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Problem with singing on a band rehearsal

marekmarek Volume 1 Posts: 20
Hi to everyone!

So I got this problem with singing on a band rehearsals. I feel like everything is ok when I a sing on my own (with or without the microphone), but as soon as I attend my band's rehearsal, there's something wrong and my singing is just worse. I think it might be a mental problem. Any advices or suggestions?

Thanks a lot and have a nice day!

Marek

Comments

  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,380

    The guys in my band talk about this a lot.  We call it "bedroom voice".

    They will learn a song and decide what key to sing it in while working at home in the living room or a bedroom.  Then when they get to the gig and have to sing it with projection and into a microphone, all of a sudden "everything is different" and they end up changing it to a completely different key.  My bandmates aren't interested in learning proper vocal techniques.  "Too much work" they say.

    The problem is that they are using a different mechanism when singing at home than when they get to a live singing environment with different acoustics, monitoring variables, competing sounds, and mostly using a different vocal mechanism when actually playing live.

    At your band's rehearsal, if your band is like 99% of the bands I've ever been in, everyone at the rehearsal is all about "hearing MORE ME!!!"

    That means the guitar players crank their Marshall Stacks up to get lots of beefy sound, distortion, and sustain, the bass player gets revenge by putting his SVT on 11, the keyboard player floorboards his volume pedal trying to hear himself, the drummer pounds as loud as he can, but can't hear himself at all underneath the roar, and the vocalists can't possibly hear a word they are singing, let alone the notes because the sound level is so loud that the monitors would blow your face off if they could be turned up loud enough to be heard over everybody else.

    If you are fortunate, then perhaps your band is not insane, and can actually talk to one another about a thing called a "good overall volume level and MIX" that will benefit the entire band by making them sound more like an actual commercially-produced recording.  That is the goal.  To "sound" good!

    The truth is that the vocals need to be set at a good level, well-below the threshold of feedback or distortion, and that the other instruments, including drums and cymbals, and all amplified instruments ALL need to be a comfortable notch BELOW the comfortable level of the Vocals, both lead and background.  That's just the way it is.  I know that goes over like a lead balloon in most garage bands, but it's reality if you want to have a decently-produced sound to your band...  An actual MIX...  That SOUNDS GOOD!!! OR even AWESOME!!!

    It can still have plenty of drive and grind if that's what you want.  It just needs to be well under control.

    All of that said, you can still run into problems if you show up to a perfectly mixed and produced sounding rehearsal or gig situation and start singing into a perfect mix while using "bedroom voice". 

    So learn to incorporate your KTVA techniques into your ACTUAL singing modes and habits.  That means drop your old ways of singing that "used to work for you" and embed your new professional vocalizing into every performance and rehearsal. 

    You may experience difficulties if you have not yet fully committed to walking away from your old habits and embracing the new techniques.  When you are learning to ride a bike, you may fall a few times before your new ability to actually ride kicks in.  You may experience some of this as you cross over the threshold from your old ways of singing, or from "bedroom voice" into seriously Rocking your Voice with KTVA proven methodology. 

    You know this stuff works.  If it isn't working for you, then you aren't doing it right. 

    Do it right. 

    If the horse throws you off, get back on it and ride, until YOU are the master.  Get over the hump of getting thrown off course.  You can do this!!  Time to Tackle whatever is holding you back.

    Rock ON!

     

    Bob

  • marekmarek Volume 1 Posts: 20
    edited November 2013

    Wow, what an answer! I'm sending this to my bandmates right now

    You sir are a jedi of answers! I'll try my best to apply this the very next rehearsal

    Thanks a lot!
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