Tuesday, 11th November - the Helicopter and the Volcano

Today we had the shore excursion that Jo has been looking forward to the most, because she loves volcanos. We took a 45 minute helicopter flight ove Kilauea, "the earth's most active volcano". It was just a short 8 minute bus ride from the ship to the airport, and there were four helicopters lined up with space for five passengers in each one. Deborah sat in the front seat between the pilot, James, and Gilbert, who is a charter pilot on holiday from Florida, and Jo sat in a window seat in the back, so we all had great views. The pilot records each flight and his commentary so Jo has bought the DVD. At first we flew over the town, and then across farmland where they grow macadamias, zucchini, and orchids (and other crops we can't remember) for export. Then we flew over forest - America's only indigenous tropical forest. They have a huge rainfall this side of the island - about 10 feet a year - so it's all very green. All the hotels and resorts are on the other side of the island where the rainfall is much lower.

And then through the clouds we saw Kilauea, the volcano. First we saw the solidifed lava, in great swirling sheets which have inundated the forest. Then we came closer to the crater, with clouds of white vapour (a mix of steam and carbon monoxide) obscuring the crater itself. There are lava tubes, where the molten magma flows underground through tunnels like pipes, and in places we could see steam emerging from the tubes. In one place we saw a hole with molten lava glowing red inside. The pilot was very good at doing figure of eights so that people on both sides of the helicopter could see and take photos. We followed the lava flow down towards the ocean and saw a whole town subdivision that had been wiped away by the lava a few years ago. There is just one occupied house remaining, a bed and breakfast that can only be reached by helicopter called (I think) "Lava Jack's".

We followed the lava down to the coast line where there was a cloud of white steam rising from the shore. The lava is flowing down the lava tube and hitting the ocean. Our pilot says Hawaii is the size of Connecticut and increasing in size because the lava is adding to the shoreline.

We headed back to the airport and disembarked. Jo bought the DVD of our flight so we can watch it when we get home: the views should be spectacular as there were several cameras mounted on the outside of the helicopter.

The bus took us back to the port, and we went back on board. We had lunch on the deck at the Cadillac Cafe, which was very pleasant. We went to a "Makeover and Skin care" class at the Beauty Spa after lunch, but it was disappointing: really just a plug for their (very expensive) facials. At 3:30 we met Gwen Morrow (Sarah's mum) who is on the cruise with some friends from Buffalo Gateway Chorus (BGC's director Di coached Gwen's chorus, Gem Connections, a while back.) Gwen's chorus has just won 2nd place in the UK Ladies Association of Barbershop Singers so she was wearing her medal very proudly. She looks just like Sarah, but with dark hair. We had a lovely chat. Gwen is very proud of Sarah and the chorus misses her (note to CKC: Sarah has front row experience, choreographer experience and was on the makeup and costume teams).

At 4:30 we went to a lecture on volcanoes by a semi retired geologist from Georgia. He did a great job of explaining Hawaiian volcanoes, but Deborah had trouble staying awake.

Deborah went to her "How to be a Great Bass" class with Melynnie after dinner. She used Dale Syverson's handout from the Rumours workshop as a starting point, so I won't repeat all of that here. Key points:
- if you can be in a quartet, do it: it makes you a better singe (even if you never compete)
- listen to CDs of the great quartets, and sing along with the bass: you will learn how they do it by singing with them
- sing every day and do vocal exercises every day
- extend your range by singing high as well as low
- never think that you know it all
- make sure you understand the rhythm of each song
- set up overtones from the first note: be confident when you take the pitch
- mark up your music, eg octaves, thirds and sevenths
- when learning music, don't just listen to the learning tape: start by looking at the sheet music
- think of the bass part as a melody line
- sing pretty

Melynnie had us do three exercises that Mary McGovern uses; they're also exercises that are on Darlene's CD of vocal exercises:
- slow slide from 1 to 5, then 1 to 8, on each of the vowels, and then repeat a semitone up (and the goal is eventually to slide two octaves, ie 1 to 5, 1 to 8, 1 to 5', 1 to 8')
- oooh on 8, then ah on 1, 1.5, 2, 1.5, 1, 3. 5 8, 5, 3, 1
- gug (gahg for Aussies) 1 3 5 8 8 8 8 5 3 1. We were singing this too far back, and Darlene Rogers (who was sitting in the back of the class) said just brush by the g, and put it in the same place as the vowel - it's a soft g.

Darlene gave some advice for basses as well:
- the volume of basses should be one click more on lower register, and 1 click less in our upper range, than other parts singing the same notes (because of the way we sing)
- re discussion of how to get basses to sing soft, Darlene says think of it not as taking away something, but "giving more soft". She suggested giving the bass section a scale from 1 to 5 for loudness, and then getting them to sing the same phrase at each level of loudness; and then varying loudness within the phrase, eg 2 bars at 5, 2 bars at 4, 2 bars at 3 ... and so on(Deborah says she's done this with Vicki in singing lessons and it's harder than you might think).
- always keep the breath energ and resonance and "put your soft on the back wall". Darlene suggests giving basses visual and kinaesthetic images that might help them.

After the Bass Class the Aussies got together to rehearse their segment of the show. We ended up deciding to do just We Are Australian, and Waltzing Matilda, as there were too many different versions of I Am Australia. We are going to drone the first verse of WAA while someone sings solo. Deborah has recorded the bass of WM and hopes to learn it before the show, otherwise we will just fake it. We also have someone reciting My Country, and someone else explaining Aussie slang, and we're going to wave flags and hand out koalas. It should be fun!

Chorus rehearsal was from 9 to 10:30, but we broke for 30 minutes because the ship sailed past the spot where the lava flows into the ocean and we didn't want to miss the show.

The bari from Vocal Spectrum did warmups with gentle ooohing and eeeeing on scales up and down, 1 to 5. Then we zzzzzed while casting a fishing line, across a pond and then a lake and then the ocean. To loosen up our tongues he had us singing aluminum lending liniment aluminum lending liniment aluminum, getting faster each time, on 1 2 3 4 3 2 1.

We all went out on deck as the ship sailed towards the lava. It was an orange glow on the show, with a plume of steam - same as we'd seen from the helicopter, but more spectacular because of the glow. We didn't get close enough to take good pictures.

Then back to rehearsal. Kim directed the women's chorus and we worked on our three songs some more. Jean Barford was there and coached the chorus (how good is this? KimHulbert directing, Jean Barford coaching, Cindy Hansen choreographing).

Jean told the other parts not to wait for the bass pickups in Lazy Day so that they don't drag the tempo. She asked the basses to be aware when they're coning above the leads. She said the vowel must be on the beat, not the consonant. On the unison note in bar 41 and bar 81 Jean says when the basses and baris have a unison note, the baris are in charge (the basses need to back off). In the coda, from bar 93, Jean says there is an upside down cone and the basses need to lighten up; then the impact when we go back to traditional barbershop is more effective.

From 10:30 to 11:30 we both went to Cindy's class on choreography. Her agenda was basic moves, teaching techniques, and any issues we wanted to ask about. Cindy says choreo should be easy to learn because it is simple, makes sense, and matches what we are singing. If a chorus can't pick up the choreo (Cindy says if they can't learn it in half an hour) then it's too much, or the wrong move, or the wrong person teaching it - unless it's a contest song, of course, where there is more laying required.

Cindy says songs are driven by either:
- tempo eg Lazy Day, We are Family, Joint is Jumpin
- lyrics, eg Red Hot Momma
- musical arrangement eg Bandstand.

Tempo moves:
Which moves you use depends on the song and the tempo eg:
- heel sway (Sweet Adelines step) - big toe is nailed to the floor and the heels move; has a secondary beat (1 and 2)
- sway - feet solid, body sways (beat is 1, 2)
- step touch, step touch
Can then do variations on any of these; Cindy asked us to do a heel sway as if we were wearing a tuxedo and notice how it differed from country hoe down or jazz club - same step, different execution
Can also add variation by, for example, having alternate rows do heel sway in opposite directions

Similarly, can do different tempo moves with hands: snaps, claps, slaps, pops, pushes

Then can add layers - feet plus hands plus body - but don't put too many layers in.

Lyric-driven songs:
Cindy used the example of "good bye" in Tootsie Goodbye; different ways of saying goodbye. We can get chorus members each to do their own variation on goodbye, so that it's a shared concept rather than everyone doing the identical planned move. Another example: a sexy move for Red Hot Momma.

Tempo moves and lyric moves both need a character. Cindy gave us a few names to see how we moved differently for each one: Marilyn Monroe, Bette Midler, Mae West, Betty Boop. It's easier to give the chorus a character to interpret rather than specific detailed moves, and the character will give unity.

Teaching choreography:
- use words that convince the chorus you know what you're doing (Cindy recommends "Words that Sell, by Bryant)
- be definite, not wishy-washy, when giving instructions
- be well-prepared; you have to know what you're doing
- know the song you're choreographing and analyse it - what sort of song? what tempo? what character?
- never let anybody ask questions; move so fast they don't have time to think of questions
- have 2 or 3 ways of teaching the same thing

Issues:
How much is too much choreo? Cindy says if they can't learn it in half an hour, it's too much (unless it's a contest song); it's either the wrong move or the wrong teacher. It should be natural to do the choreo, so that you don't have to think about it.

Where to get ideas? Randy Jackson Dance Crew Show on TV; Dances with the Stars; Cheerleading competitions; Drum corps

People who don't use their faces? Cover them up with costume (coral reef, clown, scarecrow, tree). Do one on one face work, eg in double circles observing each other; rotate rows so everyone has the opportunity to be the front row during rehearsal; use mirrors; tell them to overdo it.

AND THEN TO BED AT MIDNIGHT, AND WE SET THE ALARM FOR 6AM!