|
|
Go to page 1~2~3 [Next] | ||||||||||
x303 New user St-Hubert, Quebec, Canada. 74 Posts |
Hi,
Any tips on training your voice? Loud, clear, animated… I was told by a good friend after a birthday show my voice was a bit low and monotone! Ok, I do have a summer cold, but that’s beside the point. I have never trained my voice and would like to work on this! I don’t use my amplifier for birthday shows. Any help is appreciated. Bob x303 |
|||||||||
Emazdad Inner circle Plymouth UK 1954 Posts |
Get a PA system, you may not think you need it especially for the smaller gigs, but it not only helps the kids to hear you, it makes you look much more professional. I use a PA system for every show no matter how big or small.
Yours Funfully
Clive "Emazdad" Hemsley www.emazdad.com "Magic is a secret, without the secret there is no magic" Remember there are only 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can't. |
|||||||||
Rupert Bair Inner circle ? 2179 Posts |
If you don't want a PA system how about a drama class? That will teach you about how to project your voice and improve. It will also help other aspects of your magic e.g. improvisation.
Matt |
|||||||||
Vincz New user 59 Posts |
I suggest getting a PA system, I have seen a lot of parlor magicians doing birthday show, the first 5 to 10 mins was alright, but soon their voice went softer and softer to the extent that the audience couldn't hear well and lost their interest.
|
|||||||||
Regan Inner circle U.S.A. 5726 Posts |
Voice lessons would probably help, especially on speech clarity. However, like Clive said, you will still probably need a P.A. system unless you are performing in very small areas exclusively. I'm a professional singer-songwriter but I still need my P.A. system when I am performing magic in an average sized venue.
Hope this helps. Regan
Mister Mystery
|
|||||||||
harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
I agree, P.A. and getting a connection with a theatre or improvisation group.
My work with Comedy Sportz in the early 80's still comes in handy writing and performing programs. Harris
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
|||||||||
AragorntheMagician Veteran user Metro-Atlanta 304 Posts |
It also helps to hear yourself (and see yourself). Do some of your routine and cassette tape yourself. Then Listen. Than do the routine again and start changing your inflection, speed (varying speed of speech delivery), expression, VOLUME, while taping it. Listen again. Tape again. Listen again. Play, have fun. You get the idea. Also if you don't have a Video Camera perform in front of a mirror with your honest friend giving input.
I also do not use a PA system at BDay Parties....but I am a natural LoudMouth....lol Yours in this our Madness, Aragorn TM aka: Bob
aka: I used to be BOB (It's Cellini's fault)
"All Right, Who's Volunteering to be Turned into a Frog???" www.aragornthemagician.com |
|||||||||
harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
Yes an honest "friend" is very important.
I would rather be picked up by honest criticism, than held back by "Your the Greatest." Harris
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
|||||||||
Cheshire Cat Special user Wilmslow, UK 941 Posts |
PA System . . . Surprising just how many different shades, tones, suggestions . . . you can make through a microphone. (It looks good too!)
I too have a loud mouth - but sometimes I can have 40 kids and 30 adults all in large church halls or community centres. Even a Sergeant Major couldn't cope in these conditions! |
|||||||||
x303 New user St-Hubert, Quebec, Canada. 74 Posts |
Take a drama class, some voice lessons/theater and using my PA System. I will try recording myself.
Do you use your PA even in smaller shows? (10 kids in a parlor) Thanks Bob X303 PS. note to self: "become a loudmouth!" |
|||||||||
Regan Inner circle U.S.A. 5726 Posts |
I don't always use mine. It's according to the size of the room and the number in attendence. I know some magicians who say they always use theirs.
Regan
Mister Mystery
|
|||||||||
Jim Snack Inner circle 1338 Posts |
Good vocal technique begins with breathing. If you have a low volume voice, chances are you have a shallow breath. You need to stretch your diaphram muscle by practicing deep breathing.
Whenever possible I start warming up my voice one hour before every presentation. If I'm driving to an engagement, I shut off the car radio and start a series of simple exercises. First work on projection. Take a deep breath and say "Ha , Ho, Who" as loudly as you can. Relax a beat and repeat. Do this a few dozen times. If I am in the car I imagine bouncing the sound off the windshield. If I am in a hotel ballroom, I try to bounce it off the back wall. (Yes, I get strange looks for the hotel crew). Then I work on vowels. Vowels carry the sound over the heads of the audience. Try to elongate the vowels. There are three types of vowels - frontal, middle and back - I work on each separately. The frontal vowels are formed in the front area of the mouth, just behind the teeth. Repeat the following sentence, focusing on forming the vowel sound in each word just behind the teeth. The warmup sentence for frontal vowels is "Lee will let fair Anne pass." On each successive word your mouth should open slightly further, as the vowel sound is fuller. The frontal vowel sounds in these words are: "ee (long), I (short) e,()short) ai (long), aa (long) a (long). Then I do the same for the middle vowels: "Blurring the sun." "ur", "u" and "un." Again the mouth opens slightly further on each successive word. I focus on forming these words in the middle of my mouth. Finally I do the rear vowels: "Who could obey all honest fathers." oo (long), ou (short), o (long), al (long )on, (long) , ath (long). I focus on forming these words in the rear of my mouth, opening my mouth a little bit more for each successive word. When you say the last word, "father'" your mouth should be wide open and the back of your throat completely relaxed. After running the vowel sounds for 10-15 minutes I go back to breathing and projection, repeating "Ha..Ho..Who," always thinking "relax, relax, relax" after each set. Finally I work on consonants by repeating quickly "ttt, ddd, ttt, ddd, fff, vvv, fff, vvv, ccc, ggg, ccc, ggg. These consonants sounds are often slurred, so doing this exercise several times, I am warming up my consonant sounds. If I have time I run through a series of tongue twisters to warm up my tongue and lips. That's about it. Between exercises I drink lots of water, focus on breathing deeply, yawn (very good for relaxing the throat) and focus on staying relaxed. Tension only constricts the voice. I'll repeat these exercises for up to 45 minutes before a program and it makes a huge difference. A few last tips. When speaking to a room full of people, speak to the person in the last row. Imagine bouncing your voice off the back wall as you speak. Remember that vowels carry the sound, so elongate them slightly and let them "float" over the heads of the audience. If I have a series of shows every day for a week, and I make a conscious effort to work on improving my voice before every show, by the end of the week I am aware of a dramatic improvement. You can find exercises like the ones I use in any good voice book. Check out "The Voice as an Instrument." Sorry, but the author slips my mind. |
|||||||||
Andrew Loyal user 285 Posts |
Jim,
Great information! A P.A. system is a great help, but if the voice is lacking and diction is poor, a P.A. will only amplify the problem. Thanks for taking the time to share these techniques with us! Andrew |
|||||||||
x303 New user St-Hubert, Quebec, Canada. 74 Posts |
I agree with you Andrew!
I'm from Quebec Canada, I therefore do my show either in English or in French. I had to use unilingual friends in each language to help with translating my routines. I'm bilingual, but I can't say I’m 100% perfect in either language. Jim, thank you for this valuable information! I dearly appreciate it! Bob X303 |
|||||||||
Emazdad Inner circle Plymouth UK 1954 Posts |
<<<<Do you use your PA even in smaller shows?
(10 kids in a parlor) >>> Do people still have parlours? I've performed in Dining rooms, sitting rooms (we call it the front room), bedrooms, gardens, kitchens, conservatories, but never in a parlour. What exactly is a parlour, can anyone who's old enough to remember let me know. There's even the new one now the family room, I live in a family house, we don't have a designated room. My kids are allowed everywhere, Family room sounds like you don't really like your kids and have rooms in your house where they are not allowed so you can escape from them. I have a very loud voice, I spent years pefecting having conversations in loud engine rooms on her majesty's war canoes. But I still use my PA for every show, no matter how many kids. Why? in a large hall/venue, my own voice plus the PA ensures I'm heard by everyone in the place and for several hundred yards around (a bonus if you're at one of those venues where you need to attract the audience),and it allows me to go from a normal voice to a whisper and still be heard clearly.. in a small hall, houseparty or a large hall/venue the Microphone does several things:- 1, it makes me look more professional. 2, it acts like a badge of authority to the kids. 3, it forces me to quieten my voice down for the smaller yonger groups, and thus not frighten them quite so much. 4, as Ace says it gives you the oppertunity to make lots of different noises and sound effects that you could not do with out it.
Yours Funfully
Clive "Emazdad" Hemsley www.emazdad.com "Magic is a secret, without the secret there is no magic" Remember there are only 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can't. |
|||||||||
cardtricks New user 46 Posts |
I differ from Emazdad in the use of microphones at birthday parties. I have always thought it rather silly to use a mike in front of say 15 kids. Rather than look professional I have always thought it looked very amateurish.
Overkill I would have thought. Even for some people with a weak voice I think that going to the unnecessary trouble of setting up a microphone in a private living room is quite ridiculous. I would have thought that it would destroy the intimacy and rapport between you and the kids. Still, each to his own. I would certainly agree with the use of a microphone at larger shows so no argument there. |
|||||||||
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
I use my PA for audiences over 25-30. The key to project is...
1) Breath from your diaphragm 2) Don't suck in your stomach when you breath. 3) Find the natural places to breath in your script. 4) Take up swimming. 5) Stand up straight as if a piece of string is tied on your head is pulling you up. 6) Speak slower 7) Make sure your lips and jaw are moving. Us aussie don't move out mouths a lot result in the the Australia drawl. 8)Breath in through your nose and out your mouth. |
|||||||||
Emazdad Inner circle Plymouth UK 1954 Posts |
Hi Cardtricks, as 99% of my parties are 2-hour jobs, my coomber PA system is set up ready for the music, as it has a built in radio mic reciever, all I do is don the headset and I'm off. So there is no extra set up. If I used a hand held mic, and stand, then I would be struggling as there would not be much room for it in most small sitting rooms.
As for looking amateurish, I disagree, it makes you look more professional. If it's just a 1-Hour show, which is very rare for me to do at a house party, it's still only one eletric plug to plug in. The amateurish ones are the blokes with a cheap cable mic plugged into an old guitar amp sat on the floor, and the mic tied round their neck with a bit of rope. I even saw one guy once use one of those kareoke machines out of a catalogue. now that's amateurish. It also does not interfere with the rapport between me and the kids, it allows me a lot more freedom to whisper and make noises etc to enhance the show. The noises etc would not sound the same without the mic.
Yours Funfully
Clive "Emazdad" Hemsley www.emazdad.com "Magic is a secret, without the secret there is no magic" Remember there are only 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can't. |
|||||||||
cardtricks New user 46 Posts |
We must obviously all learn to "make noises" in order to have an excuse to use a microphone in a living room.
Once I have mastered this essential skill I shall immediately go out and purchase a microphone for exclusive use at birthday party shows. To make you feel better I will concede that Jon Tremaine and Mark Leveridge advocate the use of microphones in living rooms. Interesting that they are also the full party type entertainer that is very standard in the UK. I still think it is daft though. |
|||||||||
Emazdad Inner circle Plymouth UK 1954 Posts |
<<<<We must obviously all learn to "make noises" in order to have an excuse to use a microphone in a living room. >>>>
now your showing your inexperience in the finer points of children's entertainment. The use of various sound effects to enhance the patter or story line is common place among children's magicians. <<<<I still think it is daft though. >>>> I'm a full time professional children's entertainer, my professional attitude, and approach even down to the use of the microphone (which you scoff at) earns me on average 30 show/parties a month, mostly they are 2-hour gigs. By the end of this month I'll have done 46 and I have 43 in the diary for next month with spaces still available for a few more. How many have you got? Even with proper training and warm up techniques if you're doing a lot of shows in stuffy halls, air conditioned rooms or outside on a hot sunny day your throat wil take a bashing. Especially if your are projecting your voice above even a low background noise. The use of the microphone means you havn't got to strain quite so much and helps protect your voice box. A good tip is to keep some lozengers in your box, I use VOCALZONE, I think I've spelt it right. it's a small throat lozenge which works wonders. it's used by public speakers, Actors and opera singer etc and is small enough that you can pop it in your mouth and shove it to one side and all through the show it slowly disolves and protects your throat.
Yours Funfully
Clive "Emazdad" Hemsley www.emazdad.com "Magic is a secret, without the secret there is no magic" Remember there are only 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can't. |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The little darlings » » Loud, clear voice! (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page 1~2~3 [Next] |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.05 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |