THE VOICE CONNECTION
SOUND OFF

Welcome to The Voice Connection Sound Off; a forum for users of books like Raise Your Voice, Melody to Madness, The Ultimate Breathing Workout, and Unleash Your Creative Mindset, as well as a place for Vendera Vocal Academy members to interact.

This message board was created so that singers could come together and "sound off" to help support each other during vocal development and the creative process of unleashing the creative spark that occurs when writing and producing music. Currently, myself and vocal coaches Ben Valen, Ray West, and Ryan Wall are here to respond periodicially to your questions, with new vocal coaches coming soon. But, feel free to help each other too:)

This board is here for you to ask questions about my and my fellow coach's books, videos, and MP3 programs, as well as offer others help with our vocal techniques. You may also post videos of yourself and your band to share your music and ask for critiques.

Please refrain from negative comments, profanities, spamming, and inappropriate criticisms of vocal methodologies, vocal coaches, and singers. All negative posts will be deleted and subject to banning without question. I will not respond to negative posts, because, as Mark Twain once said, “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.” With that said, positive criticism is welcome because that is how you'll grow as a singer during the training process.


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Re: Transcending tone sensations...

Hey Jaime,

I also had a question about transcending the tone. Is it normal to get a vocal fry at a certain point while transcending? I also used to get the same thing while doing falsetto slides (which I do all the time while singing), when I first managed to make it smooth. However, I got rid of that by adjusting where in the scale exactly I switch between the two. When I try to transcend pretty much anywhere, either I crack (while still ending up in full voice at the right pitch, after a fluctuation) or I get that. I haven't been able to get rid of it yet, is there anything I must pay extra attention to?

Also, I when I go over a certain pitch, my larynx starts rising and eventually, I strain so much that I crack and so I've been doing some bullfrogs. Is the tongue supposed to move while moving the muscles that drop the larynx down?

And finally, at higher pitches, where I cannot use my full voice yet, whenever I try to transcend, I still end up going into reinforced falsetto, which is what I automatically do in my singing, anyway. However, it's not a breathy or hoody falsetto, it's my usual loud Halford-style tone. How can I *force* myself not to do this?

I could post a few examples of the tone I'm talking about and of the problems, if you need them.

Re: Transcending tone sensations...

The fry and cracking you are experiencing are typical but you MUST work through the transition VERY SLOWLY in order to eliminate it. For the Bullfrog, I usually apply the yawning sensation a bit and keep the tongue down while doing the exercises. THe last question is a toughy! There is absolutely nothing wrong with using falsetto for the Halford type stuff, but you should continue to work on trying to transcend it into full voice. If it isn't hooty or breathy, I'd say you are a little closer to full voice as opposed to a true falsetto. Yes there is a difference but sometimes it is hard to tell. Keep the rins expanded and concentrate on feeling the resonance in the teeth, while shooting the high notes out the top of your head.

JV