On Universe team--
ROSIE DUPONT: Rosie duPont.
NICO GONZALEZ WISLER: Nico Gonzalez Wisler.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Ruby Guthrie.
LAUREN HUMPERT: Lauren Humpert.
JOSHUA RAY: Joshua Ray.
MARC SANCHEZ: Marc Sanchez.
CHARLOTTE TRAVER: Charlotte Traver.
ANNA WEGGEL: Anna Weggel.
KATE: And--
ARON WELDESELASSIE: Aron Weldeselassie.
MOLLY BLOOM: Beth Perlman is our executive producer, and the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Special thanks to Jennifer Mears Jones and Claire.
KATE: Brains On is a non-profit Public Radio program.
MOLLY BLOOM: There are lots of ways to support the show. Subscribe to Brains On Universe on YouTube, where you can watch animated versions of some of your favorite episodes, or head to brainson.org.
KATE: While you're there, you can send us mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK, Kate, are you ready to hear the mystery sound again?
KATE: I am ready.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. Here it is.
[RUSTLING]
[CHEWING]
[RUSTLING]
[CHEWING]
Last time, you thought a dog outside chewing grass. Do you have new thoughts?
KATE: Um, I think I'm going to stick with it, except for I think maybe not a dog. Maybe like a farm animal, like a cow or something.
MOLLY BLOOM: Mm, I love that idea. I love that. I have no other guess. I don't know what it is either. I think a cow chewing outside some grass sounds good to me. Should we hear the answer?
KATE: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
AUDREY: Hi, my name is Audrey, and I'm from Sydney, Australia. That was the sound of a horse eating hay. The horse's name is Georgie, and he is my grandparents' Shetland pony. I loved to ride him when I was younger, and now I just take care of him when I go to the country to visit my grandparents.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey!
KATE: OK.
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm impressed.
KATE: I was kind of right.
MOLLY BLOOM: You were. You were absolutely right. Nice work.
KATE: Thank you.
MOLLY BLOOM: Have you hung out with horses before?
KATE: I've seen horses at petting zoos, and I like horses. They're really cool animals.
MOLLY BLOOM: So cool. Nice work.
[CHEWING]
Now it's time for the Brains Honor Roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives.
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
[UPBEAT MUSIC] Brains Honor Roll
MOLLY BLOOM: We'll be back next week with an episode all about seahorses.
KATE: Thanks for listening.
CHILD: Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
CARMELINA TERRACOTTA: Hello, friends. I'm Carmelina Terracotta. You know, the famous opera singer? You've probably read about me in O Sole Mio Monthly, or perhaps in the Puccini Papers.
I'm so flattered that the wonderful people at Brains On have invited me to headquarters to perform a few of my favorite pieces of music. But first, I just need to do the warm-up exercises I learned in opera school. They're very serious, you know, and dignified and not silly at all. [CLEARS THROAT]
[VOCALIZING]
Why was Washington's white woolen underwear unwashed? Washington's underwear washer went wobbly.
[VOCALIZING]
(SINGING) Billy Bob Billy blabbered backstage
About what he blabbered Billy Bob blabbered boldly
Mi, mi, mi, mi, my mother met many mammoths in Montana
Many mammoths in Montana
Montana
Oh. [CLEARS THROAT] Excuse me.
(SINGING) Mi re la sol mi
Lance the large llama layered lipstick on his lips
Lance the large llama layers lipstick on his lips
Lance the large llama layers lipstick on his lips
Frankie flaunted her phenomenal flatulence fragrantly and frequently
Frankie flaunted her phenomenal flatulence fragrantly and frequently
Pi, pay, pa, po, po, pa, pay, pi
Yes! That should do it, I think. On with the show!
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to Brains On from APM Studios. I'm Molly Bloom, and my co-host today is Kate from Belton, Texas. Hi, Kate.
KATE: Hi, Molly.
MOLLY BLOOM: Today's episode was inspired by a question that you sent to us.
KATE: Yeah, I wanted to know, why are some people better at singing than others?
MOLLY BLOOM: So what made you think of this question?
KATE: I was just listening to music. And I was like, oh, everyone sounds a little bit different, and some sound a little bit better than others. So I wanted to know why that happened.
MOLLY BLOOM: Do you like to sing?
KATE: I do theater, so I sing sometimes in musicals, but I don't sing often.
MOLLY BLOOM: Where do you find yourself singing? So it sounds like you do it like in musicals. Do you ever just sing around the house?
KATE: Yes, I'll just belt in the shower and around the house.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, shower is an excellent place for singing. So what is your favorite kind of music to sing in the shower?
KATE: I like singing popular songs and Disney songs, all kinds of songs.
MOLLY BLOOM: So what's the one you start with? It's like, OK, this is my jam for the shower.
KATE: I like singing "Shake It Off" from Taylor Swift.
MOLLY BLOOM: Ooh, yes. And what Disney songs do you like to do?
KATE: I like to sing like songs from Beauty and the Beast, like "Be Our Guest." I was in that show, so I know a lot of the songs.
MOLLY BLOOM: Fun. So fun. So are you comfortable singing in front of other people, like a solo by yourself?
KATE: I'm singing small solos, but not long ones. So I like singing short, small ones.
MOLLY BLOOM: Would you describe yourself as a confident singer, or do you feel like you want to be more confident?
KATE: I would like to be more confident and have longer solos.
MOLLY BLOOM: So if there's a singer's voice out there who you really admire, who you're like, if I can make my voice sound like anyone's, I would want to sound like that person, who would that be?
KATE: I'd want to sound like Olivia Rodrigo because she has a really interesting sound. And I really like it.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, yeah, yeah. Her voice is like-- she can do so many different things with her voice. She's one of my favorites, too, for sure. So, would you say, for you, singing is fun?
KATE: Yeah, it's pretty fun to sing really loud.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, I also love singing. I'm in a choir, and we sing all sorts of music. And harmonizing with the people in my choir is one of my favorite things to do. And even if I don't sound like Olivia Rodrigo or Mariah Carey, I sing like me. And the more I sing, the more confident I get.
KATE: Singing is like a muscle. If you practice and learn how to use your voice in certain ways, your singing will get stronger and stronger.
MOLLY BLOOM: In fact, singing starts with your muscles. You use lots of different muscles in your body to do this seemingly simple act.
KATE: Like muscles in your chest, back, throat, and even your stomach.
MOLLY BLOOM: And lucky for us, there's a concert happening today at Brains On headquarters. It's that famous opera singer, Carmelina Terracotta, and she's singing just down the hall in the performatorium. We can catch a few minutes of her performance. I got Marc to save us some seats, Kate. Let's go.
KATE: Wow. This is a huge stage.
MOLLY BLOOM: It is. Oh, there's Marc. Let's grab those seats next to him and see if he brought any good concert snacks. Hi, Marc. Whoa, big crowd today.
KATE: Yeah, thanks for saving us these seats.
MARC SANCHEZ: My pleasure. Are you ready for the show? I'm a huge fan of Carmelina Terracotta.
KATE: I've never heard her sing before.
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, you are in for a treat. Her voice is like a sweet, little songbird surfing on a river of smooth caramel. Ooh, that reminds me. Do you guys want some caramel corn?
MOLLY BLOOM: Does a bear poop in the woods? Does a bird say chirp, chirp, and also poop in the woods? You bet I want some caramel corn.
[MUNCHING]
MARC SANCHEZ: And check this out. I brought my Crunch Canceling Mouth Mist.
MOLLY BLOOM: Your what the what?
MARC SANCHEZ: Crunch Canceling Mouth Mist. Just spray some in your kisser, and it cancels out all snacky sounds so you don't disturb the concert.
KATE: Let me try.
[SPRAYS]
Now a mouthful of caramel corn, extra kernels, and-- whoa, no sounds. Awesome idea, Marc.
MARC SANCHEZ: I'm full of awesome ideas-- and caramel corn, but mostly awesome ideas. Oh, and check it out. I also brought the Brains On Slow-Mo Ray.
[CLUNKING]
KATE: What's that for?
MARC SANCHEZ: Well, I'm such a big fan of Carmelina's singing that I didn't want to miss a single millisecond of her performance. I brought the Slow-Mo Ray so we could all slowly savor every note.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, Kate and I did want to talk about how singing uses lots of different muscles in your body. If you slow-mo Carmelina when she starts singing, we can really get into all the details.
KATE: The lights just got dimmer. I think the show is starting. Pass the caramel corn, please.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight's concert comes to you live from inside Brains On headquarters, featuring a performance from celebrated opera singer Carmelina Terracotta.
[APPLAUSE]
CARMELINA TERRACOTTA: Thank you all so much. What a privilege to be here at Brains On HQ. I thought Carnegie Hall was a spectacular venue, but this is by far the fanciest stage I've ever stood upon. Without further ado, maestro, if you will.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC]
MARC SANCHEZ: OK, Slow-Mo Ray, work your magic. (IN SLOW-MO) Slow down.
[MUSIC SLOWING]
KATE: Cool. OK, so singing starts with the lungs.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes, and also a stretchy flat sheet of muscle called the diaphragm that sits right below the lungs. When you breathe in, the diaphragm pulls downwards, stretching your lungs and pulling air into them. The muscles of your belly also expand, making room for all that air. One of the first things that professional singers learn is how to pull air down towards their belly to make sure their lungs stretch all the way out and get nice and full.
KATE: And then the air has to come back out.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes, the muscles around your stomach, back, and rib cage all help control the air and push it back out through the throat. That's where the air goes through the voice box and passes through something called the vocal cords.
KATE: Oh, I know about those. Your vocal cords are a couple of folded stretchy curtains at the back of your throat.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. The air passing through those curtains in your throat gets chopped up into really small, really fast puffs.
KATE: That's why if you put your hand on your throat while you hum or sing, you can feel your vocal cords vibrating.
MOLLY BLOOM: We can't hear the puffs of air because they're happening way too fast for our brains to process. Instead, we hear the vibrations they make.
MARC SANCHEZ: (SINGING) And then the singing happens!
MOLLY BLOOM: (SINGING) Not quite yet, Marc!
There's even more that goes into singing. Next, we control the sounds that come out of our mouths with our throat and tongue muscles. Our lips and tongues control the shape of what we're singing, making syllables and words.
(SINGING) La, la, like this!
KATE: So if you want to sing a high note--
[SINGS HIGH NOTE]
--your throat muscles will get tighter. And if you want to sing a low note--
MARC SANCHEZ: Your throat muscles relax. [CHUCKLES] Neat.
MOLLY BLOOM: And it gets even neater. Lots of singers can focus on where they want their voice to vibrate in their body.
KATE: And that changes how they're singing sounds.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. If Carmelina Terracotta wanted her voice to sound higher and a little thinner, she could use her throat and tongue muscles to send her vocal vibrations up into her head and face, like (IN HIGH VOICE) this. That's called head voice. But if she wanted the sound to be bigger and rounder, she could send those vibrations to her chest, (IN DEEP VOICE) like this. That's called chest voice.
MARC SANCHEZ: Speaking of Carmelina, Marc, could you turn her back to regular speed so we can actually hear what she's singing?
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, if you keep her on slow-mo, all we're going to hear are those flappy puffs of air.
MARC SANCHEZ: OK, I guess you're right. (IN DEEP VOICE) Speed up.
[CARMELINA SINGING OPERA]
[CLASSICAL MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: Wow.
KATE: I know. What an amazing performance.
MOLLY BLOOM: You know what else is amazing? The--
CREW 1: Shh. (WHISPERING) Mystery Sound.
MOLLY BLOOM: Are you ready for the mystery sound, Kate?
KATE: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
[RUSTLING]
[CHEWING]
[RUSTLING]
[CHEWING]
What do you think, Kate?
KATE: I think that it might be like somebody chewing something, maybe like a dog eating food. That's what it kind of sounds like.
MOLLY BLOOM: Definitely sounded like chewing to me. Where do you think they were chewing? What did you hear?
KATE: I kind of heard maybe grass. Or maybe it's like an animal eating something.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent ears. OK, so your guess right now is maybe a dog outside eating grass?
KATE: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Wonderful. OK, we're going to hear the sound again, get another chance to guess, and then hear the answer after the credits at the end of the show.
We are working with our friends at Radiolab on an episode about naming objects in space, and it got us wondering about Earth's moon. Other planets in our solar system have moons with awesome names like Ganymede and Narvi. Why is Earth's moon just called "moon"? So we want to know if you had to give our moon a new name, what would it be? Kate, what would you name the moon?
KATE: Maybe I think I would call it Earth, Jr., because it's a mini Earth, it's right next to Earth and smaller than it. So, maybe Earth, Jr.
MOLLY BLOOM: I like Earth, Jr. Listeners, we want to hear from you, too. What do you think Earth's moon should be named? Record your moon name, tell us why you think it's cool, and send it to us at brainson.org/contact. While you're there, send us your mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
KATE: Like this one.
CALLER: Why do we have reflexes?
MOLLY BLOOM: You can find answers to questions like these on the Moment of Um Podcast, a short dose of facts and fun every weekday. Find the Moment of Um and more at brainson.org.
KATE: So keep listening.
CREW 2: Brains On Universe is a family of podcasts for kids and their adults. Since you're a fan of Brains On, we know you'll love the other shows in our universe. Come on, let's explore.
[FIRING]
ROBOT: Entering Brains On Universe.
[GLIMMERING]
To find my favorite podcasts.
[KEY BEEPING]
Brains On.
[KEY BEEPING]
Smash Best.
[KEY BEEPING]
Forever Ago. [GASPS] Picking up signal. Forever Ago, the history show hosted by Joy Dolo.
JOY DOLO: Welcome to--
[REGAL MUSIC]
--Joy's Hall of Stalls. Every door in this hall leads to a different model of toilet from throughout history. You want to potty like it's 1999?
[DANCE MUSIC]
Right this way.
[KEY BEEPING]
ROBOT: [GASPS] Zorp. Where did the signal go? Must find Forever Ago now!
[LAUNCHING]
CREW 2: Listen to Forever Ago wherever you get your podcasts.
CREW 3: Brains On, On, On.
KATE: You're listening to Brains On from APM Studios. I'm Kate.
MOLLY BLOOM: And I'm Molly. So far, we've learned that singing is a full body experience.
KATE: It takes so many different body parts working together to make this sound--
[CAMELINA SINGING OPERA]
MOLLY BLOOM: The cool thing about the human voice is that it's capable of so many different sounds and singing styles.
KATE: Like throat singing.
[MAN THROAT SINGING]
MOLLY BLOOM: This is a kind of singing done by Inuit people in Northern Canada and also by people in Central Asia and in South Africa. People who are able to throat sing can sing more than one note at the same time.
KATE: They use their jaws and spaces in their mouth to do this.
MOLLY BLOOM: It's complicated to explain and hard to do, but awesome to listen to.
KATE: Then there's yodeling.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's when singers use the muscles in their throats to flip from their chest voice to their head voice really quickly.
KATE: Chest voice can sound like this.
MOLLY BLOOM: (SINGING) La, la, la
It's when you sing from your chest.
KATE: And head voice can sound like this--
MOLLY BLOOM: (SINGING) La, la, la
It's when the sound resonates more in your head.
KATE: So when you flip back and forth from your chest voice to your head voice, it sounds like this.
[MAN YODELING]
MOLLY BLOOM: This kind of singing is found all over the world, from Austrian folk music--
[RENATO BUI & MARTA WILD, "YODEL OF JOY"]
--to Central African hunting songs--
[BAKA BAMBUKÉ, "ETUDES DE JODIS"]
--to Persian classical music--
[SIMA BINA, "ESFAHAN, KHODJASTEH"]
--to country Western music.
[TONY VICE & JERRY BURNHAM, "LET'S RIDE INTO THE SUNSET TOGETHER"]
KATE: And there are so many other qualities the voice can produce.
MOLLY BLOOM: The powerful roundness of opera.
[OPERA SINGING]
KATE: The brassy confidence of a Broadway belt.
WOMAN: (SINGING) Being alive
MOLLY BLOOM: The lilt of Indian classical music.
[JEAN PAUL LE GOFF & KAKALI SENGUPTA, "TEMPLE'S VOICE"]
KATE: And the crunchy roar of rock and roll.
[HEAVY METAL]
MOLLY BLOOM: And that is only a teeny, tiny sample of the huge variety of singing styles used around the world. We wanted to learn more about how the human voice is capable of so many different sounds. So we've invited Mikalia Bradberry to join us today. Hi, Mikalia.
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Hi.
KATE: She is an opera singer and voice teacher from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Welcome, Mikalia.
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Thanks, Kate.
KATE: What are the different ways we can control the quality of our voice when we're singing?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: That's a great question. So we can control the quality of our voice in many different ways. kind of like how we sit or stand, our posture, how much breath we use, and how we use our articulators, like our lips, our tongue, our jaw, our voice is unique in that we can use language to articulate, which is different than any other musical instrument.
KATE: Let's say we wanted to sound like an opera singer. How do we change our singing to do that?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: So there are a couple of different ways we do that. We do it by vibrating on every note. Opera singers use vibrato on every single note that they sing most of the time. And we use our vowels and shape our vowels to become taller and rounder. So, for example--
[OPERA SINGING]
MOLLY BLOOM: So what did you do in your body and your head and your mouth to do that?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: It's kind of like if you yawn, [YAWNS] you kind of feel the cool air rush into that place, and your soft palate naturally lifts. So you just continue to kind of do that as you sing, and kind of keep your soft palate up.
MOLLY BLOOM: Do you want to try that, Kate? Make that yawn sound and see if you can open up your--
KATE: Ah.
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Mm-hmm.
KATE: How could you try to sing like Taylor Swift?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: The style of Taylor Swift is probably going to be a little more relaxed in certain ways and not as that bright sound that we think of when we think of musical theater. So you would kind of think about, like I said, relaxing your vowels a little bit, not so much, not so round as an opera singer, and a little bit different than someone who sings musical theater.
So it would be a little more relaxed, but you would still be using the same muscles as you'd use if you sang opera or sang musical theater. It's really about, like I said, those articulators and how you're changing your articulators, how you're changing your tongue and where your soft palate is and things like that.
KATE: What are some exercises we could do to become a more confident singer?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: The things I like to start with first when I'm teaching my students is breath, because all life starts with breath and breathing. So I start with things like lip trills--
[TRILLS LIPS]
--really figuring out how to support your breath and things like hissing--
[HISSES]
--and humming.
[HUMS]
Really getting your breath muscles moving and then putting tone on those things. So--
[TRILLING LIPS]
And humming furthermore.
[HUMMING]
And then starting to put vowels into things.
[SINGING OPERA]
So, things like that. Those are the kind of exercises you can start with to become more of a confident singer.
KATE: And so, for people who are trying to figure out how to pull in air through their diaphragm, are there ways they can kind of like feel it on their bodies, like tips you would give for kids who this is like a totally new thing for?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Yes, so I like to think of breathing and singing like blowing up a balloon, right? So let's pretend we blow up our balloon.
[BLOWING]
We blew our balloon up, and then we want to slowly let the air out, right? If we just let the balloon go, the air would just fly out, and it would fly across the room. But if we let the air out slowly, that's kind of how we think about support. So if we're the balloon and we breathe, we want to breathe kind of everywhere below our midsection.
We don't want to breathe as much up near our chest because that's what's called clavicular breathing, near our clavicle. And that's the kind of breathing that kind of runners use. When running a marathon, they want to get short, quick breaths in and out. Singers want to sustain their breath a little more, so we tend to breathe low. And you can kind of put your hands on your front and your back and your sides and kind of really feel them expand.
MOLLY BLOOM: So cool.
KATE: So what advice would you give to kids that feel like they're not very good singers?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: I would say, first of all, it's OK not to be good at something at first. Everyone is new at something, and it's OK to feel like you're not great at something to start off with. I would also say to sing more. Don't sing less. Sing in your shower or in your bathroom at bath time. Sing for your pets if they're willing to listen, if they like a tune.
Sing for your family, sing for your friends, sing in a choir. Molly talked about singing in a choir. And that's where I really started my singing journey, and that's where I really gained a lot of confidence in singing, is singing with other people. And then that's where I really learned about classical music as well. So shout out to all my music educators who helped me in choir, in school.
And I would say, if you're not a confident singer or you feel like you're not a good singer, know that it's also OK to be nervous. Everybody gets nervous. The most famous people in the world still get nervous. I would also say to practice. Practice, practice, practice. Practice is where you really gain your understanding of your body and your voice. And find voice lessons if you can or join a choir.
MOLLY BLOOM: So, for kids, they have these different singers they admire, like Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift. Or maybe they're Broadway stars, or maybe they love opera. Those are all very different kinds of singing. So how do you make the best version of your own voice, rather than trying to sound like someone else?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: That's a great question. I would say to not try and sound like anybody else, really. Just really sing in the ways that feel comfortable and healthy for you. And you can try to imitate the things that they do, but you really have your own special voice that you were born with. And that's a wonderful thing. It's a wonderful thing for everyone to have their own individual, unique voice. So, sing in the ways that you feel comfortable in and that really help your voice shine.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent advice. Would you mind singing a little for us?
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: (SINGING) Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
KATE: Aw, that was beautiful.
MIKALIA BRADBERRY: Thank you.
MOLLY BLOOM: So good. Wow.
KATE: What a delight to hear you sing. Thank you, Mikalia.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: There are tons of different ways that people sing all around the world, from throat singing to Broadway belting.
KATE: When we sing, we use lots of different muscles in our bodies, including our lungs, stomach, throat, and back.
MOLLY BLOOM: We use those muscles to push air from our lungs out through a part of our throat called the voice box.
KATE: In the voice box, the air vibrates through folds of muscles, and we hear those vibrations as notes.
MOLLY BLOOM: We can change how the notes sound by tightening or relaxing those muscles. The notes vibrate in our head or our chest, and that changes the sound of our singing voice, too.
KATE: Singers can learn how to control how their voices vibrate to get a specific sound.
MOLLY BLOOM: Because singing uses so many different muscles, the more we sing, the stronger those muscles get.
KATE: So whether you prefer singing on stage or in the shower, you can get more confident with practice.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this episode of Brains On.
KATE: This episode was written by--
MOLLY BLOOM: Molly Bloom.
KATE: And--
MOLLY BLOOM: Anna Goldfield.
KATE: Our editors are--
SANDEN TOTTEN: Sanden Totten
KATE: And--
SHAHLA FARZAN: Shahla Farzan.
KATE: Fact-checking by--
JESS MILLER: Jess Miller.
MOLLY BLOOM: We had engineering help from Alex Simpson, Mike Hamilton, and Josh Beard, with sound design by--
RACHEL BREES: Rachel Brees.
MOLLY BLOOM: Original theme music by--
MARC SANCHEZ: Marc Sanchez.
KATE: We had production help from the Brains On Universe team--
ROSIE DUPONT: Rosie duPont.
NICO GONZALEZ WISLER: Nico Gonzalez Wisler.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Ruby Guthrie.
LAUREN HUMPERT: Lauren Humpert.
JOSHUA RAY: Joshua Ray.
MARC SANCHEZ: Marc Sanchez.
CHARLOTTE TRAVER: Charlotte Traver.
ANNA WEGGEL: Anna Weggel.
KATE: And--
ARON WELDESELASSIE: Aron Weldeselassie.
MOLLY BLOOM: Beth Perlman is our executive producer, and the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Special thanks to Jennifer Mears Jones and Claire.
KATE: Brains On is a non-profit Public Radio program.
MOLLY BLOOM: There are lots of ways to support the show. Subscribe to Brains On Universe on YouTube, where you can watch animated versions of some of your favorite episodes, or head to brainson.org.
KATE: While you're there, you can send us mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK, Kate, are you ready to hear the mystery sound again?
KATE: I am ready.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. Here it is.
[RUSTLING]
[CHEWING]
[RUSTLING]
[CHEWING]
Last time, you thought a dog outside chewing grass. Do you have new thoughts?
KATE: Um, I think I'm going to stick with it, except for I think maybe not a dog. Maybe like a farm animal, like a cow or something.
MOLLY BLOOM: Mm, I love that idea. I love that. I have no other guess. I don't know what it is either. I think a cow chewing outside some grass sounds good to me. Should we hear the answer?
KATE: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
AUDREY: Hi, my name is Audrey, and I'm from Sydney, Australia. That was the sound of a horse eating hay. The horse's name is Georgie, and he is my grandparents' Shetland pony. I loved to ride him when I was younger, and now I just take care of him when I go to the country to visit my grandparents.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey!
KATE: OK.
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm impressed.
KATE: I was kind of right.
MOLLY BLOOM: You were. You were absolutely right. Nice work.
KATE: Thank you.
MOLLY BLOOM: Have you hung out with horses before?
KATE: I've seen horses at petting zoos, and I like horses. They're really cool animals.
MOLLY BLOOM: So cool. Nice work.
[CHEWING]
Now it's time for the Brains Honor Roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives.
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
[UPBEAT MUSIC] Brains Honor Roll
MOLLY BLOOM: We'll be back next week with an episode all about seahorses.
KATE: Thanks for listening.
Transcription services provided by 3Play Media.
