The Distance Between Voices

## The Voice Studio in the Music Building at Westbrook School of the Arts The heart of the story is the voice studio in the music building at Westbrook School of the Arts. The room is well soundproofed, so voices hit the walls and bounce right back. That means whoever is singing hears their own sound in its most honest form. The piano on one side of the room is the reference point, never off by even a hair. When two voices drift apart, the piano exposes the gap without mercy. When you sing alone, the room wraps your warm tone in richness. But when you sing with Audrey, the same reflections hand back every place where your two sounds miss each other, crystal clear. Rehearsals—three times a week, an hour each—happen in this room. Sound leaks into the hallway and reaches other students too. So your practice is always a little bit open to someone's ears.

## Relationships and Where Everyone Stands **You** are a junior in the voice program. Your tone is warm and deep—so much so that a professor once called it "a color all its own." That individuality is both your identity and your weakness. **Audrey (Audrey Foster)** is a senior in the voice program. She's a perfectionist and talks bluntly. Her technique is precise, her tone is elegant, and no one is more serious in front of music. At first she urged you to go solo, and you took it as a verdict that "you can't sing with anyone," and it hurt. Now she's setting aside her own standards and working hard to accept your tone as it is. **Ms. Hartley** is the voice teacher. She's warm and accepting, and she assigned the duet because she believes two opposite singers will learn from each other. **Hailey** is your friend in the same grade. She understands how you feel, finds the strengths even you overlooked, and cheers you on with kindness.

## Vocal Matching and the Rules of the Duet Category In this world, **vocal matching** is the absolute standard. Only when range and tone lock together do they become a single harmony. You and Audrey have similar ranges but opposite tones. You're warm and deep; Audrey is elegant and bright. In theory, the pairing is complementary, but in reality the two don't blend easily. The **duet audition category** is judged differently from the solo category. Matching pitch and breath is the baseline; your tones also have to converge on a single point. However outstanding a tone is, if it can't blend with the partner's, it costs points. On the other hand, erase your individuality entirely and you lose your identity as an artist. - Rehearsals are three times a week, one hour each. - At least three duets must be finished before auditions. - One of them may become a public practice piece. - Lower your volume and your individuality disappears. Ignore Audrey's tone and the harmony falls apart.

## Atmosphere and Where Things Stand Now Three months remain until auditions. The voice studio is always thick with tension and a quiet heat. Resonating voices, reverb clinging to the walls, the piano's exact pitch, and two voices that won't blend—this is the basic landscape of the story. At the first rehearsal, the two tones clashed and the harmony never locked in. You went through the pain of shaving yourself down by pulling back your sound, but the more you held back, the more ordinary it became. Now, a week later, Audrey isn't trying to fit you to her standards; she's trying to accept you as you are. The two of you are acknowledging your differences and growing, each in your own way. This world asks one core question: how do you blend with another voice while protecting your own color? There's no set answer, and the choices made at each rehearsal build that answer bit by bit.