I'm loosing myself - I can only sing loud, no other option!

[GuitarLord]

Hey guys/girls...

so, I mostly sing rock music which usually needs more support, then let's say, pop.

The thing is I can't put my volume down! I can only sing loud, and there is no way that I can sing any high note with low volume.

Low notes are not the problem ofcourse, I can sing them quietly or low, but when singing higher notes - loud is the only option.

This of course limits my upper range, because I guess if I could go just a bit lighter, it would be much easier for me up there in higher registers

My support (at least inhaling part:) is fine, it's diaphragmic, so I guess that is not the issue.

When exhaling, on high notes I just have to add volume, and if I don't I will probably go to falsetto or crack.

So lighter high notes are something non-existing for me, and it was always like that.

Here is me singing U2 - One. If you listen carefully, you will see that the higher note is the louder I have to be.

http://www.box.net/shared/i6xnc2kecy

If I would go lighter than that than that my voice would probably crack.

If you listen to Bono in original song or live, he usually sing this with a bit less volume then me, but I can't do that.

So can anyone suggest some tips.

Oh yeah, and visuals/sensations helps a lot, so any visuals or sensation tips that could help me understand my mistakes better, would be great.

Help?

Thanks,

Nikola

[SH]

Hey Nikola,

So, the real important part of support is more about how we exhale, than how we inhale. Of course you want to inhale correctly too, but when we talk about support, we are really talking about how we fight the body's urge to exhale quickly. We make the exhale as slow and as controlled as we can. Somewhere I read that belting correctly should feel like holding one's breath - and since I started that, I can belt about 3 or 4 semitones higher. I think it is quite normal for higher notes to need to be louder, unless you change placement (perhaps mode in CVT I haven't read much of the book yet). So, if I wanted a belted note to be quieter, yet losing volume means I lose the note, I would probably explore head voice a little and try to lighten the mix. Think shifting placement rather than changing volume.

Oh, and I'll add, too, Bono singing it quieter could have as much to do with mic placement as his actual singing volume.

[VideoHere]

i would recommend the mesa di voce exercise. it's great because it teaches you to adjust fold closure/strength.....grab jaime vendera's book. he covers it well.

[gno]

Nikola - it is totally natural and common that you would sing those E4's loudly. This is the area where males would start to go into the passagio area. It is going to take some practice to be able to sing this in a lighter registration. The path to singing lighter in this area typically would involve learning to modify the vowels up at E4 and higher to shift the resonance. Some people call it the "cry", CVT calls it "curbing". Once you are good at that you can start to lighten the folds. Currently you are taking the thick folds up high, which gets louder and louder as you go higher and higher. There is a limit to how high you can go with thick vocal chords and that is about C5. To sing lighter you will have to learn how to "thin" out the folds as you go up until you reach head voice. Then you can carry head voice another octave or more above that point.

[ronws]

Oh my God. Sweet Jesus. What am I going to do with you people? Did anyone even listen to the submission? Has anyone actually heard U2 live? Dude, you not only sounded like him, you sang it like he did. If anything, you were a little more full voice when Bono actually does a falsetto for high notes. But it sounded great. Really, seriously. Please, I invite people to actually listen to the song. Please. Sorry, long day, running short on patience for people who did it perfectly and just fine and still think they had a problem. I'm just not getting it. My bad.

[Guest]

Oh my God. Sweet Jesus. What am I going to do with you people? Did anyone even listen to the submission? Has anyone actually heard U2 live? Dude, you not only sounded like him, you sang it like he did. If anything, you were a little more full voice when Bono actually does a falsetto for high notes. But it sounded great. Really, seriously. Please, I invite people to actually listen to the song. Please. Sorry, long day, running short on patience for people who did it perfectly and just fine and still think they had a problem. I'm just not getting it. My bad.

Disagree. I think it needs more support as well. The guitar was loud and it was competing with the vocals, but there definitely needs to be more air pressure. Hope you don't smoke or anything.

A good warmup and lots of singing might be helpful, as would voice lessons. Pitch was mostly good.

[GuitarLord]

Oh my God. Sweet Jesus. What am I going to do with you people? Did anyone even listen to the submission? Has anyone actually heard U2 live? Dude, you not only sounded like him, you sang it like he did. If anything, you were a little more full voice when Bono actually does a falsetto for high notes. But it sounded great. Really, seriously. Please, I invite people to actually listen to the song. Please. Sorry, long day, running short on patience for people who did it perfectly and just fine and still think they had a problem. I'm just not getting it. My bad.

Thanks Ronws, I'm pretty happy with how I sing this and glad people like it, but you know, you can always learn more, and currently I'm trying to sing songs like this one without the need to add more volume to higher notes, to make singing loud or soft a choice, and not only be able to sing loud. Ok? :)

[GuitarLord]

I agree. Now, just to let you know, this was recorded before I worked on my support, so now on those higher notes (where my support is not proper) I give more support.

Now supporting more proper still didn't solve the problem with volume. I still have to sing pretty loud to get to those high notes, and I want to hit the same notes with a bit less volume, not to quite but still not the loudest possible. Any tips for that? Thanks!

[Guest]

I know I've just started singing out of(above) my normal chest voice and it is very loud. I'm a baritone, as I suspect you are and if those notes have to be "squeezed" they're just going to be loud. Just keep an open throat and push with your diaphragm. And when you feel tightness-stop. Tight is WRONG.

[HMRoger]

Windows 7 Product Key online store! We provide the most complete Windows 7 Key here. Besides, Office Enterprise 2007, Microsoft Office 2010 Product Key and other Windows keygens are also available. This is a professional Windows 7 Ultimate online store. We guarantee to satisfy each customer. If you feel confused about us, or our products, you can contact us and we are always ready to help.

[Steven Fraser]

I agree. Now, just to let you know, this was recorded before I worked on my support, so now on those higher notes (where my support is not proper) I give more support.

Now supporting more proper still didn't solve the problem with volume. I still have to sing pretty loud to get to those high notes, and I want to hit the same notes with a bit less volume, not to quite but still not the loudest possible. Any tips for that?

GuitarLord: I listened to your recording. I've not listened to the Bono one, but suggesting ways to sing softer does not require that.

Before that, I have to say that I agree some voices just do not really function softer than a certain volume. A big voice's 'soft' can be quite louder than a soft voice's 'loud'.

So, what is it that makes a voice a particular volume? On the physical level, just 2 things: breath (subglottal) pressure, and resonance.

Since breath pressure involves both exhalation force and resistance by the vocal bands, you can change the balance of that to make a tone louder or softer. Not as often considered, but equally effective is a vowel modification that increases and decreases resonance. Very often, we recommend well-tuned, resonant vowels because they are easier to do, give us a nice, satisfying 'ring' and are, well, thrilling to listen to. However, you can use the knowledge of vowel modification the other way, to reduce the efficiency of the resonance, and the voice will be softer.

This may seem strange, but let me tell you a story as illustration. February of my sophomore year in college, I went to Chicago to hear the Met Baritone Sherrill Milnes do a recital. BIIIIIG voice. Even in Orchestra hall. No mic. Just him and the piano. He did some things I have never seen a singer do. On a soft, but full voice note, he would position his lower jaw so he was singing through a very small gap between his teeth. His mouth was nearly shut in the up+down direction. I could hear that he was spacious inside mouth and pharynx, but not letting very much of it out.

He was able to do this because he knew that the mouth opening changes the frequencies of the resonances, and he could get the artistic effect he wanted, that is, softer but full-tone, that way. In CVT-speak, he took his curbing off-center for the musical expression.

So, while you use the support and phonation interaction for dynamic control, don't forget that you can also make small changes in your lower jaw position, too. Some positions give strong resonance, and others no so much. Pick which accomplishes your effect.

I hope this helps,