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Steven Fraser

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Steven Fraser last won the day on January 28

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  1. PJA299, Thx for the info. Its a tremendous accomplishment for you, and the experience will be memorable. All the best, Steven
  2. PJS299 Congrats! You are very welcome. Glad I could help. If you do not mind me asking... which State? Best Regards,
  3. Hi, Ryan. Breathiness has a few sources, but all involve a combination indicating a mismatch between laryngeal muscle action and breath energy. Elaboration: During the voice change (all voices, some more than others) the coordination used when younger no longer happens in the way it had been accessed by the younger singer. The result is that the singer must learn a new coordination, and practice it until it becomes good habit. In essence, the technique must be re-learned for the vocal reality. Key to this, IMO, is a clear vocal onset, in which the right amount of breath energy (exhalation) is supplied to match the laryngeal muscle action, with both beginning simultaneously, and with appropriate, matching levels of both. During the 6months of the voice change itself, this will be challenging to accomplish, so patience is recommended. During this time, it is not an error to sing lightly, even if a bit breathy, until things settle down. Be sure, though, that the singer's breath management is preventing air oversupply. Even a small amount of extra breath flow can upset the balance. The best exercises I have seen to address the situation are mid-range, mid-volume onsets on all long and short vowels, and the use of sustained semi-occluded voiced consonants in one-octave sirens (ascending and descending), beginning in the lower part of the voice, and transposing upward. Maintain tall and expanded posture during these exercises. I hope this is helpful.
  4. Hi, Jane. Its an excellent time in vocal development to inclulcate good habits in : Vowel formation, Breath management, top-down connection, and avoiding vocal overpressure. Esp for male changing voices, there is a tendency toward the 'yell', which puts too much breath energy on the vocal bands. Have fun in the class. Steve
  5. Hi Dan. Your voice does not sound whiny in the higher range, at least to my ear... just seem to have more twang than the lower sections of the song. Some of the notes up there remind me of the sound of the Bee Gees on similar notes. I think it can be improved overall, if you do two things: 1) add twang to the lower notes so the voice overall is more consistently produced, and 2) Spend some time clarifying the vowels throughout the entire range of the song. If there is any hint of nasality, you should be able to detect it by pinching your nostrils together. The tone should not be affected by the closure. I hope this is helpful. Steve ps. The accompanyment seems to overpower the voice. Can you re-record it with more gain on your voice?
  6. Wannabesinger81: Hi! Contrary to popular opinion, twang is not nasal, unless the vowel itself is nasalized. Most of the time, we do not sing nasal vowels. What kind of music do you like? Style, genre, artists? With this, I could find you an example of a twangy voice you would find instructive. (Joke of the day: Talking about Singing is like Dancing about Architecture. )
  7. Viscuosity: Its generally pleasant! Some pitchiness. Are you singing a cappella, or to a track? The pitch situation will benefit if you sing the shorter notes full length, and have the pitches clearly in mind. For now, do not concern yourself with voice type. It reveals itself as your singing becomes more consistent. Post again. I'd like to hear some more. Regards,
  8. wannabesinger81: Yawning goes to far. Rather, a neutral posture of the throat is IMO more useful, and some practice sustaining twang on all vowels and ranges. Best Regards.
  9. Hi, Wyatt. Good question! You have some of the same issues I had as a younger singer... very strong lower voice, distinct falsetto, but increasing tension going up. This tension, and the forcing that goes along with it... are IMO symptoms of too-much exhallaton force in the production. If you play any wind instruments, these issue can follow from that. It did for me. Playing French Horn, in my case. WHat to do? Practice un-forced onsets (note beginnings) on all your vowels and all ranges. According to Richard Miller, onsets are when the basic laryngeal/breath coordination gets established for a note. To start, pick a mid-range (how about D2, the D below mid-c) and use mp dynamic. Sing 'ay, ay, ay, ay, ayyyyyyy' with 4 short ones, and the last sustained. Maintain the gesture of inhalation during the exercise, and do not let yourself force. Repeat on all the long and short vowels, being sensitive to any appearance of the tension you have felt. Another exercise, very helpful for this, is the 2-octave slide, or siren, done softly and slowly on ee or oo. If you've got 3 octaves, even better. The goal is to get a phonation that is continuous over the whole range. Best Regards,
  10. SingersDad Mic was overloaded, so tone quality was shredded. No way to tell general musicality from it. A suggestion: Have her pick a song she likes, or a few, and work those into her voice. Best Regards.
  11. Hi, PJS299. Great question. The coordination for those notes needs to retain the twang,sometimes called forward focus, in order to connect the familiar range to these lower notes. One way to get there is to use the vocal fry softly as you descend toward the area. 5-note scales (so, fa, mi, re, do) on /A (as in cat,) done a little blatty (and definitely not pretty) are helpful. It may also help to think of this as 'speaking on pitch'. THat is another way to provoke the buzzy production typical of the range. I hope this helps.
  12. F2 (Formant 2) is ~the same frequency as the "pitch forward of the tongue hump). Sorry if I confused you. The whistle pitch, and the formant, are the result of the same acoustical set-up. THx for the clue on your instrument. YOu are right, the interaction between the instrument and the mouth space is subtle. It might be more easily felt, than heard. I hope this is helpful. Sounds like you are learning your way around this concept. Best Regards, Steven Fraser
  13. Hi, TimR. Since you posted, and I had been involved in the original thread, I will suggest the following: In general, the positioning of all of the articulators in the vocal tract have influence on the vowels. The most influential of these is the tongue, particularly in the location and size of the 'hump', which divides the vocal tract into a 'back' part and a 'front' part. As a first approximation, the volume of these two individual parts correlates well with the frequency locations of the two lowest vowel formants, which we call F1 (the lower) and F2, which is above it, almost all the time. The frequency location of these two formants cause emphasis on particular harmonics of the voice... and that is what we perceive as as vowels. Now, what you can do to experiment? It does not have to be complicated, but it will seem strange at first. Take one of your mouthpieces, and with it against your chop in a proper embouchure, pronounce the vowel sequence ee - ay - ah - oh - oo through your mouthpiece, while maintaining your embouchure. This attempt will cause your vowels to be more-or-less entirely handled by the tongue position and changes. BTW, those are often called the 'long' vowels. Another set you can try, which have different tongue positions, is the 'short' ones.... ih - eh - ah (like cat) uh - uh (like in foot). Do the short set through your mouthpiece in the same way, just saying the vowels through the mouthpiece with correct embouchure. Do each vowel set a few times to gain familiarity, and then repeat the 2 vowel series while buzzing your chop on a sustained note... This will likely feel very strange, but you should be able to hear some subtle differences in the buzz based on the particular vowel you are shaping your tongue for. Key point: When the harmonic content of the buzz aligns with either F1 or F2 of the vowel, it should have higher amplitude. If you are able to hear anything resembling the vowels when you are doing it... you are hearing the result of the alignment. Your ability to hear the semblance of the vowel in the mouthpiece buzz is because there is harmonic alignment. The next step in the experiment, still with just the mouthpiece, is to do buzz sirens, varying the frequency of the buzz in a legato slide of it. Range of perfect 5th is a good starting point, but you will learn more if you slide an octave. For each of the 2 vowel series (long and short), buzz an octave slide up and down, listening for places where the buzz seems louder. You may also notice that it feels different to you, but those sensations can vary. When you detect an area that sounds good, determine the pitch of the buzz, and make a note to where that is on the scale and what vowel you were using for that. Now, the very fun part, in 2 different ways. Way 1: Put your horn on the mouthpiece, and play the scale note that you determined sounded well in the buzz/siren. Also, try the chromatic and diatonic neighbor group (up/down 1/2 and whole step) centered around the buzzed note that sounded well to you. Explained a different way... the 5-semitone group, where the middle note of the group was the one you thought sound well with just the mouthpiece. Way 2: Play sustained pitches on your instrument, while varying the tongue position for the vowels in the two series. Each note, 2 times, 1 time per vowel series, i.e., one note on the long vowels, breathe, and same note on the short. Judge for yourself which vowel sounded and felt the best for that note. Jot that info down somewhere. Repeat the pattern up a semitone, and note the results. Transpose over a complete octave, or 12th if you prefer. IMO, _the_ best use of this knowledge is in the improvement of insecure or difficult notes. Pick one of those notes, and do the exercise (the two series) on it. Determine which vowel shape is best (sound and feel... perhaps more stable) and use it in a phrase. That will get you started. I hope this is helpful. Best Regards, Steven Fraser
  14. Hi, aspiringginger! 1. Conceptualize the inhalation as going side-to-side through the ribcage, and all the way around your back. You can feel these motions by placing your hands in those areas prior to the inhalation. 2. The purpose of the exercise is to prevent a too-rapid exhalation. Maintaining the feeling of 'continued inhalation' while singing is one way to do that. 3. Firm, but not tense. I hope this is helpful. The real challenge will be to retain the activity while phonating. Regards, Steven Fraser
  15. Hi, Hunniebees. From a technique perspective, vibrato is not something you 'do'. It shows up when the vocal conditions are right. IMO, most important in this is correct balance of breath energy, laryngeal muscle action (particularly registration,) minimal throat tension, and good vowel resonance and twang.. Be assured, your physical size is a very, very small consideration in whether your vibrato will be present. I would not worry about that. Perhaps there is a clue in the self-deprecating remark you made. You mention that when you try to make it occur 'on command', you sound like an 8-yr old. This raises the question: Do you sound like a 17-year old under normal circumstances, or a singer younger than that? Please be assured: there is hope. My recommendation is to take some time to revisit the foundations of your technique: breath, registration, laryngeal relaxation, vowel formation and legato. Some vowels are more easily balanced than others for this work. I suggest beginning with gentle oo and oh, done on simple 3-note scales in the range from F above middle C to the C above that, at a mp to mf dynamic. I hpe this is helpful.
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