David Phelps

asperry

I don't know if anyone here is familiar with David Phelps, the gospel singer. You can tell he was trained in the Bel Canto method. I was wondering if anyone knows how to apply the Ken Tamplin method to get a more rounded sound with higher notes. I know Ken has us thin our sound as we sing higher to "shed the weight." But I would like add some heftiness to the C5s and higher. I've added a link to a video of a demonstration of his range. PS: Disregard what the video says about a C#6 note.

Link here.

Ken Tamplin

David is a fun gospel singer. Most of what he does is in his mid voice (E 4 to G#4). Most of his live upper register stuff is all reinforced falsetto. I cover this in my head voice workouts. He does not sing in chest much above this. It is all reinforced falsetto and quite easy to do compared to pulling chest to a C5. A good example of this is Steve Balsamo in Gethsamane (Jesus Christ Super Star)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QozXX7Ndrk  Go to: 2:53 and you will hear Steve do the same thing.  The best thing to do is build chest first, then head voice, then fuse them together for a mix voice of one big powerful register.

asperry

Thanks, Ken, for answering my question. I'm surprised it is reinforced falsetto: Phelps's C5s sound so powerful. I'm working on building my chest as you recommend.