It’s safe to say I’m quite obsessed with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I think it’s an extraordinary story and an excellent reminder to stay mindful of one’s past, future, and present. Some coaches have even transformed that story into a “Dickens Pattern” where you sort of end up feeling like Scrooge examining past, present, and future for congruency with what you want to achieve.
Resultingly, I have either recorded, reread, studied, theatrically acted out, and/or revisited this story numerous times throughout my life.
How did this obsessive tradition start?
1995. Probably in the 5th grade where I was cast as the role of Bob Cratchit.
2001. Then in the 11th grade I reread the same story for a highschool english class.
2004. Then again in the third year of college I reread the same story for another english class. Each of those three examinations produced entirely different interpretations and insights into the story.
2006. Then in 2006 I decided to reread the story aloud. I did that and recorded it.
2008. I did another recording, this time with excessive use of foley sound effects.
2010. Finally, most recently in 2010 I did another recording, one that I think is best because my voice is more chiseled and refined and I have more control over it and my articulation, and the year I did the foley, the sound effects were slightly intrusive to the listener.
That said I think rereading a classic story is a great practice to:
- See how one interprets the same story different ways at different times of their life
- Acoustically observer how one’s voice changes in interpretting a story and just “grows” in general
That said, here’s the last stave of all recorded years for comparison.
2006 – Stave Five. “The End of It”.
[audio: http://validateyourlife.com/vylab/christmascarol2006_dickens_stave5.mp3]
2008 – Stave Five. “The End of It”.
[audio: http://validateyourlife.com/vylab/christmascarol2008_dickens_stave5.mp3]
2010 – Stave Five. “The End of It”.
[audio: http://validateyourlife.com/vylab/christmascarol2010_dickens_stave5.mp3]
Podcast
Finally, here is the download to all staves of all the “A Christmas Carol” recordings
[...Audio Update In Progress!...]
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