Singing Louder

[fpuhan]

After a recent "unplugged" appearance I did, one of my colleagues came up to me and said, "Your playing is great, and the (first) song you did was funny, but many of us were struggling to hear the lyrics."

I could have just swept this aside as the result of taking the stage after having gone through a recent head cold, but this wasn't the first time.

Which kind of surprises me, because I've always had a good, strong speaking voice (I've been an instructor and presenter). And playing without a mic or amplification is how I mostly practice, so I felt like I was "belting it out," but it appears I was the only one to think so.

Certainly, the first piece of advice I'd expect to get is, "Practice more." I get it. But at some point, my voice goes out of tune. I'm not a bad singer, but as the old advice goes, "A man's got to know his limits."

Any tips? Has this happened to you?

[mr. beaumont]

There's a lot that could go into this...

Both guitar and voice unamplified?

You wouldn't happen to have any video of you playing, would you?

Voices can be very directional...

[Gordon Currie]

This is more common than you might think.

If you can have someone record a clip on your cell phone at your next unplugged performance, you'll probably get an idea of what they were talking about.

The best solution I've found - taking IRL voice lessons. You will learn what it really means to project, and how to do it.

[Robin, Wales]

"..... Many of us where struggling to hear the lyrics....."

Well, it may not be a singing volume issue. It could be that your diction isn't clear when you sing (it happens). Or it could be that your guitar accompaniment is too "busy". Guitar and vocals can take up the same space - and everything gets a bit lost. It's good to give your voice some space.

I don't have a strong singing voice. So I have to be quite careful with my guitar arrangements. For example, I'll boom/chuck rather than strum. I'll palm mute. I'll phrase my singing away from the guitar's rhythm. I may stop playing to sing an emphasised phrase. All in all, I keep my accompaniment pretty minimalist.

I sing and play solo about once a month at concerts without a p.a. Audience of 70+. . So I think about how I'm going to arrange each song I do in terms of how the guitar will work with my voice.

My voice has got stronger with practice, but I still really need to manage my accompaniment and work on my phrasing and diction to get the best song delivery I can.

[Charlie Bernstein]

If you're using a mic, just turn up the gain or "eat" the mic. I play with a guy who's inaudible unmiked but uses a mic to great advantage. (I know you said "unplugged" for that one gathering, but you didn't say you never use a mic, so.)

If you're not using a mic, try these:

- Sing loud when you're alone. A tiled bathroom is optimal, but singing while driving is great, too.

- Sing simple familiar melodies. I'm a blues and country guy, but for voice practice, I often belt out Christmas or Disney or show tunes: The notes are highly specific and, like 'em or not, deeply ingrained.

And scat is fine when you don't know the words: Good King Wenceslaus went down on the feast of Stephen! La-dee-da-dee da da, deedle dum and even! It's the notes that matter.

Any other standard is fine, too, as long as you don't mess with the melody. From the halls of Montezoo-oo-mah to the shores of Tripoli! . . . A capital ship for an ocean trip is the rollicking Windowblind! . . .

Do it a lot and you'll find you 'll find your accuracy and dynamics will improve no matter how boldly you bellow. Plus, the dorkier the songs you use for those workouts, the more the practice will build the confidence it takes to throw yourself all the way into the music you love.

[Charlie Bernstein]

PS -

If you use your own mic, you might also sell a few guitars (who's gonna know?) and discover the wide, wild world of microphones.

[Mandobart]

I have a deep speaking voice that can really carry. As a kid all the way into my early 20's everyone told me I talked too loud.

When I started singing I tried to sing like I speak - in a bass or baritone voice. But singing in a lower register (as opposed to speaking) and making it carry is not easy at all.

When I started singing bluegrass songs I realized I was trying to sing too low. When I moved up to tenor I could seriously fill a room without any sound reinforcement.

My experience is a lot of men try to sing too low, which makes the volume also too low.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by Gordon Currie

This is more common than you might think.

If you can have someone record a clip on your cell phone at your next unplugged performance, you'll probably get an idea of what they were talking about.

The best solution I've found - taking IRL voice lessons. You will learn what it really means to project, and how to do it.

What does the IRL stand for?

[Glennwillow]

My experience is that the best way to prepare for a performance is to record yourself. Just an audio recording or even better, a video recording but using the mics you will be using for voice and guitar.

The recording will let you hear yourself the way other people hear you. If you don't like what you hear, then you can start making adjustments and corrections.

You don't really need other people's advice here; you need a way to hear what your audience hears when you perform. Once you do that in a recording, you can be your own coach.

From what I have seen, a lot of players play the guitar pretty hard and generate a lot of volume, and that volume then buries your singing voice. Just a guess, but you may have to learn to alter your playing style when you are singing.

- Glenn

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Cecil6243

What does the IRL stand for?

In Real Life (meaning not online/Zoom)

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by fpuhan

...many of us were struggling to hear the lyrics.

A man's got to know his limits.

Has this happened to you?

Just as it is with all tropes, they obscure the truth and words spoken to intimidate a foe are not the best for figuring out how to improve. Knowing your limits is great in that it allows you to focus on where you can improve the most.

This used to happen to me a lot when I was transitioning from being an at-home singer to professional and experience is also one of the best teachers available to you. I mostly perform with a microphone, but really like the opportunities to do unamplified performances and if you do both, you'll quickly realize that they're are more differences going on than just volume levels alone. The way you sing has to take on a major change, and that's where all the fun of live performance comes into its own.

[AX17609]

Robin (#4) has posted on this topic in several forms in the past and has the correct answer. Unless you're in my band, in which the guitar player is always too loud, it's more about expression than volume.

[zuzu]

Originally Posted by AX17609

Robin (#4) has posted on this topic in several forms in the past and has the correct answer. Unless you're in my band, in which the guitar player is always too loud, it's more about expression than volume.

Yes! Robin brings the voice of experience, and not just his own. The best singer/acoustic guitarists I have been around (as opposed to simply hearing them in a show, tho that does apply also) use the dynamics of everything they are doing to express the song. Vocal style or styles, guitar style and volume, sometimes even their foot tapping, all go into "putting the song across", which is the goal.

I am not as well developed in this skill set as a solo singer/guitarist as I am as an instrumentalist, but I am trying now. Previously, I have mostly chosen my material to fit my skill set but I am attempting to get past that now.

Keep at it! You are asking the right questions!

[Methos1979]

It's likely a technique issue. Proper breathing and vocal control are important. Take some voice lessons from a local instructor. There are exercises that my vocal teacher had me do that really helped me define and control my already powerful voice. A good teacher can give you some serious insights and exercises in just a few lessons. Unlike when you start learning to play the guitar where you are starting from scratch and the road is long, you have been using your voice your whole life. You just need a few lessons to help you understand the mechanics of singing properly and some exercises to help that along. Especially if you can already carry a tune.

[KevWind]

So assuming by "unplugged" you mean completely un-amplified (not MTV style "unplugged" which was misnomer because it was actually a mic or two, or a mic and pickup, PLUGED into a PA system )

Then there are a couple suggestions , as some have already noted based on balance, enunciation , and projection into a room

First consider if the people in the audience are telling you they were struggling to hear the lyrics ( which is just ambiguous enough mean either "hear" or "understand" or both) and that your speaking voice is only 1/2 the equation of your singing/guitar playing voice


Realize that what you hear as the performer is not what the audience hears
#1 because your ears are above and behind the guitar and physically much closer to your mouth than the guitar
#2 the guitar is projecting much more energy directly out (90 degrees) from the sound hole than upwards from the upper side of the guitar ...

So when performing at home and hearing yourself play and sing realize that #1 is kind of fooling you as far what the balance will be out in the room 10 ft. or 20 ft or 50 ft away .

Which means you are likely going to have to either sing louder or play a bit softer and as Robin suggested learn to alternate the dynamics of your playing as opposed to just strumming away at one steady volume.