Distortion

ItsMeJohnny

Is this safe?

PS: Mind your ears, volume is high

https://vocaroo.com/i/s01086JVP5Wx

doc_ramadani

Hi Johnny, @ItsMeJohnny

welcome back. Personally I am only 14 months on the course and only started with very light distortion. I feel uncertain if this is safe. For me it doesn't sound totally strained but I am not sure if this is really healthy. Can you do this with a very soft distorted TONE too?

Doc

Chris82

I'm not sure to be honest. I do know that should you start feeling pain while trying to distort that you should stop as that is the #1 indicator you are doing it in an unhealthy manner. If you are doing it with the proper technique then you should be able to distort your voice for long periods of time without pain or discomfort.

doc_ramadani

@Furious_Phil & @bentk

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bentk

I agree with @blondiewales . I don't consider myself an expert on distortion, but there is a difference between distortion that sounds more 'forced' and 'relaxed', however strange that may sound for a concept such as distortion. This is why i think @blondiewales is spot-on about the resonant tone being the base.

Ken has some very interesting videos on youtube about distortion, and the way he uses it. Maybe check those out?

Thanks for sharing!

All the best,

Ben

ItsMeJohnny

Hey guys! Thanks for helping me out! So, to answer your questions, @doc_ramadani what do you mean by soft distorted tone? If you're talking about volume then yes, i can do it on a lower volume, there is a treshold though, beyond that the distortion starts to get very weak, though im not singing that loud on that anyway.

There is 0 pain when i do this, but i do have to warm up my voice to get more and more distortion, otherwise my voice just breaks down.

@blondiewales i know what you mean, im always experimenting to see what works, and just like you said, i have to do it for a while to see if its really bringing me down or not. Having said that, i recorded that after 2 hours of singing, and after i was done for the day i didnt lose my voice and coulda kept going, though i was tired...

@bentk as for the relaxation, to me it feels like a support thing, if i throw down on my support i can relax into it, if not, tension builds up, im pretty relaxed when doing that, but not as much as if i was singing clean.

And uh...i have no idea what you guys mean when you talk about resonant tone...haha, darn it, and ive heard about that subject before but i just cant seem to understand what it is

I have watched Ken's videos, they were kinda helpful, but not really, i have no idea how he actually creates the sound

doc_ramadani

Hi Johnny,

I mean: sing the same phrase with only a little bit of round distortion.

Doc

ItsMeJohnny

Hey doc! I sure can! Just need to not compress so much.

By the way, just watched ken's stream about distortion, 3 things stood out: do it in a relaxed way, keep your throat open while you're doing it, dont oversing.
That does help a bunch 😁

I Also heard somewhere that tenor voices have a harder time with distortion, is there any truth to this? (I think im a tenor)

bentk

@ItsMeJohnny

Maybe see the resonant tone as a clean tone with proper technique, support etc. That clean tone and technique will then still be the foundation of your singing, even during distortion. Distortion is introduced as an optional thing in the course at Volume 3. The course consists of 5 volumes, and much time is spent on volumes 1 and 2. There is good reason to build that foundation in volumes 1 and 2 first.

I don't really do big distortion myself, but i do know that the distortion taught at KTVA is really relaxed. Ken did an interview with 10 second songs (I think the guy is called Anthony Vincent? or something like that) on youtube where they mention that it's very relaxed.

I hope this is of some use to you.

All the best,

Ben

doc_ramadani

Hi Ben, Hi Blondie, Hi Chris, Hi Johnny,

all your comments helped me again to check my personal view on that. I like that all of the KTVA students focussed on TONE and not on distortion. For me, distortion is a nuance that we put to the color you chose, But first we have to chose the color (tone) we want to use.

Thanks to the seasoned singers Ben and Blondie for helping us. It is great to know that you always come back to help us. Chris, we should listen carefully.

Doc

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ItsMeJohnny

Hello again guys, @bentk i went ahead and check that interview, really cool stuff with Anthony, and yeppers, raspiness needs to be relaxed, now how we go about doing that is the tricky stuff

@doc_ramadani i understand what you're saying, but i feel like getting distortion is a bigger issue for me right now than working on my tone. I think (emphasis on think) i know how to build a good tone, not saying im jedi master level, but i know more about it than what i know about distortion right now, which is why im here asking for help on this subject
But i totally agree on what you said, one should not be dependent on a vocal effect to sound good.

@blondiewales I thought tenors also had different vocal folds? Like smaller or thinner than baritones, i read that somewhere long ago, but dont know if its true, it also said baritones had an easier time with distortion, and of course that info stayed with me. But yeah, lots of tenors, hell even women have great distortion ( ex:lzzy Hale )
but i do wonder how was it for her to get to that voice

Im currently looking for a job, my first paycheck will go to this course, i hope i can get all the help i need then

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