Lowering your Voice

[DanielTCGuitarist]

That's a great technique when you're being a fairly rough spoken character, however, I will say that between your regular voice, and your vocal fry, there is always a give and take, you sacrifice a bit of tone and a bit of range in order to have this secondary range, so, as a Metal singer, myself (not Death, mind you, Power), I'd recommend really considering the risks when exploring vocal fry. There's a reason singers like Jari Maenpaa and the guy from Killswitch Engage are famous, they're truly lucky to have maintained a good tone (however in Jari's case, he does not match the tone and power of pure singers like Timo Kotipelto and Hansi Kursch), so vocal fry is definitely the way to go if you want to voice the extremely low characters, however, if you just want to go a bit lower, I'd recommend using yawn space, which you may or may not have heard of, it is an operatic way of breathing that provides that rich tone synonymous with Opera singers. What I'd just say about any more contemporary technique is just know the risks, growls don't last forever, so it's all about what you'll sacrifice, I'll always recommend Opera as it is a style widely taught by professionals, and it is easily the safest way of using your voice ^__^

[CeruleanAsh]

I see Melissa Cross in my free time ^_^ Fortunate enough to be able to do that. I'm definitely taking care of my money maker! I'm more brutal metal, straight growls and mid to high fry. Band link is in my sig if you ever get bored ;D


So this yawn space you speak of... Is that the term for it if one wanted to do some research? I'm always down to learn more ways to control my own lower end. How complicated is it to learn and maintain? So many questions...

[monisstar]

Thanks for the tip CeruleanAsh! Although, I don't really want to change my natural tone of voice (I'm not a metal singer, a pop singer maybe?).. And growl is a technique that doesn't come easily to me, and strains my voice too much (after which I get worried and stop singing altogether.. O_O) It's too much of a risk for me.. Although, I sometimes do a deep 'boogeyman' kind of voice.. It helps my lower registers to open up and increases it's prominence..

And yes, I would like to learn more about the "yawn space" you were mentioning, Daniel!

[DanielTCGuitarist]

There's a great book on singing by a guy called Jaime Vendera, called Raise Your Voice that perfectly describes it. Basically, when a baby breathes, you can see it's stomach move, it's breathing correctly, but, as we grow older, our breathing seems to be done more with our chest. If you both sing, I assume you know about breathing into the diaphragm, so yawn space is how you do it. You breathe in on a yawn, and fill up your diaphragm, your stomach should expand in all directions, or, at least, most directions, and you'll know if you've breathed in correctly, because when you have yawn space, you feel a cold air at the back of your mouth, and so you use that space by doing a very controlled yawn, so put it simply, that yawn is the foundation of an operatic tone, and that's how Opera singers get that thick, operatic tone. How difficult is it to maintain? Not that hard, once you learn it, you always know how to do it, but it's how far you get it. You won't be Pavarotti, or Placido Domingo, because a true opera singer will have lessons until they stop singing, or die, whichever comes first, but you will be able to utilise it to a point where you will have a rich lower end to your voice. Yawn space is probably not the 'correct' term, but it's the easiest way to put it, as most Opera techniques are in Italian (I can't name many of the italian terms for things XD), but the technique is called The Bel Canto technique, and breathing in on a yawn opens your throat up, to put it bluntly, and, the key is to do it silently, because if there's a breathy sound coming in, there'll be one coming about, however, Bel Canto technique is probably the most complicated technique in all of singing, people study it for years and still aren't in Operas, I think you two just need to learn the basic practices of use of your Pharyngeal Space (the more correct term for Yawn Space, if I'm not mistaken), to provide a much stronger, richer tone across your entire range, if need be.

[monisstar]

That's a very interesting technique! I always wondered how opera singers get that strong tonality to their voice! This clears things up a bit! Let me get this straight. So, you mean to say, that opera singers open their mouths as if to yawn, and so, are able to achieve that rich tonality right? And this technique also helps in lowering the voice range right?

[CeruleanAsh]

I might have wrote my advice strange or something x_x I'm not advising you to growl lol or to scream, or permanently lower your tonality. I was simply saying that the grudge sound, or fry, will help to locate a deeper placement for your normal voice. Then threw in that it will also help relax and comfort strained or tired chords ^_^


Thanks for the tips on the Operatic style Daniel, I will definitely be looking into it more ;D Always appreciate advice that other VA's have found helpful.

[monisstar]

Ohh.. maybe I got it wrong Cerulean! -_- I'll definitely try this tip soon though! -goes and checks the 'grudge' sound- xD

[DanielTCGuitarist]

That's a very interesting technique! I always wondered how opera singers get that strong tonality to their voice! This clears things up a bit! Let me get this straight. So, you mean to say, that opera singers open their mouths as if to yawn, and so, are able to achieve that rich tonality right? And this technique also helps in lowering the voice range right?

No, mouth shape is a whole different matter, it's about actually getting the yawn, and breathing in on it to get that cold air sensation, and using the space you've created to give that strong tone, and yeah, it helps you unlock your lower range, every person has it, but we all tend to talk through the mask, instead of with operatic technique, so our voices sound higher than they actually are, so using some Opera technique will help you add power to your low range, and discover pieces of your range you never thought you had ^__^ And don't worry Cerulean, I understand exactly where you were coming from, it's just the Operatic way is a much safer way of doing it, and it'll give you a cleaner tone, the vocal fry technique definitely has some useful applications, it's just a pretty dangerous technique when used improperly ^_^

[monisstar]

Ohh.. alright! Now I get it! Am trying it out right now!

[VigilantOutlaw]

Just saw this thread so i thought I would chime in.

I'm a male with a solid tenor range and i'm trying to lower into bass for the sake of doing a few character voices i like, and chicks like that kind of thing.


Lately i have been doing a lot of sirens and humming/singing against a drone trying to stay as relaxed as possible. For the practice session i just completed I found some success drinking hibiscus tea (get loose leaf, the bleach used in tea bags probably doesn't help you) while trying to expand and i kept humming sessions to 5 minutes at a time with a minute or two break afterwards.

I would also suggest doing some vocalized alexander technique while trying to expand your range. I picked up Yuri Lowenthall's vocal warmup off of Itunes and it has helped though i am still a ways from where i want to be.