March 23rd, 2016

Looking for a sleep podcast to fall asleep fast, reduce anxiety, and quiet an overactive mind? This calming episode of The Insomnia Project is designed for insomnia relief, stress reduction, and gentle nighttime unwinding through slow, soothing conversation.
Marco Timpano welcomes voice and singing therapist Melanie Tapson for a relaxed discussion about vocal health, voice care, and everyday habits that support a strong, healthy voice. From simple techniques to thoughtful reflections on how we use our voices, this episode offers low-stimulation, easygoing content perfect for bedtime listening.
The conversation also takes a gentle, unexpected turn into the world of cotton candy grapes, adding a light and playful touch while maintaining a soft, calming tone. With unhurried pacing and meandering storytelling, this relaxing podcast episode helps ease racing thoughts, reduce anxiety, and create a peaceful environment for sleep.
Whether you’re searching for a sleep podcast for insomnia, calming background noise while you work, or a gentle way to unwind at the end of the day, The Insomnia Project offers a comforting, reliable escape.

​Cotton Candy Grapes & Voice Therapy
(Original airdate: June 15, 2016)

Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a conversation about the mundane. One thing that we can promise is that our conversation will be less than fascinating, so you can feel free to just drift off. Thank you for joining us. We hope you will listen and sleep. I'm your host, Marco Timpano. And joining me tonight on the Insomnia Project is a dear friend, Melanie Tapson. Melanie, welcome to the Insomnia Project.

Melanie Tapson:  Thanks for having me, Marco.


Melanie M. grew up with a dad who loved the Beatles

Marco Timpano:  Um, Melanie, we've known each other for years now, probably over a decade.

Melanie Tapson:  Hm.

Marco Timpano:  And, uh, I met you because I saw you perform on stage and you're quite a singer. Let me ask you, what road took you to song?

Melanie Tapson:  That's a really good question, Marco. You know, when I was a kid, I grew up with a dad who loved the Beatles. And I actually once got grounded because my dad caught me listening to an ABBA record.

Marco Timpano:  Oh, I see. So he was very particular with the type of music that he wanted his kids to listen to.

Melanie Tapson:  Yeah. And I had found this album cover, and it looked so exciting, and it was glossy and sparkly, and I put it on while he was at work and he came home and I put the record away, but I'd left the record on the turntable.

Marco Timpano:  Mistake.

Melanie Tapson:  So I got grounded.

Marco Timpano:  Oh, you got grounded for listening to Full Stop. My goodness.

Melanie Tapson:  M. So I grew up with a Beatles influence, and I really liked singing harmonies.

Marco Timpano:  Oh.

Melanie Tapson:  And. And that just made it something that I wanted to do more of. I enjoyed singing with other people.

Marco Timpano:  And singing brought you to voice and speech pathology and all areas of the mouth and throat. That's interesting.


Amanda: I found these grapes recently through a friend that I work with

Before we go there, I want to say that when Melanie sat down today, I said, I have a special treat, but do not touch the grapes in front of you, because I want you to try the grapes as we do the podcast. So our listeners who may have heard other podcasts will know that oftentimes Nidhi and I will try things on the podcast. So I made her try different types of mint and whatnot. But I found these grapes recently through a friend that I work with. She let me try them. I'm like, I need to find these grapes. So I want you to take a grape, as many as you like, and pop in your mouth and tell me what you taste on the initial taste. So Melanie is now eating a grape, which is always interesting to listen to.

Melanie Tapson:  It definitely has a flavor apart from grape. Like maybe pine trees.

Marco Timpano:  No, take another one.

Melanie Tapson:  Oh boy.

Marco Timpano:  It's the initial first few bites and it should remind you of childhood if the grape is doing its job.

Melanie Tapson:  Maybe soapy.

Marco Timpano:  Okay, we're getting there.

Melanie Tapson:  It's kind of like that. Those gums that were soapy.

Marco Timpano:  Yeah, we're getting there. So they're called, uh, cotton candy grapes.

Melanie Tapson:  Amazing.

Marco Timpano:  So now that I've just had that and try it and do you taste it? They're very sweet grapes.

Melanie Tapson:  They really are.

Marco Timpano:  That taste like cotton candy. The first few bites.

Melanie Tapson:  Really good. It is a confusing flavor with grape.

Marco Timpano:  If I would have told you cotton candy off the top, you would have got it because that's what I knew. But I wanted to see what you said. And yeah, it does have a sweet, sort of interesting flavor.

Melanie Tapson:  It's very sweet, very sweet. And then has this something. Something not congruent with grapes.

Marco Timpano:  Right.

Melanie Tapson:  But that's really cool.

Marco Timpano:  Yeah. So they're, they're cotton candy grapes and they're an ingenious breeding and farming sort of technique that yielded a very sweet grape that tastes the first few bites anyways taste like cotton candy. And so that's where they get their name. They're not genetically modified, they've just been bred. Or maybe they are genetically modified because they're bred to be sweet, but they're organic. And there you go. So throughout the podcast today, you're gonna hear us chewing. Ah. On some, um, cotton candy grapes.

Melanie Tapson:  They're really good.

Marco Timpano:  Yeah. Super sweet. And then they, then they turn to a grapey flavor.

Melanie Tapson:  Yes.

Marco Timpano:  As you go. As you go forward.

Melanie Tapson:  Right. M. Mhm.

Marco Timpano:  My friend said I should freeze them and then have. I've never had frozen grapes. Have you had frozen fruit?

Melanie Tapson:  When you first set them down and said don't touch them yet, I thought for sure they were frozen grapes. Yeah. I thought you were gonna mess with me.

Marco Timpano:  No, no. So those are the cotton candy grapes.

Melanie Tapson:  Frozen grapes are great to keep your wine cold.

Marco Timpano:  Oh, I never thought of that.

Melanie Tapson:  If you think about it, I mean, it's more grape on grape action.

Marco Timpano:  Sure.

Melanie Tapson:  And that way it doesn't water down your drink.

Marco Timpano:  But do they bump on your lips as you drink the wine?

Melanie Tapson:  I mean, so do ice cubes when

Marco Timpano:  you hear the coke.

Melanie Tapson:  I guess.

Marco Timpano:  Yeah, I guess you're right. Where do we taste the flavor on our tongue.

Melanie Tapson:  There's actually five regions of taste in your tongue.

Marco Timpano:  Oh.

Melanie Tapson:  And each one of them is responsible for a different flavor. So you'll have one spot that's sweet or sour or bitter. And funny story. Actually, if you have some sort of trauma to your mouth, like you've had your tonsils out, maybe, or really invasive dental work, you can kill all your taste buds at once.

Marco Timpano:  No, you can.

Melanie Tapson:  It happened to me once.

Marco Timpano:  But they'll come back.

Melanie Tapson:  Yeah, they do eventually come back, but they take a long time to come back. And they don't always come back all at the same time, really. So when it happened to me, I got bitter first. And I remember bitter specifically because I tried eating ice cream. And ice cream that isn't sweet is really quite disgusting, really. It's just cold and kind of goopy feeling and bitter.

Marco Timpano:  Well, now they're doing all kinds of things with ice cream. Well, gelato in particular. Well, they'll. Where they'll use non traditional flavors, so like olive oil ice cream or parmesan ice cream. Amanda and I had rosemary and raspberry ice cream. Rosemary, raspberry or gelato, I should say, um, when we were in Italy, and then we had a cheese flavor. I can't remember. I'll have to ask Amanda. But it was like an interesting sort of cheese flavored.

Melanie Tapson:  My mom made lavender ice cream.


You should mention eating flowers, because today we had a pasta

Marco Timpano:  Oh, yum.

Melanie Tapson:  And she worked at this herb farm, and they made everything from plants and flowers that grew on the herb farm. And she would make these floral ice creams to go with cakes that were all made from flowers. And then on top, they would use edible flowers like nasturtiums.

Marco Timpano:  Right.

Melanie Tapson:  Put them on top and put a beautiful glaze. And you would eat this flower cake with flower ice cream, but often with other herbs like rosemary or lavender. Something unexpected.

Marco Timpano:  It's funny you should mention eating flowers, because today, today we had a pasta and we have fresh basil growing outside. And, um, we have two kinds of basil, the traditional Genovese or Italian basil, basil, and then a small leaf. I believe it's called, um, Greek basil. And one thing that my family always did, or my mom always did, is if the basil starts to flower, she'll deadhead it so the flowers won't bloom because supposedly it makes the basil bitter.

Melanie Tapson:  Really?

Marco Timpano:  And so some of the small leaf basil was flowering, and I was putting some fresh basil on the pasta. And I meant it's like, here, put the flowers on too. And I'm like, really? And she's like, yeah, you'd pay extra in a restaurant to have the basil flower on there. And they call it something fancy. I'm like, you know, you're right. And so we put both the basil and some of the basil, basil flour onto our pasta. It was Very pretty and tasted quite nice.

Melanie Tapson:  Does the flower taste different from the leaves?

Marco Timpano:  It doesn't. It doesn't really have a taste that I noticed. And they were very small flowers, too. The basil flowers tend to be small, and because these were small leaf, it was more decorative, let's say, and flavorful. Although I do love rose water.

Melanie Tapson:  Really?

Marco Timpano:  Yeah. It's really odd thing. I love lavender. I love everything about lavender. The smell, the look, the color, and in particular, the taste. And so oftentimes I'm accused of being an old British woman because I love these sort of flavors and scents. But I will often take rose water, which is used a lot in Middle Eastern sweets, Lebanese cuisine, and whatnot. And I'll put a bit in my tea, a little bit of rose water in my tea, and I'm happy as can be drinking my tea with my dry scone and, um, knitting a purse and thinking of my days in England when I was an old woman. No, but that's. That's one of the, um, things I really love. I love the taste of that.

Melanie Tapson:  Don't you also spray rose water on your linens to make them smell nice?

Marco Timpano:  I haven't, but that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Melanie Tapson:  I feel like I've heard of this.

Marco Timpano:  I know you can spray lavender scents on your pillows because it's supposed to help you sleep. And I've tried that, and of course, it didn't work for me. And that's why we have the insomnia project going on, because I still can't sleep.


Melanie studied linguistics and became interested in voice therapy and speech pathology

Melanie, I want to get into your voice therapy and speech pathology, because I find it fascinating. Um, so what brought you there?

Melanie Tapson:  Well, as a young performer, I ran into problems with my own voice. And I met so many great therapists and singing teachers, but honestly, nobody who had been a therapist and also a singer. So I was a model patient. I did everything right. I was very motivated to change. But we couldn't seem to find a way to get those changes to last when it came to the vocal demands that I had for my job. So I went back to retrain because I got tired of waiting for an answer, and I thought, I'll find one myself.

Marco Timpano:  What's interesting is both you and I studied linguistics.

Melanie Tapson:  It's true.

Marco Timpano:  So that's, uh, a commonality.

Melanie Tapson:  Another one that we have.

Marco Timpano:  I love languages. That's why I got into linguistics. So I love wordplay. I love the English language and how certain words. I love the sociology behind it, really. But I'm really not a fan of grammar. You know, those People who are very.

Melanie Tapson:  I hate.

Marco Timpano:  Sticklers with grammar and using the proper tense and whatnot. As, uh, someone who studied linguistics. I always love language for its ability to communicate and its ability to change and to have words disappear or come out of fashion or have meaning in words that aren't traditionally meant for what the word stands for. So, for example, you and I could have code words that other people couldn't understand. That would be in English. So, for example, if it was like catching the bus and we said we use the term like milking the cow, and it's like, well, I've got to milk the cow if I'm going to go to work, meaning I have to get on the bus if I'm going to go to work. You and I could have this sort of coded language. And I love that you can do that with language and have it so that two people could have a conversation where others wouldn't understand.

Melanie Tapson:  That's so great. I love the sounds of language.

Marco Timpano:  Okay.

Melanie Tapson:  So I'm really into the phonetics.

Marco Timpano:  I loved phonetics.

Melanie Tapson:  I love hearing the way you say milk the cow and the way someone else says milk the cow.

Marco Timpano:  Right.

Melanie Tapson:  I love those nuances of language.

Marco Timpano:  Or how obviously we're. We're both Canadian. How the Canadian accent is often, um, mispronounced by people who aren't Canadian trying to do the out and about or the out and about. The way we do it. And they say, ooh, nabout. And no one that I know of from any region of Canada says that,

Melanie Tapson:  uh, it's actually Canadian raising the term for that. The way we shape our vowels that make it sound distinctly Canadian.

Marco Timpano:  I know that there's other words that we do that with. So out and about is the one that is, like, really well known. And then I love hearing the maritime car, which is car.

Melanie Tapson:  It's car.

Marco Timpano:  Car.

Melanie Tapson:  Which is one of my favorite cr. Car.

Marco Timpano:  Car.

Melanie Tapson:  There's no A in the middle. I. Those.

Marco Timpano:  You. I should mention that you are originally from the maritime. So you.

Melanie Tapson:  And I'm usually pretty good at, ah, blending in. So people don't know in terms of my accent. But if you get in a car to go to the bar to have a party, you will know where I'm from.

Marco Timpano:  There you go.

Melanie Tapson:  Every time.

Marco Timpano:  There you go. It's always interesting, too, when someone tells you you have an accent. And it. It happened when I was working on a cruise ship and people I was working with, people from all over the world, in particular the US and they were like, oh, you have a very strong accent. I said I do. Cuz amongst your compatriots, your comrades, your peers, colleagues, you don't have an accent. And it's only when it's pointed out that you're like, oh, I guess I do. And I remember when I lived in New York, I started to hear my friend's Canadian accent as mine morphed into more of a New York. Um, I wouldn't say a New York accent, but it became more similar to. Yeah, similar to what my peers sounded like.

Melanie Tapson:  I'm very susceptible to that.

Marco Timpano:  Are you?

Melanie Tapson:  Very

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Marco says he loves the sound of different languages

Marco Timpano:  Want consistent color for every job? Milo's Pro Rewards members get a 20% paint discount on future purchases after paint Annual qualifying spend reaches $3,000 plus order eligible in stock paint and paint supplies by 2pm for free. Same day delivery by 8pm improving is easy at Lowe's. Exclude spray paint and mistints. More exclusions. Terms and conditions apply. Subject to change. [email protected] Terms Same day delivery Valid and selected zip codes Subject to driver availability Details@Lowe's.com SameDay Delivery I also love the sound of different languages. Languages that I don't know how to Speak. Not that I know how to speak a vast amount of languages. I'm sounding like I'm, um, some sort of, you know, amazing polyglot. But really, I love the sound of different languages. And hearing. Trying to pick up, like if you're watching a foreign film and you pick up the words that they use often. So if you're watching a foreign film and you're reading the screen and you hear the word and. And you pick up or no or yes or hello, those common words, you pick that up. It's always fun.

Melanie Tapson:  We were just saying, my daughter is 14 months now, and hearing her try her best to speak English before she has the words for it, right. Makes it sound like, this is what I think English sounds like.

Marco Timpano:  Oh, I see.

Melanie Tapson:  And you can hear there's, like a cadence to it. She is definitely using sounds from English, but they don't make any sense.

Marco Timpano:  Right.

Melanie Tapson:  And it reminds me of when I first met somebody who spoke Japanese as a first language. And her voice in Japanese was quite low and quite abrupt. But then when she spoke English, she would immediately use this very high, sing, songy voice because to her, her, that's what English sounds like.

Marco Timpano:  It's so interesting because I often wonder if I. And I'll ask Amanda, I'll say, do I sound different when I speak Italian or Spanish? And, like, does my voice change? I should have really asked you because you'd be able to tell right away. But she's like, no, you just sound Italian. She'll say. And I'm like, well, that doesn't help me.

Melanie Tapson:  Right.

Marco Timpano:  But, um, I'm often curious if I sound different when I'm speaking one of the other languages I speak.

Melanie Tapson:  I wouldn't be surprised.

Marco Timpano:  You know, one of the sort of measurements that I found that really sort of suggested when I was fluent in another language is when I dreamed in that language.

Melanie Tapson:  So I've.

Marco Timpano:  I grew up as a child speaking Italian and then being raised in Canada. We spoke English once. My sister was born and I was going to school, but I always spoke it a bit. Then I studied in university, and then I won a scholarship to study in Italy. And it was when I was in Italy, one night a friend called me from Canada early in the morning, and I picked up the phone and I just started speaking in Italian because I was still half asleep. And my friend was like, you're speaking in Italian, Marco. I don't understand what you're saying. But because I hadn't woken up yet, I was just deferring to the language. And then I Realized when I was dreaming in Italian, I was like, I must be fluent in that language.

Melanie Tapson:  You know, I use that analogy a lot actually. So, uh, I work with singing voice rehab, but I also work with transgender voice therapy.

Marco Timpano:  Oh, this is fascinating.

Melanie Tapson:  And this is an interesting link.

Marco Timpano:  So before we go.

Melanie Tapson:  Mhm.

Marco Timpano:  Let's explain exactly what that is for our listeners who may not be aware of what that is before you.

Melanie Tapson:  So if you're still awake and you're still with us, a singing voice therapist is somebody who works specifically on fine tuning the issues you might be having with your skin singing voice. So it might be a problem that no one else in the world notices except you, the singer in a certain song, on a certain vowel when you try to audition for something. And now it's not the best it's been. So that's what I love doing as a singer myself. But I also work with a transgender voice, where I might help somebody who is transitioning find a voice that's more congruent and authentic with how they see themselves, with their self identity.

Marco Timpano:  Fascinating.

Melanie Tapson:  It's really neat. So one thing I often talk about is that if you are now talking to yourself in your new voice, your authentic voice, you're there because a lot of times people will have a great voice that's come out of their mouth. Done good work, and it's starting to sound very authentic.

Marco Timpano:  Sure.

Melanie Tapson:  Especially for a trans woman. Maybe she's sounding very feminine, but she still talks about talking to herself in her head in that old voice.

Marco Timpano:  I see.

Melanie Tapson:  And you don't always check that at the door.

Marco Timpano:  Wow. Yeah, that's fascinating. That brings me to your website, which is melanietapson.com for anyone who wants therapy for their singing voice or singing rehab, or as you just mentioned, trans, transgender voice. You also do sweet Walloween rehab.

Melanie Tapson:  I do. I do.


You bring a unique perspective to anyone who is doing singing voice rehab

Marco Timpano:  Now one of the things that I mentioned to you before we started taping the podcast is that you bring a unique perspective to anyone who is doing singing voice rehab. Being a singer yourself.

Melanie Tapson:  That's right. I think that's very different.

Marco Timpano:  So tell me about that. I'm a singer. Let's say I'm not. But let's say I'm a singer and I have an issue with my voice. What would that entail when they come to see you? Or what are some commonalities? Start with what are some commonalities that singers have that you would work on?

Melanie Tapson:  So oftentimes it will be something as subtle as, you know, my range seems to be a little smaller than it was the last time I did this show or the last time I sang that song, it used to be easier. Now it's harder. Uh, my range has changed a little. Or I used to have a really easy time crossing over those breaks that we hear in your voice, and now they're giving me a hard time.

Marco Timpano:  Time.

Melanie Tapson:  Those are very common problems. Or maybe coarseness that doesn't go away.

Marco Timpano:  These are common problems or coarseness that doesn't go away. What would be a cause? Let's say, of courseness that doesn't go away.

Melanie Tapson:  Well, if somebody is hoarse, it could be because they use their voice too much the last few days or they pushed a little too hard. Could be a viral infection, something that's going around, or it could be something that we want to investigate, maybe just to make sure the health of the vocal cords are. Are really good.

Marco Timpano:  Oh, wow. And what do vocal cords look like?

Melanie Tapson:  You know, they actually look like the whites of your thumbnails. Oh, they're about that size.

Marco Timpano:  Really?

Melanie Tapson:  Yeah. And they're white and they make a little vshape. And they're in your neck right behind your Adam's apple. I like to think of them as being attached right behind the Adam's apple.

Marco Timpano:  Wow. M. Now, what about someone who just wants to deal with a voice issue?

Melanie Tapson:  Well, you know what's great about voice therapy? It doesn't have to wait until you're injured or you're hurt or damaged.

Marco Timpano:  Right.

Melanie Tapson:  You can do some great work. Somebody like yourself who speaks for a living, whether it's doing your podcast or working anywhere that you do work, your voice is really important to you.

Marco Timpano:  Right.

Melanie Tapson:  And in order to keep it in its best shape, we can do some great work together to make sure you don't end up getting injured.

Marco Timpano:  Could you do this through Skype, or does it have to be in person? So, for example, we have listeners who are all over the world. Actually, I want to say, uh, hi to our listeners in Topeka, Kansas. We seem to have a lot of friends out there as well as in Red Deer, Alberta, uh, Nanaimo, B.C. we have listeners all United, ah, Emirates. Um, you know, all over Switzerland, we have some listeners. Ah, so let's say our Swiss listener has trouble yodeling. Yes, I know that sounds very stereotypical, but let's just say I love, by the way, for the record, I love yodeling. And I love to yodel. I don't know if you know this about me.

Melanie Tapson:  Yeah, well, I would imagine for a Swiss who could not yodel, it would be a lot like somebody who was a Spanish speaker who couldn't roll their R's.

Marco Timpano:  There you go.

Melanie Tapson:  You know, it might actually be, I don't know, it might be that devastating.

Marco Timpano:  And let's say they want to get in touch with you. And I know that you're one of the, if not the top voice therapist for, in particular, singers.

Melanie Tapson:  Marco, thank you.

Marco Timpano:  No problem. Melanietapson.com look on our website, uh, and on this episode, and I'll make sure that I spell out your name properly. What if they want to get in touch with you? Can they?

Melanie Tapson:  They absolutely can. And I actually have a setup where we can do sessions together over your computer. It's ideal if I can meet you in person so I can feel around the muscles so I can really see and hear what's happening. But worst case scenario, if you can't get to me here in Toronto or in one of the other places that I work, I can definitely work with you online. And all you have to do is reach out to me through my website. I've made it really easy. There's also some great information there. I kind of work really hard to make people independent. I talk myself out of a lot of work, but I want people to have good information about caring for their voices. So go to melanietapson.com mention your voice.

Marco Timpano:  Mention the Insomnia Project.

Melanie Tapson:  Mention the Insomnia Project. Love to know that you heard this.

Marco Timpano:  And Melanie will hook you up with something a little special if you do.

Melanie Tapson:  I will. Just for you, Marco, and your listeners. You bet.

Marco Timpano:  There you go.


Marco Meloni says he would be terrible at yodeling

Now back to yodeling, because I don't want to just drop this issue and seem like, um, it was just. I do yodel, and I love yodeling. And so I'm not making fun of people or the Swiss, who are some of the best yodelers in the world. I. So my mother is from the northern part of Italy, and, uh, as a result from. From Friuli, where the Alps are. And so not that she ever yodeled,

Melanie Tapson:  but she heard a lot of yodeling.

Marco Timpano:  No, I don't even think so. Uh, but anytime, let's say on the Lawrence Welk show, there was someone dressed in a traditional, let's say, um, Austrian or Swiss or, um, you know, traditional Alpine outfit. My entire mother's side of the family would gravitate to the tv because a lot of that sort of Tyrolean look is akin to what they had in their part of Italy. And so, um, oftentimes you would have people who would yodel or do those kind of songs. And so it was a big event. We all love to watch it. And so I grew up with an appreciation for yodeling. And my dad used to take me as a child mushroom picking because my dad and my uncle really knew the mushrooms who could or could not eat. So I wouldn't.

Melanie Tapson:  Must be important to know without a

Marco Timpano:  doubt, if you're going to eat wild mushrooms, you need to know. And I don't advise anyone picking mushrooms and eating them unless you're with any a qualified or someone who really knows mushrooms. I'm sure there's a term for that

Melanie Tapson:  mushroom ologist or something.

Marco Timpano:  And there you go.

Melanie Tapson:  I could use one because there's mushrooms in my front yard and I'd like to know if they're edible.

Marco Timpano:  Well, do not eat them until you find. Find that out.

Melanie Tapson:  But sound advice.

Marco Timpano:  We would go into forests and I as a child would start yodeling, right. And the sound of a yodel in a forest is just absolutely fantastic. My dad would just like turn and look at his sound. Son yodeling. Um, you know, six, seven year old son yodeling in the forest. And I just loved it because I have a loud booming voice traditionally, like if you meet me, it's. It's a pretty loud voice. While young Marco, who was like thunderous with his yodels in the forest. And I would advise if you're ever in a not so great mood, just yodel. It'll immediately put you in a better mood.

Melanie Tapson:  Really?

Marco Timpano:  Yeah.

Melanie Tapson:  Uh, you know, I think I would be terrible at yodeling. And the reason is I disagree. Yodeling. Um, I'll tell you why from a technique perspective.

Marco Timpano:  Okay.

Melanie Tapson:  When I trained as a singer, I worked very hard to smooth out those register breaks.

Marco Timpano:  Sure.

Melanie Tapson:  So I had a seamless one kind of voice all the way from the bottom, all the way up to the top. Or at least it sounded that way. Certainly we make different adjustments high and low.

Marco Timpano:  Right.

Melanie Tapson:  But people like people who yodel, or for example, Sarah McLachlan who does those flips to get up into that sound, they're doing the opposite. They're jumping that brake and they're literally hopping right over it. Because I worked so hard to smooth that out, I really struggle with those flips that would make me a good yodeling.

Marco Timpano:  So your knowledge of technique, technique and your master at doing that would be a hindrance when you're yodeling because you would want to get the technique.

Melanie Tapson:  Exactly. I have a very North American Broadway jazz sort of contemporary pop sound that doesn't jive well with traditional yodeling.

Marco Timpano:  Amazing.

Melanie Tapson:  Now I think I want to go learn how to yodel.

Marco Timpano:  You know what? When you learn how to yodel, we will have you. Well, we'll have you back on the show anytime you want. Um, but if you do get your yodel on, please let us know because we would love to have you on the show to tell us about more about yodeling.

Melanie Tapson:  Well, I hope somebody who's listening knows a. What's an expert in yodel? A yodelologist.

Marco Timpano:  And that just brings us back to our, uh, my love for linguistics. Because you can say a yodel hologist,

Melanie Tapson:  and everyone knows what it means.

Marco Timpano:  I know everyone knows what it means, but it's probably not the right term.

Melanie Tapson:  No.

Marco Timpano:  And that's why I love linguistics. Melanie Tapson, I want to thank you so much for being a part of the Insomnia Project.

Melanie Tapson:  Thank you.

Marco Timpano:  Marco, you can find out more about what melanie [email protected]. feel free to give her a ring or send her an email. Feel free to send us a tweet. Listen and sleep. As always, the Insomnia Project is produced by Drumcast Productions, and tonight's show is recorded on Queen street here in Toronto, Canada.

Melanie Tapson:  Sam? Mhm? Sa.