Wow, what a month. It started off with Gene Clements coming over and teaching us many things. The most important were the default mouth formation and the ability to coach within the quartet. Any of you fellas that missed this meeting missed a great deal. I wish I could have recorded it to play it back for you. If you have been to some of the recent meetings, you can't help but notice the tremendous improvement in the singing.

Next comes Rich Lewis with a whole bunch of new songs that are being taught by the established quartets. What a great job Rich is doing. You've gotta come out and hear some of these new songs and, better yet, sing a few of them. You owe it to yourself not to miss out on these.

There are more and more men showing up early and singing from 6 PM and on to meeting start time of 7:30. If you love to sing, you are missing out on a great time that is available during the early session.

As a matter of a fact, to entice you to come out, Mike Werner will be raffling off some CDs and Cassettes in the near future. There is no cost to you; you just need to be at the meeting house at the right time (early, that is) to get your raffle ticket. More about this program later. The prizes belonged to Dick Acton and were donated by Dorothy. She certainly is our sweetheart.

Say, we are having a few new guys showing up and do they know how to sing, and how to sing well! It is a lot more fun when we get a few more real singers in the club. Keep it up. If you know someone that likes to sing, bring him over. You will be doing him a great favor as well as a great favor to yourself. Let's have some fun. Remember, if you're too busy to sing, you're too busy.

Gene Clements and the "Default Position"
Now We Know How to Sing Well
By Stanley Tinkle

Our April 5 meeting was an exhilarating experience. Program VP Rich Lewis and our President Dave Gryvnak welcomed their old friend Gene Clements, who presented a "hands-on" evaluation of several of our chapter quartets, and all of the chapter members took an active part. Gene instructs the "Masters University" course in Vocal Technique that every new member of the Santa Fe Springs Chapter has to attend as a condition to singing with them. I have been a fan of the Masters since the first song I heard them sing; so Gene has the very best credentials with me. If someone is going to do surgery on my singing style, I want him to help me to sing like the International Champion Masters of Harmony.

Indigo Quartet knew we were going to be evaluated, so wonder of wonders, we all showed up at 6:00 and reviewed our songs: the uptune "Paper Moon" and the semi-ballad "Let the Rest of the World Go By." Sure enough, we were the first quartet that Gene Clements chose to evaluate.

As with all of the quartets, Gene asked us to sing our ballad first. You can’t hide your deficiencies when you sing a slow song. When we had finished, Gene had our lead sing several lines "solo." Then he showed him how to develop the "ping" in his voice; the exercise involves making an "over the top Ah!" sound that can be heard in the next room. With it, our lead’s voice sounded relaxed, supple and (as a side benefit) much more audible. Then Gene had the lead and tenor sing a duet, with the tenor working to match the lead’s newly improved sound. Our audience applauded.

Then it was my turn as baritone. I sang a solo line, and Gene told me to tuck in the corners of my mouth by pressing inward with my forefingers, and also to sing without moving my chin up and down. It felt like I was singing through a paper tube. But amazingly, the audience liked the result, and you can’t argue with your public. Our bass had already mastered this technique. Gene asked him to sing a little louder, so that the audience could hear the foundation of the harmony. Lee did this with gusto, and the song took on a dramatic impact that it hadn’t had before. I doubt we’ll ever be able to stuff our bass back into the bottle now.

Three members of Indigo sing different parts in "Paper Moon." Rick sings lead, Phil does bari, and I sing tenor. So we tried to use the same techniques in our new roles, with some success. The audience tried to help me by tucking in the corners of their mouths and pointing to their chins. They looked like an aquarium full of kissing gouramis. I’d like to thank them for their assistance, and I may even repay their kindness some day.

The other quartets all experienced major improvements in the quality and volume of their sound. I hope each quartet writes up its experience for this newsletter, but I want to applaud one singer who I think made the greatest change of all in sound production. Paul Kelley and his quartet, The Plaza City Serenaders, doubled their volume and developed a rich and balanced tone that was a revelation to witness. I’ve always enjoyed Paul’s bright and forward sound. Now he has added an open resonance, and Ron, Virgil and Rich were able to round it out dramatically.

Gene Clements suggests that every quartet stand up when they rehearse, and that each session should begin with two members dueting while the other two evaluate the result. Those lead/tenor, lead/bass and lead/bari duets will show us whether we are reverting to our bad old habits. We can also rehearse alone at home in front of a mirror to see whether we are maintaining the "Default Position," which involves raising the cheeks in a smile, tucking in the corners of the mouth, and lifting the soft palate. It’s all a matter of habit, and as the Masters say, "perfect practice makes perfect habits."

Again, Gene Clements, thank you for showing us all the way.

Smile
submitted by Dave Gryvnak

Here is an article written by Charles LaRue of the Masters of Harmony. You may find it very helpful. It is exactly what Gene Clements was telling us and it helps in getting us to get that PING in our voice. Try this at home. Stand in front of a mirror and grin as big as you can with your teeth showing. Notice that your cheeks push way up against your lower eyelids. You may experience a kind of "crinkly" feeling in your lower eyelids. It is a very "happy" look.

Now comes the hard part. Holding you cheeks in that extreme grin position, bring your corners of you mouth together and form a tight "ooh." Practice doing this until you find out how to isolate the cheek muscles from the muscles that control the mouth shape. You have to be able to keep the cheeks up in the original grin position, while making the mouth opening small. It is going to feel weird at first. And it will look weird if you let the grin slip and lose the happy look.

Now comes the fun part. While holding the cheeks and mouth in this position, and while moving your lips as little as possible, drop your chin and sing "I wander on as in a dream," or for lower notes, sing "old man river." How does it sound? It should sound brighter than usual and up1/4 step in pitch. I think a voice coach would say that this position opens the frontal resonators.

Now, just to make sure, relax everything and let your face drop and sing it again. It will probably go darker and down in pitch. It will certainly will sound less "alive." So go back and forth with cheeks alternately raised and lowered until you see, hear, and understand what is going on. If this is not the way you sing now, the muscles in your cheeks are going to get tired until you strengthen them. So once again, it's up to us to develop the stamina, as well as the muscle memory, so that we can do it, and do it automatically.

Dave,
GryvnakD@wmconnect.com

Gene Clements, Miracle Man
by Paul Kelley

Dorothy Acton turned the heat on, so here's an article!

A few Mondays ago, Gene Clements agreed to critique some of our Quartets. I never agreed to this slaughter, but there stood Quartet Number Three, "The Orange Town Four," ready for the kill.

The O.T.4. had watched Gene gently work on the individuals of "Indigo" and "Fermata The Blue." All hands agreed his suggestions were on the mark and improved both quartets a great deal. Now it was our turn.

I can't remember exactly what he did to the tenor, bari and bass, but the lead got a real load! Forty-three years of quartetting wrong and singing like a sick hog caller with excessive nasal twang. Again, Gene in his knowledgeable and gentle way, demonstrated how to hold one's mouth to overcome that, among other things. (He was only after some salient points that evening.) All hands agreed that it was a great improvement for me and the quartet. I can't agree with all you experts.

For myself, it takes the immediate fun out of singing. It's just plain hard work to sing with your mouth in a new position. I'll stick with it a while longer to see if it becomes natural, and fun. I'm optimistic!!

We become really smug about ourselves until a guy like Gene comes along with a very acute ear and a load of talent to spend some time with us. Too, he's a very nice man.

Thanks, Gene Clements. Buy you a drink someday.

Paul Kelley

Phyllis Barker Passes On
A True Barbershopper Farewell
By Stanley Tinkle

Phyllis Barker, wife of longtime barbershopper Sam Barker, passed away suddenly in her doctor’s office on Wednesday, April 14. Phyllis had faithfully helped Sam through a difficult illness this year, and her death caught us all by surprise.

Her funeral took place in the small chapel at Fairhaven Memorial Cemetery, and the room overflowed with family and friends. One of Phyllis’ hobbies had been gardening, and the chapel was decorated with the tools of a gardener’s trade. As a plant enthusiast, I recognized them as symbols of the work that goes into producing a good life. Phyllis was a resourceful and hard-working mother, and she raised three daughters while working full time.

The service was conducted by the Rev. Bill Winstanley, a former FWD President and an old friend of Sam’s from Apple Valley Chapter.

Colby Stroud is a close friend of the Barkers, and he considers Phyllis to be his second mother. Colby sang lead in the quartet that sang "Precious Lord." Fred Robirds was bass, Virgil Pletcher sang baritone and Phil Wortman was tenor. I looked forward to their performance, knowing that a barbershop quartet that sings at the funeral of a friend has an especially demanding task, because any of the four performers can be affected by the emotion of the moment. But Colby and the quartet let it inspire them to give what I felt was the most expressive performance that I’d ever heard at a memorial service. It was immediately followed by hugs all around by Sam Barker.

A reception for family and friends at the Barker home included group singing by long-time barbershop friends, as is our custom. Occasions that are milestones in our lives tend to bring out our need to sing. Orange Chapter members appreciated the opportunity to spend this day with Sam, and we expect him to continue to share harmony with us in the days to come.

Welcome to New Members!
by Mike Werner, VP Membership

Let's welcome our newest members to the Orange Quartet Chapter:

Richard F. "Rich" Spencer of Orange
Philip E. "Phil" Zara of Huntington Beach
Larry Johnson of Santa Ana

Welcome! Feel free to email the Squeezin's Editor with an article to introduce yourselves.

Introducing Myself
by Rich Spencer

I was born in Buffalo, New York (11 days after Pearl Harbor) and was destined from birth to move west and to sing barbershop in California.

When I was five years old my folks moved to Illinois where I grew up. I attended Purdue University, my dad's Alma Mater. My highschool sweetheart, Patricia, and I were married in 1963 after I received my BS in Engineering from Purdue, and she worked in the Purdue Graduate school office as a secretary earning the bread that helped me earn my MS in Engineering in 1965. Most of the job offers in Aerospace when I graduated in 1965 were in California so we opted to continue the migration west. I accepted a job with Douglas Missiles and Space Systems and we moved to Santa Monica in 1965 and then to Culver City in 1967. Later in 1972 we moved to Huntington Beach, then to Tustin in 1988 and then to Orange in 1998 where we currently live. Douglas was merged with McDonnell in 1967 and McDonnell-Douglas was merged with Boeing in 1997. I retired from aerospace in July 2003 wth 38 years credited to Boeing. I am now free at last to sing barbershop.

Pat and I have three wonderful children and five grandchildren who help to keep us young.

Thanks to Phil Ridout for introducing me to the Westminster barbershoppers and also thanks to the Westminster barbershoppers for introducing me to the Orange barbershop chapter which, with its unique quartet-only focus, is a great way to gain quartet experience and have fun. I enjoy singing with both chapters.

I belive that the first barbershop quartet I ever heard was the great Buffalo Bills of years long gone by. I have loved barber shop music ever since that first LP I bought back in the 60's. I sang for four years in the Purdue University Choir and learned to play guitar as a freshman in college which helped to satisfy my need to sing during the folk music craze of the 60's. I have also taken piano and accordion lessons in my far distant past. All this experience has helped me to learn to sing barbershop and I am now beginning to fulfill my destiny/need to sing four part harmony.

It's great to be a Barbershopper.

Keep America Singing

Rich Spencer
Proud member of Westminster and Orange Chapters of SPEBSQSA

Friday Fun Time
by Paul Kelley

Several of our chapter members make a habit of visiting the Fullerton "Fun Chapter's" Friday for Lunch Bunch. Some are our own members like Dick Nuttelman, Paul Kelley, Chuck Governale, George Andrews, Blackie Blackwell, Scotty Donald, Rick Little, Virgil Pletcher, plus some others on occasion. Dual members, Russ Kimberling, Bill Redfern, Al Richardson, Ken Tillmans, Stan Tinkle, etc. Fred Robirds is a fixture. There are others, but my mind is already stretched.

All hands are heartily greeted and hand bones smashed by the one and only Stan French. That guy is an 87 year old coot with the energy of a 21 year old! He runs the place that day!!

Some gang singing takes place, plus some tag quartets with some top talent. Any visiting quartets are welcomed like gold medalists, and you can bet they'll be mixed up with many others in short order. Ladies are welcome and mostly sit at a large round table at the side. They're all nice gals.

Just take it from me--it's a good way to get a barbershop fix on Friday, and you'll meet some wonderful people.

Oops! Where? Giovanni's, 3921 N. Harbor, Fullerton (east side of Harbor, 1/2 block south of Imperial). When? Every Friday--11:30 am to 2:30 pm--or as you feel like it!

Paul Kelley

An Event at Village Crean
By John Majzler

The YMCA of Orange County held its first Annual Campaign Extravaganza! at The Village Crean Estate (picture below) on February 28th 2004. It was a fund raiser for the Youth Campaign. Tickets were $75 for single and $100 for a couple. 4/4 Harmony Performed as the Headliner Entertainment for the event. The YMCA announced that event was a huge success.