Estill Voice Training and Bush Band Training Speech delivered by Paolo Fabris at the Sixth Estill World Voice Symposium Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman, esteemed colleagues. I would like to thank you or giving me the chance of being here today to share a little adventure I experienced nearly a year ago. I would like to thank Estill International for organizing this incredible symposium. Once again, it shows how committed Estill International is to Jo’s work and research…. Slide 2 - I was first introduced to Estill Voice Training by Elisa Turla’, about 15 years ago and was fortunate enough to have met Jo Estill personally and experience her teaching (click to picture 1) about 13 years ago, (yes, at that time I use to wear very colourful shirts) and although I have studied many other techniques, I always got back to the EVT like a wolf to his dug out. For those who don’t know me, my name is Paolo Fabris and although I was originally from Italy, I moved to Australia about 7 years ago (Melbourne at first, and then Darwin, In the Northern Territory). Since coming to live in Australia I have had the privilege to work with some of the most amazing Estill Practitioners like Helen Tiller, Jennie Caire and many other wonderful teachers from the Estll Downunder team! Especially since I started working as head of Vocal Studies at Charles Darwin University I realized how important and well known Estill Voice Training is in the Australian Voice environment. Today, I am here to talk about an amazing experience (I should probably call it adventure) I had a little less than a year ago when I was asked by Music NT, a non-profit music organization who supports the growth and development of original music in the Northern Territory to attend a music Camp called Bush Bands Business (Slide3); The Bush Bands Business includes 5 days where some of the best experts within many different fields of contemporary music share their knowledge in order to raise the artistic level and skills of Aboriginal bands; The music camp is held in a place called Ross River, in Central Australia and culminates on the fifth day with a very big and popular concert in Australia called Bush Bands Bash which is held in Alice Springs; When I said that this Music Camp is held in Central Australia, well, I could not be more specific! (SLIDE 4) You don’t get any more Central Australia than Ross River(SLIDE 5); for those Australians in the Audience, yes, it is the same Ross River where the notorious and sometimes deadly Ross River fever Virus comes from! Now, I’m from Milan, world capital of Fashion, Classical Music, Ballet and pizza (Yes I know, people from Naples may argue with my last statement but I believe pizza in Milan is much better than the one you get in Naples!). (SLIDE 6) Anyway, like any perfect Milanese I don’t do well when it comes to camping! Hiking? Really? Kangaroo hunting? Me? It’s alright with mosquitos, I can deal with any kind of bug, I can handle the cold nights and hot days…but I don’t do Snakes and Spiders! No I don’t! And most of all I ABSOLUTELY don’t get along with Crocodiles unless they have a brand tag on them! Anyway I flew to Alice Springs (SLIDE 7) (yes the same Alice Springs of Priscilla queen of the desert) where another lecturer in Music from Charles Darwin University Alice Springs Campus was waiting for me to drive together to Ross River (about 120 Kilometres from Alice Springs). please keep in mind that I really did not know what I was going to deal with. I was told I would have taught Singing to some aboriginal male singers; I did not know the numbers, the location, the enormous amount of wild animals, did not know the food I would have had to eat, and most of all…I did not know I would have listened to Reggae Music for five days, and that, trust me, was the worst part!

So, there I am, driving to an unknown destination (SLIDE 8): the only thing I was sure about and only because I checked on Google, about Ross River, was the Ross River Lethal Virus transmitted by very rare Ross River mosquitos! (I’ve never used so much insect repellent in my entire life!) . (SLIDE 9) The reason of this zooming kind of presentation is just to show you that when Australians talk about remote delivery, well they take it pretty seriously! Finally we’ve reached our destination…just to find out that not only Ross River was remote, but was also the synonymous of emptiness! (SLIDE 10) There was nothing! Only a shy shed with about 60 bunk beds. No hotel, no spa, no tennis court…bunk beds…and dust…and wild animals (most of them deadly). Well to be honest there was a little resort about 10 kilometres from the camp, nothing fancy, but still hot water and cleaned beds were provided. My adventure, let’s say it, did not start with the best prelude, however, my optimism was still there, my sense of responsibility was still there, my acute sense of style was still there, only hiding a little! I must have said to myself: There will be no Prada but still I can do this! The next morning the bands were starting to arrive from the most isolated corners of Australia: some from the Gibson Desert (SLIDE 11) Some from Cape York (SLIDE 12) And some from Uluru (SLIDE 13) Some of them drove almost 4000 kilometres just to spend five days with us and that was, believe me, at least revealing! They weren’t driving comfortable cars; they drove old vans, some of them hired just for the trip…and probably never got back to their original destination! While the bands were arriving, I was standing behind the group of organizers, a bit scared (I confess), a bit excited and curious (7.00). Let me remind you that for me, that was the first contact with indigenous Australians in my life. I was wearing this Sheldon-like smile, trying hard to hide my fears. It appeared that everyone knew each other. These bands had been working with the white people from Music NT for a very long time. (but still) There were no hugs, only handshakes; everything looked very, very formal. With each band there was an elder from the same community, who came only to represent their community and probably, also to make sure that everything would run smoothly, according to the aboriginal rules. Suddenly I realized most of them were staring at me; for a few moments I felt like I wasn’t welcome and I would have to work hard to be accepted…well, later on I found out I was completely wrong. The first evening, after all the bands arrived, it was clear to me that there was a clear separation between the white people and the Aboriginal people. We were sitting at the table eating our dinner while 72 Aboriginals were sitting around the fire, about 20 meters from us. No eye contact, not a sign of integration between the two cultures. It was unpleasant…to say the least. Time to go to bed; one of the organizers came to me and with a little embarrassment in his voice says: “hey Paolo, we don’t have enough beds in the resort, you will have to sleep with the bands…” at first I smiled thinking he was kidding but of course…he wasn’t and there I am, about twenty minutes later, locked inside my sleeping bag, in a big shed with another 72 aboriginals that wanted to do everything except for sleeping! Some of them were playing guitar, well most of them were playing guitar (so much

that I thought…where the heck did all these guitars come from? Do they ALL play guitar? Is there any drummer in this mob??). In the meantime, I needed to sleep. I was scheduled for a vocal warm up at 8.00 am…yes, you got that right and we all know what that means! You don’t sleep, you don’t sing! Comes 4 am…they are still playing and singing and laughing…6 am a few of them fall asleep, I am staring at the ceiling and my Sheldon-like smile pops up again. (my brain cannot stop thinking: is it going to be like this for five days? I need to do something about it) finally, one hour before the alarm, I fall asleep). Like I said, I was scheduled at 8.00 a.m. for a warm up with every one and by Everyone, I mean everyone! Even the elders of all the communities who came to represent their people attended my session, So there I am, standing in front of 72 men, staring at me, this kinda-young, short, pale and scared Italian singing teacher! I said to myself something like, do or die and so I did! (SLIDE 14) They may not like what you are going to ask them to do, but you are here to do your job, and that’s exactly what you’re going to do! Few minutes later, all of them were sirening, experiencing some of the many movements our instrument can make. ALL OF THEM (elderly included) were touching their neck and feeling their larynx as they were asked to yawn or to smile! (10:46) I will never forget the smile on their faces after the first session; all of a sudden, I was no longer a stranger (another stranger); I had something to teach them, and I was lucky compared to other mentors who came to teach things like music laws or “how to promote your band through social Networks”: I was going to teach and talk about something indigenous people believe to be the most powerful thing the gods gave us…the Voice; and I was giving them the tools to make their voice sounding even better! The look in the faces of those ones standing behind me, the organizers of the whole event, who were there to check that everything was going well and running smoothly, was simply priceless. Countless dropped jaws and incredulous expressions for I got the attention of these people in front of me while they have been spending the last 20 years trying to get that attention. Of course…all my fears were gone that moment. The next day we started the real training; every band was scheduled for an hour lesson in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. (About 8 hours a day under the desert sun). The organization provided me with a little canopy for the warmest hours and some water. (SLIDE 15) From the very first moment, it was clear what kind of work I would have done with them. The cultural and environmental heritage provided this beautiful population with a very strong both nasal and oral Twang but something that really struck me at first, was the incredible amount of Constriction they used in their singing and only in their singing. Their spoken voice did not show any sign of constriction…I had to investigate and understand and it turned out to be a typical case of imitation. Most of the people in front of me had been listening to some of the worst constrictors in contemporary music: Both Australian Country Music and American Reggae are strong examples of constriction and wrong laryngeal posture. It’s been hard, I have to say, to take these beautiful singers away from some of their attractor states. And why was it so hard and challenging?

I had to be accepted before I could ask them to change the way they were singing. Who am I, otherwise, to show up and force them my teaching? So, Instead of trying to speak a very clear English, I let my Italian accent come out and trust me, that helped! Suddenly they realized that my English was learnt, exactly like their English; then I talked to them about my country (Italy) and how much I miss it, every day. My family, my friends, these words had a huge impact on these guys in front of me and all of a sudden, they started to trust me so much that they asked me to teach them singing. (SLIDE 16) , (SLIDE17), (SLIDE 18) I also took my shoes off and lit a cigarette. I started teaching only when I felt that there was trust, pretty much, exactly like we do every day in a more familiar environment, like a class setting. To be able to relate to a kind of culture so different and colourful, I had to adopt a completely different style of teaching. Needless to say that talking about physiology would not produce any result, so I started to think about the sounds and postures with which these people were most familiar; As you know, one of the nicest things about EVT is that we (we as Estill practitioners) use sounds that everyone produce daily, regardless of their age, origin or culture. The compulsory Figures that I found easier to teach were the retraction and the body anchoring; perhaps because of my strong Italian accent, maybe it was simply the fact that I could not stop sweating, however, these people in front of me could not stop laughing and giggling…what a perfect situation to teach retraction. Body anchoring became easy to understand when I started to talk about Kangaroo hunting…the moment before you throw your spear and you anchor your body to look for stillness. Of course I taught them some of the most important aspects of EVT; I could not turn these 72 men into extraordinary singers in 5 days but I could definitely teach them how to sing safely: Retraction, Anchoring, higher position of the tongue were my focus. In any case I am not here to talk about something we all know, I am here today to share with you emotions I’ve experienced! On the third day, all these people wanted to do was sing. I felt terribly sorry for the other mentors; I knew I wasn’t better than them, I was simply lucky enough to deliver something more exciting (and intimate) then Music Laws in Australia or how to promote your band through Social Networks! During a break, I walked into one of the other classes and while the tutor was explaining complicated rules and laws, the ”students” were silently sirening. And I thought, Jo this is unbelievable! I feel glad I brought Jo’s work into a population that had very little chances to become familiar with Jo’s research. (16:35) The whole dimension was slowly changing; what was my world became their world. What looked important to me, all of a sudden became irrelevant. after 4 days of training, we all knew each other names; I remember I was walking around the camp, listening to some of the best sirens I have ever heard! I don’t know if they were doing that just to tease me or simply because they learnt something that they felt it was useful, but surely it filled me with pride. The very last night, after dinner, while I was sitting with the rest of the crew, I was complaining about the fact that there was not much integration before the two groups. Few minutes later, one of the elders, was looking at me and asked me with his hand to join the big group around the fire. I remember I was petrified. I, the one that was complaining about not being part of that group, was called to take part of their evening in front of the fire and I was scared. The white people at the table with me were stunned. They could not believe what they were witnessing. So I stood up and joined the elder. At first no one talked to me, there was a little embarrassment but then, the elder grabbed my hand and whispered “Amuingyara”. I nodded; I had no idea what he had just said. He repeated “Amuingyara”, it’s the voice of the sand, and that is your name. After that, everyone started to speak to me, most of all

questions about singing and voice and someone asked questions about my country. I stayed there till sunrise…I was not tired, I could not sleep anyway, I was too excited; I had just learnt all the hand signals for hunting, got a skin name and have been taught a hand signal to do every time I walk into an aboriginal community that says, I am one of you. The next morning (SLIDE 19) It was time to go back to Alice Springs for the big concert. Everyone was excited and a little sad because another fantastic adventure was coming to an end. I was really looking forward to watch the concert and to see what these bands were capable of but of course, it was impossible! At the end, I haven’t been able to watch a single minute of the concert. All the bands wanted me to stay backstage to warm up their voices and to assist with the vocal preparation but I wasn’t sad, I was proud instead…Oh God I was incredibly proud! (19:42) Thank you.