mike,
With the fence-sitting practice I've had over the years? Ha! I suppose my
criticisms can be boiled down to :the world's STILL not perfect?!!?
I suspect that you may have a point about using taping often, if at all,
though it seems awfully like *work* to me. I may just give it a try.
In my own case I am fairly used to my recorded sound, and do indeed
remember the sounds of the accompaniment and other singers in the same
recording, and I am struck, for instance by how balance is affected between
singer and piano, in the kind of recording the local access tv station does
- maybe they need newer equipment! (I also find that an individual piano
stands a much poorer chance of being recognised than an individual human
voice in a recording. Pianos aren't easy to record well either. Good
recording engineers really are marvels!)
However in earlier days I remember being appalled by the sounds I made,
and all that kept me going was the assurances of others that I had
something special, and a sort of dogged momentum - perhaps others may not
be so fortunate, and that, I think, is my point.
I think there are two ways of getting an idea of what it sounds like out
of your head: taping; and holding your hands *in front of* your ears, and
listening for what the room throws back at you. I use the latter quite a
bit in practice. A sort of negative thing I have tried is to block my ears
and try to sing in such a way that my voice doesn't sound boomy and close,
which has the merit of focusing more attention on the tactile sensations of
singing. I don't know whether this is a route to good singing, but it
allows me to observe minutely the tensions that creep in as the pitch
ascends. But that's a different subject!
john
the fence I sit upon
is the fence
of wisdom,
glasshopper
At 02:46 PM 7/5/01 -0400, you wrote:
><< To get the most out of your voice you must
> maximize its resonance, which may mean resonating some vowels in ways you
> normally wouldn't in speech (this is a big subject not easily explainable).
> Also, if something sounds big to you (loud in your head) that may be
> because you are resonating in such a way as to make it sound big *in your
> head*. It may have little relation to what others hear. >>
>
>john,
>
> this is an excellent example of just how different things on the inside
>can sound from things on the outside and, i think, yet another excellent
>reason to use tape. however, in your other recent post you seem to be
>advising against the use of taping for its lack of depth.
>
> i agree that taping oneself is not ideal however, we have only two
>choices; use it or not. if we're going to use it, i say we need to use it
>often. the more we use it, the more we develope an expertise in using it
>as a tool. and, after a while, we become immune to the 'i hate my voice'
>syndrome.
>
> what do you think of having reference sounds in the background, like
the
>piano accompaniment? one could hear how the tape affects the piano and
>assume that something similar happens to one's voice.
>
>mike
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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