Karaoke Forums

Hi,

just wondering. How do you sing Motley Crue, Guns & Roses? Headvoice or belt? Can only (high) tenors sing those artists or can you train yourself?

Dumbdrums you seem to sing these artists very well. How far up does your head voice extend?

Thanks,

Morten

more from the gut! that's my motto...

In my opinion (since I'm not a guy... but I run into similar stuff), you have to belt everything BUT the higher parts, then switch (hopefully fluidly) to headvoice for those. It's tricky.

hey mort hows it goin bud...long time no see !! basically one word of caution....singing exclusively that way like i do requires a lot of healing inbetween...there is no healthy way to do it...tons of water helps a good 6 hours before you sing...it takes roughly a half hour for what you drink to moisten your vocal folds...the trick is really in the throat and head...my diaphram does not get tired when i sing this way but my throat does...it is a lot of head voice...like syber said the higher you go the more your head controls the sound...the best way to describe it is when i sing like axl rose or brian johnson i feel like a chimney flugh is sealing in my throat and and everything coming out is being produced in the vocal chord area or higher......the irony in a guy like axl rose is the more you abuse the chord by constricting its vibrations, the better it seems to sound...this kind of singing is very catch 22....when i cant hit my higher range in rasp(i will call it rasp) i sometimes have a cigerette and i can BUT and i mean BUT the more i smoke the less lung air capacity i have and the shorter sustain and volume i produce...really one cannot play in both fields...if you choose metal your natural singing voice will take a hit....i am a huge believer in this book i have...its called the rock and roll singer survival guide...by mark baxter...it is really the only book i have found on the market that positively deals with singing this way...almost any vocal coach will crucify you for singing this way but mark baxter advocates it and teaches some brilliant maintenance techniques...i highly recommend this to you mort if you want to learn how to sing in my style....just dont get too good cause ill have to kill you !!!hehe
take it easy bro !!! good to see you again

_________________
Gladly helping Kappy to become cyber immortal !!

by the way believe it or not my natural voice is a high baritone so it really is in the technique and not the range.....

_________________
Gladly helping Kappy to become cyber immortal !!

Drums,

thanks for the long and descriptive answer. I knew that you are the master

My range is baritone-tenor up to about ~a/b over middle C. So perhaps that is enough. I will have to look into that book of yours. I would like to sing all sort of stuff including some metal. Just got Velvet Revolver, that would be cool to sing.

Thanks,

Morten

Wow... what a great post! I'll have to check out your subs now

Actually, the book sounds very interesting to me too. I have a naturally 'lyrical' or very pure sounding voice, which is FINE for 'pretty' songs, ballads, blah blah....

BUT, we always want what we don't have, right??? So what am I doing now?? I've been working on really gritty rock tunes and stuff where i have to have some rasp in my voice. I've managed to start getting it down, but hurts the H3ll out of my throat. (whine) I don't know if that's something that will get better as time goes on, or what.

I don't want to 'destroy' my voice, but I don't want to be so limited on what I can sing either. =p I've actually considered 'smoking' at times, but never having been a smoker, I've always rejected that idea. Instead, I've just been screaming my arse off to get that sound, but I don't know if I'm doing it right or not.

You want a challenge??? (not literally, you'll bust a tendon) Try singing Benetar's "Invincible"... doesn't sound that hard until you have have to scream all the way through, then hit that super high note toward the end... yeeesh. Makes me sweat every time.

dumbdrums wrote:

Here's me being a nag..

_________________

Mike,

and thanks for the book recommendation!!!

Morten

dumbdrums hit the nail on the head. When I do GNR and AC/DC I attack the song with a tight throated head voice and it takes a little time to recover after the song. I don't do more than one or two songs like this a night and usually towards the end of the night after I'm done with the harder songs I'm doing for the evening.

I do know that singing like this wasn't something I was able to do until I was in my 30's for some reason. It might take time to build the ability to sing like this and you have to be careful not to damage the chords while doing it. Lots of water before, during and after a show will really help to keep the damage down. If you want raspy but are trying to quit smoking you can always try drinking a little milk before you sing... sometimes it will give the same 'effect' as smoking because it increases mucus production and coats the throat.

BTW, if you're wondering... No, that's not how I get the gravel when I sing Louis Armstrong and some of the other songs I've done that way.

I take a biggggg breath and sing out

"METALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL"

Hope that helps!

plus I am always offstage to kick matt in the nards so he can make those high notes... he always seems to pick the songs with the highest and hardest notes ot hit for his FIRST song of the night ... by the end of the night he sounds like wolfman jack who just smoked 5 packs of cigarettes and drank a fifth of jagermeister ... - tig

is there video for this....you know....the kick.....the sing.....come on.....hand it over!!

_________________

yeah, right in the middle of singing Sammy Hagar... XSSxcccrrreeeeeeeee. and SEE ya! !