Vocal Advice.

[Scotch]

Hello folks,

Just asking for some advice on my vocals on "Dont Think Twice". The second line i go off a bit but for some reason I struggle to play when i record Sounds silly but this was about my 5th attempt at recording this
https://soundcloud.com/chrisb-scotla...ce-its-alright
Any advice would be appreciated.

Many Thanks,
Chris.

[JonPR]

I like the quality of your voice - its tone and timbre - but your pitching needs some serious work. You tune into the key OK, and I hear you aiming for chord tones on other notes (and deviating from the oriiginal melody in the process), but you're not reliably hitting or holding the notes well enough. (It's OK to deviate from the melody - Dylan would - but you need to do it confidently and deliberately!)
I'd advise singing lessons. Your voice has potential, but needs work. There's two things to think about, two techniques that need developing: (a) controlling your voice, its pitch and power; (b) hearing it properly and tuning to a reference (key, chord, note). IOW, throat, breathing, etc on the one hand, and ear on the other. You have ability in both areas, but it's clearly rudimentary and undeveloped at the moment. It can be trained, but you probably need professional guidance.

[Scotch]

Thanks for the reply Jon.

Hmm, seems nothing i can learn by myself then.
The only people that could give me vocal lessons did a first come first serve basis. I've applied twice and they havent even replied to say that i wouldnt get them. Currently im at a loss on what i can do now then.

[DupleMeter]

Chris - first thing I noticed is you have almost no breath control. It's simply impossible to intonate well without proper breath control. This is something my wife (a classically trained soprano) has drilled into me.

I really suggest finding a voice teacher...separating singing from playing & just focusing on controlling your voice. Go to the local music store ask if they teach or can recommend some teachers. Ask other musicians if they know any voice teachers. Just keep looking. They must be out there.

As JonPR said, you have a good natural tone...but it's falling prey to the lack of proper support.

[YamaYairi]

Remember all the stuff I wrote you about breathing from your diaphragm? That's what you need to work on. I hear improvement but it is obvious that singing isn't natural to you and you will have to work on it until it does become second nature. Teaching voice is not something that can be done by typing instructions on a computer, it has to be face to face. You'll just have to keep trying to find a teacher. Don't give up! Maybe you could advertise in a local paper, "Voice Teacher Wanted."

[Scotch]

Thanks folks for the replies.

YamiYari, I did try alot with the diaphragm breathing. I thought i had improve upon that but seems i havent.

I've applied for lesson but as i said they can't teach me. Closest one is 30miles away. So i would need to take a bus journey every Saturday. Which seems to be my only option but money is scarce atm so cant afford £30-40 every week or even fortnight.
I went to jam sessions and had a 30min vocal thing he told me to just place scales and sing them. I've done that but when it comes to the song i still have all these issues.
Was given advice from another singer, he told me all i need to know is breath in before everyline to sing that on line.

Tonight going to a jam session hoepfully. Might find someone who may be interested in giving lessons.

Just feels like i'm heading no where

[YamaYairi]

Originally Posted by Scotch

Thanks folks for the replies.

YamiYari, I did try alot with the diaphragm breathing. I thought i had improve upon that but seems i havent.

I've applied for lesson but as i said they can't teach me. Closest one is 30miles away. So i would need to take a bus journey every Saturday. Which seems to be my only option but money is scarce atm so cant afford £30-40 every week or even fortnight.
I went to jam sessions and had a 30min vocal thing he told me to just place scales and sing them. I've done that but when it comes to the song i still have all these issues.
Was given advice from another singer, he told me all i need to know is breath in before everyline to sing that on line.

Tonight going to a jam session hoepfully. Might find someone who may be interested in giving lessons.

Just feels like i'm heading no where

I did say you are improving. You just need a face to face teacher. Don't give up!

[YamaYairi]

Oh, by the way, it does take awhile to get the hang of this, especially the breathing. Keep doing the exercise I gave you, breathing while lying down. Try singing like that, too. After you get used to the way that feels try it standing up.

[DupleMeter]

I would imagine you could find someone to teach via Skype.

Don't get discouraged. When you start to learn about proper voice technique you quickly realize most people do it wrong.

When my wife started working with me (after years of singing in bands and solo), I had to rethink everything I thought I knew about singing. The payoff comes when you start to incorporate better technique and the voice works less for more (and better) sound.

[mchalebk]

There is nothing that will help more than face-to-face vocal instruction. However, if you can't make that happen, it is still possible to learn more and improve. I recently got a book called The Performer's Voice: Realizing Your Vocal Potential. This came highly recommended by a voice teacher I know. It won't teach you everything you need to know, but it does have a great deal of really good information in it. You will learn a lot about how the voice actually works. There are also some good exercises that can help.

[u38cg]

Skype. There is literally nothing that can be done in person that can't be done on Skype when it comes to music teaching.

Where exactly are you? Might be able to give you some pointers at least.

[Scotch]

I live in Dumfries which is in South West Scotland

[Scotch]

Thought i would give a wee update.

i asked a man who can sing which i do appreciate and asked him if it was possible to give me a vocal lesson. He has never done this kind of this before and its it a Opera singer but he can give a good go at any kind of song.

What he advised me to do was mainly breathing stuff and little vocal stuff for example. Constantly practice breathing where sharp intake and slow push out till i have no breath.

Sing the last note of each line longer and on tune.

He said i do have something there where i can sing, as i sang "Girl from north country" he liked that and adviced me on a few things like at end of each line i usually ran out of breath.

Then do scales but again hold notes longer. Then keep practicing those.

I will continue these things but its the best i can do as i cant get a professional teacher

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by Scotch

Thought i would give a wee update.

i asked a man who can sing which i do appreciate and asked him if it was possible to give me a vocal lesson. He has never done this kind of this before and its it a Opera singer but he can give a good go at any kind of song.

What he advised me to do was mainly breathing stuff and little vocal stuff for example. Constantly practice breathing where sharp intake and slow push out till i have no breath.

Sing the last note of each line longer and on tune.

He said i do have something there where i can sing, as i sang "Girl from north country" he liked that and adviced me on a few things like at end of each line i usually ran out of breath.

Then do scales but again hold notes longer. Then keep practicing those.

I will continue these things but its the best i can do as i cant get a professional teacher

These are exactly the things a voice teacher would be doing with you. Don't be afraid of the stylistic differences...the technique an opera singer uses is all about being super efficient to get the best (and most) sound with the least amount of strain.

Go with it and also keep looking for someone willing to do some Skype lessons with you. You'll get there. It takes time...especially when you have to break bad habits and relearn things you thought were automatic, like breathing.

My wife started me out by having me let out a controlled "hiss" - keeping the volume and tone the same as I controlled the exhale until I had no breath & then let the lungs fill up in one quick motion (it happens automatically if you exhale long enough)...that was the beginning of understanding the feel of both controlling my airflow when I sang and completely filling my lungs when I breathed. Through it all keeping shoulders down, head up, chin in, body weight evenly distributed on both feet, mouth open and the back of the throat opened (she always says "imagine an egg in the back of your throat...that's how open it should be").

There's a lot to doing this seemingly "natural" activity properly. I've been improving for years with her help...and am always amazed at how long time bad habits have to be actively fought.

[Monk of Funk]

It sounds to me a little airy, meaning, sort of everything is too open sometimes, so you can run out of power easily. It's like a balloon, if you cut it open, the air releases right away. What you want, is to keep just a slit open, so you can force lots of air through it with power for a long time.

One thing that helped me, was when i realized that i wanted to sing a little as though I was yawning, like the feeling of pushing voice out of a yawn. I find you are tight in the right place when you yawn. Air won't gush out, but you're not straining at the top preventing your range from going up.

You are singing quite low, your sweet spot in your range is quite a bit higher than that.

Your voice probably goes higher than you think, and when you pitch up, you're squeezing in the wrong place, making it tight and crackly.

It's odd to say, but you need to be real open and clear for singing, and yet, firm and tight.

It's hard to explain easily, but the right spot needs to be tight, and controlling air flow for power, and up top things need to be free and clear.


There are lots of resources on YouTube for vocals. But I feel you could use some more constant power.

You could also use a compressor on your voice on the recording, if you used a DAW it should have a compressor in it. That won't help you with pitch, but it keeps volume more constant, so when you lose power, or sing closer or farther from mic, it stays at same volume. It also makes your voice seem more in your face, and professional sounding. basically every voice on every modern record has a compressor on it to some degree.

If you don't have a DAW, you can checkout reaper, it has an unrestricted free trial for 30 days, then a nag screen until you pay the bargain of 60$ for it.

You do have pitch issues at times. If you hear that, you're good to go, you just need power.