learning some more

[Pessimism]

I have a question mr.V

I have been singing for a very long time, i have a pretty good melodic voice, but the vocal category that i have been practicing, and excelling in, is the demonic vocals found in most of the heavier and darker types of metal.

This still does not satisfy me though, so i wish to ask you exactly what did you do to get such a beautiful wide ranging melodic voice? Have you taken classes or have you taught yourself? I wish not to know that the apex of my vocal abilities be left in the "demonic" range! can you give any advice on what to do?

 

[Pessimism]

ok, if anyone can give a few pointers it would help me greatly
maybe their are some books? some good classes? anything at all now . . .

 

[Vintersorg]

I have a question mr.V

I have been singing for a very long time, i have a pretty good melodic voice, but the vocal category that i have been practicing, and excelling in, is the demonic vocals found in most of the heavier and darker types of metal.

This still does not satisfy me though, so i wish to ask you exactly what did you do to get such a beautiful wide ranging melodic voice? Have you taken classes or have you taught yourself? I wish not to know that the apex of my vocal abilities be left in the "demonic" range! can you give any advice on what to do?

Hi! Actually I have problems to give any advice..as I've just learnt by myself and are probabaly using totally wrong techiques..and I can't really explain what I'm doing...I do practice my voice alot though, singing on a daily basis and very different kinds of register and music styles..and that really expands my abilities I think!

mr V

 

[ADS]

Seraphim, I was thinking of asking mr V the same question... looks like you were way ahead of me. I was curious as well as to whether his amazing voice came naturally or whether he had formal training to get it that way.

To some people, notes and tones come very naturally (as I would say about mr V!), while for others it is much more difficult. I fall into the "more difficult" catagory... I am nearly tone deaf if there isn't some note playing to guide me, which I have always found strangely bizarre since I am just the opposite with a guitar in my hand. You should first figure out what catagory you fall in....

Can you hit notes you want to hit? Can you sing in key without music playing? If so, then maybe you're already half way there and just need a lot of practice - to really broaden your voice range and exercise your cords. Sing like mad... to everything... practice a lot. Make sure you vary the stuff you listen to and try different things (even things that are not metal!). And also important... learn the limitations of your voice. What CAN'T you do? Everyone has limits, so if you're in a band writing music, make sure you understand your limitations. The best music, I think, is stuff that sounds like it was written to perfectly blend the vocal range of the singer with the music.

If you're in the other catagory (i.e. you kinda suck at clean singing, like me ), and you really want to get serious about it... then all is not lost. These things are learnable... you don't have to be born with it (though it certainly helps!). You should check out your favorite local music store and see if they offer singing classes. Any place that offers music teaching classes will likely do vocals as well. Sign up and take a few classes. Learn from someone who knows and understands the roots of what make for a good voice, and see where you can go from there. With the right voice, sometimes all it'll take is a little education, understanding and practice to really bring out your full potential!

I'm certainly no expert on this, but hopefully that helps.

~R

 

[JColtrane]

Hey, if Pavarotti had to study for 5 years, we should have no problem humbling ourselves to taking voice lessons.

 

[Pessimism]

thankyou for all the responses! im going to go looking for classes once i get enough money (extremely expensive, i just dont have that kind of money) so until that wonderful time of learning i will focus at home like i do day in and day out. i can do a very soft melo voice (kind of like a spoken word but, well singing . . ) like mikael does in "benighted", i actually do some of his stuff pretty good. until high notes come in.
ive been trying to get a better control on my chords by practicing to Quintessence and Empiricism for the last couple of months.

so, while i work on my technique i was wondering what other good melodic/epic vocalists would be good to listen to (ive heard very few, the only other singers i know that sing beautiful are: mikael-opeth, Johnsson-therion, stanne-dark tranquillityand of course vortex and Mr.V; never heard garm sing though - shame on me)

any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[Draugen]

thankyou for all the responses! im going to go looking for classes once i get enough money (extremely expensive, i just dont have that kind of money) so until that wonderful time of learning i will focus at home like i do day in and day out. i can do a very soft melo voice (kind of like a spoken word but, well singing . . ) like mikael does in "benighted", i actually do some of his stuff pretty good. until high notes come in.
ive been trying to get a better control on my chords by practicing to Quintessence and Empiricism for the last couple of months.

so, while i work on my technique i was wondering what other good melodic/epic vocalists would be good to listen to (ive heard very few, the only other singers i know that sing beautiful are: mikael-opeth, Johnsson-therion, stanne-dark tranquillityand of course vortex and Mr.V; never heard garm sing though - shame on me)

any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Christoffer Johnsson of Therion has IMHO one of the worst voices ever! I know for a fact that he thinks the same and that's why he hasn't sung anything since Theli (1996). Other good clean vocalists are Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, Vincent Cavanagh of Anathema, Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride, Messiah of Candlemass... I could go on forever. One of my personal favourite vocalists (apart from Mr V. and Mr. Vortex ) are Kristoffer Botteri of the incredibly underrated band In The Woods...
Just listen to the song "Weeping Willow" from their record Omino. True beauty!

 

[TB666]

In the woods are very underrated.

 

[JColtrane]

Ole Borud who was formerly in Extol and Schaliach is an amazing clean vocalist. Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica is really good, especially with vocal layering and choir stuff.

 

[Oceana]

Christoffer Johnsson of Therion has IMHO one of the worst voices ever! I know for a fact that he thinks the same and that's why he hasn't sung anything since Theli (1996). Other good clean vocalists are Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, Vincent Cavanagh of Anathema, Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride, Messiah of Candlemass... I could go on forever. One of my personal favourite vocalists (apart from Mr V. and Mr. Vortex ) are Kristoffer Botteri of the incredibly underrated band In The Woods...
Just listen to the song "Weeping Willow" from their record Omino. True beauty!

in fact... ITW singer wasnt X:botteri, it was jan kenneth transeth ... BTW In the woods are one of the best bands ever even if they have disbanded

 

[MFJ]

Well I can lend my advice, although I'm nothing special in the vocal range.

Just sing, try NOT to stick to techniques. What I found, is that if you just sing to music all day, or just sing to yourself, if you do it frequently... you will find that all of a sudden you are getting better!

Always keep in mind, you usually sound 5 times worse to yourself than to other people. ITs natural!

 

[Draugen]

in fact... ITW singer wasnt X:botteri, it was jan kenneth transeth ... BTW In the woods are one of the best bands ever even if they have disbanded

Hrm... didn't realize that...
Are you sure?

 

[Oceana]

Hrm... didn't realize that...
Are you sure?

totally , just check www.karmakosmetix.com

 

[Mantraschism]

I'm not really a singer, but I can say that if you just sing along with stuff that you like, it WILL help a lot. I've improved a lot over the course of about a year just by doing this. When I first started, I had nothing, but now, I CAN actually sing melodies (if they're in my range, which is quite small) and make the notes sound, er, good.


And, hell yeah, Jonas Renkse has a great clean voice.