oops, shadow ON the sun. i was in a rush. hehe

Im a newbie to this site, but ive been working on my vocals for about two years. I have recorded my self quite a bit and it seems i stay in key well, but my voice has more of a nasaly sound, like im singing with my nose pinched shut. This doesnt really work with singing in a metal band. Any tips to improve on this would be appreciated. THanks in advance.

yep. youre probably closing your throat some. which makes the feeling of the sound end up higher in your throat because the lower part of your throat is blocked off. tension and the idea of moving the throat to move the notes is what causes this. so when you make a note you try to gain the resonance of the sound by forcing it into the nasal cavity because the sound feels so high in your throat. And singing is way more about feel than what you hear. Go to my hotline sticky, here in the jams forum. read at least my first post in the screams section. i have a reply in there about isolation exercises, which should help you some. and try to imagine shooting your sound out of your chin...for now. and relax, and of course make sure youre pushing from the gut and not the throat.

Hi guys. I'm new to this but I have this book called Vocal Release that has really helped my singing. It's a little pricey but it's an investment and it's cheaper than lessons. The website is [U]vocalrelease.com[/U] incase you wanna check it out.
Hope it helps. See ya.

hey hey, against the rules there lil honey.

Im guessin'

lol i checked that out, i downlaoded the .pdf version, but i don't have the cd. i bet it would be great if i had the cd. :)

yea i checked it out, but we'll see if lil sarahs post count ever goes up! haha. if not then we know who she works for!

but it sounds a bit interesting. seems to hit on a few keys i like to stress, like positioning of the larynx. which i would love to see how this guy conveys it, and that zip up thing gives a little bit of mystery and makes ya wann know whats going on. so you downloaded a copy? hmmmm? tell us, or share with us.

yea i have the book and the cd. so far it has really helped me. sorry if i broke the rules or anything.

[QUOTE=Ninjerk]Are the songs you sound nasally on generally high in pitch? Are you trying to hard to smile? Girls in my chorus class years ago used to smile so much they let their mouth close. Also, someone said earlier not to use your nose to breathe when you're singing. It's quite important to only breathe through your mouth.[/QUOTE]


I breathe through my mouth, i dont smile, i open my mouth...but not to much...............maybe im just broken :upset:

Merkaba-1, here is a part about cord adducting:
[QUOTE]Yes it is very important to have proper breathing, but it is not an end all. Breathing is only for support. If you can’t adduct your cords, control the position of your larynx and your resonance, breathing will not help you sound much better.
Cord adducting exercises
The biggest problem most beginning singers have,( that is people that have never sang before), with communicating with their coaches is when the coach tells them to go higher in pitch. Because unless the singer naturally sings correctly when told to do this, the first time the response
will be to take their chest voice as far as it will go, force out more air and push it further. Very bad for the voice. Unfortunately many coaches have no idea how to teach someone how to adduct, zip up, shorten or as it is otherwise known compress their vocal cords. The coaches hope
is that with enough scale work the student will do it naturally without thinking about it and without knowing what it is they have done. And of course have to come back for more vocal lessons to keep it going. If you are stuck in your chest voice and or cannot sing higher notes without strain, this is most likely the reason. You have simply not learned to adduct your vocal cords.

Let me give a simple to understand explanation of what happens as your cord are adducting. Your vocal cords lay horizontal in your larynx. As air passes up through them the vocal cords resist against the air and vibrate. When you are at a low pitch for your range the cords are almost all the way apart from one another. As you rise in pitch what should happen is that they begin to
zip up and close off. As you go higher less vocal cord is actually used. Think of your cords as a string instrument in this sense. Pluck a string without fretting and you get a lower sound than you would if you hit the same string while fretting in the middle of the neck. Shorten the length of the
string and the pitch goes up, the same applies for vocal cords. Shorten the vocal cords and the pitch goes up, all without straining. Also keep in mind that as you go up in pitch, adducting, less air is needed to maintain pitch, as there is less cord to resist against the air. I can’t stress this enough. If you want to have a great voice that functions without strain, is very resonant and smooth out the breaks or bridges in your voice, you need to learn how to properly adduct your cords. Here a few exercises that have worked time and again on my students to teach them just that.

Stuttering D’s: This exercise will be performed on both scale one and scale two. Say the D sound a few times. Pay close attention to the slight feeling in your larynx as you do. That feeling is your cords briefly coming together or adducting. This exercise is a warmup for the other adducting exercises. Done well there will be a massage like feeling in your larynx. This is your cords opening and closing. You may also feel resonance in your upper head cavities. First place your tongue on the roof of your mouth and stutter a long string of D’s on scale one or two. Have you ever heard young boys pretending they have machine guns? It sounds just like that. Make sure you make the D full and solid. Hold on very hard to the D sound. Do not go airy with
it and add the low larynx sound to it as you progress through the scale. If you have a problem with this, start off buy saying the D sound a few times to warm up then go into the stutter. This may seem a bit silly, and you may be thinking, “ fine it adducts my cords but how’s that going to
help me with actually singing adducted.� Well, like I said, it’s just a warmup for the next exercises and will make your vocal cords more likely to adduct when you want them to. It will also help you to use the proper amount of pressure against your cords before using the open mouth exercises.

The grunt: Yes that’s right the grunt. Grunt a few times like your pushing something heavy. Uhh, Uhh, Uhh. . Now if you’ve sang before but don’t know how to adduct, use this exercise. Take in a breath, grunt, and break into a note, and keep some of the effect of the grunt. Uhh, Uhhh, Ahhhhhhhhhh. You’ll notice the effect better if you try for something in your higher
range. You should notice right away that this makes it very easy to hit a high note. The grunt compresses your cords. As you do it, it zips them up. Don’t over do it. You can quickly wear out your voice this way. The trick is to use the grunt to get used to adducting then back it off, but keep the compression of the cords that resulted from it. The grunt is great to develop a mental to
physical tool, that gives you control over shortening your cords. If you never sang before and someone told you to shorten your cords you would probably be very confused. That is the main stumbling block in learning to sing. You can’t see what you are doing, like someone learning to play guitar. You have to go solely on how it feels and sounds [/QUOTE]

He refers to scales on the CD in this section, which i don't have, but i am guessing its just the major scale or variations of it.

kick ***! thanks alot man!

I have a lame deeper voice is there anyway I can like make it sound smoother if that makes any sense, also I sound better when I sing in an english accent anyone know y that mite be>?

no, but whats wrong with a deep voice?

Nothing I find mine extremely cracky though, if that makes any sense.

i know what you mean, mine does that sometimes when i sing lower/middle-low notes.

hey merkaba can u give me some more tips ....i just recorded something else. [url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/3/gnikregrubmusic.htm[/url]
haha i know it sounds pop punky but i cant change my voice. :angry: sorry people.
thanks in advance


btw the only reason i recorded a little bit is cause im a lazy lazy man an i cant be bothered to upload the full songs. an i go outta key once or twice.....maybe three time.........ok six :p nah jks

EDIT: ahhhhhhh i just listened to it......when i say "feel his sweater" i sound like a retard hahah.............leave that bit out haha

I can sing really good but i cant seem to scream some one help me

man ur the opposite than me...........wana trade

You can't just trade geeze!

oh.........i thought they were like pokamon cards :p

[QUOTE=Winter-seed...AKA b&h]hey merkaba can u give me some more tips ....i just recorded something else. [url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/3/gnikregrubmusic.htm[/url]
haha i know it sounds pop punky but i cant change my voice. :angry: sorry people.
thanks in advance


btw the only reason i recorded a little bit is cause im a lazy lazy man an i cant be bothered to upload the full songs. an i go outta key once or twice.....maybe three time.........ok six :p nah jks

EDIT: ahhhhhhh i just listened to it......when i say "feel his sweater" i sound like a retard hahah.............leave that bit out haha[/QUOTE]

ahh, dude youre tense. i know you think you have to have that feeling because of the style youre singing. i can hear it. it almost makes my throat feel tired just listening! Youre closing it up, and pushing probably bout at least 25% harder than you need to. and i can just hear your larynx squeezing as you move around for those notes. and as you do all of this, your air is obstructed, thats why you feel more like youre straining, and this is why youre running out of air. its one of the common things, and i've talked about it before. improper technique starts you down the road quickly. 1. you block the air by closing the larynx, because your body still says to move the cords you have to move the throat. 2. this leads to less tone, control, activation because the air is hindered. 3. this leads to you thinking you have to work harder to get the desired tone,volume, etc. 4. you push harder, but youre already back to number 1. and the cycle continues until fatigue sets in quickly. i can hear your fatigue in just that short piece! and i hear you take the breath but there is no lock from the gut that holds that pressure. once you learn it it will make the difference in your vocals and you will see.
try singing that piece with just one vowel, then another and do them all. do the whole verse in ay. then I, O, uu(as in UH, not Yew), ah,and e. and do it like a robot. open your mouth enough to get sound but dont move your lips, your eyes, your jaw or anything. dont move your arms. nothing. this kinda stuff helps you realize on your own what you need to work on. you'll feel the need for breath because youre not bringing it from the gut, and it will also help to work on isolating your cords from your larynx. we need to get the new lady to listen. she's a professional singer for like 20 years. her link is [url]http://www.geocities.com/kristinasvocalstudio[/url] . shes posted a few times in other threads. i'll try to get her over here eventually if i can to see if she can help with breath, if she doesnt find this by herself. i just dont have the communication it takes yet to describe the proper ways, and since i've never had it explained to me i dont know any catchy methods or anything to allow you to feel it. other than clearing your throat. or coughing. if you feel the way your stomach area does then this is what you need to do..its just that you have to be able to hold it, not a big shock like a cough or a grunt, but its the same pressure. so you can practice by taking a breath, sing ahhh, get ready to cough but dont cough, and just hold that pressure. now this will make you lightheaded quickly cause there is no release. so practice this and starting the ahh back up. you might get the feel for the area you need to be working from at least, then over time work with your own limits and what not. but this is the only thing i know that gives you the proper feel of coming from the gut. the thing is you can do this and still tense your throat so it can still sound throaty if you cant isolate and relax the larynx. so practice trying to get the gut involved more. we'll try to keep working. its 430 am right now and i've been working twelve hour days so i havent had much time on here. I bet she'll say the same general thing.

man ........u like helping people dont ya haha.....so much writing.Thanks for that man. :thumb:
I can tell what u mean that it sounds like im pushing to much but when i sing it doesnt really feel like that.Sometimes on high notes i push hard because i cant hold them well for some reason they sound all jumpy?? :p an stuff so pushing harder is the only way i have found that gets rid of that,is there any exercises i can do to help that or just go through scales?.Thanks again for all that

i found this commercial site that has some online demos of warm ups, exercises, ect. check it out.
[url]http://www.singingvoicelessons.com/courses.html[/url]

Hey guys...

I'm not really a singer (actually, I'm not a singer...) but lately I've been playing guitar, singing and recording a few songs.

Not really anything, and I know it's not really good, but I'd like someone else's views, some pointers, ya' know?

Well - is this the right thread for it?

And ya'll won't flame me when ya' hear it, right? :(

[QUOTE=Winter-seed...AKA b&h]hey merkaba can u give me some more tips ....i just recorded something else. [url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/3/gnikregrubmusic.htm[/url]
haha i know it sounds pop punky but i cant change my voice. :angry: sorry people.
thanks in advance


btw the only reason i recorded a little bit is cause im a lazy lazy man an i cant be bothered to upload the full songs. an i go outta key once or twice.....maybe three time.........ok six :p nah jks

EDIT: ahhhhhhh i just listened to it......when i say "feel his sweater" i sound like a retard hahah.............leave that bit out haha[/QUOTE]

I like your voice, it reminds me of Dashboard's singer

please post. :)
we are all rationally reasonable.

[QUOTE=Winter-seed...AKA b&h]man ........u like helping people dont ya haha.....so much writing.Thanks for that man. :thumb:
I can tell what u mean that it sounds like im pushing to much but when i sing it doesnt really feel like that.Sometimes on high notes i push hard because i cant hold them well for some reason they sound all jumpy?? :p an stuff so pushing harder is the only way i have found that gets rid of that,is there any exercises i can do to help that or just go through scales?.Thanks again for all that[/QUOTE]

yea, go up to the post by Jos1ah about studdering D's. it helps to get a feel for coming from the diaphragm. i gurantee the reason why you cant hold the high notes well is because youre moving your throat. its just like that post by jos1ah says, the higher notes are thinner cords, so you really dont have to push as hard! but what im 99% sure youre doing is feeling the tension of trying to go up, youre doing the classic. I used to do it. youre trying to squeeze the cords but youre squeezing the throat as well. once you can break away from this habit its like being born again. thats why you "think" you have to push harder when you go for higher notes. its really just the opposite. but its kinda programmed into your thinking: up means tighter means harder. its just not so. if youre not coming from your diaphram though, youre still in trouble. because if you try to push less, youre still constricting your throat, which means even less air to activate your cords.

Just keep practicing and trying the isolation exercises. and try to find that gut. hitting the notes should come from your gut. i know we hear it alot and its almost cliche, but it is the key to singin. there is really very little mouth movement to singing, other than the expressions youre trying to get across. moving the mouth is for consanents only! think that. dont even think about your mouth anymore when you sing right now. remember there are only six things you can sing, or a mix of them. ay, ee, I, oh, u, and ahh. the cord muscles do this by shaping the cords. Thats it! get them down without moving the mouth much, then add the mouth and teeth, tongue, etc. to get the consanants later. thats why i always say sing a song with just vowels without moving anything. get singing vowels down, with intensity, and you've got it licked.

thanks dude.The only thing i dont get is what u mean by try singing the song with just "ee" ."ahh" etc.haha sorry for disturbing u so much....i feel like a jerk :p .

instead of words, sing it with one vowel. or sing a couple of parts with one, then the next verse with another, then the chorus with another. ee eeee ee e e ee eeeeeeeee e e eee e eee. ahh ah ah aaaaahhhhhh, ah ah ah ahhhh.

does anyone listen to a perfect circle/tool? I'm trying to get good at singing and thats what i'm trying to sing, i think i'm getting a little better... slowly.. =\
If i'm singing with a song (like 3 libra's, orestes or a stranger by a perfect circle) i'm not too bad, but then when i try and do it alone it sounds horrible, any tips?

two of of my top favorites. Tool changed my life. APC is the yin to its yang.
Anything by Chris Cornell is heaven, mudvayne, deftones. that pretty much rounds out my list. lots of lesser knowns. plus im just a fan of singing and music in general.

i remember struggling to do orestes's notes. now its almost a warm up. until the last verse's higher "cut aways"
Orestes, Brena. so beautiful. definitely songs that make me say, why couldnt i have made them!

i just posted two minutes ago about APC having good stuff to work on, its in a lower key which can help you work with some higher pitched melodies. i would say warm up adequately and make sure youre coming from your gut. read around this site for tips and go to the voice help hotline sticky, and the 101 sticky. you can find all you need to work on. then its just a matter of practice. I practice every day. its like breathing to me. and an hour is my minimum feel good level. my perfect day is about an hour worth of what i consider warming up. I have destroyed many an ozone layer riding around in my suv singin. i bet i have put 8000 to 10000 unnecessary miles on my car just because of singing. no joke. i've had it since last january and i have 35000 or so on it. just be sure to warm up and stay hydrated. read around this site, go to the stickies and just keep practicing. it will take time but you can grow alot. maynard has good technique and get good resonance because of it. especially in like those moody eerie sounds of apc. you have to come from the gut and have an open relaxed throat. its the only way. stick around, i was just thinking yesterday about posting some acapella apc. that oughtta call the dogs. hehe

How old are you, and how long have you been singing?

:thumb:
i'm 14 and i only strated trying to sing in like the last month. I only get a chance to sing when no ones home though, so thats like maybe a hour every few days.

i get that.......ill get straight onto it.

chris cornell rules, i know im a baritone and ive listend to him and hes pretty high, if i wanted to increase my upper range, what should i do?

[QUOTE=loki_cmr]chris cornell rules, i know im a baritone and ive listend to him and hes pretty high, if i wanted to increase my upper range, what should i do?[/QUOTE]

isolation exercises.

you HAVE to be able to work with the cords alone. going up in pitch, your cords are pulling tighter and thinner. like guitar strings. if youre over pushing or blocking air youre gonna be all screwed up when it comes to actually activating the cords. And this is why i talk about stuff like diet, hydraton and etc. if youre trying to build range, youre basically trying to develop more muscle, more flexibility, etc. just like if youre were lifting weights. its just a really smaller scale. check out the hotline post and the isolation exercises. but remember, everybody is different and some things we just cant get to. but also remember, only you know where that limit is/will be. building range is hard to do, but finding out that you have more than what you previously thought is easier to do. Cornell does alot of falsetto with rasp. so learning to get good falsetto is key. work with glisses, and remember that the higher you go the less push you need, so dont blow out or fatigue your thin cords. i cover this in the sticky thread.

i strike again :upset: .
haha nah, ever sice iv started reading all this stuff an been learning to push from my gut an open my throat(which all feels strage wen i do)i keep getting aloth of mucous(or somthing) an its breaking up the high notes im singing an stuff.
What am i doing wrong?
Is my theory of me being broken true?
I have a nasal problem(always blocky an stuff), would that have somthing to do with it?

Thanks in advance :thumb:

edit: ahhh dont worry. The problem is that i get lactose intolerant an i was eating cheese cake :lol: .Thats what caused the mucousy stuff and i just found out i have a nasal drip :mad: so thats part of the problem aswell

??
 

Hi

I'm new...just looking...But I have a few questions that I will hopefully find answers to??? :confused:

I'm just your regular run of the mill coffee house singer, but I've been looking to improve my voice..I can sing on key (most of the time..lol), and it sounds alright--but there's always room for improvement.

I'm just wondering if there's anything I can do to
(1) get a clearer sound--Right now I think it's a bit "airy" (if that's understandable, I'm not sure how to explain better...)
(2) develop a unique style that's more MINE then everyone elses..lol

So, if anyone understands my rambling and has any advice, feel free to inform me :)

Thanks all

[QUOTE=dans107]Hey guys...

I'm not really a singer (actually, I'm not a singer...) but lately I've been playing guitar, singing and recording a few songs.

Not really anything, and I know it's not really good, but I'd like someone else's views, some pointers, ya' know?

Well - is this the right thread for it?

And ya'll won't flame me when ya' hear it, right? :([/QUOTE]

hey dude, check out the beggining of this thread. I posted 3 or 4 long 1 hour lessons you can go through.

[QUOTE=Winter-seed...AKA b&h]i strike again :upset: .
haha nah, ever sice iv started reading all this stuff an been learning to push from my gut an open my throat(which all feels strage wen i do)i keep getting aloth of mucous(or somthing) an its breaking up the high notes im singing an stuff.
What am i doing wrong?
Is my theory of me being broken true?
I have a nasal problem(always blocky an stuff), would that have somthing to do with it?

Thanks in advance :thumb:

edit: ahhh dont worry. The problem is that i get lactose intolerant an i was eating cheese cake :lol: .Thats what caused the mucousy stuff and i just found out i have a nasal drip :mad: so thats part of the problem aswell[/QUOTE]

you better believe dairy isnt good for you. i love cheese though. but it does make you mucous up. and if you have a nasal problem it will of course affect you, just be sure to warm up good, stay hydrated, and watch what you eat. it will contribute. and just because youre coming from the gut doesnt mean you have to sing everything hard. sometimes depending on the note, you might not even have to feel much of a push actually, when you do come from the gut. so keep practicing

I don't know if this problem has been asked yet but I really don't have the time to go through this whole thread so...what can I do as a singer with no confidence? I have a good voice and its a hell of a lot better than anybody else in my band but when it comes to singing I just can't do it. I just don't try and it sounds sucky. Any suggestions?