The VoiceGuy

IPA Fonts for the Mac Screencast, Part Three

voiceguy — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:06:34 +0000

I've put part three of IPA Unicode Fonts on the mac, the screencast series I've been doing this week, up on my York U. site just now. You can download it here:

http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/files/ipafontsonthemac03.mov

In my last posted screencast (made over a month ago!), I promised that I would talk about modifying a keyboard layout in today's screencast. However, I was just too jazzed about presenting an IPA Palette that I think is a very useful tool for those who don't need to type a lot of IPA symbols very often. Much better than web-based IPA character selector tools because it works right away on your mac, inserting characters into your documents. IPA Palette and the other tools I describe in the screencast can make your life easier.

NEXT screencast, I promise, I will do one on how to modify a keyboard layout!

IPA Fonts for the Mac Screencast, Part Two

voiceguy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:13:28 +0000

I've just put the finishing touches on my screencast "IPA Unicode
Fonts for the Mac, Part Two", available online from:

http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/files/ipafontsonthemac02.mov

In this step of the series, I walk you through the process of
downloading and installing an IPA keyboard layout from sil.org, and
then demo using it.

In the screencast, I mention the icon I created for the keyboard
layout, and that you can download it too. It's available here:

http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/files/IPA-Unicode.icns

In the next step of the series, I'll show you how you can modify a
keyboard layout using Ukelele, and I'll make available the IPA font
keyboard I use, in case anyone wants to try it. I also plan on
pointing to other keyboard layouts that are available for download,
including one set out in the SAMPA format.

IPA Fonts for the Mac Screencast

voiceguy — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:33:04 +0000

It seems that some browsers and email clients can handle unicode IPA much better than others. If you're on an email client that can't handle IPA, and you WANT to see those IPA posts, then you might want to change email clients. I fear that many of those people who are in that boat may feel somewhat overwhelmed with that idea, though changing email clients isn't all that painful, actually. I've done it many, many times over the years. John Wells's blog certainly gives some good hints as to choices you can make to access unicode via browser and email (hint: Firefox and Thunderbird, respectively, for Windows users). I believe that all recent browsers and clients for the mac can also deliver an excellent unicode experience, i.e. Mail.app, Entourage, Thunderbird, Mailplane...

I spent much of the day creating a first part of a screencast on using IPA fonts on the mac. You can download it here:

http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/files/ipafontsonthemac.mov (BEWARE: this is a large file, at 65MB!)

The first part walks you through downloading fonts from sil.org, installing them, and making the "input menu" visible in the menu bar. The next part (what I'm planning on doing tomorrow afternoon) should be about downloading and installing a keyboard layout.
Future components may include modifying a keyboard layout with Ukelele, and downloading and using IPAPalette.

Beware that this first screencast is only a start. You won't be up and running with IPA fonts completely at this point, but it's something. The screencast was made with ScreenFlow, and awesome application for this kind of thing, on a MacBook running OS X Leopard.

If you have a different OS, your mileage may vary. If you're on Windows, you'll be out of luck.

Enjoy!

Testing the Morrison Bone Prop

voiceguy — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:56:54 +0000

I've just received my Morrison BoneProp™, a little tool for speech work, specially designed by Annie Morrison. For those who have never heard of these things, they're small "bone-shaped" bits of plastic that fit between your upper and lower teeth, and keep your jaw from closing. They're particularly good at keeping the jaw from closing, especially for those who struggle with exercises like Jawless Text, it can make a significant impact.

There are potential hazards with the boneprop, as outlined by Patsy Rodenberg in her books, such as The Actor Speaks, such as anxiety around swallowing it, or gripping onto it tightly by biting it. If you can get past those things, though, the bone prop can be a very quick way of exploring the range of your tongue. In recent years, advocates of the bone prop have used everything from bits of cork to sawed-off pen caps to substitute for bone props because they weren't available readily. Annie Morrison's little cottage industry finally gives those who want to try the bone prop a place to go to get one. Available in a plethora of colours, the bone prop could also be a fashion accessory for theatre students!

Personally, the jury is still out on the bone prop, but I will be experimenting with it in the coming months to see whether I feel that it is a worthy investment.

Roll-Down Audio Now Available

voiceguy — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:57:27 +0000

I've added audio for the Roll-Down step of the Intermediate Warm-up Series. The audio works you through the process of rolling down on breath, and then adds a little bit of voice to the process.

There are two versions: the long form, which takes you through the exercise step by step and demonstrates how to do it very carefully, and the condensed form, which leads you more quickly through the process, so you can do the exercise as part of your warm-up. The latter is perfect for your warm-up playlist on your iPod or other digital audio player. For the full Intermediate Warm-up Playlist, you can find links to all the audio, in both formats, here.

Intermediate Warm-up Series Playlist

voiceguy — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:50:46 +0000

The Intermediate Warm-up Series includes audio for each of the exercises outlined in the blog. These audio files can be downloaded here individually as separate .mp3's. As the VoiceGuy develops, you will have the opportunity to download more steps in other series and you'll be able to pick and choose the components you'd like to use for your warm-up.

Each step in the warm-up has two formats: long-form, and condensed. The long-form is me reading the blog post, so that you can learn the step properly and carefully, and come to understand the logic behind it. The condensed format is just that: it's me leading you through the step, with very little explanation about how to do the exercise. Use this if you've already read the post, or have studied with me before.

Jawless Text Audio Added

voiceguy — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:12:11 +0000

I've added audio for the Jawless Text step of the Intermediate Warm-up Series. The exercise proposes that you try to work your way through the text with no jaw movement, and also to "vowel" the text, to try to speak the text without consonants.

There are two versions: the long form, which takes you through the exercise step by step and demonstrates how to do it with a text example from Julius Caesar, and the condensed form, that sets you up to do the exercise as part of your own warm-up. The latter is perfect for your warm-up playlist on your iPod or other digital audio player.

Articulation of Fffricatives Audio Added

voiceguy — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:17:24 +0000

I've added audio to the site for the next step in the Intermediate Warm-up Series, the Articulation of Fffricatives step. This is a challenging step, so be sure to work your way through the long and slow version before you move onto the condensed version, which is suitable for warm-ups that you can build as a playlist for your iPod or other digital music player.

Chest Resonance Audio Added

voiceguy — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:08:31 +0000

I've just recorded new audio for the Intermediate Warm-up Series, adding the step Chest Resonance to the list of those you can do via podcast. As always, there are two versions, the long form that teaches you the exercise step-by-step, and the condensed form that is helpful once you know the exercise and want to combine steps in a playlist to make a warm-up you can call your own.

Lip Isolations Audio Added

voiceguy — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:07:26 +0000

I've managed to bang out another audio version of a step in the Intermediate Warm-Up Series, Lip Isolations. You can listen to the instructions for doing the full exercise, and once you've learned the steps (and this one is fairly simple), you can add the condensed version to your playlist, so you can practise without me explaining the whole thing over and over!