Voice Portfolio Entry 7: Vocal Health - Associated Affects To Overall Voice Production

Introduction:

As an Actor, I must have very good Vocal Health in order to assist with the overall production of my voice within a presented performance.

There are many multitudes of affects that are associated in a persons overall Vocal Health, and these affects can really cause a bad influence on the Actor when he/she has to present a performance.

The Understanding Of Overall Vocal Health:

In the 'Developing Voice For The Actor' lesson for Week 7 on the Level 3 Acting Extended Diploma course, me, and the rest of the group of Actors, had partaken in a discussion about what we all think may apply to a persons overall Vocal Health using a mind-map to note down our thoughts on the white-board.

Here is the mind-map with what we all had thought of in this discussion:

After having this discussion about what we all considered was associated with Vocal Health, our teacher had put us all into separate groups of 2-3 people with the task of going to the college library, and within the short period of time before the end of the lesson, they all must create a poster detailing specific pointers for 'The Implications of Bad Vocal Health'.

For this task, I'd taken the liberty of searching for a book, in the college library, mainly giving details about these certain implications that results in bad vocal health.  For the short time I had for this task, I had written down, in my notebook, about both Lung Cancer and Tonsillitis, which was also mentioned in the discussion we had, before this task, when we thought of the affects that smoking/drugs brings towards the human bodily functions along with Tonsillitis.

Information Gained About Lung Cancer:

Lung Cancer comprises various malignant neoplasms that may appear in the trachea, bronchi, or the air sacs of the lungs.  It is also the leading cancer killer for both Men and Women.

There are 2 major types of Lung Cancer:

1. Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Non-Small Lung Cancer is the more common type for both Men and Women, and it generally grows and spreads slower.

2. Small Cell Lung Cancer

Small Cell, or Oat Cell, Lung Cancer is much less common for both Men and Women, but it grows at a much more quicker pace than Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and it'll likely also spread to other body organs if not treated properly.

Both types of Lung Cancer can be treated with the combination of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. 

Information Gained About Tonsillitis:

Tonsillitis is most frequently caused by the bacteria that builds up in the throat, which later leads to infection.  This condition is a common complication of Pharyngitis.

There are many ways that Tonsillitis can be treated, either self-help or medically:

• By taking different antibiotics (Paracetamol, Pain Killers, Aspirin) to keep the pain away
• To keep eating and drinking food, even if it hurts, to get used to the pain
• By having surgery to remove the tonsils, this procedure is called 'Tonsillectomy'

After having received this information from the college library, I had just a few minutes left in this task to include a brief note of the knowledge that I'd gained onto the poster that my partner had already started to make.

Here was the end result of the poster me and my partner had created in this session:

After completing this task for our teacher, we had then moved onto the assignment brief that details the requirement of creating a presentation about one of the specific portfolio entries that we had done within our time in these voice lessons.  Our teacher had sorted the whole group, again, into partners and she had wanted these groups to do, within the study week, the creation of these presentations to then be prepared to show to her when we return after the week to gain some feedback notes on how to improve it for the next week when we're going to properly present our findings for the chosen subject.

For the purpose of this assignment, me and my partner where given the task of creating a presentation about 'Posture - The Alexander Technique - Releasing Unwanted Tension', so within the study week, me and my chosen partner will be working on this presentation to hopefully make it appropriate to my teachers requirements.

When looking back upon my Voice Portfolio Entry about the 'Alexander Technique', I'd included a bunch of detailed information about what I'd experienced, first hand, from performing specific exercises within the 'Alexander Technique' whilst also listing the given effects after doing it.  This information will hopefully all become useful when me and my partner start to create this presentation.

Analysis On How And Why Exercises In This Area Can Help Improve Vocal Performance:

Before and after a performance is to be given, it is recommended that the actor should go through some gentle vocal stretching which cools down the laryngeal muscles. Vocal cool downs like this can be gentle vocal slides or glides up and down your range (which stretches and contracts the vocal folds). Physical body stretching and becoming mentally focused are also key components before and after a performance and/or audition.

Another good thing to do when trying to improve your vocal performance in this specific area is to try and exercise both your body and your vocal area like an athlete. There are so many muscles in the human body that are situated within the vocal area, so why shouldn't someone be able to train those muscles much like you'd train your upper and lower body strengths. Actors doing this, however, must be well aware not to strain their vocal muscles, much like how they could strain, for example, their bicep muscles from too much exercise without much rest in-between. They should try to maintain a disciplined practice schedule with intervals of rest and recovery to perform at an optimal level, regardless for genre of performance.