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From Metal Screams to Tom Jones! My vocal evolution.;)

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Hey everyone,

I just joined here and wanted to have you check out a couple of examples of my vocals from the past. I was a self taught singer and started out singing hard rock and metal but eventually got into Tom Jones and his vocal style later in life. I haven't sang for a few years now as I wanted to unlearn my poor vocal habits and start fresh with proper technique.

Here's a link to a youtube clip of my best heavy metal high notes from back then...

And here's me singing Tom Jones "Thunderball" to show what I managed to achieve vocally with no training. http://files.me.com/muskysnax/m9ub0c.mp3

I'm excited to see what I'll be able to accomplish with proper training and hard work!

Thanks for listening and please let me know what you think, good or bad. That's why I'm here.

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Thanks Matt! :D I really had no training or knowledge of how to sing whatsoever. I just tried my best to emulate my favorite voices but often had swollen adenoids and sore throats. I've never had my tonsils out and they are still fairly large and block quite a bit of my airway. I'm considering having them removed and then starting to train my voice from scratch the right way. I think I had potential when I was singing back then but I always wanted to sing better, higher and with more control. Have any of you had tonsils removed later in life and how was the experience?

Here's a couple more examples of me singing in the style of Tom Jones... http://files.me.com/muskysnax/b8menj.mp3 http://files.me.com/muskysnax/e1nmhl.mp3

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I like the "Tom Jones" tune. You have a nice voice. But here is the point... do not think of yourself as a vocalist of one genre. Just see your self as a vocalist. Someone that is capable of singing many genre's, styles and feels. I suppose Im a metal singer myself at heart, its what inspired me when I was younger and still does. I find it the most challenging singing available and I still get pleasure out of the energy that metal and rock can offer... however, I have sang Italian, German and English art songs and currently in my gig bag I have "My Kind of Town" by Sinatra, "Please Come To Boston" by Kenny Loggins, "Sunshine on My Shoulders" by John Denver and on... be in the moment, sing what you want to sing, embrace the idea of hearing your voice in a completely new context and try new things.

Sounds to me like your on a good path.

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Here are a couple of Osiris songs I did many years ago. I got better as a vocalist since these were done and my voice was pretty tired by the time we tracked the vocals at the end of a long day. Well, enough excuses (lol) here's the songs... http://files.me.com/muskysnax/4ul4fx.mp3

http://files.me.com/muskysnax/5s4zrk.mp3

Love to hear what you guys think of the songs. I should point out that the drummer had to punch in some of his tracks as one mic on a tom tom wasn't working when he recorded his parts. Poor guy had to figure out where to punch in that one tom on each song! lol

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Awesome job with Mustang Sally...I have heard so many bands sing it and grew to hate it; your version rules.

All the other songs are you did are great too. no crticism on my end; you are comfortable with your voice.

BC

Wow, thanks! I don't know what to say.

Like most singers I always wanted to sound like someone else but over time I developed my own voice. Nowadays I'm really enjoying learning as much as I can about my instrument. I'm seriously considering having my tonsils surgically reduced but not removed entirely as they are quite large and limit the size of my airway. I've read about new procedures that are far less painful and far less damaging to the throat than older methods. Plus if you leave some of the tonsils intact and just reduce the size there is no burning of the throat muscles which is something I wish to avoid obviously. When I was singing all the time my throat would nearly close up completely some nights if my tonsils were inflamed at all since they are already large to begin with.

The thought of having an open airway and how it might enhance my voice and breathing is really exciting! I'd have to relearn to bridge but it would be worth it if my tone thickens due to the increase in resonation and air flow.

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I had my tonsils removed when I was five, not for singing, but because of breathing problems, that most doctors confused with sinusitis. In my experience, it's a fast, safe, and non painful procedure (but a bit uncomfortable in the first couple days after surgery), from which you can only benefit. You have a great voice already, I'd like to hear how it would be if you improved even further as a vocalist, not just technically, but artistically too, although I have no critics to make in either one of them. You would be shocking, lol.

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Hey Snax, I've listened to your songs with Osiris and then to the Tom Jones' stuff... THough I am definitely more into the classic heavy stuff and really like your screams, It's apparent that you've developed your vocals over the years. Do you have any more Osiris songs I could listen?

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Hey Snax, I've listened to your songs with Osiris and then to the Tom Jones' stuff... THough I am definitely more into the classic heavy stuff and really like your screams, It's apparent that you've developed your vocals over the years. Do you have any more Osiris songs I could listen?

Thanks man! I'll see if I can find any more of the old Osiris songs on my cassettes from years ago. I've started recording myself singing some Iron Maiden using the tracks you sent me. I'm doing Hallowed Be Thy Name right now. I'll post it when I'm done.

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Here's the beginning section of Hallowed Be Thy Name for ya. I just used my Macbook's mic so the vocal sound is really bad! lol

http://files.me.com/muskysnax/l7auzv.mov

I redid the vocals and updated the linked file if anyone has already checked this out. This is just the first part of the song. I'll do the rest when I've gotten my voice in better singing shape.

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Here's a video clip of me attempting to do siren screams while not flipping into falsetto and maintaining compression. I know I'm a bit shaky yet but this is something very new to me still. Please let me know how I'm doing and where I need to do something different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj_Izj4LugA

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Snax,

You really have some GREAT pipes man!

For your Tom Jones sound I would advice you to work on altering your sound color a bit (darker)...this is of course my OWN personal opinion (if you are happy with the tone you are using then don't bother).

Here is a little example of what I mean:

http://www.box.net/shared/tnhfk4zk0l

(Listen how I color it slightly darker)

Again if you don't like it then disgard it. :)

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Thanks Martin. :)

I think we have similar pipes my friend! I understand what you mean about getting that darker tone. Back when I'd recorded those songs i had no idea about technique so I'm really looking forward to learning from all of you and progressing.

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Snax, you have a really good voice. and a nice tone, reminds me a little of michael kiske. you are definitely in the "he´s a natural" camp. liked the metal trax too.

out of curiosity when your singing in the head voice area A,B,C above middle C what sort of sensations do you have in the throat etc.

when you go up in your range you seem very good at dumping the vocal weight. i thought this may be because you had a higher voice to begin with but when i heard you speak in one of your vids you dont.

when doing those vocal slides like in one of the vids on the AH try turning the AH into more a UH as in the word "WORD" as you go up. see how that feels.

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Snax,

You really have some GREAT pipes man!

For your Tom Jones sound I would advice you to work on altering your sound color a bit (darker)...this is of course my OWN personal opinion (if you are happy with the tone you are using then don't bother).

Here is a little example of what I mean:

http://www.box.net/shared/tnhfk4zk0l

(Listen how I color it slightly darker)

Again if you don't like it then disgard it. :)

martin, rather than sounding darker so much it sounds more like that german opera technique is being added where it starts to sound like kermit the frog. are you pressing the back of the tongue down?

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Snax, you have a really good voice. and a nice tone, reminds me a little of michael kiske. you are definitely in the "he´s a natural" camp. liked the metal trax too.

out of curiosity when your singing in the head voice area A,B,C above middle C what sort of sensations do you have in the throat etc.

when you go up in your range you seem very good at dumping the vocal weight. i thought this may be because you had a higher voice to begin with but when i heard you speak in one of your vids you dont.

when doing those vocal slides like in one of the vids on the AH try turning the AH into more a UH as in the word "WORD" as you go up. see how that feels.

You wouldn't be able to post an audio example of that for me would you? I'd like to understand what you mean. Don't worry about it not sounding perfect or representative of your vocal abilities. I'd find it very helpful indeed. Feel free to email it to me if you'd rather not post it publicly. My email is muskysnax@gmail.com or muskysnax@yahoo.com

As for me being a natural I don't know that that's true since I had to work sooooo hard at reaching the notes i managed to sing. I've always felt limited vocally and wish I could just sing along to Steve Perry or Styx with no problem. I always figured those guys just had naturally more flexible voices but now I'm starting to see that there are different coordinations that are used to sing comfortably in those higher ranges. My goal is to not feel like I'm straining in my throat (getting better at that now) and to really get a grasp of head voice and when to know other singers are using it though it sounds like they are singing in the same chest voice as their lower register. Their tone never seems to change where mine does drastically.

I think that my very large tonsils may have been a factor all these years in me feeling strained and resisting leaving the chesty weight behind as I would ascend in pitch. Since my resonation is so limited in those "throat" notes I'd never want to use them. I'm about to see an ENT and find out what my options are. I want those suckers out so I can finally have an unrestricted airway and better transition into my head voice from chest.

Thanks for the kind words and advice.

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I would be absolutely thrilled to hear Jamie Vendera's thoughts on my singing on the various tracks I posted. I really admire his dedication to the voice and it would make my day to get his input. Jamie, where are ya dude? :P

P.S. I'd bought his Raise Your Voice 2nd edition Ebook and have learned a ton from it!

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