Members soilent_gringo Posted March 15, 2011 Members Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hi, I'm in an indie rock band and have been getting lessons for some time now. However, I still strain my voice on certain songs and no matter how much I practice it, it seems like no matter what, if I want to hit the note(especially on one song in particular and it's not even that high in my range) I have to really push my voice. I've tried various techniques that my instructor has told me to do and I still strain. Does anyone have any suggestions on exercises that I can do to teach my jaw, tongue, and throat to RELAX!! while I'm singing? Also, it seems like some of the things she teaches me aren't practical. She is classically trained and doesn't seem to understand that my band is LOUD and I have to sing over a wall of sound. Is there any way for me to get volume and rasp in my voice without damaging my vocal chords? Or is that just part of rock and roll? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members staticsound Posted March 15, 2011 Members Share Posted March 15, 2011 Part of rock is breaking the rules...a little. There is a safe way to do it though. A clip of you singing would help, but I'm taking a guess and saying you're prob pulling chest on higher notes...anything after an E4. The coach I see teaches the "rock" style, and it involves bridging early and focusing your tone in the mask. Basically, anything after E4 should be bridged or "covered". Covering is basically singing in your headvoice with a chesty sound...you won't strain or get chokey this way. Here's a video of his example...hope this helps? [video=youtube;HNfpeHE6Wls]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNfpeHE6Wls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted March 15, 2011 Moderators Share Posted March 15, 2011 The best way for your voice to cut through the dense mix is to work on your resonance. If you can your throat to open up more then your voice will be more loud, resonant and have more overtones. The overtones in the voice is what makes it cut through the mix better. Another thing you can do is to EQ the audio channel for your vocals, you can give the upper-mids a bit of a boost. It'll make your voice have more presence and will also help cut through the mix. Also you might be unnecessarily battling for volume, if you improve your stage monitoring setup then you can hear yourself more easily. A lot of singers get strain in live situations by pushing their voice harder than what they really need because they can't hear themselves. You could also do a sound/volume check on all the instruments and make sure they're not overly-loud. For example, if the gig doesn't mike the drums, then the drums is basically used as the baseline for overall volume. The instruments/amp volumes should be set accordingly to go with the drums volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soilent_gringo Posted March 15, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 15, 2011 Static, I can send you the specific part that I'm having trouble with if you give me your email address. Thanks guys for the helpful advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members staticsound Posted March 15, 2011 Members Share Posted March 15, 2011 Check your pm's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeadNight Warrior Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 As davie said, you shouldn't really be straining to make your voice sound big; that comes more from expanding your resonance. Volume in a loud band context will also come from the PA. If you're struggling to be heard, you either need to be put higher in the mix, a bigger PA, or your band needs to accept the idea of turning down a bit. As for rasp, you can certainly get it without strain using the false cords, but I don't imagine you'll learn that from your instructor if she sticks to her classical training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grace_slick Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 I found this video interesting...the guy reminds me of Jack Black for some reason. I however don't know HOW he gets that first sound...that ultra nasal-sort of twang when he illustrates the standard chest to head voice passagio thingo going WAH...if I try that, it doesn't have the power he gets. It just sounds weak (as always, for me). I can really hear the difference when he switches to the EH vowel. Like meh. It seems difficult to do though...that first time he tried it and aborted the attempt, that's what happens to me. But I never GET it, ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted March 16, 2011 Moderators Share Posted March 16, 2011 I found this video interesting...the guy reminds me of Jack Black for some reason. OMG. lol. Me too! Seriously! This guy reminds me of Jack Black too!! His voice sounds like Jack Black's. But anyway, Static. that's a cool video. I didn't know that anyone teaching a modern technique used the term "cover". I thought only the classical people use it. Though its interesting, cover and vowel modification are basically the same thing. Lately I've been focusing more on vowel modification. I managed to hit a G4 without falsetto yesterday. So strange, lately I feel like singing more in the B3 to F4 range. It somehow FEELS more "smooth" than my lower register. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grace_slick Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 Heheh, yet he didn't REALLY do any major Jack Black type stuff...but yes, the voice...and the casual clothing...and something about the enthusiasm and repeatedly showing the arm thing with the chest voice below and the head voice above. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members staticsound Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 I found this video interesting...the guy reminds me of Jack Black for some reason. YES!! I have Skype lessons with him and I swear to god he is Jack Black's twin brother. They even talk the same...reminds me of Jack Black's School of Rock character! But yeah, the "meh" thing is quite easy, it just opens up into an "a" vowel, and then back out. It's actually killer, for guys anyway...it trains your headvoice to sound like it's all coming from your chest. I highly endorse this guy, he trained with Maestro David Kyle who taught...wait for it Duke...Chris Cornell, Geoff Tate, and Layne Staley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grace_slick Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 Maybe it's cause I was on the note Jack Black was using...and I'm a girl so I technically should get the most out of that if I do a higher note...maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members staticsound Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 Yeah, I'd start on a comfortable low chest note for you. You've already got a really strong headvoice, and this is mainly the method Jack Black teaches...his real name is Robert Lunte bty, lol. If you want to apply the twang though, that's where the nose resonance would kick in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grace_slick Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 I do? A strong head voice? Meaning...strong as in sounds good and with fairly good control, or strong as in actually STRONG...cause I wouldn't say ANY of my voice is strong, though I wish it was and if you think it is then THANK YOU, THANK YOU! lol I think I'm on that Modern Vocalist site...I went somewhere for some reason and ended up joining there...but I can't recall quite why and don't think I've been back since... Nose resonance...but how do you avoid sounding like Bob Dylan with a cold? Or a quacking duck? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members staticsound Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 I do? A strong head voice? Meaning...strong as in sounds good and with fairly good control, or strong as in actually STRONG...cause I wouldn't say ANY of my voice is strong, though I wish it was and if you think it is then THANK YOU, THANK YOU! lolI think I'm on that Modern Vocalist site...I went somewhere for some reason and ended up joining there...but I can't recall quite why and don't think I've been back since...Nose resonance...but how do you avoid sounding like Bob Dylan with a cold? Or a quacking duck? lol Yes, I think you have a very strong head voice, tone and control. With a little more "power" behind it, it would be off the charts IMHO. A lot of that doesn't have anything to do with volume either. It's being able to open up your resonators...the nose resonance I was talking about. If you can get that activated, it will give your head voice some serious "edge" or "cut" to it, which is perceived as loudness. It's actually a fairly simple exercise to get it working...overdoing it will sound like quacking though, lol. Just hum to a scale up and down your range. Not like a dopey hum, one that makes your lips and teeth vibrate...as you ascend in pitch you should start to feel it in your nose too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grace_slick Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 Ok, I'll give it a go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members staticsound Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 Ok, I'll give it a go! Let me know how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 If you're struggling to be heard, you either need to be put higher in the mix, a bigger PA, or your band needs to accept the idea of turning down a bit. There is *no* reason for you to have to push harder to be heard - either in the FoH mix or in your monitor. Let the PA do its job. If you vocals are not cutting through, either the volume or EQ levels are not optimally set. So either turn yourself up or they have to turn down. It is quite simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KingOfBling Posted March 16, 2011 Members Share Posted March 16, 2011 I hit a D#5 the other day in full head voice, my goal is to have up to a G5 in my usable range...baby steps, haha ack! these tones are going to pierce my poor little brain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RobertS Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 There are some exercises you can do to increase your vocal range.Even though your band is loud, if you are straining to be heard, then you are either doing something wrong, or your PA is inadequate. http://freeonlinesinginglessons4u.com/Increasing-Vocal-Range.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted March 18, 2011 Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 To elaborate on a point - there is a subtle but important difference between being "loud enough" in the mix and "cutting through" the mix. Volume is an easy one to solve: Turn everyone else down and/or turn your vocals up as DeadNight Warrior mentions.Not cCutting through the mix can also mean there is competition for frequencies. One way to combat this is to eq a little more mid/high end on your voice as Davie suggested. I usually find this is more a problem with between instruments (guitar and keyboards for example) but it depends on your band's sound and your natural vocal range. The new thing that I wanted to add into the mix here (see what I did there?) was: are you using any processing/effects on your voice? A bit of reverb may go a long way to solving your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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