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when did your voice come to fruition?

digsterdigster Posts: 1,293
edited February 2004 in Musicians and Gearheads
I've had a longstanding love/hate relationship with my voice when it comes to singing; I'm really selfconscious about how it sounds, and I usually don't think it sounds too good. Every once in awhile though my friends tell me "don't worry about it, man, it'll come; you're only 18." That surprised me; I didn't really think my voice was still going through major changes. So when did your guys voices get to the point where you thought it was good? I know there's probably not a definite answer, but in your twenties? Late teens? 18? Just wondering what you thought.
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Comments

  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    not so much age-wise for me but i really didn't get comfortable with mine until i gigged for about a year or so. it roughened up and strengthened to the point where i don't hate it quite so much now. i also learned where my ideal range was and all that.

    i also had to accept that i'm not a rock singer and never will be.
  • 69charger69charger Posts: 1,045
    The only way to be comfortable with your voice is to use it a lot. I have been playing for about two years now about 3 times a month and I am getting pretty good. I am no longer worried about if it will hold up and it just keeps getting better. So I guess my advice would be to use your voice a lot. Get a good voice training/warmup CD and practice with it. Warming up is extremely important and will suprise the shit out of you the first time you really try it and then sing. Enough rambling for now...
  • MissYouAllDayMissYouAllDay Posts: 939
    "i also had to accept that i'm not a rock singer and never will be."

    Man 2 words....

    Billy Corgan
    I miss you already, I miss you always
    I miss you already, I miss you all day
  • digsterdigster Posts: 1,293
    Originally posted by MissYouAllDay
    "i also had to accept that i'm not a rock singer and never will be."

    Man 2 words....

    Billy Corgan

    Yeah, I need to have faith. I have the same problem as exhausted has; I love rock and roll so much, and refuse to accept that my voice won't let me sing it. Maybe that's just dumb, I don't know, but God knows in ten years I wanna be on the stage of MSG wailing away and throwing all those mike stands and guitars in the air :-).
  • MissYouAllDayMissYouAllDay Posts: 939
    that's the right attitude!!!

    Keep practising
    I miss you already, I miss you always
    I miss you already, I miss you all day
  • Sea As His FloorSea As His Floor Posts: 22
    When I first started the band that I am now in, I wasnt real comfortable with my voice. But after about a year of gigging and practicing a lot I became a lot more comfortable with what I could do and I found where my "comfort zones" are. I'm a very animated front man. I run around a lot and jump and climb on shit and just do whatever I feel like. It took some time to really find how all this was gonna effect my vocal performance, but I've pretty much mastered it. I just make sure to always drink a lot of water during shows. They only way to learn is to fail, so dont be too worried.
    "The children have to save themselves these days because the parents don't have a clue"-Donnie Darko

    "We were done, done, done with all the fuck, fuck, fuckin around"-Modest Mouse
  • nailz100nailz100 Posts: 1,176
    Warming up is Definately a must if you are doing gigs. I used to think that I had to warm up right before a gig to get my voice in shape. Since then my vocal coach has taught me to warm up and hour or and hour and a half before a performance. It makes sense. I mean you are probably singing what...3 45 min sets. Do you really want to warm up for half an hour and then sing for 45 min. right after? It sucks....most of the time I don't feel like I have enough time to warm up before a show, with all the moving gear and setting up. But you MAKE TIME for whats important. Nobody expect a drummer to go on stage with his drums out of whack or a guitarist with his guitar out of tune. The guys/ girls in your band should understand that warming up your voice is a HUGE thing and let you go off and warm up while they are setting up. Also cooling down after a show is very important. Do VERY LIGHT exercises after a gig to "reset" your voice. (Lots of stuff in your Falsetto) at least 15 min. Also drink lots of water, not only right before the show, but ALL DAY. I try to drink at least 12-15 glasses a day. Thats all the advice I can give you man....hope it helps.
    Only with our eyes closed can we truly see
  • nailz100nailz100 Posts: 1,176
    Oh, and I sometimes still hate my voice. Eminem hates listening to his voice. But I think that can be good. It makes you critical of your singing and makes you work harder to improve it.
    Only with our eyes closed can we truly see
  • AlterEgoAlterEgo Posts: 89
    I guess I have an okay voice. Not that naturally good, but I sing all the time trying to improve it. I'm really self-conscious about it, though, because my little sister has a frickin' amazing voice. When she was 9 or 10, she sang "Memory" from the Cats musical a cappella at an elementary school talent show and wowed the crowd into silence - and that was before she'd had any training (she's almost 14 now). So naturally, I always feel like my voice sucks next to hers, which I guess is probably true. But I still work on it. :) You probably have a leg up on me already because you have natural talent, so just keep working and it'll happen!
    "Dude...it's a hamburger on top of a rocket ship!"
  • digsterdigster Posts: 1,293
    Originally posted by AlterEgo
    You probably have a leg up on me already because you have natural talent, so just keep working and it'll happen!

    Yeah, right :-) Trust me, I guess it's a good thing I have to work for it, but any singing talent I have is going to be hardearned. I guess thats the best way to have it though.
  • thewaxtadpolethewaxtadpole Posts: 50
    I'm a trained choral singer (I'm also AlterEgo's sister, and thanks to her for the very kind words :D) and I don't remember exactly when I started singing. I've been in some select choirs and I've made a few attempts at writing, madrigals and stuff. But I'll never have a rock voice and I'll never have a Broadway voice. That's something that kind of comes natural. I don't have the greatest ear in the world either, it's a killer (along with my short, stubby fingers) when it comes to the guitar. It all really depends on what you train yourself for. I've had a long-runnign fantasy about being in an opera - but that won't happen ;)
    I've noticed that our senators
    have very funny names.
    Like Lincoln, Zell, and Saxby.
    What's wrong with things like "James"?
    I think that this is crazy.
    I think that it should stop.
    I think this is the reason
    They confirmed John Ashcroft.
  • AlterEgoAlterEgo Posts: 89
    Originally posted by thewaxtadpole
    I'm a trained choral singer (I'm also AlterEgo's sister, and thanks to her for the very kind words :D) and I don't remember exactly when I started singing. I've been in some select choirs and I've made a few attempts at writing, madrigals and stuff. But I'll never have a rock voice and I'll never have a Broadway voice. That's something that kind of comes natural. I don't have the greatest ear in the world either, it's a killer (along with my short, stubby fingers) when it comes to the guitar. It all really depends on what you train yourself for. I've had a long-runnign fantasy about being in an opera - but that won't happen ;)
    You could sing rock songs, you know, Mandy. You did find singing along to CDs in my bedroom. ;) Just not Rolling Stones or Creedence Clearwater Revival-type rock songs. Or straight-up punk songs. I agree that you don't have quite the right inflection for that. :D
    "Dude...it's a hamburger on top of a rocket ship!"
  • puremagicpuremagic Posts: 1,907
    Originally posted by thewaxtadpole
    I'm a trained choral singer (I'm also AlterEgo's sister, and thanks to her for the very kind words :D) and I don't remember exactly when I started singing. I've been in some select choirs and I've made a few attempts at writing, madrigals and stuff. But I'll never have a rock voice and I'll never have a Broadway voice. That's something that kind of comes natural. I don't have the greatest ear in the world either, it's a killer (along with my short, stubby fingers) when it comes to the guitar. It all really depends on what you train yourself for. I've had a long-runnign fantasy about being in an opera - but that won't happen ;)

    Evanescence, Amy Lee - not a rock voice. Example of a band being formulated around a voice.
    SIN EATERS--We take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible and absolutely necessary.
  • thewaxtadpolethewaxtadpole Posts: 50
    Originally posted by puremagic
    Evanescence, Amy Lee - not a rock voice. Example of a band being formulated around a voice.

    quite true...and she's the only member of her band who should be making music at all.
    I've noticed that our senators
    have very funny names.
    Like Lincoln, Zell, and Saxby.
    What's wrong with things like "James"?
    I think that this is crazy.
    I think that it should stop.
    I think this is the reason
    They confirmed John Ashcroft.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    Originally posted by thewaxtadpole
    quite true...and she's the only member of her band who should be making music at all.

    and possibly the only one who should NOT be designing dresses.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Originally posted by thewaxtadpole
    I'm a trained choral singer (I'm also AlterEgo's sister, and thanks to her for the very kind words :D) and I don't remember exactly when I started singing. I've been in some select choirs and I've made a few attempts at writing, madrigals and stuff. But I'll never have a rock voice and I'll never have a Broadway voice. That's something that kind of comes natural. I don't have the greatest ear in the world either, it's a killer (along with my short, stubby fingers) when it comes to the guitar. It all really depends on what you train yourself for. I've had a long-runnign fantasy about being in an opera - but that won't happen ;)


    In that case, sing instead from your chest. use your chest voice not your head voice. Just go with the gut and belt it out. The shower voice that's your rock voice. Power, comes from your gut.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • puremagicpuremagic Posts: 1,907
    Originally posted by exhausted
    and possibly the only one who should NOT be designing dresses.

    is that what that was - ok, we'll go with that.
    SIN EATERS--We take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible and absolutely necessary.
  • AlterEgoAlterEgo Posts: 89
    Originally posted by exhausted
    and possibly the only one who should NOT be designing dresses.
    Are you implying that the rest of Evanescence should be designing dresses? ;)
    "Dude...it's a hamburger on top of a rocket ship!"
  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Posts: 12,223
    I'd been singing all my life to myself but when, in 1990, aged eighteen, I first heard the album "Marjory Razorblade" by Kevin Coyne I heard someone who sang a bit like me and I was encouraged. Then, in January 1991, I heard "Dream Letter - Live in London" by Tim Buckley, and I admit, I tried to copy his voice.
    But my scratching voice all alone was nothing like Buckley's baritone. I found much later on, after gigging and playing with bands and writing songs that your voice will change regardless of contrivances on your part: using PA systems and listening to other musicians with you will encourage you to bring out new tonalities in your voice and even write lyrics in a different way that brings out the sound of the words with the bands, even when you have a point to make in the lyrics themselves. Let the voice guide the poetry, I guess.
  • digsterdigster Posts: 1,293
    Something I've been wondering; I have been working on my Vedder wail, and I wonder...when you go for that rock and roll scream (see...I don't know...Save You I guess or whatever, you know what I mean), do you tend to go up really high straining your voice, or do you stay lower but just kind of growl/scream it? I mean, I'm no master with the high notes, but when I do it lower, it never seems....I dont know....sincere. How do you work on this section of singing, what do you do?
  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Posts: 12,223
    Originally posted by digster
    Something I've been wondering; I have been working on my Vedder wail, and I wonder...when you go for that rock and roll scream (see...I don't know...Save You I guess or whatever, you know what I mean), do you tend to go up really high straining your voice, or do you stay lower but just kind of growl/scream it? I mean, I'm no master with the high notes, but when I do it lower, it never seems....I dont know....sincere. How do you work on this section of singing, what do you do?

    If you're living somewhere that doesn't appreciate you raising volume and trying for upper reaches of your vocal range, and if you haven't a big enough room a big to sing in, go out a couple of miles and shout in a field. I'm serious. Salif Keita built up his roar herding cattle in the country; if you live in a more confined space, invest in a walk out a few miles and test your volume. If you're not classically trained and you sing according to emotion (like me), the way to find out what your voice can do is to get miles away from everyone and sing into the wind when it's making you a bit breathless. Fight it and get breaths to sing from the gut when you can. If you can do it, you'll sing those notes from the soul and always have a resource to sing more.
  • 69charger69charger Posts: 1,045
    http://www.voicelesson.com/html/lessons/free_lessons.htm

    Whole bunch of great lessons from Steven Tyler's voice coach. Don't buy the video though. Not worth it.
  • LucimaraLucimara Posts: 2
    I put any Soundgarden's CD (or Audioslave, or Temple of the Dog, or solo) , put the volume on the last level and I sing together. My voice isn't equal like the Chris Cornell's voice, but it's a start...
  • digsterdigster Posts: 1,293
    DAMN IT.

    I really want to sing Grievance so bad, scream it from the rooftops, but every time I do, I crack notes left and right, and I sound so damn insincere. That really sucks, because this song just hits me right in the gut.

    It sucks not being able to be a punk rocker :-(
  • AndyMandersonAndyManderson Posts: 167
    I was in choir from 6th grade until i graduated high school. I only missed making the texas all-state choir by 1 place. I never really had any training though. I just went to class and sang. I never did have much of a rock voice though. I started smoking when I was 16 and when I turned 18 and could legally buy cigarettes I started smoking way too much, and it started making my voice a little rougher. That's when I really started liking my voice. I could sing more rock type songs and sound good instead of trying to sing a rock song and sound like I'm singing in a church. Also I would just drive around in my car and sing at the top of my lungs to really get the feel for my voice how I wanted it(I got lots of weird looks from other drivers doing this though). I am definently not teling you to start smoking though, that would be stupid. It's a bad habit and if you don't smoke you shouldn't start. It's just what made my voice more appealing to me. In a few more years it'll probably get horrible though, hah.
  • given to jamgiven to jam Posts: 57
    Originally posted by digster
    DAMN IT.

    I really want to sing Grievance so bad, scream it from the rooftops, but every time I do, I crack notes left and right, and I sound so damn insincere. That really sucks, because this song just hits me right in the gut.

    It sucks not being able to be a punk rocker :-(

    i'm with ya on that one. i try to sing grievance all the time, but i still can't do it well for the life of me.
    knowledge is a tree
    it's growing up just like me.
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