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ee and uu vowels

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Nano

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For ee modifying towards ay (like hey) or er (like her) on gets more beef without a lot of effort.

 

I like to kind of use an  'uh' onder the E, personally for my style and sometimes short i like in. It's not as belting loud, but has a really smooth, sultry kind of tone and fits my identity better, where a screaming belt isn't employed very commonly.  

 

For uu, I'm American, not classically trained. Is it  'ooh' or uh? Ooh, you can literally just close your lips and use almost any other vowel as a quick fix. :D  But I like to make ooh special too with throat vowel position too.

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If you are talking about EE as in "see" and OO as in "loose", they are the most limited vowels in terms of volume.

I agree that Eh (hey) is a possible alternative for the EE, but the vowel i as in "sit" is closer and can be quite loud too.

 

As for the OO as in "loose", you can go for Oh as in "low" or "yo", but if you want a less radical alternative, you can also go for a rounded front vowel: Start with the vowel e as in "her", then try to make that slightly more narrow at the lips and position the tongue slightly more forward as with the vowel i as in "sit", but maintain a good amount of twang.

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I was feeling very loud and annoying my neighbors today. I was playing around E by first doing it what feels pure (which is lower volume and wants to bridge earlier for me), and then modifying different directions:

 

Pure E, A (ay)  Er (er), uh, ih.

 

I did some random Man in the Box. One was 'uh' and the other was er. 

 

https://soundcloud.com/killerku/e-mod-example

 

If you want to work on E, Man in the Box is a really good song.

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You need to shift resonance to the head properly EE and OO won't resonate very well in the mouth up high. That doesn't mean sing lighter like "head voice" or falsetto, you just need to access more head resonance in your full voice. This has a very specific sound and feeling of ease that is hard to learn without studying with a teacher. 

It is too simple to just say "modify to this vowel" for these vowels because in order to properly relieve tension and release into the head they need very specific vowel shadings that are not found in the english language. The closest equivalents are modifying EE to IH as in "sit" and OO to "OUH" as in "book" but those are still not close enough - you need to use specific shadings of those vowels that are deep in their color and feel vertically tall and horizontally narrow in the throat. Best way to learn this is find singers with deep and ringy EE and OO sounds and imitate them. Whenever the vowels sound that way in the high range but they don't sound like a different vowel, that is what they sound like modified correctly.

Also you need to train these closed vowels just as much as the open vowels or else the voice gets thrown off balance and either the open vowels or the closed vowels get problems.

It is NOT about modifying them to shouty vowels like EH or OH, this is a simple shortcut that works occasionally for stylistic effect, but it will comes with problems if you try to do it all the time because it throws off that balance like I just mentioned. If you are limited to opening these closed vowels all the way to open vowels you'll sound comical and no one will hear any of the lyrics correctly because there will be not enough variation between open and closed vowels.

It took me about a year of training regularly with a coach to balance out my vowels after having the problem of relying on open vowels only. And now they still all need work to settle in and become reliable. So there is no overnight fix to this, you just train it seriously with a teacher who can guide you through the process.

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It is NOT about modifying them to shouty vowels like EH or OH, this is a simple shortcut that works occasionally for stylistic effect, but it will comes with problems if you try to do it all the time because it throws off that balance like I just mentioned. If you are limited to opening these closed vowels all the way to open vowels you'll sound comical and no one will hear any of the lyrics correctly because there will be not enough variation between open and closed vowels.

 

That's what punk rockers do if I'm not mistaken.

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That's what punk rockers do if I'm not mistaken.

Some of them, I'm sure. Pretty sure the same is true with screamers.

But when you apply that outside of punk and other styles with that intentional shouting or screaming quality it won't sound right. Even in rock and metal music, although you will hear ee modified to EH and stuff like that a lot, it's still not done 100% of the time and knowing when and where to do it is a good stylistic intuition for rock and metal singers to develop.

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Some of them, I'm sure. Pretty sure the same is true with screamers.

But when you apply that outside of punk and other styles with that intentional shouting or screaming quality it won't sound right. Even in rock and metal music, although you will hear ee modified to EH and stuff like that a lot, it's still not done 100% of the time and knowing when and where to do it is a good stylistic intuition for rock and metal singers to develop.

And, when and where is it time to use that? Not specifically asking you, Owen. I address in general but you raised an idea by saying that rock and metal singers need to develope this intuition of when and where to use "punk" sound ideals.

 

I mean, I might only attempt it when doing a punk song. But I am not smart and certainly may not have developed this intuition.

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Joan Jett loves 'meyh' even in the lower range.

 

 

Patti Smith likes it too, "outside of societeyh, that's where I wanna 'beyh!!!!!!!!!!'

 

 

To be honest, I think singers should explore and find things that work for themselves without going hoarse. A teacher can help you find a more efficient or resonant sound, sure, which can be helpful, but ultimately it's your body.

 

My goal is to find vowels that work for me to achieve sounds I want to achieve, which may not be operatically resonant and likely will come with some kinds of limitations. One of my favorite sounds of EE is doing it like this:

 

 

 

And, when and where is it time to use that? Not specifically asking you, Owen. I address in general but you raised an idea by saying that rock and metal singers need to develope this intuition of when and where to use "punk" sound ideals.

 

I mean, I might only attempt it when doing a punk song. But I am not smart and certainly may not have developed this intuition.

 

I think it's cool if you keep exploring. If Joan Jett kicks your ass one day and you feel the compulsion to say 'meyh.' Think about this: she does indeed love Rock N Roll. You both have that in common. If a teacher helps you find a sound you identify with cool. If you find it on your own, it's cool. Doesn't change the sound or necessarily how much you identify with it.

 

Neither you or I are probably going to be dominating the billboard charts, for various reasons, but you still have room to kick ass. People have been trying to get rock n roll singers to 'clean up and go proper' since the dawn of the art form. It isn't about being proper and following rules. Never was. Many singers had 'obscene' singing styles, dancing styles, and a certain section of the population has always historically thumbed their noses at people who separate from the herd. If they had their way everyone would sing X way, be it classical snobs, metal snobs, punk snobs, whatever. Art doesn't need rules to justify its creation. If saying 'meyh' gets people's panties in a bunch, could be a good reason why to do it more. Elvis didn't stop swiveling those hips when people told him it wasn't appropriate. Might as well keep the spirit alive somehow.

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Nano, experimenting (a lot of it) to find the optimum vowel shade for your particular voice, per note, per vowel, is one of the most important tasks facing a singer.

 

You will have to experiment and understand that the shade that might open the gates for you, may not be what does it for another.

 

You have to learn to sense the lack of release that occurs when things aren't lined up, and the shade (sometimes) can be so subtle that it could take a while before you get it, then achieve a good batting average with it.

 

fun, fun, fun....

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i just cant belt this vowels without tension, advice?

    If having trouble with any particular song....Listen to  how the original performer handles it(live is best). Then listen to Youtube covers. Do not sing along until you listen. You may be surprised at what you hear. Just like Joan Jett singing Meh someone else or even Joan on different songs may be singing Mih.

   I listened to Bon Scott of AC/DC singing Highway to hell and the ONLY reason I had a clue what he was singing was from reading the words.

   There is a reason Rockers sound like they are singing with marbles in their mouths.......You cannot sing with proper diction on all occasions.

   It does get most annoying when artists take these modifications to extremes or when used lower in the range where it is not necessary

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