NWB - Community Blog

I'll come with you Scott...Ian ha!!

its fascinating stuff all those vocal techniques, and technical tips etc i bet theres a few round and about

im pretty average with doing eq on mixers and sound stuff will help with my tuppeneth if ever you want some mixer vocal tips Jaymz

Kirk

i tend to go up to a 'walking in the air' pitch ...however low i start ...... was suggeasted i do a Rush trib band .....i got the nse too ......ha !!!

# Posted by MOTHERS RUIN - 17/08/2009, 15:45 (GMT)

i tend to go up to a 'walking in the air' pitch ...however low i start ...... was suggeasted i do a Rush trib band .....i got the nse too ......ha !!!

Ithink Scott's after getting advice from sombody that can SING Ian......I'm only joking!!!!You coming up to the Brikkies tonight?

hey scott im not in anyway a vox coach in anyway! (thats an understatement and im sure steve will pick up on this and rip me to bits!)
but i have exactly the same problem after gigs and practice with my throat absolutely killings, usually feels like ive been gargling with razor blades. so any tips you might pick up id be gr8ful if youd share em!
on the frontman er front? THE FIX is the only band ive ever been in and we've been playing live since i was 20. when we first started i was like a rabbit in the headlights and was scared of talking to and engaging the audience and after 4 years im still only marginally better! haha
but seriously i think you just have to make yourself do it. in time you'll just develop your own little way of dealing with things. it helps in my band as ryan our drummer sings so if anything happens we can have a bit of banter going between us and steve is just an all round funny fucker. at the end of the day shit will happen and you've just gotta ride it out pal. if your the only singer id recommend just setting another mic up just so if you do feel like your struggling you can always drag one of your fellow band members up to the mic. if your gonna be james hetfield your gonna have to develop some MASSIVE balls pal!
just remember to smile and laugh it off as if you take it all too seriously you'll never loosen up!
i know this is probably not much help to you so i apologise! hahah

Posted by Charlie & Norma - 17/08/2009, 15:50 (GMT)

You coming up to the Brikkies tonight?

...........no Charlie after 4 nites on trot gigging ..i think i'll rest my voice tonite ... ;- )
when Neil sorts out a guitar lesson for Dean on a monday ..i'll be already there !!!

Glad u find my singing voice funny Scott .....must work on a rock cover of Snowman eh!!....cud call it Enter Snowman !!

Hi Scott, Try Googling Vocal Coaching or something similar. There are some fabulous free resources out there.
This one is pretty good. http://www.vocalist.org.uk/index.html

Hi Scott, got some tips for you if you want to pm me. Had some vocal coaching a couple of years ago which has helped me loads.

ROJ

Breathing 'through' your words will deffo help, when you breath in your diaphram should feel like its expanding, (your diaphram is low down just under your ribcage, i think) and when you sing you expel that air through the words..this should give volume also, and help keep pitch..
Something i never do and all singers should, is warm up excersises... you might sound like a twat but, it will save your voice in the long run.. people sometimes get pollips, little nodules on the vocal chords, and this can be attributed to not warming up and down. like athletes do, and pollips can be the end of your singing activity, unless you can afford an expensive operation.

Yo boys! I've got some tips, but they might seem a bit girly for all you hardcore rocker boys.....!

Ann x

do not be fooled by scotts metal style beard, hes a very friendly wee bairn.

Hey. I also am by no means a vocal coach but I can certainly tell you what helps me when I'm singing. Your throat should not be 'killing you' after every gig. This suggests to me that you're singing from your throat rather than singing from your diaphragm. In order to do this, you should push the notes from your stomach muscles rather than straining your voice. You will also find that this helps you with the volume problem. As for tips regarding hecklers/technical hitches, have plenty of jokes ready (rather hypocritical coming from me considering I can't tell a joke to save my life!!!!). As the frontman of a Metallica tribute band, watch James Hetfield for some Helfieldisms that you could pinch ... Metallica gives you heavy, baby!!!

Hi Scott,
I'm just confirming what Hallowed have said. Your using your throat to sing as opposed to your diaphragm my mate. Breathing techniques help, and there's loads of stuff in t'internet to help you. Also another tip is not to take in too deep a breath before singing, as you breathe out too much air too quickly, causing a whooshing sound particularly noticeable when you do quieter stuff.(not likely with Metalleeka, but you never know).
Hope this helps. Save you a fortune on throat lozenges. And finally, drink tea or similar with honey in as it really does lubricate the vocal chords.
It's like K.Y. jelly for the throat.

Um, gonna have to slightly disagree with Hallowed and HotD Steve there - sorry! :-P Any vocal coach worth his salt will tell you that stomach muscles don't sing, so it's physically impossible to ‘sing from your diaphragm’! :-) Seriously, though, any and all diaphragmatic support is supposed to be a reflex action. When you breathe do you think about the action of your diaphragm? When you talk do you think about the action of your diaphragm? When you are angry and actually do shout, do you think about the action of your diaphragm? No, and you shouldn’t when you are singing. Just as in the above actions the diaphragmatic support is a response to the needs of the vocal, not the other way around.

Purposely pushing from the diaphragm does not take pressure off of the throat or project the voice. Pushing from the diaphragm will result in a voice that is loud and sounds more like shouting and is more likely to make your voice go flat. Pushing from the diaphragm will also cause damage to the voice!!

What all singers really need to be aware of is core stability and muscle groups, which I think in some sense is where the diaphragm myth came from. Core stability muscle groups – in your torso, shoulders and neck – are absolutely vital as they give your throat and vocal chords the physical support they need to be able to open up and sing without you over-straining your voice. In other words, if your stance is stable and you hold your head right then your throat isn’t straining itself by doing two things at once – trying to sing, and being the sole support for yer bonce! Your upper body and shoulders should take the main weight strain, so stand straight in front of the mic, feet shoulder-width apart and steady, and – especially if you’re playing guitar at the same time – avoid ‘swooping’ in and out from the microphone while you sing (it only makes the sound wobbly anyway and means you're kinda bouncing around on your toes so you don’t have a firm base to start from).

My other top tips are:

1. No alcohol before or during a gig – sorry, boys, I told you you wouldn’t like these! Obviously it doesn’t really matter if you’re only doing a one gig weekend, but for those marathon runs of gig after gig after gig you will really notice the difference if you don’t have a pint or three of the usual

2. Drink lots of water throughout – hydration is really important. Moist and ready, eh, boys? ;-)

3. Breathing. Vocal coaches can teach you the basics of this, but really you have to learn it depending on the kind of music you sing - ‘breathing through’ whilst singing is a really good tip, though, so well said Driving Force! Never hold your breath and try and sing at the same time, you’ll pop! (Don’t laugh, I know people who do this!!!)

4. Lip balm – Ok! I know you guys won’t be keen on using it, but I’ve always got an ickle tub of nivea vaseline ready at a gig (ask the 5th Element boys....!) Your throat is less likely to dry up if the opening is well lubricated......

5. Chewing gum! – Call me crazy, but a good packet of chuddies can be even more effective than Vocal Zone lozenges! Again, it just contributes to staying damp.......!

6. Attack the mic! – Not literally, but you’ll find it easier to hit a note if you go for it (isn’t that right, Innuendo?) rather than backing away from it and wavering. This will also train your voice to hit the notes dead on, which ultimately results in a more efficient use of your throat and therefore less straining! NB: Attacking a note means hitting it squarely and firmly with confidence – it doesn’t mean you have to ambush it in a darkened alleyway and bludgeon its head in with an iron bar.... Loud is not always right, is essentially what I’m saying here.....

7. Check your mix. Does your vocal go through a desk? You shouldn’t have to kill yourself to get your vocal heard above the band. Use monitors where you can, and make sure you’ve got someone in the band/audience who can stand out front and tell you how it sounds out there so you can adjust it if needs be.

8. Practice! :-) It never hurts, and it’ll train up all those lovely muscles I mentioned earlier.....!

Any use to you, Scott? Oh, and you don’t have to wear lip balm unless you really want to.......!

Rock on!

Ann x

PS: Can you tell I use a vocal coach?! Plus, my sister is a physio and she's always banging on about the importance of stance in singing! Apologies for the rant! :-)

Ann x

BREATHING.............

I've been watching some Youtube instructional DVD's......

They've been very helpful in a few exercises to make you sing from below and not your throat........

Max

Good advice there, and I stand corrected. However I must be doing something right, as I've never had a sore throat in all the time I've been gigging. Maybe I was doing the other stuff but just not aware of it. Seriously, thanks for the advice Ann. I've learnt something new today, and anything that makes me a better singer is good advice. Every day's a schoolday so they say.

Hi Scott.

Lots of very good advice here so let me add me 10 pence worth if I may.

I have been singing in bands for 15 years now and this is a summary of the advice I have picked up.

1: Breathing is very important when singing. Sounds stupid but very true. Take a deep breath and train yourself to let it out SLOWLY. In rehearsals I never sing at more than 60% as you want to save your voice as much as possible.
Ann is spot on with the drink lots of water as it really helps me at gigs. I avoid things like Chocolate and dairy products for at least fours hours prior to singing a note by the way.
Another thing you may like to consider is if a song is too high and you are ripping your throat out trying to sing it....drop the key. Most singers from Plant to Rodgers, Mercury to my fav Collins do it.

2: I am surprised that no-one has mentioned a compressor to even out the highs and lows on volume? I use one and it is superb. You dont have to shout and even the quiet bits get brought up to volume. Failing that a tip is when you are about to sing (or scream) a loud note, back away from your mic. If you watch singers pulling the mic away from their face, that mic technique in action.

3: I always have effects about 40% of overall vocal mix and never use reverb. There will be enough in the venue without adding to it as it will cause feedback. Have a short Delay instead and a small amount of Chorus. I use a Midiverb 3. Old but cracking bit of kit. The new voiceworks are stunning as well.

4: Hecklers fall into two camps: 1. Your mates who are there to support but take the pi** at the same time. Have some good lines ready "Why is your mic louder than mine" is always good 2. Idiots who want to start a fight. Just ignore then and get on with it as you WONT WIN and it may put your gear at risk. You will know which is which matey believe me.

Best of luck with the band.

Best Wishes

John Wilkinson

I'm being coached by Mistress Ann at the moment and to just achieve backing vocals is so difficult, especially after 47 years on this earth without doing it! Am getting over the fear a bit now (and it is scary!) but finding playing the bass at the same time so hard especially if it is a line or riff or something.It's like rubbing your guts and patting your head.
Still i've bought a Mic now so here comes the Billy Idol more. more.more!
As Eric morecambe once famously said,"I am playing the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!"

Richard innuendo.

Yo, HotD Steve!

Nah, mate, you're just such a pro rock-star that you probably do all the stuff I said without even realising it! :-) Hope I didn't sound too bossy - I just love singing so much I couldn't stand the thought of poor Scott not being able to do it!! :-)

Ann x

"i stand corrected"

well he does wear orthopedic shoes.

By the way, don't listen to Innuendo, he's doing a cracking job as a backing singist! Under my particular brand of expert tutorship of course.....! ;-)

I tell you, it's hard work looking after my boys....!

Ann x

You didn't sound bossy at all.
This place is great to swap ideas, techniques, spelling mistakes ala Mrs. NWB, and we all learn from it. The orthopaedic shoes are really comfortable and I do stand corrected. Legs 3 feet apart, (36 inches) not feet as in the 10 toes variety. If Scott becomes a super-rich rock god, I hope he crosses your palm with silver for your advice.

Scott, check this out http://www.ehow.com/how_5104835_protect-vocal-chords-singing.html Loads of info for everything to improve vox on here. I watched a few of the vids and thought it was very informative, and as it shows u how and not just telling u, I think this will help u alot. U can use the search field to look up anything re singing in this site.
jeni x