We get so involved in voicing and the quality of our voicework: characterizations, pacing, mouth noise.. that we consider the breath as just something we have to edit out of the audio – particularly when doing broadcast commercial work.  But consider this – how a person breathes – and the quality and pace of the breath can be a terrific addition to voice narration for audiobooks.  I got the chance to play around with a concept I haven’t worked with in awhile – elemental breathing – through work with a client who has been experiencing shortness of breath and “voice anxiety”.   Elemental breathing is patterned on – surprise! – the elements: air, water, fire and earth.  Most of us breathe in one or two of these patterns most of the time.

See which ones correspond to your breathing pattern:

FIRE:  Inhale through the mouth – Exhale through the nose

WATER: Inhale through the nose – Exhale through the mouth

AIR: Inhale and exhale through the mouth

Earth:  Inhale and exhale through the nose

My client says his primary breathing pattern, particularly when under stress, is Fire, and that he is experimenting with Water breathing – the inverse.  Apparently, he’s finding it helpful.

So maybe there is some gold in applying this directly to characters in an audio narration.  I’m working on a series through Finalrune Productions: THE CLEANSED, and I will be voicing Sam – she’s an officer in the military – no nonsense, take-charge, tough as nails kind of girl…. I’m thinking maybe Earth and Fire….

Keep breathing……