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maxwellsdemon

TMV World Legacy Member
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  1. So I clicked the mysterious link just now! Not sure what happened yet, but I'm hoping for some kind of in-person week long workshop! John
  2. zuzostar, I have worked with both methods, and taken a vocal intensive with Rob. I plan on meeting Kevin some day too. When I decided to shell out for an in-person vocal intensive lesson about two years ago, which both coaches offer, this is why I chose Rob: 1) Pillars 2.0 was just out, and was a substantially larger and a more technical method than Breaking the Chains (which was also new at the time, I think). Kevin's method is also sufficiently technical, of course, but Rob's is more so. 2) I live in the southwest, and Seattle was a much cheaper destination for me. New York City is notoriously expensive to stay in (awesome as the town is). For me, price is definitely an object, and I managed to keep my total trip cost to less than 2 times the lesson price itself. Depending on where you live and where you have friends, this calculation may be different for you. 3) This blog is much better and more technically useful than anything Kevin is on, at least that I know about, and is loaded with fellow students of Rob, using the same vocal language that Rob uses. Plus Rob himself is on it, duh. I was also interested in pricing out a lesson with Jaime Vendura (still am) but could find absolutely no information about what city his studio is in, or any useful contact info. I'm pretty worried about his lesson price, given this situation where he was not (at least at the time) soliciting students. Here is the main thing, I think. Both Kevin and Rob teach compatible methods, as far as I can tell. Rob uses his own language (which is very useful), but if you took a lesson with Rob then Kevin, or vice-versa, neither coach is going to beat you up and tell you to unlearn the other guy. They will use different language on occasion, ("bite the apple" vs. "intrinsic anchoring", whatever) but you could definitely study with both coaches simultaneously. I would like to. The only substantial difference that I can think of off hand is Kevin's acceptance of the concept of "mix", and Rob's famous rejection of it. This sounds like a big difference I know, but I've worked both methods and I never ask myself if I should use Rob's technique versus Kevin's for whatever vocal thing I'm working on. I don't use the concept of mix myself, but it does not interfere with anything really that Kevin teaches in the end. If you go study with either coach, they focus on the same thing: 1) sing high rock/metal songs, with mostly clear voice Neither is a complete musical education; you will not learn particularly efficiently 1) music theory 2) playing in time 3) genres too far out of the rock/metal lane. But honestly, we are both reading this particular blog together and what do we want from these guys? HIGH ROCK VOCALS. That's what we want, and it's what these two guys teach. Rob coached me through Dream Theater's "Surrounded" on the second day of my lesson. Another day was Queensryche's "Eyes of a Stranger". You are not going to get that anywhere else. Not your local music teachers, not any traditional classically trained teachers. Not gonna happen. Dream who? For reference, I came into rock singing with an extensive university background in theory and composition, so I really am looking only for this one thing from these coaches. You may be in a different position. You really want to take real lessons from these guys. That's how you get the real training. Rob offers more of his real material for free, largely on his website and this blog. Kevin gives away a little for free, but honestly a lot of the youtube material he has is mostly teaser. If you pay them, so they can earn a living, the experience changes dramatically. That's when they really open up and teach you anything that they can, and you ask for. For me, I studied Breaking the Chains first (I got it first). I hammered it really hard for a couple of months. My bridging and support was coming right along, then I discovered this blog, and with it, Pillars 2.0. I hammered that for another couple of months, including a two week stretch when my wife was away over the holidays, and I put in four hours each day. Got another quantum leap in vocal skill doing that. THEN I went to Seattle to study with Rob in person for four days in a row, three hours each day. So in one year (two years ago), I grew more as a high rock vocalist than I had in the previous ten. Before Breaking the Chains, I literally thought I was screwed because I was a baritone, and that only natural tenors could sing rock. So that was basically starting with no head voice or bridging at all, to a very satisfying level of rock singing in one year studying with these methods. Do it, it will turn your life upside down! One final thing: just because you think now you want a particular thing (more chest resonance or whatever), abandon that thought and just go learn everything. It all interacts; you can't go for just one singing aspect at a time. When you get the tone you seek, you will also sing in better tune, with less fatique, perhaps vibrato or grit if you want it bad enough, all for the same effort. John
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