hey there!
just post a recording of you singing the chorus :)

the chorus tops at F#4 and later he jumps to some
well supported A#4s, his tone reminds me of sully erna and michael
poulson a lot, as he is a bariton who belts well in this region of
the voice. Although you are experiencing difficulties singing the chorus,
I can tell you that the singer doesn't do any magical stuff here.
If you post a recording of you singing this chorus, I am sure we can help you
further.
Most likely you haven't found this area of your voice yet, it will come, don't worry!
One year ago my top note was a F4, now my top note is a Bb5 and I don't even
bridge into head until Eb5 (I am a high tenor). Everything comes with proper education and
practice, dude ;)

looking forward to hearing you sing :)
rock n' roll!!!!!!!
René

That's probably the nicest reply I have ever gotten on an online forum. You are very encouraging man!

I'm terrified uploading this (cause let's be honest, it is quite atrocious, haha), but I really need help with this. I recorded the first verse so you get an idea what my voice sounds like when I'm not going too high, although I'm not satisfied at all with how I sound here.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jisi9oit41d34x4/dZFHWiwAQ-

Let me know if this file works... and let me know what you think. Thanks so much in advance!

You are welcome, man ;)
The verse sounds really good! Nice tone!!!

You are lacking support in the chorus which leads your voice to slip down your throat and causes the "broken" sound. But don´t worry about it because it also sounds like your muscles are simply uncoordinated and untrained. Constant and correct practice will solve these problems quickly.

You know what, buddy? I recommend you take a lesson with Jaime.
I am sure you will make tremendous progress in just one lesson.
I tell you that because you already got some good basics and sounded very solid in the verse. It is important that you buid your range between F4 and Bb4 as that so called "call register" is the fundament for higher register singing.
As soon as you have a solid "call register" everything else will build so much easier and faster. This is why a lesson with jaime would certainly pay of.
I personally have worked incredibly hard on my voice and usually practice about 3-4 hours a day. I have taken lots of lessons and received lots of training. But through all that practice I have developed in some kind of a natural as everything I do as a singer has become second nature (and I am only 18 years old ey!)........with lots of practice and dedication you will very soon develop the same skills ;)

All the best and keep rockin´!!!!

René

And this is why I LOVE this forum. So many RYV users are so friggin cool and helping there fellow singer. Keep it up guys and gals:)

Thanks so much for the reply! I'd love to take a lesson with Jaime, but since I'm in the Netherlands, it will be difficult to, haha. I'm also broke, lol. Studying often is: more money out than in.

Hey about that 'call register', what's the trick? I mean, he goes up in pitch, but he still sounds low. Is it because he has a tremendously dark colour of voice or is it not that extremely dark? I'm asking because it does sound like magic to me.

What exercises do you recommend in particular? How do I build that region?

Thanks again, I really appreciate the time you put into commenting on my singing, I really do :)

ah don't mention it, chap!
get yourself "think and grow rich" by napoleon hill
and "unlimited power" by anthony robbins and get going :)
being broke is temporary but being poor is a mindset!
I am not saying that it will be easy but it will be a lot easier
than living broke. you can change that, my friend!
stop worrying and start rocking ;) it will be an amazing
ride, trust me!

The trick to singing in a great sounding call register like this guy
is proper support and an opened throat with good placement.
BUT consciously darkening (covering) the sound when going
up is not necessary and a very bad idea for a beginner.
The reason is that covering the sound makes it harder for you
to hear the pitch correctly. Although you already have good
pitch you will most likely cover when descending in pitch as well, which
will screw with your pitch like crazy. You cover the sound when ascending
but not when descending.
But your ear was fooled by the young guns singer! He does cover the sound a bit
but still stays bright at the same time......what is going on here???
The answer is easy. Once you achieve good support with open throat singing and a good
bright sound you can actually darken the sound while still having some bright qualities
to it, that is what he does anyway!
So I suggest you don't even worry about covering and stay as bright as possible.
It is easier anyway!!! Listen to bruce dickinson singing the chorus of tears of the dragon!
Listen how bright and strong he sounds when belting out these G#s, A#s and Bs!
that is a good sound for beginners!! bright and strong!!

I recomnend you do trascending tones and sirens in your call register until you turn blue :))
for the sirens I recomnend you stay with simple octave ones!
So when you want to work on, let's say, your F#4s you take a F#3 and slide up to the F#4!

Rock these notes, buddy and NEVER EVER give up :)
If you have further questions, just hit me!

Have fun!
René

I know these books! :D My brokeness at the moment is voluntary though... it's just really busy with university at the moment. I'm in some classes I want to be in so badly (since they will aid my goals in the long run) that I'm not in a position to work. Sometimes you need to make sacrifices... it will only be until September that I'll be this busy. Hehe, thanks for the heads up though! It's really amazing to meet someone else with a powerful and positive mindset. If you're interested, get the book "Goals" by Brian Tracy. It's in the line of the ones you mentioned and it turned my life around!

Interesting response about Young Guns by the way! Gives me some good insights in how it all works :) I really appreciate your elaborateness man. I will get to my exercises in about thirty minutes. Now I need to get back to reading again mate! Talk to you later!

P.S. listening to Tears of the Dragon now, great song! I'll start practising this one as well

Double post, sorry!

Okay, so I did the siren exercise. However, I'm wondering if I'm doing this correctly. Could you maybe correct me if I'm doing the exercise wrong?

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jisi9oit41d34x4/dZFHWiwAQ-

Hey man!
Yeah you are doing the exercise correctly.
But I hear quite some difficulties here, it´s great you posted this sample!
I am just going to take the time here to make some things clear!

1.) With your floating rips expanded take a belly breath but make sure your chest doesn´t rise like chest breathing. A little bit is ok as your lungs are expanding. Take the micro breath Jaime is talking about to make sure you are not filling your lungs more than 3/4. If you fill your lungs fully you will experience the temptation to empty your lungs which will make breath controll quite impossible.
2.) When doing the siren exercise smile into the sound which will make use of mask a lot easier and will help keeping the tongue down. Focus your voice in the soft pallate and use a mirror to make sure your tongue has the U-shape. The secret super cool way to get the U-shape is to smile while using the bright sound and keeping it in the pallet. And I mean to REALLY have it in the SOFT pallet!!!
3.) Support your voice by pushing down on your diaphragm BUT there are lots of ways to do it incorrectly! Now I am going to show you something really cool!!! It is called the valsava effect. WIth your rips expanded take the belly breath we talked about and cover your mouth and nose with your hands.
Next try to exhale (which isn´t possible because of you covering mouh and nose). You should feel your diaphragm pushing down and THAT is the proper way to support your voice. Do this exercise often but literally don´t knock your self out because you could get a little light headed doing it. Just remember that this is how the correct downward push feels like!
Valsava for the win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4.) Always make sure your voice is as opened as it can be, your little punching back in the back of your throat (uvula) should be lifted.
5.) Do me a favor and also use lah (like law), la (like bread) and e (like bee) in your siren sessions. Doing the sirens with these vowels can very well be applied during actual singing.

Now, I wrote all that because I heard three things in your recording: a lack of opening, a lack of support and an overuse of air.
Use less air when doing this exercise, in fact try to hold your breath a little when doing this exercise. You chords were not fully compressed (closed) because of blowing too much air through your glotis.
But your road to excellence will be a lot shorter than most people´s as you already do some stuff right!

You know what,I would like to help you out with your vocals. I have been down the same road as you and I know which road blocks to avoid.
So give me your skype ID and your email and we can get going. My email is rennerrene@hotmail.com
I don´t think you will even need a lot of guidance as there are just certain corrections to be made and you will be able to fly on your own.
But there are some important details that would just be too complicated to write. Time difference will be no problem as Austria and the Netherlands share the same time zone!

Now rock these sirens!!!
René