SOVT STRAW for Singers and Vocalists
We've engineered our SOVT Singing Straw specifically for the purpose of enhancing the vocal development benefits of straw phonation, enabling you to build vocal strength, gain vocal power without straining, and sing with ease.
We've taken care of the science, so you can take care of your voice!
We've taken care of the science, so you can take care of your voice!
Shipping rates for this product are calculated at checkout based on order weight and destination.
We offer the following services:
- UK SHIPPING:
- Royal Mail 1st Class Signed For
- Royal Mail Special Delivery - Next Day (FREE for orders over £50.00)
- All UK orders typically arrive the next working day.
- INTERNATIONAL EUROPE:
- Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed (FREE for orders over £50.00)
- All Europe orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days.
- REST OF THE WORLD:
- Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed (FREE for orders over £50.00)
- Rest Of The World orders typically arrive within 5-7 working days.
PLEASE NOTE: OUR SOVT STRAWS ARE IN STOCK NOW AND SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!
I am currently undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, so my contact with the outside world is limited - especially so during COVID-19. I currently have a special arrangement with my local post office whereby I can drop off my post before they open 3 mornings a week. As such, all orders will be shipping out on either a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday.
Thank you for your understanding.
THE SOVT SINGING STRAW
12+ Resistance Modes
Modify length, aperture, and airflow direction Variable from 1 cmH2O - 13 cmH2O* resistance as standard.
Modifiable Apertures
- Ability to change effective diameter from 9mm to 3mm with included Aperture Reducer Attachment
- New ARA's coming soon
Variable Length
- 3 stage telescopic body
- Total length ≈22cm
- Minimum length ≈10cm
- Super compact design
Modular Attachments
Designed to be compatible with a range of attachments which will offer new features and functionality
12+ Resistance Modes
Modify length, aperture, and airflow direction Variable from 1 cmH2O - 13 cmH2O* resistance as standard.
Modifiable Apertures
- Ability to change effective diameter from 9mm to 3mm with included Aperture Reducer Attachment
- New ARA's coming soon
Variable Length
- 3 stage telescopic body
- Total length ≈22cm
- Minimum length ≈10cm
- Super compact design
Modular Attachments
Designed to be compatible with a range of attachments which will offer new features and functionality
BEAUTIFULLY ENGINEERED
The SOVT Singing Straw is a beautifully engineered patent-pending vocal development tool, uniquely designed to help singers optimally align the vocal folds, relieve intensity of pressure coming from the lungs, encourage efficient vocal fold vibration, sing with ease, gain vocal power without straining, AND recover tired and fatigued voices!
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BACKED BY SCIENCE
We have spent months exploring the science of SOVT in detail, ensuring we engineer our straw phonation tools and resources to offer the maximum benefits for the singer and voice user.
Our research has offered us vital insights into how air and pressure flows through our device across each of our 12 resistance settings. As well as how different vocal tasks influence the amount of back-pressure needed to balance out the voice.
Our research has offered us vital insights into how air and pressure flows through our device across each of our 12 resistance settings. As well as how different vocal tasks influence the amount of back-pressure needed to balance out the voice.
TRUSTED BY PROFESSIONALS
Singers and Professional Voice Users from over 40 countries around the globe are currently using our vocal development tools, whilst our partners are actively enriching their local vocal communities in over 10 countries!
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CONSCIOUS ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY
We care about the planet too, so by investing in a sustainable, reusable product, we have eradicated the need for other, non-sustainable training tools, such as generic plastic or paper straws, in turn helping in the fight to prevent plastic from polluting our oceans.
SEE HOW IT WORKS
We've put together a little explainer video to demonstrate all the benefits of our SOVT Straw and how it works in relation to the voice. Check it out!
COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TRAINING
Your SOVT Straw comes with some complimentary training content. You'll get access to 60+ minutes of videos, explainers, exercises, piano tracks, and more - AND you'll also get a free downloadable SOVT Exercise Poster.
What is an SOVT Straw?
Our SOVT Straw has been engineered for one purpose: to maximise the benefits of the SOVT technique. To achieve that, we have designed a new kind of straw phonation device, featuring a minimum of 12 resistance modes (from 9mm to 3mm) by varying length and orientation; 6 resistance settings natively, and an additional 6 resistance settings with our included Aperture Reducing Attachment (ARA).
This means that the user can very accurately dial in the resistance they require for their individual need and vocal tasks. Whilst also having the added benefit of portability, due to our unique telescopic design. Plus, our SOVT Straw is made from food-grade 304 stainless steel, meaning it's safe for use as a "food tool", which is great as you can also use the device with water for the Water Resistive Technique branch of SOVT.
Plus, our SOVT Straw is currently Patent-Pending under the UK Patent Application: GB2008209.5.
Who is the SOVT Straw for?
We designed our SOVT Straw to be an essential vocal exercise and vocal warmup tool for professional voice users of all disciplines and abilities...
For Singers:
Our SOVT Straw is one of the most efficient ways to prepare your voice for a performance. The steady back-pressure produced when using the straw, as well as the ability to vary the resistance will allow you to warmup and exercise your voice, cool down your voice, and help you to recover from long vocal sessions.
If you're a professional singer, you can also benefit from our ability to increase the resistance, thereby giving you a harder workout. This'll help you train stamina and core respiratory and abdominal strength, as well as help you develop flexibility in your voice, range, and vocal power!
You can also use our SOVT Straw in situations that you might not be able to do a full vocal workout too, like in the wings, on a train, or, use it at home when you don't want to belt in your housemates face! Plus, it's compact enough to carry everywhere you go, so you'll always have it on hand.
For Public Speakers:
If you're a professional speaker, it's likely that you use your voice for hours and hours at a time without any kind of vocal exercise / warmup regime in place.
We've designed our SOVT Straw to be portable enough that you can take it anywhere, and easy to use so you can be confident that you're always getting the best out of your voice. Using our SOVT Straw for even just a few minutes a day will help you to build a stronger voice, and will promote good vocal health.
It's discrete in design, and you don't have to be loud when using the tool which means you can use it just before you're about to speak, or, even as a quick 'top up' during a presentation!
For Singing Teachers / Vocal Coaches:
We all know about SOVT, or "Straws and Bubbles, or "Straw Phonation", and I'd bet the vast majority of voice teachers use SOVT in some way within their teaching practice.
The trouble is, most of us will have a packet of plastic straws around that we can offer to students during sessions. So, we decided to do something about it. We didn't want to be contributing to plastic waste anymore, and we wanted to be able to offer our students something more substantial and individualistic to each and every singer that comes through our doors...
So, we created our SOVT Straw - a super engineered SOVT training device that can be used to maximise the benefits of the technique! A product we hope you can recommend to all your students for their continual vocal development. Plus, we reckon voice teachers would love it too, as a way to keep your own voices healthy when teaching for hours on end!
How do you use an SOVT Straw?
There's actually a few different ways to use our SOVT Straw, which we cover in detail in the supporting material we provide with your order, as well as on our SOVT Singing Technique Streaming Course.
Briefly, there are two main "branches" of Straw Phonation: Pure Straw Technique (SRT), and Water Resistive Technique (WRT).
In both cases, you begin by placing the straw between the lips, making sure that a tight seal is achieved and that no air can leak out of the mouth. Then, gently blow air through the straw. Once you're used to this action, you can begin to add some sounds (i.e. an "ooo" sound) through the straw. It might sound a bit distorted from the true vowel, but that's okay. This is fundamentally it. From here you can play about with a range of different piano and breathing patterns, and so much more.
SRT uses the mechanical properties of the straw itself to determine resistance, where as WRT uses a bottle of water, and therefore the weight of the water to generate resistance.
For SRT, you can play about with the length of the device, as well as the attachments fitted in order to generate a resistance the feels right for you. In general, you'd want a stronger resistance to build vocal strength and to really stretch and exercise the voice, and lighter resistance when aiming to relax the voice back into normal functioning when feeling fatigued.
For WRT, length isn't so important, as we'll be using the properties of the water to determine how much resistance we get. The general rule is that the more water you have, and the deeper the SOVT Straw is within that body of water, the greater the resistance. Additionally, a nice bonus of WRT is that the bubbles generated within the water act as a visual feedback aid by representing the airflow in a way that is easy to comprehend. Simply, you can "see" your airflow making it much easier to manage it and work to build stronger technique.
For more information on the theory and science behind this technique, as well as all the practical exercises, breathing and piano patterns, and sounds to make, check out our SOVT Singing Technique Streaming Course.
What is Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract (SOVT)?
SOVT stands for 'Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract' - which actually is just a really elaborate way of saying that the mouth is partially closed. So what does singing through a straw actually do? Well, this partial occlusion allows air to be reflected backward from the lips, decompressing and helping the vocal folds vibrate more easily, and with less muscular effort.
SOVT exercises help with creating sufficient airflow as well as helping to check that the voice isn't being overworked. More importantly, SOVT is gentle enough to be used as a way of warming up the voice for singing, warming down the voice after singing, and everywhere in between - these exercises can also be used as a 'reset' button. In addition, SOVT can be used to help ease tired and fatigued vocal folds, as the exercise works to minimise the vocal fold collisions by providing a protective 'air cushion'.
What does the SOVT Straw include?
Our SOVT kit includes:
1x SOVT Straw Mk2
1x 3mm ARA 1x Carrying Case
1x Telescopic Cleaner
SOVT Singing Technique Streaming Course Lite
More SOVT Resources!
If you'd like to know more about SOVT, check the links below!
SOVT Singing Technique Streaming Course:
Our very own 2.5 hour training course teaching you everything you need to know about the science, theory, and practical applications of SOVT!
SOVT Exercises on YouTube:
We've put together a few different introductory SOVT exercises on YouTube. Check 'em out below:
SOVT Exercises by the Voice Science Works:
Our friends at the Voice Science Works have put together a great web-resource of some amazing SOVT Exercises.
Singing Through A Straw by The Naked Vocalist:
Our friends at The Naked Vocalist have written a great blog-post on the topic, and have an awesome accompanying PodCast all about Straw Phonation!
Misc.
*cmH2O values are calculated at a constant flow rate of 0.193L/Sec. Colours may vary. UK Patent Application: GB2008209.5