KillerKu

  Nah, that's great perspective. You should be posting more here. You got a lot of good insight. Weekly lessons with a pro, you gotta be rich. So a checkup in conjunction with a program sounds ace.

I looove this song. You sound improved to me. Does it feel comfortable? Does it feel strained or shouting? If it doesn't, it sounds like a good bit of progress, if this is where you're going.   The older, softer style was good though so when you get the keys to belt town don't forget your roots.

  My guess is 2:1 would be closer, cause you were far from the mic. I rarely exceed a 3:1 ratio even when really going hardcore and near the mic. It's partly genre a and stylistic preference.   Some compression will definitely polish the sound though for some mainstream viewing outside a singing forum. Anyway, don't be afraid to make a really polished youtube video at some point. This is a good inspiration:     This girl started on youtube and is now famous in Korea:     and our very own poster, Lola covers her.   >   So take youtube seriously at some point. Fancy lighting, fancy shots, compression, reverb, etc. Get a good mic, close mic. Pitch correction unfortunately helps attract youtube viewers but you've got great intonation.

  I'm not an expert on Rob's program, hahaha. it's pretty steep too and not within my price bracket at the moment.   The singing success program from what I've heard is a bit more focused on bridging into a 'mix' he calls it. Personally I feel like people should have a bit of mastery with some kind of chest voice, and some kind of head voice (even a non breathy falsetto) before bridging and I've personally never heard much discussion of just the basics from when people describe this program. If other people have this program they might be able to chime in and describe it better.   Think of it this way... How ould you build a bridge, if you didn't know like which sides yuou were bridging to? We X side is New York, and the other is in..... mystery Y?...... So if you were to jump on the bridge train too soon, it would likely cause more problems than it would help. Unfortunately Brett Manning isn't here to tell you what is in his program, but I do know Rob has mentioned both beginning concepts, and advanced concepts (bridging, vocal modes) as being part of his program. Ideally, you would need to kind of go through a good process, that doesn't put the cart before the horse.   I'm not a salesman puppet dude, but if you reserach different programs from people who own each, you'd have your best education rather than second hand information from random internet guy. I'm potentially biased towards Rob because he is here and I hear him actually talking sense to beginners. That's a big plus, where as with Brett, you may never be in contact with him at all.   Yeah, definitely singing in a comfortable place is helpful. Fear is one of the bigger barriers to singing, both mechanically cause it can cause in some of the musculature, but it can also make you psychologically want to hold back more than is necessary. So just keep singing, and getting more and more comfortable about it.   The thing is, you're already singing, however softly and faint. So you're singing, you can sing. It's not Pavarotti, it's not Celine Dion, but in my book you're already a singer, it's just where you go from here, right?

It's cool to have operatic performance on here. It might be easier if you link more directly ot the recording page on the site, as I had to hunt a bit, which might deter others. It's a cool, rich, and deep voice. I'm not very familiar with dissecting classical voice being a rock n roll guy. I'm just a guy that sings, so I can't approach you from a standpoint of expertise as it is both foreign and you are more skilled at it than I am.   The Tchaikovsky piece is a great composition and I can feel an emotional connection to your performance. I don't know if you have any room for embellishment, but either the original composition really pushes my buttons or you're riding it in a good way.   Deep River had great singing, but it connected a bit less with me. Probably just a compositional thing.   Pokarekare is beautiful in the blend of voices. I take it you're the one in my right headphone? Your intonation is spot on and this piece is just beautiful. I think it may be the most moving yet, with the varying waver of the vibratos, they sound very tender.   Megeru is great as well. When you do choiral works is it in just intonation or equal temperament? It sounds really pure in pitch.   You've made me realize I need to listen to Tchaikovsky and classical choiral works more often. So know you were heard and you touched one listener. I hope you find success and thank you for posting here and giving us a window into your world.

Well, when you say you're going to start small, you're totally right. That's some super quiet singing man, even the background noise is louder than your voice. So the first thing to know, is it is safe to sing louder. Second thing, overcoming the fear of singing and starting this journey is one of the biggest steps you're going to take, but it can be a long road.   Those of us who were afraid of shamed from singing, when we were young have a lot less years of practice compared to those who were singing since very early childhood.   Singing a bit more loudly and confidently would help you most. Second most helpful thing would be getting a teacher and/or a program or whatnot. My honest opinion though, is if you are completely new to singing, a lot of the singing programs might be a bit advanced. I don't have them all, but have look into some of them.   So for the beginning stages you'd be working on sustaining pitch, breath control (airiness of timbre), support, confidence, keeping a relaxed posture, finding a nice posture for your tongue (tip of tongue approximately at bottom row of teeth is a nice) one. letting your jaw drop, and hang freely. Opening your mouth. Lots of like really just square one stuff.   Rob's program is the most comprehensive of what I've researched, but basically you're going to have to build a connection to your singing voice. You could end up more proficient than I am with the right focused training.   Right now, I'd sing a bit louder. Learn some diaphragmic breathing. If you have an instrument nearby singing along to pitches is very useful. Even if it is just in your comfortable range. Thanks for coming her and posting and I'm glad you've overcome your fear of singing. You'll be able to make some kind progress on your own, but a pro teacher could speed things up way faster and make the destination more of a guarantee. 

  That's a great post. There's way more falsetto than Dio on the radio. I remember being really surprised turning it on finally after quite a bit of a break and finding tons and tons of falsetto all over the place. This was number one:     John Legend uses that falsetto so calculatively on All of Me. There was that One Republic thing.   I do think it's more important for tmacuf to market and build a fan base at this point than bridge perfectly while he has his youth. There's time to be more perfect, there isn't as much time to succeed. Maybe you are nearing perfection by the time you're 56, but in pop radio that doesn't fly.   Youth brings options in itself, so if you sound good and aren't having problems, it's probably best to take any options you have available than obsess about perfection.

I can hear the harmonies desyncing in the latter clip, but for personal taste I'd rather listen to Patti Smith or our vary own Laura Batement, who I just discovered here shouting their heads off and missing notes here and there:   '&do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>     I actually prefer tmacufs current version over those kinds of performances. I often find meticulousness in pitching to sound sterile. tmacuf could scoop 50 percent of his notes and I'd still like his voice. But any way you spin it if you push the vocal folds too far, they'll break into falsetto.   And if you are always approaching those limits and feel stuck by them, it's worth considering something else. But tmacuf is probably best off getting a good teacher, I do agree with that.

  The name isn't that important, but I believe the voice has to shift gears or lighten its mass at some point or you'll hit a wall, imo.   Brighten is a good word too. It helps to have more nasal resonance and twang which are sources of brightness. You can find nasal resonance by saying 'nnnnn' and making a snotty sound. Twang is tip of tongue near bottom row of teeth, and tongue arching upward and backward, until it is high and wide against top molars.   I figured it out kind of by going down from Eddie Kendricks and not just going up. Ascending would make me want to shout. Descending forced me to think about things differently.   Anyway, I forgot to include very bright approach to the note:   https://app.box.com/s/dj64xvqknp5uvuh5ty0c1h9j1jd9eq6i   That's much brighter than I would normally sing, although technically it would probably be easier for me to sing brighter.

Here man. This is many many ways I can hit that note, even a comical fake operatic voice:   https://app.box.com/s/ly8cn6yxjpdiyqlxanqceerfwmo2uli4   This second one for me is the one I tend to use more often, or something similar or lighter cause even though normally I wouldn't take this same style of voice up and up and up until it hits whatever it hit (chromatic), it has 'room' so it is not like I'm pushing against wall:   https://app.box.com/s/k81r42cglz6g6t8oiucifzcm50ser9hh   Now I could press that voice less and make it lighter and a bit more balanced, which is a goal of mine.   It doesn't really matter what you use, imo, in a lot of cases, it's just if it hits that wall, at say A4, and you intend to sing that way a lot, what happens is the vocal cords in the chest voice basically, will reach a maximum amount of tension, until they cannot physiologically go anymore tense and then you'd break into falsetto. People do this all the time, if it happens to you you're not going to die.   But if you use a voice that has a bit more leeway or release, of leeway, you're not always like 'on the edge' of breaking. As far as I can tell it's because there are two different muscles that control the vocal cords. I'm not a vocal scientist, so take everything I said there scientifically with a grain of salt.     If you look at those sound files. I didn't put compression, reverb, anything, I left raw. I bumped the mic at one point, so the proximity changed, but it's still very loud. It's not like a bunch of quiet, it can be very loud. But what I used to do, was strain and then hit the wall. And there is no way I could have kept ascending like that.

I like the way CVT gets rid of falsetto (they call it neutral with air, without air, or with twang basically), but we're stuck with it due to the cultural legacy.   As far as I can tell falsetto is a type of head voice. From what I've read, it's the way the vocal folds are phonating. As far as I understand there is less body of the vocal fold vibrating in falsetto, so it is a 'lighter' phonation where as fuller voices have more body of the vocal folds vibrating. The mysterious 'middle' voice might involve somewhere in between, more 'mass' of the vocal folds vibrating.    Compression does polish it, but you didn't need a 4:1 ratio considering your distance from the mic. It already sounded good. To be honest you already sound like you're doing a middle voice in places though.   Anyway, if the notes are comfortable for you, you don't need to change anything. But if you'd like I can try to get you a sound file of various ways of approaching the high note there when I get time to be loud.

  If it works for you, you should do it. But one thing you might try, is allowing the shouty quality to go a little more metallic. If you kind of bite into an an 'ay' sound you can almost imagine you're biting, and make sure your lower jaw is still tucked. It takes less air. It is very loud, but it's less airy. It's easier to control. For me that vowel, if I do it like that bridges all the way up to D5 as after A4 or so it starts lightening more and it doesn't feel restrained.   As far as I understand, all of the broadway belting requires less air. It's not about quietness. I'm not trying to get you to do a speech level singing mix voice. If you're hitting a limit, usually the bridge may not be functioning fully quite yet.

  I've found a kind of middle voice mix thing is less exhausting once you get it dialed in compared to a full on chesty wail. It's more of just a long term goal. I love chesty wails, aesthetically, but they can really tire you out. You can increase the power of the 'in between' voice so it sounds similar and is a lot more controllable than the chesty wail.   The main problem is the 'middle voice' has like 15 definitions that are competing. The one universal thing would probably be not blowing a bunch of air, supporting well, twanging, and use of resonance and thin out towards some kind of head voice. I get a bit plaintive a lot of the time, but if you pick the right vowel (and stay is a good one) you can keep the shouty quality without pushing for it.   Now, I don't agree with the scare tactics of pushing chest, cause I think everybody does it as a beginner and I don't know if people can even learn to sing well without sometimes pushing chest. I pushed chest for like 3 years with only mild fatigue to show for it. Joe Strummer is a personal hero of mine. I try to keep a primal energy in most things I do, but A4 is very high, and for me I couldn't do that without metering a few things. You may be a lighter voice type, I do believe it is probably a bit different from voice to voice.   Does your throat/voice feel the same way before and after singing like that? That's my test. When I would push chest I'd get mild fatigue in the support muscles around the larynx. Nowadays, I don't feel a difference before and after singing in those muscles. It's not really higher notes that are the biggest measurement of my improvement, it's more just that.

This is awesome. I agree, working on that space where you were hitting the chesty sound to be maybe a bit less effortful might be a good goal.    I personally prefer your style of falsetto over a lot of more aggressive head voice styles. I agree 'beautful' is a good word.   So yeah, I can parrot Burning_Rand a little more, but I just love your timbre and you've got great flowing intonation. You could go good places.

  Non breathy falsetto slide can actually be really useful for that. It can help with release. I know if I push chest like to the absolute max I could barely get an A4 once in a blue moon.  Exploring the bridge from the top makes it so you can release.  It was very important for someone like me, hahaha.   Another cool thing is when I reach that super high area, I can just use a turbo variant of that sound that is less and less connected.     If you listen there is a pretty intense section towards the end (2:50) I'm singing some pretty intense A#4, but then I release some into lightly connected C#5, and then release completely into an F#5.   Once you can control the amount of release somewhat in the voice, you can lighten the timbre towards that non breathy falsetto thingy. It will remove 'walls,' but you won't sing like Dio. Good thing you have Rob's program. Still it's better than having a wall, right?

I've never paid that much attention to Melissa Etheridge, but you rock. You've got lots of raw energy and are explosive. It's rare in female vocalists that will just explode like that. Well it's rare in male vocalists too, but yeah.   It rocks. I think I like your better than Melissa Etheridge. You're just less constrained, more explosive, and like you're willing to 'go there' wherever there is. Howling, screaming, whispering, raspy, clean, loud, quiet, whatever. 'There' sounds like a feeling. An emotion, and you go there.    Primal, good stuff.

  The sirening thing is normal. I can siren up to like an E5. Give me a guitar in my hands and make me sing and I am lucky to get an A#4 and start thinning more and more. Make sure you siren all vowels or at least modifications of them when that time comes.   Oh, one more thing, really immerse yourself in Rob's program there. Knowing Rob, eh probably has things structured in a good order for you that can accelerate your growth. So don't throw my suggestions in the trash, but make sure you put extra focus on his program. Rob's a pro.   I'm not a huge range guy, so I often focus elsewhere, but someone like Rob knows how to help a lot more than I would with more expertise and teaching experience.  So also take your time and don't rush things too much. There's a certain amount of things that just need some time. You'll get good places.

Can you do a non breathy falsetto ish sound yet? You might try nya - ing into that for a bit.   If you are having trouble finding this sound, if you say a vowel really fast. Like Uh oh! And then gradually extend the length, many people find it.   You could experiment with sliding that non breathy falsetto ish thing down. I found that really helpful for me.   I m ade this to help MDEW, so ignore the dying cat joke section in the beginning (or at least don't follow the advice, heh)   https://soundcloud.com/killerku/how-i-sing-young-elton-john   but at about 1:28 I begin with a 'here kitty' voice that is light but not super breathy. While training you can practice sliding this thing down imo if it just stops at the bridge. You can even nya into that voice. It can just help you learn to release the voice rather than keep pushing.

  You underestimate yourself.  You're already at a point where you don't offend ears, but your performance style is very low key to the point where, as she said it could be boring.   I think you got what it takes to take it to the next level, imo. And why not. If you've gotten started. I think you've got potential so why waste it and aim for mediocrity when you don't need to? 

I like this song which was introduced to me on this forum, although the original singer has a pretty exotic timbre.   I think you are maybe a bit echoing compared to the backing track in addition to the sssing thing. I like your phrasing, and the movement in your voice which sounds emotional to me, but it sounds like it could be refined a bit.   Some of the vocal movement is a bit slurred, not just from the essing, just lots of bent notes. If you were to maybe bend 40 percent less notes legato way and speed up a few of the bends here and there it might go in a more mainstream direction. I like bendy singing but you might want to experiment with teleporting to the next note a bit.    It's up to your desire as an artist as this already communicates something. I hear an element of character and charisma in there, but I think it could be more accesible while still retaining some of your charm, if that is a goal.

I went down to Georgia one time and I've got long blond hair. Wow, I've never gotten more attention in my life, both negative and positive. So I can relate to the topic.   I feel like you're improving in inflection. Like you are emphasizing certain syllables a bit more. I think you should take this concept a bit further as it can add dynamics even with conversational style delivery. You do drift off a bit much in volume a bit in the chorus, which is an interesting approach.   Anyway, I think you should consider taking this concept further and pick certain words or syllables to highlight with a bit more volume (punch), and clearer enunciation,  make some stronger, and some more delicate to let them wisp. Just 'emphasis.' It could help things from being droney and monotonous with a lower conversationaly pitch range.   Think about which parts of the song make you feel a different way. And you might find they call out to you and make you want to do this naturally. Like some parts would be more firm or forceful and other parts would be more delicate and gentle. You can communicate a lot of emotions with speech. People can often tell whether someone is sad, happy, angry, hurt, jealous, spiteful, etc, just by the way things are said. I think incorporating this as much as you can would give you a lot more dynamics than even some people with 5 octave ranges.   Keep at it, and I do hear progress. I think it could be taken further.

I liked it but you sound in control of this stuff so I don't have much to help with. I'm a big fan of talk singing ish kinds of genres and you have quite a bit of character already in the first half. The timbre sounds good. There's just a hint of a little rasp that audiences likely relate to.   Second half is a bit more singier. It still sounds good. Is there anything you're struggling with. If you post something that is outside your comfort zone maybe more anonymously (not on your youtube channel where you already have fans, etc), people might be able to give help. You sound like you're in your zone here though.

You sound a bit like you might be holding back volume as well as your face. It's good intonation, nice pretty timbre, pretty hair.   Stick around and grow braver, or edit a fake smiley face on top of your real face in video editing software (or more realistically just extract the audio from your videos). I'd love to help all I can, but I feel like I don't have that much to work with as you do this volume and light timbre well already and other areas of the voice require different coordinations.   If you step outside your comfort zone there might be more things people can help with. But anyway, it's great to have you here. Stick around and give us more hair.

I love it. It's a great time. Hahahaa. I've never heard you remotely in this context. So infectious. I love you in a Gospel context. I'm a huge soul fan so I guess when your voice is steered that direction it lights me up.   So 10 years ago you were already more skilled than I am.

I'm not an expert, and hopefully Rob can chime in since it is his program, but I do believe you are including more twang in the second sample. It also seems like your resonance is shifting to more more nasal place.   As a quick fix for getting a twangy witchy position. I find saying 'nya nya nya nya' like a witch can be helpful. Tongue high and wide, right, Rob should be helping you a lot with Twang. But the important thing to understand about hat is the 'n' consonant will be nasal by necessity, but when you go into the 'ya' section you can change the sound color to include more pharyngeal resonance as per taste.   You can even say like 'nyook' like book, or 'nyoke.' It it is easiest to find twangy thing on a nasal sound, but it is ultimately like an ingredient. And later you'll be able to add and remove it to other sounds a bit.   When twang is isolated is isolated as much as possible in my voice it sounds very ugly indeed. Don't worry about it sounding pretty, but overall my non expert opinion is you're going in a good direction and sounds like Rob's program is steering you pretty well.