Drama - Task 1 (Voice Culture)
What is voice culture and training?
Voice Culture is the process of improving voice quality. It includes training your
voice in a desired way. You can enrich your voice, modulate your voice and do
many other things with it. The voice is an amazing instrument. Voice Culture has
many branches into it, which includes the training of voice, the science behind
voice and voice yoga.
Voice Training is based on breath control, how to sing low- and high-pitched notes
and using the vocal folds correctly. Voice Culture is based more on the anatomy of
the body and using the whole chest area as an instrument. Voice Culture always
differs depending from the usage. If you apply voice culture in music, it is more
about sustaining high pitched notes. If you apply voice culture in drama, it is more
about producing a high volume without stressing your vocal fords but using the
whole body to produce voice.
Explain what vocal elements are to develop voice culture.
Vocal elements are majorly there in music. However, there are vocal elements for
drama, too. They help to
develop voice culture
because these vocal
elements are used as per
character. Developing
character is also a part of
voice culture. Take James
Bond for example. James
bond always used to say,
“My name is bond [pause],
James bond”. Pause is one of
the vocal element. That
pause is very important in
saying this line because that
pause shows the style of the character. The other vocal elements are:
Pitch: Pitch comes in 4 types based on SATB, which stands for “Soprano,
Alto, Tenor, Bass”. Soprano and Alto are the 2 female voices and Tenor and
Bass are the 2 male voices. So, if you are enacting a small girl, you should
talk in Soprano. If you are enacting a grown – up, you should talk in Bass.
Pace: Pace shows the speed of the speech. This really matters because if you
are enacting a talkative person, it is more likely that he speaks fast. If you
are enacting an old person and talking super-fast, it won’t make sense.
Tone: Tone is basically the mood of your speech, which could be happy or
sad. Let’s assume that you are enacting a person who is very sad. If the
expression is there is your face, it should be in your speech too in the form
of tone.
Volume: Volume is a very important vocal element, because your volume
can depict the whole character. If you are a nervous person in your drama
piece, you ought to speak softly. If you are enacting a confident person, you
should be speaking loudly.
Accent: Accent basically means the way you pronounce your words. Most
Americans stress the words they say. The British accent is different. So is
the Indian accent. Again, Accent depicts your character, i.e. where you are
from.
Emphasis: Emphasis in speech can be useful. It can change the meaning of
the sentence and the feel/mood of the sentence.
Intonation: Intonation is an increase in pitch or volume in the middle of a
sentence. This is somewhat of an emphasis, but it is not that straight
forward. It is a very gradual change of volume/ pitch.
What are the benefits, importance and need of voice culture?
Voice culture is very important for all vocalists, from beginners to advanced
practitioners. A beginner would face challenges very different from those faced by
an advanced student. For example, a beginner would be more focused on singing in
tune. It is important for singers to know the anatomy of voice production and vocal
exercises so that they can sing high notes without any trouble.
The need of voice culture is very significant, too. Knowing how to speak will help
you in life. It is like a life skill. There will be times when you have to make a
speech or give a job interview. Knowing about voice culture will greatly help you
in these aspects of life. The benefit of voice culture is very straightforward:
Improving voice quality. However, there is some more to it. “Improving Voice
Quality” doesn’t necessarily mean the quality in terms of the pitch, it is more
focused on breath control, pronunciation, etc.
The importance of voice culture is to get to know
about breathing techniques, which will help you
while you are singing, running and swimming.
Running and Swimming are both life skills, which
means that knowing about voice culture has a great
deal of importance.
To conclude, it is worth knowing voice culture
because you will definitely need it in your life and
it is very important. It also comes with many
benefits.
Describe two different vocal forms, in their social and cultural
context.
Theatre is one of the most
prominent vocal forms there
are in the world. Theatre’s
are stage pay performed by
actors and actresses, who
communicate using speech,
songs, music, gestures and
dances. Lightings and
painted scenes are there as
backdrops to make the
scenes look more realistic. It
is usually performed on a
stage at a specific place and at a specific time.
There are many types of theatres, too. A drama theatre performance is a fictional
story performed in a theatre on the stage with lightings, costumes, makeup. It
doesn’t usually contain music and communication is mainly done in speech or
sometimes mime. A musical theatre is where communication happens through
music and dancing. Then there are comedies, dramatics and tragedies. However,
the most interesting type is improvisation where the actors come up with a theatre
performance on the spot.
An Opera is another vocal form. In this vocal form, communication happens
through music and only music. The music consists more of vocals and less of other
instruments. Vocals in an opera is very different because the notes are held for way
longer than usual. Dialogues do not exist in opera, which is what differentiates it
from a musical theatre. Operas mostly include the performers wearing masks. They
are mostly performed as a story and end up tragically.
Opera exists in many types, such as a French opera, which is obviously in French
and at times, they can end up happily, too. This is one of the oldest forms of Opera,
which originated in the 1600s. Other notable forms of opera include German
Opera, English Opera, Russian Opera and Italian Opera. These forms of Opera
originated after French Opera. Below is a picture of an opera theatre, where Opera
is usually performed.
Write about the vocal expressions and describe them.
Vocal Expressions are applying the vocal elements in order to apply expression in
your voice, as if your own voice has a face. Your vocal expressions should be
perfect, so that if someone hears your voice, it is enough for them to understand the
scene that is going on.
Here are a few questions you should keep in mind when deciding the vocal
expression of some character:
Age
Are the character young, old or middle-aged?
Would their voice be deep and mature or young and light?
Personality
What kind of person is the character, are they shy and quiet or loud, because you
will have to decide the vocal expression according to that?
Accent
Is the character from a specific place? Wherever they’re from, you will have to
practice the accent of the place in order to get the vocal expression correct.
Manners
Should the character have specific vocal factors in usual like giggles or coughs?
Register (SATB
Does the character speak with a low or high register? Usually, low registers are
used to show softness and kindness and are used by mature characters.
Type of performance
Is the play a comedy or a tragedy? Your voice should blend in with the type of
performance or the feel.
Describe about 5 vocal resonators and their functionalities.
There are many vocal resonators that contribute to changing the voice.
The chest is not that effective of a resonator and is definitely not the most
important one. When this resonator is used, there is a lot of vibration in the
chest.
The Pharynx is the most important resonator of all. The vibration of the sound
passes through this and is refined.
Whatever vibration passes through this, it
doesn’t go back up.
The Tracheal Tree is a vast system of
bronchioles, broncies, all inside the lungs.
It doesn’t have that much of a significant
contribution to vocal resonance, except for
the fact that it changes the Middle C to an
E flat.
The Larynx usually resonates the voice of
high pitch and frequency. The main go from job of the larynx is to ring high
frequency voices.
The Sinuses are like small air pockets. They
have little to no role in voice resonation. Some
scientists say that the sinuses sense single
vibrations and make those vibrations richer.
The last 2 resonators are the Oral Cavity and
the Nasal Cavity. They are the second and third
most important resonators respectively.
Describe at least 4 vocal exercises you found effective in drama and
why?
1) Hetza: In this exercise, you hold your stomach, inflate it and say
“Hetza!”. When you do this, your stomach should go inside. This
exercise is used for volume production. If your stomach goes in, it
means that your voice is coming from your stomach. This is useful
when you have to speak in loud volume the whole performance. You
can produce loud volume without stressing your vocal cords.
2) Aee Baba: In this exercise, you say the words “Aee Baba”. You start
on a medium pitch and go down in your pitch and volume. When you
start saying “Baba”, your pitch and volume goes up. While saying
both the words, you have to make an arc in the air, representing the
pitch.
3) Tongue Twisters: Tongue Twisters help you in articulating your pitch
and breath. Try to say tongue twisters in one breath without any
pauses. Say them as fast as you can. Here is an example of a tongue
twister:
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would
if a woodchuck could chuck wood."
4) Counting: Counting will help you build up your speed and breathing.
In this exercise, count as much as you can in one breath. However, the
numbers should be pronounced properly. This will also help your
pronunciation.
Choose any two - vocal artist from two different vocal forms (ex.
Theatre, Opera, Film, Music) write about their style and process of
work and do a comparative study (similarities and differences)
between them.
Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980)
Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13th of August, 1899 at
Leystone, England. He was the third son of Emma
Hitchcock and William Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock is
known for his splendid contribution in the film industry
during his active years. He was very good at making films
full of suspense.
Alfred Hitchcock representation of women was very
obvious. They were all blonde, all in white dresses and
mesmerized handicapped men. All the women in
Hitchcock’s films have been humiliated. Also, all the
women portrayed in his films have had bad relationships with one of her parents.
Hitchcock often used to make storyboards for the script, in order to visualize every
single scene in detail. He used to know the storyboard by heart. The storyboard’s
were not very simple; they were very intricate and contained a lot of detail.
Modern day movie – makers are still using inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock. For
example the movie “Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Long Haul” has 2 scenes inspired
from 2 of the most famous movies by Alfred.
In his movie “Birds”, a flock of birds terrorize the whole city. In “Long Haul”,
there is a scene based on this movie where the Heffley family is attacked by a flock
of bird.
In his movie “Psycho”, a person is walked on in the shower with screechy violins
playing in the background. The same scene took place in “Long Haul” where Greg
Heffley was inside the “Beardos” house and was hiding from the owner. Greg was
hiding in the shower and was almost caught by the owner. The same screechy
violins were being played in the background.
Tennessee Williams (1911 – 1983)
Tennessee Williams was born on the 26th of March, 1911 at
Mississippi, USA. He was the second son of Edwina Dakin and
Cornelius Coffin Williams. Tennessee Williams in known for
choreographing some of the most impactful plays ever seen.
Tennessee Williams was good at portraying his family
members.
Tennessee Williams transferred some of the qualities of his
family members into the characters he made. He portrayed her
mother’s sad character and her sisters joyful characteristics into the characters she
made in her plays.
His best work includes “A streetcar named desire”, which was originally a play
and was later turned into a movie and a book. This play is basically the definition
of Tennessee Williams style of drama. It potrays all the characteristics of his work.
This play won 9 awards in total which include “Academy Award for Best Actress”
and “New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress”. Both of these awards
were given to Vivien Leigh, who is the main character of the story.
Comparative Study (Alfred Hitchcock and Tennessee Williams)
Alfred Hitchcock and Tennessee Williams are both the most popular vocal artists
of the 20th Century. Both of them have done a lot for the drama world. They have
contributed to the drama world in their own styles and processes.
They both wanted to be something else before turning to drama. Alfred Hitchcock
wanted to be an engeeneir, where as Tennessee Williams wanted to be a journalist.
Tennessee Williams has done a variety of stuff within drama, such as monologues,
plays, etc. Alfred Hittchcock has not done that much variety of drama.
VS
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