Unit 2B, Part 3

 Your voice must be:  Loud enough to be heard  Flexible enough to add subtle layers of character, emotional texture, and meaning to your lines  Strong enough to withstand long rehearsals and intense performances  Actors should never stop working on improving their voice

 Speech sounds are made by air forced through lungs by the diaphragm.  The exhaled air vibrates the vocal cords in the larynx  Sound produced is modified by the resonators (throat, nose, mouth, and sinuses)  Sound is formed into vowels and consonants by the articulators (tongue, jaw, teeth, cheeks, lips, hard and soft palates)

 When exercising voice, you will work to achieve:  Controlled Breathing  Resonance – a rich, warm sound quality  Variety in: ▪ Pitch – relative highness and lowness of a voice ▪ Volume – Strength of voice ▪ Inflection – variety of vocal pitch ▪ Rate – speed of speech

 Must breathe from the diaphragm. Chest cavity stays still while the waist expands and contracts.  Breathing from the diaphragm requires less effort than chest breathing.

 Tone depends on many things, some which cannot be changed  You can learn to make the most of what you’ve got by keeping your throat open and controlling your breath.  Tone creates Emotional Color

 Articulation – Clearly pronouncing words  Poor articulation is the result of carelessness and sluggish speech. Can cause real problems onstage.  Pronunciation – saying a word properly  All words that you aren’t familiar with should be looked up before performing

 1. Eat Well, Get Enough Sleep, and Exercise Regularly  2. Don’t Smoke or Drink Alcohol.  3. Never Strain your voice by Shouting or Singing in an Inappropriate Range  4. Never Shout yourself Hoarse at a Ball Game

 Typically on radio spots, television commercials, corporate training films, documentary and educational film narration, cartoons  Most voice actors have CD demo that showcases their talents