Tips on singing.

[cause the rat]

I’ve learned a few things over the years and thought I’d post a few to help those who are inspiring to take what they can do to the next level.

What I’d like to start out with is a warning. Do not use anything that deadens or numbs the throat. EVER. Because this stuff can destroy any hope you will ever have of becoming a singer. In some cases it can ruin your voice for life. Making even day to day speech difficult. Despite the directions on the package there is NO safe way of using this stuff when singing. The only time you should using anything like this is if it’s from a doctor. Even then never plan to sing till your out from under a doctor’s care.

Another warning. Don’t drink anything that coats or strips your throat. Milk? bad, Whisky? bad. you get the idea. Water is your friend. Room temp water is best. And LOTS of it. Keeping your throat hydrated is really important to good singing heath. Even if your not thirsty sip room temp water to hydrate your throat.

Those will be part of only a few ‘don’t do this’ I plan on posting. Because people want to know what to do. What not to do is easy. Most people do that anyway.

The first thing I would like to talk about is breathing. Because everyone who wants to sing listens to singers anyway this will be easy to get started. Listen to your favorite singers. Listen real close to the split second just before they sing. If it’s not being cut from the mix your hear it. One really quick sharp intake of air. There are very good reasons for this. In a nutshell this is the best way fight vocal fatigue. If pro’s do it. So should you!

Try this
Keep your back straight. Sit, stand or laying on your back. Take a deep breath. Fill your chest first. As it expands fill your stomach. Make these as deep as you can. The idea here is to stretch your lungs. Do this ten or more times as a warm up before the next exercises.

First step
Keep a steady slow 4 4 time. Count to 3 and on the forth beat deeply inhale in the time it takes for that beat to happen. Start from your chest and then your stomach. Now exhale for the next eight beats. Try to exhale completely over these eight beats. Eight should be said with the same amount of air as you used saying one from the fist measure. Then start over. Shallow breath if you have to but try not to take a breath until the forth beat of the first measure. Because it's a good idea to take your time and get it right keep doing this till you get comfortable with it. Then try the next exercise.

Next.
Now speed up the tempo. The idea here is to learn to take as quick of a breath as possible. Count one and two and three and four Breath. Quickly breath only in the span of the ‘and’ beat. Then exhale for the next eight beats. To make this perfect only breath in as much air as you need to count the next eight beats. Try counting as loud as you can. Then as soft as you can. Very your intake of air so by the time you finish saying eight your out of breath. Eight should be said with as much air as your used saying one of the fist measure. Once you get comfortable with this try changing the number of beats you exhale. Try 6 beats. Take this all the way down to one beat. Even the 'and' before the first one of the next measure. Remember to only inhale as much air as needed to say the beats.


It’s common practice to take a deep breath. Hold it for a bit and then sing. Then exhale the rest of that breath when your line is done. You will never see a pro doing this. So neither should you. When you talk your mind instantly knows how much air to take in. You naturally inhale the right amount of air to say what’s on your mind. Even how loud or soft you want to say it. The idea is to learn to sing the same way. Doing something that’s natural for your body is a great way to help keep your voice healthy. Because a strong healthy voice sounds good from the start of the fist song till the last note sung at the end of the night.

[McMajik]

This has the potential to be the best thread posted on this board ever of all time ever. JUST SO YOU KNOW.

Is this only going to cover technique, or is it going to go into the musical side of it too (What to sing as well as how to sing)

[cause the rat]

Thanks for the comp McMajik. Talk about pressure.  I'll do my best to live up to it! If you have anything to add please do. I think it best just to cover basic technique.  A good foundation. 

I do want to say I'm not an instructor. Nor have I ever been a pro. More like a has been who's never been'  The purpose of this thread is to share what I do know.

Something important was left out of the exercises. The inhale exhale should be one fluid movement. No holding. Not even for a split second. Just like you would naturally after running or exercising. One motion between the lungs having enough air to the first word said.  Get confident and comfortable doing this before you start trying to sing this way. Because it's very important to do this right. Your learning to break a habit. Take your time with this. It's worth it! 

[cause the rat]

Throat  relaxation. Warming up to sing relaxed.

With good posture sit, stand or lay flat on your back. Because practicing good posture when sining helps your lungs perform better. Take a deep breath. Relax both your lips. As you release your breath allow your lips to vibrate making a b.b.b.b.b.b.b.b.b sound. As silly as it sounds it works! This may take a few times keep your lips vibrating but it's worth the effort.

Try combining the breathing exercise and this together. It's a grate way to learn to adjust your air intake. And relaxes your throat at the same time.

Here's the deal with the posture. Bla bla good posture bla bla bla. Everybody knows good posture is the best. Just like everybody knows watching a singer stand in one spot is like watching a chair. You'll need to find a way to be able to perform and use posture to your best advantage.

[cause the rat]

Vowels and where they should come from.

When we talks it seems all our vocal sounds are formed at the front of the mouth. This is OK for talking. Not good for singing. Here’s a few tips on getting a bigger, more robust and powerful sounding voice.

Do the above mentioned throat relaxation exercise for a bit. Remember to drink plenty of water. Even if your not thirsty. Because it’s always best to take care of your instrument before you start something new. Stand, sit or lay on the floor with good posture. Slightly open your mouth. Like your breathing with a bad cold. Think of yourself as a ventriloquist. Keep your tongue and throat relaxed. Now from the very back of your mouth, right at the throat, say your vowels. Try this one at a time. All without moving your lips. Keep doing this until there is a distinct difference between each vowel. When practicing “I” try not to say iiiIIIIIEEeeee.

Combined this with the breathing exercises. Make sure your hitting the vowel sound at the start of your exhale. Because this will give you a stronger and more clear voice when singing.

It’s now very important to start thinking of your throat as a musical instrument. Throat health is important. Because people with musical instruments can practice for hours at a time. Taking measures now to develop good habits will help. Drinking plenty of water before you start is a must. Drinking water, even if it’s just sipping, wile you practice will help keep your throat hydrated. Take the time to relax your throat before, derring and After you practice. If your throat starts to feel fatigued or sore STOP! Because your strengthening a lot of really small muscles. Once fatigued it’s really hard to relax them.

[cause the rat]

 Just wanting to know. If you are doing this please post your results. Likes, dislikes, problems, triumphs. Your over all opinion of how this is effecting your performance. If you have questions please ask.

Record yourself. Start by recording how you sang before doing any of this. Then practice this for a bit first. Then record yourself singing using these techniques. 

Not an exercise. But a good time to start this.
Start to listen to the way your favorite singer is forming the words when sung. Really start to listen to what’s being left out of some of the words. Even better what’s being said instead of some of the words you thought were there. It’s best to try not to think about the meaning of each word. Or that your listening to words at all. Listen to it as sounds only. Listen to as many different singers as you can.

Everyone, even you, will have a different style of wording music. How words are formed when sung. There are developed over time. It is the singers own personality and the style of the music performed. There are basics. The tried and true on how words are sung. But beyond that will have to be up to the individual musician.

it's good to be aware of how words are sung. There is still a bit to go on these first exercises before we start on this. Who knows. By the time we talk about the basics you may know more than me in the style of music you want to sing!

I know what some of you are thinking. “Why is there nothing about pitch and scales and timing and hitting notes and volume and vibrato and 1, 3, 5, 8, and sharps and flats and.... Because you can have all of that and still suck as a singer. If your goal is to sing in a choir then all those ‘ands’ are just what you need. Snoop Dog, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Dave Mustaine have all of those ‘ands’. None of them sound like they’re singing in a choir. Neither should you. Pitch is only half of singing. It’s good to practice pitch. It’s better to practice pitch and singing in the style you love. Becoming a singer is easy. Becoming a musician is what separates the few from the many. Both a singer and a musician can sing in pitch.  A singer sounds like they're reading from a book. A musician can make each word or phrase worth listening to.

[Scion Tyven]

I'll post my results if you give me some advice on what recording software you use I tried working with audacity but it's super staticy, and I've tried others but they all wont let me record vocals on top of an instrumental track, which is really frustrating. Any suggestions?

[cause the rat]

Most importantly do you hear a difference?

About the recording, are you using the computer mic or do you have a USB mic? I've worked with Audacity before and had no problems with static ( also called white noise ).  May be the mic. Does windows have a built in recorder? If it does try that. If you still have static then it's definitely the mic. Not sure what other free programs there are for Windows.

This may not be needed but I'll post anyway. Because it's best to hit all bases. How high are your levels when recording? If your all the way into the red you will get a bad sound. If this is the case try turning the gain down till your tickling the red but not all the way into it. It's better to have a low recording than a really hot one.

[Scion Tyven]

I do hear a difference, and I like the difference, although it's hard to really tell when you can't hear yourself.

I'm using this as a mic, and the only place that I have problems with it is in audacity, so I'm not sure what the problem is, but I don't imagine it's the mic as it works fine all the other times.
http://bluemic.com/snowball/

[Choky]

I'm using this as a mic, and the only place that I have problems with it is in audacity, so I'm not sure what the problem is, but I don't imagine it's the mic as it works fine all the other times.
http://bluemic.com/snowball/

I was going to say it could be many things,but if it only happens in Audacity then most probably the latency and buffer settings you have selected in Audacity may not be compatible with your hardwares limits causing dropouts and unwanted noise when pushing multiple tracks.

Either way,I personally would not advise you "tickle the red",recording on a computer is not like analog recording methods where you can occasionally hit the red...as soon as you touch that red in the digital realm you are at 0db and have officially clipped your source leaving zero wiggleroom for fixing later,keep it at somewhere between -3db to -6db(some even use -12db but you need great gear),you can always add postgain later,but there is no way to remove clipping seamlessly without destroying the audio. At the very very least keep it at -1db. I´m sure Cause won´t judge you on your recording method,he just wants to see if you are getting results as far as the singing part goes. If it comes down to it,you can alway remove hiss by applying a filter,but keep in mind that it will slightly dull your highs and transients,even muffling it if you over-do it.

Sorry Cause,I´d love to post and contribute on this thread with a before and after,but there is not a "before this thread" to show,as I am a little beyond this thread as far as singing technique/methodology goes now...
If it helps at all,something I would advise for people in this thread is to see Glenn Hughes vocal solo in the song "Mistreaded",its a great example of a versatile voice,in the single solo he covers belting,head voice,chest voice,soft breathy whispers,a pretty extreme falsetto for a male singer,and in some versions depending on the gig even a scream or too beyond belting,all covering multiple octaves in perfect pitch(depending on the gig),for anyone who wants to sing its something that they should see regardless of what style of music they like,it covers so many popular techniques in such little time.

[cause the rat]

No reason to say sorry Choky. Totally cool! Tickling the red is just hitting a few notes hard. Not always in the red. Figured if Scion Tyven is using Audacity then it's fare to assume that compressor/limiter, de esser, a pop shield and all the other goodies wont be in the mix.  analog  I started out on analog years ago. The horrors!  Digital is like flying in an airplane from Miami to NYC. Analog is more like riding a horse. Both will get you there. But you don't have to feed the airplane.  I love digital. I still doesn't have all the warmth of analog. It also doesn't have the RMF fields, cross talk, bad connections, a patch bay......

Scion Tyven, If you have to just recored yourself singing. Or if you have something else to play the track on play it on that and sing along. It's not the quality of the recording that's important here. It's your voice and the energy and pride you put into it.

[Scion Tyven]

Alright, I'll give it a shot thanks Cause ^_^

[cause the rat]

Just like to say that if anyone does post themselves sining here I won't be able to offer any real help. Not an instructor or a pro.

Now that you've listened to a few pro singers in the style your interested in you'll have a better grasp on how words are actually sung.

tips.
Leave out consonants at the end of words. Shorten ones like S if you do need to use it. To clean up a line you could say the last consonant of one word at the beginning of the next. Go from "Just that way baby" to  "Jus Tha way baby" To clean that line up even farther try singing it with a little of the 's' as you can. Try singing it as close to the 'T' as possible. TRy this. From "Just the way you are" to "Ju sTa waye eyouare" Vowel can also be said as the start of the next word.  Two words sung as one is also a great way to keep a line clean.  Just like the consonants at the end of words 't' can be sung instead of 'TH'. Why clean up sung lines? Because a cleaned up line sounds smoother when sung.

The truth.
Our brains are pre programed to interpret what we hear into words. Watch a TV show where people are using recorders to find ghosts. Biggest JOKE ever. Your being duped.  What your hearing is noise being interpreted into language by your brain. Because that's what your brain is wired to do. Singers use this to their advantage. Incomplete words are translated by the listener's brain to be the words that are supposed to be there. If you pay real close attention when you listen to what is really being sung you'll hear it. It might be hard to do at first. Just keep trying. Because the effort is worth it.

"R" are treated differently in different music styles. To be truthful the above technique is treated differently in different music styles. Singing like this would be the worst thing possible if your trying to get into broadway or a choir. This is more for rock, pop, jazz, blues and the like.

Thee are times when you'll need to place a strong emphasis on one word. From " It's you babe. It's the way you are" to "It syou BABY. it stheway YOU are" Try emphasizing different words in that line. Keep the rest of the words as cleaned up as you can.

Try all the above with the breathing exercises. Go from practicing vowels to consonants when hitting your first note. Consonants take more practice. Hitting them really hard sounds really bad threw a microphone. P and S are the two that will take the most practice.

Before some of you get overwhelmed and think there's to much to this remember this fact. Most people can sing. Some of them really well. None of them will ever be as good as you can be. It's what separates you form the rest. Becoming a singer takes effort. Just a much effort as becoming a drummer, guitarist, pianist  or bassist. Each takes a lot of technique to be good. The best part about being a singer is your technique can be more important than your ability to sing. Think early Robert Plant from Lead Zeppelin. Or Johnny Cash from just about everything he put out. Technique helps to bring out personality. Personality is what people like. I read this somewhere and agree whole hearty. "There are two kinds of singers who make it big. Those that are emotional and show personality. Those that are technically superior. Very few in-between." Learning the things I'm sharing here is a way to get started. What you want to accomplish is where you'll go from here.

[Natura Wolf]

yay singers
looking forward to reading this all

[cause the rat]

  Natura Wold. Hoping to help people go from just singer to being a musician.

Now that you've gotten the breathing down. Please do that till it becomes automatic. Because it will help  keep your voice healthy. Learned to relax your thought. Remember to do that before, derring and after you sing. Because it's a great way to keep from straining. Got into the habit of drinking water wile you practice. And hopefully wile you perform. Learned to comfortably and automatically form your vowels at the back of your mouth.  It's time to make noise!

Standing, sitting or laying on the floor with good posture. Do the relaxing, breathing and vowel and consonants formation exercises as a warm up. Now redo the vowel exercise. Start with your mouth barely open. Then wile keeping the vowel formed at the back of your mouth move your jaw and lips in as many different positions as you physically can. Do this for every vowel. Then move on to consonants. Really listen to yourself or record yourself doing this. Compare the sounds you make with the way your favorite singers say their words when sung. Your lungs, throat and mouth are your musical instrument. Because each of these are important it's important to strengthen each one.

This IS the truth. If you sing words like you say them you will never be interesting enough to listen to. Because how you say and form words is important. Just as important as those words being in time and tune with the music.

[cause the rat]

Sing with conviction, authority and strength. The late great Art Blakey used to shout out ‘Play Angry!” derring his jazz performances. Inspiring his band members to put some power behind their solos. The same can be said for a singer. Emotion, energy and vocal strength are key to any good performance. Strength takes practice. The right practice. Putting together a routine that will strengthen your lungs, vocal cords, pitch control, word formation and your conveyance of emotion. Because every one of these will make you a better singer. This takes time. The best news is what you put into it is what you will get out of it. The routine you make will be based on your personality and music style. You may find yourself inspired by a few singers. But in the end you will sing like you. Let that happen and your going to be the best you can be.

Vocal Energy.
The easiest way to start this is to sing like your angry. Put strength and conviction behind each word sung. Now smooth this out by singing like your in charge and everyone needs to hear what you say. Keep this vocal energy lever up threw the entire song. After you get the hang of this try this wile recording yourself. Start out singing like your large and in charge. Then drop the energy level derring a verse. Then start the next line large and in charge again. Listen to this recording. Hear that? You now have yet another way to make your singing dynamic and more interesting.

There is really no magic routine for all styles of music. Try to practice what’s needed. If your just starting out and have trouble finding notes then scales are a great way to learn. If you’ve been singing for a wile and are pitch confident scales can be a complete waist of time. Unless your using them to strengthen week areas of pitch. More about that in my next post. If your having trouble with consonants? Write as many words as you can think of with the offending consonants at the start, middle or end of each word. Chose a favorite song and substitute these words as you sing. Remember Ps and Ss are the worst sounding thew a live microphone. It can never be stressed how important this is. It's the difference between sounding good or bad when singing live.

Work on a routine that best helps where you are now as a singer. If any of this is new to you then try this. Relaxation first. Then breathing, vowel and consonants formation along with energy exercising. Relaxation. Then sing a song or two. If at anytime you find yourself going back to bad habits don't stop derring a song. instead consciously correct yourself. It's never a good idea to practice stopping. never. Before the next song take time to gather your thoughts. What brought on the bad habits? What went wrong? What was done right and how to keep that up. Then start the next song. Listen to yourself. If there are areas that need work then work on them. Take time to work things out. Take time to relax your vocal cords.



Things to think about.

No truer words have ever been spoken about practice. You perform like you practice. Practice at the same energy level you want to perform with. Always practice like a star. Always sing like a star. Always perform like a star. Always drink plenty of water and relax  your thought so you will last like a star.

If you have a sore throat at the end of a performance or practice your doing something wrong. It’s not natural. It’s dangerous. Find out what is causing this and do your best to strengthen those areas. Do your best to try to keep your vocal cords relaxed. Drink water derring your practice and performance. As much as you can. FIND time to do the bbbbbb exercise. Because your vocal health is more important than your pride.

if your voice gives out or weakens by the end of a practice or performance you need to work on vocal and lung strength. If your practicing never force this. Because your vocal cord muscles are small and easily stressed. Take care of yourself. Build up strength over time.

The truth about performing in front of an audience. People remember the start and finish of a nights concert. Use this to your advantage. To make the middle of your performance more memorable use your better stage antics and lighting. This makes this part of the concert visual. More memorable. Your audience will tend to remember the entire nights performance. Not just the first and last parts of it. The more your audience remembers the more they have to talk about. Word of mouth is your best friend.

[Keitsu]

I can't sing and I need some help ^.^ I did some high-pitch choir stuff when I was younger but now I am a adolescent and have gone through puberty. I can't sing anything high pitch (When I do my throat hurts - Most of the songs at school are high pitch and it annoys me >.>). I also need some lyrics to try to sing. Hopefully something with minimal high pitch. Any recommendations? I've already read through the tips on this post. Oh. And I definitely need to build up vocal and lung strength.

[cause the rat]

Sciex, Do you have a favorite music genre? Singers that you listen to and like? Try singing their songs. You can find most songs on youtube with the lyrics. Hopefully your not in the same boat I am. I have a very deep and low voice. Had to really stretch my vocal range and still can only sing a limited number of popular songs. You will have to use the voice you have. Learning to sing within your natural range isn't the end of the world.

if the songs at school are to high in pitch then it's best not to stress your throat. Especially if your straining. Singing in Falsetto is an option. But in itself is an art form.  It takes time to strengthen that natural gap between your normal voice and falsetto. Once done right it's impossible to tell when a singer is singing threw that natural gap. There are plenty of pros out there with this ability. Because it doesn't come naturally to anyone it takes work to do it right. A strong falsetto is the ability to do it without straining. And being able to form the vowels at your throat so you continue to have a steadily strong voice.

Right now it would be best for you to find your starting range by singing along with the music you like. Practicing keeping your throat relaxed, good vowel and consonants formation and forming your words is still a great way to start. Don't be discouraged if you don't have a wide range. Learning to sing higher and lower than your comfort range now is possible. Just take the time to do it without harming and straining your throat.

[Keitsu]

I have a really deep voice apparently (according to others)... I don't think it's that deep though. I don't really listen to much music with lyrics. I usually just listen to Techno (not really sure about the actually subgenres. I think is nightcore, hardstyle drum n bass, Dubstep. It's pretty much just a mix of techno)

I also like music like this (only jsut found this today): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToHo29kD9Go (don't expect to be able to sing something like that. I also don't like rap)

The only main artist I listen to is Owl city and his lyrics are pretty crazy ^.^ I need to go looking for some songs with lyrics that I can practice. Hopefully I can find something easy to start on. Any recommendations?

Oh. I forgot to mention I like queen. So I'm gonna be doing some practice on "I want to break free". XD

edit: so far it's going really well. I get a bit stuck on how to sing the third paragraph (I don't know the music term.. stanza?? idk). I haven't sung so well in a long time.

I also practiced on Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World Lyrics. It strained (harder to sing in a higher tone - I don't know if strained is the correct word for this?) my voice a little bit on the second half.

I the practiced on "Want You Gone – Jonathan Coulton". (portal 2 end credits song) It was pretty good Getting slightly better at those higher tones... And now it's time to rest my vocal cords

[cause the rat]

Listened to the links you provided Sciex. If you can sing the Queen stuff you definitely have a higher voice than mine. Keep practicing and remember not to strain or overwork your throat. Like playing an instrument this takes time to get good at. Really looking forward to hearing good things from you soon!

[Keitsu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojYK6CW8gdw
http://www.steampoweredgiraffe.com/HBlyrics.html

Just practiced this song I like it allot.

I can't do the high bits but I think if I be better at holding a note (The dragged out bit). At the moment I can't really hold a note for long.

Edit:
I think this singing style really suits me. I can project my voice much better and after that practice I just did I found it allot easier to hold a note. I really like this style

In my opinion. This is the very first time I've ever sung so well

Second edit (The day after):
I'm getting pretty good at controlling my vocal cords now and am getting a smoother tone.

[Keitsu]

I'll just copy what I wrote in the good news thread

Later when I was washing off all the makeup/facepaint in the shower I practiced my singing (For once in my life I was able to get past my fear of projecting my voice and used my full lung capacity) and discovered that I can actually sing pretty well, hold a note and project my voice (maybe with some more practice I can get good at it). I don't really know what style it is but It's probably sort of like musicals such as les miserables (I know.. not very descriptive). I think I have a hidden talent for drama ^.^

Also don't know it it has anything to do with it but the singing might be because I've stopped drinking milk (I'm drinking soy milk instead). I'm trying to be a vegan at the moment and have not been consuming any meat (Except for a meat pie that I was practically forced to eat last week) and I've had minimal diary products. (I've got to finish snack bars that my Mum has bought me)

It probably reads a bit weird since It's only half of the message. For the full message go here: http://forums.furtopia.org/general-non-furry-discussion/the-'good-news'-thread/450/

[cause the rat]

Awesome Sciex! Feels good to belt it out don't it! Remember, if you practice belting it out you'll get good at belting it out! Actually singing quietly takes more control. It's harder to do than singing at your normal talking volume.

As posted in the OP drinking anything that coats your throat is a bad idea. The same goes for stripping your throat. Like alcohols and sodas do. Before derring and after drink plenty of water. This keeps your throat hydrated.

And by the way, I thought all furrys had a hidden talent for drama....

[xXRaina-the-FoxXx]

try to add extra tunes mabye