Read the article I posted a couple of posts before you on this thread. Make that sound on scales, then translate it into open vowels, and with more push (pushing like using the restroom, not pushing on your throat) you'll get it.

So I've been singing for a while and people say that I have an all right tone, good power, and fair vibrato, but I haven't really freed my range up yet and I still can't really sing in higher octaves. But... my band wants to play some covers, one of those being Holy Thunderforce by Rhapsody. Fabio Lione is like the absolute man when it comes to vocals and I just can't sing his range yet and probably won't be able to for a long time. So my question is: is it all right to sing something like that down one octave?

You can sing it down an octave if you want, but its probably not going to sound that great. Transpose it down by half steps until you get to a key you like...your guitarists may not like it but if the singer is off, no one will care to listen to the band anyways 99% of the time so its worth it for them.

Hey, I have questions about the voice regarding range. I don't know whether I am a tenor or a baritone. The lowest note I can sing in chest voice is an F#2 and the highest note I can sing in head voice is a C#6. I break between chest and head at around G4. Are there any tenors or baritones around that can tell me their lowest notes and where their passaggio occurs? Also I've read that the size of the adam's apple determines the comfortable pitch of the voice. This rings true with many examples, but I have friends that contradict this theory. What are your takes on it?

The adams apple itself is just the carilage around the vocal cords; its the vocal cords that control the pitch. Just because you have a naturally deep voice (thick cords) doesnt mean you cant hit extremely high notes. C#6 is soprano high C though, so im guessing you mean c#5 which would be tenor high c. f#2 is 2 octaves lower than middle c which would be c#4. both are obviously possible, but most males if they can hit a soprano c are entering whistle register, which tells me your numbering may be off.

either way, the g4 break is fairly common; pretty much all males transistion from chest to head anywhere from an F4-G4 depending on the volume of the note and the vowel your on. i havent checked my range forever and im not really warmed up enough to test it so i cant give you that, but i do know i start to transisition around F#4 when im at speaking volume, and around an A4 when im pretty loud.

[QUOTE=Anubis;15787085]Hey, I have questions about the voice regarding range. I don't know whether I am a tenor or a baritone. The lowest note I can sing in chest voice is an F#2 and the highest note I can sing in head voice is a C#6. I break between chest and head at around G4. Are there any tenors or baritones around that can tell me their lowest notes and where their passaggio occurs? Also I've read that the size of the adam's apple determines the comfortable pitch of the voice. This rings true with many examples, but I have friends that contradict this theory. What are your takes on it?[/QUOTE]

Adams apple does nothing pitch wise. I'm a tenor and my lowest note comfortably is 2nd fret A string or open A. My highest note comfortably is 5th fret to 7th fret high e string. I can get to the 12th fret high e string but anything after the 7th fret is not anything i'd use in a song, at least not yet. Depending on the part determines where I go into head voice or push up chest voice.

[QUOTE=RNR;15786306]So I've been singing for a while and people say that I have an all right tone, good power, and fair vibrato, but I haven't really freed my range up yet and I still can't really sing in higher octaves. But... my band wants to play some covers, one of those being Holy Thunderforce by Rhapsody. Fabio Lione is like the absolute man when it comes to vocals and I just can't sing his range yet and probably won't be able to for a long time. So my question is: is it all right to sing something like that down one octave?[/QUOTE]

Tell your music peeps to play it a whole step down, or tune another guitar a whole step down so you can switch within a few seconds for live purposes. Or designate that part to be where you introduce everyone/tell about website/tell about cd's, leaving everyone time to tune, then to tune up, give your drummer a solo or something.

[QUOTE=Screamin_Demon_Auz;15787270]The adams apple itself is just the carilage around the vocal cords; its the vocal cords that control the pitch. Just because you have a naturally deep voice (thick cords) doesnt mean you cant hit extremely high notes. C#6 is soprano high C though, so im guessing you mean c#5 which would be tenor high c. f#2 is 2 octaves lower than middle c which would be c#4. both are obviously possible, but most males if they can hit a soprano c are entering whistle register, which tells me your numbering may be off.
[/QUOTE]

Well I can hit a soprano high C, but its almost the limit of my head voice. I know that its not whistle because there's a lot of strain. There's a video on youtube of a man hitting Eb above soprano C in head voice. And I can also get the F#2, but only before I've warmed up and not after. I consider myself a tenor - is that right?

With regards to the adam's apple - the cartilage is always there isn't it? The adams apple becomes visible when the voice breaks which suggests a growth of the actual vocal chords. They grow to different sizes depending on the production of testosterone. This was what has led me to assume that the size of the adam's apple and the pitch of the voice are linked. If you look at a high voiced male you will usually notice that their adam's apple is almost invisible (anthony green, elijah wood, various television actors)

[QUOTE=kidthatplaysguitar91;15789097]Adams apple does nothing pitch wise. I'm a tenor and my lowest note comfortably is 2nd fret A string or open A. My highest note comfortably is 5th fret to 7th fret high e string. I can get to the 12th fret high e string but anything after the 7th fret is not anything i'd use in a song, at least not yet. Depending on the part determines where I go into head voice or push up chest voice.[/QUOTE]

You have a similar comfortable low note to me. I'm guessing when you say your 'highest comfortable note is around A4 - B4' you're excluding head voice?

Another thing that I'm unsure about is the mixed voice. Is it meant to be loud? because when I want to hit, for example a tenor high C (C5), I have to do it ridiculously loud. Maybe I'm just belting in chest (I need a lot of support) but I don't feel any strain on my voice at all and surely hitting such a note in pure chest would strain the voice. Can anyone explain the mixed voice sensation to me?

[QUOTE=Anubis;15789806]Well I can hit a soprano high C, but its almost the limit of my head voice. I know that its not whistle because there's a lot of strain. There's a video on youtube of a man hitting Eb above soprano C in head voice. And I can also get the F#2, but only before I've warmed up and not after. I consider myself a tenor - is that right?

With regards to the adam's apple - the cartilage is always there isn't it? The adams apple becomes visible when the voice breaks which suggests a growth of the actual vocal chords. They grow to different sizes depending on the production of testosterone. This was what has led me to assume that the size of the adam's apple and the pitch of the voice are linked. If you look at a high voiced male you will usually notice that their adam's apple is almost invisible (anthony green, elijah wood, various television actors)[/QUOTE]


Its really just the tonality/timbre of your voice that tells if your a tenor. The fact that you can sing that low in the classical world probably would take you out of running for being a tenor, but it really doesnt matter in anything but classical music.

The size of the adams apple is usually indicative of how deep someons voice is going to be, but not always.Ive seen people with huge adams apples that have Michal Jackson like voices. Yes, the adams apple itself grows but it does in everyone, and its just the size of the cords themselves that cause the lowering as you get older.

Its cool that you can hit a soprano C, but if there is a lot of tension you might want to not be doing it so much until you can train properly to get it. You might want to check into getting Jaime Vendera's Raise Your Voice 2; the technique in there would be perfect because if you can hit a Soprano C now and above,you can probably go much higher and it will become more comfortable too.

yeah man, I was planning on getting it for christmas, but I didnt in the end. I will try sometime this year. Before I started singing my speaking voice would be around the A2 pitch, but since I've been singing (for about a year and a half now) I speak around the E3. its like my voice is reverse breaking lol so I feel comfortable as a tenor atm.

Anyway, thanks for the info dude, it's certainly cleared a bunch of things up and been of use to me.

Anyone with info about the mixed voice?

Mixed voice is just the transisition between registers; I spent about a year studying it hard with programs by Brett Manning, Seth Riggs, and Roger Love, but in the end its pretty useless haha The programs are all good but middle voice is really just a waste of time because its basically just a tonality. When you get Jaime's book, he does everything on a scale from 1 to 10 register wise, which will make more sense probably. But as far as middle or mix being a usable register, its really just the transistion notes, for you from probably from F#4 OR G4 to whenever your in a solid head voice.

haha thanks man once again. I look forward to checking Vendera out then.

Could anybody help me on getting my midrange skramz to sound less like Matt Heafy and more like this style:
[url]http://myspace.com/architectsuk[/url]

Me vocals:
[url]http://myspace.com/ofthedyingbreed[/url]

I may not be helping with your vocals... but i will say the only screams i enjoy in your music are the mid ranges... you should trying getting the higher screams to sound more like the architects.

No way dude, my highs sound EXACTLY how I've been trying to get them to sound for years, I'm just unhappy with the Trivium sounding stuff. :/

Well.. im a singing novice.. haha so there is no need for you to take any of my advice haha.. May i ask though.. how do you START screaming... Like ive read everything on how to scream.. ive watched the zen of screaming.. but for whatever reason my screaming sounds dead.. Ive im not pressing out air, It sounds like im trying to hard.. but if i do press out air.. my notes are all flat sounding no matter what i do.. Im not trying to scream through entire lines.. just behind the lines.. and maybe to wrap up a verse.. *see All That Remains- The Air That I Breathe CHORUS
If someone could just give pointers on How to start.. itd be much appreciated.

Just try imitating your favorite vocalists, when you can get something somewhat there, just keep practicing and you'll eventually get your own sort of thing down.

Ive heard imitating is very bad when finding voice tho.. no?

Your just holding back too much; everyones like that at first. Take a breath in so that your stomach expands out and your lower rib cage expands, then scream. You can start out like I say to in my article on page 60 or you can do the vocal fry humming thing Melissa does in Zen of Screaming 2 to get started. Make sure your going after a note you can sing comfortably without any tension though before you try to scream it.

alright ill give that a whirl soon.. thanks for the advice.. but can i ask how loud an unmic'd scream is supposed to be?

Doesn't really matter. Melissa makes it at speech level and relys on mic techniques to increase the volume. I usually teach people either to do that or to do it at about a 7 or 8 on a 1-10 scale if your regular singing is at a 5 if that makes any sense. Any louder and your going to start limiting your screaming range quite a bit.

Hey guys, I was wondering on ways I can improve my vocals based from this example: [url]http://labeledloser.googlepages.com/Mookies.mp3[/url]

It's a small part from the song "Mookies Last Christmas" by Saosin (tenor vocals, high tenor original vocals) I was wondering if my vocal range was cut out to sing this song, but I hear that baritones/baritenors can hit some tenor notes so I'm wondering whether I'm a tenor or not. This sample is just me waking up, with the taste of coffee in the back of my throat. No warm-ups or anything.

Hey, i'm new and haven't had the chance to read the whole thread (though I plan on doing my best to do this soon), so i don't know if this has been discussed, but generally i'm into more metal screaming (Lamb of God, Mudvayne, etc), but recently i've been checking out The Used and their vocalist has an incredible scream, its ridiculously raw and intense. I'm sure there's no healthy way to do this type of scream, but i don't even know where to begin. Does anyone have any tips at all on how to try and get this kind of scream down. Thanks a lot

[QUOTE=aworldofviolets;15827219]Hey, i'm new and haven't had the chance to read the whole thread (though I plan on doing my best to do this soon), so i don't know if this has been discussed, but generally i'm into more metal screaming (Lamb of God, Mudvayne, etc), but recently i've been checking out The Used and their vocalist has an incredible scream, its ridiculously raw and intense. I'm sure there's no healthy way to do this type of scream, but i don't even know where to begin. Does anyone have any tips at all on how to try and get this kind of scream down. Thanks a lot[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure how to do it, but I can say i'm sure he's doing it in a healthy way, he may have recently developed a node and had to have surgery to have it taken out, but he did it for like....6 years? without developing one. So his node was probally because of excessive touring/smoking, because he's a huge drug addict.

And yeah his screams are sick ;)

[QUOTE=Anubis;15789823]You have a similar comfortable low note to me. I'm guessing when you say your 'highest comfortable note is around A4 - B4' you're excluding head voice?

Another thing that I'm unsure about is the mixed voice. Is it meant to be loud? because when I want to hit, for example a tenor high C (C5), I have to do it ridiculously loud. Maybe I'm just belting in chest (I need a lot of support) but I don't feel any strain on my voice at all and surely hitting such a note in pure chest would strain the voice. Can anyone explain the mixed voice sensation to me?[/QUOTE]

I can get up to D above high C in head voice comfortably. The A under high C is in chest or head, depends on the situation.
You can push up chest to hit high C and be really loud, it wont generally sound good though.

I just found out my that my range is about E2-A4, I'm not sure if that is all chest or not but whatever :) I guess that would make me a baritone, correct? Now I can stop worrying about range and start working on the quality of my voice, like, tone, resonance, adding raspinnes, and what not.

[QUOTE=Ceresz;15828715]I just found out my that my range is about E2-A4, I'm not sure if that is all chest or not but whatever :) I guess that would make me a baritone, correct? Now I can stop worrying about range and start working on the quality of my voice, like, tone, resonance, adding raspinnes, and what not.[/QUOTE]

Correct I think.

As you work on tone, you'll still have to work on range, sometimtes getting good tone, sacrifices range for a while, then when you get it back, its easier, sounds better, and you can get even higher. Oh, and basically just singing makes your tone better if your recording and listening. That way you can get your own "style". Raspiness you'll find your own way of doing and your own sound for it. Read for tips on how to do it, basically most tips you get just encourage you to try something, and you end up doing something else and getting it your way.

Thanks :) Any tips on working on tone? I need to work on pitch aswell. Maybe I should just start doing different scales?

[QUOTE=Ceresz;15833302]Thanks :) Any tips on working on tone? I need to work on pitch aswell. Maybe I should just start doing different scales?[/QUOTE]


Make sure your breathing is set up good. That you are shaping your vowels right, that your keeping your soft palette up and your mouth open as much as possible while keeping the vowel right.

Download/buy some singing courses in tone. Tone lessons have to be from a teacher thats with you, or if you can get a dvd on it, it will help. Or search google.

Thanks, I will try that.

Hello guys... Been a long while since I last visited these boards.. :) Anyway, I have problems singing, especially higher notes (which aren't that high actually, which makes it all the more annoying).

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICjChITcCeg[/url]

I would be really thankful if someone could help me... Around 1:10 I think I start going a bit higher...

I'm unsure if it's even possible for me to learn how to sing high alas it's my dream, to be able to extend my vocal range upwards...

Any help is appreciated :)

Cheers.

Question:
What is Dave Grohl doing for rasp/screams? It seems like he's doing the whole false chord thing. Is he?

singing lesssons
 

you should try the singing success course by Brett Manning, worked wonders for me. it imporved my range, vibrato, tone and lots of other things, plus its cheaper than getting lessons.
heres the link if your interested [url]http://pro-singing-lessons.moonfruit.com[/url]

i was reading through the threads on screaming, and some people mentioned several times that there is only one way to scream. I'm finding this very difficult to believe based on all the different sounds i hear coming out of my favorite vocalists mouths. Its hard for me to believe the guy from the used and they guy from cradle of filth are doing the same exact thing. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

sry double post

Theres many different ways to scream. Some techniques utilize the false folds (mainly death metal type stuff), some use the soft palate/uvula, and some are just people overloading the vocal cords with too much breath pressure for a rasp, which isn't really a good thing. Theres also inhale screaming which is best to avoid, but can be used from time to time.

^why should inhale screaming be avoided

and also, i'm having trouble analyzing whether i'm screaming the right way or not, i've been screaming for a few years now and i've always had problems maintaining my clean singing (especially falsetto), over the last few months or so i've been trying everything i can to scream "properly," and i'm next to convinced that i'm screaming properly, except for the fact that i'm losing some of voice when i'm scream. Can you give me any advice as to how to tell if i'm screaming right or not? besides "if it hurts you're not doing it right"

Well, with inhaling your sending incredible amounts of air pressure down your throat. Its drying out your throat and cords, and causing your cords to react unaturally (kind of a suction type thing, and if you do it too hard and too often you can actually rupture a cord which I think some pretty famous singers have done in the past).

If your losing your voice, your not screaming "right". Now, how much you lose is an issue. When i'm training people who want to be mainly singers who use screaming on occassion, i'm really strict that they do everything with the best form possible. People who scream 50% or more of the song are going to have at least some wear and tear with their voice, even if they are screaming using a safe method. Screaming is all about extra air pressure. Its what you do with that air pressure that determines how much wear and tear you'll get. If you direct it to the soft palate, it wont effect your voice much at all, but if you produce the sound in your throat by overloading your cords, your going to start to sound a little hoarse, lose some range, then eventually the pain comes.

The fact that your losing your falsetto says that your cords are swollen, which tells that your pushing too much air incorrectly through your vocal cords. From now on, direct all your extra air to your soft palate and get it to vibrate. Your not doing this now or you wouldn't be having the swelling issues. Basically, your going to start by vibrating your uvula (the thing that hangs in the back of your throat) to get a sound that sounds like a pigeon. Do this on "OO". When you can do this, your sending your air to the soft palate. Then its just a matter of manipulation...you can kind of squeeze or raise your soft palate for different sounds. Its not something that I can tell you exactly how to do, its something you've got to figure out on your own.

After your done singing though, always warm down on slides. Do them on the "EE" vowel, starting in falsetto.

When you're practicing, and you've done something wrong, and is now feeling discomfort in the throat, what then?
Just warm down and call it a day? Or is it okay to start up again after the discomfort goes away?