"speech level singing"?

[wes480]

Someone mentioned this the other day, for recording vocals. I was wondering if anyone could elaborate.

I feel this way about singing sometimes - if I am taking the meaning of the term correctly.

Like I could get a more passionate "in your face" vocal, if i sang it quieter, and didn't try to really kill the mic on volume trying to "pump up" the sound.

But, a lot of times it just comes off as lazy sounding.

I dunno, just wondering about the technique - and if it even has anything to do with volume.

Don't remember what thread I saw it in.

[The Green Hornet]

Yo West by West @ 480:]

If you listen to some Sinatra recordings, you will hear EXPERT articulation, along with the great mics "the man" had to use, as well as superb orchestration and recording engineering.

Sooooo, I'd say, for we home recorders, Clean Articulation of consonants is a key for a clean up front recording; as well, you have to fight the trend of modern recording that says we want to hear the beat and we don't care about the vocal....not true with the big stars.

A good mic, a GOOD mic preamp, and good vocal skills on the mic will give you what you are looking for but, like me, we have to keep looking and practicing to get it.

Green Hornet

[Mercuri]

My little sister does it and she has an unbelievable voice.

Speech level singing doesn't necessarily mean not singing loud. It means being able to hit all the notes in your entire range in an alto voice at the exact same volume. She can do it and it's the creepiest thing you've ever heard!! It *does* help your notes sound more exciting too. You can express more emotion if you're not blasting at the top of your lungs.

Check out some stuff by Seth Riggs. Yes, it involves scales and everything, but when you've got it down, it's cool. I picked up some technique from her and I can hit close to high C in alto. (Kinda weird coming from a guy, but listen to Steve Tyler =oP) Another artist who used it heavily was Michael Jackson. Listen to "The Way You Make Me Feel". How many guys do you know who can hit those notes like that????

[wes480]

you mean just like having an auto-compressor on your voice?

regardless of what volume you are singing at?

[chessparov]

Check out Roger Love's book/exercise CD "Set Your Voice Free".
It's a well written book on vocal technique for the intelligent
layperson (and me!). Actually, "Jacko's" vocals aren't as sharp
lately as when fronting the Jackson 5 or around the "Thriller" era.

The various celebrities that Seth coached had different degrees of
talent and not all of them kept at their technique either.
So going by the "famous names" he liked to quote can give a false impression of how well (or not) this method worked.
"Speech level singing" is a diluted (not deluded) version of the
old Bel Canto techniques used by the Italian School of Bel Canto,
and in this milder form is fine for less technical singing, as in popular music (rock/R&B/country). If you ever get a chance, go
to an opera and hear the real heavyweights for comparison!


Ever notice how strong singers have a "groove" to the way they
sound? A lot of that has to do with their choice of material and
voice type.

Chris

P.S. Saw Kenny Loggins a couple of days ago since my wife is a
fan and was pleasantly surprised at how good of a singer
he is live!

[Mercuri]

It helps make it so you don't need a compressor. There are fewer peaks and valleys in the vocal track. Fewer volume spikes and it's much more even sounding.

I rarely compress vocal tracks anymore. Why add an extra box in the chain when you don't have to??

[powderfinger]

I have both Seth Riggs & Roger Love's books........i'd suggest the Seth Riggs one, but both are good..........they both stress that you shouldn't have to raise volume to hit higher notes.....i still can't really grasp that, but it has helped me........

[HapiCmpur]

Originally posted by powderfinger
I have both Seth Riggs & Roger Love's books

I imagine that each of these books has a certain amount of theory and a certain amount of vocal exercises. Which of the two has more exercises and less theory?

[chessparov]

I had both "Singing For The Stars", by Seth (gave it away recently),
and "Set Your Voice Free" by Roger Love. Preferred Love's CD as his
vocal demonstrations were superior IMHO. They both have good
information, however, singers learn more by listening than reading!

Chris

[powderfinger]

Originally posted by HapiCmpur
Which of the two has more exercises and less theory?

They both come with similar CDs.....the Riggs book gives a little more theory behind the exercises it seems........the CDs and exercises are quite similar, which is a good sign, because they are trying to accomplish the same things..................

with help of the books and practice, i have extended my range from a high G to about C on a good day (for a high stretch note, not constant singing).........i am still working on getting my A through C range solid in terms of tone and strength, but before the books, I wasn't even close....

[powderfinger]

we really need to lobby for a singing forum by the way......it seems like there are a lot of singing threads going around......we need a place to put them all............

[djc]

Yeah, I'm all for a singing forum too. How about it Dragon?