How about a SINGER'S FORUM?

[chessparov]

There's a good site for other tips/hints at www.thesingersworkshop.com by Lis Lewis.
Good information on singing basics.

As for myself, I use the warm-ups and excercises from the book/CD "Free Your Voice", by Roger Love. Another fine book/CD is "Secrets of Singing" by Jeffrey Allen. (Two versions-male & female BTW)

Do you prefer singing at night like me, or other times for practice?

Chris

 

[gospel]

If I sing in the morning I have to warm up twice as much as normal. The last time we recorded the first day we started at 11am and everything was fine. The second day we started at 9am and you can tell it on the CD. It's not that it was bad, my voice just sounded quite a bit deeper. Give me the afternoon or evening anytime.

 

[chessparov]

Bing Crosby used to like to record in the morning because it made his voice sound fuller too.

Chris

 

[yiordanaki]

hey guys,

i don't know if its the same with everyone but in the morning my voice has more "body" and "raspiness" to it - Possibly cos of mucus on my vocal cords from sleep - or something.................

anyway - that can be a good thing -but my range is reduced heaps in the morning -so pretty much not worth recording anything.

I far prefer night or afternoon, cos then u've been using your voice all day and its nice and limber.
also, when i know i'm gonna record a singing track one day i pretty much do warm ups all day.

As for practicing, - constantly - its almost like a sickness for me - i pass the time at work (8 or 9 hours) singing to myself - and then when im at home im either playing guitar and singing or playing piano and singing.

I would also support a singers forum.........

yiordanaki

 

[smellyfuzz]

yiordanaki:

I would also support a singers forum.........

You wouldn't know what to do with the information on a singers forum.

 

[yiordanaki]

man, your name is very fitting.....

just a smelly fuzz that wont go away!

quit winging. OK, you're the best singer ever and i should learn from you - happy?

yiordanaki

 

[larrye]

Chessparov,
how's that m88 working out? Is it a sensitive mic? I need it sensitive (not much volume on real low notes), and I don't want it to get real muddy when I stick it in my mouth. I looked on e-bay and none there right now. i will keep my eyes open as I can't afford a new one.
Thanks,
Larrye

 

[Chris Tondreau]

Hey Larrye;

For recording purposes, keep the mic about a foot or two away from your mouth. This will HELP to minimize plosives and sibilance. Don't worry about not much volume on the low notes. As long as they're louder than your noise floor (let's hope so!! ), then you should be fine with just bringing them up by adding compression later. Easy does it... if you're recording quiet, you may well not even need a gate or downward expander.

Chris

 

[larrye]

Chris,
I am aware of this on the recording end of things. What I am talking about is in live use. I sing bass in a southern Gospel quartet. After the sound check the people arrive and things change. We don't have anybody on the sound board and etc. So I need one I can get very close to.
Larrye

 

[Chris Tondreau]

Sorry, Larrye.... perhaps if I read back farther in the thread I might have figured that one out. Good luck!

Chris

 

[gospel]

Larrye,
Just thought you'd like to check on www.sogospelnews.com and go to message boards. Under Information Request and Share there is a few topics about bass singer setups, mics, eqs, etc.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Gospel, here's a radical idea- get someone on the board! If you are committed to making the best sound you can, be assured that having someone with good ears on your board will make a huge improvement in your sound. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true, a turkey engineer can trash your sound quite well.
Sounds like it's time for you guys to take it to the next level, and find someone to run board for you. If you want to be really sucessful, it's a logical next step. Here's hoping the Lord provides...-Richie

 

[larrye]

Gospel,
I checked out that message board, I bookmarked it and will use it.

THANKS,

Larrye

 

[gospel]

Richard,
I would love to have someone run our board for us instead of me having to do it onstage. Maybe you could come down here to Ga. and help us out with that. We'll teach you how to talk the way we will be talking in Heaven (just joking). Seriously, thanks for the encouragement.

 

[gospel]

Another question for all you singers (kind of a tech question?)
What is your favorite live vocal mic?
My top 3 are as follows:
1. Shure Beta 87
2. Shure Beta 58
3. Sennheiser cordless 850e (I think that is the #)

 

[chessparov]

Larrye, the Beyer M88 and M88TG are considered "classic"
dynamic microphones by most any pro engineer.

The M88's have a strong proximity effect you can use to make a
high bass sound closer to a "real bass" (those with a low C or below). The M88 model has been used by Elton John, David Bowie, CSN&Y, and many other top acts as their live microphone.
It had an extra boost of noteriety since the 80's as it's Phil Collins'
main microphone both for live and studio recording.

The M88 is used on many scratch vocals in top studios because it
gives more isolation from "bleed" than a SM58, for example.

gospel, all three of those microphone choices can sound excellent.
Proper selection would be based on the singer's type of voice and
style of material so YMMV. Quality of mixer/mic pre is also a factor.

Chris

 

[Richard Monroe]

I actually sound best through AKG D770 and believe it or not, D690's, which are dirt cheap. I guess because we don't have a forum (Are you listening, oh head lizard?), I can't start an official thread, so here goes- What do y'all think of reverb? Curse of all mankind? Necessary evil? Cool when not overdone? Cool when overdone? And really, doesn't listening to dry tracks sometimes make you feel like you're naked on stage? Finally, anybody got any good laryngitis horror stories? I'll show you mine if you show me yours...-Richie

 

[yiordanaki]

I rekn reverb is great in moderation.

Actually - it's a little like alcohol.

If you use too much itr can be detrimental - but there are some situations where too much is what people are aiming for!

So as long as it suits the piece.

But i sang a gig last month and we "forgot" to put some reverb on the singing. Since we are only a young non-professional band we had no1 to adjust stuff, so it was only afterwards that a couple of people came up and said it was too dry.

then the next act got the benifit of decent reverb..........

anyway -

no horror stories - yet

yiordanaki

 

[gospel]

I don't like the old spring reverbs, but I do like digital. I try not to over do the reverb live, but we do use some. On recordings we use different amounts on different songs. I use Cathedral with a little damping (so it don't go on forever) on slow songs and a medium plate on fast songs.

 

[gospel]

Forgot about the second part of the question. No, I haven't had any laryngitis horror stories. Thank God!