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MB20

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Everything posted by MB20

  1. Totally agree with this. Personally, from the videos I have seen of Brett singing songs, I don't think he's that great of a singer. This is made even more apparent when you compare him to other teachers like Robert or Ken Tamplin for example, who in my opinion sound much better. I'm not slating the guy as I don't believe you have to be a great singer in order to be a great teacher; the two are not mutually exclusive, much in the same way you don't have to be a great sportsman to be be a great manager. Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that in most of the videos of Brett I've seen concerning the mix, he uses and incredibly light co-ordination. Now this could be for many reasons such as wanting to encourage his students to start light, that he wants to keep the example as smooth and fluid as possible, or that he simply can't do it.. I don't know. What I do know is that for a long time it certainly gave me a slightly warped view of what mixed voice actually was and how to achieve power in that area. On the Singing Success youtube page, he has a handfull of other singers giving lessons in the method which really helped me to gain a broader view of the mix technique. Chris Keller is a particularly good example of one of these coaches, as he does not sound like your stereotypical light phonation sls singer (even though his/the sls views on rock singing seem incredibly backward and incorrect). Check out these 2 videos of him to see what I mean. It's quite crazy how two people using the same method can get such a different sound, but I suppose that's the nature of the beast!
  2. I think the fact that Estill requires you to attend their courses to learn the method rather than being able to learn from books/DVDs etc means that less people have been exposed to it. I've heard some very good things from singers I know who are heavily invested in the method, but for me personally it's a school of vocalistion that I know very little about.
  3. This is the CVT "Rattle" distortion which sounds pretty similar https://www.dropbox.com/s/1h7fos437dhchha/CVT%20M%20241.mp3
  4. ummm... what?! Anyway, I always struggle with Mayer because his voice sounds so thick and creamy. The only way I can come close to replicating his tone is to use too much air, which is obviously not sustainable. I don't even think he really uses distortion to be honest, it's more the timbre of his voice that gives him that sound.
  5. This would be a cool thread to make a sticky of or something. There are so many acapella videos on youtube that really give an insight into a singers technique and what they are, and perhaps just as importantly, aren't doing. Quite a few I've listened to that have been quite heavily produced have been an eye opener as to how differently we can perceive a vocalist on record.
  6. Looking at this again, I don't think I was correct before.. to my ears it doesn't sound like false fold distortion because the sound is too saturated, but I could be wrong seeing as I cannot do false fold distortion that high. This video explains this kind of distortion really well and believe it's by one of the guys on the forum. He talks about overlaying this kind of sound by manipulating placement and letting the overtones do the work for you, with I imagine, a bit of twang thrown in for good measure. I appreciate that the style are totally different but the principles are the same.
  7. not at all! it is 100% related to singing. I actually had a speech therapy session today for some vocal issues and i can tell you they both overlap. In my case, my singing has actually effected my speaking voice. One particular thing i have noticed with my own voice and i believe can be a common problem with men's voices in particular is trying to speak too low. I think it's supposed to stem from the premise that a low, deep voice is manly and strong, consciously or unconsciously, which i can relate to as my voice is quite high. When I roughly pitched my speaking voice, I was talking around B2 and to put that into context, B2 is the lowest note I can sing, but comfortably I would not usually go below C#3. So I was actually speaking on a note that I can't comfortably sing without even knowing it! Concerning your question about placement, I was recommended to very gently clear my throat to "reset" the larynx position and then try speaking again. When I did, my pitch was a few steps higher, i could feel it much stronger in my mask and it was much easier. The problem is, as careful as we are in our singing practice; we are not always as careful in out general speech and given that we talk far more frequently than we sing, it can almost be a silent killer that creeps into your singing habits!
  8. That's a joke.. you are more than entitled to a full refund. I can send you the audio files if needs be.
  9. @Videohere - there's actually very minimal studio enhancement on that recording. He's an incredibly good singer! @Analog - That was awesome! exactly the type of sound i'm shooting for. It's not so much the distortion element i'm after, but the power and cleanness of the sound. Can you give me some idea of what vocal setup and midset is when you're doing this? obviously a lot of practice (!) but what are you doing differently to achieve this sound?
  10. I was just wondering what certain types of singers e.g. spencer sotelo, chad kroeger are doing as they bridge into their higher registers. It's that kind of sound where they don't have an apparent change to a mixed sound, but rather appear to become louder and more powerful. Is this an example of the overdrive mode? (if we're talking cvt) In the video below, he is constantly hitting consecutive notes in the A4 area, but it sounds like more of a shout than singing.. I'm not sure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUIBHmOwL9o in this clip, the notes are very clean and big. Again, shouty? it doesn't sound like a natural vibrato could come out of this sound https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25229848/spencer%20un-tuned%20copy.mp3 i think the sounds they make are very cool though and would like to get more of an idea of how they are achieved.
  11. I have to say the key for me was when i found myself able to relax a bit more and really just let my face drop, letting my hands take the weight of my face. It might be helpful to push your cheeks up even further? that worked for me and then i sort of eased off. My face before i push my cheeks up is kind of a dopey sad pout (!?). Experiment a bit. I never used to be able to do them properly, in fact the vibrations used to make my nose itch to the point where i'd have to scratch between each semitone in the scale! I know what you mean about the energy.. it's all about finding that balance. haha I wouldn't hold it as your ultimate goal but i hope it helped in some way. If you wanted i could do a quick video so you have a visual element up close?
  12. Your bubbles do sound quite tight. The pitch of the note behind them should not dictate the speed of the bubbles. I find that I get a bit louder as the pitch goes up but the bubbles remain at a constant speed. When i do them, i don't feel like the note and lips are connected... it's like I'm just singing behind a bubble (if that makes sense!) The slower you can get them, the better, as it shows how much of a grasp you've got on your air flow. What I would recommend would be to vocalise on more of an 'UH' sound (like you're saying 'BUH') whilst also making it sound "dopey". I've done a quick example with no effects so that you can hear the consistency of the bubbles when changing pitch. The clip is a bubble on a comfortable note, bubble on a scale and a finally a bubble on a slide https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25229848/lip%20bubbles.mp3 apologies for the slight distortion on the mic and the huge breaks in my voice! aha i want to say "this was recorded at the end of a long day, in 2 minutes and i was dehydrated and my big toe was hurting which put me off".. but at the end of the day, I'm just not that good!
  13. If you listen to the original by Jessie J you will see that the song is a tour de force of runs, tricks and extremes. It's a very show offy piece. she sang it quite close to the original.
  14. You're singing across 2 octaves. The first scale is C3 - C4 (middle C) and the second scale is C4 (middle C) - C5 (Top C)
  15. As a young lad of 22, I wasn't around to see these original talent shows, but the similarities and differences between them are evident. Let me come at it from the other side because I think it's all to easy to wade in and bash things (the x factor, Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle etc) because that's what everybody thinks they should do if they don't want to be considered an idiot. My first point would be to realise the fact that the show is a business. At the end of the day, the ultimate purpose of the show is to make money, not to find talent, promote credible artists etc. Obviously these are a means of making money, however, the fact that they also televise all the no hopers, tantrums and tears, show that they will use whatever tools they have at their disposal to gain viewers and make money. I think the fact that they don't hide this business agenda makes it obvious to anyone who scratches the surface of the show, that it is not a genuine talent show, but a business. It's a great example of Adorno's theories of standardisation within popular music; the show maintains it's core format whilst tweeting the formula every year e.g. new judges, placing auditions in front of a live audience. The very fact the some of the most successful acts to come out of the show are not the most talented/have not been winners of the show further demonstrates that talent is not a prerequisite for success. The show appeals to a culture in which people crave the extreme, the ridiculous and the weird, be it good or bad. People don't want to sit and watch 100's of cute, talented little Justin Timberlakes singing songs, they want drama, excitement, controversy, good vs evil.. like a greek tragedy. The X Factor is the modern day version of the Greek theatre, the gladiator battles of Rome, the public hangings and torturing of medieval times.. so in that respect, it needs to have the same characters, the villains, the heroes, the underdogs etc and the shocking extreme behavior. It has a social value that goes beyond the talent show premise. If we add to that that in this day in age, you can go on the internet and find the most incredible singers who can sing their butts of whilst standing on their heads, there is no need for this process for talent finding. A label goes out and does exactly the same thing just without showing you the more "human" stages in between. I think in defense of the X Factor and all the other previous versions like Pop Idol, it has actually produced some incredibly successful and talented (two very different things =P) acts like Girls Aloud, One Direction, Leona Lewis, JLS. It has been a genuine platform for those artists and for the general public who are not particularly into or knowledgeable about music, they are able to provide an emotional gratification. Heck, I'll even admit that when Matt Cardle sang "The first time ever i saw your face" I was incredibly moved. My final point is one that I think is overlooked when talking about the X Factor, and is incredibly pertinent when talking about credible artists. The fact that the X Factor and label makes so much money from the show and it's winners means it can take more risks in developing and supporting more diverse artists that would otherwise be unable to gain label support due to their lack of mainstream appeal. In this respect, the X Factor directly funds new independent music, which i think is a very relevant point when people go on about the lack of credibility of the artists on the show.. it all comes full circle.
  16. I thought it would be cool to have a thread where people can post the resources they have used to further their singing/musical journey (mainly thinking books, but i suppose websites, cds etc as well). I know a lot of people on the forum enjoying the learning/research element of the voice and probably have an abundance of reading materials the other members haven't heard of. Some suggestions of types of material: - Vocal Technique - Vocal Anatomy - Vocal Health - Vocal Acoustics - Vocal History - Performance - Vocalist's Autobiographies - Music Therapy - Singing styles Mainly asking in order to get some suggestions to expand upon my own reading but compiling a list could prove useful for everybody :D
  17. Thanks for the responses @Steven: regarding the first test you mentioned, i actually used to get that before surgery.. i could hear my breathing very loud within my head and some notes seemed to buzz very loud in my ears but in a blocked kind of way if that makes sense..! after surgery those sensations have gone so i was wondering whether the sounds i am hearing are ones that would not have got through to my ears before because they were blocked by the overpowering sound created by the resonance in the adenoids. I really hope at least some of that makes sense!
  18. I read in an interview with him somewhere that Myles Kennedy from Alterbridge uses bel canto technique and he has an incredible rock voice
  19. So i had a what i think was a little break through today. I found a nice sweet spot in the lower part of my voice which seemed to resonate really well. My main problem has always been that i squeeze too much so my tone has always been quite thin, but i backed off a bit, raised my palate and boom! The only thing is that accompanying this resonance was a loud piercing sound in my ear. The sound got louder the stronger the resonance so i'm guessing it was harmonics/overtones. It was the same kind of sound you get if you went to a gig and didn't use ear protection. The thing is, i'm not sure if that's a good thing? i mean it felt great to get the resonance, but not to have a screaming sound in my ear. I recently had my adenoids removed as they were rather large which has cleared my hearing a bit too as they were blocking my eustachian tubes, so i'm wondering if this has anything to do with it..?
  20. As far as i'm aware Ron, one of your mantra's is "singing is mental". In this case, it could not be more applicable. @ThisSuxs: you've got a poor and very negative attitude towards your voice, and a username (that if spelt correctly) says "This Sucks".. So if singing is mental, how do you expect to sound remotely good with such a poor mentality?
  21. well seth riggs and brett manning both teach speech level singing, which is quite a safe neutral vocal style. It could be argued some of the principals are a bit outdated.. but then melissa cross is on the other end of the spectrum! extreme screaming and such. I know people who've had results from all of the above so if it's working for you, keep going! it's all about decideing how you want to sound
  22. If he's following the Frisell methodology then this stage comes before adding any weight back into the voice. Frisell suggests getting both chest and head voice musculature in a 50/50 ratio of control and then adding the weight of the chest voice into the head. Trying to do this too soon could result in pulling chest and muscular imbalance.
  23. I wish my parents had read me bedtime stories like this when i was a kid...
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