Matakka

Couldn't help...   love the song and love the idea! And I can't stop singing ))
sorry for the short version, but I had to do it in a higher key and the minus track I found turned out to be a short one...
 

My attempt
 
George

Breathy Voices:
 
Perfect timing, Matakka. I had some time when warming up today. So I figured I might be able to help both of you. So I'll start with the breathy voice. The breathy voice is when the vocal folds in the larynx are more apart. You probably know how to whisper, which is an extreme version of breathy voice with no voice.
 
In English, the "H" consonant is basically the breath control consonant so adding more of the feeling of that consonant. Yawning and sighing at the same time can help achieve a really relaxed natural position for things to be breathy.
 
However you should pay attention, because breathier voices on average are more fatiguing on the vocal folds, because there is so much air blowing past them. It's fine to use, but you'd want to rest it. And the other thing, the breathier you get, the lighter your tone should be (closer to falsetto). The thickness of the a voice is partially controlled by how closed the vocal folds are, so if they are closed and you're trying to be breathy, it can put excess pressure.
 
I made this sound file that might help here:
 
https://app.box.com/s/j8s6vh4kkwenvu55u4vby3cho6pbrsi6
 
I explain a few things, but since English isn't your first language, you might have to just listen for the sounds. I sang snippets of Happy, Unchained Melody with ligher voices. But I showed a fuller voice singing Valerie, but those fuller sounds are more advanced and you want to be careful how much you add.
 
Non Breathy Voices
 
 
So on the flip side and for Krispian this might be helpful for you. If you sing or speak breathy and you don't know how to reduce this, I made something that might help you.  What is going on is your vocal folds are more apart. One of the best exercises I've found for reducing breathiness in a fairly intuitive way, is to say a vowel very quickly. Like 'uh oh.' And then gradually extend the vowel out until it is longer.
 
Now the only thing about this exercise, is it might create too much closure, more tha you want. So it can help to add the feeling of an invisible 'H.' Like a tiny cushion.
 
And for Krispian, I don't know if your native language is English, but I tried to explain it a bit. If you don't understand, the sounds are still demonstrated. At the end I showed what it would be like to sing Stevie Wonder breathy, how I would have to lighten the timbre, vs if I sing it not breathy, I could add more closure.
 
https://app.box.com/s/dt6rg9ryrcw4i64b94wf2lbj72jysohy
 
I hope these can help, it's really useful to be able to control the amount. In general, kind of a medium thing is fine. Fuller thicker notes, require less breathy.

Hi everyone,
  just sharing another singing try. After a short time of taking singing lessons I feel like my old «mechanism» of singing has been somewhat broken and the new one is still far-far-far from at least being there anytime I need. Just wondering if I’m going in the right direction, did I gain more support of my voice? or am I just shouting?    

That's interesting. For me support is more like maintaining an expansion and keeping some engagement? Have you tried the exercise I've mentioned a few times elsewhere of the inhale through a real straw or invisible straw (small mouth opening) and exhaling an 'sssss' hissing sound (kind of like a snake) until you run out of breath yet. Repeating this exercise a few times, while feeling the area below your chest and above your belly. If you don't raise you shoulders, and feel engagement down there in your diaphragm, for me I get a bit of expansion, and it feels a bit anchored, but doesn't feel squeezed.
 
People have varying ideas of support (some people even talk about like 'toilet squeezing') , but for most scenarios you don't need to squeeze or have huge tension. So if it feels like you have to squeeze too much you may want to keep dialing in with support.
 
As for the second thing, never close those doors. You never know what might come up on your signing journeys. I'd rather hear you on the radio too.

Hi everyone,
 
Here's another try of singing, after taking a few lessons at music school. Trying to feel my chest voice here, so my diction is far from perfect because of that
The good thing is that I sang it without any tension in my throat. And I think I kind of moved that tension into my abs (diaphragm?) and concentrated on that. Is that actually the right feeling to catch?
And I wonder if I sound better or is it just an easier song..
 

 
Thank you.

See, you have the opposite problem as me. I have no problems singing in front of others, My mother said I was shameless. Although that might have to do with me resembling Shreck. People just wait patiently for me to get tired and go away, of my own accord. However, I make mistakes when recording and I have been learning how to fix those and that it is okay to take the time to fix those.
 
With Audacity, you can import a sound file such as a karaoke track into it and then record a separate track of your voice into it. There are programs out there that will rip the music from a video. Or you can buy karaoke tracks at itunes for like a couple of cents USD. Or, if you play a musical instrument or have a friend that does, they can record the music as a separate track.
 
Monitoring is how you are hearing the music while you sing against it. What you are doing now is acoustic monitoring, where the music is playing on a loudspeaker and you are singing with it. If it was a track in audacity, you could monitor or hear the music in headphones while recording a new track with your voice on it. Audacity can have some horrible latency (lag between playback and recorded material) so do NOT choose the playthrough option. You can adjust latency but the problem is that you can make it so short that there is not enough time for the full signal of playback, causing skips and clips. Better to get a usb interface with its own live monitor function.
 
My M-audio M-track has that. Adjustable input and output. Live monitor through my headphones. Panning button lets me vary how much live mic versus how much playback from audacity, so that I can adjust how much of my voice I hear in relation to the music, more or less. Or I can sing with one can off, either way. I am so used to hearing whatever room I am in that I sometimes feel more comfortable doing that.

Now I'm really nervous posting this, because the audacity version of my voice doesn't sound good to me   Anyway, here it goes:
 

 
I hear i'm out of tune in some places, but the good thing i guess it would mostly be the chest voice (except the highest notes).
Anyway, it should be a more objective picture (sound) of my voice, so thank you for great advice, KillerKu!

When training voice, everyone will stumble across tension here and there. The goal will be doing your best while keeping it to a minimum, while still exploring your voice. Some styles would have more muscular activation than others, but the keys are to try to never go hoarse or feel pain, if it feels really sore or wrong, you want to change your approach. Sounds like you're already trying some of this.
 
You've got a really good point on the software settings over the mic. Can you download the Mac version of this program:
 
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
 
And simply record yourself speaking or singing a little into the mic? Nothing fancy, no reverb, none of that stuff. I don't use Garageband so I can't help with settings there, but there is pretty much a 'record' button in Audacity if it knows which mic you're using. That would give the clearest picture of what is the mic and what is the recording program settings. It could be that live performance mode turns on some serious cheesy karaoke effects.
 
You'd sound best with a little reverb, a little touch up but the super effects sound like a 10 dollar karaoke machine. If it ends up being the mic, we can look into cheap, but good possibilities at a later date. 

Hi KillerKu,
 
thank you for your comment!
yes, this one is my most recent one on soundcloud. I'm glad to know there is some progress.
 
No, this tone didn't feel strained. This would be actually the most comfortable tone for me, but if i go on higher and louder notes, i would definitely feel some tension. It shouldn't be there, right? That's the way i'm practicing now - trying to catch that feeling when my voice goes distinct and smooth and at the same time produces no strain. Not sure if that would be the right way tho, am considering to find a teacher who would tell me 
 
I wonder if some settings on recording software might help to produce a better sound (I'm using live performance mode on Garageband on mac), because i'm not really so deep into my singing hobby as to buy a new mic yet  maybe after i find a good music studio and take some lessons, i'll make a studio recording.

Hi everyone, happy new year!
 
Here's another try from me, would be grateful for any critique! 
(Couldn't hit loud notes because recorded that at late night)