What am I doing? Is this still falsetto?

[forgivendays]

Hello, This is my first post here I hope I can get some help with this

I was singing "Grace" by Jeff Buckley and I tried singing the high note at the end (E5) and it kind of worked. My range right now is from Eb2 till F4. I somehow pushed my falsetto and the high note sounded close Jeff Buckley's, with vibrato, power, and loudness. I couldn't sustain it for long but it sounded good. So what was that? I was doing the same thing on a lower note and the way I slided back to chest voice kind of felt like I was in head voice, but that's impossible right? Since my range is almost an octave less than that E5

Here's a short, bad quality mobile recording

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YAHUAH3J

When I am doing this "thing" I don't feel any strain but after it my throat burns a LITTLE bit.

I kept trying this technique a couple of times yesterday and I think I hurt my throat a little bit. Today my throat feels weird so I'm letting it rest.

Should I give this up or try approaching it in another way? I don't think I was using any support from the diaphragm so that might be a reason for the throat "burning". Also, I could try this technique with diaphragm support and on a note a bit lower. What do you think?

EDIT: I think I should add that there's no vocal coach access to me. I live in Egypt and I can't find any. I was able to find one but he left over a month ago.

[akarawd]

Hi Morid,

I'm certainly no expert but that "burning sensation" you wrote about caught my attention. I've had that too and

although the sound of the voice was quite powerful and convincing it rendered the high part of my voice useless.

Does your larynx shoot all the way up under your chin when you get that burning sensation ? If does, it could

be sth similar to what I was doing. I stopped doing that since even after proper warm up/down and plenty of warm water the

effects were still felt on my voice. I trust my breath support is decent.

Be sure that there is a way of producing these notes without hurting your voice and all the useful info on this site will help you strengthen it.

Hope this helps,

akarawd

[forgivendays]

Hey, thanks for the response.

I didn't pay attention to my larynx so I can't answer that but I'll try tomorrow because my throat (not sure if it's the throat but it's in that area) still feels weird and tired.

I just came across this topic http://www.punbb-hosting.com/forums/themodernvocalist/viewtopic.php?id=758

From the name (Falsetto scream) I think this might the same technique. I'll try the tips on there while paying attention to my larynx and diaphragm tomorrow and let you know.

[ronws]

It's not falsetto and it's not a scream. You were fully resonating "head voice" aka behind the soft palate. The support is not from the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a muscle for inhalation. What support you need is a slight, constant pressure from the stomach muscles, but not too much. And even before worrying about that, simply concentrate on the resonance and having the right amount of tension in the vocal cords. You hit a good note. And perhaps the "burning" was simply the muscles and cords being used in a new way for the first time, though I am not an expert. But I do know that when I first learned to sing high, I couldn't do it for very long. It wasn't damaging, it's just that the muscles were not trained to do what is now easy to do.

[forgivendays]

Thanks for the reply,

I'm pretty shocked that I'm actually singing a note that high in head voice. What do you suggest? How did you work on this to make it easy and long lasting? As you can hear I could only sustain it for about 4 seconds.

[ronws]

As your muscles retain to allow you better control over the tension in your cords and better stability where you are resonating, it will get easier and you will find that you do not have to take a deep breath to hold a long note. In fact, sometimes taking a monster deep breath is counter-productive as it can increase pressure on the larynx. The trick to having a strong sounding high note like that is to quietly and calmly step away from the notion that all notes have to "feel" like they came from behind the breast bone. They don't. Technically, it's all headvoice, from basso profundo to tenor colurata. The components of a note are how fast what parts of the folds are vibrating with a constant air pressure that is not overpowering and that the note is resonating in a space that is made for that note. High note means small resonating space. It's actually a matter of physics. I often visualize an high note resonating behind the sinus, which is more accurately described as behind the soft palate. But I have had low notes create a buzzing there, leading me to believe that much of changing the resonance space is really about changing the inner diameter of the throat, with a relaxed, slight curled tongue to support the sound. A flat tongue depresses the pharynx, kind of choking off the sound.

[forgivendays]

Thanks for all the help

I tried again today. The notes didn't sound as good as the one I recorded two days ago. So I tried taking it to a lower note (C5). I think it sounded too shrill and "scream-y" for a C5, not how I would expect to sing it after I increase my chest voice range. Also I tried to drop my soft palate by doing the first thing in a yawn and I directed my voice at it.. it hurt, felt like I was screaming/shouting.

What should I do now? Should I try again tomorrow? I really wanna be able to do this but if I keep hurting my voice everyday I wont be able to practice my "normal" singing. :/

edit: I have to say that my voice didn't tire out/feel weird as fast as it did 2 days ago.

[ronws]

You think it sounded to shrill and screamy, you said. We often cannot hear ourselves as others hear us. But for now, I would say, sing it in a way that doesn't hurt, regardless of what you think it sounds like. As your muscles re-train, you will find the timbre changes a bit, as your control approaches a finer capability.

[forgivendays]

I'll try. Thanks for all the help :)