Resonance help

[colin040]

I still don't get resonance...at times I feel that it definitely helps A LOT from my supper high notes (starting around G4 I guess) til D5 but higher that to it actually feels harder to to do so at times. Also there are times where I feel trying resonance creates EXTRA pressure for me means I'm most likely doing something (closing my throat maybe?)

http://soundcloud.com/colin040/resonance This is me trying and hitting a high note with quite some high power. I don't know if this is resonant enough though.

Then the next clip is something weird. I tried sliding up a scale but noticed going back down I sounded raspy. The notes would sound pretty awful.

http://soundcloud.com/colin040/what-the-hell-is-this-sound

How do I get rid of the sound in my second clip and how I create good, strong resonance that will sound+feel good?

[Steven Fraser]

I still don't get resonance...at times I feel that it definitely helps A LOT from my supper high notes (starting around G4 I guess) til D5 but higher that to it actually feels harder to to do so at times. Also there are times where I feel trying resonance creates EXTRA pressure for me means I'm most likely doing something (closing my throat maybe?)

http://soundcloud.com/colin040/resonance This is me trying and hitting a high note with quite some high power. I don't know if this is resonant enough though.

Then the next clip is something weird. I tried sliding up a scale but noticed going back down I sounded raspy. The notes would sound pretty awful.

http://soundcloud.com/colin040/what-the-hell-is-this-sound

How do I get rid of the sound in my second clip and how I create good, strong resonance that will sound+feel good?

colin040: let's deal with the 2nd clip first: The raspiness on the way down is an irregularity in the phonation as the result of a registration misbalance. Its not purely a problem of resonance, but of phonation in the context of the resonance. The way you have conceptualized that downward siren has provoked a little higher TA involvement that is not balanced by the CT. For the downward siren to be of smooth, the CT and TA must both adjust, and in this case, the gradual addition of more TA to the registration on the way down is challenging.

Fortunately, this irregularity will respond well to downward siren exercises if you pick a better vowel for the frequency range, reduce the dynamic by a little bit, and go a bit slower through the downward siren. If the problem shows up, do not continue the siren. Re-onset, and go slower.

What vowel to use? Just as you modify on the way up, you reverse the pattern on the way down. At C5 and above, the best vowel for a male is something like an UH, as in 'up'. As you siren downward past that, OE as in 'foot' starts to work well, as does OH as in 'show' and EH as in 'head', as well. The particular ones that will work best for you are individual, but will be the same as you use on the upward siren.

Now to the first clip.

On the way up, you use an early bridge, and go into a moderately-twangy head voice which seems very stable phonation, but with nondescript vowel. In this upper region, you will benefit from some vowel experimentation/exploration. I suggest sirening up like you did, and when you get to A4, stop the pitch slide, and sing slowly through a vowel series that includes all the long vowels: oo, ee, ay, oh, ah, release, re-siren up, and sing the short vowels: IH, EH, AH (as in 'hat') UH and OE (up, and foot, as previously) on the A4.

It would be great for you to record yourself, and take good notes about how each vowel feels as you do it, and how it sounds on the recording.

On the downward part of the siren, you bridged high, and got an 'overdrive' or 'belt' kind of sound. This will not blend with the higher production until you have better vowels up top. Once you find those, then your upper voice will be fuller and less different than the lower.

I hope this is helpful.