Hey folks!

I have a couple of questions for you and you might actually find that their answers will benefit you too :)

So let's dive in:

Besides Raise Your Voice, i also have the Robert Lunte Four Pillars Of Sound, Jim Gillette's Vocal Power and James Lugo - Vocal Asylum.

Now the reason i have all the other programs (all were purchased after i got RYV) is because i felt like my workouts were too short and i wanted to add something to it, maybe to learn a new insight, a new technique, or in the worst case refresh my memory with something I've heard before but forgot all about it :)

So my first two question are:

1) What do you think about Robert Lunte's program?
2) What do you think about James Lugo's program?

Now my point is to combine them all together, so at the moment this is my singing workout routine:

1) The Ultimate Breathing Method exercises
2) Warm-up
3) Jim Gillette's Scales
4) Robert Lunte's Four Pillars Exercises
5) RYV Exercises
6) Vibrato Exercises from Brett Manning's CD (just added it for fun and to improve my vibrato)
7) Sing 4-5 songs (Some power metal stuff)
8) Warm down

Altogether it takes about a hour and a half to complete, sometimes two hours.

So my next question is, what do you think about this routine?

I tried to do TVS (Robert Lunte) one time before Jim's scales, but i found it a lot better to do the opposite.

Another thing that Lunte is saying, is that we need to thin out the "EEEs" so get into the head register and not get stuck in chest, and personally i don't get "stuck in chest" when i don't thin out the "EEEs" and as a result i noticed that my high notes are a lot more powerful than Lunte's and his student's are, because they thin them out (or maybe i should do the same, just for the sake of exercise?)

Bottom line question is, what do you guys think would be the perfect combination of these programs and in what order?

And what do you think about Robert Lunte vs James Lugo? (I'm leaving Jaime out of the picture here because to me his RYV book is the freaking bible!)

P.S
If your answer is: "Depends on what you want to sing", thins Tobias Sammet from Edguy, Johny Gioli from Axl Rudy Pell, and The dude from Shinedown that i always forget his name :D

Best of Best,
Vibe

1) I think it's a great tool for any modern vocalist. I really appreciate everything that he's done so far (TMV, TVS, and I was amazed when I first discovered Voice Council), but I believe that Robert himself said that he doesn't agree with some stuff in Four Pillars book. Mind you, that was years ago, and I'm sure that Pillars 2.0 will fix that (can't wait to check that one out).

I really wish that book was thicker, I'm such a geek, haha. The demonstrations could be a bit better, he's shifting weight a lot, breaking etc., but the most important thing is what he can teach you, and I'm sure that he can teach you a LOT.

2) I don't have his program yet (downloads are much more convenient for us internationals), and I'm in no rush to do so as I have RYV-Pillars-CVT to study and master, each in its own respective time.

Your workout:

I really like it, as long as you've mastered all the exercises. Isolation is always a toughie, and believe me, Jamie put "only" three exercises there for a reason (actually it's more like 15 if you include the variations, that fact always helps if you get a bit bored.)

What do you do for the warm up, lip bubbles/thrills/humming? I don't see if you included VSR, but it could be a great idea. I'm big on non-vocal exercises too, especially the bullfrog - you'll strain yourself a lot less during the other exercises.

The thing I will suggest (with you being a power metal singer) are some grit exercises, especially for that Brent Smith (that guy from Shinedown :D) sound. Reread the RYV section, or just play with the grit for the scales you use.

Thanks for the comment Filip!

1) What things he doesn't agree with? haha yeah the book was relatively short but i think it covered everything pretty well :)

2) I understand. What's CVT?

My workout:

About the warmups, i do Jaime's warmup that i got when i bought the VAM, and when i use rob's stuff i just do his warmup from the CD.

Thanks for the tip!

This is the power metal i'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er9BRFRb93E

About Isolation, i had pretty easy time with it, if i remember correctly i got the hang of it the first time i tried it, i'm not saying it was pretty but, it was something! :D

I'm still with the VSR/non-vocal/grit suggestion then :D

The thing about isolation exercises, is that there are tons of subtle things to look out for. Take falsetto slide, for example. Nudge that soft palate, micro breath on open yawn, inhalation sensation but not breathy, sliding as slow as possible, bla bla. Perfect practice makes perfect.

CVT stands for Complete Vocal Technique, another great vocal program (apart from the terminology confusion, some might say - everything is translated into "modes", so when you hear about neutral/curbing/overdrive, it's CVT) and it's quite a common topic in any vocal forum.

I'll quote Robert about the things that he'd like to change:

"In regards to the whole "vocal folds" zipping up thing... I know that needs to be updated. Im aware of it and frankly, I hate that this is still in my book... YOU are totally correct in the conclusion that this is very much an SLS idea... I am so far away from that idea these days, that I forgot that was even in my book when I was replying to you. Like I said, I hate it, because I know its wrong and needs to be updated. The bottom line here is... the BOOK needs to be updated... its been four years and that is exactly what is happening now... wont be long and pillars will have all that stuff fixed... including the typos."

Vowel modification for other languages other than English is also said to be in the works for Pillars 2.0, so I'm excited (for example, Americans/Italians/Brits are great at that "twang" sound, but it might take a while for Germans to discover it).