Amelia Kearl-McCoy-Chapter 10

 The ear is made up of three parts: the outer, middle, and inner ear. The outer ear collects sounds from outside. The middle ear amplifies the sound for the inner ear that sends the sound information to the brain. Singers hear their sound two ways. The first is through their outer ear and in. Though because the mouth points away from the ears, McCoy says that a singer doesn't hear their full ring. The second way singers hear is through their inner ear. This is the main way singers hear themselves and it is something only the singer can hear. 

This is why recording yourself is so important! That is the voice everyone else hears and sometimes it is ridiculous how different it is to the voice you hear as the singer. I've started using recording myself as more of a tool in my practicing and I want to continue with that because it is such a useful tool to help you step back and re-evaluate for a second. 

The most interesting thing in this chapter was when it talked about finding your perfect head position. To do this, plug both ears and hum a note moving your head around slightly. When it vibrates the most resonantly and freely, that is the best position for you. 

I was really worried when I saw the section title about hearing loss because I was worried that I could get hearing problems, but honestly after reading the section I'm not that worried. I don't normally produce sound with that high of frequencies. If I could that would be amazing. And I'm not normally in situations that put me around other singers with really loud voices that could be harmful to me. But it's good to know about so I can be careful in the future if I'm ever in a situation like that. 

Auditory ossicles: the malleus, incus and stapes which are smallest bones in the body and are found in the middle ear. 

Cochlea: Located in the inner ear. It's function is to change vibrations from sound into nerve impulses to send to the brain

Auditory feedback loop: the process of listening to and adjusting your sound based on the sound you hear in your ear.