Kristin Linklater - The Natural Voice

Freeing the Natural Voice - Kristin Linklater

While reading this excerpt I was very interested in the where the sounds actually comes from. It’s odd to think that there’s an entire process of neural transmission that happens before a breath is even taken. We don’t often think of breathing or the process to make it happen, we often just breath because it’s so natural to us at this point. The fact that the breath is so deliberate and it ultimately affects the sound that exits your mouth definitely makes me care and think about the kind of breath I’m taking before talking, singing, or yelling. While reading the section of the reading about “why the voice does not work,” I learned that habits and constrictors are the common causes of the voice not wanting to work. This is rather frightening because habits are so easily formed and so often hard to reverse. So this made me think about the habits I may have formed and the kinds of constriction it may have on my voice and my production of sound. While reading this article, I was reminded of the words of wisdom that my voice teacher back home used to tell me. She would never explain the entire anatomical process of the breath or sound, but she would say that it’s all about the primal sound. She would describe this as a baby wailing or crying or screaming. This impulse connects the body to the voice and ultimately connects the breath to the vocal folds. So reading the passage was very eye opening and full circle which definitely made me think about the flow of air and how I’m accessing air and catalyzing breath from the body. In my voice lesson last week I tried to use the thoughts if Linklater to embrace the tone coming from a more connected place and though I don’t think I mastered it, I think I’m well on my way to finding the action that allows me to connect my body and vocal folds in a cohesive and powerful manner.

The Second Circle by Patsy Rodenburg

After reading this article about second circle, I became very interested in relating this to situations I encountered everyday and the circles I found myself and the people around me in. I noticed that when people walk down the street or are going throughout the day in their normal routine, they tend to rest in first circle: very reserved and internalized. It was very interesting to see how the societal norms of our individualized society have shaped the general reactions of humans in our everyday lives. When it came to noticing third circle, I noticed that many people who have to give a presentation in front of a class of people or are trying to impress an individual or groups of people, they tend to sit in third circle. They are very animated and even though they seem as though they are incredibly connected and very personable they are incredibly internalized because they’re not actually connected with anyone, so much as putting on airs to seem as though they are. I find myself in third circle when I see people I know in the hall or walking down the street and I am out-of-this-world happy to see them. I also noticed how easy it is to fall into the third circle trap while in an audition, because you are trying to seem incredibly confident but you are still very nervous under the surface. Those who live in second circle are incredibly present and focused on the world around them. They are connecting to those around them and you never have to question where their mind is in the conversation because you know that they are very in tune with what’s being said. I hope to reside in second circle for the majority of my being and know that this presence will be immensely important to the work I do in class and on the stage.

Mila Kunis' Voice Recipe

Tempo - Mila speaks at a rather fast tempo. She tends to vary her speech based on the intensity of the words she's speaking.

Rhythm - She tends to start her sentences with an emphasized word followed by a cluster of words that are rather flowed together. She also tends to take emphasized breaths and pauses as the words connect.

Articulation - Her articulation tends to come from a glottal place, which explains the raspiness in her voice. She tends to also intonate from the top her head, especially when she's excited about something. When she's very into something her tone will shift to resonate from the top of her head in a very forward fashion. 

Pronunciation - She is from the Ukraine, which explains the small shifts in the way she pronounces things. Her English is basically flawless, but the way she speaks definitely differs from the American norm. 

Pitch - Her pitch lies pretty low on the female vocal scale. Her speech tone often rises to a little above the normal female pitch. When she talks sarcastically her tone lies even lower than her normal base tone. 

Volume - Her voice definitely carries because of the harshness of her tone. It tends to be rather scratchy which kind of makes it sound like she's yelling even when her volume is low or she's whispering. 

Quality - Her vocal quality is a mix between scratchy/raspy and smooth generic tone. Her voice sounds rather chill and laid back but also tends to have an amount of energy behind it that expresses confidence. Her voice quality lies in her throat which explains the low vocal tone and throaty inflection. If I were to describe her voice abstractly, I would describe it as.. oddly enough, the tongue of a cat: bristly and rough most of the time, but also very smooth to look at.

Word Choice - She uses very generic language when speaking but in a way that hints to the high intelligence that she possesses. She just speaks very casually which makes her come across very down-to-Earth. 

Vocal nonverbals - She tends to rest on vocal fry while she speaks and when she says words with s's, they tend to stand out and you focus on the rush of air coming from her lips.  

Tyler Oakley's Voice Recipe

Tyler Oakley's Voice Recipe

Tempo - Tyler Oakley speaks with a super fast tempo. He tends to keep this pace while he talks, but he occasionally slows his speech to emphasize important things that he’s talking about. 

Rhythm - He tends to speak in love run on sentences but tends to emphasis certain words. He often emphasizes the word “I” and when he lists things he tends to emphasize the first word that follows each expected comma. He tends to stress the beginnings of sentences and follows that by grouping low tones and then follows them with another stressed accent. 

Articulation - Tyler Oakley uses the top of his mouth and the top of his head to resonate sound. His placement also tends to fall very forward and often lies in his nose. The extent of his tone is often dependent on the particular rhythm of the sentence but he often sustains the end of his stressed words. His tone has A LOT of pressure behind is and based on his placement, I would assume that the vibration of his vocal folds is not incredibly extensive.

Pronunciation - He is from Michigan. Therefore his accent tends to be the standard midwestern drawl, but his inflection does tend to veer away from the generic form of American dialect. 

Pitch - Tyler seems to have a very wide range and a very varied pattern of speech. His pitch commonly lies quite if we’re talking about a musical scale but he does have very expressive inflection which causes his tone to vary by a large degree.

Volume - Tyler DEFINITELY fills the space. His voice is very expansive and based on his high pitch the high volume commonly follows. Based on the dynamics of his speech, loudness is bound to ensue. 

Quality - His voice quality is very light yet powerful and often shrill. The impression of his voice is bight, clear, and full. His resonation tends to come from the sinuses but he also tends to resonate from his head-voice. The physical state in regards to the quality of the voice is moderately nasal. If his voice were to be described abstractly, as bright orange tulle; very bright and pungent, yet also very luscious. 

Word Choice - Tyler tends to use very casual language when he records his videos and that makes his tone stand out and makes him seem more relatable. He also used a lot of expressive words and onomatopoeia that really liven up his speech.  

Vocal nonverbals - Tyler does have a lisp, so that does affect his speech and creates a common nonverbal. He also emphasizes t’s, so his tongue creates a nonverbal that shows up very often in his sentences.