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A "Split" in M2 - Has anyone else experienced this problem?

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Jeremy Mohler

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There is something in my voice I have always wondered about that is sort of frustrating.  About a year back I didn't have any sensation of connected head voice.  (I.E. I could not bridge at all into a light phonation, I could only flip to a different "falsetto" register that was in no way consistent or bridgeable.) Since then I've discovered a connected sound that I can bridge on increasingly stronger levels with but one thing deeply concerns me.

 

 I see all these demonstrations (sometimes from complete beginners) of people bringing their voice through their entire bridge and into the fifth octave with head voice without having to flip at all.  When I try to do this my voice can't pass G4.  Instead, at G4 my voice flips into what I would call my "Falsetto" voice.  This is quite annoying to me because I desperately want to be able to bridge into the fifth octave with a light, but compressed sound that is capable of bridging seamlessly back into chest.  

 

So my question to you guys is, is this a normal problem that some people encounter?  Does anyone else have this problem as of now? And also, what exactly would you define the register I flip into at G4 that I call "falsetto" as? Is it something I should train or completely throw out? I am going to provide links of me utilizing both of these different voices in M2 I have to illustrate exactly what I am talking about.  

 

Bridging from M1 resonance to M2 and my voice flipping at G4 without me having a say in it:

 

http://picosong.com/2gkp/

 

My "falsetto" voice:  

 

http://picosong.com/2gYu/

 

So, the main question would be, how do I make a connected bridge on a light level without having to "split" into that flutey register?  

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Its hard to tell exactly where you are losing the connection as you are pretty quiet in the sample. It just sounds like there is not enough muscle pulling the folds closed. If you are hitting more of a vocal fry that is usually good. That means you are more so in the right muscular postion. Just need to pull the folds together.

What happens if you try this a little louder?

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Are you referring to G4 or G5?

 

If it's the former that's basically what every singer is dealing with. The "switch" from M1 > M2.

 

Nah, I meant G4.  G5 is way too high for me.  

 

 

 

Ohhhh dammmn... Jens has arrived.  I'm gonna watch this now and finish my reply.

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Alright so I understand your criticisms here Jens.  Thank you VERY much!  The thing that worries me though is I'm afraid if I practice that disconnected "falsetto" register that I will just be reinforcing my voice's tendency to want to break into that sound rather than staying connected.  As of now I can get quite a lot of power in that "falsetto" mode as I've demonstrated before by taking it well into the fifth octave with a sort of supported scream tone.  So you say I should practice this register regardless of how disconnected in sensation it is?  Thanks again, Jens.  This question is open to anyone who might have the answer, by the way.  

 

Its hard to tell exactly where you are losing the connection as you are pretty quiet in the sample. It just sounds like there is not enough muscle pulling the folds closed. If you are hitting more of a vocal fry that is usually good. That means you are more so in the right muscular postion. Just need to pull the folds together.

What happens if you try this a little louder?

 

It's not too pretty or refined yet but I'll link below what my voice sounds like bridging from M1 to M2 with a much more resonant twanged sound.  Hopefully this will give you a better picture.  With this sound, I can get some belty qualities up top but it still wants to strain and cut out for me around G4.  How does this sound to you guys?  

 

Bridging into a meatier head voice on a siren: http://picosong.com/2gKZ/

 

Single notes with more power in M2: http://picosong.com/2gKv/

 

Hopefully this will illustrate I can in fact bring this "connected head voice" up with a much louder sound than I first demonstrated.  However, it's completely new and no where near refined enough to be song worthy at this point.  

 

So I guess my main question at this point is: Why do you think my voice is capping out around G4 even though I'm definitely bridging out of chest?  And, is it okay to practice that second "falsetto" register I have even though it is the voice I yodel into when I am trying to expand my connected range and not a bridgeable sound in any way?  

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Jen awesome video....

Jeremy...Even in those samples I dont hear actual connection after d4ish. I made a quick thing on my phone for you. It was my big breakthrough many moons ago when I was stuck in your same rut. Hopefully it will help you. Hang with me on the recording, a little scatter brained, just left a job so in work mode, also stuck in traffic. The info is there though https://app.box.com/s/6j4yx63d1vlwycm82rmu4ff0k5lin4iz

Now back to jen....How do you get that sweet distortion in your head voice. I have plenty of power and resonance in pure head voice, and can carry all the way to c6. But its just so squeaky clean....I can get louder, more piercing ect, but thats it reliably. I have ways of distortion but dont like any of them, very irritating to my throat.

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Alright so I understand your criticisms here Jens.  Thank you VERY much!  The thing that worries me though is I'm afraid if I practice that disconnected "falsetto" register that I will just be reinforcing my voice's tendency to want to break into that sound rather than staying connected.  As of now I can get quite a lot of power in that "falsetto" mode as I've demonstrated before by taking it well into the fifth octave with a sort of supported scream tone.  So you say I should practice this register regardless of how disconnected in sensation it is?  Thanks again, Jens.  This question is open to anyone who might have the answer, by the way.  

 

 

It's not too pretty or refined yet but I'll link below what my voice sounds like bridging from M1 to M2 with a much more resonant twanged sound.  Hopefully this will give you a better picture.  With this sound, I can get some belty qualities up top but it still wants to strain and cut out for me around G4.  How does this sound to you guys?  

 

Bridging into a meatier head voice on a siren: http://picosong.com/2gKZ/

 

Single notes with more power in M2: http://picosong.com/2gKv/

 

Hopefully this will illustrate I can in fact bring this "connected head voice" up with a much louder sound than I first demonstrated.  However, it's completely new and no where near refined enough to be song worthy at this point.  

 

So I guess my main question at this point is: Why do you think my voice is capping out around G4 even though I'm definitely bridging out of chest?  And, is it okay to practice that second "falsetto" register I have even though it is the voice I yodel into when I am trying to expand my connected range and not a bridgeable sound in any way?  

From what I could hear, you still have not done what Jens was talking about. You did what he was doing in the first part of his vid. May I suggest you try the yawn exercise where he adds a bit more oomph to the yawn? Even if it feels "disconnected" to you? Trust yourself.

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From what I could hear, you still have not done what Jens was talking about. You did what he was doing in the first part of his vid. May I suggest you try the yawn exercise where he adds a bit more oomph to the yawn? Even if it feels "disconnected" to you? Trust yourself.

 

I can add resonance to that "disconnected" falsetto sound but it doesn't get nearly as resonant as what Jens is doing.  It just gets more breathy.. above C5 it can get a lot louder but still is impossible to bridge with and in order to access it I have to yodel/flip from my voice.  I do trust what he is saying but I just can't seem to find a way to do it like he does.  

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that is why i said try that fry exercise. Once you connect in your mix, you get that feeling, alot of understanding will come. Then your body will guide you better. The body always trys for homeostasis, it will also naturally gravity towards something more efficient if you get out of the way.

Also think back whenever you get higher. its like the notes roll up the back of your head and out. There is an opera term and I cant remember what it is. But it is roughly translated to loop or something as such. It basically means, back..up...then out. The average sensation is the voice just going back and just kinda lifting out. Though sensations are never static

Dont be afraid of compression in the mix. Pavarotti spoke about when he was developing the area we call the mix. How he thought originally his head was gonna pop off from the pressure. There is def muscular work there, however with experience comes balance.

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that is why i said try that fry exercise. Once you connect in your mix, you get that feeling, alot of understanding will come. Then your body will guide you better. The body always trys for homeostasis, it will also naturally gravity towards something more efficient if you get out of the way.

Also think back whenever you get higher. its like the notes roll up the back of your head and out. There is an opera term and I cant remember what it is. But it is roughly translated to loop or something as such. It basically means, back..up...then out. The average sensation is the voice just going back and just kinda lifting out. Though sensations are never static

Dont be afraid of compression in the mix. Pavarotti spoke about when he was developing the area we call the mix. How he thought originally his head was gonna pop off from the pressure. There is def muscular work there, however with experience comes balance.

 

Thanks, I think that sort of answers my first question.  The only question that remains is what would you guys define that "falsetto" voice I break into as?  Is that something that is worth training?  My fears with that sound is that because it's the sound that I break into when my voice goes wrong, I feel like if I train that sound it will just reinforce my voice's tendency to keep yodeling into this sound when I really want to stay in that bridgeable head voice sound.  

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even a true yodal is a connected head voice. Falsetto is connection in the very base manor. Very little weight is moved of the fold, also very little contact is made as well. This is what you are doing, connected chest, breaking into a non connected falsetto. Even your chest is fairly quiet and not very powerful so it appears compression is an issue in all the range.

Jen, even though he was using a "falsetto" sound, it was still connected head voice. That is why it had depth still, also he could just add a little more weight and equal a fully connected sound or whatever he wanted. also why he said to him head voice and falsetto there really isnt any difference. Just more or less connection. If you told him to hit a g4 in falsetto tone, headvoice tone, then a fully connected modal tone. He could do all 3 without having to change a single thing in his mechanism, besides add or delete fold closure.

Falsetto is a very valuable tool for training because it removes all pressure of a heavy belt pursay. I use it all the time to "pre sing" an unfamiliar song, its like walking around a track before running it. There is no difference between walking and running besides more muscular effort. It lets you see what your body wants to do without you getting in the way of it with over pressuring, ect ect.

So yes falsetto training is beyond valuable. However, the way you are using it, you wont get over your current barrier imo. You need to really focus on closure exercises, learning how to keep the closure but also letting the weight shed. Learning you dont always have to have the chesty closure weight feeling all the time, they can be closed yet "light". More than likely you have never experienced this before, which is why you are in your current situation.

however the good news is, once you get the feeling just once, it will be one hell of an ah ha! moment...The fry exercise is amazing because it makes you abduct its by far my favorite. Also dirty nays not a huge fan but may help you right now, forces pretty good closure. Just keep trying to go higher and higher, but go nnnnnnnnnnnnnay. It forces closure on the oncluded part, dont be afraid if your voice starts to lighten higher, just let it happen. It wont sound huge in your head but it will carry. Also the yawning exercise ron said. Just keep trying to yawn higher and higher, it really gets a heavy tilt, so it will help keeping the closure up high, not too hot of a tone but may serve you right during this time.

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what in the gods name is mix? Everyone throws that word around and to me it sounds soooo ambigous its crazy. How can you be in chest and head at the same time. Doesent that contradicts to the whole theory of passagio.

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There as been hundreds of names for it prob more...mix is just what is used during this time. The term really means its technically in your head voice, but you can have a "modal like" tone.

Really all that is actually happening is you are basically going to the next string of a guitar. The folds stretch and thin a bit as in a head voice configuration. Which is why less vibration is felt in the chest, because there is less mass being moved.

However, holding firm enough closure, you can still move enough mass of the fold to emulate a more modal tone in this "thinner and stretched" state. So it gives the image and tone of belting, yet with the freedom and reliability of a head tone. That is why a good singer who isnt screaming and distorting. You will hear as their approach the 5th octave the modal tone slowly gives way to a more mid and high mid tonality. With the "modal bottom" slowly being phased out. Because as the folds stretch and get more and more taught, less and less mass is able to be moved during the glotal wave cycle.

So then the singer boost the mids even more in the 5th octave with twang and compressing the acoustical space since higher frequencies like smaller areas. So even though you lost the modal weight, you still have the presence of power and cut, instead of just a hooty head tone.

In summery "mix" is that area between your modal chest voice and pure head tone. Where you can still simulate a modal sound, but be in a thinning head voice config. Usually on a male, starts around c#4 and ends about bflat4. Though, it can vary up and down for both breaks, these breaks are actually one of the most common ways classical instructors get a feel of their students vocal type.

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Jeremy, If you want an easier exercise than the one Jens is doing, the way I did it was find a voice that was not breathy, but was very light. Like you're talking to a cute animal. It helps to say 'hooo' for me. And you can slide this one down.

 

https://app.box.com/s/lx8nokjo0yxzr0t6q2mphtq8yefbpwa1

 

The voice you're doing in your clip almost sounds like something that might be used for whistle voice or something it is so thin. If you just talk very 'light' it doens't have to be super breathy. You can do it low too. Mickey Mouse might help too. :D

 

what in the gods name is mix? Everyone throws that word around and to me it sounds soooo ambigous its crazy. How can you be in chest and head at the same time. Doesent that contradicts to the whole theory of passagio.

 

The most reasonable explanation I've seen (used by some broadway belting teachers) is a balance thyro-artynoid.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyroarytenoid_muscle

 

and the cricothryoid

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricothyroid_muscle

 

Which are two muscles that manipulate the vocal folds and when they are in sync, you can get some of the qualities of both to have a lighter mass of the folds making contact, without being the very edge (falsetto).

 

However, Speech Level singing uses the term as a 'mix' of various vocal techniques (twang, cry, nasal resonance, fry, etc), and others use it as a mix of 'resonances.' I kind of like 'middle voice.'

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Mixedvoice does not exist IF we look at it from a scientific perspective. They expected to find register 1,5 but all the singers who sang in mixedvoice either sang in a falsetto(m2) that sounded full or a fullvoice(m1) that had qualities of m2. So in a sense when you practice,practice your "chest voice" and make it as flexible as possible and practice your falsetto/head and make it as flexible as possible.

So mixedvoice is just a soundquality that can be produced by both registers that sounds full :)

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That was pretty much the point of my overly long post jens lol. You summed it up with a lot less babble and technical nonsense.

Soooo....Did you get my hint on that post further up. If you ever want to do a vid on distortion especially in the fifth octave. I surely wouldnt object lol

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Mixedvoice does not exist IF we look at it from a scientific perspective. They expected to find register 1,5 but all the singers who sang in mixedvoice either sang in a falsetto(m2) that sounded full or a fullvoice(m1) that had qualities of m2. So in a sense when you practice,practice your "chest voice" and make it as flexible as possible and practice your falsetto/head and make it as flexible as possible.

So mixedvoice is just a soundquality that can be produced by both registers that sounds full :)

Ill pay you a dollar per post just so u become more active.. beast of a man you are Jens

Andvthanks everyone for explanation. From now on ill forget the word mixed voice exists xD

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what in the gods name is mix? Everyone throws that word around and to me it sounds soooo ambigous its crazy. How can you be in chest and head at the same time. Doesent that contradicts to the whole theory of passagio.

I avoid a lot of that because my voice is goosenfrabe. Yeah, that's a nonsense word but it does get me out of stultifying word pictures that might hinder. 

 

Can I have a dollar, too?

m/

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   CVI has used the term "Metal" to describe the sound of cord closure. Once I figured that out and was able to recognise the sound they were talking about in my modal voice, I was able to hone in on the sensation in my folds associated with it. I found that when I concentrated on that sensation, I noticed that when I would "Flip" I would feel a "Pressure" up and forward in my larynx. This is the "Feeling" I associate with Falsetto, or the Vocal folds "Letting Go".

   When I would Concentrate on KEEPING that METAL in the voice and let everything else do what it needs to, I would feel a "Pressure" in my larynx that is Low and to the Back of the larynx.

   At This point my singing voice in this transition area is still a little too screachy or quacky but the cord closure and connection is there.

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