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PILLARS 2.0 ROOOCKSS!!


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oh i got them. i was just confused as to how exactly you're suppose to listen to me. i don't think my desktop have a built in mic. neither my webcam. so i guess i have to get a webcam wit a built in mic.

in the pdf its stated to use my own mic that i used for practice. but where do i connect it to? i don't have any amps or p.a system. that's why i was asking about soundcards, where i can input my shure sm58 into, and use that as my mic to communicate to you.

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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.

ron, that's fine! there's nothing wrong with wanting to sound any way you want to. no one is saying that's not okay or that's not the right thing, more than anyone else wanting to get the opposite....those death metal growls.

i also happen to like those sweet silky vocals, ala natalie merchant, jewel, k.d. lang.....i love that stuff.

contrary to what you might think, i'm not spending every waking hour thinking how much i need to sound like lou gramm! i'm trying to diversify, and i even sing vocal exercises where i intentionally sound like a female singer.

but, and this is a big but....you can create other sounds if you wanted to, sing other styles if you wanted to. that's the beauty of being a singer...the choice of sounds is there if you want to make those sounds.

a really cool older black guy told me last week i sounded way too black for a white dude...to me, that was a compliment.

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@ ronws ---- Thanks for noticing >> "I dare any of you to click on the link and listen all the way through."

" Immortal Memories" by Tasmara (http://www.themodernvocalist.com/profile/Tasmara), was recently the Spotlight Video of the Week on the Main Site.

I encourage all of the members to check out the previous Spotlight Videos.

AWESOME performances by the TMV MEMBERS !!!

There are sixty-five (65) Spotlight Videos listed which were published from May 4, 2010 until the present date.

You can find a complete list of the Spotlight videos in the Forum Section by navigating to >>

Member Profiles : Tell Us About You >> "The Modern Vocalist Spotlight Videos & AN INVITATION "

OR on the Main Site by visiting the Homepage >>

Click on the Article >> "THE MODERN VOCALIST SPOTLIGHT VIDEOS"

Sincere Regards,

Adolph

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oh i got them. i was just confused as to how exactly you're suppose to listen to me. i don't think my desktop have a built in mic. neither my webcam. so i guess i have to get a webcam wit a built in mic.

in the pdf its stated to use my own mic that i used for practice. but where do i connect it to? i don't have any amps or p.a system. that's why i was asking about soundcards, where i can input my shure sm58 into, and use that as my mic to communicate to you.

Ok, I get it... if you have a live mic (SM58) for singing, you need an amplifier or PA to plug it into, or what is the point? If you cant sing with amplification due to your neighbors or what ever, its fine. Training TVS with amplification is preferred, but it is also a luxury, its not a requirements. I have lots of students that train with me without amplification, its fine. If that is what we are dealing with, if you can be in a room that has a hardwood floors and is "ringy", that will be helpful. Generally speaking, you dont want to train contemporary vocals totally flat with no amplification or reverb... it just makes it totally un-fun!

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Ok, I get it... if you have a live mic (SM58) for singing, you need an amplifier or PA to plug it into, or what is the point? If you cant sing with amplification due to your neighbors or what ever, its fine. Training TVS with amplification is preferred, but it is also a luxury, its not a requirements. I have lots of students that train with me without amplification, its fine. If that is what we are dealing with, if you can be in a room that has a hardwood floors and is "ringy", that will be helpful. Generally speaking, you dont want to train contemporary vocals totally flat with no amplification or reverb... it just makes it totally un-fun!

oooo alrite thank you!

btw, will a guitar amp works????

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Sure, definately! I practiced for years with a Peavey practice amp when I was a kid. Just make sure you turn the saturation/distortion off and give yourself a little reverb... in fact, I have a little Ibenex TBX-15R practice guitar amp. that I use sometimes when I teach internet students and Im not in my studio, or on the road. Its really small and works fine for practicing... I think it was only $100 new! You dont have to spend a lot of money to get amplified for voice training, a little practice guitar amp. will work fine. Just make sure it has some reverb. If you want to get a little bit more fancy, then look at Karaoke systems. One of my sponsors, www.vocopro.com , makes great systems for singers... and a Karaoke system is great for training because it has built in DSP effects and you can play bed tracks on it right?... so Karaoke amps are perfect for students that want to train.

Above that, you get into real PA systems.

Hope this helps...

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Sure, definately! I practiced for years with a Peavey practice amp when I was a kid. Just make sure you turn the saturation/distortion off and give yourself a little reverb... in fact, I have a little Ibenex TBX-15R practice guitar amp. that I use sometimes when I teach internet students and Im not in my studio, or on the road. Its really small and works fine for practicing... I think it was only $100 new! You dont have to spend a lot of money to get amplified for voice training, a little practice guitar amp. will work fine. Just make sure it has some reverb. If you want to get a little bit more fancy, then look at Karaoke systems. One of my sponsors, www.vocopro.com , makes great systems for singers... and a Karaoke system is great for training because it has built in DSP effects and you can play bed tracks on it right?... so Karaoke amps are perfect for students that want to train.

Above that, you get into real PA systems.

Hope this helps...

ah that settles it! this really helps alot!

now i'm just left with saving up for the lessons then!

hope i'm not asking too much here, but about those intensive trainings.

there are 12, 16, 20 and 24 hrs. they are broken up into days right?

so for e.g 20hrs, will the price cover lodgings? or is it strictly just the lessons?

i can't seem to find the answers on the new website..

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a really cool older black guy told me last week i sounded way too black for a white dude...to me, that was a compliment.

Dang it, I wished I had said that. Though I have said as much, many times before. I've lost count of the number of times I have said you have that Sam Cooke vibe, especially off of your performance "Change is gonna come." A sound most people would give their right testicle to have. And you've got it naturally. I don't know if its from your NYC accent or just your genetics.

Per my quote from Dante, we are all going through self-discovery and I ask myself what do I really want. And what I want is the clean, operatic tone. It's not a matter of me being lazy or giving up. I am using everything I know to get a B5. Nor do I think I am finished. But what I do realize is that I am pursuing a cleaner tone. As much as I like Aerosmith, I prefer Tate's voice to Tyler's. Nothing against either of them. I preferred McCartney's voice to Lennon's. I prefer Dickinson's voice to the original punk rock singer who sang for Iron Maiden.

And I have stated so many times I have lost count that one of my other exercises is to do "funny voices." To, in the words of Dickinson, see what it is my voice can do. It's just not in one specific program that one buys and can say "look at page 232, example A, and do like this.

From the words of Ozzy,

"Mama's not to worry, I've been a bad, bad boy.

No use saying I'm sorry, it's something that I enjoy..."

Adolph, that song, "Immortal" is stuck in my head. Damn those catchy hooks.

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ron, it's not these things at all. it's like i said, i like to diversify my voice, so i purposely seek out these different voices to help me grow my tone and phrasing skills. i borrow from black artists, some women i admire, and it builds a nice artist's palette over time.

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Well said bob. I like to think of my voice as sort of spectrum, with like a baby-talking sort of pronunciation on one end (mouth not open too much, sort of lazy and intimate) and a preachier, more open sound at the other end. That way when i'm interpreting a song I can color my phrases in a million different ways, but I know i'm always somewhere on the grid, so it'll sound consistent and "honest".

When I was playing in college and stuff I would try to borrow from singers that I thought were best for the song, but if you listen to playback of a whole night doing that what you wind up with is sort of a schizophrenic sound. I'm totally in favor of diversity, but i know i've been guilty of acting like a jukebox in the past; put a quarter in and i'll curb this song like a country boy, put another one in and i'll croon this one like i'm in the rat pack. Some people dig that, and some even expect it if you're doing well known covers, but I always admire guys who work the text and just sound like they're communicating.

i hear ya raph.....i'm a bit of an actor...i really like grabbing the audience because i look least like a guy who would....lol!!!

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ah that settles it! this really helps alot!

now i'm just left with saving up for the lessons then!

hope i'm not asking too much here, but about those intensive trainings.

there are 12, 16, 20 and 24 hrs. they are broken up into days right?

so for e.g 20hrs, will the price cover lodgings? or is it strictly just the lessons?

i can't seem to find the answers on the new website..

No, this does not cover lodging. You are responsible for your lodging and transportation. This covers your training sessions. I can give you some recommendations on where to stay. The Training Intensive is something you should do if you want to make a huge leap forward in your training progress by compressing about 6 months of training into 1 to 2 weeks. We typically will do four hour days, staring in the morning. You will want to film/record your sessions with me as well.

I dont mind answering these questions, this is what I do for a living.

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No, this does not cover lodging. You are responsible for your lodging and transportation. This covers your training sessions. I can give you some recommendations on where to stay. The Training Intensive is something you should do if you want to make a huge leap forward in your training progress by compressing about 6 months of training into 1 to 2 weeks. We typically will do four hour days, staring in the morning. You will want to film/record your sessions with me as well.

I dont mind answering these questions, this is what I do for a living.

thanks for the reply mr. lunte! i would really love to have some training intensive. probably takes me a year to save up! or i will hope to win some kinda lottery. maybe get some pen pals in seattle so i can stay over. that will save cost a little bit. hahaha!

thanks again! i just done downloading pillars 4.0.

watched all the lectures, now reading the ebook. not yet touched on the vocalises yet.

but DAMN, after watching n reading, have I learned and understand A LOT! most of the stuffs i was confused before, now I totally get it.

things are going great! hopefully in a few months i will schedule a lesson with you! i hope i can do in singapore time afternoon or early evenings.. because of the time zones, even i have an amplifier, i can't use em because i will be too noisy and disturb my family.. =(

having a great time here!!

EVERYONE GET PILLARS 2.0 NOW!

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I've been psyched about this program since you told me about it's upcoming release all those months ago. Then in typical fashion, it is released right after I've spent everything for this month. Not to worry, next payday is in 2 weeks :D Cannot wait!!!

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I went ahead and finally ordered Pillars yesterday. Now I'm just twiddling my thumbs, waiting for a download link :D

LOL.. ok, its not that funny. I hate to keep my clients waiting, but I have to laugh a little bit because my system used to be manual and I had to send every link and pwd: manually, however... the new cart system should of sent you the link and pwd: automatically? Did you get it? If you missed the email notification, please just send me an email and ill get it to you if you still don't have it. Sorry for the inconvenience!

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I've been psyched about this program since you told me about it's upcoming release all those months ago. Then in typical fashion, it is released right after I've spent everything for this month. Not to worry, next payday is in 2 weeks :D Cannot wait!!!

Arrrgh! Nate?! See you on the internet soon!

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Hello.

I have pillars 2 and am getting a lot out of it - although I am just a beginner so have a long way to go! Just out of curiosity, when we are bridging and going into a strong sounding head tone, does that correspond to curbing in the CVT/CVI terminology or is it slightly different?

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Amen, twin brother of another mother.

If one is a tenor, one should start in tenor. But, I think it could work for even baritones. Primarily because the onset is easy for a warm-up and it will bring the right breath management in from the beginning.

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hmmm? Thanks "bounce"... The initial rounds of feedback from clients has been very strong and also very insightful for me as well. Im discovering that I assumed that people understood some of these ideas and details... even my long term clients that just paid for an upgrade have come back to me and and said, "... hey, now that I have watched that lecture on "xxx", I totally get it now, I was confused...".... I thought they DID get it?!

So this has been good for everyone and it does do a good job of being very clear on exactly what your suppose to do in great detail. I sure hope so, given that its 435 Files & 16 GB of information!

Yes Bounce, speech mode is an enemy to the singer. Speech mode is a "bottom-up" phonation, not good for singing... when we warm up with the resonant tracking excercises in "Pillars" and the sirens to begin to calibrate the timing for register bridging, we need to engage a much more exotic phonation we can call "the singing voice"... but its really a top-down resonating, "twang-like" configuration with seamless registration. Well, just buy the system, you'll get it after you watch the videos.

Thanks for being a client.

Hope this helps...

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Hello.

I have pillars 2 and am getting a lot out of it - although I am just a beginner so have a long way to go! Just out of curiosity, when we are bridging and going into a strong sounding head tone, does that correspond to curbing in the CVT/CVI terminology or is it slightly different?

I dont know, I have never had to study the CVI material, but if you watch the video on "Intrinsic Anchoring", "Vocal Modes", "Laryngeal Dumping" and "Vowel Modification", its similar. Your just not going to get anywhere with register bridging and head voice development, regardless of any system of training, if your not covering these topics and training them. Of course, different programs have different names for many of the same things.

I believe what you will find in "Pillars" that is not found in CVI doctrine is the recognition of the Head Voice... identifying that we have two distinct vocal registers and half the trick... before we get into any "switching" or "intrinsic anchoring", you have to learn to bridge the Passaggio. Its my understanding that CVI does not provide any techniques for beginners to learn how to bridge the Passaggio and registrate. They seem to relay completely on "switching" laryngeal configurations to get the job done. Thats fine, we do the same at TVS, but my experience has shown me that many students of singers can't just short cut to the laryngeal configuration, vocal mode, "switching" stuff... they first need to train the timing of register bridging and get a feel for phonating in the head voice. Learning to bridge the registers FIRST is absolutely critical to becoming a master of all that follows. If your trying to learn to get full in the head voice and you have not really drilled register bridging first, you'll always have problems.

One reason why we drill onsets and sirens at TVS so much in the beginning. I hope you are getting after your onsets and your sirens... thats where you need to be building your foundation?

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I don't have the 4 pillars but from some of Robert's free videos it sounds like the Pillars method is to go from overdrive to neutral with twang as you go up in pitch, using CVT terms. Basically, you gradually let go of the vocal weight, stay on the Eh vowel (when you train, not when you sing) and increase twang. I know that there is TONS of more to that, and you can find it in the Pillars 2.0. but I don't want to be guessing too much about things I don't have full knowledge of.

The CVT book actually describes several ways of dealing with the passagio. Robert's method is a perfectly valid one and is used by lots of singers throughout the world. Another way to deal with the passagio would be to go from overdrive to curbing to neutral with twang and it just gives a different sound, that's all. No better or worse. You just have to figure out which sound you like more.

The great thing about Robert's forum (this one) is that he has created a site where people can discuss cutting edge vocal techniques and just enjoy music - and students from different coaches can live together in harmony. Hat's off to Robert for that!

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Jonpall, interesting hearing what we do at TVS in another talk-track. Although I cant confirm it, but I have no reason to doubt you. Thanks... :cool:

Earlier in this discussion, you can read how Ken Tamplin and I are viewing the bridging process as well. Ill be frank with you, Im beginning to realize that there are different ways to bridge and they can all be trained to be healthy and useful. I would not go so far as to say there are vastly many different ways, but there are several.... Sorry to complicate matters for people, but based on my expertise and "gut" about this, my belief is that, you can bridge with slightly (I said slightly) different variants of the physiology. So slight, that these variants become just a creative choice, or to most untrained ears, they can't hear the difference.

I maintain that one of the unique things about TVS is the emphasis on training as well... to strike out and create 37 original vocal workouts and release a training system that has 435 files and 16 GB of video demonstrations, guide CDs, tutorials and performances by the author/producer makes a clear statement about how TVS holds a high value on training and leading from the front. At the end of the day, get out to the wood shed, grab a mic and start practicing... I do it, my teachers do it and my clients who are serious, do it... Im proud of that.

Thanks JonPall... I really hope you will get a copy of Pillars so you can really know what its about.

Respectfully,

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Thanks Robert and JonPall for your answers. I actually have both systems, but am finding Pillars easier to get started on and am able to bridge (not perfectly but am improving) the way it is done in pillars - well to my ears anyway :). I was totally lost trying to find 'curbing' when I tried, so was wondering if I had gotten it via the pillars method. But I agree JonPall that it is most likely neutral with twang that I am doing. I guess it does not really matter as long as it sounds good (not that mine sounds 'good' yet - but it is sounding ok and improving from where I was).

The good news is that there is hope for me yet. I used to believe that my voice could not sound strong above the end of my chest voice and that great singers were genetically blessed with giant chest voice ranges. So both systems and this forum have definitely made me realise I can work on it and get better and that I am not doomed after all!

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