Dynamics

stan

I notice when Ken does his "HTS Like..." YouTube series, he sounds very beefy in all those songs... almost as if he wants to belt. And I totally get that, that's his style... but what I was wondering, does the program help train you to sing with more dynamics? I mainly wanna have a rock/pop kinda voice like Matthew Bellamy, Freddie Mercury, and Adele are some stylistic examples... singers who can rock but also have a "thinner" sound as well when they want to. Are the techniques taught in the program are like a one-size-fits-all thing?

Thanks. :-)

highmtn

You have to build the beefy parts up if you ever want to have them in your arsenal available for use. They don't just show up when you want to belt something out. You have to train for it. After training in that manner, you can elect to sing with less emphasis, and it's a breeze. Just back off. I think "ALL" of those songs is not quite correct. There are some poppier songs and lighter songs. It's just that for the longest time, Ken was sought out because he was one of the only vocal instructors able to teach belting by example. So you would be correct if you said that the majority of them are belting, and he even tends to belt a little on Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars, but they're certainly more pop than rock.

But if you want to be an R and B guy and never want to sing with power, then you are free to take the easy road and just leave out all of the chest-stretching and belting and rock singing and sing in a soft head voice and a soft chest voice. If you take the more difficult path and learn to sing with power too, you can always sing more softly. If you take the easy road and bridge early and more softly, and don't stretch chest, you will end up with a more limited mix, a soft-only head voice, and an inability to sing with power at will.

It's a personal choice and there is no shame or problem with wanting only the easy-listening part of singing. It's more a question of where do you want to go, and what do you want to have at your command when you get there?

The less you stretch your chest voice, the lighter your mix and head voice will be. You'll sound a little breathier. You'll have to do all of your high notes in head voice, beyond where you've worked up your chest voice. If that's more the sound you want, then that's the way you should approach this program. It will be a lot easier. You'll have a few less options, but those may be options that aren't important to you as an individual.

stan

Thanks again, Bob.

highmtn

I might add that you can still have the light mix if you take the harder road. All you have to do is ease away from the more beefy parts of your voice. If you take the easier road, there is no way you can sing with more beef, because you just don't have the muscle structure or the range in chest voice that beef requires. So in one path you have to work harder to have more choices. In the other path, you sacrifice the options to apply the stronger dynamics.

It's much easier to decrease volume if that's the dynamic you want. You actually have less dynamics if you can't take the volume up for a big crescendo at the end of a subdued tune.

stan

I'm gonna take the longer way, pulling chest during the workouts... if I want a beefy sound, I'll use it, but in general, I'll thin the voice out a bit when I sing. You're the man, Bob. Thanks.

bentk

I know this thread is a little old already, but i would like to add and emphasize a few things.

First it's best to just do the whole KTVA program. You will not regret it, and will unlock the full potential of your voice. I recommend it!

Secondly, some of the singers you mention like Matthew Bellamy are not particularly light singers. Bellamy uses a LOT of chest in most of his singing, and does some head voice things too. He mostly sings pretty powerful belt-like chest things.

All the best,

Ben

RawDreeGo

Hi everyone, I'm new here...

but I agree with that, I think those examples you use are from singers that doesn't particulary sing light, I'd say rather cleaner, or not "raspy" or distorted.

I have been doing the program and maaaan I can now sing "Madness" by MUSE in a way easier and more powerful way, so Stan, keep it up, you won't be disapointed