State of the Union

[przed]

We have Big Girl Bed!

We took Ros to the store where I'd scoped out the bed, and Ros is getting the bed of my childhood dreams: a four poster, complete with canopy. (This was Not My Fault. Ros loved it, and so did the Sweetie.)

Also, I Hate My Own Voice!

I've just spent the last two hours narrating a fifteen minute online tutorial over and over again until I eliminated all the technical glitches and all my screw ups. My voice is too high, a bit torn up (from too much teaching over the years, no doubt), and wayyyy too sibilant. Those S's, man, they could pierce someone's eardrum.

At least the recording is complete. Now I just have to edit the fucker and make it look pretty for my portfolio.

But, wow, I wish I had a broadcast quality voice.

Comments

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

The bed of your childhood dreams was the bed of mine. I desperately wanted a four poster with canopy. My mother all but laughed in my face.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I even bothered asking my mom for one. I knew it wasn't going to happen.

But this bed was the nicest design in the store, and it wasn't even ridiculously expensive. We pretty much had to get it.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Oooh, score on the bed! She'll be able to play lots of imaginary games with that too. *g*

One of my mates growing up lived in a Tudor house that had been built by one of her ancestors. She slept in the four poster bed that had actually been built inside her room. You wouldn't have been able to remove it without taking it to pieces. We made so many forts out of that thing and used it as a stage as her mother still hung curtains on it so Stephanie would be warm enough in the winter.

I'm sure your voice isn't as bad as you think it is. Hardly anyone likes the sound of their own voice as when we hear it taped with concentrate far more on how we're saying things rather than what is being said as we would do if we were listening to a stranger.

[przed.livejournal.com]

The Tudor bed sounds fab.

Ros has already made a fort out of her toddler bed. We've strung an old bed sheet over the top of the old crib rails so it's like a big tent. If we hadn't bought a canopy bed, we would have had to at least buy one of those mosquito net things for her.

And I'm sure my voice is okay. But not great. I really have torn it up over the years. (I've always meant to take proper voice or singing lessons to learn how to produce volume without damaging my vocal cords, but I've never gotten around to it.)

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

It was. As far as I know it's still in that house. Steph's oldest sister Marion ended up living in it with her five children and I can't imagine she's had it removed.

Proper lessions are always great but there are very simple techniques like the "Ha!" breathing technique to learn to project your voice more comfortably through making use of correct breathing. I was about to type it out for you and then thought I bet if I google this someone would have already written it out... So here you go:

Projecting Your Voice for Stage Acting

*
Step 1:
Practice using the two different ways you can project your voice. Like singing, you can either speak with your chest (or throat) or with your diaphragm. Pay attention to how you create your voice when talking with your friends at dinner. You will be drawing the sound from your chest/throat area, which is the normal way of talking. However, when you are on stage, if you speak like this, the audience will have a difficult time understanding you.
*
Step 2:
Exercise your voice on a daily basis by using this following technique, which will show you how to use your diaphragm. Place your hands on your stomach, right where the center of your ribs meets your stomach. When you breathe in through your diaphragm, your chest should never move, but rather this area in your stomach should be doing all the work.
*
Step 3:
Take a deep, low breath and with a “Ha” sound use your diaphragm to release the air and sound. An example of this exercise is to breathe in through your diaphragm and then release each sound as follows, “Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.” The sound should be short and powerful, but with no strain.
*
Step 4:
Rehearse talking from your diaphragm while going over your lines, which will help train you to use your diaphragm without having to think about it. Just like if you were singing, every breath should be supported by your diaphragm and thus when you speak loudly, you will be able to carry your voice across the entire auditorium.
*
Step 5:
Place your hands on your stomach, and while you are talking, you should feel your stomach moving inwards to support your voice. If not, then you need to continue practicing diaphragm breathing and speaking.

Tips & Warnings

* Always keep your voice hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
* Whenever you feel yourself straining your voice, pause and take a deep, low breath and then continue with the scene.
* If you do not support and project your voice with your diaphragm, it will sound as if you are screaming on stage. In order to keep acting inflection within your voice while projecting, you must breath and support your voice through your diaphragm.


It's very simple, you just need to practice. You'll find your energy levels will increase if you practice breathing this way. *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this. I tried breathing this way for song time tonight, and wow, what a difference. That's the first time my singing voice has sounded decent in, well, years!

Now I just need to practice it, and not get lazy when I get back into teaching. (When I've had weeks of doing nonstop, all day classes, I've got to the point where my voice is just in shreds. I'd prefer that not happen any more.)

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

When I started teaching I was surprised by how much this old piece of actor's training really helped.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Now I really wish I'd done a bit of drama class back in the day. I was always on the stage management end of things.

[gritsinmisery.livejournal.com]

I had a canopy bed as a teenager. Loved it. It wasn't a huge one, tho. Hubs and I have a massive four-poster now, but no canopy. (The ceiling fan would chop it to pieces. *grins*)

*nods* I hate my voice too -- it has absolutely no bottom notes when recorded. I had a woman who has been my optician for years phone me and ask to speak to my mother. I'm 47. *sighs*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Our bed is lovely but understated. Since the Sweetie is 6'6", we can't have a footboard, so we just have a nice teak headboard in an amaretto stain. I shall live vicariously through the Ros.

My voice also has absolutely no bottom notes. It's also at the exact frequency of white noise. I can never be heard in a noisy atmosphere, even if I'm shouting. It probably also sounds younger than I am (44!), though I'm more usually mistaken for my mom when I answer her phone.

[probodie.livejournal.com]

Hee I LOVE those beds - you can get them for pets now (the mind boggles, to be honest but...)!! Bet she looks so cute in it :D

[przed.livejournal.com]

Pet beds? With four posters? The mind does indeed boggle.

We won't get delivery on the bed for about three weeks, but Ros is already talking about it.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool bed. Go Ros!

Everybody hates their voice! LOL! Mine sounds like grating cheese when I hear it on my answering machine.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Your voice does not sound like grating cheese. So I suppose I should just mellow out about it, huh?