Hi everyone... I've been using the RYV techniques for a year now and I've seen big improvments.

However, I recently recorded a demo of a song for a new cd, but I'm dissatisfied with my vocals. I don't sound like a great metal singer like Russell Allen for example.

If anyone could give this a listen and give me some tips on further improving my voice I would be very grateful.

http://www.cardwellmusic.com/Dave Cardwell - Gone.mp3


Note that I sang the song twice to double the vocals.

I'm also considering getting a song critque from Jaime. Has anyone here done this? How helpful did you find it? I really want to get my vocals to a pro level as quickly as possible.

Thanks!

Hey, it sounded cool! you sounded pretty aggressive on the highs ... which is always cool only thing I would change (just to fit my taste, coz technically it's all good):

- I think it gets kinda mechanic, so you could try attacking the first notes a bit more hoarse (in the good way hahaha)

-The vibrato also could be treated more organically, varying its speed a bit


that is what I think, but it is a great song and overall sounds AWESOME

Thanks for listening, I'm glad you like the song. I never really thought about varying the speed of my vibrato before, so I'm going to start experimenting with it. Thanks for the help!

Thats pretty damn good if you ask me!
Just keep doing what you're doing....
I wish i could sing with that grit like that without affecting my clean singing voice... any tips?

Thanks Lee. I'm no expert on grit... and you've probably heard this before, but I just try to keep the grit out of my throat and on the roof of my mouth. What usually messes with me is if I'm using too much pressure while singing like that. Then my voice starts to get fatigued.

Of course I also keep the vocal chords wet as possible since singing like that tends to dry them out.

What kind of problems are you having specifically?

I think your high notes sound awesome. I'm still working on getting heavier grit on my high notes. Ideally I would like to get a Disturbed vibe going but after vocalizing with RYV for 2 years it still seems like a long road ahead. My problem is that I can only get a really light grit inflection going on higher notes. Sounds like a fry at best. Any extra pressure and the note cracks. I suppose it's an issue of strengthening my voice a lot more.

Did getting the gritty sound on high notes come natural for you...like were you always able to do it? I know some people have a natural inclination towards it.

Anyway dude, sounds good...keep it up.

Cheers Dave
Yeh i know what im supposed to do, but everytime i try i just cant do it. Its not that i cant create the grit, its just that i cant create it safely.
A few months ago i managed to get it okish, it wasnt hurting me, but it wud just break all the time, i thought i had it then, but i cant even do that anymore....whatever it was that i was doing lol
I try and try to get it out of the throat and into the soft palate, but even when i think i have it, it still hurts....

Thanks altered.

Really what I've found when it comes to high notes, is that your voice must be really well trained in that range to put lots of grit on it. Your vocal chords need very well developed muscle memory to do it right. I focus on practicing for control usually.

Really I'm not a natural singer at all. I sounded terrible about a year ago. My range topped out around an E4 and it was all very bad sounding. I didn't know how to do any grit at all.

Since we're on the grit topic (my favorite!), I figured I'd share the fact that I probably had the best grit day of my life today. The grit was so thick on every note in my range, I could barely believe it. Revelations that I came to today were:

-Like you said Dave, practicing clean notes in the range that you desire grit is probably the most important thing. I've been really pounding the area with vowel exercises for like 3 months. Just relying on pure resonance for volume.

-Also, today I realized that the best way to get grit was keeping this open/super relaxed throat sensation. Like even more relaxed than when you're singing clean notes, then sort of power push air right up in there. Even though it feels like my voice may crack, it doesn't because of the muscle memory.

-Finally the last thing I discovered/rediscovered was not to be afraid to push a little bit. For the last little while I 've really concentrated on not pushing at all. But for grit, it's beneficial to always have a little more air pressure than needed available at all times. Just have the air barreling into the soft pallet.

Anyway, I dont want to get too excited about today, I'll probably be struggling with it again tomorrow...

Everything you said sounds right to me. I think you're on your way, if not already there.

Grit really does come much more easily when you're relaxed. I think once you've done enough training, singing is mostly effortless.

I agree that we all probably need to experiment with our voices to figure out what works. Of course you do need to be careful if you are making your throat feel raw or something like that.