Audio Ensemble
Performance
Tuesday 26th – Thursday 28th January 2016
Final Rehearsals
This week brought us to the end of our
rehearsal process. The goal for this
week was to finalise and improve vocal techniques and demonstrate our abilities
to adapt our radio play.
Previously I noticed several flaws within
my vocal delivery of scripted lines:
·
Lisping within my
projection.
·
Lacking in
articulation.
·
Conveying minimal
emotions towards Lovvie.
Therefore I set about mending these errors
through vocal warmups.
Rectifying these vocal flaws lead me to
focus on facial and throat warmups.
Facial massages were used to find relaxation and minimalize tensions
within my facial structure. By doing so
I would have no hesitations or backlashes when projecting and articulating my
lines. But, what were my main areas of
focus for the facial massages? I focused
on my cheek bones, nasal captivity, and fore head:
Another exercise, which I find incredibly
helpful, is a throat massage. This
exercise helps to relax the throat and neck area, thereby support breath
inhales and exhales. More accurately,
this exercise helps warmup the larynx and releases carbon dioxide, thereby
ensuring constant movement within your vocal folds:
These warmup exercises really supported my
development in rehearsals, and I believe can do just the same to ensure clarity
and efficiency within my official performance as John.
Microphone Rehearsals
It was in this week, as well, that we seized
the opportunity to rehearse select scenes using microphone stands (similar to
the ones we will be using in the official recording performance). But, did I find this useful? Yes!
Not only would this help me to establish
what it was like to perform to a microphone and test my vocal warmup exercises,
but to test our understanding of the scripts context and physically adapt to
help our vocal performance. So, what did
we establish?
1)
Distance from the Mic – the most helpful aspect, I found, from this rehearsal was
establishing when characters were leaving the scenes, or running away. For example, at the end of SC12 Page 26,
Lovvie leaves the scene in an unexpected panic, causing John to yell after her “(CALLING
AFTER HER)”. This brought us to practice
moving away from the microphone, establishing the distance the characters are
making from each other and bring a slowly driven end to the scene.
2)
Vocal Volume – instantly we knew there was a significant difference to performing in
radio than performing on stage, therefore projection wasn’t as essential. When rehearsing we had to take our vocal
volume to a lower state to enhance the naturalistic state of the piece, making
the scene/conversation relatable for our audience. Another example to testing our volume would
be when rehearsing SC5 Page 9, when Lovvie and her sister Norah are talking in
the middle of the night, when their lines are scripted as “(SOFTLY)” or as “(ON
THE EDGE OF SLEEP)”, therefore the direction to take was to whisper into the
microphone to give a realistic effect.
3)
and Pacing – much like our previous rehearsals we took a practice into pacing
where we made the play seem naturalistic, all the while ensuring we kept to the
thirty minute time limit of the play.
What we achieved was successful and will hopefully adapt well for our official
recording performance.
Vocal Adaptation
In conclusion of this week’s rehearsals,
how do I feel about the main recording performance session? I do feel a sense of confidence, especially
after a microphone session. While I did
still notice a select few flaws that passed over from the previous week, I feel,
with a little more time and practice in warmups and read through sessions, I
can achieve to the best of my ability vocally to bring ‘Atching Tan’ to life.
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