Merkabas Voice-Help Hotline

[Merkaba]

There seems to be so many asking the same questions that i decided to make a post of my posts. well the threads in which i have posted that relate to voice, singing, and screaming...etc. I will update it from time to time And i will start linking to this new post which contains links to the others. I hope this helps, and happy hunting.

Warmups

http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219806

Singing From the "Gut"
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219911&page=36, post #711
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13868974&posted=1#post13868974 #902

Vocal Cord Isolation

http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4360701

Finding Head Voice
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9745852#post9745852
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219911&page=43
About #856

Exercises For power,range, and flexibility

http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5510425#post5510425


Screaming

http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214130
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216681
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108543
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217625
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219314
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215341
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216131

Mucus (a must read for the serious vocalists)
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219357
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237789

Dealing with Pain in the throat
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227425

Some Samples and Instruction
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=228211

Official Voice/Singing Help thread
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=370155

Good Misc.
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233117

[shadedlife]

this **** should be stickied.

[Merkaba]

this **** should be stickied.

i was thinking the same thing but i didnt know what contributes to getting stickied so. hey who knows. :wave:

[Merkaba]

Hey thanks for the sticky! I'll try to update whenever possible. thanks alot.

[toe_knee]

oooooo -twirls around like a retard-

[mia913]

hey would my singing be effected in anyway if i get my tongue pierced??

[Merkaba]

i've got mine pierced and it has no effect. it might for the first few days that your tongue swells up to twice its original size. hehe. i wouldnt worry about it. thats funny, today i took my vibrating tongue ring to work to show off to the ladies. They thought it was very , very ...very interesting. anyways.

[kriswrite]

Tongue piercing will definitely affect how well you enunciate...unless you take it out when you sing. Although most pop and rock music isn't generally well enunciated, enunciation plays a strong role in creating a clear, clean tone.

Kristina
www.geocities.com/kristinasvocalstudio

[j0s1ah]

define enunciation.

[Merkaba]

It doesnt bother mine one bit. It might also depend on where you get your tongue pierced. I wouldnt get it too forward.

enunciation is bascially how you make the sounds that make up your words...something along those lines.

[LeadSinger327]

Merkaba, I am starting to sing through my gut and it sounds GREAT, well it is compared to the crap it sounded like earlier...and I REALLY REALLY WANNA THANK YOU...cuz if it wasn't for your threads dude I would have probally went on messing up my voice..Thanks Hombre...just one more thing lol...when singing through the gut, do you still do the 50 - 80% thing right?...if so...how do you make it to where you voice doesnt sound dull, because I get a little irriatation in the back of my throat after doing a 10 minute warm up and starting to sing my songs...I might be going over the whole 80% volume max rule lol...but i want it to sound good, not like a drag...welp thanks ALOT ALOT ALOT ALOT Merkaba!

- Cody

[Azraelscross]

i have a question about my voice. i don'y know whats up but i have a regular deep singing voice(was a while ago not sure) and a high falsetto. but i have no mids it seems. do you have any suggestions for things to do so i have at least some in between? i haven't tried in a while but i was gonna start soon and just wanted to know if there was anything i could do.

ps. is it even possible? and i'm only 16 if age is a factor in it.

[Merkaba]

Merkaba, I am starting to sing through my gut and it sounds GREAT, well it is compared to the crap it sounded like earlier...and I REALLY REALLY WANNA THANK YOU...cuz if it wasn't for your threads dude I would have probally went on messing up my voice..Thanks Hombre...just one more thing lol...when singing through the gut, do you still do the 50 - 80% thing right?...if so...how do you make it to where you voice doesnt sound dull, because I get a little irriatation in the back of my throat after doing a 10 minute warm up and starting to sing my songs...I might be going over the whole 80% volume max rule lol...but i want it to sound good, not like a drag...welp thanks ALOT ALOT ALOT ALOT Merkaba!

- Cody

Well youre welcome, but thank yourself more. We're all here for each other too. i've learned a bit believe it or not. I realized that i had gotten caught up so much in all of these other things i had been concentrating on with my cords. that i had not been focusing on my breath as much as i needed. so i actually had to start concentrating on my own gut more!

Yea, the whole idea of learning to sing with less push is that you cant do this while being tense or throaty. The more you support with your gut, the less you have to have any feel of pushing. So yes, when youre using your gut you still want to sing without a lot of push. over time you might have to back off. Findiing the support gives you so much more ability that you can over do it a bit. but for now just continue to concentrate on it.

well, you shouldnt be getting any irritation doing a warm up. Thats almost a paradox. Its just not a warm up! And you can call it a taco, but it wont be a taco, ya know. To me, now this is just to me, 10 minutes is not a good warm up for me. and i find that i fatigue my cords alot by trying to do too much with a small warm up. I would suggest you do like i do and consider your whole day prior to "real" singing as a warm up. i start as soon as i get up. i start just vocalizing and singin very lightly. and doing glisses, eee's. scales, whatever, as im walking around scratching my sack, rubbing my eyes and fartin', getting clothes, doing this or that. i gargle lightly with sound and do scales gargling, when in the shower. just whatever.

have you recorded yourself singing lately? you might find out that you are singing too hard. i suggest you record in some way , any way, asap. or go to the local post office at night or when noone is in there and realize how easy you have to sing with proper acoustics in place. But over time you develop a feel for what is too much push and what isnt. You can just feel it in your cords. over time just through trial and error and i know that when i get a specific feeling, that feeling before has continuously led me to quick fatigue and down hill. Its all in my head now, but i've had to develop this with all my registers, and with all intensities. I dont know anyother way to tell you other than remember that if you push too hard youre not getting anything extra. there is a point of dimimishing returns. you will have to find this on your own. which is perfectly fine as along as you warm up adequately and theres no pain. its ok to fatigue your cords. without a teacher, its just trial and error. but like i had said in an earlier post today, if there is no pain, and no affect to your speaking voice, then continue to push your limits. remember youre going to have to just strengthen to keep good tone with a harder push. this takes time, and there is no way around it. just pay attention and you'll develop your own degrees of what you need to do.

There is also an area where if youre singing hard, you need to let the air escape, this is where you rasp. if youre not trying to rasp, but youre singing hard, youre forcing your cords to close against too much pressure, where as if you were rasping, you would be releasing this extra air to the back of the throat for the rasp. so if your not trying to rasp a note, you really shouldnt be pushing hard at all. Trust me, regardless of what you see on tv, or videos or even in concert. if its not a rasp, you can get any not to sound full and blasting with like 30% gut push. Again, how do you think these guys tour a whole year with shows every other day?! Even the strongest cords couldnt do that with near maximum or maximum push. its all about having an open relaxed throat so you get a full rich resonance that sounds thick as hell and you can add whatever kind of facial expressions or whatever to make it look like whatever you want, and youre not feeling lower because the sound and feel thats coming out is just right, so youre not worried about equating push with emotion, which is what singers do wrong. an open and relaxed throat can give you alot of presence and with a little throat shift, you can get a heavy sound with out a lot of push. it will just take time for you to find your own points. you want to just play around and feel yourself out. you will need lots of non judgmental alone time to grow the fastest with best feedback so that you can know the feel of your own optimal push. Now dont get me wrong, especially when you start off, you will have to give some good push to get alot of what you want. just keep the throat open and relaxed. but overtime you will realize that you dont need that same push to get the activation your seeking. so keep it in the back of your mind ALWAYS that youre striving for everything to be as easy and as non strenuous as possible.

But to sum up, i would try a way longer warm up. and dont try any push until youve been warming up a while. and remember that you give less push the higher you go up(again, when you reach falsetto, you have to keep a good pressure however, it takes a bit more of airy effort)

[Merkaba]

i have a question about my voice. i don'y know whats up but i have a regular deep singing voice(was a while ago not sure) and a high falsetto. but i have no mids it seems. do you have any suggestions for things to do so i have at least some in between? i haven't tried in a while but i was gonna start soon and just wanted to know if there was anything i could do.

ps. is it even possible? and i'm only 16 if age is a factor in it.

Its not only possible, it already is there.Did you read the section on isolation exercises? if not, then do. doing Glisses should help you alot. You should be able to go from your lowest chest voice to your highest falsetto with one breath without losing anything whatsoever. and highest falsetto down to lowest chest voice. I love doing glisses. Its just a good thing to do . its like yoga for your cords.

proper breathing is important, from the gut, and dont over push.

your cords are thinner/thinnest in the mids/upper mids. they might be weaker here, and you need to work with it, without over pushing! The thinner they are, the less pressure it takes to vibrate them! with falsetto your cords arent clamped together, they open up, so its a different ball game.

And be sure youre not constricting your throat. I've written about this numerous times. and its all here in the forum. But what happens is that many people equate higher vocal squeeze with higher throat squeeze. this just will not allow you to develop higher head notes. your air pressure is not balanced with a tense high throat and youre just gonna fatigue instead of strengthen. its all in the isolation post.

If youre not a "naturally" strong singer at a young age, then yea, 16 might be a little testy. its like trying to run against a 20 year old. unless youre just one of those gifted. But its not too early by any means. just read this forum over. you need to warm up adequately, learn to isolate your throat from your cords, sing from the gut without overpushing, with an open relaxed throat, and warm down after your work. no pain ever, and your speaking voice should not be affected. so read up, and keep practicing those glisses ...at different speeds. and over time just start at a mid note and do notes and exercices. everything you need to know for your specific question is somewhere in my sticky!

[ManWhoSoldTheWorld]

I have a question about screaming. I'm learning how to scream, well teaching myself. But I'm having a few problems. The first is I don't think I'm pushing right. Whenever I scream my throats starts to be sore. And when I scream the scream always gets caught in my throat, either on mucus or spit. Which totally destroys the scream. And my scream is also too...hissy is how i'd describe it. sometimes to the point the scream will break up into a hiss. the scream i'm trying to achive...I don't want to sound stupid because i've said this in other forums but i don't know any other band..like old underoath stuff. not the really deep screaming, but the high, crazy screams.

[Merkaba]

i dont know underoath.

your probably pushing too hard and closing your throat as you tense for the scream. Its all in the sticky threads. hissy cause you probably have little tone, and its just air. there should be no pain ever. and if you have mucous you need to warm up way more, and push less. the harder you push and more incorrect you sing, the more and quicker mucous developes as you go along in a session. the mucous is there for mainly protection. so if youre accumulating it, something is wrong with your singin. unless you have a sinus drainage problem which i couldnt help you with. read the posts. plus, the higer picth screams are thinner cord screams, you dont have to push as hard, just becauase youre going up in pitch.

[Azraelscross]

Its not only possible, it already is there.Did you read the section on isolation exercises? if not, then do. doing Glisses should help you alot. You should be able to go from your lowest chest voice to your highest falsetto with one breath without losing anything whatsoever. and highest falsetto down to lowest chest voice. I love doing glisses. Its just a good thing to do . its like yoga for your cords.

proper breathing is important, from the gut, and dont over push.

your cords are thinner/thinnest in the mids/upper mids. they might be weaker here, and you need to work with it, without over pushing! The thinner they are, the less pressure it takes to vibrate them! with falsetto your cords arent clamped together, they open up, so its a different ball game.

And be sure youre not constricting your throat. I've written about this numerous times. and its all here in the forum. But what happens is that many people equate higher vocal squeeze with higher throat squeeze. this just will not allow you to develop higher head notes. your air pressure is not balanced with a tense high throat and youre just gonna fatigue instead of strengthen. its all in the isolation post.

If youre not a "naturally" strong singer at a young age, then yea, 16 might be a little testy. its like trying to run against a 20 year old. unless youre just one of those gifted. But its not too early by any means. just read this forum over. you need to warm up adequately, learn to isolate your throat from your cords, sing from the gut without overpushing, with an open relaxed throat, and warm down after your work. no pain ever, and your speaking voice should not be affected. so read up, and keep practicing those glisses ...at different speeds. and over time just start at a mid note and do notes and exercices. everything you need to know for your specific question is somewhere in my sticky!

thnks man. gonna try all of that out. its just i don't really wanna have to search for a vocalist too when i start my "little" project. but first gotta get a guitar and practice. thanks again. you rule :thumb:

[LeadSinger327]

Dude Merkaba, you are the man...I have been following these threads and I've been able to hit better notes that I want..I've even learned how to kinda scream like Axl Rose and not mess up my voice...you rock man, you should like get a "Posting" award lol...but to the point...Will my voice be higher pitch if i stick with these long warm ups and pratices? because I really want to have a high pitched barritone...is that possible?...and another thing how do i get my scream less raspy...I sound like I am murdering someone when I want a Emo Band scream lol...If I sing loud with my gut singing will that mess up my throat? I drink 5 bottles of water while praticing daily...since I am on the right track...My chords should be getting stronger right? Thanks for all your help dude, you're a musician life saver!

- Cody a.k.a Lead Singer

[putit2myheadbaby]

i've been reading all your posts and practicing and i think i have it down to an extent... im a little bit shy when it comes to being infront of a mic though....

just how much do u hafta stress to get a good sound out of a mic when screaming?? i heard it allows you to slack off some and the sound is still fairly decent... but u dont wana scream your lungs out the whole time right?? im a bit shy/confused all of that... i wana know how hard you push and what that volume would be w/ out a mic please...

[Merkaba]

Dude Merkaba, you are the man...I have been following these threads and I've been able to hit better notes that I want..I've even learned how to kinda scream like Axl Rose and not mess up my voice...you rock man, you should like get a "Posting" award lol...but to the point...Will my voice be higher pitch if i stick with these long warm ups and pratices? because I really want to have a high pitched barritone...is that possible?...and another thing how do i get my scream less raspy...I sound like I am murdering someone when I want a Emo Band scream lol...If I sing loud with my gut singing will that mess up my throat? I drink 5 bottles of water while praticing daily...since I am on the right track...My chords should be getting stronger right? Thanks for all your help dude, you're a musician life saver!

- Cody a.k.a Lead Singer
****, sorry, i must have missed this post. Well i cant tell you that your voice will get higher. You know that. but if its possible, you are helping yourself out by having good warm up and technique. Remember youre going to have to work out the cords and that means exercising. not just singing. but reaching and missing notes. so you need a place that you can do that comfortably so you dont tense up and use incorrect technique. IM in an apartment complex and if i hear someone upstairs you would be amazed at how much it just ruins my throat position.

If you want less rasp...
Well is this rasp coming from the throat or from the cords. if its coming from the cords then you need to push less because thats just pure wrong. You might be shifting your throat down and not knowing it. Just try to push less, most people overpush anyways. And remember youre going to have to experiment with how much cord activation you include in the scream in order to get some kind of style or tone youre looking for. so push less first to see if you can get the same tone. dont forget about isolation. when all else fails for me, i go back to the blank face robot and it helps me find out what im trying to do and what im doing wrong. singing a strong and or high note is way difficult to do without any movement. its a wonderful exercise to show you just how much our ideas and images of emotion just plain interfere with our vocal technique until we know otherwise.

Well if youre coming from the gut, you still can damage. you still can close your throat off. THe idea of coming from the gut is to get a constant tank of pressure that you can dispense at your own discretion. if you dont, then when you need extra force, you will tense your throat in an effort to push, when you dont have anything to push because you didnt pressurize you diaphragm first. so HOPEFULLY you will be getting stronger. remember that youre working out, so you will reach plateaus and weaknesses and have bad and good days. just remember that mucous can really fool you into pushing harder than necessary. thats why i warm up so long, to sing and vibrate away the mucous instead of blasting it away by cleaing the throat, couging or grunting with cold cords and muscles.

so just stay on the path. i must say that i grew alot when i started to push less....because if you push too hard youre just fatiguing the muscles more and damaging everything, so you spend resources on repair and potential weakness.... over time i realized that i was singing harder and harder cause i had gotten stronger over time. Just dont rush it. Theres nothing better than being able to keep your voice healthy.(knocks on wood after blasting his for an hour)

[Merkaba]

i've been reading all your posts and practicing and i think i have it down to an extent... im a little bit shy when it comes to being infront of a mic though....

just how much do u hafta stress to get a good sound out of a mic when screaming?? i heard it allows you to slack off some and the sound is still fairly decent... but u dont wana scream your lungs out the whole time right?? im a bit shy/confused all of that... i wana know how hard you push and what that volume would be w/ out a mic please...

1. dont use the word stress, its a bad sounding word. hehe
2. the mic is your friend. get over it now if youre planning on singing. You can use it now to listen to all the imperfections that make you feel shy. lets face it, if you were sure you werent gonna miss anything, you wouldnt be shy right? so practice as much as possible until you got your voice down so well that you know its ins and outs, and that translates into confidence. Man, if you wouldve asked me like 7 years ago if i was planning on singing in front of people i wouldve laughed myself to death.

And sing acapella as much as possible. especially if you can record it with a mic. you will hear all of what you need to work on. And things you thought sounded bad may sound alright, and things you thought were dead on arent quite right. (**** that rhymed). Especially since you hear with your whole body when you sing. but when its played back to you, you hear what everyone else hears. I always sound dead on when i sing. when i record, i say hey, i need to work on.......etc. after a while you realize that its technique based so you just smooth out your breath and technique and it helps problems in general.

oh, dude, listen to my samples. On adobe audition(cool edit pro's new version) it shows your waveform as you record. when i do the falsetto screams the volume is off the meter! But im pushing at like 60 percent, if that. Remember , you have an acoustic instrument. all the other instruments are electrically amped up, unless youre doing a folk session by campfire or some shlt. So dont feel inadequate about having your mic up to its full potential. thats what its for. I mean if youre just too loud then you just adjust the output. but you should have a level to where you dont have to push much to do anything. alot of gain but not too much that you feedback easily. Again, deftones, mudvayne, linkin park, metallica, etc. touring all year long and doing like 5,6, or more shows a week! and these people have professional setups so they get it easier. now of course they still kill it though. i mean they are still shredding cords. but just not killing them.

for me, i've gotten it down to where i can project without pushing first. that comes from learning when to shift the throat and open it and drop the jaw and all this, plus i've been doing it a while, so by now, a 50% push for me is nothing but its still pretty loud, depending on the setting. usually i dont push hard at all. as time goes on, this has to increase though. so thats why you dont wanna blast at 90%. unless youre doing a 20 minute show! as far as working out it depends on how much time you have and what youre trying to work on.

[SlapHappySunshine]

especially if you can record it with a mic. you will hear all of what you need to work on. And things you thought sounded bad may sound alright, and things you thought were dead on arent quite right.
Thats my problem though, I hate my voice when it's played back to me, I just cannot stand it. So I have to get my friends to sit still and listen to me, which is another problem because they don't know what they're talking about when it comes to singing. So would someone be willing to listen to my recordings when I get my mic and adapter on dmusic?

[j0s1ah]

we will. ;)

[Merkaba]

^^ yea, you wont be the first

most people who hate their voice sing with a high larynx. I'm willing to bet you do as well. you start to get some resonance in there and you'll like yourself more. I was the same way.

[Idontknow]

Im Trying to start a band and there are very few people who are willing to sing where i live so i kinda want to learn how to sing/scream. I can get high and low notes and all but i cant seam to scream relly. i have read thies fourms quite a bit and tryed many things but i still comes out more like a whisper. what am i doing wrong? thankyou for the help

Edit:btw im a 15 year old male

[Merkaba]

Im Trying to start a band and there are very few people who are willing to sing where i live so i kinda want to learn how to sing/scream. I can get high and low notes and all but i cant seam to scream relly. i have read thies fourms quite a bit and tryed many things but i still comes out more like a whisper. what am i doing wrong? thankyou for the help
you have to get "behind" the note, and feel like youre getting ready to sing it. more than likely youre squeezing your larynx and throat up in the attempt and its just not allowing enough air to activate the cords. check out the isolation stuff, and remember to feel like your going to sing the note. and like i say, you should be able to sing that note first. and sing it over and over again. practice hitting the notes hard first. not too hard. then you add the throat to get the rasp. if you can get a sample up it would help too.

[Idontknow]

Ok, ill try that, i Dont have a PA "Yet" but i will soon so i was trying before hand. i kinda want to do a Finch/The Used type of scream. thanks Merkabab-1. ur the master

Edit: Im trying... it still comes out weak and to raspy... what can i do? ill get a sample up as soon as possable. it sounds.... too raspy kinda :confused: :confused:

[IH8teYourEyes]

hey Merkaba-1 and others who can help.... i've been readin through these threads alot today.. I just found this site earlier.. Anyways I havent sang since 6th grade.. Im now 18 almost 19 and thing is i dont remember anything from choir.. Alot of my friends play acoustic/electric guitar, bass, or drums.. I have been playing guitar but my friends want me to learn to scream sing so we can start a hardcore/metal/screamo band.

Could you help me with things i need to learn. Like do I have to be able to really sing like kids do in choir to be able to scream sing? I printed the singing 101 breathing tips from this site and will be practicing those alot, i already breathe with my stomach going out so i dont really need to practice that but i will. Please anyone post things i need to learn and explain them and w/e else u can tell me, thx

music singing preference... i wanna have sing style somthin like AsILayDying or RememberingNever, Or Atreyu..somthin like that.. u can email me too that would be great..email is eatreyu182@yahoo.com

[Merkaba]

its fairly simple.
all the stuff i stress
hydration
warm up
low relaxed larynxed, open throat
warm down.
no affect to the speaking voice
no pain

other than that youre just gonna have to practice singing hard, and getting rasp.
i cant stress enough the importance of learning to isolate. its vital and it allows you the freedom to come up with your own stylings and helps you work out the cords not stress them.

[IH8teYourEyes]

K what exactly is rasp? Sry i dont wanna sound dumb but i dont know anything of singing anymore.... Anything u feel would be good for me to practice paste here or on my other thread i made cuz i couldnt find this one haha.. Like i printed that breathing tips if theres anything like that i can read that describes and is somthin u feel i should practice let me know.

Now I havent even screamed since i was like 12... I can lightly sing along with some of my fav metal bands but i dont scream the lyrics just use a quiet like whisper deep voice when driving. So should I try to scream like when I was a kid and get feel and practice to ulter it to right way.. Im still not sure how im to know this bounce of back of my throat or pull down on my throat thing. Sry if this is all confusing im about to leave so i typed it up very fast.. I am very serious about learning to scream sing and so im not here just to waste anyone time I really wanna get all info and help i can. thx

[Merkaba]

if youre that serious you wont mind reading the begining of this thread, which takes you to some previous posts of mine. its a good read

[IH8teYourEyes]

Yea ive been going through them :)

[Merkaba]

rasp, aka scratch...its when you deflect the air off of the back of your throat. which is where you get that static like sound from when people scream. It doesnt and never should come from your cords. the thing is you have quite a few muscles in the area. so you have to learn to not pull all of your throat closed or push extra on the cords when youre trying to do this. this is pretty much the key to longevity and "screaming". dont forget that a mic with good settings makes any screamer sound that much better.

[btoto]

Hey Merkaba, it's bad I don't have so much time to visit the forums..........I see you still rule :) If you remember I asked about raspy voice a month ago and singing like Cobain etc. blah blah blah............well, I you really did help me and I kinda learned to get some rasp (heh, one of the reasons I don't have so much time for internet....enjoying my singing :))..........Thanks to you again! :thumb:

But now some problems started to come out with my voice. After a month that I started to sing better, there have been some worsenings too.

Like, uhhhmmmmm it's been already 5-6 days that I started to have mucuous in my throat...........I read your topic about it and didn't quite understand if it's good to have mucuous or not. By the way, I watch my nutrition, don't smoke and don't drink.

Another problem is about pain in throat...........After you gave me a tip on singing from diaphragm I got rid of pain in my throat and felt much better.......But now it begins again, this time it's a bit different pain............I don't even know how to describe it. It's not in my throat like it was before.......you know not the part that hurts when you've caught cold...........It's somewhere in back and a bit up.......sometimes I even think it's somwhere in back of my head. :confused:
I couldn't describe better, I guess you know what I'm talking about...not throat itself but somewhere upper, like back of your head. It would be great if I know what causes it.

Thanks beforehand

[Merkaba]

Hey Merkaba, it's bad I don't have so much time to visit the forums..........I see you still rule :) If you remember I asked about raspy voice a month ago and singing like Cobain etc. blah blah blah............well, I you really did help me and I kinda learned to get some rasp (heh, one of the reasons I don't have so much time for internet....enjoying my singing :))..........Thanks to you again! :thumb:

But now some problems started to come out with my voice. After a month that I started to sing better, there have been some worsenings too.

Like, uhhhmmmmm it's been already 5-6 days that I started to have mucuous in my throat...........I read your topic about it and didn't quite understand if it's good to have mucuous or not. By the way, I watch my nutrition, don't smoke and don't drink.

Another problem is about pain in throat...........After you gave me a tip on singing from diaphragm I got rid of pain in my throat and felt much better.......But now it begins again, this time it's a bit different pain............I don't even know how to describe it. It's not in my throat like it was before.......you know not the part that hurts when you've caught cold...........It's somewhere in back and a bit up.......sometimes I even think it's somwhere in back of my head. :confused:
I couldn't describe better, I guess you know what I'm talking about...not throat itself but somewhere upper, like back of your head. It would be great if I know what causes it.

Thanks beforehand
Well thanks for the compliments, and its good to see youre improving. and yea i remember you. an upper throat pain? well above your adams apple? it could either be muscular tension or the affect of blasting air over the back of the throat. but its a pain, not a discomforting annoying feeling, but actually like ow, pain? if it feels like its in the back of your head, it very well could be. you'd be surprised what people will inadvertently tense up. it could be muscle tension. I just cant make the call from here. i mean, you should be able to know if its in the throat. if it is you can push air to it, without sound, to hit the area and allow you to feel if its in your throat or not. if you cant find the area with air , without sound, then do it with alot of air and very little sound to see if its your cords. otherwise its muscle related more than likely.

as far as mucus...let me get this straight. you were find a month ago, but over the past five or so days the mucus all of a sudden starts to come around?

well, mucus can also drain down from higher nasal areas if you have allergies, or anything going on up top. just be sure to warm up good, and try not to clear your throat much. if you do, do it without sound. it could be just the amount of time it has taken for your cords to start to be stressed. so you might just now be trying to protect a perceived stress or damage by your body. just remember it can fool you into thinking you have to push harder than you do. usually when i have mucous i dont really get it totally away until i start to do some high rasp notes. but as long as youre doing rough work, youre gonna be getting some mucus. be sure to warm down at the end of the session, and if you've been going a while. keep singing lower and softer for at least five minutes after you finish practic/gig. then do eee's. its all about getting your cords to return to normal length. if they dont, they will bring in more mucous for the perceived stress/damage and the swelling that is occurring in the area.

dont forget that you dont always have to push from the gut for every note. some notes and vocal techniques you dont want a lot of push. remember you use it when you need it. and dont forget that you dont have to go up in volume as you go up in pitch.

keep us posted. good luck.

[btoto]

Well thanks for the compliments, and its good to see youre improving. and yea i remember you. an upper throat pain? well above your adams apple? it could either be muscular tension or the affect of blasting air over the back of the throat. but its a pain, not a discomforting annoying feeling, but actually like ow, pain? if it feels like its in the back of your head, it very well could be. you'd be surprised what people will inadvertently tense up. it could be muscle tension. I just cant make the call from here. i mean, you should be able to know if its in the throat. if it is you can push air to it, without sound, to hit the area and allow you to feel if its in your throat or not. if you cant find the area with air , without sound, then do it with alot of air and very little sound to see if its your cords. otherwise its muscle related more than likely.

as far as mucus...let me get this straight. you were find a month ago, but over the past five or so days the mucus all of a sudden starts to come around?

well, mucus can also drain down from higher nasal areas if you have allergies, or anything going on up top. just be sure to warm up good, and try not to clear your throat much. if you do, do it without sound. it could be just the amount of time it has taken for your cords to start to be stressed. so you might just now be trying to protect a perceived stress or damage by your body. just remember it can fool you into thinking you have to push harder than you do. usually when i have mucous i dont really get it totally away until i start to do some high rasp notes. but as long as youre doing rough work, youre gonna be getting some mucus. be sure to warm down at the end of the session, and if you've been going a while. keep singing lower and softer for at least five minutes after you finish practic/gig. then do eee's. its all about getting your cords to return to normal length. if they dont, they will bring in more mucous for the perceived stress/damage and the swelling that is occurring in the area.

dont forget that you dont always have to push from the gut for every note. some notes and vocal techniques you dont want a lot of push. remember you use it when you need it. and dont forget that you dont have to go up in volume as you go up in pitch.

keep us posted. good luck.

Wow, you know your job...............I did what you said i.e pushed air without sound and now I'm sure..........yes it is my throat. I don't know why I thought it was back of my head :confused:

Ok I'll be frank with you. Actually all these problems with pain and mucus started to appear after I sang and played Nirvana's "Drain You" for several days, trying to sound like Cobain too much. Maybe this is the reason, but it's not that hard song.

Yes, mucus started to come around over last week. I mean, it's not it causes me so much trouble. And sometimes I even like..........because, you know that with mucus it's easy to get raspy and sound cool. But it becomes irritating while talking.............I know that it annoys people I'm talking to. I guess they think that I have a bad desease and going to die soon...lolz :D

Ok I'll try to sing lower for a couple of minutes after I finish...........well, actually I doubt I can do it. Let me explain the situation:

I do all the singing and guitar playing at home. But I do it when there's no one around. And it happens not that often. I mean I'm kinda ashamed to sing when my family is at home. So as soon as they leave, I pick up my guitar and start singing. And I don't do any warmups because I know that I have for example only 35 minutes, and I want to enjoy myself all that little time. :upset:

I guess now you understand me why I don't any warmups. Simply because I have little time for singing and I want to use it for my own songs. :thumb:

Also, if it's possible for you, can you please download Nirvana's "Lithium"? I want to know what Cobain is doing in chorus. The "Yeah Yeah Yeah" part. Because as it sounds to me, it's not screaming......and I don't want to scream, I just to be able to do that thing he does, it sounds to me more like an agressive singing rather than screaming.

Thank you :thumb:

[Mike B.]

Hey. I've been reading through your posts and I've picked up lots of great tips about warmups, isolation, and rasping. Thanks for putting all of this out here! I have been singing since before I can remember, but I always find that my vocal cords get tired and my diaphragm never does. I have read in a few different places that proper breathing should be done with the stomach, and the chest shouldn't move at all. Also, also the shoulders should stay down. When I do this, it feels like I only have about half as much air in me as when I fill up my whole chest. Am I doing this wrong or will it get better with practice? Thanks for the help!

[Merkaba]

well i must say dont overthink the breathing thing. but it is important. dont really tense up anything when youre trying or try hard to keep your shoulders down. just let them relax and they will not move much. However many people do breathe improperly and raise there shoulders and move the chest alot. your stomach should bellow out first and and your chest is still gonna move a little, but mostly at the end of a deep deep breath which you really dont need to do that much in singing. of course over time you dont have to think about this stuff so you can enjoy doing whatever you like while on stage, not having worry about your shoulders while doing death metal or rock would probably help out. lol

[Chris-Bassist]

i really wish i had a good singing voice but my voice is always high pitched even when i try to sing normally...do you think me being 13 might have something to do with it...a reply would be most appreciated

[CrazyDiamond725]

I'm sixteen and my voice is still squeakin on me. I made a microphone in an electronice clas in school and I taped myself attempting to sing on mt stereo. I never heard myself sing before. I was thought my voice was ok. Until I listened to it on the tape. I can't sing in key or anything. I think I'm just gonna stick to playin bass cause I suck at singing. I don't know if a cr*ppy voice could be changed, but if it can mines gonna take a lot of work. Would it even be worth it for me to try to sing, because my band has no singer?

[CrazyDiamond725]

I'm sixteen and my voice is still squeakin on me. I made a microphone in an electronice clas in school and I taped myself attempting to sing on mt stereo. I never heard myself sing before. I was thought my voice was ok. Until I listened to it on the tape. I can't sing in key or anything. I think I'm just gonna stick to playin bass cause I suck at singing. I don't know if a cr*ppy voice could be changed, but if it can mines gonna take a lot of work. Would it even be worth it for me to try to sing, because my band has no singer?
Oh yea and voice is pretty deep too.

[Merkaba]

i really wish i had a good singing voice but my voice is always high pitched even when i try to sing normally...do you think me being 13 might have something to do with it...a reply would be most appreciated
well it definitely does. before you go through puberty your larynx is smaller. this makes for higher pitched sounds. its like trying to get a low sound out of a flute. or a high pitch out of a tweeter. follow..?? So as you mature your larynx grows more and gets bigger which is what deepens your voice. this is why range is something that does have limits. your larynx size will play a very important part in range. Just keep practicing and singing. doing exercises and the isolation stuff. over time you will be developing a lot of flexibility in your cords as you keep them very active and stretching as your larynx grows. just remember to warm up, stay hydrated, dont over push and warm down. :wave:

[Merkaba]

I'm sixteen and my voice is still squeakin on me. I made a microphone in an electronice clas in school and I taped myself attempting to sing on mt stereo. I never heard myself sing before. I was thought my voice was ok. Until I listened to it on the tape. I can't sing in key or anything. I think I'm just gonna stick to playin bass cause I suck at singing. I don't know if a cr*ppy voice could be changed, but if it can mines gonna take a lot of work. Would it even be worth it for me to try to sing, because my band has no singer?
just keep practicing and do the isolation exercises. if youre squeaking, i take it you mean breaking and cracking while holding a note. it either means youre not strong enough for that note or your air supply isnt steady. a high larynx will greatly diminish breath control. isolation!!...

and get a good mic first before you judge yourself, no offense on your handywork though. you always sound different when you hear yourself from a recording beause when youre talking or singing youre hearing with your whole body (especially your upper body) not just your ears. singing in key is something that just takes time through practice. however if you overthink it you can really make matters harder. hit a note on your guitar and try to do running melodies and scat and whatever as you play notes, or make extra melodies during your favorite songs. its really helpful.

[Merkaba]

Wow, you know your job...............I did what you said i.e pushed air without sound and now I'm sure..........yes it is my throat. I don't know why I thought it was back of my head :confused:

Ok I'll be frank with you. Actually all these problems with pain and mucus started to appear after I sang and played Nirvana's "Drain You" for several days, trying to sound like Cobain too much. Maybe this is the reason, but it's not that hard song.

Yes, mucus started to come around over last week. I mean, it's not it causes me so much trouble. And sometimes I even like..........because, you know that with mucus it's easy to get raspy and sound cool. But it becomes irritating while talking.............I know that it annoys people I'm talking to. I guess they think that I have a bad desease and going to die soon...lolz :D

Ok I'll try to sing lower for a couple of minutes after I finish...........well, actually I doubt I can do it. Let me explain the situation:

I do all the singing and guitar playing at home. But I do it when there's no one around. And it happens not that often. I mean I'm kinda ashamed to sing when my family is at home. So as soon as they leave, I pick up my guitar and start singing. And I don't do any warmups because I know that I have for example only 35 minutes, and I want to enjoy myself all that little time. :upset:

I guess now you understand me why I don't any warmups. Simply because I have little time for singing and I want to use it for my own songs. :thumb:

Also, if it's possible for you, can you please download Nirvana's "Lithium"? I want to know what Cobain is doing in chorus. The "Yeah Yeah Yeah" part. Because as it sounds to me, it's not screaming......and I don't want to scream, I just to be able to do that thing he does, it sounds to me more like an agressive singing rather than screaming.

Thank you :thumb:
mmmm hmmm
well, i used to be in the same position. its really crippling i know. i used to have to do the same thing. however!....

you can keep your voice in a more ready place if you vocalize throughout the day. you can do low volume humming, or hum tunes or doing familiar songs or commercial jingles, just whatever. and do the lip flutter sounds like when you were little and playing with cars. do this with scales and stuff and try to keep the flutter going constant as you rise and fall. you will be able to feel the shift in opening the throat in order to keept the pressure constant. so you owe it to yourself to learn ways to sneak in vocal cord energizing throught the day. or go for a walk or a jog, this really helps warm you up, dont grunt though or make too many forceful sounds. you can do pushups and crunches or workout. you can sneak in alot of sounds then and noone will have a clue. Ya know, if they say we're getting ready to go to the store blah blah, you can start crunching or working out. now this will get obvious over time. but if you work enough you can have enough confidence so that you can at least do warm ups while they are at the house. Im 28 and still wouldnt feel comfortable singin around my sister, or much of my family. if you dont warm up you can expect only limitation and increase in harming yourself(hence the overprotecting mucus). its like running track, lifting weights, golf, bowling, anything.


Trust me, mucus is not gonna let you get the most bang for your buck. once you learn proper technique you'll look back on this post and say wtf? plus your vocie will get better tone and you wont sound like a zombie. have you checked out any of the rasp instruction posts and soundclips? its all a trick really of banking the air off of the back of your throat. theres not too many vocal effects you can do but pushing too much air is never one of them, especially in head voice. you might have been doing some fry which is when your cords just flap from the pressure. you need to look into the isolation exercises and keeping your larynx relaxed and not tensing up to get your notes. Theres a lot of muscles in the throat area. you need to work with seperating them. its like drumming. think how crappy it sounds if you cant quite seperate your foot from your hand. the greatest drummers have their brain signals completely split between limbs. great singers do the same.

When warming down go from your highest note down to your lowest like siren. do this a few times. or at the least continue to hum and vocalize...and do eee's . I'll check out lithium. i know i have that nevermind cd...it is on there isnt it? Im so happy, cause today i found my friends...etc? yea! yea! yea!. (now i want to go sing it, first thing tomorrow when i wake up! my fave was come as you are) i can already tell you most of what cobain does is just rasping off of the back of the throat, with various amounts of falsetto and head mixed ..which basically means more or less cord activation....closing the cords or opening them. THis is what everyone does. there's not much else! just takes practice to learn it without overstressing the cords. i might post a sample of it maybe. doesnt take a lot of push, not as much as it sounds! (especially with well warmed up flexible cords....ahem, hint hint)

work with isolation. once you can work with the cords alone you can pretty much take your pick as to what you want to sound like. the isolation thread has some stuff in it.

take care. and dont forget to sneak in some warming up from now on at least.

[Chris-Bassist]

awesome thanks alot merkaba-1 helps alot

[btoto]

mmmm hmmm
well, i used to be in the same position. its really crippling i know. i used to have to do the same thing. however!....

you can keep your voice in a more ready place if you vocalize throughout the day. you can do low volume humming, or hum tunes or doing familiar songs or commercial jingles, just whatever. and do the lip flutter sounds like when you were little and playing with cars. do this with scales and stuff and try to keep the flutter going constant as you rise and fall. you will be able to feel the shift in opening the throat in order to keept the pressure constant. so you owe it to yourself to learn ways to sneak in vocal cord energizing throught the day. or go for a walk or a jog, this really helps warm you up, dont grunt though or make too many forceful sounds. you can do pushups and crunches or workout. you can sneak in alot of sounds then and noone will have a clue. Ya know, if they say we're getting ready to go to the store blah blah, you can start crunching or working out. now this will get obvious over time. but if you work enough you can have enough confidence so that you can at least do warm ups while they are at the house. Im 28 and still wouldnt feel comfortable singin around my sister, or much of my family. if you dont warm up you can expect only limitation and increase in harming yourself(hence the overprotecting mucus). its like running track, lifting weights, golf, bowling, anything.


Trust me, mucus is not gonna let you get the most bang for your buck. once you learn proper technique you'll look back on this post and say wtf? plus your vocie will get better tone and you wont sound like a zombie. have you checked out any of the rasp instruction posts and soundclips? its all a trick really of banking the air off of the back of your throat. theres not too many vocal effects you can do but pushing too much air is never one of them, especially in head voice. you might have been doing some fry which is when your cords just flap from the pressure. you need to look into the isolation exercises and keeping your larynx relaxed and not tensing up to get your notes. Theres a lot of muscles in the throat area. you need to work with seperating them. its like drumming. think how crappy it sounds if you cant quite seperate your foot from your hand. the greatest drummers have their brain signals completely split between limbs. great singers do the same.

When warming down go from your highest note down to your lowest like siren. do this a few times. or at the least continue to hum and vocalize...and do eee's . I'll check out lithium. i know i have that nevermind cd...it is on there isnt it? Im so happy, cause today i found my friends...etc? yea! yea! yea!. (now i want to go sing it, first thing tomorrow when i wake up! my fave was come as you are) i can already tell you most of what cobain does is just rasping off of the back of the throat, with various amounts of falsetto and head mixed ..which basically means more or less cord activation....closing the cords or opening them. THis is what everyone does. there's not much else! just takes practice to learn it without overstressing the cords. i might post a sample of it maybe. doesnt take a lot of push, not as much as it sounds! (especially with well warmed up flexible cords....ahem, hint hint)

work with isolation. once you can work with the cords alone you can pretty much take your pick as to what you want to sound like. the isolation thread has some stuff in it.

take care. and dont forget to sneak in some warming up from now on at least.


Well thanks for great advices again. I checked the isolation exercises. I'm already working on them. Today my parents went to aunt's birthday and I stayed home to sing a little. But this time it was I feel Good by James Brown. Have you ever tried to sing his stuff? It's actually easy, there are only some tricks which take time. If you haven't sang his stuff yet, I advise you to do it. It's really challenging.

Also today I decided to take 5-6 vocal lessons with a teacher. Probably I'll start them in 2 weeks. In my country it's not so expensive. 1 hour of lesson costs 2 dollars. So I decided to take a few lessons of proper breathing. I guess that's all I need. :p

Uhmmmm..............It's kind of hard to ask you, but can you give me some more Cobain tricks? I promise I won't give 'em away :thumb: It'll be our little secret. :wave:

You know, there are a few vocalists I'm trying to copy before I find my own style. I'm already doing success with 2 of them. The first is U2's Bono and second is the girl from Cranberries........I don't even know her name lolz....I have one Cranberries CD and it's very easy for me to sound like her. Bono is a bit harder to copy but still challenging. The last one as you may already know is Cobain. He's the hardest singer I ever tried to copy. So it would be great if you give me some more help on him :wave:

Thanks a lot :thumb:

[Merkaba]

Well thanks for great advices again. I checked the isolation exercises. I'm already working on them. Today my parents went to aunt's birthday and I stayed home to sing a little. But this time it was I feel Good by James Brown. Have you ever tried to sing his stuff? It's actually easy, there are only some tricks which take time. If you haven't sang his stuff yet, I advise you to do it. It's really challenging.

Also today I decided to take 5-6 vocal lessons with a teacher. Probably I'll start them in 2 weeks. In my country it's not so expensive. 1 hour of lesson costs 2 dollars. So I decided to take a few lessons of proper breathing. I guess that's all I need. :p

Uhmmmm..............It's kind of hard to ask you, but can you give me some more Cobain tricks? I promise I won't give 'em away :thumb: It'll be our little secret. :wave:

You know, there are a few vocalists I'm trying to copy before I find my own style. I'm already doing success with 2 of them. The first is U2's Bono and second is the girl from Cranberries........I don't even know her name lolz....I have one Cranberries CD and it's very easy for me to sound like her. Bono is a bit harder to copy but still challenging. The last one as you may already know is Cobain. He's the hardest singer I ever tried to copy. So it would be great if you give me some more help on him :wave:

Thanks a lot :thumb:
****, what country do you live in? jeez

Bono just has good cords. lots of control and few tricks. he's just talented. I dont know much about cranberries but i did like that song about In your head, in your head, they are fighting.....zombie zombie...and i loved that slow waltz deal they made , and i miss you when youre gone, that is what I dooooo, heyheyheyah... i used to love singing that song even before i really started singing. lots of falsetto for cranberries stuff...at least for me.
cobain is just rasp off the back of the throat. Theres nothing else you can do. its just a matter of trying to shape your cords to sound like his voice. but otherwise thats all there ever is..and then the usually used affect is rasping. just my usual posts. check out my sample if you havent.

[btoto]

****, what country do you live in? jeez

Bono just has good cords. lots of control and few tricks. he's just talented. I dont know much about cranberries but i did like that song about In your head, in your head, they are fighting.....zombie zombie...and i loved that slow waltz deal they made , and i miss you when youre gone, that is what I dooooo, heyheyheyah... i used to love singing that song even before i really started singing. lots of falsetto for cranberries stuff...at least for me.
cobain is just rasp off the back of the throat. Theres nothing else you can do. its just a matter of trying to shape your cords to sound like his voice. but otherwise thats all there ever is..and then the usually used affect is rasping. just my usual posts. check out my sample if you havent.


Haha I live in an ex-soviet country (now independent)........so everything is cheap here because everyone's starving :p

Yeah I aslo like singing Zombie also a few other songs like Salvation.
I checked out your samples...........wow you can't imagine how much pain I felt in my throat when I heard you screaming. You definitely worked a lot on your voice. Great man, keep going :thumb:

And it's all there in the first page so I guess I can work on it.

Also, who's singing do you find harder? James Brown or Louis Armstrong? Yes, I know that you like Armstrong, but I guess James is good too :wave:

[Merkaba]

Haha I live in an ex-soviet country (now independent)........so everything is cheap here because everyone's starving :p

Yeah I aslo like singing Zombie also a few other songs like Salvation.
I checked out your samples...........wow you can't imagine how much pain I felt in my throat when I heard you screaming. You definitely worked a lot on your voice. Great man, keep going :thumb:

And it's all there in the first page so I guess I can work on it.

Also, who's singing do you find harder? James Brown or Louis Armstrong? Yes, I know that you like Armstrong, but I guess James is good too :wave:

You mean as in harder to do? James Brown, and he sings way harder too if thats what you meant. I just mention louis all the teime because he gives the sound of rasp at a very low push and volume(sometimes), at least in that particular song. James just has vocal cords like steel i think.

[btoto]

You mean as in harder to do? James Brown, and he sings way harder too if thats what you meant. I just mention louis all the teime because he gives the sound of rasp at a very low push and volume(sometimes), at least in that particular song. James just has vocal cords like steel i think.

Yes that's what I meant. I also thought James' style was harder although I like singing his "I feel good" :thumb:

[Merkaba]

what about the big payback. listen to it if you havent. and try his screams and let me know if you can do that. if so, i envy you. I'm getting there but its a slow process. hehe

[btoto]

Merkaba-1,

No actually I can't do his screams. Especially in "I feel Good". It's not that the scream is hard, but the reason I can't do is his vibrato. I mean I can barely scream, and in the same time I have to do a vibrato. This is what makes it very hard for me.

I'll check out the pig payback and give my opinion.

[Merkaba]

hmmm. not really familiar with the screams in I feel good. I'll have to check it out.

yea i love payback. its kinda funny at the same time as being funky.
"look here...dont do me, no darn favors...I dont know karate, but i know karazor"...

and he screams after the music breaks down and they play a little riff. the riff is the "hit" that he is feeling, "hit me" bowmp bowmp, womp, chicka bowmmm...."heyy heyy HEEYYYYYY!!!" sounds like a mix of head and whistle. its strong whatever it is. mmmmm

[btoto]

Wow yeah I downloaded that song...........too repetitive although funny as you said.

Do you mean the the scream somewhere during 07:01 ? It sound head to me. I won't try it now because my dad sits next to me right now reading newspaper. So maybe later. But yeah, I probably won't be able to do that :)

[btoto]

God, I can't stop listening to your Inhale/Exhale scream Merk. :)

I'm not a screaming fan, but that inhale/exhale thing blows my mind. It's so great.

You can make money on that..........really, just record your screams and sell them for horror movies. :)

[Merkaba]

.....hmmmmm......


thanks man! Now i do think most of them were at like three in the morning too. And i dont practice the inhale scream. maybe i should.

:thumb:

[the_guy]

Merkaba-1, you rule! I've read mainy threads about screaming and I've always been trying to do it from the gut. Now that I've heard your screams and instructions, it seems way easier than I thought. The only problem I'm having now is I can't get a good volume on it. It doesn't sound full. I wan wondering if you could give me some tips. Also, I was wondering if the scream at the end of "A Decade Under the Influence" (by Taking Back Sunday) is done the same way.

[Merkaba]

I havent listened to it yet..but i can guarantee it its. (unless its an inhale scream)

yea...just listened. its the same thing. I keep telling everybody that the cords cant really do much but make vowels! other than that its what you do after the vowel. That scream is kinda a mixed voice. a little bit of head and falsetto perhaps, which is quite common. He has a good bit of vocal cord involved with the sound. but i can get that exact scream he did with a good fifty to sixty percent push. I think anyone can. To repeat, it sounds harsher than it is...if you know what youre doing that is. same technique as in all of my posts so far. have fun!

[btoto]

Hi Merk........I'll have to do it again. Another stupid question :) I'm really sorry, but I have to ask you.

Well I started taking lessons with a teacher. It's been only 2 lessons yet, but anyway. We were working mostly on breathing because she said I'll have learn proper breathing before we start seriously.............blah blah. What I want to say is about pain in my throat. I told her about it, but she couldn't really understand what causes it. She said: "There must not be pain in your throat because you're singing from your diaphragm, you don't even give much tence to your throat........so it's just not normal. I can't say what causes it because you are singing right and there simply must not be any pain"

So, she couldn't understand what causes it. But then she added this: "It could probably be because you were singing wrong when you started and you damaged your cords, if it is so, we need some time to work on it. After singing correct you'll get rid of it........just a matter of time, other than that I don't know any reason" (And yes, she is maybe right. I DID try to copy Bono and Kurt without knowing what is a diaphragm..........it was a few months earlier)

So, I wanted to know what you think about it. What could be causing this pain? Any suggestions?

To make this easier for you:

It's not a kind of pain that you have when you get cold. And it doesn't come up until I start singing.........I mean if I don't sing, I won't have it. Also, it's not that bad pain which tortures me to death. It's like when I sing, I feel my throat (or cords). A good example: When you have little toothache you don't have so much pain, but you kind of feel your tooth. The rest of time you don't feel that you have teeth right? So, same with the throat.

Sorry to cause you problems again :)

[Merkaba]

come on dude...you know its not a problem.

anyways, I'm not gonna act like I'm going head to head with your teacher but just because youre coming from the diaphragm doesnt mean you cant be damaging your cords. I mean you actually have a big tank of pressure at your disposal with such. I say it is cord related. Yet on the otherhand i would probably guess its like she said. You might have damaged your cords a bit so that more isolated, proper energizing actually could be causing some irritation and whatnot to previous scar tissue. I would look for it to go away expecially with proper singing and instruction. and dont forget to warm down regardless of what she says or says about warming down. just make ee's throughout the day whenever you can. sneak them in! i do it all day. Course im singing and vocalizing all day, luckily i work in a moderately noisey/isolated plastic manufacturing environment. perfect for kinda goofing off and sneaking in singing time. and of course all the usual cord help stuff i say at the end of posts. good luck. And good to see that youre not tense and all!

[chefbubble]

ok, I've got a question about singing at gigs. I tend to fall flat for some reason when I can't hear myself, and we've tried using an old PA as a couple of floor moniters which works alright (but for some reason we couldn't use an output to link the two PAs so I had to use two mics, which looked sort of awkward), and I've tried using ear plugs (which sometimes throws off my tone a little bit). Eventually I really want to get wireless earbuds, but they cost a whole lot of money everywhere I've looked. Do you have any suggestions?

[Merkaba]

alot of people go flat from having tension in the throat. youre pulling the cords in proper relation to the notes you know you need, but the tension in the throat offsets the note by adding extra tension to the cords. its like playing your guitar string with a higher or lower bridge. you can make all the fingerings the same but the notes will still be off from outside influences. However it could just be simple hearing.

I have to stress the isolation exercises again. The truth is that you shouldnt need a monitor or need to hear yourself. it should be a feeling youre really after. It really is the truth. and its why some people can't sing as well with an earplug or with an earbud. But it is easier of course with hearing yourself but its ultimately like a crutch. practice singing your songs acappella this is just priceless to me and is like a pharmacopia cure all ...and practice isolation(voicehelp hotline sticky). your cords are your instrument. Theres no way around learning scales on a piano. no way around learning how to play your cords with no help. ya know.

[chefbubble]

thanks dude

[Merkaba]

no problemo....I also recommend practicing opera style classic singing. It really gives you the feel of how to pronounce the vowels and helps you keep an open throat. At least play around with it when you get a chance. do some of your songs in a classical acappella style when you can. It really helps. be sure not to squeeze the throat.

[btoto]

Hey Merk thanks again.

I didn't sing much for last two days so to get rid of that pain. For 2 last days I did only your isolation exercises and eee's and stuff like that. So today I tried to sing a bit and I didn't have so much pain as before.........still I didn't sing as much as before only for 30-40 minutes........I did have some kind of irriating thing in my throat but it wasn't as painful as before. So, for a week, I'll try to do more exercises rather that singing.

And also, sorry for a noob question, but what is acapella? :)

[btoto]

Also, 2 more things I forgot:

1) Today I had a thing in my throat I don't even know what it is. No, it's not pain. It's like a little ball there and I can neither swallow nor spit. It doesn't hurt but feels really strange. Although my mom said it's not a ball it just seems so. She said you might have got cold. But it does not hurt, it's strange because I've never had it before (P.S: it's not mucuous)

2) My teacher said it's too early to define my range (only 2 lessons) but it's definite that I start from bass to tenor (somewhere in the middle (higher that baritone if I'm not wrong)). A very good range on low and tenor notes she said. Though, according to her, my falsetto sucks.

Thanks for reading :)

[shadedlife]

merk - a random question - do you have software/time to record 6 cubes?

[Eitri Is Berserk]

I havn't looked through all of your posts or threads..but can singing well be taught? I know some people are naraurally good singers, but can that be taught and aquired at a later age? Skills go into singing, but do you only get better to a certian point? Or could you start as someone who can hardly sing and become a pretty decent singer? Sorry if you have somthing like this, havn't read them all..YET!

[Merkaba]

merk - a random question - do you have software/time to record 6 cubes?

nah...i havent gotten anything yet. Plus i have some bugs..that **** Internet Explorer exploit thing was making my dialup internet surfing horrible. I might just wing it and try to download something tonight. I'm thinking about rebooting my whole comp. I'll see. But i havent forgot. I should have something really soon. cool that you ask!

[Merkaba]

Also, 2 more things I forgot:

1) Today I had a thing in my throat I don't even know what it is. No, it's not pain. It's like a little ball there and I can neither swallow nor spit. It doesn't hurt but feels really strange. Although my mom said it's not a ball it just seems so. She said you might have got cold. But it does not hurt, it's strange because I've never had it before (P.S: it's not mucuous)

2) My teacher said it's too early to define my range (only 2 lessons) but it's definite that I start from bass to tenor (somewhere in the middle (higher that baritone if I'm not wrong)). A very good range on low and tenor notes she said. Though, according to her, my falsetto sucks.

Thanks for reading :)

Acappella means without music. just you.

I have no idea what the "ball" is. Do you mean you couldnt swallow it or spit it out, or that it made you unable to swallow or spit? because you wrote it as the latter. good luck with that.

Dont worry, your falsetto will get better with time.

[Merkaba]

I havn't looked through all of your posts or threads..but can singing well be taught? I know some people are naraurally good singers, but can that be taught and aquired at a later age? Skills go into singing, but do you only get better to a certian point? Or could you start as someone who can hardly sing and become a pretty decent singer? Sorry if you have somthing like this, havn't read them all..YET!

i think that anyone can be taught well enough to be at a level where one is able to record a decent album. Now that might take alot of time, and it might not be the type of album you like. but im saying that anyone can be taught to sing to a very decent level. It might not be Bono or Plant. but everyone can sing. I think most of it is thinking too much. I reiterate that , to simplify, there are only six vowels your cords make. ay, ee, I, oh, uu, and ahh. (some sounds are mixes of one or more). The rest are consanants which are interruptions in the vowel sounds. If you think about it, it makes it simpler. the big keys are learning proper breath support, and learning to keep the throat open and relaxed while you make the vowels and shape them with the consanants.

So whatever category you fall in, trust that you can get better.

[btoto]

Acappella means without music. just you.

I have no idea what the "ball" is. Do you mean you couldnt swallow it or spit it out, or that it made you unable to swallow or spit? because you wrote it as the latter. good luck with that.

Dont worry, your falsetto will get better with time.

Oh I do sing Acapella often :thumb:

Nevermind that "ball". It's gone already. But anyway. I meant I couldn't spit out or swallow that ball.................not food.

Thanks. I have 3rd lesson in 2 days............hmmmm can't wait :wave:

[shadedlife]

alright man, i'll be waitin :)

[Screamin_Demon_Auz]

That balls just your cords a little swollen up; it gives a feeling of gum or something stuck in your throat. Happens to me after I push to hard

[btoto]

That balls just your cords a little swollen up; it gives a feeling of gum or something stuck in your throat. Happens to me after I push to hard

Exactly ! You explained it much better. Thanks a lot :wave:

[Merkaba]

If youre getting anything like that, youre not doing yourself any favors technique wise. and at least be sure to warm down alot if you ever get anything like that going on in your throat. It couldve been the back of your throat, due to the extra air irritating the throat. You should be able to tell if its on your cords or no because singing or humming will be affected. or your voice.

[btoto]

Last 2 days I had that irritating thing again. And I did lots of warmdowns. As soon as I start singing it comes again. I'm already fed up with it. Didn't know it would be so.

I guess that's all. I'm giving up singing.

Thanks for everything, Merk. I'll keep posting :)

[Merkaba]

you should post a sample.

dont give up....pansie! lol

or go see the ear, nose and throat doctor

[btoto]

I don't trust doctors here. They'll write all illnesses to me just to charge more money and make me spend hundreds on medicine.

1. What kind of music should I post? I mean, what do you want me to sing?

2. How to post?

[luciferchrist]

I have noticed alot of singing related terms that are very unfamiliar to me, and probably many other people new to singing.

some examples: glisses, falsetto, solfeggio, head voice, etc..

Would someone mind pointing me to a resource where I can learn exactly what all these things are? Or better yet, someone well versed (merkaba-1, silver :wave: ) in these things can create a thread explaining all this terminology. Merkaba-1 and Silver (and some other, sorry I forgot you) have done a pretty fine job of doing this, and I find myself learning alot here, but there is still certain terminology I don't know what to make of...

thanks!

[luciferchrist]

I am noticing that when I get to a certain point on some vowells (specifically ee and i) my voice starts cracking and I can't really produce the notes without getting some nasty gravelly tone.

Like if I am running through a C major scale vocally I will get something like. (keep in mind when I say clean I am saying the notes are comming out perfectly, as I am recording this stuff and they are perfectly on key)

C (ee - clean) D ( ee - clean) E (ee - clean) F ( ee - clean) G ( ee - starts breaking up a little bit, like I can't find the note, but still get it) A ( ee - can't find the note, voice breaking up like hell) etc

does anyone know why this is happening?

It only happens when I go up the scale, when I just start on an A, I hear myself harmonizing with it perfectly, I am thinking I might actually be harmonizing a 5th below, instead of hitting the note and this might be why it sounds in tune, but it is not actually an A I am hitting.

Is this a product of faulty breath control (to much or to little air going over my vocal chords)?

[Merkaba]

How high up the scale are you when you start to break? pretty high? or mid ? and are you saying that if you start on that same note first that you can hit it? if so it could be you not having enough fleixibility to keep the cords in shape after coming from another shape, especially if its higher because the cords are thinner and theres less surface area for them to connect and form the shape for that vowel. And with practice there will be realizations of certain pressure changes you might need to make for you best sound. E's are the only vowel that makes the cords come completely closed as part of the vibratory pattern. So dont over push on e's. be sure youre relaxing the throat as well and not squeezing it as you go up in pitch thinking that these muslce contractions are part of the cord contractions. this is very very very common and could explain why you can start off on the note but not rise up to it. keep us posted.

[luciferchrist]

How high up the scale are you when you start to break? pretty high? or mid ? and are you saying that if you start on that same note first that you can hit it? if so it could be you not having enough fleixibility to keep the cords in shape after coming from another shape, especially if its higher because the cords are thinner and theres less surface area for them to connect and form the shape for that vowel. And with practice there will be realizations of certain pressure changes you might need to make for you best sound. E's are the only vowel that makes the cords come completely closed as part of the vibratory pattern. So dont over push on e's. be sure youre relaxing the throat as well and not squeezing it as you go up in pitch thinking that these muslce contractions are part of the cord contractions. this is very very very common and could explain why you can start off on the note but not rise up to it. keep us posted.

dude this totally makes sense

I think I am trying too hard to push the sound out when I go up the scale. As I find myself searching for the note that fits, I notice that I generally try to put more effort into it for these specific vowels.

Yes, when I start on the note I can hit it, but not when I build up to it through the scale.

I can't even get a full octave with the EE, and I , but with other ones, like O, I can cleanly get out an 1.5 octaves up. So yes, I am pretty high up the scale when the notes start to break.. Like starting on low C, I can only get up to about G without breaking up and getting off tone.

BTW, as reference tones I am starting at the lowest C on my keyboard, which is a 64 key.

I am already noticing changes in my range through trial and error. For instance, a couple of days ago I couldn't get to a full octave doing the O, but yesterday I realized I might have been exerting to much air, so I calmed down a little bit, filled up my lungs, and tried pushing from my stomach slowly. I was then able to hit 1.5 octaves up!

So I think alot of this will come to me through trial and error, as I find the right amount of air to produce the notes.

luckily I am able to tell when I am on key and off, and that is being a big help. :thumb:

[Merkaba]

yea, the higher you go, the thinner the cords, so less pressure is needed. practice doing glisses. Up and down. Start your lowest note and just slide up to your highest even through falseto. But try to keep the cords together for as long as you can before you go into falsetto. This helps you strenghten a little bit, but keeps you in touch with your break where you go from head to falsetto. Because you can get away with more push in falsetto but in head it can fatigue the edges of the cords.

So yea keep practicing and listen to your voice and pay attention to the feel as much as the sound. This is where you really can learn what to do with the cords. The feel and pressures of the notes. Technically you should be able to make any vowel at the same pitch . So do upward glisses and downward glisses. do them with each vowel and be SURE that you can do them without changing volume as you go up. This is very important. as it helps you learn isolation. you should be able to make it in a smooth slide with no interruption or loss of quality. It will take a shift in feel and pressure as you go to falsetto and coming down from falsetto. When doing a downward gliss, start in your highest falsetto and come down to your lowest chest. Work to keep it clean as you come from falsetto to head. And remember to relax everything as do it. Remember the cords are horizontal so youre actually pulling them across your throat, not up. this can help you keep your larynx low. I still use this visualization to help me alot.

[luciferchrist]

yea, the higher you go, the thinner the cords, so less pressure is needed. practice doing glisses. Up and down. Start your lowest note and just slide up to your highest even through falseto. But try to keep the cords together for as long as you can before you go into falsetto. This helps you strenghten a little bit, but keeps you in touch with your break where you go from head to falsetto. Because you can get away with more push in falsetto but in head it can fatigue the edges of the cords.

So yea keep practicing and listen to your voice and pay attention to the feel as much as the sound. This is where you really can learn what to do with the cords. The feel and pressures of the notes. Technically you should be able to make any vowel at the same pitch . So do upward glisses and downward glisses. do them with each vowel and be SURE that you can do them without changing volume as you go up. This is very important. as it helps you learn isolation. you should be able to make it in a smooth slide with no interruption or loss of quality. It will take a shift in feel and pressure as you go to falsetto and coming down from falsetto. When doing a downward gliss, start in your highest falsetto and come down to your lowest chest. Work to keep it clean as you come from falsetto to head. And remember to relax everything as do it. Remember the cords are horizontal so youre actually pulling them across your throat, not up. this can help you keep your larynx low. I still use this visualization to help me alot.

I will definetely start doing glisses. I have been reading your other posts, and doing lots of research on singing, and voice in general. I actually realized last night that I need to keep a kind of decrease the pressure as I go in the direction from chest to head voice. I was actually able to get my I and E up a note past a full octave before it started comming apart.

I am still working on designing a very good plan to becomming a great singer. I must thank you again, because alot of the stuff I am using from the plan is comming from your posts

[Rats]

Does coffee have any effect on the vocal cords?

[Merkaba]

Oh yes. Now its something that might not be readily noticed, and depends on your style. But the caffeine is a diuretic just like alcohol. It makes you lose water. This is part of the reason why people drink it. Especially if you drink it first thing in the morning. Youre already dehydrated so you take in caffeine which makes you lose water. it pretty much offsets the water that makes up the content of the coffee. If youre dehydrated, it makes you feel icky and tired. So then people drink another cup for the pick me up of the caffeine, but once it wears off youre more dehydrated. The first place your body looks for extra water is the throat area. This is why you always hear "if youre thirsty, youre already dehydrated" common saying among athletes. or "if youre thirsty you needed to drink 20 minutes ago. It takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes for water to digest and get circulated to the cords. I mean moderation is a key if you "need" it. But overtime you could probably tell a difference between with and without caffeine. dryer cords leads to quicker irritation and swelling, which leads to quicker loss of range if not other worse things, not to mention quicker and more mucus.
Again, its a little nit picky and may not seem to be really that big a thing. But i have to give my best information that i can. The facts.

Apples are better for in the morning wake me ups.

[Riovanne]

This question may have already been addressed in which case I missed it, but anyways: My chest voice and falsetto are both pretty solid (need to practice singing from my gut for the lower ranges, but that is easy enough), however, I am having trouble switching between the two without a definite "break". I haven't asked my choir director how to get rid of the break because I just haven't, if that makes any sense. My question then is what exercises can I do to "mesh" my chest voice and falsetto so that I can more easily switch between the two?

[Merkaba]

Glissando
gliss. start at your lowest note (even if you dont have trouble down low, its a good exercise) and go up in pitch like a siren. one continuous slide at a regular volume. be sure not to affect the volume any as you do this slide. Then start at your highest falsetto and slide down to your lowest chest. Pay attention to the areas where you go from head to falsetto and vice versa. be sure to keep the pressure behind the cords from the gut and be sure you have a relaxed throat. Any tension will interrupt the airflow and stiffen the cords. over time you can find out your own points so you know where to shift to the next voice to have a proper note. Stay in tune with your body so you can feel when the cords naturally want to open up(going to falsetto) and close(coming down into head). YOu should be able to feel the difference. go more on that then sound and you'll do yourself a favor. Also do rising melodies staccato style. with a pause inbetween each note. This way you develop the muscle memory so that you automatically know which voice to use for the pitch youre singing when youre around the break. doing alot of glisses and quick runs on melodies helps you become more flexible so even if you start off in the wrong voice you can slide into the proper one. given that you have enough support behind the cords. (diaphragm). So relax while you do it, dont worry about the sound at first. And dont over push. especially as you get closer to falsetto. Hope this helps some.

[luciferchrist]

2 quick questions


1. how long should one practice for at first? I have been trying to get in 1-3 hours a day. I noticed yesterday that my vocal chord area was feeling a little tender and slightly sore. I have been keeping them in exellent health otherwise, and my warmups are very thorough. Also I have yet to do anything with more than 60% push.

2. I am starting vocal lessons next saturday. Will 2x a month be good? they are expensive, but if it would help much more to do weekly I would do that. Also, my teacher is a female soprano classically trained singer. Will this help me alot in singing rock music, as I am a baritone. I don't know if this is like comparing apples to oranges or what...

[Merkaba]

You'll have to figure that out. Your cords shouldnt get sore. Thats what I've been trained. some people say a little is ok. But i dont. Just be careful and listen to your body. Warm down as well. no affect to the speaking voice. THat means youre really swollen.

Any amount of vocal lessons will help. But dont be afraid to move to a different teacher after a while if you feel like your current one isnt helping you. It will take time though. It would help to get a rock oriented teacher. But you can still learn alot about technique. I would say do both. or try to.

[btoto]

Merk, can you post some samples of warming down........you know, you were talking about warming down with eeeeeeeeeee's and etc. but they don't help me much. So I thought I'm doing 'em wrong. Can you post some warmdown samples? :)

Thanks again,

[JuicyFruitGuy]

Hey Merkaba, I need some help finding a good harmony to sing.

The song My Sharona is too high for my voice... it's pretty much an F sang the whole song... so I'm looking for a lower note to sing in it's place. You mentioned something about this technique of singing a lower note in harmony with the original one if the original is too high. I currently sing the F an octive lower, but it sounds bad, and takes away from the song. What note should I sing, and how can I find good harmonies to notes in future songs?

Thanks a lot

[Merkaba]

Merk, can you post some samples of warming down........you know, you were talking about warming down with eeeeeeeeeee's and etc. but they don't help me much. So I thought I'm doing 'em wrong. Can you post some warmdown samples? :)

Thanks again,

Well its not really something you would readily notice helping. Its just good to bring your cords back down to a retatively unstretched position before you call it quits. You start in your highest falsetto and then come down to your lowest chest. I do this with all vowels for about two minutes. Then i just do some low notes, and then regular eeee's. But how do you figure they arent helping you? are you keeping irritated or stiff mucus covered cords?

I'm having software problems but i'll try to get some stuff up soon.

[Merkaba]

Hey Merkaba, I need some help finding a good harmony to sing.

The song My Sharona is too high for my voice... it's pretty much an F sang the whole song... so I'm looking for a lower note to sing in it's place. You mentioned something about this technique of singing a lower note in harmony with the original one if the original is too high. I currently sing the F an octive lower, but it sounds bad, and takes away from the song. What note should I sing, and how can I find good harmonies to notes in future songs?

Thanks a lot
I think it was sliver actually that was talking more about harmony. I was saying just drop the song a half step or a whole note. All i could say is to look into the triad like F,A,C. But if its a song that shifts keys or has some awkward or funny improvisation it will depend on what notes make up the melody. This is kinda getting intor music theory which i cant do justice to by trying to explain. I would bet that it would sound better and more authentic if you just dropped the whole song down so the intervals stay the same. I think it will sound off if you just do a note in harmony but noone is doing the root note. If noone is singing the F or the note in question then i would suggest dropping the song down.
Any one else have any opinions?

[luciferchrist]

I think it was sliver actually that was talking more about harmony. I was saying just drop the song a half step or a whole note. All i could say is to look into the triad like F,A,C. But if its a song that shifts keys or has some awkward or funny improvisation it will depend on what notes make up the melody. This is kinda getting intor music theory which i cant do justice to by trying to explain. I would bet that it would sound better and more authentic if you just dropped the whole song down so the intervals stay the same. I think it will sound off if you just do a note in harmony but noone is doing the root note. If noone is singing the F or the note in question then i would suggest dropping the song down.
Any one else have any opinions?

I would say change the key of the song.

I find this really helps when doing certain songs that I just can't get my voice high enough to cleanly hit all the notes. For instance, I have my acoustic tuned to Eb, because I can hit the notes way better. I play this one song by Tears For Fears called Mad World. The song is in F#m, but I play it in Ebm - a whole 1.5 steps down! When I try playing in F#m, the lyrics come out okay, but they sound forced, however, when I play in Ebm, the song sounds good. I can create a good resonance with my voice, and I can stay in tune the whole song.

There are several songs I couldn't even dare playing without tuning down.

something else I am finding that helps is to sing a little lower, for instance, if you are singing a F chord, but can't hit it, try dropping down to the 5th below - C, or even the 3rd A. If it isn't working still, just transpose the song down untill you can find something in your range...

[JuicyFruitGuy]

Thanks a lot for the help guys. :) I do tune down in other songs or change the chords to a key or so lower, but in this case, it would be a hassle to do for this song. I'll try out the C and the A and see how it sounds.

EDIT: I don't suppose this would change anything, but while I sing the F, a G is being played on guitar and bass, not an F to match the singing, as some people might assume. Would this effect the notes I could sing in harmony? Or would it still be the C and the A...

[Rats]

Thanks a lot for the help guys. :) I do tune down in other songs or change the chords to a key or so lower, but in this case, it would be a hassle to do for this song. I'll try out the C and the A and see how it sounds.

EDIT: I don't suppose this would change anything, but while I sing the F, a G is being played on guitar and bass, not an F to match the singing, as some people might assume. Would this effect the notes I could sing in harmony? Or would it still be the C and the A...


I didn't quite understand what you said there

Just don't listen to the guitars

[Diseasedcow]

Hey I got a question...

I've been trying to sing like AC/DC for awhile now, I always thought it was just a falsetto voice

I'm right, right? But It seems like he falsetto screams everything...I'm having some trouble in that area...

To explain how it's working out for me-
I can get at the same volume and note as him in all their songs, but when I attempt to add some rasp, my voice breaks in a sense. My voice becomes somewhat bubbly in sound...I'm probably doing something wrong, and I thought I should just ask you

[Merkaba]

You should try to add more of a feeling of head and not just falsetto. Mix it. This is referred to as powerfalsetto. it should feel like youre singing both types at the same time. it will give you more support.

Think about adding rasp while coming down in volume. You might be trying to push more to help get the rasp. You should be able to rasp at lower volume as well if you have a relaxed throat. And it doesnt take much pulling to get the rasp. Whenever you run into problems backing off can help you find more of what you need to do. relax and come down in volue and push and try to get the sound.

BUt again, we know what can happen by trying to sing like someone else. Be careful. If you dont have enough experience to know how to get the sound, you need to ease into it. If you can hit the notes, theres no reason you cant rasp it. So keep practicing until you get it. just pull down a bit in the back of the throat and relax. if you dont already , put the tip of your tongue on your bottom teeth. let it relax there. rais the cheekbones. keep practicing.

[Rats]

why do you wanna sound like ac/dc's singer anyways
he has one of the most unpleasant singing voices ever

[Diseasedcow]

why do you wanna sound like ac/dc's singer anyways
he has one of the most unpleasant singing voices ever
In my opinion
Fixed :thumb:

Oh also, thanks Merkaba, I'll try out that stuff next chance I get.
I'm looking into vocal lessons, so I should be getting this stuff down soon enough.

[Knifeboy]

hey merkabalaba
I wanted to know how to get more body, in my screams? I mean... More bottom end.. Or something like that. My screams sound so empty.

http://s2.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=CAFD5E053442A8F8292A52094193799F here's a clip of my scream.. ... .. oh, and if it sounds like I'm doing something wrong, please do tell. hehe

[The Shareef]

How exactly do you pull on the back of your throat to make the rasp of the fallseto screams? I'm not sure if I am doing it right, how much movement of the larnyx is natural and how much would be an indication that I am using my cords to make the rasp and not simply air?

Oh, and just for the record:

Thou kickest the, as they say, ***.

This topic has helped me realize that well I have been singing wrong and sucked at it in general but also that my vocal cords are sensitive little buggers that I need to take car of.

Thanks again man.

[Los3rKid]

Hey Merkaba dude,
You have probable already said this a million times and im just to lazy to look for the post, but how do you sing through your gut? Right now i sing through my throat it sounds alright but i wanna be able to sing prople, cos right now i cant hold a note prople or anything, so if you have any advice on how to sing through your gut or any excercises to teach myself to do it that would be great.
Thanks dude...

[Winter-seed...AKA b&h]

pro-ple?

[Shadow18]

Hi , I am 13 and I have been interested in singing for a while. I have never been serious about it until now tho. My band wants me to sing while playing guitar , but i dont know how to sing that well. I been "trying" to teach myself.

If i post a clip of me singing a verse of two of a song and a scream do you think you can give me tip on how to make it better?

[Merkaba]

You havent read this forum have you?
you should.
Because : 1. You would already know many different ways to work on your voice
2. you would know that you can post and get some help. :thumb:

sing naturally and dont try to sound like anyone in particular when you start off.

[Merkaba]

Hey Merkaba dude,
You have probable already said this a million times and im just to lazy to look for the post, but how do you sing through your gut? Right now i sing through my throat it sounds alright but i wanna be able to sing prople, cos right now i cant hold a note prople or anything, so if you have any advice on how to sing through your gut or any excercises to teach myself to do it that would be great.
Thanks dude...
Well what if I'm just too lazy to rewrite it again? Hmmmmm???


Its one of the hardest things to succesfully describe. Dont overthink it though. You've done it before. Its simply using your diaphram to manipulate the pressure. If you cough or grunt youre using the same technique. Practice by taking a breathe in so that your stomach bellows out, your chest and shoulders shouldnt rise much at all, maybe a half inch at the end of a deep breath. Now slowly make an ssss sound. You should be able to hold it for at least thirty seconds. Practice making this into a zzzz sound. YOu can also feel as if youre getting ready to clear your throat but catch the pressure behind your cords. Now you dont need to push with that much intensity. But it is the feeling...THE FEELING of contracting the diaphragm....THE DIAPHRAGM.

WIth a little practice you learn how much you need for your singing and style. But its the feeling youre looking for. If you check out my samples i have a rasp lesson where i start off a rasped up falsetto scream and i remember doing the begining pressure a few times so that you can hear what it feels like, so to speak. you should check it out if you havent already. Again, once you learn how to use this it will still be easy, if not easier to overblow your cords. you will have TNT behind your cords and more of it. Be careful when playing with explosives. Once you get it down you will have alot of power, just dont abuse it. THe cords are always weaker than the lungs. Remember that. But dont be afraid of it either if youre looking to get stronger vocally. Your body is one hell of a machine if you take care of it, and it will give you warning if youre mucking it up.

[Merkaba]

How exactly do you pull on the back of your throat to make the rasp of the fallseto screams? I'm not sure if I am doing it right, how much movement of the larnyx is natural and how much would be an indication that I am using my cords to make the rasp and not simply air?

Oh, and just for the record:

Thou kickest the, as they say, ***.

This topic has helped me realize that well I have been singing wrong and sucked at it in general but also that my vocal cords are sensitive little buggers that I need to take car of.

Thanks again man.
Its tricky. You will have to play around with it. Dont worry its not too foreign. You've done it before. if you take a regular push and pitch and try to snarl it like a dog. its the same thing. Now when you start to move up in pitch or learning to do it in falsetto verses head or chest it will take time to get an optimal feel because of the differences in air that pass through. too much throat and youre putting a cap of pressure over the cords which isnt good. this is why you have to have an open throat to get as much of a vent as you can when as youre blocking it off a little with the throat. And you will do yourself a favor if you get to where you understand the isolation of the cords from the throat so that you have an independent command of each. like a drummers feet and hands.

start in a mid chest tone and learn to rasp at a small push. this ensures you get the feel down more before you start adding extra pressure.

[Merkaba]

hey merkabalaba
I wanted to know how to get more body, in my screams? I mean... More bottom end.. Or something like that. My screams sound so empty.

http://s2.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=CAFD5E053442A8F8292A52094193799F here's a clip of my scream.. ... .. oh, and if it sounds like I'm doing something wrong, please do tell. hehe
"Unfortunately, the link you have clicked is not available.
Reasons for this may include:

Invalid link
Use only the link that was generated by YouSendIt and mailed to the recipient. All other links will not be recognized. Please check to make sure that your email client did not break the link up over multiple lines. You may need to reconstruct the link manually by cutting and pasting all components into your web browser's address bar"

[Merkaba]

Fixed :thumb:

Oh also, thanks Merkaba, I'll try out that stuff next chance I get.
I'm looking into vocal lessons, so I should be getting this stuff down soon enough.
by the way, what the hell is that in your avatar? :confused: :lol:

[Los3rKid]

thnks merkaba dude
haha sorry bout me being lazy, didnt mean to sound rude

[Knifeboy]

"Unfortunately, the link you have clicked is not available.
Reasons for this may include:

Invalid link
Use only the link that was generated by YouSendIt and mailed to the recipient. All other links will not be recognized. Please check to make sure that your email client did not break the link up over multiple lines. You may need to reconstruct the link manually by cutting and pasting all components into your web browser's address bar"

Darnit!...They must've changed their system.

http://www.geocities.com/naijfboi/scream.mp3 Right click save target as

[yes 70s r back]

i do like gutteral vocals.. like it burnt my throat like hell at first.. but i just kept going and the pain went away.. but is that bad for you? gutterals? and screamming? :confused:

[Merkaba]

If it hurts your cords it's bad for them. The thing is you might have simply been hurting the back of your throat with all the air, and not the cords so much. It would still be wise to still read up around this forum.

[Merkaba]

hey merkabalaba
I wanted to know how to get more body, in my screams? I mean... More bottom end.. Or something like that. My screams sound so empty.


ok the second link works.

Yea, you sounded like you were about to run out of breath. I think you'll agree. Thats because youre not locking the pressure behind your cords. if youre not doing that then it makes no difference if you come from the gut or not. You've got to close the cords up, produce the sound first, and let this air then reflect off the throat area. You've got the cords open more i can tell that by the way it sounds and its the way i used to try when i started out. I would say check out my samples and listen to me start up that rasp. you can hear it catch and lock....then you either activate the cords to release the air or pass out. the air is locked up behind the cords and should need to be vented, like a pressure tank with your cords as the valve.

[Knifeboy]

ok the second link works.

Yea, you sounded like you were about to run out of breath. I think you'll agree. Thats because youre not locking the pressure behind your cords. if youre not doing that then it makes no difference if you come from the gut or not. You've got to close the cords up, produce the sound first, and let this air then reflect off the throat area. You've got the cords open more i can tell that by the way it sounds and its the way i used to try when i started out. I would say check out my samples and listen to me start up that rasp. you can hear it catch and lock....then you either activate the cords to release the air or pass out. the air is locked up behind the cords and should need to be vented, like a pressure tank with your cords as the valve.

Thanks alot :).. I really don't believe in rep points, but if anyone deserves them, it's you!.. Hehe

[The Shareef]

Y halo thar Markeba, okay I have another question.

I have the general feel down for a falsetto scream now but I get this obnoxious gargle when I do it and then when I finish it off there is some moisture at the base of throat but the rest of my throat is either dry or just fine.

Next, my throught hurts but that is possibly because I was doing it for well over two hours (stupid I know) and I didn't feel my larnyx move much so I assumed it was correct. I can stil