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spam11

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Hi I am looking for tips on practising in cold weather. Let me give you some background, I have been having singing/vocal lessons for 3 weeks had my 4th lesson yesterday, Although pleased that I had been practising all of the exercises quite dilligently I made a note to my teacher that I was mostly practising in an outdoor spot, as this is the only place I seem to be able to do it privately, she said it was ok, then one night I practised in a field close to home, it was bitterly cold that night, this was after work, as I find it hard to practise at work (weekends). And it made me feel really groggy, I hadnt practised as much this past week because of that, she said I probably shouldnt practise in the extreme cold, e.g I tried to practise in the fridge at work (catering), I know not to do that again, it definately had an effect, but she said at the moment the climate is probably similar to that of inside a fridge, however she was ok with me practising like that for two weeks, personally I dont think she was sure.

My last lesson (yesterday) was not on form,, I ran to the lesson at the last minute so as not to be late, my water had gone really cold, and I sensed that air of dissapointment in her maybe it was just me, I had been finding her lessons very helpful til now but now I feel like I need to be perfect each lesson, she says some of the students she teaches dont even practise, that paints quite a picture to to be honest.

Practise routine for me consists of 5 min in morning - gradually releasing a breath, I can go 30 seconds or more which she says is quite amazing, that was after one week, also the vocal fry in the morning

all of the exercises I have now that she says I should fit in the daytime consist of a lot of soft palet stuff as she says I hasve a very natural soft palet voice, also says im a natural baritone, though that was after 1 lesson. I have been using lagas yayas, lip rolling, and recently trilling and talas, nanas, and gentle yawns to engage soft palet, also vowel exercises which I think help me with forward placement.

she said beforer going to bed do 5 mins shhing, and humming, now she says do shhing in the morning, or before singing, I dont like it when ive been practising something for a week and I have been doing it for the wrong reasons, or in wrong order, she says she will be giving me lots of techniques/exercises in the coming weeks, I can barely get everything into 30min and always do 40-45mins (excluding 5 min in morning and evening), I am dedicated but I get frustrated easily, dont want to go through lots of singing teachers if i come back to her with the realisation that she is the best I will find around here where I live..

I hope I havent bored you all into a coma, and was wondering if you could spare some sound advice? It is worth noting if I try to practise when home alone, my parents rotate shifts each week, and walls between our house and neighbours are thin, and they can pretty much hear me, (I always hear them slamming doors and shouting, there arent nice!) I dont have a car yet, to be honest I prefer it if I had somewhere to stand up anyway as I will be standing when singing on stage. I have been wearing a scarve, and beanie hat with overcoat when practising outdoors on a bit of land (only have to watch out for dog walkers lol), and I TRY TO MAKE SURE water in flask is always warm, dont think I will ever practise on this land at night anymore though due to temperaturee more than anything, Is there anything you could advise me of??

kind regards

spamo

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Hi I am looking for tips on practising in cold weather. Let me give you some background, I have been having singing/vocal lessons for 3 weeks had my 4th lesson yesterday, Although pleased that I had been practising all of the exercises quite dilligently I made a note to my teacher that I was mostly practising in an outdoor spot, as this is the only place I seem to be able to do it privately, she said it was ok, then one night I practised in a field close to home, it was bitterly cold that night, this was after work, as I find it hard to practise at work (weekends). And it made me feel really groggy, I hadnt practised as much this past week because of that, she said I probably shouldnt practise in the extreme cold, e.g I tried to practise in the fridge at work (catering), I know not to do that again, it definately had an effect, but she said at the moment the climate is probably similar to that of inside a fridge, however she was ok with me practising like that for two weeks, personally I dont think she was sure.

My last lesson (yesterday) was not on form,, I ran to the lesson at the last minute so as not to be late, my water had gone really cold, and I sensed that air of dissapointment in her maybe it was just me, I had been finding her lessons very helpful til now but now I feel like I need to be perfect each lesson, she says some of the students she teaches dont even practise, that paints quite a picture to to be honest.

Practise routine for me consists of 5 min in morning - gradually releasing a breath, I can go 30 seconds or more which she says is quite amazing, that was after one week, also the vocal fry in the morning

all of the exercises I have now that she says I should fit in the daytime consist of a lot of soft palet stuff as she says I hasve a very natural soft palet voice, also says im a natural baritone, though that was after 1 lesson. I have been using lagas yayas, lip rolling, and recently trilling and talas, nanas, and gentle yawns to engage soft palet, also vowel exercises which I think help me with forward placement.

she said beforer going to bed do 5 mins shhing, and humming, now she says do shhing in the morning, or before singing, I dont like it when ive been practising something for a week and I have been doing it for the wrong reasons, or in wrong order, she says she will be giving me lots of techniques/exercises in the coming weeks, I can barely get everything into 30min and always do 40-45mins (excluding 5 min in morning and evening), I am dedicated but I get frustrated easily, dont want to go through lots of singing teachers if i come back to her with the realisation that she is the best I will find around here where I live..

I hope I havent bored you all into a coma, and was wondering if you could spare some sound advice? It is worth noting if I try to practise when home alone, my parents rotate shifts each week, and walls between our house and neighbours are thin, and they can pretty much hear me, (I always hear them slamming doors and shouting, there arent nice!) I dont have a car yet, to be honest I prefer it if I had somewhere to stand up anyway as I will be standing when singing on stage. I have been wearing a scarve, and beanie hat with overcoat when practising outdoors on a bit of land (only have to watch out for dog walkers lol), and I TRY TO MAKE SURE water in flask is always warm, dont think I will ever practise on this land at night anymore though due to temperaturee more than anything, Is there anything you could advise me of??

kind regards

spamo

boy, you've got a problem..ever try to see if you can go to a school and ask to use one of their classrooms at night, or use a friend's house? or put an ad on craig's list saying you're looking for a practise room?... maybe somebody would rent their basement to you?

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Bob has a good idea and it is less confrontational than mine. I know I look like a Hell's Angel. Why do I have to seek confrontation? Curse my upbringing, then. Mom taught me to be polite but never back down from anyone. I might not start something but I will finish it. Sorry to get all self-analytical. I just hate to see a voice squelched by worries over the reactions of neighbors engaging at a lower level of interaction.

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spamo: Get yourself a 2' y 2' x 2' cardboard box, and 2 fluffy beach or bath towels, the thicker the better.

Fold one of the towels so that it fits over 3 of the inside faces of the box, and sew it with string through the cardboard to hold it in place. tacking it every 4-6 inches should be fine, as long as the towel is held fairly firmly in place.

take the other towel, and tack it to the remaining 2 cardboard faces, and over the other towel on where it crosses the bottom. that 1 section will have a double-thickness. Now the entire interior of the box is lined with soft towel.

This is a cheap way to make a sound-absorbing box. Singing with it about 6-8 inches directly in front of your head will greatly reduce the amount of the first reflection, and the total amount of sound that hits the walls of any room where you practice.

Enjoy!

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spamo: Get yourself a 2' y 2' x 2' cardboard box, and 2 fluffy beach or bath towels, the thicker the better.

Fold one of the towels so that it fits over 3 of the inside faces of the box, and sew it with string through the cardboard to hold it in place. tacking it every 4-6 inches should be fine, as long as the towel is held fairly firmly in place.

take the other towel, and tack it to the remaining 2 cardboard faces, and over the other towel on where it crosses the bottom. that 1 section will have a double-thickness. Now the entire interior of the box is lined with soft towel.

This is a cheap way to make a sound-absorbing box. Singing with it about 6-8 inches directly in front of your head will greatly reduce the amount of the first reflection, and the total amount of sound that hits the walls of any room where you practice.

Enjoy!

Thanks! That's very interesting.

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spamo: Get yourself a 2' y 2' x 2' cardboard box, and 2 fluffy beach or bath towels, the thicker the better.

Fold one of the towels so that it fits over 3 of the inside faces of the box, and sew it with string through the cardboard to hold it in place. tacking it every 4-6 inches should be fine, as long as the towel is held fairly firmly in place.

take the other towel, and tack it to the remaining 2 cardboard faces, and over the other towel on where it crosses the bottom. that 1 section will have a double-thickness. Now the entire interior of the box is lined with soft towel.

This is a cheap way to make a sound-absorbing box. Singing with it about 6-8 inches directly in front of your head will greatly reduce the amount of the first reflection, and the total amount of sound that hits the walls of any room where you practice.

Enjoy!

steve, wouldn't this give you a false reading on your resonance which might cause you to sing louder to compensate?

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steve, wouldn't this give you a false reading on your resonance which might cause you to sing louder to compensate?

Bob: Its advantageous for the singer to learn how to keep technique while singing in a room that gives nothing back. Of course, this changes the amount of sound that gets back to the ears. The alternative is to put sound-absorbing material in many places in the room. Remember, the question was about how to practice full voice in a dwelling, and to lessen the disturbance to others .

Bob, have you ever been to a recording studio, and cut a track in the 'vocal' room? This will be much like that.

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Bob: Its advantageous for the singer to learn how to keep technique while singing in a room that gives nothing back. Of course, this changes the amount of sound that gets back to the ears. The alternative is to put sound-absorbing material in many places in the room. Remember, the question was about how to practice full voice in a dwelling, and to lessen the disturbance to others .

Bob, have you ever been to a recording studio, and cut a track in the 'vocal' room? This will be much like that.

yes, many moons ago, and it took a lot of getting used to. i remember listening to my first playback, and i was amazed. i sing in my store and boy it's pretty dull here too come to think of it...lol!!

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How about wrapping the soundproofing on the outside of the cardboard box? Inside, you still have your resonance but any leak-through from the box material is absorbed by the outer layer.

Damn, I'm good.:rolleyes:

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How about wrapping the soundproofing on the outside of the cardboard box? Inside, you still have your resonance but any leak-through from the box material is absorbed by the outer layer.

Steve, do you think that would still work? Great advice by the way, as usual coming from you Steve!:D

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blackstar, ronws: Yes, its a good idea. More soft cloth will absorb more sound, inside the box, or outside of it. Of course, will cost a bit more to make, but whatever.

Personally, I use sheets of anechoic foam for such things. Nothing like lining an entire closet with it, including the inside of the door and the ceiling, going inside with the light, and using that as a little practice room. All depends on what you want to pay, and how big the space needs to be.

the box approach can be used in a room of any size, and absorbs a very great deal of the sound. The closer the mouth is to the open part of the box, the more goes in. When 6" from the opening of the box, almost all the high frequencies of the voice go in, and do not come out again. Cost/benefit ratio is great.

FYI, a deeper box works better, but needs bigger towels :-)

As to how to hold it? IMO 3 short pieces of rope, 2 at the top corners in the front, and 1 in the top center in the back, can be used to hang it from a closed door. Just put knots in the rope, loop them over the door, and shut so the knots get stuck on the other side of the door.

For that matter, the folding-top and two sides of the box could be splayed out to make additional sound absorbent spaces. All up to your creativity.

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I will give it a try Steve, thanks! And like you said, I think it's a great way of practicing singing with muscle memory because very often we don't sing live with perfect monitoring conditions, and at least in my case, I change my technique and get hoarse very easily :( But I can't really isolate the feeling from the sound, maybe this will help me ;)

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