photo beverly

photo beverly

The Eight Levels of Voice

The first level of using your voice is attached to survival.

A baby crying for attention.

Vocal sounds are definite calls that express needs at this level. The use of voice here is about a plea for help, a demand for care, an attempt at connection. It is not a commercial voice level except when used objectively to portray these sounds.

The second level of voice use is about blending in with a family or larger group. Use of voice here is about weaving a place in a larger group of people. The voice is used at this level to participate, to contribute, but not to express individual autonomy. Examples of this would be to join voices with a tribe in conversation about the well being of a tribe or family. To use the voice to tell stories that give meaning to the tribes activities.

The third level of voice use is to express a demand for your own independence from the group or tribe/family you are now leaving behind. The voice here is used to articulate a sense of self that is independent. The voice at this level is, possibly for the first time, being used as an instrument of self definition. It describes what you want, describes the place you want to carve out in the world.

Examples are-

  • A teenagers defiance,
  • an athlete’s proclamation of setting a goal—”I will win this competition. “

This is a more commercial voice level . It can  manipulate by being an instrument used for songs, rap, communicating threats, but it is still not an objectified voice . Almost all people who use their voice commercially at this level are simply being themselves , their voice a side effect of self.

The fourth level is a return to a group, only this time your voice is used  to join in with a
kind of mob mentality. Here the voice is used  with increasing complexity. It is still the voice of one’s personality. People like Rush Limbaugh and Billy Graham are here. Their voices shout a unifying message to a like minded group. Sort of a megaphone- voice. But not flexible enough to be a voice beyond their personality. Highly commercial in some ways. Just not very flexible.

The fifth level gets interesting. Here the voice is used as an instrument. A tool to do a specific job. Definitely a commercial voice. Actors, lawyers, salesmen start to train their voices to be more what they would prefer as a tool. They will work to lose an accent, or to perfect a dialect. As you can tell, the pattern of all these levels is more and more an objectification of the voice.
The more developed, the less the voice is a reflection of ego and it becomes a reflection of objective purpose.

The sixth level is even more objective. The voice is used here to extreme refinement. Learning other languages for the purpose of broadening one’s experience, speaking on behalf of others, communicating to help. The pattern is still one where the voice is becoming more and more the purpose driven instrument and not an expression of self centered  ego.

The seventh level of voice is about being a voice. The actual vocal cords and language become secondary to the character and personae behind the voice. This voice carries ideas and its purpose is to articulate refined concepts in a way that carries them to goal. This is also the place of an actor like Robin Williams having  full control of his vocal colorations and characterizations.

The eighth level of voice is a further development of the seventh level. The person behind the voice gets further and further away from any actual identification with his or her own voice and simply uses it as a tool. There is so little identification with one’s own voice at this point that it does not even need to be used. The person behind it will find another person’s voice or group of voices to do the bidding here. A more appropriate voice for each purpose. This level creates voices for each purpose and is not at all identified with any of them.

A rare expert commercial voice artist will use all the methods described here, often in one day.

Practice is the only way to become aware of them all and use them in a way that serves the best interest like- meeting a goal.

Awareness is the key.

Filed under: voice commercial

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