Doing it.

I'm in training vocally and it's my favourite thing. Diaphragm, that great bit of muscle between yer lungs and yer guts... that's my focus. building up strength to hold notes, have breath control. core strength. The great upshot is that I can carry barrels at work much easier, ha ha. I'm doing Alexander Technique, which is about relaxing your muscles and moving /standing/doing anything with ease and not being a knotted anxious mess of muscle. The way I like to explain a fraction of Alexander Technique is that within our muscles are the large veins carrying blood around the body.If we hold those muscles in a state of tension, all tight, the blood flow is restricted, so that's how I make a tiny bit of sense of what it is and why I like it! A.T also helps me sing in tune... which is good for everyone! As a singer my biggest enemy to making a quality sound, a sound that has texture and depth, which is how we convey meaning/emotion, is tension and anxiety. I know I can sing, but if I am anxious then everything tightens up, stiff jaw, squashed back of neck, dry mouth....boring sound....yawn.... I'm sounding a teachery..apologies...I'm writing this so I remember what I'm doing not to tell anyone else what to do... we make sense of stuff as individuals...happy singing y'all.

Getting on with it

So when the panic creeps in, a new voice takes command. Not the stir the pot, put the logs on the fire of panic voice, but a calm one that says just get on with it. If you are gonna climb a mountain you literally need to put one foot in front of the other and move forwards. All I can do with taking a show to Edinburgh is do each practical task that needs doing, do singing training and make up tunes. It is that simple. Panic does not motive, it distracts and zaps energy. As a team, we can only do our best, as individuals we can only do our best. This is my talk to myself this morning.

Klanghaus Midnight Feast

KlangHaus Midnight Feast was a triumph. We made an impact. Filling the place with sound. “a glorious bombardment of the senses, the effect was 360 degree immersion, captivation – theatrical, visual, dramatic and visceral.” norwichblog.com With speakers running along the sides of the room as well as the traditional full frontals we surrounded the audience with sounds, directed sound. Thanks to all the people who helped and photographed and encouraged. It was invaluable doing this, it has informed our thinkings and planning for Edinburgh. Sonic Graffiti is an idea that landed in Mark's brain as we were compiling sounds.... noises, hidden, around a city, around a building..