Vocal Tips...

Zombienosh

hey all,
just wonderin if anyone knows any good vocal trainers or vocal tips? basically I'm a metal vocalist, and am just interested in looking after my vocals etc, with heavy gigging and rehearsing so on, tips for maintaining them..

danke

filament

not sure i could take on any more students atm
but for metal:
dont push to hard, its possible to get all those raspy tones out with **** all strain on your throat, squeez your lower back muscles as if your constipated and leave your throat loose, the extra tension forces the tone out quicker then it takes to develop a consistent sound wave- resulting in distortion
and remember that the mike picks up and creates alot of that effect
other then that id say find a good teacher and dont believe half the crap you hear about maintenance or method
if it feels natural and comfortable its right
if your straining your going wrong or practicing to hard <or havent been enough>
work on visualising what you want the sound to be like in your head just before you make it, its confusing at first put pauys off well

SexyD4Lady

If you're going for a high note, visualise it. Allow your voice to go up into your head, but project. Sing from your throat for the high ones, singing with full voice will just damage your vocal chords.

Before singing, stretch. Touch your toes, stretch right up, roll your shoulders, sing scales.

A Fisherman's Friend mint an hour before you sing or one Airwaves chewing gum does wonders. Makes sure it's an hour before. Any closer to your gig and your voice could crack.

Don't drink tea, coffee or milk and don't eat chocolate. Coats your throat and you'll sound nasal, mucusy or both. Not pleasant.

Learn vocal warm-ups. Bella Senora and Abba Stanza are two I find very good for both ends of the spectrum- Bella Senora for the highs, Anna Stanza for the lows.

Enroll in a singing class... Walton's do great ones.

Hope I helped!

Arucard

keep your diaphragm firm, and push the air out of your lungs, shaping the words with your mouth as you do. if you're going for deep vocals, they should come from deep inside you. if you're going for a more black metal scream, then throat is good, but it might hurt a bit. take your time, work on it.

dan_y

does anyone know how to add power to high notes? I can hit any note I want but everything in the higher register just comes out whiny. and not the good kinda cobain/buckley whiny. just plain whiny.

StadJon

I wouldn't worry too much about damaging the vocal chords, it takes alot to do so. I've asked several pro song-teachers and they all say the same: You can't bust your vocal-chords permanently while learning to sing/during singing.

I'm sure that if someone really wants to mess up theire voice, they'll find a way. But normal singing won't harm your vocal chords, just take alot of breaks and make sure to drink water while singing. Water is the only fluid that does not affect the chords in a negative way.

As for high notes, I think it's a good thing that you start out by sounding "whiny". If it's whiny but in tune, it's a good start. I don't sing metal but I've learned how to make thin sounds grow more dark due to practice. And I don't smoke in order to get a darker voice. Hehe!

Black metal singing takes alot of practice, my advice would be to read interviews with metal vocalists and see what they say. "Satyr" of Satyricon would be a good vocalist to start with. He demands alot from himself and his voice and he often talks about the importance of proper black metal singing.

dan_y

besides metal though (I'm sorry, I know this is slightly off topic), I don't want to acquire a darker voice - I'm trying to figure out how to get more control of my voice when it hits the higher register, as well as learn to sing everything at a higher volume.

you see by whiny I mean my voice starts to quaver and I either have to drop key or start rasping for effect. I'm wondering if power and control can be learned. I'd like to acquire the same kind of power cobain had in his screams, and combine it with the supreme control buckley had in his higher register. as well as build up my overall volume

the problem is I have no patience for teachers (of anything, not just music). I'm hoping somebody has some tips for teaching myself power and control?

filament

dan_y wrote:

besides metal though (I'm sorry, I know this is slightly off topic), I don't want to acquire a darker voice - I'm trying to figure out how to get more control of my voice when it hits the higher register, as well as learn to sing everything at a higher volume.

you see by whiny I mean my voice starts to quaver and I either have to drop key or start rasping for effect. I'm wondering if power and control can be learned. I'd like to acquire the same kind of power cobain had in his screams, and combine it with the supreme control buckley had in his higher register. as well as build up my overall volume

the problem is I have no patience for teachers (of anything, not just music). I'm hoping somebody has some tips for teaching myself power and control?

control: practice controlling
volume: turn up the mic
power: work on making the tone as thick as possible without altering volume

it all takes alot of practice im affraid

smelltheglove

try this guy hes unreal he has a really good book if you have no time for teachers i think you can download it in pdf format... http://www.thevoiceconnection.com/theconnection3.html...hes able to shatter glass...need i say anymore

dan_y

filament wrote:

control: practice controlling
volume: turn up the mic
power: work on making the tone as thick as possible without altering volume

it all takes alot of practice im affraid

control: I'm asking if anybody knows of any routines I could look into to help me better understand how to learn control.

volume: I want to add volume to my own voice

power: thanks

SexyD4Lady

With regard your control- start singing a basic piano scale- scale of C. Start at a normal speed, and repeat scale, every time you repeat, increasing speed. Picture every note as a step on a staircase and make sure not to "scoop"- sing EVERY NOTE INDIVIDUALLY. Guaranteed to help.

filament

smelltheglove wrote:

try this guy hes unreal he has a really good book if you have no time for teachers i think you can download it in pdf format... http://www.thevoiceconnection.com/theconnection3.html...hes able to shatter glass...need i say anymore

dan_y wrote:

control: I'm asking if anybody knows of any routines I could look into to help me better understand how to learn control.

volume: I want to add volume to my own voice

power: thanks

tempo 50bpm
sing eh for a minum pp
sing ee for a minum pp
sing ah <father> for a semibreve <actually as long as you can comfortably hold the note without losing breath> and swell from pp to FF and back down again
concentrate the first to vowels with tone and clarity
then increase volume on your ah, increasing volume and tone as you go
coming back down is more difficult to control
do this on every note in your comfortable range, take breaks of about 1minute as you feel strain
as you go up the scale tension will increase, the key here is to lighten the note by a small degree
if your a baritone youll feel this hit around a above middle c
if tenor then d an octave over middle c and beyond
start by mentally lightening the tone, dont try it physically as youll over do it. the further you go the lighter youll have to make it.
the other key here is that the higher you go the "darker" youll have to make the note. ah as in father will have to become ah as in song and by the time you reach your highest notes usually f-a it should be pretty muched changed to an aw think in shades of uh if necessery. and i cant help but emphasise the importance to think the sounds rather then try physically

that oughta keep ye busy for a while