Faithfully

[gno]

This is my first attempt at a very light head voice in the passaggio area:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12389334

I had what I thought was a "heavier" voice. I thought my voice was simply not suited for a Journey ballad requiring a very light head voice through the passagio. I was determined to put these notions to the test. So I set out to learn this song - back in March. My first attempts at singing this were hideous - tight and constricted. At one point I just about threw in the towel, ready to concede that I wasn't cut out for this. But I was persistent. After a couple months of training to "bridge early" with the Bristow program, I could finally sing this song. I've essentially "re-tooled" my voice in the last couple months and I am very glad I did.

I'm still working on this song - not everything is perfect, but it is coming together.

Let me know what you think?

Geno

[MDEW]

:) People like Chris and Felipe who really know what they are doing may be able to point things out that you can work on. But all I can say is that was pretty awesome. Yes, it sounded tight in some areas but knowing that you had difficulties when starting to work on this and it was only a few months I think you sounded great.

Your voice fits this song ( at least the way you were singing here) and you did not sound like you were struggling with anything.

Keep up the good work. You can add this to the personal gains thread in the technique section.

[gno]

Chris - Thank you for your great comments. I've been a proponent of letting the larynx go where it wants to go. I didn't want the "pushed down" operatic tone. However, yesterday I experimented with not letting it go "up" when singing high. I got more resonant space. I know do have to let it go up somewhat when going higher, but maybe I was letting it go too high.

Mdew - thanks for listening and your nice comments.

[Owen Korzec]

Okay, listening. Definitely great for being not naturally good at it. On the whole it's sounding great.

Now for the constructive nitpicking:

Your vowels are a little too closed for my taste. You can hear it in particular on the G#4's in the beginning. For some reason it sounds much better on the parts with a lot of G#4's. But your narrower vowel shades continue throughout on various pitches in that range, whereas Perry sings the vowel more open and tunes to F1/H2 quite a bit...even in head voice. Once you've lightened the mass you have more vowel flexibility...I'd suggest making use of it and make those head tones sound a little more open. I'd also suggest inching away from the mask/nasal timbre, and tuning more to the vowel formants. This will give you a boomier sound.

You like to imitate, and I would suggest, on this one, just imitate Perry a little more.

Those high notes at the end floored me. Great job there. Now you are tuning vowel formants there and it sounds great.

The middle range is what needs work, and not a lot. It really just comes down to adjusting the resonant strategy. What you did here is a little bit too far in the pinched/narrow/nasal direction, and what I'd suggest is focusing more on really tuning the vowel formants so you get more of a boomy, theatery tone. That doesn't mean dark, it's more about having good resonant energy in the lower mid frequencies. One of the first adjustments you could probably make is to drop the jaw more and lower the tongue more, to bring F1 and F2 closer together. Lowering the larynx just a slight tad may also help.

If you combine that with light mass, bam, there's your floaty, free, but expansive and resonant Steve Perry kind of sound.

So, to summarize, you are mostly there, all you gotta do is tweak your tone a bit. And of course that is just my humble opinion.

Props for your determination in getting the light mass thing down. In terms of maintaining the right mass I think you nailed it on that aspect.

[ronws]

Well, here's your requisite "good job."

Of course, you don't sound Steve or Arnel. You sound more like Deen, who has sang this one at some of the live shows. And he is a great singer in his own right. He would just rather, more often, play drums.

How come no one here is nitpicking Deen's version, to which you sound so eerily close? Hello? All I can hear is crickets chirping.

Oh yeah, Deen is already in an established rock band and who is this Geno guy?

I think you did just fine because I was expecting you to sing it like Geno. There's probably something wrong with me, for that. So, my opinion and $1.70 USD will get you a Diet Coke.

edited because I misplaced an apostrophe.

[Keith]

LOVE IT. I don't hear anything that needs fixing. You have become very flexible indeed! Great job.

[gno]

Owen - Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Those middle notes, right in the passaggio - F#4 and G#4 - are the most difficult, and that's where I was finally able to sing a light resonant tone. The higher notes are easier for me to hit the center of the vowels for some reason. It does help to mimic Perry even though I may never be able to really sound like him.

Ron - thank you! Yeah I've seen Deen sing at concerts and he is great. Haven't heard him for a while though. I'm glad you liked my version - I don't think I could ever come close to that Steve Perry sound. Nor do I want to. I love Steve Perry, but I think singers should sound like themselves (unless you are trying out for a Journey tribute band - then that's a different story.)

Keith - Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it.

[abajab]

I don't think I could ever come close to that Steve Perry sound. Nor do I want to. I love Steve Perry, but I think singers should sound like themselves (unless you are trying out for a Journey tribute band - then that's a different story.)

Geno,

I think you do a beautiful job on this and I agree with you that you should always sound like yourself. I fact because you head and chest are built differently than Steve Perry's, or anyone else's for that matter, your vocal tones will always sound uniquely like yours.

You say that this is your first attempt. Wow

[Felipe Carvalho]

:) sounds good man!

[Chavie]

Outstanding cover man!!!

Always one of my favorite voices on this forum.

[gno]

Jeff - Thanks for the kind words.

Felipe - Glad you liked it! That means a lot.

Chavie - Thank you for listening.

[Validar]

Validar likes this.

[Olem]

Fantastic, Geno, and congratulations! I can´t hear anything odd with this interpretation. I think Steve Perry would have been proud listening to this.

[gno]

Validar - Thank you!

Olem - Thanks for the kind words.

[ElWin]

Geno - excellent. I'd skipped this because I didn't think I knew the song well enough to comment - actually maybe that's better because I have no preconceptions about how it should sound. Just came back to it and I'm glad I did. Really good performance.

[gno]

Elwin - Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment!

[Manolito Mystiq]

Hey geno,

I sometimes hear this closing down of the voice, this held back sound—more than should, but just a bit more so that it actually isn’t all that audible. Part of this has to do with the fact that you’re Curbing, probably the way for you to stay light.

I recognize my closing down of my voice, but that is far too much. As you may’ve noticed, I’m working like crazy to find my balanced voice. It’s helps that I read your story of working on this sound for months. I know it takes time. I think I want the opposite of what you want. I want to have more heaviness in my voice. I still feel I sound like a 13-year old.

Great job, man.

[gno]

Manolito - thanks for the comments. I made a lot of progress but it's not perfect yet. You're right I go into curbing easily because that's what I've done all my life. But in some of these phrases they are Neutral - curbing was just too heavy. But Neutral is new to me - still working at it. It is so easy to fall right back into curbing.

Following Faithfully I immediately started working on Open Arms and this song was much easier due to the work I put into Faithfully. I feel even better about this one - I'll be posting it shortly.

From your avatar I thought you were a 13 year old boy! (just kidding). Yeah it's funny how we all gravitate to our favorite / habitual mode especially when out of normal speaking range.

[Manolito Mystiq]

According to a CVT instructor, I developed this habit of singing in Curbing because of not daring to sing in full volume, because of not being open so much. It took me quite a while to sing without holding back because I might disturb someone.

Or, because I’m trying way too hard to match the dynamics of a studio recording. I was (and probably still am) equalizing my sound heavily, compressing even. I just couldn’t believe that singers like LaBrie or Dio were singing with much more volume. I felt that their soft parts sounded full, but not loud. A better example could be Joey Tempest. He sings high, strong, but to my ears, he didn’t sound like he was having a lot of volume.

[gno]

That's interesting. I wouldn't have known how loud LaBrie or Dio really are. Someday I'd like to take a couple lessons from a CVT instructor. There are a lot of singers who sound like they are singing loud but are not, like Steven Tyler. Or like Gino Vannelli who sings with a lot of power, but you wouldn't know from the studio recordings. I'd like to master Metal Like Neutral some day. I think it gives more freedom on vowels up high (curbing and overdrive are vowel specific up high).

[Owen Korzec]

That's interesting. I wouldn't have known how loud LaBrie or Dio really are. Someday I'd like to take a couple lessons from a CVT instructor. There are a lot of singers who sound like they are singing loud but are not, like Steven Tyler. Or like Gino Vannelli who sings with a lot of power, but you wouldn't know from the studio recordings. I'd like to master Metal Like Neutral some day. I think it gives more freedom on vowels up high (curbing and overdrive are vowel specific up high).

Don't you have Pillars? There should be plenty of stuff in there to teach you how to master MLN (same thing as twanging in the head voice)...what version do you have? I know that with 2.0 or later you should definitely be able to learn it from that, and maybe a skype lesson with Rob here or there if you're confused about anything.

It does give more vowel flexibility, but not quite as much as speech. Between the vowel flexibility of speech and the vowel specificity of metallic modes up high, MLN falls in the middle. The vowel rules of CVT modes still apply within MLN, but within a smaller scale. This is why CVT has since added the Edge-Like Neutral, Curbing-Like Neutral, and Overdrive-Like Neutral subdivisions in their Metal-Like Neutral chapter. However I've found you can still sing ee, oo, ah (etc...the other vowels) in MLN though so I don't know how those fit in...

I'm pretty sure you are already very good at MLN though. I think with KTVA, their bridge is from curbing to MLN. That's what it sounds like. MLN is basically what most vocal methods are calling head voice nowadays, or even pharyngeal or mixed voice.

[ronws]

According to others who knew Dio, such as Ron Keel, Dio did not sing much louder than speaking level. Certainly not at the maximum volume output of his voice or any human voice.