Haptic Sound: Voice as Inner Touch

The complex way we experience our voice is, from a purely perceptual point of view, the resulting between what we hear acoustically on one side (sound), and the sensation of the vibration expanding inside our body (touch). This pleasant and stimulating haptic sensation can be felt most clearly in the hollow resonance cavities of our upper body (larynx, pharynx, mouth, nose, sinuses, lungs), as well as in the bone structure, and in every cell of all our tissues, muscles, nerves, organs. The way sound vibration travels through our body creates a touch-like experience within us, that can deepen our awareness of voice as an embodied presence, a form of inner touch that can guide our vocal expression and emotional self regulation. Let’s make some time to connect with this aspect.

Hum: Connect to Sound Vibration

Begin by humming a single pitch with closed lips. Let the sound resonate within you, bouncing back into your head, neck, and chest rather than dissipating into the space outside. Repeat humming the same note for several breath cycles, allowing yourself to track where in your body you sense the vibration most distinctly. If you like, you can place gently your fingertips on one or more spots which are vibrating, to enhance further the recognition of this inner touch.

Floating Head, Resonant Space Shaping

While humming a same note, you can now start gently tilting your head in different directions while sustaining the sound. Notice how the vibration’s placement shifts, depending on the position of your head. Do certain angles amplify or redirect the sensation? Play with big shifts of position as well as imperceptible ones.

Map Vibrations Across Pitches

Now, allow yourself to explore different pitches in an intuitive way. With each note, take time to tune in—where do you feel the vibration most? Lower tones may be felt deeper in the chest, while higher ones may concentrate in the skull and the upper face surfaces. Take your time to map your internal resonance landscape.

Consonants: Enhanced Vibratory Patterns 

To move gradually toward a more improvisative phase of the exploration, you can slowly Introduce sustained voiced consonants such as L, M, N, V, Z, G (and any other consonant sound you find that can be sustained through time without needing necessarily to be released into a vowel) to your humming. These sounds create additional friction and air turbulence in the vocal channel, modifying the vibrational patterns and adding complexity. Observe how each consonant influences your internal resonance through resistance—does it sharpen, soften, or spread the sensation? I like to think of consonants as cooking spices, or colours. Can you describe what flavor or colour does each voiced consonant add to the vibrational field?

Inviting Pulsation and rhythm

As a last step, you can open the exploration to a more intuitive modality, alternating between open, sustained vowel sounds and closed, consonant ones. Contrast this with rhythmic vocal pulsations—short, percussive bursts of sound. How does this shift the way you experience voice as touch? Let your personal sense of musicality slowly guide your choices, allow for fragments of melodic and rhythmic short motives to appear and disappear, always coming back to the somatic sensation of the haptic voice.

Reflection - Integration

To complete the practice, take a moment to write down your observations. This can be through words, a sketch, a map of sensations, or even a simple doodle. Your voice leaves an imprint within you—how would you visually or descriptively express it?

Voice is not just sound—it is touch, a form of self-contact, a means of attuning to our inner landscape. By engaging in this somatic exploration, we can cultivate a deeper, more intimate connection with our vocal presence, allowing ourselves to feel as much as hear our voice.

Feb 10, 2025
Alessio Castellacci