I can sing decently, in the sense of being able to sing in time, in tune and with a bit of phrasing.

But the problem is, my voice "breaks" after just 1-2 songs

What can I do to "train" my voice?

sing like justin bieber.

Over my dead body

You are using too much strain on your throat,
use your diaphragm to sing, not your throat,
i dunno how to explain well in english hehe

U can write in malay if u wish, or chinese also can...I can use Google Translate

It's really difficult to explain how to sing over the internet. Even in person, it's difficult because you can't really "show" a person how your vocal chords work.

My advice would be to try and relax your neck/throat muscles as much as you can. And just sing for longer each time in small increments. The voice is a muscle, you should train it as such.

Also, don't be afraid to push the boundaries! I've increased my vocal range by a helluva lot just by experimenting. But if it starts to hurt then obviously you need to stop.

Check out the results of my singing practice here: http://www.facebook.com/TLoKBand

I used to have a voice like a Backstreet Boy. Hahahah.

I guess what I can do is to do CAR-aoke regularly

Haha that's not a joke, that's probably where I do most of my singing (aside from band practices and recording)

Have u ever experienced this...

When at karaoke, u find yourself sound quite okay

But when u record yourself using your handphone or your PC/laptop's built-in mic u find yourself sound worse than roadside beggar

Haha well... I've never recorded my voice using built-in mics.

Some people have a hard time (I know I did) getting used to what their voice sounds like recorded. It's because your voice sounds different when you're speaking... it's literally due to reverberation within your head. And you hear that in combination with what's coming out of your mouth.

Whereas when you record your voice, you don't have that reverberation in your head, so it sounds quite different to you. It can be quite jarring.

Or maybe you just need more practice

Record yourself as much as you can, I know that's helped my singing a lot.

if you can sing decently, should be good enough. no ridiculous techniques needed. there's no need to ask what your singing techniques are.

you want to sing decently in lengthy periods of time? do it again and again. train your vocal chords and diaphragm to operate longer than usual. and along the way you can develop your skills. keep doing this and in a month you'll see significant changes.

i think the reminders we can give you here are (1) avoid using much of your throat when singing but employ the use of your diaphragm, and (2) minimize drinking cold beverages.

hope this helps.

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Added on July 23, 2012, 2:45 pmi have experience this! at times i just scratch my head off and just couldn't understand it what's worse is two of my bandmates (our vocalist and the other guitarist) sound good wherever they sing, and i was thinking "why can't i do that"

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Added on July 23, 2012, 2:49 pmlemme try help you on this. from my old blog:

Of course the delivery of your voice is the really important thing. Remember to STICK WITH YOUR OWN VOICE no matter what. Do not try emulating other people's voice because that's going to be another thing you're going to mind of. Using your own natural voice will take away the worry of how are you EXACTLY sounding like. Make your voice as whole as you can get, even on high pitches. It's easier said than done actually. But just try to breathe deeply between measures before delivering a note, quick breathing if there's no rest, normal deep breathing when there is a rest. At all costs, don't pull your voice from your throat. Breathe deeply, and feel your voice from your chest. And maybe the clincher to this - OPEN YOUR MOUTH VERY WELL to deliver a nice resonating sound. Mind the syllables with A, E, I, O and U. They have different and distinct positions on how the mouth is opened.

full blog entry: http://theamateurmusicanalyst.blogspot.com...ocal-range.html

hope this helps

This post has been edited by brownman90561495: Jul 23 2012, 02:49 PM

Ok I got it now...

When at karaoke I kept drinking either cold beer or juice...no wonder songs that I could usually sing when at home or in car I couldn't pull off at karaoke

Now I need to understand the throat vs diaphragm thingy

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Added on July 23, 2012, 2:54 pmAt all costs, don't pull your voice from your throat



This post has been edited by Pink Spider: Jul 23 2012, 02:54 PM

yea i noticed that too with me, especially on iced drinks. at first i never care but then i noticed the difference on how long i can sing. i used to sing high pitched songs, so it can really take a toll on me.

as a rock / pop singer, there are times i needed to employ singing thru my throat. it's not always a 100% diaphragm singing for me, maybe 80-20 or 70-30, depending on the song.

yep try to practice and knowing the difference of singing by the throat and diaphragm to know the proper feel and sound

if you mean vocal training... then you need to train the basic such as breathing exercise, then project your voice loud and soft soft and loud, then follow the note to reach your highest and lower key....
it will eventually help you a lot

just sharing..

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Added on July 24, 2012, 9:20 am

This post has been edited by chaithing: Jul 24 2012, 09:20 AM

u mean doing scale exercises with the voice?

one of it... yes i guess..
sorry, i never do this for a very long time... xD

try lowering the song tune, maybe in Eb or D might help a bit

don't go for high tuned songs for ur 1st song, start with flat, easy & enjoyable songs (as a warm-up for ur diaphragm muscle) if not, u'll end up swallowing gaviscon (based on personal experiences)

Getting a good vocal teacher helps, if ur seriously looking to improve. Singing for a living (or regularly) is quite rigorous, and repercussions of poor technique (such as vocal nodules) are nothing to laugh at.

Singing from the belly rather than throat is definitely the way to go, though developing the right habits is gonna take a bit of work - especially if ur singing AND playing an instrument simultaneously.

Another thing I find that is very critical (and sumthing I am notoriously lax of) is warming up. It really makes a considerable difference in the long term, singing stone cold and warmed up. Scaling the Ionian mode (do re mi) would be a simple and effective way to do it. Air asam jawa also works wonders (drank warm, it can help soothe the vocal chords - tried and tested). Try looking up ppl like James La Brie of Dream Theater, dude's got sum good practices u can adopt.

One last thing, u might wanna also try doing sum Prana breathing exercises. They're good for relaxation and meditation and works well for breathing.

This post has been edited by pleasuresaurus: Jul 25 2012, 01:59 AM

I been with a vocal teacher for quite sometime, there was a time that I felt I am improving. For work reason I stop going to class around 1 ~ 2 months. When I return, I somehow lost the "feeling" how to sound right, it's like a hit and miss session. I got so frustrated after a few months and stop the lesson all together..

Try recording your own voice and start experimenting
Go here http://www.youtube.com/user/EricArceneaux?feature=watch
Ultra great place to start singing and practice correctly,
my voice sucks until i found these videos, now i'm constantly
Improving my voice range and techniques

Thanks so many sifus for the suggestions

hi.

a friend of mine said, whenever go to karaoke, always try to sing until top of your lungs.

if until suara hilang, better, because that kinda increases the threshold of the pitch you can achieve. and of course, also stamina.

but if u tekak rosak, dun find me ya

Sorry, but that's the worst advice I've ever heard.

repeat after me.
"~DO~RE~MI~FA~SO~LA zzzzzz"

agree 200% i was going to say that..

x suka xpyh lah dgr. nobody asked what you think about it

besides I gave TS heads up already. do at own risk.

A friend of you that gave you advice that cannot be trusted.. so stop listening to him.
Other than pure dumb I don't know what to say..

oi dun gaduh la

saja bikin panas di pagi puasa LOL

If you use too much Tekak to sing?
you will loose your voice faster, in short term you will be able to produce a higher pitch falsetto, but then in long term if there's no proper support, you are only causing more damage to your "Tekak".. Don't you realise many singer who din rest enough and use too much throat to sing have a short singing career?

Can give examples? I wanna watch Youtube videos to find out what is really meant by "sing using throat"

If you are untrained, very likely you will sing using throat at higher pitch

try sing
do -re - mi - fa - so - la - ti - do

on second octave keep going up,

most male should start to felt strained at their throat after surpassing mi or fa, you should felt a bit itchy on your throat.

the way is to relax your throat and breath deep and use your breath as a support. Your mouth shape is also very important when you sing. There's a specific mouse shape that you can practice to pronounce a vowel, A E I O U have different mouth shape that you need to practice them individually..

I am speaking from a view of more conventional singing, which will definitely helps in your pop singing as well. After all foundation is king. But it can get frustrating when you just starting it..

Some people are born gifted, they are sensitive to intonation, they have better body coordination (in order to produce a desirable tone).

Listen to Chris Cornell during later-era Audioslave. His voice was completely f***ed due to bad technique, and he was mostly singing from his throat. And it sounded like shit.

He almost destroyed his magnificent voice. Then he got some proper advice and started singing better, and now he's better than ever.

Listen to Audioslave "Wide Awake" (the album version) vs Chris Cornell Songbook "Wide Awake" - look out for the high scream towards the end. You can hear the audible difference in his technique.

The danger is that a lot of rock singers generate the "grit" from their throat. I'm guilty of doing so myself. So it's a balance between good technique, and getting that rock n roll voice that everyone wants

Yeah yeah yeah...to get the "grit" like Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, amateurs like me got to use the throat...and after a while the throat felt like shit

in fact for screaming stuff, theres a dvd called The Zen of Screaming.
Not that Ive tried it but I did watch snippets and yeah mostly diaphragm singing.
some of u might have heard of her training vocalist of Slipknot, LoG, Machine Head, etc

The Zen of Screaming is a pretty useless video in terms of teaching you stuff, unfortunately. It's largely promotional and marketing material for that lady.

trying to sing like gackt?

Gackt's voice is quite "deep"...don't think I can get anywhere near his voice

My voice is somewhat suitable to sing girlish male/masculine female songs

baby baby baby oohhhh

u

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Added on July 26, 2012, 4:13 pmJust for discussion...in terms of "difficulty level', how would u rate Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing"?

That day tried singing it...managed to pull it off except for the bridge part when I literally broke my voice

This post has been edited by Pink Spider: Jul 26 2012, 04:13 PM

i've sang this before with an old band...for fun...

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Added on July 26, 2012, 4:19 pmi dont think many ppl can sing that.

baby baby baby ohhh for sure alot can...

This post has been edited by Everdying: Jul 26 2012, 04:19 PM

agree with his voice being deep haha, even i had hard time trying too. ever heard of SID? i think his voice is girlish male type

Will search on Youtube tonite

its a japanese band their song "uso" and "rain" might be easier on the ear for first time listening. and owh, by anychance u are a fan of hide?

hide-sama, mana-sama and HIZAKI...I like all 3

haha hizaki is gorgeous alright , his appearence and awesome skills on guitar, mana-sama's quiet nature and dark tone attires , and hide-sama's trademark pink hair .. too bad he had to go early

better to die early than to fade into oblivion?
Like nowadays ppl only remember Gackt, majority ppl forgot mana-sama, who created most of Malice Mizer's music that push Gackt into fame

This post has been edited by Pink Spider: Jul 26 2012, 04:46 PM

not many can accept moi dix mois's dark element music thts why , while gackt made himself like a celebrity throughout the years singing a fair amount of pop songs . i really like malice mizer back then

MM's music

Better dun make here into a Visual Kei J-Rock chatroom...back to topic

i sing whether i got into the car everyday during long distance drive..
out of 10 times i rest for twice or thrice. can go on many songs but must remember when to stop.

i once read a very useful guide from another forum but cant find it now. you try go find..

cant take beer at all as it dries my throat...i wonder how could those bar singers overcome that?

They...smoke?

yeah i saw them drink and smoke. dunno (angkat bahu),,,you sing for interest or you perform too??

I perform for my colleagues when we do farewell for resigned colleagues

of cos sing for fun only...when u hear that u got the notes right...its very satisfying
cos my guitar playing sucks...singing provides faster gratification

i enjoy singing too but need more practice as i have not get used to singing while hearing my own voice through the amplifier..kehe. still looking for karaoke kaki.

Yea, especially when u don't set the volume balance right, i.e. the music drowning your voice in the mix.

the dj in the bar does the adjustment well but the temperature and beer also affect the singing..i have a soft voice..T_T need a teacher to guide me..still looking

it's easier to sing in room temp, right? when its cold esp in karaoke room, the voice breaks very fast

yeap..

I think you might wanna train you voice conventionally. There are certain ways or practices to train specifically your vocal cords/folds which are essential to produce powerful tone, or full voice technically speaking.

By understanding the usage of vocal cords, you will then need to look more in resonances. Things like how human voice can be projected through the mechanisms of human body. for example, Head tone, chest tone and nasal tone. Those are the parts in where our voice can be projected differently.

It sounds complex, but it is something human do on daily basis.

If you are interested, I can let you know more about it. I am professional contemporary vocal coach who just came back from the States and currently coaching professional musicians and Astro singing contestants. Worried not, I'm real.

sifu, this is u?

Haha. Sure not! that guy is Yundi Li, a renown pianist from China.

I thought since Yundi Li teach singing too, i would be very surprised haha..

i thought is Lam Fung.. sorry my bad duno famous guy..

While browsing thru this section and noticed u looking for karaoke kaki, i'm organizing sing K session with fellow forummer on 29th september noon, feel feel to contact me if u interested to join.

Wah, never knew got such a thread.

Good to know there's a discussion about this, I thought in here it's all instruments.

I'm a vocalist myself, in a fun-fun band. Quite tight as we jam once a week.

My lead and bassist are pure LoG dudes..therefore the songs you know la, I can't growl, but as we're still new to each other (about 4 months), we're looking for the right direction.

I find myself suitable to sing comfortably on Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace. But my high pitch sudah gone. I stopped singing in a band for more than 10 years, now only trying to be one again. But lost it. Probably due to smoking.

Disturbed - Stricken (I'm struggling at this song. What do you guys think? Probably my breathing technique is like shit lol coz the truth is, I never learn vocal techniques..let alone those fancy vocal terms)

Sorry for wall of text. Got too excited to know there's this thread.

Hi there

Ah, where are my manners..

Hello there =)

Oh another issue I always faced is that, warming up. We jam 2 hours per session.. most of the time, after 1 hour and a half only, everyone is in-tune and sync.

Our sound check song is Avenged Sevenfold - Unholy Confessions (Yeah, vocal is crazy at some parts)

My vocal warm up song is Staind - Mudshovel / Breaking Benjamin - So Cold

Metalhead

Advice for warming up? I know 1 is avoiding cold drinks...cos at karaoke, usually 1-2 songs and my voice is gone, while at home, I can last much longer

I only drink Mineral water during session. And oh, 1-2 sticks of cig before perform, 1 stick interval after 1 hour.

Should I not smoke at all few hours before singing?

This isn't gonna be easy haha..

Smoking...I dunno

i think the smoking issue depends on the person, but in all honesty dude, i never heard any vocalist who had problems on this. me (backup vocals) and our lead vocalist do smoke even just moments before singing. heck we even did smoke a few times while on stage. no issues.

i have more issues on cold drinks than smoking.

Uh oh okay, good to know. Coz without cigs before perform, like tiada umphh haha.

I just need to refine on what type of song is good to warm up with...coz apparently, it takes so long to heat up, and sucks when I thought I'm in the zone, but the session is reaching its end lol.

hahaha i know what u mean dude just let's not the highly health conscious or the opera singers (or some sorts) know about what we're talking about. they'll surely say "no smoking, especially for singers".

yea we had that one gig before. took me until the last song to really get in the zone and sound SO RIGHT. wanted to sing more, but we had to go. haha it sucks!

get a good instructor to have a proper vocal lesson. don't strain your voice.

Hey im planning to get vocal class may b next montj or next year, wanna do it together?

jom?

Used to sing in a wedding band. Then I forgot how much I love J-Rock, and I came back to the scene. Made a new band, but even with the self-taught basics I know it's not enough to be decent or even good. Giving it my all for the band because I know this is the thing I wanna do the most.

This post has been edited by kumaTARO: Dec 4 2012, 12:44 AM

U have a good place to recommend?

hey hows your mic search going?

I love to CAR-aoke too but I prefer doing it at night so other driver or pedestrian don't see my face. hahahah.

i think i know where to get,

drink lime juice..

I think you need to jog more. Overall stamina increment will increase your vocal stamina too.