- Despite what you may have heard, rock is not dead.
Rock vocals are still among the most sought after
for pubs' and clubs' entertainment.
So we better take a look at the enduring genre of rock,
and learn how to sing this kind of music
with authenticity and sustainability.
Stick around.
- [Voiceover Intro] Sound check.
(guitar cords)
Check one, check two.
(audience applause)
♪ Be my Lord ♪
♪ If I die, what will be my reward ♪
♪ Have to know, I have to know my Lord ♪
♪ When should I die ♪
♪ Whoa ♪
♪ Should I die-I-I-I ♪
♪ Can you show me now ♪
♪ That I would not be ♪
- Hey there friend, my name is Dr Dan,
and I'm a contemporary singing voice specialist.
So what does that mean?
Well, does that mean that I can personally sing
every genre known to man?
No, it simply means that I have instructed
thousands of voices just like yours.
People who want to develop their voice
and improve their sound.
And one of the genres that I teach is rock,
which is a good thing, because it means that I can respond
to Aljon's question when he writes,
can you make a video about how to sing rock?
And everything we should know about rock?
Can do, Aljon.
I hope the following response answers yours and others'
questions about rock.
The first thing we need to comprehend about rock,
is there are literally over 100 sub-genres of rock.
Everything from it's birthplace of rock and roll
to classic rock, through to punk rock.
There are the heavier distorted versions,
including death, thrash, and screamo,
and even music theater has been influenced by rock.
Take for example, the song I sang
at the beginning of toady's video.
"Gethsemane" from Jesus Christ Superstar.
Or, even the rock musical Jess, Chess.
Jess? I don't know where Jess came from.
I guess what I'm wanting us to understand,
is rock vocals sit on a spectrum of output.
From the relatively easygoing 50's Elvis style rock and roll
right through to the extreme vocal production
of doom, sludge, or brutal death metal.
Ultimately, the choices you make vocally when singing rock
are directly related to the genre you're performing.
So, as we move forward through today's video,
be sure to contextualize the information
according to your personal situation.
So let's first of all talk about
the mechanical setup of the voice
for your garden-variety rock vocals.
- [Voiceover Intro] Soundcheck.
(instrumental rock music)
(audience applause)
- Rock vocals are predominantly a TA dominant mechanism.
Now, some people refer to TA dominant mechanism
as chest-voice sound.
This TA dominance, is typically taken
higher in the vocal range when singing rock
than other genres.
And it's this big full high singing
that creates the energy, and perceived audible tension
that we all love in rock.
Now another word you may hear used a lot
in YouTube videos that talk about rock
is the word compression.
This word seems to have originated
among speech level singing teachers
who use it to label the activity of the vocal folds
as they come together.
An action called eduction.
In SLS speak, high compression suggests strong
or heavy vocal fold eduction.
While low compression indicates
weak or light vocal fold eduction.
Now, I tend not to use the word compression,
because semantically, I've observed that
when singers are encouraged to vocalize
with greater levels of compression,
they seem to force their sound with too much air pressure.
And this in turn leads to vocal constriction.
I actually don't think that's what
the SLS school of thought is driving at
when they instruct the use of vocal compression
for genres such as rock,
but it certainly seems to be the outcome.
What I think the SLS guys and girls are aiming at,
and it's what I'm aiming at as well when teaching rock,
is an optimal balance setting
between air pressure and muscle activation.
As I mentioned before, we want to achieve
a TA dominant sound for all rock genres.
What changes mechanically, dependent on where you are
on the rock spectrum, light to heavy,
is whether the vocal folds are employing
a short phase or long phase oscillatory pattern.
Short and long phase refers to the amount of time
the vocal folds spend touching each other.
Now short phase means the folds only touch each other
for a short time.
And long phase means they connect for a longer time.
In the healthy balanced voice,
the short phase will produce a lighter dynamic,
while the long phase will produce
a heavier, louder dynamic.
Combine a long phase eduction with a TA dominance,
and you have a full-bodied vocal folded action
that produces a big energetic sound,
regardless of where the voice is in it's range.
Look, it's all easier said than done.
Despite what some singing teachers might suggest,
it can take months, if not years,
to achieve that optimal setting of air to muscle ratio.
For many of us, our bodies want to force the sound,
so before we finish off, let me give you some handy tips
when workshopping your rock vocals.
- [Voiceover Intro] Sound check.
(instrumental rock music and audience applause)
- The first thing I want you to become aware of
is your body's tendency to want to drive
or force the sound.
Especially when you're in your upper register
and singing flat out.
It's counterintuative, but I want you to try to resist
the urge to push, and actually
learn to do the exact opposite.
As you seek to maintain the energy levels,
do your best to shave the air pressure off.
And allow the voice to sit in to a good point of focus
and that brings me to the next tip.
Make sure you work on developing twang into your sound.
The clear, focused resonance of twang
will help you to achieve the balance of air to muscle
that I keep talking about.
Twang is also a great activity to apply as a straight tone
without vibrato.
Many rock genres have little, if any, vibrato.
So pay attention to how much movement
you have in your vocal line.
Fourth, learn to distinguish between effort and energy
in your singing.
I have another video that talks about
the difference between the two,
so I'll place the link in the note sections below
for you to watch it later.
But, suffice to say, effort leads to constriction,
while energy leads to effortless singing.
Finally, when working at the extreme end of rock vocals
with my students, I always encourage
a habitually healthy middle of the road technique,
that is even and sustainable.
I never allow my students to orientate their voice
to the extreme end, and only sing there.
All my metal singers learn to sing
with a clean, even tone first
and then learn to add, by choice,
the genre-specific effects, such as distorted sound.
A good rule of thumb, your voice should always
be able to turn a vocal effect on and off at will.
If it can't, it's probably living on the edge
of vocal wear and tear.
Oh, and before we finish,
if it hurts, stop.
No vocal production should hurt.
Singing is not a blood sport,
but it can easily become one
if you rupture the blood vessels in your vocal fords
and cause a vocal fold hemorrhage.
Trust me, you don't wanna go there.
If today's video has been helpful,
be sure to leave me a thumbs up.
I love making these videos for you guys and girls.
If this is the first time you've watched one of my videos,
I hope you've enjoyed the information,
and I hope it develops your voice
and improves your sound.
I'd love you to join me each week,
here at Voice Essentials, by subscribing to the channel
and interacting via the comments below.
But for now, I'll leave you to rock on.
My name is Dr Dan.
Sing well.
(microphone feedback and audience applause)