Singing Tips & Recording Questions

[Guest Fook You]

Wow thanks!

I'm kind of working out my budget right now...Does anyone have a rough estimate how much these usually cost?

[Guest predator]

Okay, I have a question about my voice.

I think I'm losing my voice, which isn't a good thing at all.

Because I have a concert coming up this weekend.

How do you get rid of a dry, raspy throat in like 3 days? .__."

[Guest Fook You]

Uhm...it tastes gross...but I boil walnut shells and drink it...

It tastes REALLY BITTER

But usually, for me at least, my dry raspy throat is gone the next day.

It's like...chinese herbal medicine stuff or something. At least that's what I'm told...

[Guest Pinaiicolada]

I have a logitech desktop mic and it's really quiet.

Can anyone help me please?

And if I increase the volume on Adobe Audition it gets static-y.

[Guest Fook You]

Don't try using webcam mics. You're really not gonna get rid of that static unless you buy a proper mic.

[Guest soyabeangirl16]

thanks for all the advice here, guys.

a couple of questions/ comments:

ive found that no matter what i drink, it doesnt make an impact on how my voice sounds. is this true or am i just not hearing the difference maybe? i dont know.

and when i sing some songs (like by pink, avril lavigne and stuff,) my voice goes all scratchy. i know the song is like that, but i just get so stuck in what it sounds like that i cant sing it any other way. i guess thats a good thing, but would you suggest anything (even psychological) to help me with not singing them like that?

thanks if you can help.

[Guest J0N]

ive found that no matter what i drink, it doesnt make an impact on how my voice sounds. is this true or am i just not hearing the difference maybe? i dont know.

From what I understand, room temperature water is the best because it will hydrate your vocal cords properly by giving it a thin coat of liquid which will help your vocal cords work better; soda and such contains sugar which will make you constantly thirsty and give you that thick saliva cause of the sugar, LOL I sound like I'm bs'ing my self. I might be wrong, but thats what I've always thought anyways.

edit-

just something i found on the net.

The vocal folds need to be lubricated with a thin layer of mucus in order to vibrate efficiently. The best lubrication can be achieved by drinking plenty of water. A good rule of thumb (if you have normal kidneys and heart function) is to drink at least two quarts of water daily. Dr. Van Lawrence, world renowned Laryngologist, often said, “Drink until you pee pale.”

Caffeine and alcohol pull water out of your system and deplete the vocal folds of needed lubrication. Caffeinated drinks include coffee, tea, and soft drinks. Small amounts of these beverages are acceptable but must be counterbalanced by drinking more water.

[Guest sikkony]

From what I understand, room temperature water is the best because it will hydrate your vocal cords properly by giving it a thin coat of liquid which will help your vocal cords work better; soda and such contains sugar which will make you constantly thirsty and give you that thick saliva cause of the sugar, LOL I sound like I'm bs'ing my self. I might be wrong, but thats what I've always thought anyways.

No, that is true.

[Guest soyabeangirl16]

okay, i know its good to drink water. i just have a bad habit of not doing it. but thanks guys.

[Guest disfunktional.]

Okay. asking again(:

Is there a way to help you sing lower notes? you know the parts

where you have to use your chest voice? I can't do it TT-TT

oh and is there a way to reduce your pitchy-ness?

[Guest J0N]

Okay. asking again(:

Is there a way to help you sing lower notes? you know the parts

where you have to use your chest voice? I can't do it TT-TT

oh and is there a way to reduce your pitchy-ness?

I think everyone uses their chest voice to talk and or to sing. To know if you are using your chest voice is by holding a note and see if you can feel the note resonates from the chest cavity and if your chest voice is weak then I think you can do scales and other exercises that I'm not sure which kinds, that will help you make it a more fuller sound; however I thought your chest voice should be the same as just speaking, so I'm not sure how you "can't" use your chest voice. If you are talking about range, then I would think its the same as trying to extend your range higher, taking it one note at a time and practice.

Just remember that vocal cords are like Muscles. If you want to work with heavier weights you need to start off easy then work your way up. Its the same for Vocal Cords, with proper exercises and training of course. Also, starting off with easier exercises and then gradually move up is to help you train unused muscle which will help you to develop a better tone quality and to train the other unused muscles . The more you practice the more strong and flexible your vocal cords will be; again with the right training, exercises, and techniques.

Breath support is important also! and water!

Hope I helped.

[Guest iPhets]

umm.. this might be a reeally stupid Q but if your mic is crap .. it will make you sound crap also right?

cause i sound really crap when i record myself... im keep thinking its the mic becuz when i sing it sounds nothing like the recording =/ or is it just me?

(im lazy to get a decent mic yet so im asking to make sure im not the one sounding crap >.>)

[Guest J0N]

umm.. this might be a reeally stupid Q but if your mic is crap .. it will make you sound crap also right?

cause i sound really crap when i record myself... im keep thinking its the mic becuz when i sing it sounds nothing like the recording =/ or is it just me?

(im lazy to get a decent mic yet so im asking to make sure im not the one sounding crap >.>)

Well, I recorded myself a few times but nothing serious and I think that if your microphone is really that "crap" then it could distort your voice, but all of us think we can sing better than we really do. If you are new to recording then you will feel like it sounds nothing like you because you aren't use to hearing yourself playback, so it could get some getting use to. It could be other problems like a bad/old sound card. So, I'm not really sure what the REAL problem is. It could be the microphone, sound card, other problems, or maybe it's just you.

My story, I use to try to record myself singing with this 30dollar headset (headphone/microphone) and I sounded really bad. So, I went to a computer in the living room and sung with the karaoke machine that we had and recorded it and it still sounded bad, even tho I thought that the echoes and such that you hear from a karaoke would make me sound better, but it didn't. After that I thought that by getting a "pro" microphone it would make me sound more "pro", but I was wrong. I realize it was just me, I really couldn't sing as good as I thought. Thank goodness it was 2 years ago, but its not like I've improved .

I guess my point was, if you can't sing, no matter how good your equipment is, it won't help how you sound.

I hope I said something useful after all that. good luck!

[Guest soyabeangirl16]

oh and is there a way to reduce your pitchy-ness?

what do you mean pitchy-ness? everyone sings a pitch, like a note. i think you're looking for another word.

[Guest soyabeangirl16]

oh and is there a way to reduce your pitchy-ness?

what do you mean pitchy-ness? everyone sings a pitch, like a note. i think you're looking for another word.

[Guest soyabeangirl16]

oh and is there a way to reduce your pitchy-ness?

what do you mean pitchy-ness? everyone sings a pitch, like a note. i think you're looking for another word.

[Guest iPhets]

My story, I use to try to record myself singing with this 30dollar headset (headphone/microphone) and I sounded really bad.

hehe okays.. thanks! im using the cheap 30 dollar headset by the way .. :D

[Guest dark intuitions]

@ the triple poster up there

Pitchiness refers to being off the correct pitch. So when we say someone is being pitchy, they aren't hitting the correct notes.

To fix: Practice. Record yourself and learn the song well. And practice.

[Guest s0y0un*]

i have a question on using audacity.

im trying to lower the pitch for a song and make it into an instrumental, but whenever the voice changes really bad. how do i get rid of that? >< or is there any other way i can do it? thanks

[Guest kayzpal]

Okay, I'm sorry if it's been asked before, but how do you make an Instrumental mp3? I thought you can't really do anything about the song but I heard some of you have done it. So, how do you guys do that?

By the way, I'm using Audacity and Sony Sound Forge.