Voice Portfolio: Respiration and Getting to Know Your Voice

Development of the Voice Portfolio:

Respiration and Getting to Know Your Voice

Wednesday 1^st October 2014

     Continuing our work into the ‘Alexander Technique’, we now began to look at the subject method into more depth and how it gives more effect towards to your vocal presentation.  Beginning with each of us listing how and why respiration takes to affect in the technique.

Respiration

     Together we discussed what are the key features within the ‘Alexander Technique’ and how it affects your ‘Bodily Posture’, but more importantly, how it links in with your breathing.  In previous sessions where we experiences and looked in detail towards the ‘Alexander Technique’, the elements to succeeding this practical method was focus and supporting various areas around your body.  By this we had to focus in areas around our body, exploring our physical demeans, and rectifying any issues to something new and original to our natural standing posture.  By rectifying any issues I mean, any unnecessary and irritating tensions within the body.  Now all these focus and support areas all concern the body, except, the beauty of the technique is it is an active rest.

     This active rest exercise can bring you to multi-task into focus and support your breathing as equally as you physical demeans.  Now within the technique it is possible, and this is something I achieved throughout my experience of the ‘Alexander technique’, is the locating of any areas inside your body that can support your breathing.  Now the key area that supports your breathing is the diaphragm.  Now the Diaphragm rests at the bottom of your rib cage, it has a structural movement similar to the lungs moving outwards and inwards when inhaling and exhaling.  Not only that, the diaphragm is, in fact, the key support within your body towards respiration.  The diaphragm, much like the lungs, takes in clean oxygen, and absorbs the oxygen in a matter towards supporting the larynx   is also linked to your Larynx.  The larynx in a way is the voice box, and contains vocal cords, it is the vocal cords job role within the body to adjust the pitch and tone thereby altering any of their position and tension within their voice projection. 

     It is within the ‘Alexander Technique’ were we can focus on the movement of the diaphragm, as well as the vocal cords, and see if we could alter its current state of formation towards a new standard.  This way we could relieve ourselves of any tensions and see if we could present a new, and different to our original, vocal projection and quality.  

     From what we discovered by researching into the larynx, we came across how the system of the vocal cords work in presenting voice production.  With close up graphs we were shown that the larynx is a hollow tube that rests just under the tongue.  But what I personally think is clever, is the way it opens and closes, exactly like a sliding door.  Why it opens and closes, is a matter consisting of multiple purposes, and these purposes consist of producing the sound effects, that is you voice production.  As well as releasing carbon dioxide, this is produced within your diaphragm.  Plus it, on a different note besides it projection of the voice, the larynx also supports your swallowing and breathing.  But once again it all links to the matter of your presentation of the particular elements within your body, and it is within the ‘Alexander Technique’ where we can focus in these particular areas and how we can amplify them to a new standard that isn’t our own.  Actors would use this method to understand their breathing control, and how they could alter their voices slightly for production value.

     Here is an image explaining in detailed the ‘Anatomy of the Larynx’:

Getting to Know Your Voice

     To conclude our session of learning more details about how the Larynx is essential to both your voice production, and how it can be amplified during the ‘Alexander Technique’.  But to end this session we came to another physical exercise, similar to our previous exercise of the ‘Alexander Technique’, except we were focusing mainly on our voice production and little on to non for our bodily posture.

     In this exercise we sat in our chairs, sitting in ‘actor’s neutral’, and we would place our hands onto our throat, just were the Larynx lied, and we would take control.  How we would take control is moving the Larynx from side to side, gently, and up and down.  This would, in a slight way assist in the opening and closing of the vocal cords.  By doing so we are allowing clean oxygen, entering from the nose, to pass through and alter our pitch and tone.  This can allow steady breathing with supports both the lungs and the diaphragm.  Thereby continuing a steady and relaxing breathing circuit, that’ll allow you mind to travel in the infinity of your body.  This results in you releasing any unnecessary/uncomfortable tensions within your body.  As well as releasing any and all fresh and comfortable energy within your body.  Linking into the ‘Alexander Technique’s’ purpose of maintaining concentration within the body and in your breathing, in order to achieve something different and original to your old habits.

     Except with this new structure of the technique we were releasing the fresh new energy, resting within the Larynx and creating a new formation to our original vocal presentation.  Now sound production occurs during any vibrations of the mucosa, which is located at the inner edge of the vocal fold.  But the vibrations can become a tradition, or habit, in the sense that they project you particular, and unique, pitch and tone of voice.  But it can be altered to a different formation, for example if you were to speak at a different pace, or even run out of breath, the formation of your voice production changes.  But when that particular change occurs, it results in uncomfortable tensions within the lungs and diaphragm, but particularly with the voice box.  But the purpose of this exercise was to alter our voices to a slightly different pitch and tone variation, which was comfortable and had no tensions what so ever.

     So whilst we were maintaining control over a steady breathing circulation, and giving our Larynx a slow and steady smooth to release any tensions, as well as open and close the vocal cords, to produce clean and comfortable altered pitch and tone vocal folds.  Staying at a slow and steady movement, sitting in ‘actor’s neutral’, and I could, once again, feel the level of concentration rise.  Through this we were allowed plenty of time to release any and all tensions and take close steps to achieving and new formation from our original, inhabited, vocal production.  But, because our time was limited, we had to stop our meditation, through the concentration of our vocal cords, and put our new voice production formation to the test and see if anything has changed of taken place through this exercise.

     We then put this exercise to the test we had to say out loud the phrase: “Hello, my name is…”  By enunciating this phrase out loud several times, we could all really hear and feel the change of our pitch and tone to a new level which was both comfortable yet had a slight feeling of a difference.  This feeling of difference had me, personally, out of my comfort zone when it came to my vocal production, except it was soothing.  Soothing in a way that I like this new feeling, and it had little no tensions I have experienced in the past, when it comes to speaking out loud in a new pitch and tone formation.

     I personally thought this was a good introduction towards me getting to know my own voice and how I can develop it towards future voice production work.  I could understand what my natural formation of my voice was, with a low pitch and tone yet and average pacing.  But post the exercise I could feel and hear my new voice formation really taking on a higher pitch and tone, which didn’t give off any senses of uncomfortableness and any un-call for tensions.  But I think I feel that in future I can extend on this exercise and make my vocal formation louder for production audience members, and bring more detail into my speech pattern and really articulate the simplest of words.

     But in summary I found that getting to know my own voice and what habits I have gained through the past, of my pitch and tone formation.  Plus I found this exercise to be, yet another, unique experience, and rather soothing towards the end result.  Therefore I am pleased with what I had achieved within these vocal exercises, and I do look forward to seeing what I can achieve practically and academically through understand the vocal presentation of a human being.  Furthermore I look forwards to seeing what I can accomplish when altering my vocal presentation for future performance work.