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Vocal Process Reports...
The Voice of
Violence
“Extended vocal use is often referred to as ‘extraordinary’ use of
the voice. This includes but is not strictly limited to, vocal use
during stage fighting, howling, screaming, shouting or using the
voice in a large theatre or outside venue. [OLSON 2001]
Central School of
Speech and Drama was the venue for a workshop on extraordinary voice
use, presented for Vocal Process by Lise Olson. A great space with
light, air and a little ambient noise from the busy Finchley Road
proved a good stimulus for finding our big voices. An interesting
mix of people included two speech and language therapists, two
singing teachers, actors (one of whom was in production and needing
immediate help), voice teachers from colleges in and around London
and a number of trainee voice teachers from the CSSD MAVS course.
After a very
physical general warm-up, Lise talked about her background, her
training in Dramatic Combat, and her personal interest in violent
voice work as a director and voice & speech teacher. We then
explored the relationship between physical effort and voice, and
discovered that if effort levels are low when aiming for big sounds,
you are likely to constrict in the larynx; higher effort levels
demand greater commitment and produce better results. We practised
routines for retraction of the false vocal folds, engaging abdominal
support and a variety of techniques for body anchoring or postural
grounding. These basics must be mastered for safety in extended
voice use. In addition to this we were reminded about the law of
‘hydration, hydration, hydration’, which needs to be ongoing for
those doing violent voice work. Lise advises her actors to start
hydrating at least a day before rehearsals begin.
Before moving into
role-play and text, Lise took us through the ‘consonant key’
routine. This enabled us to explore pitch glides, ‘stabs’ and
elongation of sounds in voiced consonants, all of which we would use
later in text work. We finished the morning with calling exercises,
using newspaper sellers, market hawkers and other models from
everyday life to inspire us to use our voices more energetically.
Lise had some very practical advice to offer on the use of different
consonant types to engage high effort levels safely.
By the afternoon we
were screaming. We started with explorations of pitch using sirening
and twang to access high sounds. Each type of scream was presented
with instructions for accessing the optimum pitch for the sound,
monitoring of effort levels and application of abdominal support and
body anchoring techniques. Blood curdling screams (using a uvular
trill to introduce distortion), howls (one instruction was to “howl
at the moon”), wails (lower and thicker in sound quality) and groans
(using creak and uncontrolled pitch changes).
We finished with a
question and answer session, sharing experiences and discussing how
to apply the work in our own situations. Well give Lise the last
word: Use of the extended voice is a physical skill – it involves
the entire body, and proficiency can only be gained through training
and repetition.
Lise
Olson, ‘Some Personal Discoveries Regarding Vocal Use in Stage
Combat’, in The Voice in Violence and Other Contemporary Issues in
Professional Voice and Speech Training, The Voice and Speech Review,
ed. Rocco Dal Vera (Cincinnati: Voice and Speech Trainers
Association, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2001), 31. Buy
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