Members macrolific Posted November 22, 2016 Members Share Posted November 22, 2016 I'm a 58-year-old guy, and my upper falsetto range has come way down over the last decade or so. I used to be able to sing anything that Barry Gibb could sing - so I'm talking way up there - but my range has decreased by probably half an octave, and even what falsetto I do sing is not as clear as it once was. I still have a fairly impressive falsetto, but, by my own standards, I'm frustratingly limited. For the past several months I've begun performing again, mostly covers. But I don't attempt any of the Bee Gees falsetto stuff - because I can't quite hit the highest of the high notes - and I'd like to be able to. I'm wondering if this is simply what happens as we age, or if there's anything I can do to get my old range back. Some vocal exercises, perhaps? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted November 23, 2016 Members Share Posted November 23, 2016 Practice. Do you smoke? If so, don't. I stopped 5 years ago and regained clarity in my range that had suffered from the smoking. I have better range and control now than I ever have and it's just a matter of work. I'm 61. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members macrolific Posted November 23, 2016 Author Members Share Posted November 23, 2016 Hi, Idunno. No, I'm not a smoker, I don't do drugs, I'm not on any prescription medication and my health is really good. The only things I can think of to attribute to my newly-limited falsetto range are my advancing age and many years of limited vocal practice as I pursued interests in life other than music and singing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members *BLEEP* Posted November 24, 2016 Members Share Posted November 24, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted November 28, 2016 Members Share Posted November 28, 2016 Other then medical surgery and having your vocal chords shortened, its unlikely you'll ever get it back.Its like saggy skin, all you have is surgery or Botox to make it look tight. Most vocalists peak in their 20's, some stretch it to their 30's 40's but few can do what they did in their 20's.Few vocalists in their 50's sound anything like they did in their 20's. I just hit 59 this weekend and I have tapes that date back over my entire career.I was lucky because my voice actually got better as I aged. Its not as durable as it used to be however, and recovery takes much longer. What you do when you get older for voice and instrument is your experience to make your voice sound better. You know so much more as an older musician. You know all the tricks and ways of projecting yourself well. put it to good use. Youth has its advantages of course, but I only wish I knew a small portion of what I know now when I was younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members macrolific Posted November 29, 2016 Author Members Share Posted November 29, 2016 Thanks for the reply, WRGKMC. I actually have purer sound, greater control, and much better endurance - including durability and recovery time - than I did in my twenties. It used to be that my voice would be shredded after a couple of hours of singing. Now I can go three hours or more without issue, night after night. The only area where I'm suffering is in my range. Even with my head voice I've figured out ways to get about as high as ever. But there seems to be nothing I can do to increase the falsetto range. Oh, well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted December 4, 2016 Moderators Share Posted December 4, 2016 Your falsetto is probably weaker because of lack of consistent and proper vocal practice and training. There is actually a vocal exercise that I use for not only strengthening falsetto but the entire voice as well, its called the cuperto exercise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted December 5, 2016 Members Share Posted December 5, 2016 Thanks for the reply' date=' [b']WRGKMC[/b]. I actually have purer sound, greater control, and much better endurance - including durability and recovery time - than I did in my twenties. It used to be that my voice would be shredded after a couple of hours of singing. Now I can go three hours or more without issue, night after night. The only area where I'm suffering is in my range. Even with my head voice I've figured out ways to get about as high as ever. But there seems to be nothing I can do to increase the falsetto range. Oh, well.... Its more likely you can sing longer because you learned how to singe correctly. I know this was the case from me. I quit trying to sound like other singers and stopped trying to bend my voice to sound like someone I wasn't and much of the fatigue disappeared. I quit trying to sound like a rock singer by screaming and started using a guttural voice instead and all of the issues that used to wear me out disappeared. At my age I'm a bit less passionate when I perform but that was actually good for me. I learned I don't have to feel passionate in order to sound passionate. In fact I don't have to feel many of the emotions in order to produce an emotional performance. The fact is its only important the customer feels those things. I just help them get there using some wisdom and experience. I'm a perfectionist too. Many times when I'm recording I do retakes because I didn't quite hit a pitch right or I get a little tongue twisted trying to fit in the words. Had this happen to me this weekend in fact. I didn't like how the words to a song I wrote fit so I rewrite some lines to make them easier to sing (a nice luxury you have recording your own music) I did maybe 8 different versions and was pretty sure the last couple were great. I waited a couple of days before listening to them play back so I could hear them as a listener instead of a performer and the first few takes out of the box was killer. The others had technical improvements, a word here or there but nothing that justified the 8 hours I spent working on them. I let myself get too emotionally involved and was being driven to out do myself, much like a gambler gets when he has a win and thinks he can keep winning. I should know better because I been doing it for so long. I'm fine playing live because its a non stop flow of consciousness. I'm fine playing guitar too. Most of the time when I record I play parts all the way through without any retakes or dubs. My vocals are usually the best when I do the same thing but I'm often writing the melody as I perform and have so many ideas going at the same time I'm temped to go back and redo things. I guess I cant complain though. Even on that one song I knew I was hitting some notes above my range. I knew they didn't feel comfortable when singing them but performing isn't always about feeing comfortable or good. Its about sounding good to others. I have many songs I can feel comfortable all the way through. Doesn't make them the best sounding songs I've done. Sometimes a little discomfort is exactly what you need to focus the mind on what's coming out instead of what you're putting into it. At least that's how it winds up being many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members happwith12strin Posted December 6, 2016 Members Share Posted December 6, 2016 hELLO!! TRY A CONDENSER MIC I LWILL WORK WONDERS TO RESTORE POWER AND RANGE TO YOUR VOICE!!1L HANDHELD CONDENSER MIC THEY NEED 48V PHANTOM POEER WHICH MOST MIXERS HAVE LET THE MIC DO ALL THE WORK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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