Volume!

[GuitarLord]

Ok, so I must be deaf but:

I'm trying to understand how loud should you sing??? I'm listening songs all the time, and can hear same song differently - sometimes I think that singer is pretty loud, and later if I listen to same song I think that loud singing is illusion and he is very soft. So how loud is the singer.

 

 

Here's the thing:

 

case 1) - some people sing very quiet even on highest notes. They can sing high but they never add volume even on highest notes. They usually don't take deep breaths or their support is pretty low, you feel like you almost don't support notes. I know some of my friends never sing loud, their voice is so soft, but they can sing pretty high notes.

case 2) - some people sing pretty loud, and the higher they go they sing louder and louder. They usually support a lot to maintain that loud voice, and the higher they go they usually support more, take larger breaths, and sing loudly.

 

I go in this 2nd group - I have loud voice by default and I find it hard to sing pretty soft. I have to add volume and sing pretty loud to hit those high notes - here is me singing U2 : http://www.box.net/shared/i6xnc2kecy - I go louder for higher notes.

 

I tried to sing like case 1) but I find that if I try to sing pretty soft it usually goes to my throat, and I don't find it pretty comfortable.

 

 

Here is another example, this is kind of singing voice I'm aiming for:

at 3:30 where he says "Please staaaaaay!" - is this singer really really loud or is it just illusion of very loud voice? Please answer about this song because I usually sing this part pretty pretty loud, but I'm not sure if that's what he does. Is he so loud here?

 

Any thoughts appreceated

[staticsound]

IMO, singing volume is def "louder" than your speaking voice...with hard rock anyways. When you add in the "grit", like in that Seether tune, it's definitely "louder" but it's not shouting. That being said, in theory you should be able to sing any note in your range at the same volume. The higher you go in pitch, does not necessarily mean the louder you get. If you're having to shout to hit the high {censored}, maybe you should work on Jamie Vendera's "transcending tone" exercise? Basically it's just taking a note, starting off very quiet and swell it up to full volume and vice versa. I have a "loud" voice too, but this helps if you want to sing softer stuff...my 2 cents

[LeonardScaper]

I guess the stock answer would be......the song will dictate the volume level of the vocals.

 

I don't have a real singing voice, nor do I have much range, so I tend to use mic technique more than volume to get some dynamics into my recorded performances. Come in close and use that good old proximity effect to your advantage.

 

Pretty Cool George Michael cover there.

[rodclement]

I sing 90% of my songs at speach level and rely heavily on the micand PA for volume. I had throat cancer yers ago and had to relearn to sing so even when I am "belting" out Skid Row for example, I am very relaxed and low in volume, never straining unless I need to emphasize a specific line or mimic a certain singing style. I can do Axl Rose, Sebastian Bach, etc, all in speaking voice volumes and not in headsetto, but in true head voice (let's not start that argument! ).

 

The benefit to this re-learning for me was that I never come out of a gig strained in any way, the downside is that I rely a lot on gear so if my monitors are not good, or if the sound in the room is very lous, like a loud bar full of people, it can make life difficutl for me and I have to rely on muscle memory and pray that I am hitting the notes I need to. This is one of the main reasons I focused my singing to acoustic rock, so I did not have to fight loud bands and crazy practices!

 

Rod

[Masklin]

 

true head voice

 

 

My bowels just turned over in anguish.

[rodclement]

I appologize...hope your bowels return to normal soon!!!

 

Rod

[DukeOfBoom]

i'm no softie either.

[EightString]

I must be a 3rd category: I sing slightly louder than speech level, but not by much. However, people think I'm even louder because my voice really cuts in terms of frequencies covered. Maybe that "cut" is a side effect of my technique, where I tend to sing like I have a "natural" compressor/limiter on my voice, maintaining a constant volume level throughout my range.