Vocal Breaks

In Mix we refer to “breaks” as “bridges” or passageways. This is because when approached in the correct way we no longer have “breaks” in the voice, but simply a few notes that link one voice to another with no cracks or flips! The first bridge is the most tricky to navigate as it is possible to push through it. The problem with this is that it not only has limitations vocally (often just a couple of notes), but the physical damage can be devastating (vocal nodules, muscular troubles etc). A common remedy is to have the singer narrow the vowels through the bridges to help fight the need for pushing, and keep the vocal cords together (not flipping into falsetto). It is often necessary for singers who like to pull or push up the chest register to work on release in the bridge areas, in which case a useful trick would be to work above the actual bridge to decrease the desire to force the voice up.