How to sing with more life in my voice?

M

meganiam

New member
I recently posted a thread for feedback and in every reply, people agreed I needed to sing with more life in my voice. I understand the statement, but the better question is - how? All the songs I sing mean the world to me, I relate to them and I feel as if I have life in my voice while singing but even I agree that when they are played back it sounds dull.
 
Get into character. You may feel like you are into the song, but we have both admitted - that's not working. So step it up a notch. Go over the top with the emotion (and annunciation). When I've been in the studio recording vocals I perform it like I'm on stage. Put some energy into it!

I can't stand this type of music, but this is a great example of getting into the song. Yes, this kid has an amazing voice, but he's having a good time and really getting into what he's singing.

 
After listening to your cover you posted on the other thread, I can say that it might help if you really annunciated and pronounced all of your words. Also, if you can, your vocals will feel a lot more "lifelike" if you sang in a higher octave or key so you are in your "sweet spot."
 
guitarplayr82 said:
After listening to your cover you posted on the other thread, I can say that it might help if you really annunciated and pronounced all of your words. Also, if you can, your vocals will feel a lot more "lifelike" if you sang in a higher octave or key so you are in your "sweet spot."
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That's good advice! One of the things I noticed with vocalists I've played with is that the really good ones sing with power. This can mean loud. A lot of people are surprised when we are around a camp fire and they say sing a song. Well, I usually drown out my guitar playing because I sing loud. It's not the volume though, it's having a powerful voice. This comes from singing from your belly.

Listen to a nonsinger try to sing and they usually are quiet and don't project. A proud vocalist will blow your face off.
 
Singing with conviction is the biggest part to any vocal performance. If you don't believe the emotion in the song, there is no way you can put that emotion into the song. You have to drive it home, you have to go for the goosebumps everytime you put something on tape, whether it's an intimate acoustic thing or a full-on rock production. Jazz, country, metal, it doesn't matter, you have to inject the emotion of the song into your vocals.
 
I'm not saying this is it, but just a thought:

Picture a guy who goes fishing. After 20 min he's caught nothing (big surprise), so he thinks he's in the wrong spot, he should have bought the better pole and a hundred other things are wrong... and that's why he hasn't caught any fish.

But the reason he hasn't caught fish is that he just hasn't been there long enough. What's 20 min?

So maybe that's all your problem is. Maybe you aren't doing anything wrong. I read the advice people gave and there's for sure value there... and at the same time, if you really try, try and try, and really enunciate your words... maybe as a learning exercise but I like to avoid coming off phony.

I'd listen to everybody and then trust my gut. Usually when you're really nailing something it feels like you aren't trying at all. I tend to go more the way of just really relaxing and getting into the song. If you have the feeling in you, it will come out, and then people will see that.

Or maybe you just haven't found the right song yet.

Just my 1 guy in 6.7 billion opinion. :)
 
I think Dogmatix's "get into character" comment is probably the best advice for adding life to your vocals.

You've got to be really excited about your vocals and really feel the emotion that they express.

Projecting, as Washburn said, is also very important. Sing with confidence from your gut, and it will come out better.

Also, smile! :D Changing your facial expression will change the tone that little bit that could make the difference.
 
I have found out that you can't force these things, they just have to flow and happen. If they arnt then leave well alone for a while and come back later. It's amazing what time can do. As silly as it sounds I find the room ca make a difference, If im singing a slow dramatic song I usually make it as dark and meloncholy as possible, it inspires the dark emotions your singing about. If im going for the massive stadium, adrenaline pumped feeling I usually look out if he window while singing. I live in a place with good views. and the earth around me really inspires me.

I have spent alot of time recording and done nothing because I want to get it done. When I turn on the computer by chance one day I can end up doing some amazing things. . . sods law
 
meganiam said:
I recently posted a thread for feedback and in every reply, people agreed I needed to sing with more life in my voice. I understand the statement, but the better question is - how? All the songs I sing mean the world to me, I relate to them and I feel as if I have life in my voice while singing but even I agree that when they are played back it sounds dull.
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One person's drain cover is another's portal to the sewers........
You feel that you have life in your voice. You say you relate to the songs you sing and that they mean all the world to you.
So what does it matter if other people feel that you need more life in your vocals ? This may just be the way you happen to sing. Lots of well received singers don't appear to have great animation in their voices. And lots do.
There isn't a universal standard of singing ~ that is, you'll very rarely find a voice that everybody digs. There's an interesting thread running at the moment about singers that can't sing. If you haven't already, check it out. It's very illuminating.
The way you deliver your vocals may well be the way you happen to express your emotion via the voice.

A question. Did you feel your vocals were lacking life before others pointed it out ? How did you feel about your vocals beforehand ?
 
grimtraveller said:
A question. Did you feel your vocals were lacking life before others pointed it out? How did you feel about your vocals beforehand?
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I thought they were okay, other than the fact my horrible southern accent sticks out. I felt as if they were lacking something, but I wasn't sure what.
 
I think getting emotion in your singing voice is a bit like creating an emotional performance in acting. If you were given the line in a script "you'll never make me stay" and just read it off the page all the words would be the same volume, where as if you were really saying it to someone in a real situation and meant it you'd probably put the emphasis on 'never'
i.e. "you'll NEVER make me stay". And if you were acting a scene saying it you'd pretend you meant it and hopefully get the same result. Well I think singing is similar, you need to talk through your singing, like your really saying what your saying to someone, except your singing it not talking.

That advice really helped me when people told me my singing was a bit lifeless, like I was singing off a page. However you may already be doing this and you just don't have the natural ability to get alot of emotion in your voice, just as some people can't act a convincing performance, no matter his much they practice.
 
I have been struggling with the same dilemma. My solution has been to REHEARSE. When I REALLY know the part, THEN I'm relaxed and really get into it. On the flip side, sometimes the first take, including flat notes is the best. I've had to learn to live with the mistakes on that first take, double the vocals and try to mix out the imperfections, but not too much, sometimes that slide into a note, or odd phrasing is just what the song and your vocals need to have that feeling and expression you seem to be seeking.
 
Often when people say there's no emotion in the way a song is sung, it's usually because it's monotone and there's little variation. Ofcourse 'feeling' the lyrics helps you sing in a more interesting way, but often it's just a matter of learning great vocal technique that gives you freedom to colour the sound the way you want to. A good vocalist (and with good I mean someone that has practiced and learned a lot, I'm not talking about 'talent' here) can even make a song that he thinks has boring lyrics look like he's into it, not because he's actually into it, but because he has such freedom in his voice he can make his voice sound the way he thinks fits the song.

Work with dynamics, pronounce some words in a harder way. Also watch your twang, you can put more on certain words to make them stand out more too.

And you gotta play around with your lips and your tongue.

Just get different sounds in the same line, and with different sounds I don't mean different notes.

For example if I were too sing "youll never make me stay"
you could sing the 'youll' in your normal way, then at the 'never' you could sing a little bit harder and really open your mout, at 'make me stay' you could sing the stay a little longer and instead of just singing 'stay' the normal way you could up the twang a little bit.

I would recommend you to find the book Complete Vocal Technique by Cathrine Sadolin (if I'm not mistaken) and learn from that (and if you haven't already: get singing lessons), my vocal coach uses this book and we use the techniques in that book, which basically makes putting life and emotion into a sing not an issue anymore because the book puts the voice in different 'modes' you could utilize in a song and teaches you how to colour the sound the way you want it.
 
I would also recommended "getting in the mood." Like vocal foreplay - haha.

During recording of my band's last album I tried this and I was happy with the result. When I tracked the vocals for one of our songs "Hole in the Floor" (listen below) I had the room pretty dark except for some dim colored lights and I was by myself in the studio and got to really focus on the singing and the mood.

Hole in the Floor
 
Whenever I find music somewhere that really moves me, it gives me a big musical boost. I just found out about Neil Young's new album and at rehearsal last night I felt like I got inspired from it.

So that's my vote: listen to inspiring musicians
 
FunkDaddy said:
Singing with conviction is the biggest part to any vocal performance. If you don't believe the emotion in the song, there is no way you can put that emotion into the song.
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You don't even have to believe in the sentiments of the lyrics as such...as long as you believe in doing the song for fun...if you love the way you can sing a word so it rebounds off a snare or a gap in a beat...something...just whatever it is...just so you like doing it
 
May Or May Not Be Useful

Back when I started in radio (1967), DJ copies of vinyl singles often came in "sleeves" with he artist's picture on them.

Anytime we got a sleeve with an attractive female artist on in, we'd tape it to the control room in front of the audio console.

Then, anytime we cracked the mic, we'd "talk" to the woman in the picture.

It did wonders for putting "life" into our voices...
 
Monkey Allen said:
'cracked the mic'?

Is that a radio expression? What does it mean?
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At that time 1967, our control consoles had a number of knobs used to control the level of the various programming sources (mics, turntables, etc).

Our consoles had a three-position switch above each knob that, when pushed to the left, would connect the source to an audition bus, if in the center, it was not connected to either bus, and if pushed to the right would connect the source to the program bus, which fed the transmitter.

"Crack the mic" was the term we used for pushing the switch to the right, to connect the mic to the program bus. We also used "hit the mic" to describe the same action.
 
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