Swazzle volume

[Chris Richard]

Here's a question I don't find addressed by doing searches or reading through all the articles I've found about swazzles.

I got mine from Miraiker half a week ago and was able to get a pretty fair "That's the way to do it" and "Rock a by baby. . ." out of it in just a few minutes.

I understand that better pronunciation will take time. It seems, getting it in an out of position for dialogue might take even longer. But here's a thing I can't figure out and watching the clips of shows on Youtube doesn't help with.

It takes a certain amount of force to make Punch squawk and so the squawk is quite loud. Right now it seems out of balance with my normal projecting voice I'd use for other characters. (And I project my voice to groups outdoors quite well.) Will I be able to tone down Punch's voice so there's less difference between characters or is Punch always somewhat louder than everyone else? (It doesn't seem as though he is on videos.)

[Chris]

Have you read my treatise on swazzles and swazzling to be found on this website?
I think you are perhaps confusing pitch with loudness. Punch is shriller, but not really louder, after all it's the same amount of air coming out of the same hole in your face. The only difference is the pitch of the sound being via a reed rather than your larynx. But the shrillness does make the sound be more audible above most other sounds which are at a lower pitch, which makes it very suitable for use outside.
Also remember that on videos you are not hearing live sound but recorded sound and the recording process does level out sound - and also you are hearing via michrophone and speakers.
Nearly all performers use a michrophone these days and many use a headband radio mike. I mention this because this means that the mike is in the same position whether the voice is that of Punch or other characters. If there were much discrepancy in volume you would get distortion when Punch spoke.
Actually I do not use that kind of mike, and partly because when Punch is squawking at his loudest (or Judy shrieking for that matter) I like to be able to turn my head slightly off -mike.
If you are used to projecting your voice I don't imagine your speaking voice will be so soft that there is any noticeable difference in volume between swazzle and otherwise. There is a difference in carrying power between a treble and a bass voice, and that is why we should set our amplifier to full treble when performing Punch, especially out of doors. But if you are also playing music do remember to add bass and reduce treble for this.

[Chris Richard]

Thanks Chris. It's hard to know what something sounds like when it's coming out of your own head. I could very well be worrying without reason.

On this website I've read all the free articles about swazzling. I also own Glyn Edwards' book and Edwin's. Both have sections on the swazzle. Miraiker included a small sheet covering the basics with the swazzle.

I haven't tried it with a microphone yet. I imagined that might exaggerate the difference more. We'll see when that time comes.

After I practice a bit more I'll subject my family to some tests to check my sound levels.

[Chris]

I am afraid that the swazzle booklet is not free. The information used to be free in the early days of the website, but certain professors objected to me making secret information freely available to all and sundry. To my mind there is no good reason to being so secretive about the swazzle - the appeal of Punch is far more than that of a magic trick of how Punch makes his squawk. I think they feared that hundreds of people would stumble on the information, rush out and start making swazzles and set up in opposition to them and dilute their income. I jest of course, but their antagonism was real. Therefore to placate them I put a nominal £5 charge on the information, so anyone seeking the information would be detered if their interest were mere curiousity. To those really needing the information the cost is hardly such as to require crowd-funding.
I don't think all the information contained has been published anywhere else, and many people tell me that it is essential reading which enabled them to master the swazzle.