Vocal Technique - Help please ;)

[Ultimate_Symphony]

@azal: Mark Boals?I think I've heard that name but I don't remember what band he's in, so what band is he in?

@Ultimate Symphony: I'm looking forward to your reply, and thanks in advance BTW, I said that my teacher teaches them combined, just as you said. Do you believe that this will cause a problem?

I'm going to start the download now and I don't think that would be a problem, I think that she will teach you head/chest voice without specifying what type of singing is right?

This discussion on singing techniques is of great interest to me... I'm a guitarist (sort of) and my guitar teacher wants me to sing things, for ear training. When I sing, the pitch is usually correct, but my throat gets tired very quickly, I must do something wrong and my teacher can't help me there

Are you trying to sing high notes when that happens? or normal notes?

 

[Dado-x]

Mark Boals was Yngwie's singer on Trilogy, Alchemy and WTEAW. And he is one badass singer, I'll tell you. Try hitting those notes on 'You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget' or Leanardo'. Now that's fucking high!

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Dado my fellow x'er Oh so he was Yngwie's singer? I gotta check those albums out (I'll see if that guy has the range of Henning Basse )

@feanor: I have the song on queue so when I get back i'll finnish the download

 

[Tyrion]

Hi there!

I'm new to this forum and just read this interesting discussion. I'm having (classical) singing lessons myself for about 2 years now, and I'm also singing in a (classical) choir. I haven't done any rock singing so far though.

I'm quite confused about some points you were discussing, especially this thing about falsetto/head voice. Maybe it's just a language probem, but in german (afaik), falsett IS singing with head voice. Classical singers using falsett are called counter tenors, and they ONLY sing with head voice. Formerly these parts were sung by eunuchs, later they were replaced by counter tenors. Especially Haendel has composed many operas with important parts for eunuchs, but also modern classical composers like Benjamin Britten f.ex. have created operas with roles sung by counter tenors (f.ex. Oberon in Midsummernight's dream). A "normal" classical vocalist always uses chest voice though. In classical singing lessons you dont learn to use your head voice. Can someone help me to clear this confusion about this falsetto/head voice stuff??

Maybe I can add some things about forming your voice in classical singing classes: I was taught from the very first lesson NEVER to use my voice cords to produce volume. The voice cords are just there to transform your voice from the body to the mouth, you NEVER should use them actively. The most important body part for a classical singer is the diaphragm. You produce tones with your voice cords, but the diaphragm backs your voice up. Especially singing high tones you should never force your voice cords, just use your diaphragm and the tones will be perfect!
The other imprtant part is the mouth. You need to create a resonance chamber inside your gorge/mouth to shape your voice to a maximum outcome. I guess there is quite some difference from classical to rock/metal singing though in this part.

I'm a bass-bariton myself, but afaik the same is true for tenors and also for altos/sopranos. You'll see after a few months already how much you can improve your voice by using the right technique. Your range will progress and also your volume, and you will find singing much less exhausting than before. You will be able to sing longer without breathing, and you'll also learn to prodce "emotion" with your voice.

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

I'm quite confused about some points you were discussing, especially this thing about falsetto/head voice. Maybe it's just a language probem, but in german (afaik), falsett IS singing with head voice. Classical singers using falsett are called counter tenors, and they ONLY sing with head voice. Formerly these parts were sung by eunuchs, later they were replaced by counter tenors. Especially Haendel has composed many operas with important parts for eunuchs, but also modern classical composers like Benjamin Britten f.ex. have created operas with roles sung by counter tenors (f.ex. Oberon in Midsummernight's dream). A "normal" classical vocalist always uses chest voice though. In classical singing lessons you dont learn to use your head voice. Can someone help me to clear this confusion about this falsetto/head voice stuff??

Actually no, falsetto and head voice are different ways of singing. I don't know anything about the falsett thing (i'm no language guru ) but I doubt that falsett and falsetto are the same thing. In falsetto the vocal folds vibrate on the edges while the rest of the folds remain stiff, in head voice the folds vibrate in their entirety and you'll be able to produce the higher notes.

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Classical singers using falsett are called counter tenors, and they ONLY sing with head voice.

oh btw are you 100% sure that they only use head voice?i'm not into classical singing myself but maybe they use falsetto and you don't notice that (just to point that out)

 

[Feanor IV]

I as well know that there is a difference between falsetto and head voice from various sources, but I'm a bit confused about it. In fact I'm not sure if what I use for high notes is falsetto or head voice, haha. Any clues on how I will get to understand what I'm doing? Any little tricks?

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Originally posted by Feanor IV
I as well know that there is a difference between falsetto and head voice from various sources, but I'm a bit confused about it. In fact I'm not sure if what I use for high notes is falsetto or head voice, haha. Any clues on how I will get to understand what I'm doing? Any little tricks?

hehe Feanor check this out

Chest 2 Head

It's not me singing but you'll get the picture oh btw I have to wait 25 minutes for the song to download, stinkin modem

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Whoa! that was my 1000 post :hotjump:

the singer in that recording starts in chest voice then goes into head voice in the 2 sec mark

 

[Tyrion]

Originally posted by Ultimate_Symphony
oh btw are you 100% sure that they only use head voice?i'm not into classical singing myself but maybe they use falsetto and you don't notice that (just to point that out)

Well, I still dont get the difference between Falsetto and Head Voice I think, so I can't really answer that question. Looking at your definition of head voice and falsetto it seems to me that falsetto is just some "minor form" of head voice, basically head voice with a "wrong" technique.

When I look up the german word "Falsett" in a Lexicon it says "singing with head voice". You see my confusion??

All I can say is that counter tenors definitely DON'T use chest voice. If they use Falsetto (as you define it) or head voice I dont know.

I still think Falsetto IS some sort of head voice though.

 

[Feanor IV]

So, this fuckin' thing is HEAD voice??????? And I thought that THIS was falsetto!!!!!!!! Then I can actually go higher than I thought................................ I hope!! But again, if this is HEAD voice, what IS falsetto????????

 

[Feanor IV]

btw, do you have any MP3s for that thing so that I can actually burn them on a CD-r and have my teacher listen to them? Then she'll know exactly what I mean...........

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

When I look up the german word "Falsett" in a Lexicon it says "singing with head voice". You see my confusion??

Yeah I see your point, maybe the definition of Falsett is right but I doubt that Falsett has anything to do with Falsetto

still think Falsetto IS some sort of head voice though.

I see your point, with both forms you'll be able to hit high notes but with falsetto you won't have as much power and control as with head voice (the only one i've heard using the falsetto in a good way is king diamond ) the main difference is that in falsetto the vocal folds vibrate on the edges while the rest of the folds remain stiff, in head voice the folds vibrate in their entirety and you'll be able to produce the higher notes.

 

[Feanor IV]

btw, was there any text acompanying this sound file? If yes, send it to me please

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Originally posted by Feanor IV
So, this fuckin' thing is HEAD voice??????? And I thought that THIS was falsetto!!!!!!!! Then I can actually go higher than I thought................................ I hope!! But again, if this is HEAD voice, what IS falsetto????????

I don't know why I didn't posted that before haha falsetto is commonly a fenom on males only (it can happen on females). If you try to scream very hard you can break into a falsetto (the sound is less powerful than head voice, more breathy) the file you downloaded is an mp3 so you can burn it in a cd-r

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

btw what kind of text would you like feanor?

 

[Tyrion]

Originally posted by Ultimate_Symphony
Yeah I see your point, maybe the definition of Falsett is right but I doubt that Falsett has anything to do with Falsetto

Well, it sounds pretty similar I guess... Just an "o" missing I'm not really sure cause I never heard the expression "Falsett" in the context of rock/metal singing, so it might really be different in it's meaning from the usual classical context. I also haven't read any English technical literature on the subject (my mother language is German).

I see your point, with both forms you'll be able to hit high notes but with falsetto you won't have as much power and control as with head voice (the only one i've head using falsetto is king diamond ) the main difference is that in falsetto the vocal folds vibrate on the edges while the rest of the folds remain stiff, in head voice the folds vibrate in their entirety and you'll be able to produce the higher notes.

I dont really know much about the technique of head voice since I've only been taught the "normal" classical chest voice. I'll ask my teacher next time though, maybe he can clear up this subject a little bit...

What exactly are the vocal folds btw? (sorry, as I said English is a foreign language for me Is this a synonym to vocal cord?

 

[Feanor IV]

God, god, god, I'm so confused and frustrated!!! And I don't even believe in God!!! Anyway, I will try to learn about the whole thing, and I will definitely try to find someone to teach me the whole thing................ The thing is, I start to think that what I do for high notes is a bad-technique head voice. But I really DON'T know!!! What can i do, shit, I'm so worried about the whole thing and i'm fuckin' anxious because I don't even know if i should go on with my teacher or try to find another one or what. And if I have to find another one, what kind of vocal must he expertise in to make sure that he will help me with my head voice??? Argh, this thing is nerve-wrecking..........

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

What exactly are the vocal folds btw? (sorry, as I said English is a foreign language for me Is this a synonym to vocal cord?

They allow you to sing when you start singing they take different forms (stretching,shortening,contractions) and allow you to sing higher or lower.

God, god, god, I'm so confused and frustrated!!! And I don't even believe in God!!! Anyway, I will try to learn about the whole thing, and I will definitely try to find someone to teach me the whole thing................ The thing is, I start to think that what I do for high notes is a bad-technique head voice. But I really DON'T know!!! What can i do, shit, I'm so worried about the whole thing and i'm fuckin' anxious because I don't even know if i should go on with my teacher or try to find another one or what. And if I have to find another one, what kind of vocal must he expertise in to make sure that he will help me with my head voice??? Argh, this thing is nerve-wrecking..........

Nah take it easy buddy, can you do a record of yourself singing?maybe you could post it here you should take that recording and show it to your teacher I doubt that she doesn't know what you want

 

[Tyrion]

I actually just remembered a rock context where "falsett singing" was mentioned. How would you describe Ian Gillians singing in "Child in Time"? Is that falsetto or head voice? I think you'd say head voice, but in German his style of singing is always described as "Falsett".

So maybe there is really a different meaning of the word in both languages.