Load Modes vs Tone Zones: Know The Difference

Light. Medium. Heavy. Head. Mix. Chest.

You’ve heard these terms floating around but let’s debunk the links between them and clarify everything for you.

Imagine that you’re able to see your vocal folds head-on as you look in a mirror. They are two flaps of muscle, connected on your right side and left side of your throat that touch in the middle. Because they are muscle, they can squeeze and contract or they can relax and release. The relaxation of the folds while still creating sound is what I call light load mode. This has nothing to do with Seal or Gap, by the way. It’s about that vertical connectiona dn recruitment.

The contraction of the folds with medium contact/intensity is medium load, and the heavy squeeze and full contraction of the vocal fold is heavy load.

So we’ve highlighted the difference between light, medium, and heavy loads. Most people can’t tell the difference between the load modes however, and the terms head, mix, and chest. I’m going to prove to you that these load modes and head, mix, and chest are not one and the same.

Head, mix, and chest all are about tone or resonance. So you can have light head voice, medium head voice, and believe it or not, heavy head voice. I’ll demonstrate and then I’m going to show you some examples in modern music.

Tone zones have nothing to do with load mode and everything to do with where the sound is moving through their vocal tract. You create sound at the glottis —the vocal folds— and that sound is affected by the resonance chambers inside the throat, head, and nose, and even chest vibrations. If you can master the manipulation and isolation of load modes and master the manipulation and isolation of tone zones, you now have multiple new, different new vocal choices and you are in control!

My passion is putting singers like you in control of your sound, and not letting the fact that your voice is unseen bully you into not being able to harness it and make it do your will. Remember, everything in the body obeys scientific rules and your best tool in using your voice to your advantage is understanding the science and channeling it physiologically the way you want it.

I hope this helped take out some mystery and confusion between what the load modes and the tone zones are for you. If you’d like to work with me on targeting your load modes and/or tone zones… message me or comment and I’ll send you a link to work with me and get your voice obeying you through the power of science!