Hey friends, Molly here.
And Sandin.
This summer we're doing something new at Brainson, we're calling it Analog August.
Yeah, it's a month-long challenge to use screens less and get out in the world more.
Because we know it's easy to get lost on your devices for kids and grownups.
But the more time you spend on a screen, the less time you have for things like...
Learning to cook.
Taking up the accordion.
Learning nature.
Or finding buried treasure.
Score!
So, be part of Analog August.
We've got activities and challenges to help you go phone-free at Brainson.org.
Plus, if you join our newsletter, we'll send you weekly ideas for going analogue and
give you tips on how to find a healthy screen life balance.
And later in August, we're hosting a virtual event for parents.
It's all about kids and phones.
We'll have researchers and experts on hand to answer your questions and give you advice.
Sign up for our newsletter for more info on that too.
All of it is at Brainson.org.
So this August, join us and go analogue.
You're listening to Brainson, where we're serious about being curious.
Brainson is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Hello, friends.
I'm Kamalita Terrakotta.
You know the famous opera singer.
You've probably read about me in Osolemi o' monthly, or perhaps in the Puccini papers.
I'm so flattered that the wonderful people and Brainson 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.
Why was Washington's white woolen underwear unwashed?
Washington's underwear washer went wobbly.
Billy Bob, barely blabbered backstage, but sweaty, blabbered, Billy Bob, blabbered, boldly.
Me, me, me, my mother met many memos in Montana.
Oh, excuse me.
Miri lasomy, lance the large lumbar layered lipstick on his lips.
Lance the large lumbar layered lipstick on his lips.
Lance the large lumbar layered lipstick on his lips.
Frankie flaunted her phenomenal flatchelant frequently and frequently.
Frankie flaunted her phenomenal flatchelant frequently and frequently.
Peppa, pop, pop, pop, pop, baby.
Yes, that should do it, I think.
On with the show!
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.
Hi, Molly.
Today's episode was inspired by a question that you sent to us.
Yeah, I wanted to know.
Why are some people better at singing than others?
So what made you think of this question?
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.
Do you like to sing?
I do theater, so I sing sometimes in musicals, but I don't sing often.
Where do you find yourself singing?
So it sounds like you do it in musicals.
Do you ever just sing around the house?
Yes, I'll just like, belt in the shower and like around the house.
Oh, shower is an excellent place for singing.
So what is your favorite kind of music to sing in the shower?
I like singing like popular songs and Disney songs, all kinds of songs.
So like, what's the one you'll like start with?
It's like, okay, I've got to. This is my, this is my jam for the shower.
I like singing like Shake It Off from Taylor Swift.
Oh, yes.
And what Disney songs do you like to do?
I like to sing like songs from Beauty and the Beast like VR guests.
I was in that show, so I know a lot of the songs.
Fun.
So fun.
So are you comfortable singing in front of other people like a solo by yourself?
I've seen like small solos but not long ones. So I like singing like short small ones.
Would you describe yourself as a confidence singer?
Or do you feel like you want to be more confident?
I would like to be more confident and like have longer solos.
So if there's like 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?
I want to sound like Olivia Rodrigo,
because she has like a really interesting like sound and I really like it.
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?
Yeah, it's pretty fun to like sing really loud.
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.
So one of my favorite things to do.
And even if I don't sound like, you know,
Olivia Rodrigo or Mariah Carey,
I sing like me and the more I sing, more confident I get.
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.
In fact, singing starts with your muscles.
You'll use lots of different muscles in your body to do this seemingly simple act.
Like muscles in your chest, back, throat, and even your stomach.
And lucky for us, there's a concert happening today at Berrains on Headquarters,
it's that famous opera singer, Carmolina Terracotta,
and she's singing just down the hall in the performatorium.
We can catch a few minutes of her performance.
I got Mark to save us some seats, Kate. Let's go.
Wow, this is a huge stage.
It is. Oh, there's Mark.
Let's grab those seats next to him and see if he brought any good concert snacks.
Hi, Mark.
Well, big crowd today. Yeah, thanks for saving us these seats.
Am I a pleasure? Are you ready for the show?
I'm a huge fan of Carmolina Terracotta.
I've never heard her sing before.
Oh, you are in for age-reat.
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?
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.
And check this out. I brought my crunch-canceling mouth mist.
You're what, though? What?
Crunch-canceling mouth mist. Just sprays them in your kisser
and it cancels out all snacky sounds, so you don't disturb the concert.
Let me try. Now a mouthful of caramel corn, extra kernels, and...
Whoa, no sounds. Awesome idea, Mark.
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 moore.
What's that for?
Well, I'm such a big fan of Carmolina singing that I didn't want to miss a single
millisecond of her performance.
I brought the slow moore so we could all slowly save her every note.
Well, Kate and I did want to talk about how singing uses lots of different muscles in your body.
If you slow mo Carmolina when she starts singing, we can really get into all the details.
The lights just got dimmer.
I think the show is starting. Pass the caramel corn, please.
Tonight's concert comes to you live from inside brains on headquarters.
Featuring a performance from celebrated opera singer Carmolina 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 her there do you my straw, if you will.
Okay, slow moore, work your magic.
Slow down.
Cool, okay, so singing starts with the lungs.
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.
And then the air has to come back out.
Yes, the muscles around your stomach, back, and ribcage 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.
Oh, I know about those.
Your vocal cords are like a couple of folded, stretchy curtains at the back of your throat.
Exactly. The air passing through those curtains in your throat gets chopped up into really small, really fast puffs.
That's why if you put your hand on your throat while you hum or sing, you can feel your vocal cords vibrating.
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.
And then the singing happens.
Not quite yet, Mark.
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.
So, if you want to sing a high note, your throat muscles will get tighter.
And if you want to sing a low note, your throat muscles relax.
And it gets even neater. Lots of singers can focus on where they want their voice to vibrate in their body.
And that changes how their singing sounds.
Exactly. If Carmelina Tera caught a wanted her voice to sound higher in a little thinner,
she could use her throat and tongue muscles to send her vocal vibrations up into her head and face.
Like this.
That's called head voice.
But if she wanted to sound bigger and rounder, she could send those vibrations to her chest.
Like this.
That's called chest voice.
Speaking of Carmelina, Mark, could you turn her back to regular speed so we can actually hear what she's singing?
Yeah, if you keep her on slow-mo, all we're going to hear are those flappy puffs of air.
Okay, I guess you're right. Speed up.
Wow, I know what an amazing performance.
You know what?
Amazing, the...
You ready for the mystery sound, Kate?
Yes, here it is.
What do you think, Kate?
I think that it might be like somebody chewing something.
Like maybe like a dog eating food. That's what it kind of sounds like.
Definitely sounded like chewing to me.
Where do you think they were chewing? What did you hear?
I kind of heard like maybe grass. Maybe it's like an animal eating something.
Excellent ears.
Okay, so your guess right now is maybe a dog outside eating grass?
Yes.
Wonderful. Okay, 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 Radio Lab 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 Ganomed 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?
Maybe I think I would call it Earth Junior because it's a mini-earth.
It's right next to Earth and smaller than it.
So maybe Earth Junior.
I like Earth Junior.
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 slash contact.
While you're there, send us your mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
Like this one.
Why do we have reflexes?
You can find answers to questions like these on the moment of Ampodcast,
a short dose of facts and fun every weekday.
Find a moment of Am and more at brainson.org.
So keep listening.
Brainzon Universe is a family of podcasts for kids and their adults.
Since you're a fan of brainson, we know you'll love the other shows in our universe.
Come on, let's explore.
Entering brainson universe.
To find my favourite podcasts.
Brainson.
Smash boom best.
Forever ago.
Picking up signal.
Forever ago.
The history show hosted by Joy Dolo.
Welcome to...
Joy's Hall of Stalls.
Every door in this hall leads to a different model of toilet from throughout history.
You want a party like it's 1999?
Right this way.
Zurp.
Where did the signal go?
Must find forever ago?
No!
Listen to forever ago.
Wherever you get your podcasts.
Brainson.
Ta-da.
Ta-da.
You're listening to brainson from APM Studios.
I'm Kate and I'm Molly.
So far we've learned that singing is a full body experience.
It takes so many different body parts working together to make this sound.
The cool thing about the human voice is that it's capable of so many different sounds and singing styles.
Like throat singing.
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.
They use their jaws and spaces in their mouth to do this.
It's complicated to explain and hard to do, but awesome to listen to.
Then there's Yodeling.
That's when singers use the muscles in their throats to flip from their chest voice to their head voice really quickly.
Chest voice can sound like this.
La-la-la.
It's when you sing from your chest.
And head voice can sound like this.
La-la-la.
It's when the sound resonates more in your head.
So when you flip back and forth from your chest voice to your head voice, it sounds like this.
This kind of singing is found all over the world from Austrian folk music.
To Central African hunting songs.
To Persian classical music.
To country western music.
Yodeling.
And there are so many other qualities the voice can produce.
The powerful roundness of opera.
The brassy confidence of a Broadway belt.
The lute of Indian classical music.
And the crunchy roar of rock and roll.
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 Bradbury to join us today.
Hi Mikalia.
Hi.
She is an opera singer and voice teacher from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Welcome Mikalia.
Thanks Kate.
What are the different ways we can control the quality of our voice when we're singing?
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.
Let's say we wanted to sound like an opera singer.
How do we change our singing to do that?
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,
So what did you do in your body and your head and your mouth to do that?
It's kind of like if you yawn, you kind of fill 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.
You want to try that cake, sort of make that yawn sound and see if you can open up your...
How could you try to sing like Taylor Swift?
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 like someone who sings musical theater.
So it would be a little more, a little more relaxed, but you would still be using the same muscles as you use if you sing opera or sing 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.
What are some exercises we could do to become a more confident singer?
The things I like to start with first when I'm teaching my students is breath because that all life starts with breath and breathing.
So I start with things like lip trills.
Really figuring out how to support your breath and things like hissing.
And humming. You know, really getting your breath muscles moving and then putting tone on those things.
And humming furthermore. And then starting to put vowels into things.
So things like that, those are the kind of exercises you can start with to kind of become more of a confident singer.
And so for people who are trying to figure out like where, how to pull in air through their diaphragm, are their 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.
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. 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 we 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, you know, 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, you know, on your front and your back and your sides and kind of really feel them expand so cool.
So what advice would you give to kids that feel like they're not very good singers?
I would say first of all, it's okay not to be good at something at first. Everyone is, you know, new at something and it's okay to feel like you're not great at something to start off with.
I would also say to sing more, don't sing less, you know, sing in your shower on your bathroom at bath time, sing for your pets if they're willing to listen if they like a tune.
And then for your family, sing for your friends, sing it acquire. Molly talked about singing in acquire 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 inquire in school.
If you're not a confidence singer, or you feel like you're not a good singer, know that it's also okay 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, practices where you really gain your understanding of your body and your voice.
And find voice lessons if you can or join a choir. So for kids, you know, 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?
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.
Excellent advice. Would you mind singing a little for us?
Oh, that was beautiful. Thank you. So good. What a like to hear you sing. Thank you, Makalia.
There are tons of different ways that people sing all around the world from throat singing to Broadway building.
When we sing, we use lots of different muscles in our bodies, including our lungs, stomach, throat and back.
We use those muscles to push air from our lungs out through a part of our throat called the voice box.
In the voice box, the air vibrates through folds of muscles and we hear those vibrations as notes. 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. Singers can learn how to control how their voices vibrate to get a specific sound.
Because singing uses so many different muscles, the more we sing, the stronger those muscles get.
So whether you prefer singing on stage or in the shower, you can get more confident with practice.
That's it for this episode of Brains on. This episode was written by Molly Bloom and Anna Goldfield.
Our editors are Sandin Totten and Shayla Farrison. Fact checking by Jess Miller.
We had engineering help from Alex Simpson, Mike Hamilton and Josh Beard with Sound Design by Rachel Breeze.
Original theme music by Mark Sanchez. We had production help from the Brains on universe theme.
Rosie DuPont, Nico Gonzalez Whistler, Ruby Guthrie, Lauren Humbert, Joshua Ray, Mark Sanchez, Charlotte Traver, Anna Weigel, and Aron Woldesalassi.
Beth Prolet is our executive producer and the executive in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Cavotti and Jill and Griffith.
Special thanks to Jennifer Muir's Jones and Claire.
Brains on is a nonprofit public radio program.
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.
While you're there, you can send us mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
Okay, Kate, are you ready to hear the mystery sound again?
I am ready.
Alright, here it is.
Last time we thought a dog outside chewing grass. Do you have new thoughts?
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.
Mmm, I love that idea. 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?
Yes.
Here it is.
Hi, my name's Audrey and I'm from Sydney, Australia. That was the sound of a horse eating hay. The horse's name is Georgie and here's my grandparents, Shetland Pernie.
I love 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.
Hey!
Okay.
I'm impressed.
I'm going to ride.
You were. You were absolutely right. Nice work.
Thank you.
Have you hung out with horses before?
I've seen horses that like petting zoos and I like quartses. They're really cool animals.
So cool. Nice work.
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.
Sophia from Portland, Oregon, Sam and Maggie from St. Paul, Matthias from Hamburg, Germany, Arlo from York, United Kingdom, Ellie from Salado, Texas, Eli and Isaac from Walnut Creek, California, Alaina from Coppell, Texas, Logan and Maya from West Bloomfield, Michigan, Cove from Little Rock, Arkansas, Milo and Noel from Lafayette, Colorado, Isabelle from Avano, Ohio, Nacho and Poncho from San Diego, California, Wanyan from Kuwait, Liam and Lilian from Phoenix, Charlotte and Gust from Selina, Kansas, Phoebe from St. Paul, Minnesota, Anderson from Mountain View, California,
Jillian from Kensington, California, Sylvie from Malmo, Sweden, Adele from San Francisco, Henry, Nora and Jack from San Antonio, Texas, Carver from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Olivia, Alie and Claire from San Ramone, California, Chenchen from Melbourne, Australia, Milo from Fortwood, Texas, Colton from Perth, Australia, Cheyenne from Rocky Hill, Connecticut,
Alexandra from Liemisol, Cyprus, Adrina from center of Maryland, Charlie from Texas, Tb from Denver, Summer and River from Reddington, New Jersey, Kate Lena from Sunnyvale, California, Todd from Bangkok, Thailand, Sammy from Washington, DC, Evelyn from Sunnyvale, California, Olivia from Montgomery, Alabama, Quinn and Asher from Adelaide, Australia, Lisa from Pittsburgh, Abbey from Ohio, California, Nate from Temperance, Michigan, Xavier from Merribe, Calbeck, Cameron from Knoxville, Tennessee, Benji from Highland, Park, Illinois, Use from Mountain View, California, Mikey from Bristol, Virginia, Phoebe from Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Charlotte from Granite Bay, California, Hana from Astoria, Oregon, Audrey from New Taipei, City, Taiwan, Eli from Maryland, Naima from Waaluku, Hawaii, Ellie from Colorado, Julia from Kensington, Maryland, Cora from Skokie, Illinois, Marina from Odesto, California, Willow from Bar Harbor, Maine, Jamie from Skokie, Illinois, Loop from Bountiful, Utah, Nadine from Frederick, Maryland, Oscar from Sydney, Australia and Cora from Kishner, Waterloo, Ontario.
We'll be back next week with an episode all about seahorses. Thanks for listening!
Hey friends, Molly here. And Sandin. This summer we're doing something new at Brainson, we're calling it Analog August.
Yeah, it's a month-long challenge to use screens less and get out in the world more.
Because we know it's easy to get lost on your devices for kids and grownups. But the more time you spend on a screen, the less time you have for things like...
learning to cook. Taking up the accordion. Exploring nature. Or finding buried treasure.
Score!
So, be part of Analog August. We've got activities and challenges to help you go phone-free at Brainson.org.
Plus, if you join our newsletter, we'll send you weekly ideas for going analogue and give you tips on how to find a healthy screen life balance.
And later in August, we're hosting a virtual event for parents. It's all about kids and phones.
We'll have researchers and experts on hand to answer your questions and give you advice.
Sign up for our newsletter for more info on that too.
All of it is at Brainson.org. So, this August, join us and go analogue.
