Musical Theatre/Opera Singer( w/ previous training) and Professional Rock Drummer
justinocdp
Enrolled Posts: 26
Hi everybody! I got KTVA's complete course for Christmas today and could not be more excited! A little about me, I'm 23, I've been a drummer for 13 years, singer for the past 2 years and on top of that I'm a pianist, guitarist and bassist. In my two years of singing I have had a massive amount of training and have had leading roles in many musicals (The Rocky Horror Show, Cabaret and Spring Awakening). Acting (film, musical, commercial) is my day job, I'm with an Agency out here in Dallas, Texas and love every minute of it.
But on to singing! I'm a high tenor with a very reliable, slightly over 3 octave range (A2-Bb5) in my opinion my voice has a good musical theatre sound, which is great for musicals, bad for when I write rock songs and need some "bite" to my voice. After watching many videos of Ken (unfortunately after learning first hand that Singing Success and Mastering Mix won't help my rock voice) and reading many posts on here I decided KTVA was something I needed desperately. Partially because Ken is phenomenal at explaining and demonstrating his technique and partially because of this forum here, I've never seen such support and genuine kindness on an internet forum before.
So real quick some issues with my voice that I hope to solve
1. Get a more rock/ belty sound safely
2. add distortion safely
3. become better with my pitch and pitch control (this is a BIG one. I have ok pitch, but i tend to start songs off on wrong notes occasionally and would really like less guess work when hitting notes / more confidence)
4. I have poor voice control ex. runs, riffs, trills are very difficult for me, even doing major scales as quickly as Ken does is difficult for me, I have a bad habit of just "sliding" through scales rather than hitting each individual note.
5. My speaking voice gets tired very quickly and often hurts (no nodules, or polyps, i've been checked) however, my singing voice never tires out on me or hurts.
Thank you guys! Hope to talk to all of you.
Comments
Welcome, Justin!
Many of us here are veterans of attempts to find our voice in other methods such as SLS or Singing Success. Those methodologies did not get us into anything close to belting or wailing. They delayed our arrival here.
You have much experience under your belt as you come in the door at KTVA. If you've been reading some of the posts here, you probably already know that one of the things you will have to deal with is to become a blank slate and in many ways, be willing to start all over again.
Other classical vocalists have joined up with KTVA and found that the additional dimensions as taught by Ken really gives them many of the qualities in their voices that they have never found through more traditional, conventional classical singing methods.
Much of what you have already accomplished will transfer directly, such as your vocal range. Other training that you have had will possibly blind you from some of the simple beginnings you will need to experience. Please pay very close attention to the basic AH vowel as Ken demonstrates it. You may have years of scales to your credit, but you need to make sure you are doing everything Ken shows you exactly as he shows you. The same applies to all of the basic foundational elements of the voice. No matter how much you already know about the voice, please set that aside for the moment and be OK with that. I'm speaking from experience here. That way you won't have to double back later and unlearn so much.
If you can manage to remain open to all of the emphasis that Ken puts on the basics, and incorporate those techniques to dovetail with the part of your previous vocal training that is in accordance with KTVA, you will CATAPULT your voice into the next galaxy!
Some things will take time, but others will transform you almost instantly.
I'm excited to hear what this is going to do for you. I believe you're coming in the door with the right attitude and the drive to really accomplish all of your goals, and I think you're going to be very pleased with what is about to happen to your voice.
Nice to have another Drummer/Vocalist that also plays other instruments here!
Bob
This is the place to develop that Rock Belt that you are looking for. It sounds like you have a lot of experience. Take your time watch the videos and copy Ken's demo. Ken does explain how to safely distort the voice in volume 3. Because this can be dangerous if done incorrectly focus on your support, bright tone and vowel modifications first. Make sure your technique is developed before adding distortion.
In regards to fatigued speaking voice, that could be caused by many things. 1 using too much air when speaking. This can dry out the cord causing fatigue and hoarseness.
2. Lack of support-this is a big one. We tend to support more when singing but drop that back when speaking. I try increasing my volume slightly when speaking.
3. Placement-sometimes we tend to speak lower than what may be comfortable for our voice. Try placing your voice a little higher. Ken calls this "little boy voice". He also uses this higher placement when singing. It helps a lot.
I've worked on these 3 areas and have noticed less fatigue. It doesn't change over night but work at it and it will help. All 3 items also apply to singing. All the best!