Steven Fraser

So after my first posting(http://www.themodernvocalist.com/profile/ChristopherCastleman) and the advice and critiques I received, I got to work.

I've upgraded my equipment, so this time around you'll hear me as I am. Head on over to my profile page http://www.themodernvocalist.com/profile/ChristopherCastleman and have a listen to my cover of "Open Arms". It's still not where I want it to be, so I again turn to the members of TMV for help. I know my high notes aren't being done quite correctly, but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Help there would be most appreciated! How about the presentation as a whole? I'm not trying to sound like Steve Perry, but sometimes I start to emulate what I've heard on the Cd. Still trying to find my own voice. Thanks for listening and enjoy!

Christopher: Thanks for posting this.

Listening to this recording, I get the sense that you have two techniques... 1 for the lower section, and another for the higher. I'd like to see you unify your sound. Specifically, your high production has freedom and pitch accuracy that are better overall than the lower sections. While the top was occasionally riding sharp, I think that is because you have freed it (up top) from whatever restriction was holding your pitch quite flat in the lower part of your voice.

To do that, slow top-down and bottom-up arpeggios and scales with attention paid to pitch accuracy will help. Don't be afraid to bring the top production down a bit farther than you are now (i.e., 'sweeten' the upper middle voice with a little of what you are using up top).

The second area I would like to suggest you try to address is the vowel forms you are using in your upper voice. Right now, they are a little thinner than you can do, and I think they would benefit from a some additional jaw drop. Not much will be needed, perhaps 1/2 to 1 cm more should do the trick.

I hope this helps.

There is a difference in how singers use and pronounce vowels depending on what styles of music they are singing. That is why many say they can not understand words sung by opera singers even when the singer is singing in their native language. That is also why almost every opera singer sounds funny when trying to cross over and sing pop tunes. They do not hear the difference in the vowels in different styles of music and so are not able to switch how they sing the vowels, depending on the musical style.

Classical Voice uses a very narrow range of vowel production. Non classical singing uses a very wide range of vowel production. Just something to keep in mind if your goal is to be a cross over singer and be one of the few who can do both classical and pop singing.

Timothy: I encourage you to keep to the topic of this discussion, which is to provide a place for recordings to be posted, and for the singers to receive comments from other Forum members on those recordings.

Alternatively, if you want to discuss the intelligibility challenges for singers cross-genre, start a thread on that, under Vocal Technique. There may be many out there that would be interested to hear your thoughts on how an 'operatic' pronunciation of 'ah' on a tenor high A might be different than the way Steven Tyler or Tony Bennett does it.

Thanks Steven - I really appreciate your feedback - I don't know if what I was saying is right about vowels - you are definitely the expert here. I think you nailed it on the head when you said "vowel pronunciation" for the genre. Vowels are vowels no matter what genre, correct? It is more the way we pronounce them that identifies them with a genre or even dialect, right?

guitartrek: I think that is the case. In singing, anyway, its an aspect of performance practice... what the performers and listeners both expect that is the preferred way to shape them. Each genre has its own preferences and practitioners, and within the preferences, there is great latitude for individual variation/expression.

The preferences are not static... they can change over time. Just think about how pop music expectations about male voice tone quality was influenced by the Bee Gees with their Saturday Night Fever album. Or, how broadway artists varied over the last 50 years.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks Jens - yes I would love to be able add distortion up there and very interested in your excersises. You can really scream up there! I'm not on hotmail, but my email is gno2@wi.rr.com.

How I work my voice: Currently practicing octave traids and scales on each vowel starting low (A2-A3) and then progressing up one semitone at a time as high as I can comfortably go which for the past two weeks is F4-F5, and then back down. I'm slowly gaining range. I'm using vowel modifications through the passagio and my head is much lighter - and it is generally an operatic tone. However, when I sing a rock song, I try to make the vowels sound as they should for the genre - which is not operatic. I'm trying hard to keep my throat open up there in the A4-C5 range to keep the tone heavier. At first it was really difficult but got easier over a few weeks. I know it is not overdrive and Snorth said I'm curbing.

guitartrek: Your presentation of this piece is very effective, and your recording chops are outstanding. I am delighted to hear that you've succeeded in developing the sense of vowel pronunciation for this genre. Keep up the very good work you are doing.

I try to sing a song by Dokken "the cry of the gipsy. I think i know what my biggest problem is but i would like to get a confirmation from you guys here. Please point out my flaws and give me some suggestions of how i could correct them. I will not get offended so please throw it on me. I want to improve my singing and right now i have some ideas but don´t really have the tools. I hope my voice isn´t drowning too much in the music.

Olem: Question: Did you play the track through speakers and record your voice and the track at the same time with a mic? If so, a suggestion... get some earphones, plug in, and hold 1 side on an ear and leave the other ear open. This will help by allowing you to hear the accompanyment and your voice clearly at the same time. It can help smooth out some of the pitch inaccuracies.

Looking for suggestions on things to focus on, observations etc.

Burt: Thanks for posting these. You have a nice sense of the style of the songs, and your delivery reminds me of the kind of direct-from-the-heart singing I've heard in some of the nicer Texas honkey-tonks... with the couples out swirling on the floor in lively dance.

I heard a couple things that I want to mention. First, at the beginnings of phrases which begin with vowel sounds, you onset the notes fairly strongly and then back off into a more airy, laid-back vocalism. My ear wants to hear this equalized out a little, so that the onsets are less like 'attacks', and with the remainder of the notes in the phrase a little more substantial. For a reference of another lower voice, I think Johnny Cash did this particular thing pretty well.

Someone else mentioned pitchiness, and I agree. As an aspect of your style, you often begin a note below its eventual pitch. That's up to you. However, your portamento up to the sustained pitch needs to make it. Sometimes it does not, and it just sounds a bit sour. As an exercise/recommendation, sing through the songs a bit and try to sing them 'cleanly', i.e/., beginning each note right on the note it should be. Just a little practice at this will influence the overall pitch of your singing, whether you re-employ the stylistic portamento later.

Keep it up, and put some more clips out there for us to listen to. It was a treat hearing you.

Steven,

Is that ok from technical point of view? I do not feel any pain or problems, but I can't say that it is very easy to sing some high notes;)

Robert

Robert: I was trying to communicate that you catch the listener right from the beginning, with the opening scream. Very effective.

Since you asked, I think you could experience more vocal ease, and get more sound, if you be sure that the very beginning of the note (what we call the onset) is resonant and buzzy. When you make the beginning of a note the best way you can, then you get the best outcome later.

As a practice suggestion, do a number of onsets of the note, without the slide, as if you were singing quarter notes with quarter rests, all right in a row, perhaps a total of 30-50 note starts. The purpose of the practice is to drill into habit the beginning of the note, to put yourself in the best possible situation for the whole slide.

As a second suggestion, as you transition toward the very top, I think you could benefit from some playing around with the vowel, to find one that gets you the sound you want, and is easier to do. Uh and oe (like the english word 'foot') may be helpful.

Keep rockin, dude!

Robert is gonna love you

matt: I'll say! Right from the opening scream :-)

Thanks for the time Steven. I light of what you said.. I re-recorded the halleluah tune again . Could I get your ear on the approach I took on this take? I have tried to sing this one smoother.. but as you say my concept of tone may be off. My concept of a smoother tone is when I sing lighter/softer. But doing so I find I lose the edginess and the higher notes feel wobbly. Maybe because of the habit with the 'squeeze' thing. What would be great to know is if this take is more along the right track or is it somewhere in the middle of the two approaches. In the meantime I will try the 'la' excersise when vocalizing.

Pete.

Hey, Pete. I'll listen to this a bit later. However, I'd like to offer the idea that vocal smoothness is not inconsistent with vocal strength. In other words, IMO you do not need to sing lighter or softer to accomplish smoother, unless you also want the tone to be light and/or soft in addition to smooth. :-)

Unless, of course, when you say 'smooth', you really mean soft and light.

I'll have some feedback on your re-recording tomorrow morning.

hi again forum. Any ideas to help me get a smoother tone? I'm looking for some feedback on areas to improve.. sorry for the title if I got off on the wrong "note"..

Doomhead: If you want to get a smoother tone, practice it. Listening to your two songs recently posted, it feels to me as I listen that you kinda 'toss' your voice at the notes, rather than connecting them into a single phrase of energy.

To address this habit, sing these songs on the syllable 'la' for each note, and let the 'el' consonants smoothly connect the 'ah' vowels. Keep the sound going all the time.

The voice responds to your mental concept of how you want to express yourself. Whenever you reconceptualize it, and try to do it differently, the voice will respond. The starting point for smoother tone is your concept of your vocal tone.

Snax: I enjoyed listening to your rendition of 'Thunderball'... its very expressive, and while you are stylistically reminiscent to Tom Jones, you've made it your own with some personal touches.

One of the things that I hear which are not (IMO) in the style of this particular song is the use of breathiness. I think the tone should be clear and solid all the time, even when using the dynamics to full extent. For those, I'd suggest letting the softer sections be even softer than they are, so that when you let it roar the effect is greater by comparison.

When listening to Jones singing this song, especially in the upper middle part of his voice, he selects vowel pronunciations which are very resonant, which sound 'rounder' or 'darker'. He is doing that to more smoothly connect the tone there with the solid lower voice, and spectacular top. This technique, in classical terms, is vowel modification, or 'cover', which shapes the vowels into a form that will transition to the powerful, sustained top voice on the last note.

If Tom were to sing that last note down an octave, you would hear it for what it really is... an 'oh', (sung with the mouth fairly open) rather than an 'ah'. In performance, because he has darkened the upper middle, this pronunciation sounds perfectly acceptable and consistent as an extension of the lower notes.

As a practice aid, you can sing this note down an octave until it is very full and ringy to your own ear, and then just jump up the octave retaining the pronunciation. I think you will be pleased with the overall effect, the ring and ease of the note.

Would very much like some feedback on my songs and vocals. Thank you

http://www.themodernvocalist.com/profile/KenndaVarnum

Kennda: I listened to some of three of the tunes.... very nicely done overall. My personal taste is for just a bit more tone on long sustained notes, but you float them so nicely and consistently that they balance well with your overall effect.

Your sense of ballad and jazz timing is very subtle, which I liked very much. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for all the responses guys!

the handkerchief idea? Ingenious! Hehe, now I can sing at night without my parents raising hell for it!

Richardtai: Truth be told, I did not originate the idea, I simply passed it along. My friend, Dr. Lloyd Hanson, retired professor of voice from Northern Arizona University, tells the story this way:

"learned this as a warm-up-checking device from Clifton Ware backstage at the Guthrie Theatre when we were both singing with Minnesota Opera. Cliff was singing into his handkerchief and I asked what he was doing. He said it allowed him to sing in full voice without anyone in the theatre hearing him." ... Lloyd Hanson, posting to theVocalist.

In Ware's particular case, he took the handkerchief, folded it in quarters, wrapped it around his index finger, and held the finger horizontally in front of his mouth. Its all the same principle.

Dr. Hanson also uses this method to help singers smooth through the passagio, the 'bridge' in other terminologies.

Ok i think your doing fine, but why dont you record this song at daytime so you can singout? C

ause thats whats causing you problems, your not supporting the notes enough probably cause your scared of your folks.

Thats why you get pitchy at spots, so singout or try to sing in that quiet tone with more support, singing quiet almost requires more support than the counterpart.

I almost get the feeling that you are abit afraid of your voice well done anyways keep up the good work!

Everybody: If singing softly is an issue, there is a workaround for it. Get a handkerchief, and fold it 3 or 4 times... sing the melody (without the words) with the handkerchief held firmly over your mouth.

Enough air will get through the fabric for you to phonate well, but not much sound will. If the door to the hallway is closed, likely nobody will hear. You can do the same thing without a handkerchief, by singing into your palm, or into the back of your hand, and letting enough air past your lips that your voice works.

FYI, this is a _fabulous_ way to warm up when you are around a bunch of other people, for example, backstage or in a green room. You can sing very strongly this way and have only a little bit of sound come out.

Jonpall:

It took me a moment to get the CCR tone quality expectation out of my head, but I enjoyed the performance overall.

However, I heard some vocal rawness that made me uncomfortable. Some of the onsets were rough when IMO they did not need to be for the song. Yes, they work ok for 1 tune. But (this is just me, I think) would get under my skin if used consistently in a longer set.

So, one thing I would suggest working on is the _beginnings_ of some of the the notes, especially when the vowels are short (for example , eh, ih, uh...) so that the tone begins clearly and has no ragged edges... goes right to the core of the clear phonated vowel.

Style-wise, I think you are singing too conservatively. This is a coastal honky-tonk song, but I cannot see the girls in jeans and cowboy hats kickin' yet to spite the storm. The 'bad moon rising' is an ominous sign for a coastal town... means their double-wide shared with cousin billy-bob may be in another county by morning. :-) Bring that sense of immediacy to the song.