Tailored Voice Coaching
Not limited to voice training alone, I am a performer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter and producer with a studio in central Bristol.
With your voice I specialise in modern singing techniques that will very quickly take your voice to the next level.
I draw from the Speech-Level-Singing SLS method, Estil, CVT, Alexander Technique and many more sources of voice coaching to give you tailored coaching that can sometimes only apply to you and not everyone else!
I have specific voice teacher training and the styles I teach range from rock, through RnB, pop, folk, soul and jazz to music theatre.
Everyone is different so I will usually take a few moments in your first session to assess your range, projection and style to see where we can take your voice next. With modern techniques, we are no longer limited to one or two styles. If you've always wanted to sing rock but think you have a folk voice, you always can with this training!
You don't need to be a musician to sing. Most singers are not musicians! Most of the time I prefer not to use music scores but this is something we can work on if neccesary.
Extra benefits of my lessons include:
- Professional recording studio facilities
- Recordings of your lessons
- Voice training CD routine to train at home (Click for info)
- Opportunities to perform at my events
- Access to our house band for performances and recordings
The semi-pro and professional singers I train can benefit from extra session singing opportunities for studio and live work.
The songwriters and band leaders I train can also benefit from advice on song writing, structure and production, artistic styling and music business information.
1 Thinking and Training
As I mentioned, we are all different and we all have different ways of treating the voice. Very often we are not doing anything wrong, however there are always easier ways to do it! In training your voice you may be changing the way you think about singing as well as training your muscles to remember what to do when you need them to!
Often we think singing has to be difficult. After a few lessons, you will see how easy it can be, no matter how long you've been singing!
Some specific training we can work on could include breathing exercises, opening your throat, controlling tone, tuning and improvisation, resonance, projection, capacity, sight reading, musical aspects and stylistic aspects of singing. These will only be worked on if I see it is required and never for the sake of teaching you the information!
2 Recording
At my studio, you are never very far from a recording device! This means you can take advantage recordings in your lesson as a video DVD or an audio CD. You can use the studio to experiment and train your voice or I can produce your demo, single or album.
Voice recording in the studio can be very simple. There are just a few guidelines to get the sound right. Firstly it is a case of what equipment you have and whether or not you should be using headphones.
Secondly it depends on the music you are recording on to. If it is loud pop/rock, you will usually sing quite close to a condensor mic, aimed just above your mouth.
If you are recording a quiter song, try experimenting with different mic placements and distances. The further the mic, the more natural the sound will be as it picks up a lot of room ambience. The closer it is the more it will suit produced tracks. Compression is often used for close micing, but not generally for ambient micing.
3 Performing
I put on regular shows for our clients to get extra training on the stage. These events are not showcases of our talent but more opportunities to perform, for both beginners and advanced singers.
The beginners always benefit from the opportunity to perform on a decent stage and the more advanced singers benefit from the chance to try out a different style, perform without their band, or take advantage of our session musicians to provide the accompaniment.
In performance there are several key points. 1) Mic technique, 2) Monitoring/Foldback and 3) forgetting about the training and enjoy performing!
Mic technique is usually about keeping your volume consistent by aiming the mic to your top lip and keeping it at a constant distance. If you have a sound engineer, you don't need to worry about your volume so you can avoid the cliche'd pull the mic away when you are loud idea!
Foldback is very important for singers. If you can, make sure you get a sound check before your actual performance. Aim to get a clear sound of your voice in the monitors, no matter how loud the ambient volume of the band is.
Finally, its time to forget all the training you've done, whether as exercises or song-specific techniques! If you've trained enough, your muscles will now remember and you can enjoy the show! Singers can easilly complicate performances by thinking about it too much!