aravindmadis

Good one Ron.. What I actually meant to ask was this..  When to approach the note from the headvoice(down and descending into the note).. I interpret Beast's comment on finding a fuller sound as starting from chest(spoken voice) and finding a configuration that works.. I am finding that while it does give me some good options on lower notes, when I reach around my passagio, I am always confused whether to approach from top or from bottom.. 

If I approach from top, there is a limit beyond which I cannot access my full sound..  This is what I meant.. 

Aravind, you are some kind of tenor I would say but does this really matter? What matters is that you learn how to use your own voice. It's deeper and fuller than you think it is.

Not that it matters to me.. But why is the deepest and fullest voice the best tonally?  Does this mean you have to use chest voice as much as you can(alternately as much as chest as possible in the mix)?  For e.g. beyond A4, I have to get into head voice completely(I think)..

I am someone from engineering background and therefore I like to know things in terms of math if possible(if you know what I mean).. 

Just one question.. Based on what you have heard of my voice and the timbre in various songs, am I a "low voice" or a "high voice"?  

Sounds pretty nice, I'm jealous of that upper range.  Also, that starting falsetto was pure as hell.  Sounded beautiful.   

Wish I could take the credit for the starting falsetto, but I cant since it belongs to the great Freddie Mercury!      

But yes, the upper range is my voice 

Gneetapp, Ronws, Bono, AlbertoGuru.. Thank you all for your kind comments..  

This is a relatively easy song for me. I actually did in one take and only redid two words because I thought they sounded "too happy".. My actual worth as a singer gets exposed when I do tougher songs!!!!       

I would like to hear a deeper warmer tone. I know you have it but you've been hiding it from us

More likely, I have been hiding it from myself  .  All the wonders of modern technology and a condenser microphone!  I cannot get a lot of volume this low!  Notes this low used to be a REAL struggle for me until I read your comment about thinking about singing in terms of our own spoken voice.. So a big thank you to you.. 

I still cannot get a lot of volume on low notes, but I guess it is not an issue since the listener really hears only an auditory illusion of the singer

Hi Folks.. 

Trying out something slightly different this time.. This is one of my favorite songs.  If I listen intently, it always moves me to tears. 

Thanks to anyone who gives a listen and drops in a sentence or two. Please spot if my delivery in the mid-low region is good.. 

Hi Folks.. Thought of doing this song since valentine's day is nearby     

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0L9fslJShPA

I agree with Bono.

 

Aravind, I would love to hear what your lower range sounds like. Could you post something?

 

How you're approaching your lower and mid range is quite important for your higher range. A lot of people take the lower range for granted just because they speak there and can sing there easily but that doesn't make it correct... The small mistakes you make in your lower range will often turn into big mistakes by the time you get to your higher range.

 

Range is not a problem. Instead you should focus on quality. You need to get familiar with how your voice is supposed to sound like. What is "home base" for your voice. A teacher can help you with that.

Beast.. I will do that..I have long wanted to cover "Silent lucidity" by Queensryche and i will post it in a few days.. That is about as low as I can go.. I will also recording me speaking so that you can see if there is any difference.. 

I understand what you mean by "Home base" for the voice.  I have historically recorded an practiced with effects on and I am pretty sure it has affected the way I sing, practice and record.  Only very recently I started recroding with "direct monitor" and instantly I could feel a difference.  I am also buying an amp for my headphones, since the volume with direct monitoring is very low on 2i2 with my headphones(HD 280 pro).. I am not happy with how I hear my voice.  I am hoping it will help.. Also, it took me a long time to learn to bridge and connect properly and I did not frankly speaking focus on tone at all till.  

Till very very recently, I had no idea how to sing low and middle range notes(maybe I still don't).  I used to get out of breath very soon while singing legatos.  Only after reading your feedback about spoken voice, I started to think about it and started singing a little differently.  

I feel that the various parts of my voice are coming together and I will be able to see some improvements in the months to come.. 

Wow!!! ...Fabulous job

What a cool and unique voice.. Love  the way you weave in and out of falsetto(at least sounds like it) and make it sound like one voice.  You make it sound very simple! How long have you been singing.. It obviously takes a lot of skill to do this.. 

Your mix actually sounds good!!!  I was terrible at mixing initially.. I have improved over the last year or so and it makes so much difference to my songs.  Like singing you have to work at it!! Like 80-20 or 90-10... 

Hey Aravind, You were singing pretty much all the notes right, but it felt shouty to me, as if you were trying to push hard to reach the notes. I think you would benefit if you added the cry to your singing. As this song is light and more mellow, you don't need to approach it as a typical hard rock song, you can go a bit lighter just adding the cry, and it will also help you conserving energy. Still, awesome first attempt! Way better than when I first tried this. If you need help to understand how to produce the cry I talked about, you could check Tony O'Hora's videos (vocal power UK). When I first watched them they didn't help me at all because I didn't get how he did it, but then it made so much sense to me. I hope it helps. Keep on rocking man!

Thanks, I will check it out..  I am actually not even sure that I am belting(which I understand as singing with loud volume) or spending a lot of energy.. That I think is an auditory illusion when you hear the intensity and grit.  I am actually pretty relaxed singing this song.. Maybe I will take the time to record a video.. In my singing, I always try to visualize myself being completely relaxed even singing very difficult songs.  I now have confidence in my range and more importantly bridging to be relaxed(mentally and physically).. 

This song gives the illusion that the singer is actually killing himself, but really, I am not!  

Sounds good, but to be really honest I heard again the cartoon sound... not all the time, though.. This is a hard song and I think you will sing it very well. But personally, I would leave for later this track and try some songs that include some low notes

Thanks Bono.. I wouldn't try this out in an audition!  My approach to singing is always to try to sing the song out of my reach or "just" out of my reach/skill set.. I have nothing to lose in this forum and I always hear interesting feedback that takes me to newer areas/styles that I would't normally know.  

Bono... Sounds amazing..  Are you a professional singer?  

What an awesome voice..  So low and yet so unbelievably without stress & only this kind of voice can sound so good with just an acoustic guitar.. I guess this means your vocal fach is bass..

Awesome.. Liked your interpretation of Livin on a Prayer more than this!  

Freakin awesome.. Felipe when you find time can you please share some tips on how you mix?  I am hearing the song in shitty speakers and they still sound incredible!  

Hello man!

 

Well one good point is that it is sounding relaxed. Is it comfortable?

 

The bad part is that it is indeed nasal as it goes . Also, when you began the second verse, "circus life", you let it fall from the position and was even a bit airy. 

 

 

Try this, do the same you do currently, with slight changes. First try to just open more your mouth. Then, think of a SLIGHT yawn, you should still feel it the same, almost as if going through the nose, but when recorded the nasalance should be gone.

 

Hope it helps!

 

Oh btw, dial back the backing vocals and try using panning to separate them

Thanks Felipe.  Yes it is relaxed and comfortable.  I seem to have an issue with a low soft palete that is indeed causing the nasality in my songs.  I have been working on raising it and frankly I am amazed at how much difference it makes to my mid range notes and specifically with clarity of my pronunciation.  I can't believe that I have not been doing this all along.  The issue for me however, is to get the co-ordination to bridge is something that I have to learn again for all the songs.  It is like driving a left hand drive car(we drive right hand drive cars in India).  You can relate to it, but you need to spend time to get accustomed to it.  I am pretty sure that I can address this in my singing and my future recordings.. 

Hi Aravind,

 

This is what I hear: you are singing it with a whiny high larynx sound which might have helped you in the past thin out your voice and get to the high notes but the thing is this sound is tense. At least some of your pitch issues will be corrected as you find more relaxation in your voice. So maybe it's time for you to find a more relaxed sound closer to your speaking voice?

 

Do you work with a teacher?

Sexybeast(awesome name BTW). It has been pointed to me by others in other songs that I may have a low soft palete/low larynx issue. You are right in saying that the "whiny" sound was easier to help me reach higher notes.  I have been trying to shed the nasality and I am practicing singing now in front of a mirror.  I find that I have to unlearn some of my habits and practice singing songs as though I am singing them for the first time again.  I am having some promising initial results and find that I can indeed sing in another way which is not as nasal, but it requires me to develop muscle memory for that configuration.  I am continuing to work hard and I think I will see some improvements over the next few weeks. 

I don't work with a teacher.  I am a self taught singer and this may be the reason why I take a long time to fix some issues.  I have been meaning to set up time with Rob over skype(I am in India), but I have made it a resolution to spend on it only when I get income from singing.  It is not easy to get vocal coaches in India who can teach me the way I want to be taught(especially the genres of music that I like to sing).. 

Aravanid, the sound you're getting on Creep and Bring Me Your Daughter is less nasal from what I can hear (I would have to hear you in person without reverb to know for sure, but I'm fairly confident about this) although still very pinched on your twang compression in the passaggio range and above. It sounds much better to my ears but even some may not like it. Anyways, you could start from whatever you did there - and do rework on those songs, they seem to suit your voice better than the latest few - but work on reducing twang compression and any tensions you feel around the neck, jaw, tongue area, - and increasing breath support to make up for it, and you might find a good balance from that. And allow the larynx to lower too - don't force it but understand as you free up the throat and use more breath support, the larynx will naturally sit lower and you'll find you can sing high notes with a deeper tone more like you are maintaining the tonal quality of your the most beautiful version of your speaking voice - when your high range starts sounding like that that's when you know you're doing really great!

Owen, next time I will post a raw vocal track.  My mixing skills are distinctly average to non-existent!  I have never really thought about tension in neck/jaw/toungue and what impact it has on singing. 

I used to not warm up properly before recording.  I used to "warm up" by singing from easiest song and over 30-40 min move to tougher songs.  After purchasing the pillars, recently, I have started using the vocal workouts as my warm up(typically around 20-30 min).  I do Hum,hung, Hun(really like that) and after some time, I do "The Hero" which I really like.  Strangely, after singing last night I could feel more pain in the neck muscle(not the throat) externally on one side.  

I am going to work on raising the soft palete and my understanding that automatically the larynx will come down.  Let me experiment for a few weeks and then do a repost.. And next time I will post a video so that folks can tell me if they spot something.  

I am very happy to know that there are things I can improve upon.  This tells me I have more ability in me and it is a matter of hardwork and spending time, both which I am willing to do. Thank you for you feedback. 

KillerKu, thanks for the links.  Serj's voice sounds similar to Klaus Meine from Scorpions, a singer that I like  

In my case the nasality is certainly not intentional or cultural.  Traditional Indian music has no nasal qualities! It is a glitch in my technique and I think I can fix it. 

After reading a few posts regarding soft palette, I experimented visualizing eating an apple before singing notes.  I could instantly feel less strain and more power.  I think I don't open the mouth in general a lot(as Rob says embouchure).  I think I need to see myself sing to make this change!    

Thanks Owen & Jarom.  I have something to work on!  I continue to be amazed at how much people here can help even without even seeing me sing in person.  I did some quick research and looks like training the soft palate is quite hard!  I plan to do a version of this song once I have fixed that issue.  

One more question.  I can now understand what you mean, but I seem to have this problem for specific songs and not all the songs(maybe I indeed do, but likely to a lesser extent).  Does this issue of soft palete and nasality get more pronounced in specific condititions like for e.g. singing in the passagion OR singing low head voice OR light mass coordination? The reason I am asking is to develop the intuition to know when I am likely going wrong.  

Honestly I really don't like your tone, it kind of annoys me, to quacky. However I can tell you really really get into the song and thats a good thing. Even though I don't Like your tone I am positive people do and will. if I were you I would work on vowel modification. For example on the lyrics "Highway run" it sounds to me like your singing "Highway one" If your having trouble singing run try singing rahn or rehn.

Hi Jarom.. Can you point to a specific line where you find the tone too quacky? Or a time in the recording?  What typically should one do to sound less quacky? Does the solution lie in a lower larynx?  If so or if any other problem, what can I do to practice and solve this? 

My vowel modification is quite weak..While I speak English regularly althought it is not my first language, I am just getting started on the path to understand difference between spoken english and sung english and I am yet to reach the chapter on Vowel modifications in Rob's book! 

I am happy to be able to sing all the notes, but I definitely do want to understand how to make changes to my tone!  Thank you for your feedback.. 

I feel I have made some improvements to my singing to post a second take of this song.  I feel like I have more "easy" power in my higher notes and my singing in the passagio has improved from the last time. 

This is a very very difficult song for me.  I had to really work on each note and use vowel modifications to sing this song.   I think I made a zillion takes before I felt happy and would never attempt to sing this song live!   

The mix I feel is frankly not good at all, but I am really lost on how to improve it.  Any suggestions will be appreciated