Development blog

Vocals

What - I've really wanted to improve my singing ability over the past couple of years, but at the moment I lack skill in this part of music. I don't know the right breathing techniques or vocal warmups which I will need to learn. I do however feel like I have a good vocal range, but I'm just it using it to the best I can. I also struggle to match the key that I am supposed to be singing in on occasions, which is something I will also have to improve on, I will also have to work on keeping in time with tracks as well. 

Why - I want to improve my vocal skills because I would like to be able to sing on the tracks I make in the future, which will allow me to create more unique ideas within my compositions, and it can also hep me create more in depth sounds within them as well.

How - To start off, I can go onto youtube and search up the main breathing techniques and vocal warmups in oder to keep my vocal chords healthy whilst I sing, and to also ensure I don't get out of breath. I can then watch videos on specific vocal skills to get better at singing. I could also watch videos on how some of my favourite artists sing too. 

Week 1 plan:

Watch videos on how some of my favourite singers sing.

I have been watching videos on some of my favourite singers to see what they do when the sing. One of the videos I watched is Mk.gee's live performance of his song "Rockman", I have noticed particularly in this, although you can see it in his other live performances, that he sings with a wide stance, making sure his chest and diaphragm is involved with every note he sings.

Another singer I have been watching is Dijon, he particularly sings from his chest a lot, which allows him to get a good range of volume within his vocals, and also allows him to bellow when needed. Here is his live performance of his song "Big Mike's" which you can see he moves around a lot within, but he always keeps his chest relaxed.

Week 2 plan:

Continue studying how other singers sing.

I have noticed that with a lot of main stream singers the one thing they have in common is that they all use their diaphragm to help their vocal chords, as if they just used their throat then it would cause a lot of strain on their voices and most likely damage them, this added air flow from the chest bi-passes that and ensures that they don't damage their vocal chords. 

Week 3 plan:

Start doing breathing techniques

Week 4 plan:

Watch videos on how to stay in key, because that is something I struggle with.

How To Sing In Tune (Step-By-Step)  This short video gives off 3 really good tips on how to stay in key, I have listened to recordings of myself and have noticed that I go out of key in lots of places so these tips can hopefully help me out to ensure that I don't go out of key as much. 

Week 5 plan:

For my week 6 plan I'm gonna be covering a song in the recording studios, so this week I'm going to choose the song that I am going to cover, figure out the chords and key of the song, and then practice covering it. 

Week 6 plan:

I've done a cover of "Little bit more" by Mk.gee, this is the first time I have ever done something like this, and I think I have done better than I thought I would. There were some moments throughout where I was very out of key, so I ended up editing them, and I also added EQ, compression, delay, and reverb on my vocals. There is still a lot of room for improvement as I am not a natural singer as you can probably hear, but with possible singing lessons I think I can improve a lot.