Question for the people who sing

bbottom · September 26, 2011, 09:58:05 AM

So I've been the singer/bass player in my last three bands and I've always been curious about something. How loud do sing into the mic?

When I first started singing I almost yelled into the mic where as and now I hardly ever do that and concentrate more on actually singing. I've been trying to let the mic do it's job and not blow my throat out. I'm curious how you guys approach it.

justinhedrick · September 26, 2011, 11:48:59 AM

Quote from: bbottom on September 26, 2011, 09:58:05 AM
So I've been the singer/bass player in my last three bands and I've always been curious about something. How loud do sing into the mic?

When I first started singing I almost yelled into the mic where as and now I hardly ever do that and concentrate more on actually singing. I've been trying to let the mic do it's job and not blow my throat out. I'm curious how you guys approach it.

i yell into the mic, but i really don't "sing" in my band, as much as "yell".

VOLVO))) · September 26, 2011, 11:58:34 AM

I can't sing and play guitar, so I either have to bullshit it by yelling, or I just don't do vocals.

I'm working on it, though. Graveyard/Lo-pan style really tickles my fancy.

RAGER · September 26, 2011, 12:22:18 PM

I've been told I'm a cross between Jarred Warren and Page Hamilton

liquidsmoke · September 26, 2011, 12:54:16 PM

I have my floor monitor amp unit turned up as high as it will go without feedbacking and I can hardly hear myself at all with earplugs during practice so I end up singing louder than I should and it makes my throat sore but my throat is sore half the time anyway from dry air and talking(voicing) at work anyway. From what I hear this is normal and you just have to get used to it. Arg.

Corey Y · September 26, 2011, 02:21:51 PM

I let the PA do the work. It's easier to control (and keep) your voice when you're not straining constantly. Whether I'm actually singing or just yelling/screaming.

spookstrickland · September 26, 2011, 05:42:33 PM

I liket the feeling of my voice when it is blown out. It gives me a nice throaty yell and and my crooning is a little more resonate as well. I don't recomend it to everyone but I have done my best to build up my vocal folds over the years slowly to lesten my chances of seriouse damage. I do prefer a nice loud vocal pa though. I like it when I can hear myself.

clockwork green · September 26, 2011, 06:20:00 PM

When screaming, how much of an actual scream is it? Is it like a "my entire body is on fire and I just ran barefoot into a salt and broken glass factory" or is it more controlled? I can't seem to pull off good, guttural, heavy vocals at high volume...my "big" singing voice is actually louder. When I try high volume screams they're actually really "clean" sounding if that makes sense.

liquidsmoke · September 26, 2011, 11:06:43 PM

Quote from: Corey Y on September 26, 2011, 02:21:51 PM
I let the PA do the work. It's easier to control (and keep) your voice when you're not straining constantly. Whether I'm actually singing or just yelling/screaming.

I have mine as loud as it will go without feedbacking. I could get a more powerful one but it might feedback at the same volume level as well, I have no idea. You can't turn down drum cymbals so everything has to be at least as loud as they are.

Corey Y · September 27, 2011, 12:59:06 PM

I think balancing against the volume of the drums is a good guideline in general. I know a lot of people like to be as loud as possible, and I can dig it, but if you can't hear the drums you're shooting yourself in the foot performance wise. In a world where every show had a great PA and sound guy, guitarists and bassists could be insanely loud. I've seen local bands play with full stacks (or more) with one mic and a shitty PA for vocals and nothing for drums, and it sounds like crap, since the audience couldn't hear the drums (and sometimes not even the amplified vocals) and it was kind of obvious that the band couldn't either.

eyeprod · September 27, 2011, 07:35:25 PM

I think that in a loud rock band you need to yell pretty loud in to the mic. The reason is that you cant have the mics too hot or else they pick up too much guitar and drums. That's how it seems to work best in my experience, yell really loud.

liquidsmoke · September 27, 2011, 11:35:53 PM

Quote from: eyeprod on September 27, 2011, 07:35:25 PM
I think that in a loud rock band you need to yell pretty loud in to the mic. The reason is that you cant have the mics too hot or else they pick up too much guitar and drums. That's how it seems to work best in my experience, yell really loud.

Like a lot of rock and heavy metal vocalists I actually sing and I can only sing so loud. If I yelled my vocals would sound completely different and I'm not going for that style.

Mike_Sims · September 28, 2011, 01:27:37 AM

I usually have the PA loud enough to where I can sing "quieter" parts close to the mic and still have them audible, "louder" parts I usually back off a bit from it

mawso · September 28, 2011, 04:23:51 AM

I project pretty loud

Mostly because I don't like how I sound when I'm not really going for it. I know some people can get a good tone without really belting it out, but I can't.

It's a bit of a problem, partly because I'm so much louder in the upper part of my range than the lower. I try to compensate for it by how close I am to the mic for different bits of the songs, but that can be hard to always remember to do.

Been playing a lot of shows and recording an EP at the same time and my voice gets worn out quite a lot now. I've been meaning to learn to sing a bit quieter for a while now. Like, get some proper lessons and shit. But so far I haven't gotten around to it.

liquidsmoke · September 28, 2011, 01:34:52 PM

What do you all use for monitors/PAs for vocals? I've been borrowing a friend's powered Behringer unit for over a year and will need to give it back to him or buy it from him at some point but I want more power. I think Behringer lists max power output not RMS but they make a "1260 watt" unit that you can get on ebay new shipped for $450, that is very cheap even if it's only 500 or 600 watts RMS. If I couldn't hear myself through that thing I think in ear monitors would be my last option and I don't want to go that route.

Pundan · September 28, 2011, 01:46:42 PM

I got some spanking new PA-speakers today, but my throat is all fucked up from a cold. Couldn't try them out really, but I believe we're at the top of the volume we'll get to in our jam room. When I'm not concentrating on what I'm doing is when I'm best. Oddly enough I find it easier to do deeper growls in high volume rather than normal singing. I guess that's because of me not being really comfortable yet with my normal singing. I'd like to get more stamina though so I can hold the notes longer, but it's hard when you're riffing around.

eyeprod · September 29, 2011, 03:48:49 PM

my drummer (who also sings) projects really well. Me, not so much. Last night I turned up the PA and tried it out at practice. Had to situate the PA speakers just right to get a good sound without much bleed. Overall it was nice to have the extra volume and not have to work on projecting so much. My drummer also liked it, especially since we're both out of shape vocally to be really belting it out. It was especially convenient on my tunes where I more or less sing. We didn't practice any, but for my more ruff vocal stuff I think I would definitely have to step back from the mic a little if it was this hot, so I'm not sure how well it would work for us in a loud, live situation.

jibberish · September 30, 2011, 02:36:08 AM

man, sooo many variables

some people's voices dont open up until they sing loud enough. they have to belt it out. they have to play with mic distance.

some people like FZ i believe mastered the really quiet vocal stuff

some music requires spirited vocals, some requires restraint

then throw in everyone is different and different mics start having an effect on how the singer delivers...etc

my singing is a cross between frank zappa and neil fallon heh

liquidsmoke · September 30, 2011, 03:16:05 AM

Ear plugs are my main problem but since I value my hearing I will continue to wear them. I even wear the musician ones that let a lot more sound through and even leave your ears slightly ringing after practice.

cat shepard · September 30, 2011, 10:49:23 AM

I always had to scream really loud in the early days because all we had was a speaker that we placed over the top of a bucket, if you screamed really loud you could hear it and that just kind of became the way. Later there were PA's and we would turn the master up to unity and structure the gain so that when you screamed it would peak at 0 on the channel and drive it with the channel fader. Lots of problems with decisions leading to all of this stuff being lost in pawn shops trying to re build. Probably keep screaming though real loud.

jibberish · October 01, 2011, 07:33:33 AM

key: compressor/limiter

spookstrickland · October 03, 2011, 06:30:35 PM

Quote from: clockwork green on September 26, 2011, 06:20:00 PM
When screaming, how much of an actual scream is it? Is it like a "my entire body is on fire and I just ran barefoot into a salt and broken glass factory" or is it more controlled? I can't seem to pull off good, guttural, heavy vocals at high volume...my "big" singing voice is actually louder. When I try high volume screams they're actually really "clean" sounding if that makes sense.

It's loud. I scream like I'm really being hurt.

Chovie D · October 03, 2011, 06:38:00 PM

scream singing is controlled. you're not actually screaming

VOLVO))) · October 04, 2011, 12:43:02 AM

I can't play guitar and sing at the same time. If I do, it's in rhythm with what I'm playing. I tried tonight, I'm super shy about it...

clockwork green · October 04, 2011, 01:44:11 AM

Quote from: SunnO))) on October 04, 2011, 12:43:02 AM
I can't play guitar and sing at the same time. If I do, it's in rhythm with what I'm playing. I tried tonight, I'm super shy about it...

That's the same boat I'm in. I can either sing in the rhythm I'm playing or I can sing long, sustained notes over my playing. I've been working on locking in a basic rhythm and just mumbling nonsense has gotten me a bit better at working on independent singing and playing. My "aggressive" vocals could really use some work, they're much quieter than my big clean vocals.

I'd love to sound like Scott Kelly gargling a thousand angry Wu-Tang killer bees but if Buzzo, Wino and Al (Aloe?) can get by without "screaming" metal vocals then maybe so can I.