Last note.. just some thoughts.
Okies... now that everything's pretty much settled, just a post to share why I thought this up and went on with it in the first place considering I'm not a social butterfly let alone someone who can manage an event...
I don't know, maybe they're silly and stuff, but I'd really like to share with anyone who cares to read. Quite long lah, as usual.
- Because I'm sick of broken dreams that gets lost along the way. I know how that feels like. And I had many friends who have Beautiful voices, all torn away by different things while singers like the blokes at Singapore Idol get hailed as excellent vocalists.
I have this belief that for singers, the first note already takes a lot of courage and emotion to hit. If emotion is so prevalent, it takes a lot to keep it intact from discouragements.
It's really easy to get discouraged from singing. Everyone's a critic and prefers that you should sound like someone. It's a silly association habit our brain subconsciously makes. Our vocal cords are not something like an instrument we can put aside to collect dust and just practice with ten million tabs when we feel like it and sounds to experiment with. It needs to be cultivated on a constant basis to reach our targets, and each time we get discouraged, we not only risk giving up altogether, but we're letting our voices close, our 'warmed up' vocalities to degrade slowly back to square one (it takes just a month to have your voice close if it's not seasoned yet), and picking up is really hard due to factors that affect singing such as stress, the food and drinks we eat, the pollution we expose ourselves to on a daily basis, a tense, unrest lifestyle, and time or even having a place to sing without disrupting anyone's peace. Stuff like how to practice volume; Where on earth can you find a place to project your voice without attracting attention? We can't plug our voices into an amp, natural tone gets lost. I tried practicing at a park and people thought I was a pontianak.
Singing is a very psychological instrument and when we get discouraged, it directly affects the voice. There was a point of my life where I was scared of my own voice, and I sang so badly that the stray cats and dogs at the voiddeck started wailing and howling.
- Because I want more singers to keep trying. Too many guitarists in singapore already lah... lol
- Because I don't believe in One Theory, One Set Of Techniques that can be applied to any voice. I'm trying to break away the dependencies of vocal teachers and theories, and focus on understanding your voice and letting your 'real' voice out naturally. I'm not saying the techniques / theories don't work, I'm saying you shouldn't be so anal about it and end up messing your own style. Hence the reason why I'm gathering vocalists with different voices. I don't feel it's right to force the techniques or whatever on you, I feel it's better for singers to know what exactly is being learnt from their teachers and realise if it applies to their voice or preferred voice in the first place. Which is why I'm not going into specific vocal tips with you guys straight out without hearing you, because I feel there is a need to hear your voice to understand what suits it first and what is hindering you. Some vocal teachers tell you you shouldn't sing like this or that, or that you should sing it in the same way they do. Some of your own friends say your voice doesn't match your face, or that it's not unique, or it's too unique. I say they should egg themselves. We end up practicing really hard just to match up to the "voice" in their head.
A guitar solo will sound similar on another guitar when played exactly as how it should be (save the effects and gadgets and type of guitar). A same vocal melody between each vocalist sound worlds apart.
- Because I felt the subforum is lacking a sense of unity in our instrument. Just tips, tips, tips, and more tips being repeated over and over and over again. Boring lah. We don't know what you sing. We don't know how you prefer singing it. So I suppose the gathering's a way to ease everyone together with a same goal without taking away their unique style. Like say for example, I wouldn't recommend a drop-jaw technique for projecting with a screamo or rock vocalist; That'll just smoothen out the edges they need in the notes.
- Because I keep assuming everyone visiting here are either pop singers or screamos / growlers, because of the problems brought up, which I know for a fact isn't true. I know we have some classical vocalists (where vowel and breath is heavily accessed), some jazz (where improvs and adlibs bring its colour out), some alternative and rockers (where "edge" in the notes are required at diff parts), some singers who sing in different languages (languages have accents, and it helps to execute songs that are not in your natural tongue. And each accent differ between the styles, especially if you need to use the accents / vowels to approach the style).
- Because I wanna learn how to sing properly and make friends at the same time. :}
If the vocal hangout doesn't turn out to be a success, I'm really sorry.. I've tried, and I know I can't meet everyone's needs in half a day. If it doesn't help, I hope it at least inspires you.
Okies. Gnite... zzzzzz
I'm going to be too busy managing out the vocal itinerary and discussions. I am also lacking some sponsors here (out of everyone agreeing to come, only 3-4 have kindly mentioned their contribution). So if you have an idea, it would help if you front it and I'll get assistance as much as I can for you, rather than dump everything on me. :}
I didn't mean to put it that way..
