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Audio Sample 2 - Johan

Johan_KaleviJohan_Kalevi Pro Posts: 171
I've been working more precisely on 'support' for the past couple days, and have re-recorded a clip from "Cat Stevens - Trouble" to base a comparison.  Any feedback is welcome.

Other things I have been trying to focus on:

*Reducing hard consonant sounds
*Making phrases more contiguous - rather than singing shorter disconnected ones
*Modifying certain vowels in a phrase in order to keep the 'open throat' eg: "So won't you be kind to me". Instead of singing k"i"nd's "i' like 'eye', it becomes more of a mix between 'AH/Aa' "...won't you be k'AH/Aa'nd to me."

I have a question:  What would be the best modification for the "i" in "I-i-i-i drunk your wine."?

Upon re-listening to it, the way I did it sounds a bit too harsh like "Aa" in hat.  Would more of an "AH" be better?

One other strange thing I noted when recording this.  Since having started with KTVA, I'm trying to notice any tension as Ken instructs.  When I was seated with the guitar on the first take, I noticed that I had been tensing up my legs and feet when singing?   What the...  I've never noticed this until today.  Did anybody else ever do this?  It seems absurd, but yeah - before I did the second take, I felt a tiredness coming from the balls of my feet, and little did I know I had been shifting tension to that area of my body apart from my diaphragm.

Upon realizing that, I cut it out and tried relaxing my legs completely - as well as the shoulders, neck and throat.

It's fascinating, the more we mindfully 'monitor' ourselves, we can pick up on some interesting bad habits or strange bodily behaviour...

Here is the latest, thanks for any commentary/feedback/suggestions:



Peace,

Johan

Comments

  • Johan_KaleviJohan_Kalevi Pro Posts: 171
    edited February 2014
    To be honest, it was very tempting to take this one down, but I think the best times to improve something is when we present imperfect pieces.

    Also, I hope that this clip's 'less-than-perfect' delivery encourages others to post their stuff.  It's a bit daunting seeing as we are looking for people who have gone through 3+ volumes of KTVA (incl. Pro Packs and more) to evaluate our growing voice - in a very naked state.

    So, based on those two points above, I will leave it on - in order to learn and grow and to hopefully encourage others to use the forums - to get the most we can out of this experience.

    Peace,

    Johan
  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354

    Dr"ah"nk   y"ah"r  w"ah"n      might be a reasonable way on AH.

    Dr"eh"nk   y"eh"r  w"eh"n     might be another way.

    Maintaining the same open vowel with light consonants can help to ensure a throat held open without problems from vowel transitions.

     

    Bob

  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354

    This newer version is sounding pretty good.

    I say stay the course! Full speed ahead!

     

    Bob

  • Johan_KaleviJohan_Kalevi Pro Posts: 171
    edited February 2014
    Hi Bob

    Thanks a lot for the feedback!  I'm gonna experiment with both of the variations you included there and figure out which combination feels and sounds best.  Cheers!

    At first when I decided to focus on cutting out songs I enjoy which have distortion, I thought "Hey, no problem - Cat Stevens doesn't use much distortion!"

    But, then I went into the Vol 1 Bonus Material about Vocal Tract Shaping and realized that I wasn't outta the woods yet.  However, I'm glad that the info was made available, since if we are going to tone things down and sing some 'cleaner' (?) songs, we would be best to be mindful of ways to keep the open throat and pivot from the "AH" as much as we're able.

    After doing the 2x audio exercises from Vol 1, I try to jam out for up to an hour with my acoustic to try implementing the stuff while it's fresh.  My wife likes that there's no distortion, but I told her to enjoy this year without it, but next year: I can't make any promises ;)

    At first it's a lot to digest, but I don't think too many of us would have bought into this program if we weren't willing to accept our faulty past habits and dig in to the Smorgasbord of info the videos, bonus videos and the forum (including the webinars) that Ken has set out for us to enjoy.

    And I've got a big appetite for this stuff!  Aye aye, Captain!

    Peace,

    Johan
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