Welcome to the first in a series of thoughts on the usefulness of specific singing tools. I am hoping to provide some reasoning and use cases for items for singing and maintenance of the voice. With voice science and evidence-based pedagogical practices better fleshed out in recent years, there have been many items that have hit the shelves to help singers perform to the best of their ability. This tool time is dedicated to the Sing Ring by OOVO. Disclaimer: this is not an advertisement, and I haven’t been paid to review this product. I just love looking for things that can help my students and myself sing better!
OOVO: The Company
From the OOVO website, OOVO is a company founded by Patrick Lundquist, professional singer, and Amy Henson, marketing executive to “Be kind to your voice and the planet.” They aim to lead with voice science and make straw phonation accessible for music education. If you’re not familiar with straw phonation, here is a wonderful video explaining its core concepts by an expert in the field, Dr. Ingo Titze. In brief, straw phonation is a semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercise that helps the vocal folds be positioned more evenly and efficiently which softens the collision force that creates our sound on oscillation. Basically, it makes singing easier and can be used in warmups, cooldowns, and everything in-between. OOVO sells two products: a Vocal Straw Necklace and the Sing Ring. I chose the Sing Ring because of its price point and some interesting features that make it more accessible for different singing needs.
The Sing Ring Specs
From the OOVO website description, “The Sing Ring by OOVO is the best tool for mastering vocal straw phonation exercises. Find your perfect resistance with four levels in one device. If you speak or sing at your job or hobby, the Sing Ring will help you fix vocal strain, overcome breaks, and build a stronger voice.” It is a brass tool that has a ring attached for ease of holding. There are five holes in the straw part: two openings on either end and then three divot openings of different sizes with two on the top and one on the bottom. The straw is three inches in length and the diameter of the opening moves from five millimeters to two millimeters. Each divot is also progressively smaller from five millimeters down. It comes in a travel case with a carabiner.
Why Use the Sing Ring?
For both the straw phonation newbies and pros out there, this tool provides a variety of resistances based on what you’re hoping to use it for. Since every voice is different, we all have variable comfort with certain levels of resistance. In my own experience, greater resistance is useful for when I need to warm up for operatic singing. Due to the greater acoustic back pressure heading to the top of the vocal folds, I can send more air through and balance the top and bottom pressures around the vocal folds. This idea is what leads to more efficient oscillations and ease of tone production. There are fancier science terms for it, but the concept is that with more high energy operatic self-acoustic production more efficiency and ease will lead to less overall effort; and don’t we all want to sing our arias as easily as possible? You can use this tool to prepare to sing or straw phonate through your repertoire. Now, why are the divots interesting? Even in operatic vocal production, we do not have to sing with full throttle energy on every note. With the divots, we can adjust the amount of acoustic back pressure to fit our needs. With less acoustic back pressure, we can have more flexibility with genre and timbral considerations. We can also train our voices to be more comfortable with the greater acoustic back pressure by starting with more divots open and eventually leading to full divot closure if desired. The ability to adjust the pressure with one hand in a pocket-sized tool is ingenious.
Conclusion
I recommend using this tool for anyone who is interested in straw phonation and for singers who could use something to help with their warmups and vocal exploration. The ease of changing pressures makes it versatile, and its size keeps it handy on the go and especially before an audition or performance. I have personally used it on many occasions when I have been vocally fatigued or been preparing to sing my operatic repertoire. The Sing Ring is a great tool for any heavy voice user, and it can be used to help offload vocal effort. Here is a video of the founder using it.
