I'd also like to compliment you on how clearly you explain everything. There's hardly any 'um's and ah's which is quite an accomplishment. People can have all the knowledge in the world but when they can't link a sentence together smoothly it ruins everything. So thank you for being so easy to listen to!
I'd like to thank you for complimenting on that... because I have worked on improving that A LOT. I used to talk just as quickly as I do now, but I would throw in about 3 times more "Ums". So thank you for appreciating tha!
Now I know why the video was nice : You were understandable. AND CALM FOR FUCK'S SAKE. I hete those teachers who speak nervously with that quick voice, using their head voice to insist on words (it's just the way they talk, they don't do it on purpose). Or they are falsely cool. There has been a great channel (New York something), I found it and it's nice. But since I discovered the low voice techniques, I didn't find anything. And when I heard you, singing that subharmonic... Well I'm very happy, because I can already hit a C2 with my chest voice, so imagine when (if) I master subharmonics... I would be SOOOOO HAPPY. And your video made it clear. Actually, it's a bit like the falsetto, I find. ^^ That sudden apparition of the note, something you don't master at all, in the beginning.
Yes, what David said about trying to push into the sub-harmonic is absolutely right. You cant produce it by squeezing/pushing or dropping your larynx, and it doesn't work like a regular'chest note. You literally gotta add one 5th of a note higher on top of your clean note and only while sustaining BOTH and adding fry (controlled fry to the clean note)you can actually induce those over/undertones.
@@limitless5822 What i meant to say is dropping the larynx further to sing a lower note. It is possible but you have to be already in subharmonic fry (doing scales for example). So, when you initiate the subharmonics then you can drop the larynx further 5o sing really low notes like g1, f1,e1 but the transition from clean voice to subharmonic is not achieved the conventional way, you gotta stay on the same note.
I'm a high mezzo/soprano and lately have been really frustrated about not being able to sing low (to a D3 on good days, F3/G3 on not so good days), trying this I just reached G2!! That's huge for me :D I am definitely going to practise some more carefully/slowly.
Thank you for your comment! I really appreciate it! I'm glad this stuff is helpful, stick around my channel and because I will soon be putting up some very interesting and cool videos that I'm sure you would enjoy. Thanks again!
Another great video! I thought that at 30 I was doomed to stay around the D2 or C2. Guess I was wrong. I have been driving my wife bonkers with this. Now a moment of being the smart-aleck: I knew there was something my voice professor wasn't telling me when I was a voice major a couple years ago! Honestly though: I am glad that you, Mr. Yang and the others have videos like this. Gives me something to work on outside of school. Looking forward to your next video and thanks again. This gem of a technique has breathed new life into my instrumental and vocal music life.
Hey dude! I'm a pro singer in a Frankie Valli group and i sing the bass part - I have always sang bass (2nd bass in my chamber choir) but i never really got lower than F2 or E2.. sometimes Eb2 on a very good day but i would love to try and crack this sub harmonic range. I have spent a good half an hour trying it this evening using the tips you have provided and it seems like i am making progress. Would i be able to send you across some voice clips so you can advise whether i am on the right path or not? I would be eternally greatful! I think your channel is superb by the way - you have a killer voice and are also a great teacher! Keep up the good work buddy 👏
@Baran Koç Doesn't have to be, they sing from e2-e4 without using much tension and can do it all day (so they can go lower or higher but on a good day or with a lot of tension).
@@hai965 sure i'd expect that you should be able to sing atleast a c#2 with your breathy bottom note before you could be called a bass. but if we're being technical a voice type is about tonal color and your passagie, not your range. you can be a tenor that can sing an e2 (though rare) but you're still a tenor if your voice is light and transistions around an e4. the same is true for a bass...if your tone is dark and heavy and you transition around a c4 (like creatio said) you're a bass...
Just want to let you know that you are incredibly helpful and talented and pretty much the only person on the whole of the internet that gets me to understand this. Thank you so much and keep up the good work!
Youre special. The way you tell stories, demostrate, catch a abstract sense from the air, clarify vague things… theyre lovely. Not something i see anywhere
Contralto here with a range similar to a tenor. Thank you so much for posting this update. Focusing on sustaining the note was the missing piece for me. On the first day, I got it to pop in and out which is how I knew I was doing it right instead of just using fry. Day 2 and I got it to pop in for a full four count. So excited!
This video (6 years past) definitely made it easier to understand the difference between Vocal Fry and Subharmonics. I’ve been doing it fry the past couple weeks and thought it was subharmonics! (Obviously I heard a difference to what I was listening and singing to. Though I wanted subharmonics, learning fry for a few weeks definitely gave me a feel for bass singing and the want to increase range to sing along to VoicePlay and Geoff Castellucci’s bass covers.
Thanks so much, i've been trying to get good with this technique and finally, after 2 months i finally have it down! I can reach a D1 with Subharmonics, which was my goal! Thanks and keep it up :)
Honestly no idea what subharmonic were till I stumbled on your reacting to beatboxers video, then I spent the past week looking for clear instructions how to do it and thanks to this video and how easily you made it to understand I'm starting to get how to do this! This is awesome my dude
Your vids, and those of like 2 other youtubers have helped me a ton when learning this! Made a bunch of progress after a few practice sessions due to them. When I first hit it I was surprised by it too. It just happens, without you actually dropping the octave. How I check if I'm doing a fry vs. subharmonic, is my subharmonics I feel in my chest as well as my throat. When only doing a fry, I don't feel the vibration in my chest. Plus subharmonic sounds more pure of a note (to me atleast). Finally able to get into the register without having to drop into it like when I first started doing it. It's like my throat knows what I'm going for and sets everything up before I sing a note. I know this vid is old, but thank you for these!
Focus. Focus on your tension and focus on holding the note steady. Since it lies in such a small place between normal vocal and fry it's really good to just try to really feel your voice when you get it. Also resist the urge to get the subharmonic back with anything other than tension.
Resist the urge to use your breath control to keep the low note going! Breath has nothing to do with it. If you start fucking around with your breath you lose the fundamental note and slip into fry.
Thank you for these videos I'm in 7th grade and with these techniques I'm able to sing an A1 and at the beginning of last year I could barely hit an F3 This has helped me a lot with choir and I would just like to say thanks
Hey David. I have been taking vocal lessons for four years and my range that I have reached is F4-B0. I've also been trying out the false chords you mentioned in your other videos and I have reached pretty much from C2 to B0. This video has given me more awareness for my technique as well. Thank you so much for this. I hope I get to see more videos similar to this one in the future! Thanks.
I had thyroid cancer for 30 years. I can go right down and pretty much sing low notes without trying subharmonic haha or fry. I can make my bass notes echo outdoors when I sing. They spread out and travel. Soon I will post a BASSO PROFUNDO or Oktavist range clip of me singing.
Wooooooo! Finally managed a subharmonic this morning after a month or so of practice. I tried starting on an A2 with my pitch app, and I could hear and feel the A1 popping through. It's still difficult to focus on amplifying that lower pitch, but it's definitely there. Can't wait to see if I can get it more consistently.
I got the same problem here. After practicing a while i thought i had found the right tension in my voice so that it wouldn't crack into vocal fry. But then i realized the note i was singing was the same one (i started with a B2) and not an octave below, it was just more rough. Is this normal? Maybe i just have to practice more..
@@marcopezzin3932 Nope. You both just have a tendency to overtone and overtone, you have an independent fundamental note. When I do this, I can hear my overtone going below my voice and being an undertone, but it doesn't mix with the fundamental.
DUDE! I LOVE YOU! I was sad 'cause i didn't get this, I was always fallin into vocal fry and I was like "damn it". And with this video, suddenly I got it! Thank you so much, man.
Hello there. I am a female that suffers from chronic bronchitis-COPD. This just means that everything down in that area is always a bit swollen. Good & bad days like anyone. I am a soprano. I've always been very high, with a very nice chest voice for when there are not enough Alto 1 & Alto 2. A bit of range. Well, suffice it to say that I quit singing for a few years because I was tired of the loss of breath control. Fast forward to October this year and here I am working on my breath control. Tired of denying songstress self. I've almost got all of the top of my voice, and have found that the middle is completely confused, working on that one. But, I have found that I'm trying some low notes that I never sang before. I was trained to stay up in my head/falsetto voice. That's hard to do and go low. It's too quiet, so my chest voice is getting some workouts. That does seem to make the front of my neck a bit sore, muscle-wise. Weird, I know. Any suggestions on clearing the crud in the upper chest voice? I never really used it before. (New to me). I always used my upper head voice to go down. (That is unless I was doing the 2nd Alto thing.). Any insight would be appreciated. Thanx, Mindy
If you are struggling with getting directly to sub register, try training your regular fry first - just do a lot of fry to become more comfortable with it. make it juicier, more relaxed, stable, and easy to switch to. After some time, your control abilities in that low register will develop, and one day you'll just suddenly hit the spot. Don't forget about what the guy said, without the fundamental note it will be just a fry.
The sound of the sub harmonic reminds me of a technique used in reed organ construction where they use a reed pitched a perfect fourth below the actual note to achieve the lower octave. Every time one hears two sounds he/she is hearing both the sum of their frequency and the subtraction of those. Do the math and you get that f1-f2= f1/4. A frequency two octave lower with its own harmonics.
I think the best tip with this is to be PATIENT! I started practicing about a year and a half ago and couldn’t produce the sound, and if I could it would be for a split second or it would goin and out. Practice at least 20 min a day and in about a year you’ll notice you can hold the notes for a good few seconds or maybe longer. I can now hold a subharmonic note until I almost run out of breath and can easily swap between chest register and subharmonic register
Great Vid, well put man. The feel is actually quite funny. And wow SUPER clean vibration mode entrainments just before bout the 5 minute point! Kudos. I might suggest to actually find the fry, and distinguish for newcomers (again I've been doing this a long time myself, those clips I sent you, erh Ill just say that they didn't work out for a few reasons, but thats not me aiming at normal sub). But yeah Id add maybe to try humming a specific note, and to lower air pressure until you feel it break into fry. Play with fry, and onset transition to other registers, and try to isolate a single vocal fold. Then try to sing an octave lower in fry with one fold, and the normal note with the other. Play around, like David shows here the transitions can be very smoothed out, but dont worry to much about it at first, and you can start either with the modal or fry note, which ever you feel out best. (And yes Im serious guys lol you can control your folds seperately, its strange. Actually I have a theory as to why ingressive stable pulse phonation is not biphonic, IE why its the fundamental. Again I have a link if you want it) Also be aware that the tension can be sometimes from dampening, sometimes by the false folds, which can create subharmonics (not just kagyraa, very smooth) of theyre own. Not neccesarily a bad thing, but you'll feel it more in the "spectrum" if sorta makes sense lol. Also I might add, not to confuse people, but you can accompplish next to indistinguishable sounding subharmonics using false folds in similar decoupled fashion. Both are often used to imitate Tibetan chanting. I use to growl so I know the feeling of activating them, and which is which per se. I can provide citations, Im aware that's not way your trying to teach it though, all I'm saying is its a well documented phenomena as well, but I will say Im not saying your flat out just using it, and for newbies out there, guys dont sweat it. Just follow his tips, they're very solid I highly recommend them. :)
What sorcery is this?? I’ve been a singer all my life and lapsing into fry has always been a challenge with lower notes. But I was able to do this after a couple of tries. Amazing!
Is it weird that I can easily sing the note you did with subharmonics using my chest voice? When I try using this technique it sounds like a mixture between what it's supposed to and vocal fry, isit supposed to do that, or is my voice just really deep? Thanks :D
I got it right away! Not loud though. But i have been doing a shitload of other vocal exercises so that must be why. Especially open throat/low larynx and fry excercises
@Peepee Poopoo not using tension in your throat. But I rather use fry mixed with chest because I am able to hit a d2 so my fry is not croaky at c2 but at f1 it kinda is. d1 or C#1 is just frog sounds xD
@@AK-AKhoaman then it is not a subharmonic. If the sound has some resonance from chest voice than its your vocal range. If it's fry than most people won't be able to hear you.
Wow man! It kind of worked for me, though the note I got weren't as boomy as your's but the texture was same. I also know Buddist monks use this registers all the time, during chanting, it just creates an eerie magical nd calm ambience around the place when they do it unanimously.
tenor here. have always used vocal fry to "sing" an e2 in one of my favorite songs and for the longest time, i wondered why carrying on to a supposedly higher note in chest voice felt like i was going DOWN when the next note is an a2! now i finally understand that it's because "frying" an e2 requires me to sing an e3, and going from e3 to a2 is obviously a drop in pitch... so satisfying to finally understand this. now wondering if it's worth perfecting my e2 using subs considering the downward jump in this song is still very sudden and i literally can't use subs anywhere else (no bass notes from me lmao). hmm...
Are you able to do a video in which you demonstrate the difference between how a "subharmonic" note sounds and how a modal/"chest" note mixed with vocal fry sounds. As a bass, I sing down to a C2 or B-flat in clean modal voice, then from B-flat I'd be mixing fry gradually in, reaching a G1 with reasonable resonance. Then from the F# the amount of fry starts getting too much and the pitch gets indistinct. But who needs to sing below a G1 anyway? If it's low enough for Glenn Miller it's low enough, right? But in what I'm describing I don't experience any "octave flip". I just sing down and blend chest and fry, keeping as much chest in the sound as possible if I want quality. The way you describe what you're doing makes it sound very different (though I'm not sure the vocal tone sounds all that different - other than yours sounding nicer than most people's).
*I've watched video after video after video, but after watching this I learned how to do this!!! To tbose who are new and still learnint, basically you have to GROWL the same growl as what you what say in your normal speaking voice. I didnt know what vocal fry was, but its basically a growl. Sing a certain pitch.... Then growl that pitch, then put the two together. It will take some practice but it works!*
Really cool technique and a really helpful video about it! I got it 3 times today for a few seconds and hopefully i can get better in a bit of time even though i just wanna be able to do it for shits and giggles.
This is SUPER helpful. I've been trying to teach some of the guys in my choir so we could have some cool sounding basses, but they have a lot of trouble trying to learn this. I realize now that they are all doing exactly what you said, and i now know what to fix for them. Thanks dude!!
So I'm a bass singer, and I bottom out around D-Eb2, and I'd like to go deeper I suppose. I have a dark, warm voice, so more on the bass spectrum, but I don't have range much lower than a D usually.
I don't have much experience as a bass singer being in 7th grade but if you look for the how to sing like Avi Kaplan and Tim Foust video on this channel that is what helped me the most so I would give that a look I started with a E2 and when I stopped practicing as mich I could hit an A1
@Corason Take the large view. As a bass, you have to really achieve relaxation throughout, particularly at the secondo passagio, maximum power in head voice and relaxed projection down low. Also your voice doesn't fully mature, particularly basses until about 40 y.o. Re me with where yours is (secondo passagio)?
If you do the frequency analysis, it's easy to see how the subharmonic is really just the addition of a fifth while you're still singing the original note: i.imgur.com/F9bH9BN.png In blue you can see the frequencies of the normal singing, in red is when you switch.
So i recently tried this subhormonic bass singing ( i dont sing at all and im not a bass or even an alto i think) anyhow i tried this and after a few tries i got it! Its awesome however i realized i have done this by accient and i thought it was my voice cracking but in fact it was subhermonic bass and never realized it before today !
so David question...finally after a.few months I reached this and am now getting it (was reaching for the lower note. I can cotrol my fry well, Ala tim storms, but like the sub harmonic tone better) is it normal that my modal register be lower after practicing sub harmonics, or does this indicate vocal fatigue and strain (should I stop when the pit,h drop occurs in my modal register) thanks! love your bass stuff!
When you are first starting off, I wouldn't do it too much. Probably not much more than 30 minutes a day for the first week. Although, you've got to listen to your voice really. If it's starts to hurt or get really fatigued, then give it a break for a day or so. After a while it really won't matter how long you practice it - it just becomes part of your voice! ^_^
David Larson quick question, your Videos have helped me.learn sub harmonics (I'm a southern gospel bass, so I'm more familiar with tim storms or jd sumner type singing). anyhow, when I am practicing these techniques, my voice sounds more.like tuvian throat singing. am I doing it wrong or do you have any suggestions? thanks for any help you can give.
Hmm, could you explain the soft palate and pharynx position? Placement and compression etc, i mean i can do vocal fry but nothing is happening. Are you also starting from a closed vocal fold position, meaning holding your breath while pushing out and letting only some air through creating the fry, or dtarting from an open position, simply frying without trying to hold the vocal folds closed? And the fry you can move it from the throat up into the mouth and even into the nose, where should it be?😂 so many questions haha
So if you aren't changing your breathing, nor dropping your larnyx, then like, what DO you do? Very nice, clear, informative video, but that little detail is missing.
Ok so I have experimented with vocal fry before. The note I’m trying to hit w subharmony I can hit easily but it didn’t surprise when I hit subharmony. I knew what vocal fry was and just added a little of that to the original note without even focusing on the lower note 👍
I seem to have a bit of an issue. When I transition into subharmonic I only go down seven notes instead of a full octave. I can’t figure out why and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
You should listen to some beatboxers doing a technique called 'vibration bass' which is absolutely based on this but isn't explained as well as this. This is just a vocal technique, the one that beatboxers do is something that has do with going extremely hard on their cords. But anyways, this was really really helpful, thank you a lot.
Whats crazy is I was hitting subharmonics without physically changing my voice to hit the 5th, I was hitting subharmonics just from switching the octave. Of course I learned the other way on how to do it by singing the fundamental then the fifth at the same time and then frying later on, but I was singing the subharmonic exactly the same even before I learned it. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, but this is just my experience.
What are you thoughts about achieving it while inhaling? I seem to have found better control doing it while inhaling (won't use it like that since if make pronouncing words harder) but was just interested to know your thoughts about it
omfg it worked for a moment, thank you so much!! I gotta keep practising because now I have a recording where I can hear the subharmonic under the fundamental frequency but I can't seem to get there again XD
+Georgie That's awesome! So you are kinda able to do this technique? (I always figured women could do this as well, I've just never heard of any trying yet!)
David Larson Yeah - I mean I'm still in the beginning stages and I have little control over what's happening, but it didn't take me long to hear some lower harmonics coming through. According to my family I sound like a didgeridoo so who knows... X) I did manage to get the lower note on its own for a second but I haven't been able to since - I'll continue to practise! So thanks a lot for making this video - I've been having fun :)
Hey David! I don’t know if you still use your channel, but I’ve been trying to figure out this register for a while now. I just found this video which was the most helpful but I was wondering what you meant by tension. I am a bass but am most comfortable as a baritone. Next year at my school I will be the only bass and want to be enough to do so. If you have any more tips, please share!
David I really need your help.choir and singing mean so much to me its how I get my mind off of things and how I relieve stress and singing makes me smile.I am a bass and I've watched everyone of your videos for subharmonic singing and I still haven't gotten it. I dont get what is supposed to happen are you supposed to since like a c3 or a3 and just wait until the subharmonic note comes.I am taking choir all 4 years of high school and I really want to learn this technique before highschool.I hope you understand how important singing is to me.please help me I really need your help. please reply I really need help.I want to get better and better in singing.singing just makes me so happy and I want to get better at it
I've been experimenting and watching RU-vid for the past few days and came to think of it as blending the note with the scratchy back throat sound 😅 I practiced them both separately and then "blended" them together. It works well for me to think of it like this. Maybe that can help someone. I'm currently working on blending for longer and sustaining it. Any tips on that? Warm ups? Breathing exercises?
Appena inizio ad aggiungere il vocal fry alla nota di petto faccio un armonico. L'accordatore dice che sto un'ottava sotto, ma non mi sembra simile ai tuoi. Come posso fare?
Well... that's a tricky question. I've had enough ask about making it louder, so I suppose I will have to make a video on it! Part of the fix is just strengthening the muscles over time. The other fix is creating more resonating space inside your mouth throat. It's an odd register... You can push a little bit like chest voice.. But increasing volume requires more space - it's a bit different way of thinking that you have to practice quite a bit. Anyways, I'll definitely make a video on this subject sometime soon!
I have questions, but I need confirmation that I'll get a reply. I can both vocal fry, and do sub harmonic bass, but I can do another one. I have absolutely no idea what it's called, but it's very strong, very low, and very bassy.