#1625880 - 08/07/00 11:25 AM
Finding your voice
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c.cash
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Hello, Dr. Given the explosion of the goofy Alice In Chains/Creed/Hootie/EddyVedder sound-alikes out there, it seems alot of people are "choosing" their vocal style. I guess they've probably always done this. A guy with a good, generic voice once asked me how you're supposed to naturally find your voice - or most flattering style.
I heard you in a radio interview a while back, referencing early Blood, Sweat & Tears, say how you were a little self-conscience of the early recordings because you hadn't found your style/range yet. Care to elaborate?
Curt
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#1625881 - 08/07/00 04:47 PM
Re: Finding your voice
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Doctor Al
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>>>>how you were a little self-conscious of the early recordings because you hadn't found your style/range yet. Care to elaborate?<<<<
I'd love to elaborate
My voice has improved 200% since I began singing because of the amount of years I've been singing. It's because of the things I've learned in the last 40-odd years that have improved my instrument. I'd say the 2 most important items are:
a) staying within your range
b) being able to clearly hear yourself when singing
I wrote many songs in keys where i was conversant with certain chord changes. They weren't the best keys for my voice but i didnt know any better then. For instance, I recorded Season Of The Witch and Wake Me Shake Me in F. I've been performing them for the last 15 years in D. More better for my voice.
If I can hear my voice loud & clear in the monitors on a live gig, my pitch has a MUCH better chance of being correct. Ditto the studio. If my voice is loud in the phones and I can slip one phone half-off and hear my ACTUAL voice as well, I can sing more in tune.
These two little factoids will take you a long way.
In terms of emulating other singers, my choices are not in the eddie vedder school.
Ray Charles, Hank Williams,Sr., Rev. Claude Jeter, Elvis, and Rance Allen (gospel singer) are my biggest influences.
Have fun!!!!
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#1625882 - 08/07/00 06:33 PM
Re: Finding your voice
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Sergievsky
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I've tried half-off headphones and full headphones and loud and not so loud phones. I'm still not comfortable with it. I've heard of Bruce Swedien not having a separate vocal booth from the control room. Is this correct? Can you actually get a usable vocal recording monitoring from speakers and not headphones? I've tried it and the leak didn't bother me, but I haven't had the balls to do it on a commercial project yet.
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Raul
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#1625883 - 08/08/00 02:32 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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Doctor Al
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>>>>Can you actually get a usable vocal recording monitoring from speakers and not headphones? I've tried it and the leak didn't bother me, but I haven't had the balls to do it on a commercial project yet.<<<<<
There is no right or wrong in situations like that. If thats how you can sing great vocals, then thats what you do. BTW, many live album vocal re-dos by famous people are done like that if ya need that kind of reinforcement.
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#1625884 - 08/08/00 10:14 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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c.cash
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Hey thanks - that's good advice. I don't think it's in my genes to aspire to be a great singer, but I work with people who do. If I can add to this - I've heard that if you monitor too loud it will actually cause your pitch to go sharp. Have you found any truth to this?
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#1625885 - 08/08/00 09:50 PM
Re: Finding your voice
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ana1ana2@pacbell.net
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Regarding volume and pitch...
Often enough overly sharp intonation in singers is due to their being overexcited during the recording process - meaning unnecessarily hyped or overly physical - in the same way that underactivation or depression produces a characteristically flat intonation. This pitch phenomenon is a result of the physical position of the palette - high palette, high pitch, low palette, low pitch. I tune a lot of folks as a result of this physical issue. Often enough it seems that an overly loud cue mix (requested to get the singer "up" and feeling energized) can cause a singer to sing louder and with less control over pitch, dynamics and so on. The real problem is getting a singer, many times the least-trained member of the band and the person most likely to have essentially nonverbal ways of thinking about their instrument, to address issues of technique so that little things like pitch problems don't interfere with the energy of the performance.
Of course, if they do interfere, that's when I get work...
Richard F.W. Davis
Vocal Editor
Burbank, CA
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Second Line Aria Music
Burbank, CA
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#1625886 - 08/09/00 01:50 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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Sergievsky
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Maybe it's the balance of the vocal level with the music level that affects a singer's tendency to sing sharp or flat, not just the overall volume.
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Raul
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#1625887 - 08/09/00 03:20 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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c1131@hotmail.com
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I have definatly noticed that if a vocalist is too high/low in volume compared to the rest of the mix it will cause them to go sharp or flat, I cut vocal's all the time in my control room especially on heavy stuff, hand them a 58 or use an sm-7, crank the monitors and away you go, I have also done it with u87 and nuemans you just gotta set it up for the least (or most depending on the clients tatste) bleed, some people are just uncomfortable in headphones and this seems to work well. I have also used wedges to get more of a live gig feel. It does work vibe wise.
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#1625888 - 08/09/00 04:20 PM
Re: Finding your voice
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PlatEar1@aol.com_dup1
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I have found that on earlier projects my vocals were lowered in the cans when I sang. This tended to make me over-sing. My vocals ended up coming out very shrill. On my most recent recording I had the engineer boost the vocals in the mix. I was able to sing with less "push" and therefore get the performance without straining.
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#1625889 - 08/10/00 01:22 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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ana1ana2@pacbell.net
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Originally posted by Sergievsky:
Maybe it's the balance of the vocal level with the music level that affects a singer's tendency to sing sharp or flat, not just the overall volume.
Having a good balance but an overly loud volume will still result in unnatural singing, not to mention hearing damage. It seems to me that trying to recreate live-performance energy only by adding volume means the singer needs to get his/her head together about what he/she is trying to record.
Good singing has to be as much about sensation as it is about audio feedback - once you've heard it, it's too late!  I've had singers "energize" themselves in various ways, like a little exercise or stretching (obviously not to the point of being out-of-breath), and it's often this that makes all the difference in a singer who wails onstage but doesn't have the extra vibe in the studio - and once the headphone balance is right, it sounds exciting like the stage thing, but is in control enough to be recordable. The pitch problems (assuming a singer with good pitch) are often drastically lessened.
Richard
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Second Line Aria Music
Burbank, CA
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#1625890 - 08/10/00 03:42 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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alphajerk
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i believe id get my ass kicked if i asked the singer to do some exercise. fortunately, there are many ways of energizing the singer. it is also nice to be able to let the singer adjust their own volume, they can get it where they like it better than you can.
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alphajerk FATcompilation "if god is truly just, i tremble for the fate of my country" -thomas jefferson
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#1625891 - 08/10/00 03:30 PM
Re: Finding your voice
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Doctor Al
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I noticed on the floor at the NAMM show there was a "Lead Singer Relaxer/Energizer Kit" distriburted by a new company called
M.Lewinsky Enterprises. Didn't get a chance to go in their booth and try it out though.... Maybe in January....
[This message has been edited by Doctor Al (edited 08-10-2000).]
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#1625892 - 08/10/00 03:34 PM
Re: Finding your voice
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Doctor Al
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Doctor Al:
[B]I noticed on the floor at the NAMM show there was a "Lead Singer Relaxer/Energizer Kit" distriburted by a new company called
M.Lewinsky Enterprises. Didn't get a chance to go in their booth and try it out though.... Maybe in January.....
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#1625893 - 08/10/00 05:17 PM
Re: Finding your voice
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ana1ana2@pacbell.net
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Originally posted by alphajerk:
i believe id get my ass kicked if i asked the singer to do some exercise. fortunately, there are many ways of energizing the singer. it is also nice to be able to let the singer adjust their own volume, they can get it where they like it better than you can.
If they could kick your ass, they wouldn't need to exercise! Obviously what I'd do depends on the singer, and I doubt I'd ask Celine Dion to take a lap...
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#1625894 - 08/10/00 10:19 PM
Re: Finding your voice
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alphajerk
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id make celene dion run one way all the way back to canada and tell her to stay there.
yea al, i heard about that. came with a great recommendation from billy c., just look at what it did for our economy. imagine the take you would get out of the singer.
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alphajerk FATcompilation "if god is truly just, i tremble for the fate of my country" -thomas jefferson
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#1625896 - 08/16/00 03:19 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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ana1ana2@pacbell.net
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Well, all that was disappointing.
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Second Line Aria Music
Burbank, CA
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#1625897 - 08/16/00 06:40 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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c.cash
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Benjy King makes a good point in GMs forum - and I've found this to be true as well - that pumping the bass (guitar) for the singer to go for pitch-wise works well. Thanks all for the input.
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#1625898 - 08/16/00 11:50 AM
Re: Finding your voice
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alphajerk
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worked for jim morrison didnt it?
but what do i know, i found my voice in the dumpster behind the walmart.
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alphajerk FATcompilation "if god is truly just, i tremble for the fate of my country" -thomas jefferson
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