This is one of the MOST important advices I could ever receive! I really couldn't believe how agile my voice became when I finally tried to sing with less volume. Runs are a lot easier this way and it actually sounds more like singing with passion - I really had to ignore the fact that this advice sounded counterintuitive for me in the first place. It is definitely worth a try for everyone who tends to put too much power and pressure into his voice like I did.
Great video! Sometimes you have to remind yourself that there are microphones… And it’s actually crazy how that counterintuitive attitude of giving less actually brings out more. But yes, reminding yourself that you’re singing into a mic is very important. I had a similar experience playing acoustic guitar for some years then switching to the electric. It seemed like everyone else played the electric guitar so effortlessly and to me it felt a lot more intense. Then I realized that I play through an amp and have the gain on 3. Now I could play a lot less intensely, but it actually opens up the possibility to play intensely with intention. So you have a lot more dynamic range to play with. Had a very similar experience with singing…
Man… I literally gave up on singing because of this. First: all of the three vocal coaches I’ve had were confused about my voice type and they would end up saying that I’m a “baritenor” because I can belt too high (C#5 / D5) to be baritone but also too full and loud to be a tenor. My siblings always mess around with me when I’m singing saying that I’m “Henry Aguilera”. So, I’m 28 and I just can’t do the mix register, it sounds pitchy AF. I used to like my belts because people would always be impressed, but that was before all the vocal coaches I’ve had said that above B4 my belts are just extremely loud… they would even tell me to pull the mic away… anyways… I can’t change the way I Belt. Mixing sounds so ridiculous funny to me. 😩
Such an important point Initially it SEEMS like the only way to get impassioned sounding singing is with vein popping, throat ripping pressure, Until someone with real experience of this stuff can both tell and show you that there’s a better way Thanks
I just commented about my experience… and it turns out that I can’t change the way I sing because I’ve been singing loud since I was a kid… the vocal coaches I’ve had even said that I’m a “baritenor” because I can belt too high to be baritone but also too full and loud to be a tenor. But none of them were successful trying to make me enjoy my mix register, cause it’s pitchy AF.
been digging the content.. would be really helpful if you could share some examples showing the difference between album recordings and live performances where things are less produced (assuming the youtube copyrights play well with it). enjoying your down to earth style, it's encouraging.
As someone who has this exact problem, there's an experiment that I did today which helped me control my vocal dynamics and made me record better takes for my song. I'm working on a progressive rock song with lots of heavy drums and powerful overdriven guitars. So, I subconsciously sang with a really high amount of energy and tension in my voice and kept feeling like I was constantly running out of breath and even began thinking of quitting singing (I've been singing for more than 10 years). I even had difficulty speaking after a certain number of takes where I had to sing "with extreme energy". I couldn't figure out the problem was. That was until I decided to alter the instrumental itself a bit specifically to just track and record my vocals. I removed the drums and heavy guitars, toned down the bass and was basically left with a way softer version of the song. When my voice healed after a day, I re-recorded my vocals with this instrumental, and felt much more free and felt that "headroom" you were talking about in your vid. Since the instrumental was now basically stripped of all its hard hitting elements, it freed up space for my vocals to sound clearer and also my ears to be able to properly concentrate on the monitoring without too many elements distracting myself. I could sing quieter, therefore using my energy much more efficiently. I plan to record these takes and put them to the main project (with all instruments turned on). It's surprising how your environment and mindset and affect your voice. Really needed this video. Thanks!
Could you maybe recommend a volume level we could check ourselves against as a reference to get an idea of the proper volume we should be singing at? Perhaps something we deal with everyday like the sound of a car, a household appliance, our speaking voice, etc... Without being in the same room with you, it's hard to know what feels right.
Well, I would aim to recognise what it feels like and it doesn’t need to be much louder than speaking in a way. Some people practice Speech Level Singing, for example. But how it feels should be an indicator. When you go higher, those precious vocal cords are stretched thin and moving fast, they need to be used more delicately , yes even when aiming for distortion and stuff. You must back off more as you go high and back off more. Try to do the same thing but I always say to students, take 50% of that volume away. Try it way less powerful and see what happens . It’s hard to give an exact answer but issues that arise can tell you there’s too much going into it. Sometimes it’s not easy to get the voice to operate differently to what it’s used to, over time aim to reduce the oomph of your singing and you will have much more flexibility and freedom instead of rigidity and strain . Hope it helps. Try any phrase less powerfully and see what happens
@singingmatterscalder cool. Thanks man. FWIW, there are free decibel meter apps that allow you to use your phone to measure the volume of your singing voice relative to to speaking. I'm going to try that too and see if it helps.
