Hey, my name is Andrew and years ago I started using Brett Manning's Singing Success, this was after I bought Jaime Vendera's Raise Your Voice, which I read through and gained tons of vocal information from but was too lazy to do the exercises (worst mistake of my life ha, seriously).

Anyway I continued to use singing success for about two years. At first I gained some remarkable results, my range increased dramatically, but eventually I noticed the weight of my voice was intensely diminishing. And even more recently because of the nay exercises, and I guess me overdoing them, I went through a phase of severe vocal hyperadduction, where it sounded like I was constantly squeezing and forcing my vocal cords together. I had also lost a bit of my range. I assume this happen because I had too much tension in my voice in the first place, and the nay exercise caused my tension to go overboard.


After that I decided not to sing for three months, in which I only talked, as I knew my talking voice was kind of dopey in the first place and I thought it was slightly reverse the damage that had been done, and it did somewhat.

But anyways, after starting singing success my voice doesnt seem as 3 dimensional as it use to. Anytime I sing or talk it seems thin. I know this partly because of my rising larnynx, but even back then my voice was so much deeper and heavier sounding when I sang.

And sensation wise, I constantly fill like my voice still has some sort of hyperadduction going on.

IT's been about a year and half since I first seemed to encounter that hyperadduction, and my voice definitely has gotten somewhat better, but I still hate that the quality of my voice seems forever changed.

IS there anyway I can get the weight back. I feel like their has to be, as my voice was naturally like that.

Here is a video of my voice before i started singing success

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqc0Jw91U_8
( skip to :53)
and heres me singing the same part now.
https://soundcloud.com/andydarko/fruiti-cup

and heres an overview of my voice
https://soundcloud.com/andydarko/after-singing-success

Hopefully you guys can hear it. Like my lower range and midrange pretty much sound as thin as my upper range. And in the past my mid range and lower range use to be incredibly thick. I know some of it could have been because of improper breath support, and using to much breath for my notes, but I still have that problem now. And again sensationally, it feels as if somehow I managed to get my voice to be in a constant mixed voice, with even my lower range. My midrange just sounds and feels so lacking.

Please give me some guidance!


Also, I think I should mention before I started singing success, hitting low notes and singing in my mid range felt so much more relaxing, and I could do it more easily. Now like I keep on repeating, ha, it feels somewhat tense. And it's so much more difficult to hit low notes like I use to.


EDIT: I kinda just thought, would maybe doing the vocal fry and dopey mum exercises alot help get rid of the tension that's eradicating my natural vocal weight, and hopefully get my voice back to normal.

Before you practice, do the Vocal Stress Release.

Gargle on pitch with water.

Work on lowering your larynx.

Pick a song that is about 3 minutes long, and sit down with it, and simply sit there, lower your larynx, and hold your throat in an open position for the entire length of the song. Do that over and over.

After you can do that without any problem, say for a week or two, pick a longer song, or add another song.
The shape you want to create is as if you are singing the word YAWN.

That will help add some of the "body" that you looking for in your voice, due to the additional overtones and resonance that will be added in because of the extra space in your throat.



Tim