ORANGE SQUEEZIN'S 
June, 2003
We've had a light month for quartet outings.
The Orange Town Four assembled one of
their configurations--bass, Mike Werner;
bari, Virg Pletcher; tenor, Rich Lewis; and,
of course, Paul Kelley on melody for entertaining the OCPOTAPA - Orange County
Planners Of The American Planners Association (wow!...almost as long as SPEBSQSA)
The event was an awards banquet at the
Diamond Club behind home plate at the
Big A with top award going to our fellow
barbershopper of Fullerton, Al Bell!
We welcomed them as they entered the club
under a solid 'cathedral-like' ceiling which
helped amplify those few ringing chords, and
we continued singing the 'ole' songs thru the
'attitude adjusment' period in the club.
Al had a chance to 'belt' one with us and show
off to his peers. If we were so good together,
why didn't they ask for another song?
Despite the ongoing Lakers NBA title game
being presented on three giant screens, they
enjoyed our 'entertainment' package between
shots by Kobe Bryant. And we thought they
were applauding our great performance.
We enjoyed singing our songs to the young
ladies and gentlemen, and got paid for it too!
Thanks to your prayers and caring,
Marilyn is recuperating very well from
her bout with pneumonia and pulmonary
embolism (blood clots on the lungs).
Marilyn went off oxygen, except for
an occasional energy boost. She will
consider taking up the 'chemo' treatment again after a visit with her oncologist.
Please keep your prayers and interest
going...it truly does help.
Do we get the right pitch?
Pitch pipes are a big part of our life style here in the world of barbershopping. There have been all sorts of legends about how to use them and how to keep them in shape and how they are guaranteed. I won't try to address each of these, but recently I've seen articles about getting them repaired when they go south (flat). So I decided to check out what really is the case for repairing them, if there really is any such case.
It turns out that they can often be repaired. I spoke with Robert McNamara of the Wm. Kratt Co. today, and he gave me the real scoop. If you send the pipe to the company (address below) and enclose a check, they can do some good things for you. If the pipe isn't too badly worn, it can be cleaned up for $5.00 plus shipping. If it is worn, the pitch plate can be replaced for $8.00 plus shipping. Shipping is $4.00, even if several pipes are involved. So in my case, I have two pipes with the flat B flat pitches. To replace the plates will be $16.00 plus $4.00 shipping. I'm assuming replacement is necessary, so I'm sending them with a check for $20.00. Sounds like a bargain to me considering the price of a new pipe.
Here's the required information for sending and contacting:
So that's the pitch on pitch pipes.
By Dick Cote, Editor and Publisher, "Barbershop Clippin's"
The International in Montreal
The line-up for the International June 29-July 6, 2003 includes 21 choruses (including Garden City Chorus from the Far West District) and 43 quartets, including these quartets from the Far West District: Finale, Q, Freestyle, Sam's Club, Metropolis, Broadway (Ariz), Gotcha!, Hi-Fidelity, and Late Night Barbershop.
Mail & Email
I'm happy to receive this on-line. Save the postage.Great Job!
Incidentally, I receive about 50 or 60 bulletins, and the Squeezin's is one of the few I read from cover to cover, and that's mainly because it's well done, you have some good contributors, as do I, and I still know a lot of you.
Keep up the good work.
Dick Cote
CHAPTER ROSTER UPDATE
Please submit any roster changes to Bill Snyder, in writing, no later than July 1st to be included in the next bulletin.
The Masters Voice
Welcome to Part 2 of the series on Range Extension and Vocal Strengthening. If you are starting to read this article, but have not read (and more importantly done) the warmup exercises I suggested in Part one, then STOP and do them. The exercises contained herein assume you are warmed up and can take the vocal strain these exercises may exert. Please do not attempt them without warming up first.
Also, I am going to repeat the following important information from the first article, as it is imperative that you follow it:
"The tips and exercises I am going to talk about are not to be used for regular warmups. They are not to be undertaken when you are going to go on and sing later that day. They are not to be done if you feel indisposed, are tired, have a sore throat, or are in any way physically indisposed."
Okay, you are warmed up and ready to do some serious vocal weightlifting. Start by checking your range - Highest comfortable note, Lowest comfortable note - and write them down along with the date. You'll want to refer to this as you progress in your quest.
Following that, start with the "Nay Sayer". What you say is "Nay" on each pitch. This exercise is done starting from the middle of your range and working up, then back to the middle of your range working down. At each end, try to go as high or as low as you can, and then try for a little more. This gently accustoms the muscles to more extension. The purpose is to go up the scale on a chest voice and down the scale on a head voice. That means that in the middle of the range, this may sound the same, as there is a mixed voice range in there, but the important thing is to think either chest voice, or head voice as you do it, that way as soon as you reach a pitch where it is possible to distinguish the different voices, it will happen. The intervals are 12345 in chest voice, breath, 54321 in head voice. Start the exercise up from the middle of your range, then go back and start it down from the middle of your range, not up and back.
Next, you are still going to stay with the "nay" sound, but you are going to exercise with your chin on your chest the entire routine. Using high, mid, low sequence, talk (say) "Nay" in all three regions and make special note of the resonance you feel in each. At the beginning the low will sound the most resonant, followed by the mid, and then the high region. As you progress, you may begin to feel a resonance in all regions. Do it twice per breath, for five
breaths. You can do more if you wish. This exercise is not difficult and unless you yell (which I do not recommend) it will not be strenuous.
Now we begin with a little contortion. I want you to bend at the waist so that your head is dangling down. (Make sure you are physically able to do this for a period of time without any pain. I don't want you to hurt yourself.) You will feel the blood rush to your head, as is to be expected. Then, very NASALLY sing the "Nay" sound on a 13531 pattern going up the scale from midrange, then down the scale from midrange. Stay in your chest voice as much as possible, but try to go to both extremes of your range, and maybe (carefully - don't force!) one or two notes beyond on each side. You are probably going to feel muscles you never knew you had doing this one.
Staying with the "Nay" sound, now we are going to try and put everything together in an exercise at proper posture. Stand upright, shoulders back and square to your body without forcing them back, legs spread apart comfortably with one leg slightly in front of the other (keeps you from trying to lock knees), arms at your sides naturally. Make a mental picture that you are standing towards the front of the stage at a famous venue, and YOU are the featured artist. Get that "Here I am, just watch me!" mental attitude, and having your chin slightly down as if looking at the orchestra conductor in the pit, sing "Nay" on a 1358888531 pattern at a medium volume (5 of 10). Make it a spectacular performance! Sell the audience on the fact that "Nay" is the most important thing they ever heard! Start at mid range, go up to your highest point plus one or two (remember, don't force!), and then back to the mid range and down to the lowest point plus one or two.
The exercises I have included here are designed to exercise muscles, stretch them gently, and overall give them a good workout that would not ordinarily happen if you just go about your daily routines, or warm up and sing once or twice a week. They are not all the most comfortable things to do, but then if it were easy, everybody would do it, right?
If you are doing these exercises and are going to stop at this point, don't forget to cool down properly. Do the humming closer: Find a pitch towards the lower side of your range, but without "pushing" and hum the pitches of 12321. Go up a half step and do it again. Repeat this procedure until you reach almost the upper end of your range, but not quite, and then repeat the exercise coming back down the scale in half step intervals to where you started.
There are more exercises to be done in a typical workout session. The next set is geared more to developing endurance, or as I like to call then "vocal aerobics". More to come about that in the next article of the series. In the meantime, happy exercising!
Dr. René Torres is a frequent contributor to The Master's Voice, with articles on vocal techniques and craft. He is a vocal coach with an MA in Music and all but the dissertation for the Ph. D. in Music Education for Performers from New York University, and holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration. He is also a member of the Musical Education National Conference (MENC), and a soloist member of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). (from Dave Gryvnak)
WEIRDEST HEADLINES OF 2002
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
Words by Andrew B Sterling (1874-1955) Harry Von Tilzer was born in Detroit as Harry Gummbinsky (shortened to Gumm), ran away from home to join the circus, and within a year was playing piano and composing songs with a traveling repertory company. He changed his name to Tilzer, his mother's maiden name, and added "Von" for extra flair. He worked several years as a saloon pianist and wrote hundreds of songs that were never published. He began to be noticed in 1899, and in 1905 wrote "Wait 'Til The Sun Shines Nellie," with lyrics by Sterling. It was first sung by his own daughter, appearing in vaudeville under the pseudonym of Winona Winter. For information on the many other songs written by Harry, visit http://nfo.net/.CAL/tv4.html
Sterling was born in New York and wrote many memorable lyrics, including the famous one with Kerry Mills as composer:
"Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie" was a smash hit in its day, and was sung in 1941 in the film The Birth Of The Blues, in the 1942 film Rhythm on Parade, and in 1952 it was the title song for the movie Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie. To find the music in printable Adobe Acrobat form, visit this website:
To read more about this song, visit Parlor Songs and find it the 4th song down the page:
Target publication date for the next Squeezins' bulletin is June 30. That will be our July issue, with a special July 4 tribute and information about a 9-11 Tribute planned by SPEBSQSA. Send your articles to Dick Acton at racton@adelphia.net or bring to the Monday meeting.
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