@bberg, your exercises could be brightened up a bit. On the Lah it sounds just a bit like "luh".
Make it really and Open LAH, bright and pingy. Make sure you smile and let the sound bounce off your teeth a bit. Mimic Ken on "It's the LAH, AHH!!
Your exercises sound pretty good. Your support is better, but keep working on it. You're almost there. I heard a good A4 and also a G5.
That takes a lot of support. You just need to build it up so you have more stamina.
On your song, you need to put your voice up a little higher in the mix. It sounds good, but it's sitting too low in the mix to hear you well at times. Your support sounds pretty good in the song.
Like I say, keep working to build the support. Regarding the squawk in the second chorus, remember that your support is reducing the amount of pressure on your cords. It sounds like you may have squeezed your abdominals in a way that forced more air to come out, rather than to hold the air back. You are trying to keep a consistent flow, and as you go to a higher note, you press down harded, holding back more air, rather than forcing out more air.
Your Second version of the song, with the video is the better version. On the first one, the audio-only, your pitch is wandering and your voice is weak. The long last note is the best part of the first version.
On the video, your pitch is much better. It's good that you videoed the song. I think you should video all of your demos from here on out. There is more information in a video. Your voice sounds better when you smile more and let your teeth show. It's a darker, weaker tone when your lips cover your teeth. When you show your teeth, the sound is brighter and clearer, and overall your pitch is pretty good on the video.
When I watch your breathing, I'm seeing your chest rise as you take a breath, and I'm not seeing much action at all in your belly. I want to see the chest remaining 3/4 full throughout the song, except during the musical interlude, and not rising or falling much at all. It should be up and suspended, keeping the weight of your ribs and chest from squeezing any air out of your lungs. Think of it as a chest that you don't want to let any of the air squeeze out of.
Now your belly should come towards the camera with every breath you take in. It should slowly be moving inwards on each line of the song. I'm not really seeing that. Instead of letting air out of your chest, I want to see you slowly "let it out" of your belly on each phrase.
You actually did a pretty fair job on the video version. Now I know you can get the pitch right, I'm not sure if you were paying closer attention then, or were more warmed up then, or just what your pitch issue was on the audio-only version.
Beautiful job! Your tone is really good, makes it a pleasure to listen to. My big tip of the week on this one is, especially on the ending part, to really minimize the "Y" or "Yuh" part of halleluia.
It will sound less obstructive if you glide through with less consonant and make it h-ah Leh Loo ia with an ee-uh instead of a Yuh. It's a subtle difference, but I think if you try it that way you'll find that you can transition through the vowels ee and uh without closing the vocal tract like going from Ooh to Yuh does.
@highmtn uh lol no. I have two parrots in the next room. And three boys that randomly make noise 7,16,19. I gave up worrying about their noise. Anyway thx for the feedback. I hear you on video. I saw the breath part before I posted in forum.
Both of these demos sound pretty good. The second one is brighter. You have trouble singing the lowest notes of the lowest scales, but that's OK. Those notes are kind of below your range.
You don't seem to have any trouble with the upper range notes, and those are right on pitch.
You also are not having much trouble bridging into head voice. I think you're going to head voice at about G#4.
The way to stretch your chest voice is to lean into the sound with a little more volume and air pressure... but not too much. Gently avoid going into head voice. Like I said, I hear you going into head by around G#4, so you should first try to keep your chest resonance going up to A4, then if that works out, to Bb4, then B4, etc. As an alto, you should be able eventually to go past D5 or so in chest voice, but that's on down the road.
You do need to learn to recognize the different feeling of chest vs head so you will know to keep your voice in chest a little longer. If you can get to a piano, even a virtual one on your computer, listen to yourself and feel the feelings in your voice as you sing this same scale, very slowly. Feel what's happening between around F#4 and A4. That's where you are shifting resonance. That's the area you'll be working with to stretch your chest voice initially.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the feedback - really appreciate it! I practiced stretching chest and got the hang of it. I can feel the difference between going into head voice and staying in chest. I just read one of your posts about vowel mods that really cleared things up. I don't think I was doing it correctly before. I just had some questions:
1) So the goal is to continue to stretch chest (which for me is starting at around G4), but at the same time use the vowel mods which might help me sing a few more notes in chest? I hope this question makes sense, I sometimes over think things haha.
2) How long should I practice stretching chest? I did feel some strain on my throat as I tried to sing a few notes around G4-A4. I wasn't practicing with the audio workouts because the scales are too high for me to sing in chest after 4-5 scales.
3) Once I get the hang of the vowel mods, would I then move onto volume 2?
1. Yes. Your natural chest has been releasing after about G4, so you want to use the vowel modifications to try to stay in chest voice a little longer.
2. You need to avoid strain. Stretching is OK, straining is not. You will have to stretch your cords and indoctrinate your tiny laryngeal muscles to do things they have never done before. That will take time.
You know how you see runners stretching their tendons so they don't hurt themselves when they run? Your vocal exercises do that if you just go up to your limits, touch them lightly, and go back down. Runners would hurt themselves if they just stretched their tendons way too far, way too soon. So limbering up your vocal cords will need to be a gentle process, and one where you stretch to get more mobility out of your vocal apparatus. This will take months, maybe even years, depending on how far you want to take it. It's a slow process.
So how long each day? That's hard to say, but you DO want to avoid overdoing it, so be conservative. Take baby steps and get your footing. Do a little more as time goes on. You can practice with the dudes exercises if you are finding the Divas to be too high. You want to find something that you can keep up with for a longer period of time. Then if the dudes exercises get too easy for you, switch to the divas exercises.
You do want to lightly stretch your range. That's how you gain notes. You just have to be careful. Don't overblow and don't overstretch.
You should have a pdf file in your downloads of the Volume One videos that gives a checklist for what you should accomplish before moving on. You need to spend a reasonable amount of time doing the daily workouts and getting comfortable with them so that your muscles have time to grow. Most students spend from six to twelve weeks on each volume. Many spend a lot more time than that. You will get from the exercises what you put into them. Take your time and get as much benefit out of each phase of the program as you possibly can. Also watch the videos periodically. Things will fly past you as you are pondering different things Ken points out. Watch again to catch more details.
If you can pass the checklist items and feel you are ready, then go, but make sure you are not skipping ahead. Give yourself time to develop.
I've sung this song for most of my life. Today I tried to see if I could sing it two tones higher than I normally sing it. This was the result _ "My Way" http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b8a831285
A cover version of one of my favourite songs. I recorded all the instrumets, i.e. djembe, shaker, tambourine, bass guitar, acoustic guitars (3 tracks), piano and electric guitar (no programming here) back in 2013; this video shows me recording vocals only (in a single take).
Note: you can see me dropping my jaw before certain phrases without making a sound. This is just an attempt to get the proper configuration of the mandible and the tongue (I'm writing this before anyone suggests I was lip-synching ). Thank you.
This sounds good. Nice tone. Nice Vocal Placement with the weight shed. Nice blend of Mask. F#4 right out of the gate, and a nice G#4. Cool tune, as well.
So... tonight, I had one of my best practice sessions ever. Most relaxed, least break/speed bump, really went well... easiest one ever so far! So I decided to record some tunes.
After 6-8 recordings, these two are the only two I would even post tonight, because I didn't like the sound of any of them...
What is it that makes me sound like my nose is plugged so badly? (Maybe it is though, because I broke it in an accident 10 years ago, was rear-ended, and hit it on my steering wheel when I hit the car in front of me... and I do have a tough time sleeping at night from that.)
But anyways... I'm posting them here for any input, suggestions, whatever, to "lessen" that plugged (nasal?) sound I have, if possible.
I know the pitch is off on the first couple notes of "Rude", sorry...
This sounds good. Nice tone. Nice Vocal Placement with the weight shed. Nice blend of Mask. F#4 right out of the gate, and a nice G#4. Cool tune, as well.
Believe it or not, your voice is starting to come along, I can hear improvements from your previous demos.
If you think about what our voices sound like when we are congested, we talk like "I hab a bad code".
This is in part due to a diminished air flow through the nostrils, and a lack of ringing overtones in the nasopharynx.
One possible countermeasure to this condition is to consciously open the nostrils slightly to make a better escape path for some of your sound to take this route.
I would say practice tongue exercises and humming on scales, emphasizing buzzing sensations on M's and N's to make sure you are not obstructing the velopharyngeal port. Getting the sound flowing on the N's and M's can help you feel the flow through the septum. Then keep some of that flow going most of the time, as appropriate.
I would still like to hear more emphasis on the high frequency components of your voice, i.e. "Make it brighter". I think this will help to get you to a more satisfying tone. You've made some strides in this direction recently. I would say to go further with it, and if it should get too bright, we can always back off more in the direction you are presently singing. Experiment with your Organic E.Q. and see what you can do to "turn up the presence" control. That's the frequency band that will help.
On the line "And I Know" you probably should do the "I" as more of an AH. "And Ah Know". It's hard to get an "I" sound up high on a G#4, and it goes by quickly. Since "I" is really pronounced AH-E, you can just do AH and have greater ease on the run.
I'd like to hear this with the music backing track. Your pitch is drifting at times, and at other times it seems to be right.
Having the music track will help to determine what is on pitch and what is not. Your support sounds OK on this. The consistency of the pitch is the issue on this clip.
@highmtn thx for reply. Just what I was asking for. Sound advice on support. I knew the pitch wouldnt be perfect. So then your stepping up the game. Thus song came from out of the blue. So will prob take a bit for an actual go at it. Then you can say brighter here and there. I still need to get a good lah in so I'll work on both. It makes difference listening to a recording of myself. Can't wait til I can get a good understanding of my own supported sound..
@Highmtn: Thanks Bob. I'll try those things. Funny, when you think you're sounding so much different, you record and SURPRISE!! I'll be back in a while with another try soon, after I work on these.
Good point on the "ah" for I. I remembered that as soon as I sang the note but was too lazy to re-record it! Yes, I meant A4 not A 5. Don't think I'll ever need to get to A5
Nice job, bro. You just keep on getting better, and your range seems to be growing in the upward direction, too.
Nice job on "Yesterday When I Was Young", especially the surprise high notes on the ending. You're getting brave!
You also did a fine job on "She Believes in Me". The only thing I have as a suggestion on these is where you say "And she Buh-leeves in me" I would suggest you do a straight on EE or an eh mod if it's needed, on B-EE-LEEvs in me.
Ok, I need help... I can't get through 'Although oh oh' I can't navigate through it and keep shutting down, consequently going flat... It's not even close to the highest note in the song either... You will hear it straight away. @highmtn@sspatrick
Ok, I need help... I can't get through 'Although oh oh' I can't navigate through it and keep shutting down, consequently going flat... It's not even close to the highest note in the song either... You will hear it straight away. @highmtn@sspatrick
I think you are correct, @streeter, about the support.
Those notes you are trying to punch out could be much smaller and more concise. Think of the vocal tract on those high notes as a smaller-diameter hose, so the pressure will still be the same, but less total air will pass over the cords. You will be holding more of the air back through stronger support while still maintaining just enough pressure to make the notes. Take the workload off of your throat and put it onto your gut.
@highmtn Yes, definitely a support issue. The phrase is fine when I don't sing the rest of the song. I think it's because the phrases in the tune are fairly lengthy and there isn't much time for a breath, so I'm getting caught between "do I take another quick breath or hold on until a bigger break comes along".
@streeter I think you are over covering the O vowel might be why it is sounding a little flat get a bit more Uh in it maybe? Also i think you are over singing the consonants and singing your EE and i vowels too straight at times. You do sound like your support is tiring at times. Your voice sounds nice though.
I'll try that @marc. How do I add the uh to 'although oh'... is it like 'althuhah oh' and do I replace the start with 'awuh ah o'?
I thought I was singing the consonants pretty lightly but that might be because I used to be so so so heavy with them. I'll try a re-recording over the w/e.
I felt the support was much improved for the second take but I was still going for that illusion of ''straininess"... If that makes sense. Ken does it in 'wanted dead or alive'... I tried singing it straight but it completely lost the edginess and mood of the song.
I'm working on Volume 1 and this is my first cover song recording since starting the KTVA program. I have tried to apply some techniques such as breath support, limiting jaw movement, open throat, vocal tract shaping and cord closure.
Regarding your demo, I'm hearing some discordance overall. At times your voice is a bit flat, and besides that, I think that at least one of the guitars (if not both) are slightly out-of-tune, which makes matters worse.
The Oh, Oh, Oh's are giving you problems. On the YouTube demo of Noiseworks, I'm hearing him do something more like eh-Oh, eh-Oh, or perhaps uh-oh, uh-oh where the diphthong is slurred. It's something like that and less of a straight on OH. Maybe an Ah at the onset?
Check it out and see if you agree that the guitar tracks need better intonation. I even hear a little bit of guitar tuning issue on the Noiseworks version, but it's less so than on yours.
Anyway, it sounds like you're reaching up to several of these notes, and coming up just a bit shy of spot-on. Combine that with tuning issues on the backing tracks and we need to start over.
I know you are capable of doing this. You've just bitten off a hard song. The Noiseworks guy isn't belting it out with as much compression as you are. He hits a few flat notes also.
Anyway, you need to be a little more towards little boy voice and dropping down on the notes from up above. Lighten it up just a skoshe. Let it be a little easier.
Nice tone. Good pitch. Excellent job. Still got a little noise coming from that mic, but it's much less distracting the way you have it set now.
One spot you were noticeably a little flat, on the word "cried" at 2:25. I think that's a D4 there.
The "I" vowel is actually a diphthong of Ah and EE. If you try to hit it as if it's one "I" sound, it can be more difficult. You might do it with more emphasis on AH with a very quick and light eh at the end. At any rate, that note needs some extra support and to be a bit higher.
I hear a lot of improvement in your tone and delivery. Good job.
Thanks Bob. I did several versions of the recording and I think that D4 is a mine field for me.
I usually step on at least one of the mines and I'm not sure if it's the reaching the note or the word that's throwing me off.
Are there tricks to words like "Explain" "Away" and "Talk"? (other D4's)
I also struggle with words like "moment" (dipthong - perhaps my Canadian pronunciation), and the r's on "turns" and "ordered".
I feel like I have to work extra hard on these to keep an open throat.
I seem to have a little better success by slowing it down. For example, here is another version I recorded, a bit slower, and with less focus on cord closure (http://youtu.be/PIyhEIRtubk). Is my focus on cord closure the right thing to do?
eh-ksp-Lehn Very short and light fly-by on the consonant ksp
eh-wey
T-ah-k
Ah-gr-EE
T-eh-rns
Ohr-deh-rd
Also, be aware that when a syllable has a consonant in it, we sing on the vowel and only close on the consonant. So if we were singing the word "Ordered" we would sustain the O, then only pronounce the r of the first syllable for an instant at the end of the syllable. Then on the last part of the word, we sustain the "eh" part. We don't sing it like Orrrrrrrr derrrrrrrrrred , we sing it like Ooor-deeeeeehrd. You don't sing R's, T's, S's etc... Only the vowels. The consonants can start and close the vowels, but we don't vocalize on them.
this is me practicing to sing. family in background just cant stop everyday life.
things i noticed is that when i drop my diaphragm to slow the breath. I try to pull up the diaphragm like reaching for the note maybe that's called scooping? also since I'm not used to holding the diaphragm down to slow the air the diaphragm gets locked into placed. This will get more free as i practice and build strength in those muscles?
what are some other things besides pitch? Probably a hole mess of things. sorry wasn't focusing on a open throat more keeping it slow and relaxed. anyways hit with with some good feedback to get me sounding good don't be afraid to hurt my feeling i cant learn if i don't hear whats wrong.
Thanks Bob. Sing the vowels and only start/close on consonants is just the kind of simple principle I needed.
One more question - I am not straining on the song but I am singing pretty intense and fairly loud. Cat seems to sing the chorus much lighter while still getting bright tone.
As I sing higher I need to go louder to get bright tone. What do I need to learm to achieve a bright tone with lighter output?
Initially, when you want to sing in a more chesty sound, you will need to use a bit of volume to create that.
If you lighten it up, then it will have more of a headvoice type of sound. You will have to get a lot of experience to be able to find the middle ground. That will be a mixed sound, where you are using a little bit of chest and a little bit of head voice at the same time. It won't be as loud as your chesty belt, and it won't be as soft as your all head-voice.
After Volume 3, Ken has a module called Building Head Voice, where you build your head voice into a more timbral-sounding version of head voice. That voice matches up well with your chest timbre. That is also the head voice that you will mix with your chest voice. It takes a bit of time to first stretch your chest voice up, and then your head voice down. THEN you are in a better position to blend the two.
So in the meantime, you can practice with the lightest voice that you can remain in a thinner chesty sound to try to more closely match what Cat does in that mid-voice section. Use some mask to keep a bright edge on the sound, as well as directing the sound at the hard surfaces in the mouth.
Your most recent version of Just the Way You Are is by far the best. Your pitch is drifting, but more stable than in previous versions. Your tone is decent, too. In a post above you asked about scooping. That's where you come in at a lower note and scoop your way up to the right pitch. It's not really about support, however good support can prevent support-related pitch problems.
Remember, in-between breaths, you should be relaxing your support. Otherwise you will be all bound-up and you will also tire and not be able to sustain that effort for long at all.
You have a long ways to go, but you are closer now that in previous demos.
Support and Pitch. Those are your objectives. Stable pitch. You are on-pitch a lot, but you also drift. You need to sharpen up your pitch radar, and lock on to the notes.
@marc thx for your comment. @highmtn I'm just beginning the new journey holding back the air slowing it down. Without blasting it out. I'm guessing after awhile a c5 won't sound so high pitch but have more flaver I'll call it. So anyway pitch will come my main goal is slowing my gut down and building my strength to do so. Sometimes I think its my throat being closed off so I can't use more cord. We'll see as time goes.
@stevek i think you have the wrong understanding of support at the moment based on your description. You take a breath belly comes out then you contract you stomach muscles like bracing to be hit in the stomach or doing a situp this contraction slows the rise of the diaphragm at least this is the way i understand it please correct me if i'm wrong Bob.
@marc this still may be the case as I have been struggling with support for awhile. Building so many muscles. But if I contract my abs. Isn't my diaphragm supposed to be more free flowing. So I can push it down. My lower abs are getting more of the workout ATM.
@SteveK no you need to be able to relax to take a new breathe yes but you contract during the singing it is this contraction that pushes down on the diaphragm.
Haven't been around for a while - how's everybody doing?
I got a nice birthday gift from my wife back in October: a... tabla? ...bongo? ...well, it's a little hand-held drum, and I love it.
Just tonight, I was jamming out in my living room, and decided to record a new original I've been working on. It's called "Transitory".
Any feedback whatsoever is much appreciated. I wrote this song maybe 10 years ago, however I've been working on a new arrangement of it - as you'll hear in this track.
Thanks for having a listen and thanks in advance for any feedback.
Your voice is sounding good these days. Nice tone. You have a few wild notes here and there, but nothing you can't work out if you want to. Nice song (Transitory), too. Your wife gave you a nice present.
I hear that you are getting your recording setup worked out nicely.
Yup those wild notes follow me around and wait for me to ignore one of the moving targets. They're relentless, I tell yal!
The little living room 'set up' (with random percussion included) is coming along. I did do some multi-tracking/layering to include the drum, tambourine, maracas and a bit of a bass line. I usually sing the vocals all in one take. When I finally want to seriously record a 'home album' of originals, I may want to try working on the vocals part by part to maximize concentration of technique and minimize those moving targets.
Thanks for having a listen, Bob. Nice to hear from you again, too!
Here's a live video from earlier this year. A little more support and grit, particularly toward the end. It's a little long and it was late at night (Close to 1:00am), so its a little lethargic, but not a bad recording from a camera.
Here's a live video from earlier this year. A little more support and grit, particularly toward the end. It's a little long and it was late at night (Close to 1:00am), so its a little lethargic, but not a bad recording from a camera.
One place that has a difficult consonant, is the word "Hold" on "hold you tight. That "H" on hold stops the air and the sound for a moment. "H's" are problematic, any way you look at it. Ken suggests using "little h's", which you kind of did do, but still it kind of makes a snag there. Sometimes you leave the "H" out altogether, but "who longs to old you tight" is a little too obvious. So you do have put some kind of quick, little "h" there. So it would be more of a "who longs toh-old you tight" so that the H is on the end of the previous word, quickly and lightly, and tied right into that would come the "old" part of the "hold". So, it's a method of dodging the h, and de-emphasizing it, so that the line flows more smoothly.
I ran into this same thing last week when our band played "Whiter Shade of Pale" for the first time. On "And the room was hurling harder" I have to sing "and the room wasurlingarder " or the vocal tract just shuts down twice in close proximity. As odd as urling arder may seem, it flows like honey, (or should I say oney) when being sung. I use just enough of a light, glancing, "little h" so that the audience hears "hurling harder" in their mind. "H's" are a BEAR.
I'm making kind of a big deal over a small thing, but it's something that we all encounter, and it's a good learning point for us all.
Overall you did a very good job, as usual, and your voice is sounding like a million bucks.
Sometimes you add them where there are none, to round-off an onset to a hard vowel or consonant when it's up high. In Waiting for a Girl Like You, you would round off the "I" with a little h.
This is a latest collaboration I'm doing with a colleague of mine.
The exciting part about living and working abroad (China in my case), is that I get to meet different folks from different backgrounds; as my friend Matt who is from South Africa.
I had written the music and worked on a melody during the summer, but had some difficulty finding the right lyrics to accompany it. Matt, who is more into writing poetry, stepped up and gave lyric writing a try.
The result is this version (not quite finished yet) of "Tomorrow's Another Day".
Here's a song from my band's first live show! Happy for all feedback! Worth mentioning is that I had been really bad in my throat for about a week when I had this show, so I really had to struggle through it (plus bad monitoring on the stage), Enjoy!
I think I should have tried to sing the first word in the chorus ("Whyyyyy") less covered though, so that it would have been easier to keep the right pitch! Was afraid of my voice cracking though :P
Hi all! I'm new and just about to start the Ken Tamplin Programme. I thought it would be good to post a link to a soundcloud song of mine to get some analysis before I start the programme and also as a sort of milestone as to where I am now for comparison later.
So here I am singing Halestorm's Break In a couple of months ago. Some unbiased critique would be massively welcomed!!
Your demo sounds very good. You have a great-sounding voice. Your delivery of the song is convincing. Your pitch, support, tone, all sound quite good. There is not much for me to tell you about this song as far as improvement goes. It's already sounding quite good.
That said, please do submit demos at various places along the way if you want your voice critiqued on how you are applying the KTVA exercises. To hear you doing LAH arpeggios will help to level the playing field, so your voice can be compared to the "gold standards" to ensure that you are implementing all of the principles. I have no doubt that you will do just as well on those standard exercises, but it will help us to assess the basic elements, without competing with instruments, reverb, mix levels, and other variables. Much of the help we can give here is to make sure you are on-track with the exercises and the methods.
Your demo sounds excellent. I like your voice. I think you are going to like your voice even more after you have worked on Ken's exercises for a while.
One item that caught my attention was at the very end. You sing a sustained note on "Eyes" and you pronounce the "yesss" at the end. Don't sing on consonants. You try to sing the "y"
Instead, make it more " AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-ss" Go from the AH vowel straight into a short "S" which isn't sung. "S" is an unvoiced consonant, and we don't sing consonants.
Contrastingly, it is the very first word and note on "Memory" from Cats that caught my attention.
You pronounce "Midnight" with the "ih" vowel, which is understandable in normal speech. That's a difficult vowel to sing up high, and would be less stress if it was biased more towards "Mehd-night". "Pavement" is just a skoshe flat, and also might be a little easier to negotiate if you bent the "A" in pavement more towards (again) eh. So "p-eh-v- m-eh-nt" might be a better choice for you there.
I'm always very picky about the first note and the first line of songs. No time like the beginning to stop the recorder and try again. I'm not beating you up, these are just noticeable things that I want you to know about.
Thanks for being a good sport and letting me help you polish your songs.
Hi guys, it's the other half of Fenderjedi. Just wanted to post a before Ken video for constructive analysis. I sing for a living and have been doing it professionally for about 16 years so have picked up loads of bad habits! Dont hold back I can take it www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NNmFu0E9VE Happy Singing!
This sounds pretty good. You're on-pitch and doing a good job on this song.
What you are going to find as you continue through the basics and into the finer details of KTVA, that you will build better support and more depth of tone into your voice. You will also almost certainly increase your range, as well.
That said, there isn't much to pick apart in this particular song, because you did do a good job on it. In general, your singing is a little breathy in this video. Excess air dries the cords out. Sometimes breathy is a stylistic choice, and is OK if it's not habitual.
I think the highest note was an E4, which sounded fine. I think you'll probably be extending that and still sounding quite good, along with other improvements.
We can more concisely comment once we hear you doing some KTVA exercises to pinpoint what you may need to work on.
Yes. The eyes rolling back in the back of your head are a nice addition that has not been included in your previous videos ;^) Hoping to see more of that in the future.
This looks like you had a good time laboring with your co-collaborators.
I think I could bang my head in time to this tune!
So this song has bee pretty popular lately, and I liked it right off, AND it's been an earworm for a couple weeks now, so I just had to try to record it. It's probably one of the hardest songs I've ever sung that isn't in a really "high" key, and this one isn't even in the original key... it's a half step down... sigh... But, I have not recorded anything in about a month or more, and just recovering from a cold, so just had to...
Let me know your thoughts. I know I run out of breath in it... there's not a lot of room in it to recover for an old guy like me... but I still enjoy singing it!
I hope you enjoy it. I got a pretty good response when I sang it last night... now if we can just figure out a way to do it as a duo or trio...
Love that song "Take Me To Church" and it's actually a deceptively difficult song to sing. There's so many words and very few pauses. Hozier himself really struggles with it live.
I think you did a great job overall man. The lower parts of the verse sounded slightly uninspired/flat, but on the chorus and other high sections you generally nailed it. Good tone and - if it was a one-take - with significantly better consistency than when Hozier performs it live.
Comments
Thanks.
@bberg, your exercises could be brightened up a bit. On the Lah it sounds just a bit like "luh".
Make it really and Open LAH, bright and pingy. Make sure you smile and let the sound bounce off your teeth a bit. Mimic Ken on "It's the LAH, AHH!!
Your exercises sound pretty good. Your support is better, but keep working on it. You're almost there. I heard a good A4 and also a G5.
That takes a lot of support. You just need to build it up so you have more stamina.
On your song, you need to put your voice up a little higher in the mix. It sounds good, but it's sitting too low in the mix to hear you well at times. Your support sounds pretty good in the song.
Like I say, keep working to build the support. Regarding the squawk in the second chorus, remember that your support is reducing the amount of pressure on your cords. It sounds like you may have squeezed your abdominals in a way that forced more air to come out, rather than to hold the air back. You are trying to keep a consistent flow, and as you go to a higher note, you press down harded, holding back more air, rather than forcing out more air.
I hear improvements over your previous demo.
Keep up the good work. You're making progress.
Bob
@SteveK,
Your Second version of the song, with the video is the better version. On the first one, the audio-only, your pitch is wandering and your voice is weak. The long last note is the best part of the first version.
On the video, your pitch is much better. It's good that you videoed the song. I think you should video all of your demos from here on out. There is more information in a video. Your voice sounds better when you smile more and let your teeth show. It's a darker, weaker tone when your lips cover your teeth. When you show your teeth, the sound is brighter and clearer, and overall your pitch is pretty good on the video.
When I watch your breathing, I'm seeing your chest rise as you take a breath, and I'm not seeing much action at all in your belly. I want to see the chest remaining 3/4 full throughout the song, except during the musical interlude, and not rising or falling much at all. It should be up and suspended, keeping the weight of your ribs and chest from squeezing any air out of your lungs. Think of it as a chest that you don't want to let any of the air squeeze out of.
Now your belly should come towards the camera with every breath you take in. It should slowly be moving inwards on each line of the song. I'm not really seeing that. Instead of letting air out of your chest, I want to see you slowly "let it out" of your belly on each phrase.
You actually did a pretty fair job on the video version. Now I know you can get the pitch right, I'm not sure if you were paying closer attention then, or were more warmed up then, or just what your pitch issue was on the audio-only version.
Good job. Videos only, from now on.
Bob
@derrickt,
Beautiful job! Your tone is really good, makes it a pleasure to listen to. My big tip of the week on this one is, especially on the ending part, to really minimize the "Y" or "Yuh" part of halleluia.
It will sound less obstructive if you glide through with less consonant and make it h-ah Leh Loo ia with an ee-uh instead of a Yuh. It's a subtle difference, but I think if you try it that way you'll find that you can transition through the vowels ee and uh without closing the vocal tract like going from Ooh to Yuh does.
Awesome performance, my friend!
Bob
@SteveK,
I meant to ask you, where was the parakeet on the video version? Did something bad happen to it?
: ^)
Bob
Thanks Bob. Never thought of the "Y" as closing the vocal tract. Have to try your suggestion.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the feedback - really appreciate it! I practiced stretching chest and got the hang of it. I can feel the difference between going into head voice and staying in chest. I just read one of your posts about vowel mods that really cleared things up. I don't think I was doing it correctly before. I just had some questions:
1) So the goal is to continue to stretch chest (which for me is starting at around G4), but at the same time use the vowel mods which might help me sing a few more notes in chest? I hope this question makes sense, I sometimes over think things haha.
2) How long should I practice stretching chest? I did feel some strain on my throat as I tried to sing a few notes around G4-A4. I wasn't practicing with the audio workouts because the scales are too high for me to sing in chest after 4-5 scales.
3) Once I get the hang of the vowel mods, would I then move onto volume 2?
Thanks again!
Rachelle
@rlspadz,
1. Yes. Your natural chest has been releasing after about G4, so you want to use the vowel modifications to try to stay in chest voice a little longer.
2. You need to avoid strain. Stretching is OK, straining is not. You will have to stretch your cords and indoctrinate your tiny laryngeal muscles to do things they have never done before. That will take time.
You know how you see runners stretching their tendons so they don't hurt themselves when they run? Your vocal exercises do that if you just go up to your limits, touch them lightly, and go back down. Runners would hurt themselves if they just stretched their tendons way too far, way too soon. So limbering up your vocal cords will need to be a gentle process, and one where you stretch to get more mobility out of your vocal apparatus. This will take months, maybe even years, depending on how far you want to take it. It's a slow process.
So how long each day? That's hard to say, but you DO want to avoid overdoing it, so be conservative. Take baby steps and get your footing. Do a little more as time goes on. You can practice with the dudes exercises if you are finding the Divas to be too high. You want to find something that you can keep up with for a longer period of time. Then if the dudes exercises get too easy for you, switch to the divas exercises.
You do want to lightly stretch your range. That's how you gain notes. You just have to be careful. Don't overblow and don't overstretch.
You should have a pdf file in your downloads of the Volume One videos that gives a checklist for what you should accomplish before moving on. You need to spend a reasonable amount of time doing the daily workouts and getting comfortable with them so that your muscles have time to grow. Most students spend from six to twelve weeks on each volume. Many spend a lot more time than that. You will get from the exercises what you put into them. Take your time and get as much benefit out of each phase of the program as you possibly can. Also watch the videos periodically. Things will fly past you as you are pondering different things Ken points out. Watch again to catch more details.
If you can pass the checklist items and feel you are ready, then go, but make sure you are not skipping ahead. Give yourself time to develop.
Bob
This was the result _ "My Way" http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b8a831285
Note: you can see me dropping my jaw before certain phrases without making a sound. This is just an attempt to get the proper configuration of the mandible and the tongue (I'm writing this before anyone suggests I was lip-synching
@derryckt
Sounds like you did it your way this time. Sounding good, even up two notches. Nice job on the F#4's and the G#4.
I'll give you an A+ on this one!
Bob
@Tomasz
Dude,
This sounds good. Nice tone. Nice Vocal Placement with the weight shed. Nice blend of Mask. F#4 right out of the gate, and a nice G#4. Cool tune, as well.
Are you sure you weren't lip-syncing this? ; ^)
Bob
@highmtn
this is just a sound clip me working on support. not whole song or even in key.
Hi, @rcrosier,
Believe it or not, your voice is starting to come along, I can hear improvements from your previous demos.
If you think about what our voices sound like when we are congested, we talk like "I hab a bad code".
This is in part due to a diminished air flow through the nostrils, and a lack of ringing overtones in the nasopharynx.
One possible countermeasure to this condition is to consciously open the nostrils slightly to make a better escape path for some of your sound to take this route.
I would say practice tongue exercises and humming on scales, emphasizing buzzing sensations on M's and N's to make sure you are not obstructing the velopharyngeal port. Getting the sound flowing on the N's and M's can help you feel the flow through the septum. Then keep some of that flow going most of the time, as appropriate.
I would still like to hear more emphasis on the high frequency components of your voice, i.e. "Make it brighter". I think this will help to get you to a more satisfying tone. You've made some strides in this direction recently. I would say to go further with it, and if it should get too bright, we can always back off more in the direction you are presently singing. Experiment with your Organic E.Q. and see what you can do to "turn up the presence" control. That's the frequency band that will help.
Bob
@derrick,
Sounding good on the A4's! Next stop, Bb4@!
On the line "And I Know" you probably should do the "I" as more of an AH. "And Ah Know". It's hard to get an "I" sound up high on a G#4, and it goes by quickly. Since "I" is really pronounced AH-E, you can just do AH and have greater ease on the run.
Good job. Now for Bb4, then B4.
Bob
@SteveK,
I'd like to hear this with the music backing track. Your pitch is drifting at times, and at other times it seems to be right.
Having the music track will help to determine what is on pitch and what is not. Your support sounds OK on this. The consistency of the pitch is the issue on this clip.
Let's hear it with a track and go from there.
Thanks.
Bob
Thx
Steve
Thx
Steve
@SteveK,
Yes, you seem to be supporting more consistently, and that does improve your tone.
@overdriveisclassy,
Nice job, dude. Your voice is really opening up on this one. Frank Sinatra would be inspired to know that your song was inspired by his music.
Nice original tune!
Bob
@derrick,
Nice job, bro. You just keep on getting better, and your range seems to be growing in the upward direction, too.
Nice job on "Yesterday When I Was Young", especially the surprise high notes on the ending. You're getting brave!
You also did a fine job on "She Believes in Me". The only thing I have as a suggestion on these is where you say "And she Buh-leeves in me" I would suggest you do a straight on EE or an eh mod if it's needed, on B-EE-LEEvs in me.
You are nailing these songs.
Good job.
Bob
I think you are correct, @streeter, about the support.
Those notes you are trying to punch out could be much smaller and more concise. Think of the vocal tract on those high notes as a smaller-diameter hose, so the pressure will still be the same, but less total air will pass over the cords. You will be holding more of the air back through stronger support while still maintaining just enough pressure to make the notes. Take the workload off of your throat and put it onto your gut.
Bob
Yes, definitely a support issue. The phrase is fine when I don't sing the rest of the song. I think it's because the phrases in the tune are fairly lengthy and there isn't much time for a breath, so I'm getting caught between "do I take another quick breath or hold on until a bigger break comes along".
How do I add the uh to 'although oh'... is it like 'althuhah oh' and do I replace the start with 'awuh ah o'?
I thought I was singing the consonants pretty lightly but that might be because I used to be so so so heavy with them. I'll try a re-recording over the w/e.
I felt the support was much improved for the second take but I was still going for that illusion of ''straininess"... If that makes sense. Ken does it in 'wanted dead or alive'... I tried singing it straight but it completely lost the edginess and mood of the song.
Hey, @streeter.
Regarding your demo, I'm hearing some discordance overall. At times your voice is a bit flat, and besides that, I think that at least one of the guitars (if not both) are slightly out-of-tune, which makes matters worse.
The Oh, Oh, Oh's are giving you problems. On the YouTube demo of Noiseworks, I'm hearing him do something more like eh-Oh, eh-Oh, or perhaps uh-oh, uh-oh where the diphthong is slurred. It's something like that and less of a straight on OH. Maybe an Ah at the onset?
Check it out and see if you agree that the guitar tracks need better intonation. I even hear a little bit of guitar tuning issue on the Noiseworks version, but it's less so than on yours.
Anyway, it sounds like you're reaching up to several of these notes, and coming up just a bit shy of spot-on. Combine that with tuning issues on the backing tracks and we need to start over.
I know you are capable of doing this. You've just bitten off a hard song. The Noiseworks guy isn't belting it out with as much compression as you are. He hits a few flat notes also.
Anyway, you need to be a little more towards little boy voice and dropping down on the notes from up above. Lighten it up just a skoshe. Let it be a little easier.
All the Best!
Bob
@steves,
Nice tone. Good pitch. Excellent job. Still got a little noise coming from that mic, but it's much less distracting the way you have it set now.
One spot you were noticeably a little flat, on the word "cried" at 2:25. I think that's a D4 there.
The "I" vowel is actually a diphthong of Ah and EE. If you try to hit it as if it's one "I" sound, it can be more difficult. You might do it with more emphasis on AH with a very quick and light eh at the end. At any rate, that note needs some extra support and to be a bit higher.
I hear a lot of improvement in your tone and delivery. Good job.
Bob
@steves,
eh-ksp-Lehn Very short and light fly-by on the consonant ksp
eh-wey
T-ah-k
Ah-gr-EE
T-eh-rns
Ohr-deh-rd
Also, be aware that when a syllable has a consonant in it, we sing on the vowel and only close on the consonant. So if we were singing the word "Ordered" we would sustain the O, then only pronounce the r of the first syllable for an instant at the end of the syllable. Then on the last part of the word, we sustain the "eh" part. We don't sing it like Orrrrrrrr derrrrrrrrrred , we sing it like Ooor-deeeeeehrd. You don't sing R's, T's, S's etc... Only the vowels. The consonants can start and close the vowels, but we don't vocalize on them.
Maximize the vowels, and minimize the consonants.
Bob
things i noticed is that when i drop my diaphragm to slow the breath. I try to pull up the diaphragm like reaching for the note maybe that's called scooping? also since I'm not used to holding the diaphragm down to slow the air the diaphragm gets locked into placed. This will get more free as i practice and build strength in those muscles?
what are some other things besides pitch? Probably a hole mess of things. sorry wasn't focusing on a open throat more keeping it slow and relaxed. anyways hit with with some good feedback to get me sounding good
thx
steve
One more question - I am not straining on the song but I am singing pretty intense and fairly loud. Cat seems to sing the chorus much lighter while still getting bright tone.
As I sing higher I need to go louder to get bright tone. What do I need to learm to achieve a bright tone with lighter output?
I hope that makes sense.
Cheers
Steve
@steves,
Initially, when you want to sing in a more chesty sound, you will need to use a bit of volume to create that.
If you lighten it up, then it will have more of a headvoice type of sound. You will have to get a lot of experience to be able to find the middle ground. That will be a mixed sound, where you are using a little bit of chest and a little bit of head voice at the same time. It won't be as loud as your chesty belt, and it won't be as soft as your all head-voice.
After Volume 3, Ken has a module called Building Head Voice, where you build your head voice into a more timbral-sounding version of head voice. That voice matches up well with your chest timbre. That is also the head voice that you will mix with your chest voice. It takes a bit of time to first stretch your chest voice up, and then your head voice down. THEN you are in a better position to blend the two.
So in the meantime, you can practice with the lightest voice that you can remain in a thinner chesty sound to try to more closely match what Cat does in that mid-voice section. Use some mask to keep a bright edge on the sound, as well as directing the sound at the hard surfaces in the mouth.
Bob
@highmtn
ok what do ya think. then i wont post this song til ive worked it out for awhile.
thx
steve
@derrick,
These sound pretty good. Truly sounds like you were close to straining a few times.
"If" seemed a little smoother. Good job on both tunes.
Bob
@SteveK,
Your most recent version of Just the Way You Are is by far the best. Your pitch is drifting, but more stable than in previous versions. Your tone is decent, too. In a post above you asked about scooping. That's where you come in at a lower note and scoop your way up to the right pitch. It's not really about support, however good support can prevent support-related pitch problems.
Remember, in-between breaths, you should be relaxing your support. Otherwise you will be all bound-up and you will also tire and not be able to sustain that effort for long at all.
You have a long ways to go, but you are closer now that in previous demos.
Support and Pitch. Those are your objectives. Stable pitch. You are on-pitch a lot, but you also drift. You need to sharpen up your pitch radar, and lock on to the notes.
All the Best!
Bob
@highmtn I'm just beginning the new journey holding back the air slowing it down. Without blasting it out. I'm guessing after awhile a c5 won't sound so high pitch but have more flaver I'll call it. So anyway pitch will come my main goal is slowing my gut down and building my strength to do so. Sometimes I think its my throat being closed off so I can't use more cord. We'll see as time goes.
Thx for your comments
I'm a work in progress
Steve
Haven't been around for a while - how's everybody doing?
I got a nice birthday gift from my wife back in October: a... tabla? ...bongo? ...well, it's a little hand-held drum, and I love it.
Just tonight, I was jamming out in my living room, and decided to record a new original I've been working on. It's called "Transitory".
Any feedback whatsoever is much appreciated. I wrote this song maybe 10 years ago, however I've been working on a new arrangement of it - as you'll hear in this track.
Thanks for having a listen and thanks in advance for any feedback.
Peace!
Johan
Peace
@Johan_Kalevi,
Your voice is sounding good these days. Nice tone. You have a few wild notes here and there, but nothing you can't work out if you want to. Nice song (Transitory), too. Your wife gave you a nice present.
I hear that you are getting your recording setup worked out nicely.
Nice to hear from you.
Bob
Thank you, Bob.
Yup those wild notes follow me around and wait for me to ignore one of the moving targets. They're relentless, I tell yal!
The little living room 'set up' (with random percussion included) is coming along. I did do some multi-tracking/layering to include the drum, tambourine, maracas and a bit of a bass line. I usually sing the vocals all in one take. When I finally want to seriously record a 'home album' of originals, I may want to try working on the vocals part by part to maximize concentration of technique and minimize those moving targets.
Thanks for having a listen, Bob. Nice to hear from you again, too!
Peace
Johan
@xian,
Sounds good. Nice Bb4 and A4. Not bad on the support. Lots of crowd noise, but overall sounds pretty good.
Bob
Sounds pretty good, @derrickt,
One place that has a difficult consonant, is the word "Hold" on "hold you tight. That "H" on hold stops the air and the sound for a moment. "H's" are problematic, any way you look at it. Ken suggests using "little h's", which you kind of did do, but still it kind of makes a snag there. Sometimes you leave the "H" out altogether, but "who longs to old you tight" is a little too obvious. So you do have put some kind of quick, little "h" there. So it would be more of a "who longs toh-old you tight" so that the H is on the end of the previous word, quickly and lightly, and tied right into that would come the "old" part of the "hold". So, it's a method of dodging the h, and de-emphasizing it, so that the line flows more smoothly.
I ran into this same thing last week when our band played "Whiter Shade of Pale" for the first time. On "And the room was hurling harder" I have to sing "and the room wasurlingarder " or the vocal tract just shuts down twice in close proximity. As odd as urling arder may seem, it flows like honey, (or should I say oney) when being sung. I use just enough of a light, glancing, "little h" so that the audience hears "hurling harder" in their mind. "H's" are a BEAR.
I'm making kind of a big deal over a small thing, but it's something that we all encounter, and it's a good learning point for us all.
Overall you did a very good job, as usual, and your voice is sounding like a million bucks.
Keep up the good work.
Bob
@derrickt,
Another thing about "h's":
Sometimes you add them where there are none, to round-off an onset to a hard vowel or consonant when it's up high. In Waiting for a Girl Like You, you would round off the "I" with a little h.
"hah been Waiting, for a girl like you..."
Best of the season to you all -
This is a latest collaboration I'm doing with a colleague of mine.
The exciting part about living and working abroad (China in my case), is that I get to meet different folks from different backgrounds; as my friend Matt who is from South Africa.
I had written the music and worked on a melody during the summer, but had some difficulty finding the right lyrics to accompany it. Matt, who is more into writing poetry, stepped up and gave lyric writing a try.
The result is this version (not quite finished yet) of "Tomorrow's Another Day".
Enjoy!
Peace
https://soundcloud.com/
Nice Demo, @Johan_Kalevi!
Your voice is coming along nicely. The lyrics turned out to fit the song quite well. Good collaboration!
Bob
Thanks for having a listen and thanks for your feedback, Bob!
Hope you and your family are enjoying the holiday season!
Peace
Johan
Nice job, @overdriveisclassy! A live one this time!
Bob
From my family to yours - Season's Greetings and a Happy and Rockin' New Year 2015!
Peace
Johan and Inda
(This was always my favourite holiday song - and still is :-) )
x
Hi, @Fenderjedi-Rhea!
Your demo sounds very good. You have a great-sounding voice. Your delivery of the song is convincing. Your pitch, support, tone, all sound quite good. There is not much for me to tell you about this song as far as improvement goes. It's already sounding quite good.
That said, please do submit demos at various places along the way if you want your voice critiqued on how you are applying the KTVA exercises. To hear you doing LAH arpeggios will help to level the playing field, so your voice can be compared to the "gold standards" to ensure that you are implementing all of the principles. I have no doubt that you will do just as well on those standard exercises, but it will help us to assess the basic elements, without competing with instruments, reverb, mix levels, and other variables. Much of the help we can give here is to make sure you are on-track with the exercises and the methods.
Your demo sounds excellent. I like your voice. I think you are going to like your voice even more after you have worked on Ken's exercises for a while.
Welcome to the forums, by the way!
Bob
@derrickt,
Good Job on Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.
One item that caught my attention was at the very end. You sing a sustained note on "Eyes" and you pronounce the "yesss" at the end. Don't sing on consonants. You try to sing the "y"
Instead, make it more " AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-ss" Go from the AH vowel straight into a short "S" which isn't sung. "S" is an unvoiced consonant, and we don't sing consonants.
Contrastingly, it is the very first word and note on "Memory" from Cats that caught my attention.
You pronounce "Midnight" with the "ih" vowel, which is understandable in normal speech. That's a difficult vowel to sing up high, and would be less stress if it was biased more towards "Mehd-night". "Pavement" is just a skoshe flat, and also might be a little easier to negotiate if you bent the "A" in pavement more towards (again) eh. So "p-eh-v- m-eh-nt" might be a better choice for you there.
I'm always very picky about the first note and the first line of songs. No time like the beginning to stop the recorder and try again. I'm not beating you up, these are just noticeable things that I want you to know about.
Thanks for being a good sport and letting me help you polish your songs.
Bob
Happy Singing!
@Fenderjedi,
This sounds pretty good. You're on-pitch and doing a good job on this song.
What you are going to find as you continue through the basics and into the finer details of KTVA, that you will build better support and more depth of tone into your voice. You will also almost certainly increase your range, as well.
That said, there isn't much to pick apart in this particular song, because you did do a good job on it. In general, your singing is a little breathy in this video. Excess air dries the cords out. Sometimes breathy is a stylistic choice, and is OK if it's not habitual.
I think the highest note was an E4, which sounded fine. I think you'll probably be extending that and still sounding quite good, along with other improvements.
We can more concisely comment once we hear you doing some KTVA exercises to pinpoint what you may need to work on.
Seriously, good job on this song.
Bob
@overdriveisclassy,
Yes. The eyes rolling back in the back of your head are a nice addition that has not been included in your previous videos ;^) Hoping to see more of that in the future.
This looks like you had a good time laboring with your co-collaborators.
I think I could bang my head in time to this tune!
Bob