to say I'm excited about this video would be a drastic understatement there are so many
of you who have reached out to me and said well I think I'm getting mixed but it's too
thin or I have power up to a certain point and then I just feel weak I can't get my voice
to do what it wants to I can't build a powerful mix well learning from Ronnie James Dio and
Justin Hawkins in a very specific way as we can pair their approaches may just be the
thing that helps you get what you've been wanting to get a powerful [Music] [Applause]
[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] insane [Music]
[Music]
and two very important things before we start juxtaposing these mixed voice Marvels if you
don't know how to add support how to use your support correctly across various areas of
your range this stuff isn't going to work you aren't going to understand this second
important thing if you need help dialing in your support and using it in various contexts
within your singing click the link below and join my free voice course and I'll help you
do just that okay the second important thing is a phrase and I'll be explaining this phrase
as we go on in this video and how it's so important the phrase is Weight Management
specifically vocal weight management this right here is what both of these singers expose
well in different ways that has really lit some things up for me in my own mixed voice
let's listen to just a bit of Justin Hawkins here and let's talk about his vocal weight
can't explain you're making me feel now I'm sure you've all heard Justin Hawkins talk
welcome to Justin Hawkins Rides Again the podcast without knowing anything say that
his singing voice here what you just heard is lighter or heavier than his speaking voice
and would you say that this opening passage from Ronnie James Dio is lighter or heavier
than what we just listened to in Justin Hawkins there's no wrong answers just do this mental
exercise with me [Music] [Applause] [Music] maybe my face gave a little something away
there but then again maybe it didn't my goal is to take what each one is doing and go
play with it stumble upon little victories as I'm being completely abandoned into the
experience this is the only way to do it this is the only way to do it is that you're making
me feel that's a light sounding voice even though it's not that high
I can do things with my vocal posture I can bring my resonance around in different places
I've done lots of videos on this kind of thing but let's not over complicate things let's
just try in our own voices to make things lighter or heavier in different parts of our
range can't explain That's Heavy that feels heavy sounds heavy can explain can't explain
can't explain can't explain can't explain can't explain ooh there's all sorts of range
of weight there right now if I play with that range of weight yeah doing all sorts of different
things to generate that just asking myself is it lighter or is it heavier that's really
all for the moment can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel can't explain I
can't can't explain that you're making me feel feel this is where a lot of people go
right they get in one area like this is my belt voice I got I'm in a belt can't explain
all the feelings that you're making me feel it doesn't work but if we know how to manage
the weight of our voice as we go around different notes and sing different words using different
vowels
I could never do that if my voice was Heavy feel yeah I can't even reach the note now
wait a minute deal sounded heavier and he sounded like he was also singing higher let's
go back to his voice before we make any snap judgments let's try a few things
let's just hit that note any way I can when very light right when when huh what he sounds
nasala
now I notice when I make my voice sound more nasal [Music] it tends to lighten it a little
bit even at a lower pitch Wednesday
now when
ooh lie when is my name when there's lightning oh
he's does he make it heavier on light than when when does it line when there's an isn't
it and then he lightens it up on Lightning so okay what I'm getting at here is that this
weight management thing is highly Dynamic when we really listen to Ronnie in isolation
almost every note has a different weight you say well yeah of course he's very good at
doing it yeah he is good at it but we can get good at it too if we have this mindset
he's not approaching his voice with a single weight this allows him to be weightier a pure
weightier than the Justin Hawkins Passage and be higher be more powerful but only for
parts and this is where musical acting in clever innocent deception helps singers a
ton if I just take this phrase when there's lightning I don't even worry about the pitches
I just worry about waiting each sound differently when when when when there's when well I'm
gonna lift something heavy on wind when when there's lightning [Music] when there's lightning
I'm just expressing with it the different way I'm adding so much weight to light in
my own voice there when when when there's when when there's lightning then I'm backing
off but so much weight on light that I can't lift it like my voice is giving out it's cracking
but I'm leaning into the fact that it's cracking and it's creating an interesting side effect
it's kind of cool let's try in a different part of my range win win right there's all
different ways to add weights or take away weight when there's lightning when there's
lightning there's this Arc there's this Arc of energy an arc of weight even as I'm low
right here helping me get used to managing my weight across a simple phrase
I'm gonna get away from deal for a moment and go over to Justin Hawkins
[Music] subtle he's doing the same thing here in a different way listen again
you're behind the steering wheel specifically I want to hone in on you're behind the steering
wheel I'm really exaggerating it really exaggerating what he's doing in my own voice you're behind
the steering wheel yeah yeah heavier and higher lighter and lower I am getting my my mind
really used to the idea by workshopping a small phrase like this over and over again
that lighter isn't always an accessory just to go higher lighter can be used as I'm going
lower I can be down here
really not light
or I can do it the other way I can go heavier as I go higher I can do both and I should
be able to do both interchangeably regardless of whether I'm trying to go high or low I
can go lighter or heavier this is huge listen to this phrase again with with this kind of
thinking in mind and listen to how he lightens up as he goes lower
steering wheel steering wheel as he thinking about this no but he's worked in lots of Versatility
and flexibility into his voice and this weight management is absolutely part of it now listen
to how Justin manages his weight over this chorus hint it's not just when he's going
higher but it is when he's going higher but there's more to it listen for it just listening
is this lighter than what follows
don't worry about classifying things as mixed or head or anything just what it sounds like
to me is this right here
is heavier than this
but listen to how he exits his phrases right here
there's a chance we can make it now right he transfers his weight there just
make it now
so then he makes it really light make it now
weight management it involves Dynamic resonance placement support all things I help work with
you directly with in my free voice course linked below but especially when you're trying
to dial in a mixed voice we don't think about this we just think about oh I hear a singer
singing hi I need to match those notes and I need to sing and mix in order to do that
I'm telling you this weight management thing is the ticket across little tiny sections
having an attentiveness to how these singers are modifying the weight of their voices across
these micro sections of phrases is what allows them to to exist in the mixed voice that we
hear so now what I'm going to do is I'm going to bounce back and forth between approximating
different phrases in each of these singers I'm going to bounce back and forth because
I don't want to get locked into trying to imitate either one of them I want to work
on this idea of weight management and the things I do are going to sound crazy but you're
also going to see as they sound crazy and even because they sound crazy I'm able to
dial in with this weight management principle lots of amazing good sounding stuff there's
a chance we can make it no there's a chance we can make it no heavy there's a chance we
can make it now light there's a chance we can make it now lighter there's a thing
heavier
okay that was cool I added weight let's go over to do some Ronnie when you've tried Do
they hide deep inside is it someone that you know is it someone that yeah is it someone
that you know is it is it is it some is it someone that's you
no no heavy or no heavy on no someone that's you is lighter yes is it some is it someone
that you know I'm gonna sing it like Justin Hawkins might is it someone that you know
okay is it someone that you're now just on some no I'm gonna make it heavier is it some
is it don't worry if your voice cracks is it is it someone that you know is it someone
that you know is it someone that you know is it someone that you know turn up the contrast
light heavy light heavy is it someone that you know oh and let your voice do what it
does is it someone that you know hmm is it someone that you know oh is it someone that
you know now I got there by thinking light is it someone that you know and not by trying
to commit myself to an overall tone of the line it was thinking about varying the weight
and therefore by proxy varying placement varying support loudness I'm resonating in all sorts
of subtle different ways by letting myself free into Ridiculousness and explore the fringes
and then gradually comfortably dialing those things together yeah yes it's someone someone
sure
foreign
now let's take a minute and listen to this vocals up version of Even Flow that I did
at the beginning make note see if you can name in your own mind when I am adding weight
and taking away weight this is going to trickle down and infiltrate how you approach your
own voice especially when you're doing mixed voice because you will be able to use different
weights to access different notes all within one phrase intentionally [Music] [Applause]
concrete
okay [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music] what does it feel like when you take a single note single phrase single vowel and
practice moving with different weights and all that that implies with all the other ways
you can move your voice around if you'd like more help with this check out any of my other
videos on mixed voice and make sure you join the free course so that you can harness the
optimal support and placement options for these kinds of working with your voice I hope
this was helpful leave questions and comments below we'll see you for more