Jaime:

Thanks for developing RYV and the website that supports it.

Like you, I started singing when I was very, very young (my parents said that I started before I could even talk). As I got older, I became a working metal drummer. However, always longed to step out front and make the songs I heard in my head come to life. In about 1989 I did that.

While I had pretty good voice quality, I had (and still have)a really limited range in my chest voice. I read everthing I could get my hands on about the voice as a means of disguising this weakness. You are right. There wasn't much out there for rock singers in the late 80's. Due to lack of good info, what I ended up doing was simply developing my falsetto below the break as a means of hiding my deficiencies.

While I could be made to sound great in the studio or live, I hated the fact that I was always SO dependent on the soundman and without amplification I always felt that I was "pulling a fast one" on the audience.

Anyway, I ordered RYV and should be receiving it tommorrow. Based on what I've been reading on the web, I'm very excited. The kids today are so lucky to have access to information like this! Bastards!

Back in "the day" my only choice was to try and convince my parents to foot the bill for MI (I was accepted there), which if memory serves was reasonably expensive.

Anyway Just saying hi.

Dave

When did you go to MI? I went there in 90/91. I put my heart and soul into this method, and now I'm backed by singers like Jim Gillette, Tony Harnell, James LaBrie, and Josey Scott. I have heard a lot of success stories from this book and no bad press as of yet ;) I hope you enhoy the book. I truly believe that you can sing every falsetto note in full voice, so I bet you see a substamtial difference once you start the program.

Peace,

JV

Jaime:

I actually never went to MI. Sorry that you misunderstood me. At the time my folks just wouldn't foot the bill. Plus they were concerned about me relocating from the East coast (VA. Beach).

That's the part of what prompted my comment about today's young musicians being SOOO lucky. I remember trying so hard over about a 5 year period to find a competent vocal instructor who had a method that would allow me to sing rock efficiently. The nearest I could find was an opera singer who kept telling me that I would destroy my voice singing Metal and that I should pursue a career in the opera. Paying money for that type of discouragement is not what I had in mind, so after about 3 months I quit.

However, as I mentioned above, I still parlayed my falsetto into something. What I used to do is work it below the break. When I would ascend in my scale work (still in falsetto) I would attempt to keep the larynx in a reasonably fixed position (to lower the tone). I'm thinking now that this may have damaged my voice. I'm sure I'll discover the error of my ways after I read the book.

Anyway, not going to MI lead to a fews years of soul searching, egg and mayonaisse sandwhiches, a college degree and involvement in politics. The older people I work with have no idea how I can listen to Metal.

P.S. I still have portions of Jim Gilletes "Metal Power" on CD, circa 1988.

Dave

Yeah, I got copies of Jim's early stuff too. one tip, NEVER CONTROL THE LARYNX. You must strengthen the vocal muscles to "allow" the larynx to remain neutral. Falsetto will dry out the cords a lot quicker than full voice too. But, there are ways to eliminate the breathiness associated with falsetto.

JV