Space

          

Luminescent Space by FirstLight Studios

                        ‘Words need space!’ - Bill Pepper, Voice coach and Head of Voice, NIDA 1995-2010.

 

.........He wasn’t wrong. This was the catch cry during my own voice training. It managed to invade my own vernacular in the same way I find myself sounding like my mother: I'm always surprised by it - but it always makes sense.

It wasn’t until I started working under the Artistic Director of Present Tense Theatre, Bryce Ives, several years later that I understood a wider application and gained a greater appreciation of Bill’s wise words. So here is my exploration of voice and space.


Space: a continuous area or expanse that is free, available, or unoccupied

This literally applies to the space we give in the body to our sound. An open and unrestricted vocal tract, space in the mouth so that the articulators can do their duty, space for the lungs to expand. A place that is free and available for the sound to occupy and resonate.

This also applies to the focus one must find before doing any kind of voice work. To put all else aside, exist within the walls of the physical space and dedicate the self absolutely to the task at hand. To be free and available and unoccupied to respond to the text or other stimulus.


Space: the freedom and scope to live, think, and develop in a way that suits an individual

Accepting impulses and being able to really find a free and natural voice means finding space. This is not meant in terms of wide open fields, but a more quiet and positively charged space that comes from and inner strength that we develop as artists.


Space: The environment in which we work as artists

At the drama schools I lecture at there is a tradition of first years cleaning the space in which they learn. With bucket and sponge. And elbow grease. This is not some kind of punishment, as much as some of the actors cry foul for a while. It leads to a respect for the space to which they are bringing themselves as artists. It leads to an intimacy with the space in which they know every knot of wood in the floor or slight elevation. It allows them to breathe in the smells and take in textures that they would otherwise have never explored.

Importantly, it allows them to resonate with the space through a very physical process.

And one needs clear space.......my students know better than to leave their bits and pieces lying around. One can’t resonate in a space full of mobile phones, bags and other paraphernalia. One can’t bring themselves in a free and available and unoccupied way to a space that is filled with clutter. 


Space: the near vacuum extending between the planets and stars, containing small amounts of gas and dust.

- In space, no one can hear you scream.

Yes, I’m referencing Alien.

There’s no sound in space. At least that’s what I’m told.

That's all.


Space: The distance between one point and another.

Words carry thoughts. They must hit a target. Like an arrow released. Or the thought is wasted - the words have no weight. And once they land they need time/space for absorption and reflection.


Space: an interval of time (often used to suggest that the time is short, considering what has happened or been achieved in it).

Constantly the cry goes up in my studio:

- Nothing in good voice practice ever happened fast!

Quite often I am working with a client to undo more than 20 years of accumulated habits.

If you want a quick fix for aesthetic purposes, it generally won’t make it’s way into muscle memory and you’ll lose it under pressure. Excellent vocal technique and health take time and patience and a whole lot of space...............



Any thoughts on Space? If you’d like to elaborate just comment or email me.......