A sex toy that can help you hit the high notes? Study finds vibrator can improve the vocal range of singers

By Margot Peppers

PUBLISHED: 11:45 EST, 21 March 2013 | UPDATED: 11:45 EST, 21 March 2013

A new study has found that sex toys can be used to improve vocal power, range and projection.

According to research at the University of Alberta, holding a vibrator against the throat relaxes its muscles, which in turn eases vocal fatigue and improves the overall sound quality of a voice.

It may sound like a bizarre technique, but Dr David Ley, a professor at the university, has already used vibration therapy to successfully improve the vocal energy of 150 subjects including stage singers and actors.

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Good vibrations: Dr David Ley (pictured), a professor at the University of Alberta, has discovered that holding a vibrator against a person's throat relaxes the vocal muscles, thereby improving their voice quality

The idea came to him when his singer friend was panicking because she had lost her voice, which meant she would have to turn down two upcoming singing opportunities.

'I could really feel it was just because there was so much tension there,' Dr Ley told The Liberated Voice as he pointed to his own throat.

Drama and singing coaches have long used pressure-point massage techniques to relieve muscle tension in the throat, so the professor drew on this idea for a new therapy.

'I had to be creative and think... "Where would you find something like that: a strong, handheld, fairly powerful vibrator,"' he recalls.

The pair drove to the local 'love shop' and where they selected the Lelo SIRI vibrator.

Amazingly, after just one session he found that the toy not only released the tension in his friend's throat, but it also actually improved her voice quality.

Because of SIRI's finger-like pointed tip, as well as its high frequency of 110 to 120 hertz - close to the range of a human voice - it has proved to be the ideal vocal muscle relaxant.

Useful tool: SIRI's pointed tip and frequency of 110 to 120 hertz - close to the range of a human voice - make it the ideal vocal muscle relaxant

Subjects who have used this therapy discover that it gives their voices more range and fullness.

Sara Farb, for example, a stage actor from Toronto, Canada, was suffering from laryngitis during one of her shows when she heard about Dr Ley's discovery.

After only one session of vibration therapy, the results were 'just unbelievable,' she told an interviewer at the university.

'That night was my best performance,' she recalls. 'Not just of that run, but in recent memory.'

Ms Farb says the vibrator made her voice feel polished and brand new, even though it had been overworked from her high-octane show.

While it may seem like an unconventional approach, Dr Ley points out that vibration is actually a very logical way of improving the voice.

'It's like, what do vocal folds do? They vibrate,' he says. 'What is resonance? It's sympathetic vibration, reciprocal vibration. So using vibration to create vibration shouldn't be a very big leap.'

The professor explains that the muscles in our bodies respond to vibration by either toning up, engaging or releasing. His therapy draws on the latter response.

'It's mainly about creating a flow of energy,' he says. 'And then it's really about release.'

The Liberated Voice interviewer witnessed Dr Ley demonstrate his therapy on himself.

He placed the vibrator on his own throat and hummed an arpeggio, and the resulting sound was 'produced effortlessly,' says the interviewer.

'I was struck by how incredibly still Ley's entire throat appeared and how full his resulting sound was just with a gentle hum,' he recalls.

And not only does the vibrator improve the sound quality of a voice, but the results appear to be permanent.

'Even when you take the vibrator off, the frequencies are greater than when first applied,' notes the professor.

He has also found that placing the device on various pressure points around the throat, head and mouth produces different sounds and sound qualities.

Placing it on the anterior fontanel, for example - the soft spot located at the top of the head - produces a fuller sound.

Pressure points: Applying the vibrator to the point where the digastric muscle (under the jaw) attaches to the hyoid bone (beneath the tongue) allows the larynx to relax and settle into a lower position

And applying the vibrator to the point where the digastric muscle (under the jaw) attaches to the hyoid bone (beneath the tongue) allows the larynx to relax and settle into a lower position.

While there are seem to be no negative effects associated with the therapy, Dr Ley advises users not to apply the vibrator to the throat for more than a few minutes,

Overuse can make the vocal folds heat up, he says, causing the body to produce mucus to cool them down, which in turn can make the voice sound phlegmy.

Dr Ley is now collaborating with a speech pathologist at the University in the hope that one day his discovery can be used to help people with more serious cases of vocal stress.

'If this could be a tool that could help those people find their voices, find a way to be heard, that would be a great thing,' he says.

Dr Ley will be presenting his method at the Voice Foundation Symposium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early next June.

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