PILLARS 2.0 ROOOCKSS!!

[ast92]

hey guys i just wanna let u know that i got pillars 2.0 and i hv to say that this is can be the best vocal program i saw. The lectures are incredible now i understand wat he means and wat all his excercises are aimed for he is a really hard worker.Theres i think 13 GB or more of audio and video downloads this is amazing!!

[ast92]

thanks maan u know i just wanted to learn twang from him im a big fan of metal and i really need those high screams

i tried ken before although i know that many of the forum members here benefited from it it didnt work 4 me unfortunately.

i know ur really experienced in cvt also do u think that one can bridge late and pull up chest voice (which means curbing or overdrive i guess) and also bridge early and use twang to get a different tone which is full 2? it seems that ken woks with curbing and overdrive and robert woks with the other can one trains his voice to do both or i hv to follow 1 way , right now it seems that pillars suit me more

[darkclaw3000]

im downloading pillars right now. and damn downloading is a BITCH. too many stuffs!!!! should have just took the hard copy hahaha! but its ok, I CAN'T WAIT TO START!!!!!

next im gonna save up and book a lesson with The Lunte.

i dont have any p.a system in my place i wonder how its gonna be done.. no mic in my webcam too..

will puttin the headset on the table and singing from afar works?????/

[bigfoot]

@ Darkclaw -

Wouldn't advise a headset mic for Lunte's classes. The sound will distort when you start the sirens and screams (which is most of what you'll be doing initially!)

Makes sense to invest in a stage mic (SM 58 for example) and a little amp to plug it into.. pays off in the long run if you're serious about singing.. and they really aren't that expensive either.

Also, his lessons are awesome and will have you wondering how surprisingly effortless singing can be!

Cheers

[Robert Lunte]

Hey guys, thanks for the sincere feedback for the TMV folks... Allow me to answer a few questions for you all:

1). Darkclaw - yes, if you invest in the digital download version, make sure you have a good internet connection to download all the content. Clients that have great connections, can download it all in about 2 hours. It can seem over-whelming but if you are considering on investing in "The Four Pillars of Singing", please understand, "Pillars" has more educational content then any other contemporary vocal training program ever produced in the history of mankind... and that is a factual statement. You are going to get over 120 high definition videos and over 400 files total, many video. The system is 14GB of data... if you invest in the hard copy, its 9 discs. This thing is HUGE!! LOL! So distributing it with downloads, can be a challenge, but there is no other way to do it better, other then buy the hard copy.

2). Regarding training with me and microphones... Bigfoot is right, we are not talking about a voIP mic. We are not talking about a little headset you use to talk to your grandma over skype... we are talking about a real, live microphone... you know, the kind that singers use when they are singing? So if you have the luxury of training with me with amplification and a mic, do it... it really helps and get yourself a real mic. Most people use the SM58 and its decent, but truly, its not my first recommendation. If your in the market for a mic, get the EV 767, RODE M1, TC-Helicon MP-75, Lampifier Model 111, Telefunken M-80... are ALL better then the SM58. However, training with me does NOT require amplification. It is not a requirement, only a preference. I have lots of clients that do internet lessons with me and cant be amplified, its fine.

3). Regarding bridging techniques... I have had conversations with Ken. He is a friend of mine and we speak on the phone sometimes. Our approach to training the head voice is very similar , but ill tell you one thing I dont get about Ken is his "bridge late and pull chest" idea? It makes no sense what so ever? Isn't pulling chest what we are all trying to NOT do? I swear to you all, bridging late is not the preference on learning how to really get control over your bridging and stop constriction. Similar to the CVT approach, it makes head tones sound shouty. At TVS we call this a "shallow placement", your in your head voice, but you are also constricting and the placement is not deep enough... At TVS students from around the world are learning that you can sing with more "float & flutter", control and beautiful vibrato with boomy overtones if you get to the head voice earlier and then reconstruct the head voice. At TVS we bridge early and then build titanium formants in the head voice which is more reliable and has a better tone... I think its harder to do then just shoving your chest voice as high as you can to a critical mass... (its intuitive to push), but once you get the TVS approach, you'll know you hit gold. Once they start getting it, people are amazed...

One comment on "Pillars 2.0". It truly is radical. I know it sounds like Im selling my stuff, but honestly, nothing like this has ever been attempted or produced for singers. Its very innovative and is audacious in its size and approach, editing and execution. You have never seen a vocal training program like this before. I think it will change the rules and set a new standard... after Pillars 2.0, you will see other voice teachers trying to duplicate this approach as I believe I have raised the bar... but not all teachers will be able to duplicate this... Ken, James, Jamie, Kevin all can, but thats about it in the business... in order to pull this off, you have to be a voice teacher that has real serious chops... and well, only some actually do. Apart from the fact that my buddies have to have the patience to spend a year and a half to produce it. Producing Pillars 2.0 was like building a pyramid... it was the project that never ended, it sucked the life-blood out of me for 18 months but I wanted to do my best and knew I could produce monumental product... not just any product, not just another product, but a product that people would step back and say, "holy heck, this is off the chain"... and I think I have done it.

I invite you all to check it out. Im very proud of the effort and I know you will all love it... and learn a LOT about how to sing amazing... and its also entertaining and funny at times.

Thanks for being members of TMV as well... you guys are cool!

Feel free to send me an email or visit my site to learn more about what its all about.

[ast92]

guys after 1 week i could hit a really high note with rob's exercises so effortless now i understand that high range isnt difficult to achieve, its the middle range thats more difficult and requires more work

[ast92]

agaaaaaain the lectures are awesome they explained all this and the intrinsic anchoring REALLY helped me!

[darkclaw3000]

robert lunte - thank you so much sir for the HUGE reply! an honor! about the download, it may sound like a complain, but its actually covered with INTENSE EXCITEMENT! i just can't wait to start! hahaha! i'm sure Pillars is THE best vocal program as many have said!

about training on skype - i do have a mic right now but how about amplification? how exactly do I let you hear me? can you specify exactly what I need in my computer setup? soundcards? thanks a lot!

ayad92 - stop making me jealous bro. =P

[D.Starr]

I'm curious is Pillars aimed at a specific genre? Like Rock or Metal etc?

I'm more into R&B singing and I'm interested in the program simply because there are many testimonials appreciating its benefits.

I'm just simply not benefiting from SLS or Singing Success.

[kentamplin]

Hi Guys, I'd like to address Rob Lunte's comments on my views regarding bridging. I most definitely do espouse a later connection in fact, when you "favor" any part of the voice it becomes weak. However, you must be careful to make sure you are doing this correctly. I am well aware of Maestro Kyle's (Robert's) approach to early bridging, this works well for lighter pop, jazz and operatic singing in my opinion. For bad ass belting wailing in the upper mid voice, I have not found this to work at all. I use both actually depending on what I am singing (Journey for example). However, the later you can connect, (again when doing this correctly) the stronger you make the upper mid voice and the more robust it becomes and the longer it will sustain over time. I will be 48 years old in a couple of months. Here is a recent link I have put together of real examples of my belting wailing where I demonstrate this. Again guys, we can all talk shop, but the proof is in the singing. I would like to add one more important thing before you check out this new video. When I was in my early 20's, my highest note was an F# / G# (on a good day) below middle C. It's because I "stretched" my chest voice that I was able to accomplish this. The last 3 songs on this reel (Fooled Around & Fell In Love, Never Been To Spain and I've Got The Music In Me) I do bridge somewhat early. But I must point out: I have been "road testing" these various methods (for the past 25+ years) and people who do not work out their upper mid voice properly and "pamper" it by bridging early, the voice "drops" over time and many lose their upper mid voice altogether. Here is my proof...it's in my singing... again this isn't pop, this is belting wailing...

[kentamplin]

Oh I'd also like to add one more thing.

We all talk about "no stress" when we sing right?

There is really no such thing.

Yep you heard me right, there is really no such thing as "no stress" when we sing.

I will reiterate what I said about Robert Lunte's slogan: "We Are Vocal Athletes".

This saying could not be more true especially for the rock singer.

We manage stress, we don't eliminate it.

In fact; be build strong muscle structures to overcome inevitable stress so that we can

manage stress and move beyond that allowing for technique to prevail.

This is true in any sport (again referring to Robert's Vocal Athletics).

We train for the game (i.e.show) and when we enter the game, nerves alone bring on stress not to mention actually kicking the ball

and taking on an opponant. (in the case the opponant could be a fricken drummer who's cymbals are bashing in your ear inhibiting your ability to hear yourself or bad monitors so if we are not careful we over-sing to compensate for this and blow out 3-4 songs in).

Another thing:

I happen to like to distort my voice. (I also come back and clean it up so that I don't have to always sing with distortion)

But by nature, distorting the voice is technically "stressing out the chords" to get the desired distortion.

This one element alone is incredibly misunderstood and again if not handled properly will probably cost you your voice over time.

Many a men (and women) have gone before you and died trying so I can't stress the importance of this enough.

(I especially love the know it all opera people who e-mail me with their pontificating "you are not singing correctly when you distort your voice like that"...while many are secretly wishing they could sing bluesy soul with some attitude... :-) I want to say no sh*t sherlock... It's what we do...it's called Rock & Roll! They have NO idea how hard it is to do what we do and still stay alive.

In the end as I said, we train like athletes to perform feats of singing that should be given its own special place in the olympics.

We must take very good physical care of our bodies (eating right and working out) to give us the strength and stamina necessary to build the mechanisms required to sustain the kind of singing we like, with the least amount of pain and injury as possible. But again, like any sport, injuries happen because we take chances and push ourselves to our limits. But hopefully we learn from them and become better at what we do.

Therefore, this kind of singing is not the absence of pain, but the management thereof.

-KT

[Robert Lunte]

Hi Ken, thanks for your reply and its great to hear from you. I read my post and will man-up, I hope I wasn't too hard on you. Know that you have a lot of fans on this forum that love your program and Im one of them. I most certainly do and have always advocated that your training is great and as you point out, you are one of these voice coaches that can do the things they are teaching, that is very important. There is no denying, you got chops and world-class experience. I have no problem with telling people that, if you invest in Ken's program, you will learn a lot and get better, no doubt.

In regards to this "when to bridge" debate, I truly believe, you can do both. Both approaches can be trained, worked into the muscle memory and can work for you. In fact, if your a very serious vocal technique geek, you would probably benefit from learning how to do both to get a different result... as an artistic decision. THAT is where the truth lies in this "early or later" debate. Just learn to understand and execute both approaches.

I cant say for sure, in order for both Ken and I to really know for sure what each other is doing and the results of those techniques, we would have to sit in a studio for a few hours, share a beer and just talk shop and demonstrate each others ideas, do a little friendly shoot out and get to really know what it is we are doing and its effects. In the end, we are both rather making educated assumptions based on our experience which counts for something but is not the absolute truth.

Some thoughts I would like to clarify on Ken's points in regards to TVS:

1). In regards to Maestro Kyle's influence on what we are doing at TVS. There are currently 37 vocal workouts that are available in "The Four Pillars of Singing" 2.0, 11 of those workouts are Maestro David Kyle workouts, 26 of the workouts were developed by me. Other than myself, my teacher and my students, no one has ever seen 26 of these workouts before.

2). Some of the most important break throughs in my pedagogy that are getting great results, honestly, most of the advanced stuff in the last couple years were NEVER taught by Maestro David Kyle. Back in the day, Ken and myself were not learning anything about vocal modes, twang configurations, laryngeal dumping, distortion techniques, the importance of training onsets and after 12 years with Maestro Kyle, I don't recall ever really discussing anything about vowel modification either. There never was any discussion about the timing of when to bridge either... ALL critically important to really learning how to bridge and connect in the head voice! This does not mean that Maestro Kyle was not a great voice coach or that he was "missing" something in his teaching... you guys have to understand that a lot of this new pedagogy such as vocal modes, the science of acoustics, twang, etc... were not fully developed in the 70s & 80s... let alone the great amount of good training content on the market available to singers today. Sure, there were singers that figured it out and we were doing these things in Maestro Kyle's studio, the results were similar, but the understanding behind how those results were being made, was not globally there as it is today.

What remains in TVS today that is legacy to Maestro Kyle are those previously mentioned 11 workouts, the idea of training with amplification, the resonant tracking or idea of "buzzing" to warm up and balance sub/super-glottal air pressure, the idea of bridging to the head voice and much of the mental imagery. Thats all inspired by Maestro Kyle... its when you begin to get into vocal modes, acoustics, vowel modification, onsets, distortion, etc (the components of formants) ... that your experiencing the evolution of "Kyle" pedagogy... through me. My pedagogy is not just about Maestro Kyle either,... I learned about vocal modes and twang from the late Peter Egan, vowels and formants from our own Steve Fraser and interpretation from Dr. David Alt. A great teacher like Ken or myself is going to take good ideas from many sources and will also seek to learn more.

3). Ken, I disagree that earlier bridging only works for lighter pop, jazz and operatic. That simply isn't true. TVS techniques most certainly offer a foundation for more aggressive sounds, namely, making your head voice sound like a big "boomy" belt and if you want to go beyond that, vocal distortion. Anyone that invests in Pillars 2.0 and watches the video performances will see, they are not about "jazz" or "light" anything, unless Im purposely trying to do that. The amount of aggression in the aesthetic is directly related to the amount of intrinsic anchoring you apply to the phonation. Your not stuck in any kind of "light mass" phonation with TVS... TVS students learn to throttle the mass of their phonations so they can use it for heavy or light, what ever they want to do creatively.

4) In regards to bridging late, sincerely, I would like Ken to show me what he is talking about and get a better understanding of it. At first take, it just seems like many of my clients would struggle with it, NOT because it isnt a viable approach, but because it would seem to create confusion. If I tell a beginner to bridge late, that is going to put them at a high risk of constricting. Now, take someone like myself, or Ken and coach them to bridge late and the muscle memory and skill set is developed enough that you would not constrict and get a different interesting approach. If I may be more clear and fair to Ken, Im just concerned about how more beginner type singers are going to be able to "bridge high/belt high" and not constrict in doing so? The advanced guys I wouldnt worry about so much, because they have the ability to isolate/"silence" the constrictors and engage favorable intrinsic anchoring to pull it off.

But again, to be honest, neither Ken or myself can really know for sure the nuances unless we were in a room chopping together with two mics, which would be a blast and Id love to do someday. In the end, master the understanding and execution of both approaches, and you get a win-win.

Hope I didnt rub you Ken, I have a great respect for your work as a teacher and your achievements as an artist and writer. Frankly, I would love to do a double-header Master Class with you sometime and know it would be really cool.

Sincerely,

[Robert Lunte]

I'm curious is Pillars aimed at a specific genre? Like Rock or Metal etc?

I'm more into R&B singing and I'm interested in the program simply because there are many testimonials appreciating its benefits.

I'm just simply not benefiting from SLS or Singing Success.

Hi D.Starr. NO, IT IS NOT. This is a common confusion among students of singing. The confuse "style" with "technique". Im teaching a set of vocal techniques that you can apply to just about any style of singing. Often times, people think that because I am a bit of a rocker as an artist and some of my clients and teachers are rockers, that this means that TVS is "rock style coaching"... its totally not! LOL... its a technique set that can be used for any style of signing.. I have theater students, electro/dance type students, 14 year old girls that want to sing in pop groups, and yes, lots and lots of Rockers. We dont have a lot of rockers because its "rock style coaching" , we have a lot of rockers because the techniques we teach are needed by these kinds of singers.

I hope that clears things up for you and feel free to reach out in email if you have more questions about that, or give me a call, its ok. Im eager to help you to understand what it is all about.

[Robert Lunte]

agaaaaaain the lectures are awesome they explained all this and the intrinsic anchoring REALLY helped me!

Hey thanks man! People seem to really like the lectures. Notice that the "Training With Robert" content is not only files that you can "sing-a-long" on top of as a guide, which I think is a pretty innovative approach to help people learn how to learn these workouts, but the audio from the video lectures are also in there as well, so you can listen to them in the car.

[kentamplin]

No Robert it's all good. When people ask me about other's programs I have always advovated that I let everyone's methods stand on their own. I actually believe in early connection "after" a late connection is built because it provides a smoother transition for soul , r & b, pop and so on. The biggest problem I have had with this concept over the years is that the blistering mid voice belting sound I like in the upper register is not accomplished by early connection, and as I have said, over time, if you don't keep the upper mid voice as strong as you can connection or not...let me say that again...connection or NOT, you will lose power in the upper mid voice. The caveat to this is that if you don't train this area correctly, you will also lose this area as well.

When I am sing a song like "More Than A Feeling" by Boston, I connect around middle C (sometimes as low as the B depending).

When I am singing AC/DC I never actually fully connect at all, I have a mixed voice with most of the emphasis on belting with the mid section.

When I am singing an aria, I would NEVER allow that kind of sound pressure that I allow in a rock piece.

When I am singing an r & b piece I will connect as low as an A below middle C.

Everything and style has its place. This is why I posted some 80 song demonstrations of every different kind of music.

But when it comes to singing like Cornell, Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Myles, Paul Rogers, or even as light as Lou Gramm, I always connect around the E above middle C because this sound requires that kind of power like I just showed in the video link I provided in a previous post.

I also love that fact that the modern vocalist forum is a place for ideas.

For me, (I hope this doesn't sound arrogant, it's truly the way I feel) there is little I feel I can't sing. Not because I am such a bad ass, but because I worked incredibly hard on my instrument. I was a guitarist turned singer. I don't think I'm all that...believe it or not I'm not that kind of person, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. But I do know, in this one area, I fear no one and I respect everyone.

-KT

[Robert Lunte]

Oh I'd also like to add one more thing.

We all talk about "no stress" when we sing right?

There is really no such thing.

Yep you heard me right, there is really no such thing as "no stress" when we sing.

I will reiterate what I said about Robert Lunte's slogan: "We Are Vocal Athletes".

This saying could not be more true especially for the rock singer.

We manage stress, we don't eliminate it.

In fact; be build strong muscle structures to overcome inevitable stress so that we can

manage stress and move beyond that allowing for technique to prevail.

This is true in any sport (again referring to Robert's Vocal Athletics).

We train for the game (i.e.show) and when we enter the game, nerves alone bring on stress not to mention actually kicking the ball

and taking on an opponant. (in the case the opponant could be a fricken drummer who's cymbals are bashing in your ear inhibiting your ability to hear yourself or bad monitors so if we are not careful we over-sing to compensate for this and blow out 3-4 songs in).

Another thing:

I happen to like to distort my voice. (I also come back and clean it up so that I don't have to always sing with distortion)

But by nature, distorting the voice is technically "stressing out the chords" to get the desired distortion.

This one element alone is incredibly misunderstood and again if not handled properly will probably cost you your voice over time.

Many a men (and women) have gone before you and died trying so I can't stress the importance of this enough.

(I especially love the know it all opera people who e-mail me with their pontificating "you are not singing correctly when you distort your voice like that"...while many are secretly wishing they could sing bluesy soul with some attitude... :-) I want to say no sh*t sherlock... It's what we do...it's called Rock & Roll! They have NO idea how hard it is to do what we do and still stay alive.

In the end as I said, we train like athletes to perform feats of singing that should be given its own special place in the olympics.

We must take very good physical care of our bodies (eating right and working out) to give us the strength and stamina necessary to build the mechanisms required to sustain the kind of singing we like, with the least amount of pain and injury as possible. But again, like any sport, injuries happen because we take chances and push ourselves to our limits. But hopefully we learn from them and become better at what we do.

Therefore, this kind of singing is not the absence of pain, but the management thereof.

-KT

See, thats what Im talking about. I love the way ken puts things. When I read Ken's posts and watch some of his videos, I often feel a common thread with Ken. Don't want to sound weird, but I just know that Ken 'gets it' when it comes to principles in TVS that are very dear;

1). Put up, or shut up... lead by example.

2). Just because vocal distortion is not clincially, perfectly healthy, it doesn't mean that as singers (especially rock singers) we dont want and need to still do it sometimes. Its an occupational hazard... if your going to become a champion boxer, your going to take some punches in the nose. If your going to become a champion rock singer, you had better damn well learn how to do a little bit of distoriton here and there. The story of distortion is also, as Ken points out, about learning how to not overuse it. Because it can be fatiguing, you have to conserve your "quota" vocal distortion in any given evening or day of teaching. If you do it all day long, your just going to risk getting tired. Too much of anything is not a good thing.

2). Yes, if your really wanting to get serious about being a radical singer... you have to see yourself as an athlete... or as Maestro David Kyle used to say to me and Ken, "You are a champion in training". That imagery always stayed with me. I see myself as a training "Gladiator of Vocal Technique"... and you should too if your going to get serious about this. When we talk about vocal modes, laryngeal dumping, intrinsic anchoring, etc.. we are also talking about muscles, ligaments, tendons and you have to build muscular strength to do this extreme singing stuff that Ken and I are teaching.

Hope this helps.... cool to have Ken in here today.

[D.Starr]

Hi D.Starr. NO, IT IS NOT. This is a common confusion among students of singing. The confuse "style" with "technique". Im teaching a set of vocal techniques that you can apply to just about any style of singing. Often times, people think that because I am a bit of a rocker as an artist and some of my clients and teachers are rockers, that this means that TVS is "rock style coaching"... its totally not! LOL... its a technique set that can be used for any style of signing.. I have theater students, electro/dance type students, 14 year old girls that want to sing in pop groups, and yes, lots and lots of Rockers. We dont have a lot of rockers because its "rock style coaching" , we have a lot of rockers because the techniques we teach are needed by these kinds of singers.

I hope that clears things up for you and feel free to reach out in email if you have more questions about that, or give me a call, its ok. Im eager to help you to understand what it is all about.

Do you have a UK store by any chance?

[Robert Lunte]

No? But if you purchase the training system from the online store, I pay for shipping, always have... If thats what your concerned about?

www.TheVocalistStudioStore.com

[D.Starr]

No? But if you purchase the training system from the online store, I pay for shipping, always have... If thats what your concerned about?

www.TheVocalistStudioStore.com

For real? Man that's awesome. Yeah just wondered if it'd be possible to get a copy from inside the UK, shipping would be faster. But I may get it on digital download depending on the size. Maybe after I come off my holiday I'll grab it.

[Robert Lunte]

For real? Man that's awesome. Yeah just wondered if it'd be possible to get a copy from inside the UK, shipping would be faster. But I may get it on digital download depending on the size. Maybe after I come off my holiday I'll grab it.

ok, its available via hard copy and it takes about a week to get to you, i do the shipping and digital download. You will be downloading about 14GB of data. Im happy to help ya make it happen.

[ronws]

Isn't pulling chest what we are all trying to NOT do? I swear to you all, bridging late is not the preference on learning how to really get control over your bridging and stop constriction.

overtones if you get to the head voice earlier and then reconstruct the head voice. At TVS we bridge early and then build titanium formants in the head voice which is more reliable and has a better tone... I think its harder to do then just shoving your chest voice as high as you can to a critical mass... (its intuitive to push), but once you get the TVS approach, you'll know you hit gold. Once they start getting it, people are amazed...

You had me at "bridging early ..."

It matches most the classical technique I have studied. And so many people have the wrong idea of "head voice" and my forehead is bloody from beating it against a brick wall trying to explain it.

Suffice it to say that what you want from your voice can be attained. For me, it would be something like 4 Pillars. Which, of course, will tick off the others who think the "operatic" sound has no place outside of opera. Well, if it doesn't, that just makes me more of the "bad boy."

And so, part of my maturation is to realize what it is that I want from my voice. I don't want to sound like Steve Perry. Or David Coverdale. Or any particular singer, no matter how much I admire them. I want to sound like Ron, which is evidently poisoned goods, these days. Now, how rock and roll is that? Do I get points for bucking the "establishment?"

Anyway, you have a good system, Robert and I find much value in it. In fact, let me tick some more people off and state that as best as I can save, if I were to buy a system, it would be yours.

And if I could, I would fly to Seattle and screw this Skype thing. Who knows? It could happen. I'm not dead, yet.

[Robert Lunte]

Hey Ron, thanks for your support, but I dont know why that would tick people off ? Its ok support the work I do and like the training... ? But I get your point, your kind of a rebel in the back of the bus aren't you Ron? Thats fine, but dont tick people off...

[ronws]

In fact, let me step out a little further. The following vid is from the main page from the band, Sylver Myst.

I dare any of you to click on the link and listen all the way through.

http://www.themodernvocalist.com/video/sylver-myst-immortal

Now, you know where I come from, musically. I totally dig this video, which might make me more extreme than Robert. So be it.

One of my earliest musical memories, I have mentioned so often I have lost count, is of Glen Campbell singing "Wichita Lineman." I couldn't even walk. I was propped up on the couch while my mother cleaned house and had the radio on.My step-grandfather and my natural father were both into music. My father first attended college at the University of South Dakota, majoring in piano and was a composer of what was then "avante garde" along the lines of Aaron Copeland and I only expect a few here to get that reference.That is rather an arcane reference and you would only know of him if you, like my first wife, were deep into piano music and classical music. Another thing about that page I linked. The singer's voice reminds my of my first wife's singing voice. It's a bit haunting and trust me, I have been a haunted man.

I've been accused of not doing enough with my voice. That I have too "light" a tone in my higher notes. But it has caused me to re-examine what it is I want from my voice. I don't want or need to sound like a "rock" singer to sing rock or heavy metal. And it's not me being lazy. As much as I enjoy the music of many a "dirty" singer, I have always truly admired the singers that hit high, clean, "operatic" tones. I think Halford was brilliant on Sad Wings of Destiny and his tone sucked on "Painkiller." And I will get heat from that. I have always like everything Tate has done, from "Early Warning" to present, because he sings from the heart. (And he's a "biker.") I enjoyed Dio singing "Man on the Silver Mountain," which is one of his cleaner songs. As was "Holy Diver."

I have enjoyed much music from Aerosmith. And, once again, for the uncounted umpteenth time I have mentioned it, "Highway to Hell" is my theme song. But what I want from my voice is "operatic" in a rock or heavy metal orchestration.

So, alas, I am not doing with my voice what others want to do with theirs because my aim is different. A journey of self-discovery. And Dante said it so well, I qouted it and that has already garnered me some BS heat. Well, bring on the heat. I already have my own parking space in Hell, so bring it on.

So, what popular system, given the finances, could I purchase that will take me where I, Ron, the redneck biker-type electrician from Texas want to go. And from what I can see, it would be 4 Pillars. So, that program is still on my radar. And if I could win the Texas Lotto, I would be on a plane to Seattle.

Again, I suck at politics and all of this is my own opinion and aesthetic but there it is. And I have rambled. Find a lawyer, sue me.

[darkclaw3000]

guess my question got lost in here.. what exactly do I need in my computer set up? soundcards? i have a shure sm58 with me. but thats about it. how exactly do I let myself be heard clearly?

thankz!

[Robert Lunte]

Oh, no problem... you have a built in microphone on your computer most likely? Check for that... or your web cam will have a built in microphone, or you can purchase one of those little boom microphones for voIP. The microphone you that is sending your signal to me so I can hear you is just inside your computer or web cam normally.

On your digital downloads and the follow up information I sent you after your made your purchase of "The Four Pillars of Singing", had an attached PDF that gave you all the information you need to know to get set up for Internet lessons. This PDF document has probably been sent to you or provided for you in the folders numerous times. Can you find it? Ill email you it again.

Rob