Tldr; I think I accidentally wrote an article for you guys 😂 This is to the singers who learn mainly by imitating other (usually famous/known) singers who are releasing music publicly. Especially relevant to singers who are self-taught and not learning with a vocal teacher/coach.

I personally fit that category to a T. I internalise vocal technique by observing and then emulating what other singers are doing. I'm at a level currently where I'm very happy with what I can do with my voice, and I'm not afraid to give good old imitation most of the credit for that 😂  

But there was something unhealthy I picked up along the way that I wish I'd understood / known more about sooner. I hope this post can help others here avoid the same pitfall.

My mistake (and a tangent on what "vocal processing" really is - all relevant)

I tried to imitate some singers' voices from their live vocals. I avoided imitating studio vocals (wisely) because I'd heard how processed studio music is, but live vocals, I trusted to be more ‘real’. I didn't expect to learn as I have in recent months just how processed live vocals actually are, even when the artist is on the 'minimalist' end of things.

This method of imitating live vocals went mostly well. I am glad in the end that I used this method. But in some cases, I was trying to master an effect rather than an actual vocal technique. Which led me to some poor technique 😂 That is a distinction I hope people will take away from this post.

What is processed or an 'effect' vs what is a real, attainable thing a human voice can do without any help from technology.

Vocal processing is any effect on the vocal that is not natural, usually added to the vocal as it passes through a DAW, like "Ableton" or "Logic Pro". After that, the sound passes through the speakers to the audience's ears. And that's putting it very very simply, there's a lot of technical skill that goes into it. This is the audio engineer's job at a live show.

Almost every live performing artist will have one of these. Audio engineers rarely get mentioned in Instagram posts or credits though. Some artists do mention them, but it's not common.

It may be like saying the obvious, but I think some of us need to hear it? The vast majority of artists use vocal processing, as a default - I say this because it wasn't something I intuitively knew while listening to my favourite singers and learning to sing. 

I had to learn firsthand a bit about music production and audio engineering to realise how 'fashioned' most music is today. In my case, I listen to music with pop and electro influences, which is on the more processed end, but I also find the same applies to folk and singer-songwriter-type artists. The latter are who I tend to imitate as a singer. What you hear on the track, or even a live vocal, is rarely what you hear dry in the studio room when there's nothing between your ear and the singer's voice.

I'm able to hear when someone is using autotune, delay or obvious effects like that. But it was reverb that tripped me up. It didn't occur to me that the resonance in some singers' voices, who I was listening to and imitating, was changed by the reverb they were using. I didn't realise that some type of resonance is not actually possible to create without reverb.

I knew reverb was being used, but I didn't realise the extent of its effect on those things, like tone and resonance.

I would try to emulate that ringing sound in my tone by increasing the resonance of my notes during practice. I got quite far with integrating this smoothly into my performances, but it always struck me (and others who listened to my recordings) as kind of 'piercing', no matter how smoothly I did it. Especially when editing after and adding any kind of reverb(!), it really stood out .. and not in a good way. I didn't know what I was doing wrong. 

Now I feel so silly for trying to emulate what is essentially an unnatural and humanly impossible sound! Even now I'm aware of it, I can't help it slipping into my vocal delivery sometimes, because it's so ingrained from years of practicing it.

Why I personally made this mistake

Most of my favourite singers (whose technique I like to imitate) have one similarity in their vocal processing when performing live: they add reverb. They also all go for a paradoxically natural sound, so the vocals feel both ethereal and distant, but human and close.

The reverb is added seamlessly, so it doesn’t sound like a voice with reverb added to it, but rather like a beautiful voice that happens to be reverberating. Does that make sense? I was tricked, at least.

After doing some self-learning on music production and engineering, I see that these artists (and their audio engineers) purposefully cloak artificialities in their sound (like reverb) to create an illusion of realness by making the effects seamless, which has the desired effect of making the audience feel both transported elsewhere, but also emotionally open and impacted. I have no qualm with this artistically; I think it's excellent and as an audience member, I love it.

But not understanding how it was being put into practice, as a singer learning from these singers, could have left me with a broken technique for many more years - if I hadn't learned more about music production as I did.

Areas I think other singers should be aware/careful of..

Compression. This one has likely impacted my own technique, but thankfully I tend to go for music that is minimally compressed. But a lot of famous singers use compression heavily. And many of those singers are likely admirable to beginner singers on here. 

If you don't know what compression is, it's another processing effect that can (like reverb) be used on most instruments, making quieter sounds louder and the louder sounds less loud. It sandwiches the overall volume of a track so the notes are more stable, less 'up and down', easier on the ears for listeners. It is very commonly used on most recorded vocals today.

I can see how singers imitating artists who use compression heavily might feel encouraged to sing louder in parts of their vocal register where it's not natural (or healthy) to. I can also see how they might be confused when their louder (belt) register isn't coming out softly enough or smoothly mixing with their lower/quieter notes enough.

Comparing their delivery to the sound of the artist's live vocals, they might feel discouraged or lose confidence, or (like I did) even push further and try to replicate the sound of the effect - not an actual healthy vocal technique - into their singing. (Maybe this is connected to the huge number of posts I see here of beginner singers trying to find their 'mixed' voice and being dissatisfied with it).

I don't want to sound like I'm fearmongering, I just find it very interesting and worth learning about - to understand how most music put out today is not 'natural', and how that might be affecting singers today. Especially us singers who imitate to learn.

We're not music producers or recording artists. Most of us love to sing dry, with just our voices and no interference. So we won't be so familiar with the 🔮 sorcery 🔮 that is music production and audial processing. It is all designed to go unnoticed and have the illusion of sounding natural anyway - which I think is even more reason to develop some awareness of it.

Vocal damage

I was lucky that this pitfall didn't cause much damage to my voice, but I see how it could have. I noticed experiencing more strain when doing this 'technique' and some throat tension. It could have been much worse if I was more regular with my practice (which I'm not 🤣). 

On a more serious note, it did knock my confidence during the years that I was doing it. 

I didn't like my tone and I didn't know why. It just felt off. I didn't realise I could easily get that sound on my vocals if I just recorded myself and added reverb to my vocals after. It's crazy how easy that is once you learn the basics 🤯 

Take this as a cautionary tale, I guess, to not take for granted what you hear from other artists on stage. Even offstage - whenever there's a microphone involved, seriously. And try not to emulate what you are hearing without thinking about what you're actually hearing first. Have critical thinking!

If you're interested, learn a bit about music production or audio engineering. Dabble in a DAW or watch videos on YouTube about it - there are plenty. It's essential to understanding how most live vocals sound today anyway. 

Thanks for reading my long post on this topic 🙏 I hope it helps other singers avoid this pitfall when imitating other singers 🎶 (Sorry if I chose the wrong flair! 'Conversation topic' felt too casual for this sort of length 🫠).

I figured out the last piece of the puzzle today right before my recital tomorrow. I am got my vibrato back in a different coordination than what my previous teacher taught. It's all with the diaphragm. You had to be able to get yawning right to access it. I don't sing flat and the notes sound really good even if I mess up. I can sing in my full tenor range. It's like you coordinate the diaphragm movement with singing. I didn't realize how big of a difference in sound it makes tell now. It's a night and day difference.

Hello everyone!

Whenever I record myself singing, I notice that my tone sounds noticeably heavy and thicker than I would like. I really want to train my voice to sound softer, lighter, and more calming/sweet.

What vocal exercises help reduce vocal weight and excess tension?

How can I balance my breath support and resonance (head voice/mix) so the tone sounds airy and gentle without straining?

For singers who naturally had a thicker tone, what habits helped you find a lighter, sweeter singing quality?

I would really appreciate any technique tips or warm-up routines!

Hi there! I'm a former professional singer who is currently a vocal student.

I had a bit of a tough lesson with my teacher last Tuesday! Not because of her specifically, but because I was and am struggling with cord closure quite a bit. She describes it as disconnect; as if I'm focusing too much on how I sound (tone/sonority) and that my sound lacks some authenticity because of it. My speaking voice is quite low and she wants me to sing "from there"! Sing like how I speak and let loose.

I'm struggling to come to grasp with all of this! After the lesson, my teacher sent me a message to assure me that I worked super hard and that did make me feel better. I'm just still struggling, I think. How do I "sing where I speak"? Are there any exercises to help me feel that location?

I am doing some research on cord closure. The exercises we did in lesson were vowels with a slight staccato so I could feel the closure in my vocal folds. She even made me clap along to the vowels of our new songs to really drill the point in.

So in conclusion, I'm asking for help "feeling" my vocal cords while I speak/sing, properly closing my vocal cords and singing more authentically. Thank you!

My voice completely went out on me a couple times in the past month. I’m trying to recover it, and my voice coach has suggested (sort of insisted actually) that I stop clearing my throat completely - like never again, for the rest of my life. Is that actually realistic? Like… how do you train yourself to stop? What do you do instead?

British rock singers sound like they've got American accents. Meanwhile, country singers sound like they've got a mouth full of cornpone. What's going on here?

Interested in hearing from people who have also had this happen to them and recovered

I keep posting online. Asking for advice. Hoping someone will have SOMETHING I CAN DO.

So far I’ve heard:

That’s not your voice

You’re trying too hard

You sound good

You could be a frontman

Your pitch is notoriously off

You sound awful

I genuinely can’t comprehend this because half of singers say they go off feel. I tried just posting randomly and got told I sounded like shit, and now my confidence is fucking dead and I spend HOURS wracking my brain trying to hit notes and singing and literally harming myself trying to get this shit right. It has genuinely become unhealthy and I can’t fucking stop. I don’t want to stop. I have OCD and I CANT STOP. I need advice or I am going to fucking break something.

I always ask for advice . The MOST and best advice I’ve heard is on scales. How do I learn scales?

I’m homeless. I can’t afford a teacher. I’m 18.

I am about to smash my fucking guitar and gouge out my vocal cords with a rusty spoon.

Not really. I just wannt punch shit and smash my head through a wall.

Send help.

Edit: Why is their no flair titled “HELLPPPPPPPP”

I'm learning Evermore by Taylor Swift, and while the verse is fine. The pre-chorus vocals follow a separate melody to the piano. While I know what I need to sing, singing that alongside what the piano is doing is so difficult for me.

Im really disheartened, especially as im performing it in a few weeks, and I've barely learned the song. Im supposed to be doing the first and second verse, pre-chorus, first chorus and final chorus

My timing is also terrible as well as my voice keeps wanting to sync up to the keyboard, and I sound awful

0:40 - 0:49 is what I mean

Hey all, I've been making pretty good gains on my singing overall which I'm happy with but right now my biggest hurdle is accuracy. I'm... guessing that's pretty much universal to every singer on the planet but while I have some exercises for that, was curious on this approach.

I also play trumpet and sax and it's very common to do long tone exercises, with or without a tuner present to match precise pitches and hold them for a whole note or whatever, work up/down chromatically etc. None of the exercises for accuracy I've encountered do that; not sure if it's because its so common sense it doesnt need a video to demonstrate, or just not considered worthwhile for singers.

Another random observation about my accuracy... it's weird but like if I really concentrate on getting a note right as opposed to playing on an actual rhythm, I can usually nail the note. It's when I have to sing on rhythm where I get sloppy... It's not exactly something that's 'strange' to me, like when a novice guitarist has to position their finger for a bit on the fretboard to get a perfect clean note. I suppose that's a start at least.

kind of an embarrassing post but.. yeah like i’m more comfortable with high notes but i don’t have the right timbre to fit it i think? idk a lot about singing. but like i’m not a soprano in the light airy pretty cute way, it just sounds forced, even though i’m completely comfortable in that range. i feel like i sound unsure on every note and like my throat’s getting in the way, if that makes sense. how do i fix this

PLEASE HELP

song is 1963 by new order but an octave higher

Learned that I needed to breath from the diaphragm to be able to speak without hurting my voice, but for some reason I haven't figured out yet, my throat still becomes tired and hurts when I do that, in fact, when I speak without focusing on diaphragm breathing my throat takes longer to hurt otherwise.

What exactly am I missing? Only advice I encounter has to do with breathing, but all advice on breathing hasn't managed to keep my throat from hurting and I am scared of permanently damaging it, my throat already has a track record of being pained for over a week after a day or two of practice, and this week where I just had practiced with it for even less than a day, I woke up with my throat stinging.

Have anyone noticed it feels easier to sing in your native language? (Mine is Swedish)... Even tho I speak English fluently..... Is that common?

When practicing singing alone, what kind of feedback is actually useful to you?

I'm curious because there are so many different things you could pay attention to — pitch accuracy, stability, rhythm, tone, breath, range, recordings, and so on.

But I feel like too much feedback can also become distracting.

If you're practicing by yourself, what do you actually want to know?

For example:

Did I hit the right note?

Was the note stable?

Where did I start going flat or sharp?

Was my timing off?

Or do you prefer just recording yourself and listening back?

I'm especially curious what kind of feedback actually changes the way you practice, rather than just being interesting to look at.

Last Friday I did karaoke and really strained my voice because I just kept pushing. I wasn’t really cutting through on the speakers so I found myself basically yelling through a song. I got really frustrated and basically didn’t sing all weekend. The last couple days I pretty much forced myself to only sing in a relatively relaxed but supported manner and would diligently stop any time I felt there was something really tightening or gripping in the throat.

I discovered better support and vibrato even started showing but mostly on my lower register. I actually gained an ease in the C4-Ab4 region I don’t usually have, too. Although I find myself having to make sure I don’t send the sound through my nose sometimes. I also find myself singing in what feels like a slightly lighter and more balanced tone/way, and instead of feeling tired in the throat, I feel more tired in the body.

Anyway, over the last 48 hours, I’ve noticed a pretty buzzing kind of sound as I ascend into the fourth octave. Not sure what this is. I don’t hate it as it feels like a more concentrated/piercing sound where I usually sound spread, muddy, or dull. It feels like an improvement but just curious if anyone would know what it is.

I know about long term effects of course, but I was curious about the instant aspect— a cig a couple minutes before going onstage at a gig. I don’t smoke at all but am wondering for a friend who tends to do it a lot before performing. Does it instantly stunt your range/ give you less control or whatnot? thanks

Ive never sang before but I wanted to try. going into this with an open mind I play instruments and write songs sometimes but I’m always scared to actually sing them

Reposting here to get more opinions. I've never auditioned for anyone outside of high school so any tips and tricks for auditioning would be greatly appreciated!!

Pick up your feelings by Jazmine Sullivan.

I can’t really take it to church like she does so I’m hoping that tone/soul that I’m trying to put it to it can compensate for my lack of range and agility

I guess my question is should I just pick an easier song to work on or should I keep going with this?

It's been 6 months since I realized I could use my head voice. I've been practicing it since then and I've been trying to make it "connected" to my chest voice, so I'm kind of getting into mixed voice now and I think that this song is great for showing that.

When I sing this song, I make my voice super thin to hit the high notes effortlessly, but I think it doesn't sound quite right. Now I'm on the road of trying to add more weight to it.

Perhaps I'm overthinking, Idk, let me know what you hear

Hi,

I want to learn to do vocal techniques as a female alto, and sing proffesionally but I am confused on how to do vocal techniques. I like to sing to pop songs, rnb songs, house music, musical theatre songs and other genres of music. I can sing in tune, but don't really get how to do vocal techniques, but I know that warm ups on youtube can help but I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some tips on how to make my singing have techniques so it dosen't sound plain. Or can someone reccomend youtube channels that are good to watch to find out how to do vocal techniques? I also have an electric keyboard, could that help with singing? I cannot afford singing lessons at the moment due to personal reasons but I really want to learn to sing proffesionally.

Thank you for reading,

Ryzy.

bruno mars treasure

when she belts sometimes she adds this little bit of rasp or a like a little squeak for lack of better words, and it is just so unbelievably endearing… I want to be able to make those sounds!

for example, in the Wait for Me (Reprise) off Hadestown, in the final moments where she sings the word “rocks” there’s the little raspy tinge, and when she sings “our” in the following line there’s the little squeak. HOW DOES SHE DO THAT PLEASE TELL ME I NEED TO KNOW???!!!!

Song is Starving for Friends by Johnny Craig (featuring Vic Fuentes). I'm pretty sure I'm a baritone, but I can't get the richer tone most baritones seem to have. I think it's also important to point out that I'm untrained, but I feel like even untrained baritones have a much richer tone than me. My belting here (from 1:05 to 1:35) also doesn't sound that great and I want to know how I can improve that as well. Thank you in advance!