pressed phonation - is it really so bad?

[VideoHere]

i am admittedly a pressed phonation singer. i love to squeeze and compress and intensely sing.

yet, i don't lose my voice, i stay strong, so what's the big issue?

i can press and lean in and i can let off if i need to.

you may not like my pressed sound or curbed, restrained tone, but hey not everyone is going to like every one else.

i'd like to get your feeling on this....

why does this always get a bad rap?

[Keith]

Can you post a clip of pressed vocals vs unpressed?

[Danielformica]

Only problems I see are no vibrato or natural vibrato, limited range, limited degree of intensity(no crescendo decrescendo).No floating beautiful quality, squeezed tone,lack of resonance and power, tiring quickly, more voice issues than most(phlegm etc).Thats pretty much it so if you can deal with those you will be fine.

When I was younger this is how I sang. And it wasn't bad until i got around some real singers and realized they were getting this big sound without pressing or squeezing. And thats what started my journey of singing and study and now teaching.

[Owen Korzec]

Bob, I hope you do realize that pressed phonation is probably what gave you polyps in the first place?

You talk about it all the time with your speech and not making glottal attacks but what makes you think that doesn't apply to singing?

Now, I know you are big on support - support can help offset pressed voice of course and unpress it a bit. It would be worse if you're just pressing with the folds.

Also let's differentiate between scientifically pressed phonation (closed quotient too high, like, well above 75%) and just singing with good compression. I imagine you just sing with lots of compression and that's what you're talking about. If you do that correctly, I don't think it's pressed or unhealthy.

I really gotta warn you though - pressed phonation in the literal sense...it does run the risk of leading to vocal damage. The science nerds can correct me if I'm wrong but it seems to make sense to me. Just as aggressively airy voices can get vocal damage.

[VideoHere]

i believe a little lean and stress when combined with good support is required at times.....definitely when working out.

[Danielformica]

no stress no mess. The wrong support=pressed the right support=free and open

[ronws]

Can you post a clip of pressed vocals vs unpressed?

Love ya, Bob, but I agree with Keith. It would be interesting to hear what is your idea of pressed. Versus not pressed.

For example, your cover of "Gethsemane" did not sound very pressed, to me, in my memory. I have only memory to go on, since you disabled the link. You've been singing for as long as most of these guys here have been alive and training like a man possessed for the last several years. I think it's okay for you to unleash another cover. And it would be awesome. You did a bone-chilling cover of "Black Hole Sun" and a cover of "Change is gonna come" that rival's that of Sam Cooke. Seriously, on the latter, it would be hard for me to tell the difference the two.