MDEW

The whole vowel modification thing is finding a throat shape that works for you. Have you ever listened to Bon Scott on early AC/DC? Did you wonder why you cannot understand a thing that he was singing? it was not because he was singing with marbles in his mouth, it was because that is the throat shape that allows him to sing that high.
  The proper UH for you may be something that does not even sound like UH. A fine example of Vowel modification is Adele Listen to her speak and then listen to her sing. There are many Videos of her performing live. I use her as an example because of the BIG difference between her speaking voice and her singing voice.

The whole problem is that even if someone where to say Jon, Drop your jaw a little more, cut back the air and sing UH instead of Oh. It still may not work because your perception of UH may be different, The jaw may still not drop enough, The throat shape may still be off and you still may not be getting enough closure or twang even though you think you are and the so called expert would still be wrong and a quack even though he gave the answer. It does not work until YOU find it through Guidance and experimentation but YOU still need to experience it before it works. So many things about singing are confusing and seem backward until you experience it and THEN you end up saying "OH, Thats what that jerk was talking about".

And knowing this, why would any of the "So called Experts" respond in the first place?  You already have your answer. You gave it yourself. Vowel modification and you are not strong enough yet. And it is not Strength in musculature, it is strength in coordination that takes practice and honing in on your own physical make up. C5 is normally in another place of passage just like E4 to G4 where you used to just flip and go into falsetto. The same rules apply here at C5.
      I am no expert and never claimed to be. I am learning and training like every one else. And when someone asks a question or is trying to make a point the terms become important to give and receive a proper responce.
      By the way the answer depends on how big the angels are and how big of a pin they are dancing on. I do not know if the material the pin is made out of makes a difference in this universe but in another universe it may.

The whole vowel modification thing is finding a throat shape that works for you. Have you ever listened to Bon Scott on early AC/DC? Did you wonder why you cannot understand a thing that he was singing? it was not because he was singing with marbles in his mouth, it was because that is the throat shape that allows him to sing that high.
  The proper UH for you may be something that does not even sound like UH. A fine example of Vowel modification is Adele Listen to her speak and then listen to her sing. There are many Videos of her performing live. I use her as an example because of the BIG difference between her speaking voice and her singing voice.

And knowing this, why would any of the "So called Experts" respond in the first place?  You already have your answer. You gave it yourself. Vowel modification and you are not strong enough yet. And it is not Strength in musculature, it is strength in coordination that takes practice and honing in on your own physical make up. C5 is normally in another place of passage just like E4 to G4 where you used to just flip and go into falsetto. The same rules apply here at C5.
      I am no expert and never claimed to be. I am learning and training like every one else. And when someone asks a question or is trying to make a point the terms become important to give and receive a proper responce.
      By the way the answer depends on how big the angels are and how big of a pin they are dancing on. I do not know if the material the pin is made out of makes a difference in this universe but in another universe it may.

Sure beats "All about that Bass" and "Let,me holla', Let me holla', Wanna Holla' at you', Let me holla' at you, Come on and Holla' " Real song. Made it to the big time. Those are the only words.  .........    Kinda makes ya sick doesn't it?
 
  I like your Lyrics pretty cool Keep up the good work.
   Words are not that hard to write,  Jewel wrote about her morning routine and putting her Makeup on, Alanis Morissette wrote about having her hand in her pocket. Even I sometimes have a cool day to write about.

Perhaps I was just projecting my own melody choice. I think you are correct and that is a G#4 on Gotta. The more I listen to it the more I like it.

I like it. You have a pretty good start. I would not worry about the lyrics being bland, my wife listens to a song where the ONLY lyrics are "Go on and Holler" "Let me here you Holler" "Holler" "Holler" " "Let me hear you Holler".   I hate that song.
    On those parts where you are starting to get higher in the song, you may be loosing the key center. Use your guitar and play the melody over the chords and see if you need to maybe sing a higher or lower note here and there to stay in key with the background music.
     I have to do this sometimes to help find the correct singing note.
     Love the guitar work.

great job as always Ellise.

Twang happens when the area above the vocal folds is decreased or the epiglottis is tilted/engaged.... The epiglottis is made of cartilage and covers the wind pipe when swallowing helping to keep food out of the wind pipe. In the picture below, see those muscles arranged in an X those close the epiglottis, some of those fibers continue and are part of the vocal cords. That is how engaging TWANG helps close the vocal cords. Whether you want to view it as Twanging the epiglottis or engaging the aryepiglottic sphincter, or narrowing above the vocal folds It does not matter, that is where TWANG happens. It also helps to close the vocal cords.
 

Twang happens when the area above the vocal folds is decreased or the epiglottis is tilted/engaged.... The epiglottis is made of cartilage and covers the wind pipe when swallowing helping to keep food out of the wind pipe. In the picture below, see those muscles arranged in an X those close the epiglottis, some of those fibers continue and are part of the vocal cords. That is how engaging TWANG helps close the vocal cords. Whether you want to view it as Twanging the epiglottis or engaging the aryepiglottic sphincter, or narrowing above the vocal folds It does not matter, that is where TWANG happens. It also helps to close the vocal cords.
 

Lowering of volume was a poor choice........... But I did mean to keep from over powering the folds and causing them to blow open. Beginning the process of Training, finding the correct vowel(Throat shape) to do what you want is also a part of the  process.
            Things like vocal fold mass(amount of cord vibrating) and sub glottal pressure is not inherent  in the vowel itself, it may lead to certain vowel choices or shades but the vowel does not dictate the amount of mass and pressure, The amount of mass and pressure may dictate the vowel choices.
 Yeah, I know I confuse myself also when I type things like that.

Yes the Lyrics will dictate the vowels for the most part but after a certain point you need to modify the vowels. That is where the phrase "you do not sing like you speak" comes from. This is also the point of Acoustic Modes in the TVS program.
   Vowel modification is also a big factor in the Formant Tuning concept. Singing vowels are different from speaking vowels.
  American English has a lot of dipthongs. The long I sound is Ah-ee  sometimes the choice would be to modify the EE portion to a short i sound as in sit. You may want to drop the EE portion completely and just sing Ah instead of Ah-EE  depending on where the vowel sits in a phrase or Pitch range

JonJon, I just had the chance to listen to your sirens. You can even see that the second siren in your first clip is almost perfect. My browser shows the little sound graph. in the second siren there is no low energy spot you just switch to a solid sound.
 I never had trouble producing a pitch between F#4 and E5. My trouble was sounding like Miss Piggy, Ethel Merman or Edith Bunker. When I tried to maintain a masculine sound that is when the Flipping/choking at F#4 happened.
   You have a nice solid tone throughout. Singing lighter is about shedding vocal cord weight and reducing sound volume.
   One thing that people do not think about in terms of light singing and Heavy singing is that if you have a heavy cord closure or more mass to the folds as you ascend and approach the passaggio you reduce vocal mass before shifting. If you are already singing light you do not reduce mass you just increase pressure as you shift. If you are singing light and try to lighten more at the shift you will lose connection and flip to falsetto.

Sounded good Jeremy. Glad to have you back. I hope everything goes well with the move.

Sirens? Sub-Glottal Pressure? Good training ethics... Hmm, you must have a good training program. 
Hope all is going well for you Jon... don't be a stranger, feel free to reach out if you like.
Coach

JonJon, I just had the chance to listen to your sirens. You can even see that the second siren in your first clip is almost perfect. My browser shows the little sound graph. in the second siren there is no low energy spot you just switch to a solid sound.
 I never had trouble producing a pitch between F#4 and E5. My trouble was sounding like Miss Piggy, Ethel Merman or Edith Bunker. When I tried to maintain a masculine sound that is when the Flipping/choking at F#4 happened.
   You have a nice solid tone throughout. Singing lighter is about shedding vocal cord weight and reducing sound volume.
   One thing that people do not think about in terms of light singing and Heavy singing is that if you have a heavy cord closure or more mass to the folds as you ascend and approach the passaggio you reduce vocal mass before shifting. If you are already singing light you do not reduce mass you just increase pressure as you shift. If you are singing light and try to lighten more at the shift you will lose connection and flip to falsetto.

JonJon, I just had the chance to listen to your sirens. You can even see that the second siren in your first clip is almost perfect. My browser shows the little sound graph. in the second siren there is no low energy spot you just switch to a solid sound.
 I never had trouble producing a pitch between F#4 and E5. My trouble was sounding like Miss Piggy, Ethel Merman or Edith Bunker. When I tried to maintain a masculine sound that is when the Flipping/choking at F#4 happened.
   You have a nice solid tone throughout. Singing lighter is about shedding vocal cord weight and reducing sound volume.
   One thing that people do not think about in terms of light singing and Heavy singing is that if you have a heavy cord closure or more mass to the folds as you ascend and approach the passaggio you reduce vocal mass before shifting. If you are already singing light you do not reduce mass you just increase pressure as you shift. If you are singing light and try to lighten more at the shift you will lose connection and flip to falsetto.

This is  not a song I would normally try to cover but my wife has been playing it over and over. I needed to record it to get it to stop playing in my head.
   Any thoughts on what I need to improve on is welcome.
     
 

Yeah, At 53 as far as health goes, I am in the PINK, Pretty much all day I am "Comfortably Numb".  No need for meds.......... Life did that to me.

Congratulations, You are just like the rest of the male population. Singing is NOT instinctive, there are many aspects that go into it. Best answer is to get a GOOD teacher or GOOD program. "The Four Pillars of Singing" is a good program.
   That being said, the reason you sound the way you do when you speak is do to a coordination you are using. You could just as easily speak lower and sound like  an advertising announcer. When speaking we use things like accents, inflections and other types of adjustments that are learned from our environments that  we do not use in singing. Figuring out all of this stuff is almost impossible on our own.

I always thought that it was Fair use for educational purposes and Commentary or parody..............Gneetapp, Maybe you are just too good and no one will want to hear the screeching of Axle anymore after they hear you.

I always thought that it was Fair use for educational purposes and Commentary or parody..............Gneetapp, Maybe you are just too good and no one will want to hear the screeching of Axle anymore after they hear you.

Yeah, At 53 as far as health goes, I am in the PINK, Pretty much all day I am "Comfortably Numb".  No need for meds.......... Life did that to me.

Congratulations, You are just like the rest of the male population. Singing is NOT instinctive, there are many aspects that go into it. Best answer is to get a GOOD teacher or GOOD program. "The Four Pillars of Singing" is a good program.
   That being said, the reason you sound the way you do when you speak is do to a coordination you are using. You could just as easily speak lower and sound like  an advertising announcer. When speaking we use things like accents, inflections and other types of adjustments that are learned from our environments that  we do not use in singing. Figuring out all of this stuff is almost impossible on our own.