Help with my singing?

D

drummerboy_04AP

New member
ok, so Im no singer. I really want to though, so Id like any and all help I can get.

Here's a clip of part of a song Im working on right now

http://www.myspace.com/alexperram (sorry, lightningmp3.com wasnt working for me...) Called Help! (cuz I need it bad lol)

So, any tips please? Like, how to stay on key, all that. No tip is 'too beginner' for me.

Thanks!
 
hey doesn't sound too bad, very gutsy to ask and cool. and I'm kinda in the same boat: I'd recommend singing with a source and headphones so you can hear yourself better. If a singer can't hear themselves, that's bad in any situation. Learn your range, and figure out what sounds best. See if you have a better quiet or loud voice, what you sound good singing over, like blues, alt rock, etc. Try speaking, singing in a tiled room, emulate some artists, styles or singers and try singing through some speakers, preferably with other musicians around. It's a good thing to play and keep it fun. Just experiment.

Good luck, keep singing playing and you'll get stronger.:D:
 
here's a few words of advice

Singers

* If you are a singer, buy a keyboard and sing with it every day! Learn the major scale on the keyboard (c d e f g a b c) and sing with it. If you play all of the black keys, you get a minor pentatonic scale, which is the basis for the blues. Singers should master AT LEAST these two scales.
* Singers should get vocal training. There are some great teachers around, and your voice is worth preserving. Singing incorrectly will damage your voice, and the older you get the better you get, so think about the future and keep your voice. If it hurts and you are hoarse at the end of the night, you pushed it too far or you are doing it wrong. How many famous singers were amazing when they were younger, but seemed to lose it as time went on and the were gaining success. Brutal is cool, but not if you lose your voice in the end. A voiceless screamer does not sound very brutal!
 
As an experiment, try double tracking your vocal and see if you like the results better. For me, I can "tolerate" my voice only after I have double tracked. When recording, set your first vocal take at a level that can be heard to keep you in sync, but not overly strong, then sing it again on another channel making sure you can hear what you are singing in your headphones enough to stay in pitch. Pure singers may frown at this, but less than stellar singers do what we have to do to get a decent vocal.

Good luck.

Charlie
 
yeah, or heavy reverb, or delay, we used to always setup vocalists with delay when they'd audition or jam, because they'd hear the doubling and feel more confident, or sing better, get lost in the mixes.

It's another area really but try different mics and stuff. Different equipment helps different voices shine. I swear some singers sound better with a SM57, etc than the 800$ mics.
 
I with you with the SM57/58 – I think it is the response and the prox effect – I like my voice more through the SMs than my more expensive large diaphragm or Fathead – but mics can make a difference – but before you go buying new tech a few basic

Breath : All singer are served by their breath no matter style or quality.

Exercising to engage your breath.

Lie on you back, bring your feet up to about an inch from your arse (it called semi-supine in yoga). Start to breath in focusing on your gut pulling down (diaphragm) and your ribs expanding out to the sides. As you exhale start to hum. Use the hum to warm your voice. Focusing on relaxing your neck, shoulder and throat muscles as you increase the intensity (volume and/or pitch) of the hum. Once you have done this for about 5 to 10 mins start to exhale into an Ahh sound and again explore volume and pitch.

The exercise will seem strange at first but the idea is to create muscle memory so that when you come to sing standing up your body will engage this relax open state more readily.

Try doing the same with your back against the wall and your leg slightly bent and gradually straighten your legs while keeping roughly the same upper-body alignment.

Resonance:

Learn your range but also learn where the quality of your voice resides – most pop music is recorded at the top of the singer register to give a type of energy – that may not suit you.

Rpt the exercise above, and along with exploring range and power, also try to direct the sound into different resonator – head, nose, throat, chest, gut – some bass-baritone opera singers apparently focus deep note into their butt. I tried it once and had a life changing experience but no time for that story now!

Bowie is the master of moving his around his range and various resonators in his body to get his unique sound.

Finally phrasing

Once you work on your capacity and your resonators the next most import thing is to know when to breathe so you can maintain the sound and clarity you want. That’s why singing along with artists you like, - I believe imitation is a great teacher – as long as you are mixing up your influence you will come away with an original sound.

If you like send me 2 or 3 whole contrasting songs ether a cappella or min arrangement and I will have a listen to see if there are any specific problems or strength you can capitalise – a short excerpt indicates a fair voice in key – but it is often the end of a whole song that either demonstrates our weaknesses as we tire or our strengths as we become more relaxed.

My background is in Drama and Music education and I teach voice production most days at one level or another. I have also taught Singing for Fun and Singing Therapy to adult learners.

HTH

Burt
 
Yep,
Like they all say - do the work!
CNIX gives you a cool tip - I say that because he has good results with it. It's an interim tool though unless you really can't improve your voice (& .many, many fine recordings have double tracked vox) with excercise.
Now, I have a two note range & both of those are in different keys so I envy the potential you've demonstrated - so, as I said, DO THE WORK!
 
Whatmysay said:
Breath : All singer are served by their breath no matter style or quality.

Exercising to engage your breath.

Lie on you back, bring your feet up to about an inch from your arse (it called semi-supine in yoga). Start to breath in focusing on your gut pulling down (diaphragm) and your ribs expanding out to the sides. As you exhale start to hum. Use the hum to warm your voice. Focusing on relaxing your neck, shoulder and throat muscles as you increase the intensity (volume and/or pitch) of the hum. Once you have done this for about 5 to 10 mins start to exhale into an Ahh sound and again explore volume and pitch.

The exercise will seem strange at first but the idea is to create muscle memory so that when you come to sing standing up your body will engage this relax open state more readily.

Try doing the same with your back against the wall and your leg slightly bent and gradually straighten your legs while keeping roughly the same upper-body alignment. Burt
Click to expand...

there it ALL is in a nutshell.... if ya aint breathin properly it aint gonna happen... when teaching brass i taught it slightly differently but this is well presented...
 
drummerboy_04AP said:
ok, so Im no singer. I really want to though, so Id like any and all help I can get.

Here's a clip of part of a song Im working on right now

http://www.myspace.com/alexperram (sorry, lightningmp3.com wasnt working for me...) Called Help! (cuz I need it bad lol)

So, any tips please? Like, how to stay on key, all that. No tip is 'too beginner' for me.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Tips from another fledging singer:

1. Find a teacher. You needn't find a local Pavaratti, but NOTHING WILL REPLACE ANOTHER PERSON LISTENING, EVALUATING, AND ADVISING YOU. I sang in the bedroom and car for 2-3 years before getting a teacher, and made such progress that I consider that to be the start of my learning to sing.

2. Warm up your voice daily. I particularly like the warm-up found in Jeannie Deva's The Contemporary Vocalist.

3. Find people you trust to be gentle and sing for them. Singing in practice and performance are two very different skills that need to be learned separately, but preferably in tandem.

4. Regarding pitch: drill yourself. Learn intervals. Play small melodies on guitar or piano and sing them back. "Think then sing" - play a pitch, think the pitch, sing the pitch, then play it again to see if you're in tune. My pitch fucking sucks.

5. Don't practice tired. Or if you must, practice with the understanding that singing really is a full-body endeavor, your general level of health and energy WILL affect EVERY aspect of your technique.

6. Regarding particular advice to experiment with your voice, to find if you like it best quiet or loud, over which styles, etc: experimentation is a valuable part of learning to sing. However, I would caution against categorizing your voice as "quiet," or "loud" early in the game. The goal singing technique is to have a smoothly connected range at all volumes and on all vowels. That sort of technique is rarely achieved in pop/rock - most people just stick with what they like and do as much with it as they can. Experiment, certainly, but don't feel as though you have to sing in the soft style of Jack Johnson because thats the only way you sound good RIGHT NOW. Be patient with your voice and be willing to slowly develop technique in the future.

7. Be careful with loud volumes. Don't wreck your voice, its too good to waste.

8. Relax and be confident. Accept that the joy is in the journey. Don't compare yourself to your favorite artists. They've been at it a while.

Best I have for now. Good luck and don't stop!
 
hey for the record: I'm sending this thread to the singers in my band. It's all really good advice and I thank you.
 
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