Crikey! Karyn thanks for this. Singing is such a mysterious genre that is so much self-discovery. You have really evolved and articulated ideas that could take people decades to understand. 'Brightness' is the thing that is missing from most voices I felt, but you put it into a form that is understandable and why and how to begin to address it. Super. I loved the Masterclass ad before the vid too. I might do it Online! Thanks for your help. I'll share your videos and watch some more! ; ) K
I'm looking forward to part three! I've been working on how to add more oomph to my higher notes so this video series has come at a perfect time. Thanks!
ua-cam.com/video/SQOER8qpRCE/v-deo.html Watch this Video and you can hear how great she is using a twang technique! I think her She perfectly produced this kind of technique. It's 500% Loud, so Eargasm.
Thanks for videos! Something is still unclear for me. How to know you do twang in the right way? Sometimes I feel struggle, I pull my larynx up. To free voice I do less pressure but then my vocal cords come apart into falsetto. So, is balance twang means some strain. If yes, then where? Or is it normal to flip during some time and wait for a moment when it just will come? And one question more. Should I train twang and close my nose to develop oral twang? I found that the way I did twang before stops any sound when I close my nose. It means I put an air flow through my nose. Thank you again.
I really apologize for not responding sooner. For some reason, I wasn't notified over several comments, including yours. When twang is right, it feels really released in the throat - not a lot of 'muscle work' or strain should be felt - and the sensations are very 'forward.' The sound is super bright and strong, even though you won't feel like you're having to do a lot of work to make it carry ('project'). I tend to feel a sense of strong vibration right around the mustache or top front teeth area, but a feeling of passivity inside the throat. If there is a feeling of 'push' from or squeeze inside the throat, then you're probably over compressing the sound and need to find 'openness' in your throat. If you go into head voice or falsetto coordination but the vocal folds come apart when using twang, it's probably due to excessive muscular pressure, mostly extrinsic. What happens when you do a 'forward,' resonant, buzz-y staccato hum on 1-3-5-3-1? (I demonstrate this in a recent video: ua-cam.com/video/MJfECYA4A2k/v-deo.html I have more videos in this series coming out this and next week. I'll be talking more about glottal compression and vocal effort.) One more option would be to try French nasal vowels (e.g., on a short siren). These will give you a twang feel with - hopefully - less throat pressure. Let me know how you do with this. I posted a Vocal Twang Part 1.5 in which I did suggest that, ultimately, nasality should be separated from twang. Plugging your nose is a good way to both check for nasalance and cue your instrument to how it should configure itself for oral twang that will 'pack the most punch.'
Amazing and helpful videos. Just so I understand what I'm listening for would you say the characters Mark from Rent and Leo from the Producers are good examples of twang?
I apologize, but for some reason, I'm only seeing this comment now. I would say yes. Generally speaking, musical theatre singers are excellent models of vocal twang. Listen for a bright, ringing sound (often accompanied by crystal clear diction).
Hello, I've been working on incorporating twang in my singing recently and this series has been a life saver! I was wondering if the singer should feel the narrowing of the epilaryngeal (sorry I don't remember that exact term) portion of the vocal track or if this happens without our being able to feel it? Also, though unrelated, I know you've mentioned recording your singing in tracking progress. Is there certain equipment you would recommend to do this? I've tried using an iphone mic, but I've been advised that it's a poor measure of accuracy because the mic isn't built to interpret specifically vocal sounds? I was just wondering your thoughts. Thanks again for the wonderful video and really diligent work you've dedicated to this channel!
When I sing with twang - even exaggerated twang - I don't necessarily feel the narrowing at the epilaryngeal level (although maybe it does feel a bit narrower than when I sing without it, but it's just not an intense sensation). My throat feels passive and I feel a really strong sense of sympathetic resonance higher up and forward. Honestly, I don't know if it really matters all that much what you use for recording when you're just tracking progress. You just want to use the same device for every recording. But it depends on what you're listening for. Steadier tone? Better pitch? A more marketable sound? You can hear these kinds of things on just about any kind of recording. Once you get to more advanced singing, and start fine tuning your resonance, for example, you may wish to use something better. I use a hand recorder and also my Canon video camera - nothing fancy or expensive, but very convenient and portable - and they both have pretty decent mics for this purpose.
Hello, I determined my transitions as per your article in the website. My first transition is about Bb3 and second on Eb4. If I let my mid voice goes up it can go up to A4. But if I let second transition happens, by little use of twang I close my vocal folds; though it sounds bright and penetrating and can reach D5, it lacks chesty characteristics ( I mean I expect my mid timbre a bit). is it going to get stronger in time? or I do it wrong?
It's hard to know without hearing you sing, but it sounds as though you are simply singing in a cricothyroid (vocal fold lengthener) dominant coordination above the upper passaggio, which is what our vocal instruments are designed to do. When singers move into head voice (full CT dominance), the chest voice muscles (thyrarytenoids) begin to release. Most singers, especially males, report experiencing a sense of 'lightening' as this happens. It may be that your head voice is imbalanced or underdeveloped, but for most singers, head voice does feel different from chest voice, especially in terms of vocal weight.
I think you pointed out the exact cause. is there any exercise to engage TA muscle in that area? the interesting thing is for two or three times by chance, I could go up to the high C with full heavy voice by different adjustment without any tension, and I have no idea how I did that ;) Any way, your explanations are really helpful. I work on it. thank you very much indeed. "It's hard to know without hearing you sing" May I send a sample of my singing to you?
I just noticed this message! Sorry about that. While you should aim to extend your TA dominant (chest mix) range, you have to be very careful when you do so. It's not a heavy chest coordination. We have to let the vocal folds thin a little bit yet maintain a consistent glottal compression and subglottal pressure levels while still remaining in a TA dominance (i.e., not moving into a CT dominance). If we increase the subglottal pressure and glottal compression, the voice becomes increasingly shouty and likely squeezed. We need to keep it all very steady as we move higher. The thing that I've found is that what feels like maintaining a pure or heavy chest voice as we go higher is really just maintaining the same degree of glottal compression, or resistance to the air pressure. As we go higher, and as the TAs, (which provide medial compression - compression of the folds in their middle sections), start to release a little bit, the glottal closure mechanism undergoes some changes. I imagine that the arytenoids increase their efforts at the posterior end of the glottis. (You mentioned using a "different adjustment." I suspect that you're referring to an adjustment to the the glottal compression mechanism.) The voice still feels 'compressed' and there is still relatively the same degree of resistance - or so that is the subjective experience of the singer - but how the folds stay closed seems to alter as pitch ascends above a given phonation frequency. I also need to mention that vowel modification is absolutely critical. If you shade your vowels toward /ae/ - the vowel in the word 'cat' - or AH, you'll have a higher first formant to start out with. A heavy chest mix or belt sound can be maintained as long as the first formant remains above the second harmonic. We can keep raising the first formant by shortening and narrowing our vocal tracts. (Narrowing is not the same as constricting!) We open/lower our jaws more, spread our lips more, raise the larynx, narrow the pharynx, etc.. This helps to keep the resonance stable and within the same 'tuning' (second harmonic at or below the first formant). I hope this helps.
Absolutely helpful. thanks for your time and long reply. I am experiencing this as I transmit the voice from lower pitch to high pitch. when you say same amount of pressure it's the correct explanation. It's not like turn on/turn off button(as so many people expecting their head voice). I consider it as a gearbox in a car with millions of gears inside instead of five, so, when the gears change we actually don't realize it because they are changing very smoothly and keeping the same amount of power of the engine. so engine is our lung and diaphragm, vocal fold muscles are the gearbox and the whole vocal tract is the machine which should be in good coordination with all parts to sound balanced and powerful. sorry I explained in technical words. I hope it can help anyone who reads this. thanks again for your time. I'm getting better and as you said I try to be patient and wise on using it.
I think you are, a very good Teacher and..... the most symphatic Vocal Coach on UA-cam ;-) ;-) Nice and lovely Charisma!
Awww! Thanks so much for that!
Your examples sound great!
Crikey! Karyn thanks for this. Singing is such a mysterious genre that is so much self-discovery. You have really evolved and articulated ideas that could take people decades to understand. 'Brightness' is the thing that is missing from most voices I felt, but you put it into a form that is understandable and why and how to begin to address it. Super. I loved the Masterclass ad before the vid too. I might do it Online! Thanks for your help. I'll share your videos and watch some more! ; ) K
Thanks! I'm glad my videos are proving helpful and informative.
I'm looking forward to part three! I've been working on how to add more oomph to my higher notes so this video series has come at a perfect time. Thanks!
+Mindy Kensler I'm so glad to hear that! Please don't hesitate to ask questions.
Karyn, these are such quality tips! Love this twang series thank you so much!
One of the Singers who Excellent using of Twang is SOHYANG!
ua-cam.com/video/SQOER8qpRCE/v-deo.html
Watch this Video and you can hear how great she is using a twang technique! I think her She perfectly produced this kind of technique. It's 500% Loud, so Eargasm.
Thank you very much for your explanation. :) great teacher
OMG!!!! I have my head voice back!!!! I had basically lost it due to excessive breathiness. This did the trick.
Thanks for videos!
Something is still unclear for me.
How to know you do twang in the right way? Sometimes I feel struggle, I pull my larynx up. To free voice I do less pressure but then my vocal cords come apart into falsetto. So, is balance twang means some strain. If yes, then where? Or is it normal to flip during some time and wait for a moment when it just will come?
And one question more. Should I train twang and close my nose to develop oral twang? I found that the way I did twang before stops any sound when I close my nose. It means I put an air flow through my nose.
Thank you again.
I really apologize for not responding sooner. For some reason, I wasn't notified over several comments, including yours.
When twang is right, it feels really released in the throat - not a lot of 'muscle work' or strain should be felt - and the sensations are very 'forward.' The sound is super bright and strong, even though you won't feel like you're having to do a lot of work to make it carry ('project'). I tend to feel a sense of strong vibration right around the mustache or top front teeth area, but a feeling of passivity inside the throat. If there is a feeling of 'push' from or squeeze inside the throat, then you're probably over compressing the sound and need to find 'openness' in your throat. If you go into head voice or falsetto coordination but the vocal folds come apart when using twang, it's probably due to excessive muscular pressure, mostly extrinsic. What happens when you do a 'forward,' resonant, buzz-y staccato hum on 1-3-5-3-1? (I demonstrate this in a recent video: ua-cam.com/video/MJfECYA4A2k/v-deo.html I have more videos in this series coming out this and next week. I'll be talking more about glottal compression and vocal effort.) One more option would be to try French nasal vowels (e.g., on a short siren). These will give you a twang feel with - hopefully - less throat pressure. Let me know how you do with this.
I posted a Vocal Twang Part 1.5 in which I did suggest that, ultimately, nasality should be separated from twang. Plugging your nose is a good way to both check for nasalance and cue your instrument to how it should configure itself for oral twang that will 'pack the most punch.'
Amazing and helpful videos. Just so I understand what I'm listening for would you say the characters Mark from Rent and Leo from the Producers are good examples of twang?
I apologize, but for some reason, I'm only seeing this comment now. I would say yes. Generally speaking, musical theatre singers are excellent models of vocal twang. Listen for a bright, ringing sound (often accompanied by crystal clear diction).
singwisevocals No problem at all. Thank you for your reply and thank you for all of your extremely helpful videos
You're welcome. And thanks for understanding.
singwisevocals No problem at all
Great follow up
4:15 4:59 6:10 7:52 10:38 10:30
Hello, I've been working on incorporating twang in my singing recently and this series has been a life saver! I was wondering if the singer should feel the narrowing of the epilaryngeal (sorry I don't remember that exact term) portion of the vocal track or if this happens without our being able to feel it? Also, though unrelated, I know you've mentioned recording your singing in tracking progress. Is there certain equipment you would recommend to do this? I've tried using an iphone mic, but I've been advised that it's a poor measure of accuracy because the mic isn't built to interpret specifically vocal sounds? I was just wondering your thoughts. Thanks again for the wonderful video and really diligent work you've dedicated to this channel!
When I sing with twang - even exaggerated twang - I don't necessarily feel the narrowing at the epilaryngeal level (although maybe it does feel a bit narrower than when I sing without it, but it's just not an intense sensation). My throat feels passive and I feel a really strong sense of sympathetic resonance higher up and forward. Honestly, I don't know if it really matters all that much what you use for recording when you're just tracking progress. You just want to use the same device for every recording. But it depends on what you're listening for. Steadier tone? Better pitch? A more marketable sound? You can hear these kinds of things on just about any kind of recording. Once you get to more advanced singing, and start fine tuning your resonance, for example, you may wish to use something better. I use a hand recorder and also my Canon video camera - nothing fancy or expensive, but very convenient and portable - and they both have pretty decent mics for this purpose.
To me still a problem
I srsly have a hard time singing above C#4,am tenor my voice flips at Eb4,what do I do srsly I don't even know where to start?!?!plsss help
I srsly wish I could sing as good as u in 2:40,what is wrong with my ugly voice
You're always welcome to send me some singing examples (karyn@singwise.com). I'll take a listen and give you some guidance.
wow this explains me much
Hello,
I determined my transitions as per your article in the website. My first transition is about Bb3 and second on Eb4. If I let my mid voice goes up it can go up to A4. But if I let second transition happens, by little use of twang I close my vocal folds; though it sounds bright and penetrating and can reach D5, it lacks chesty characteristics ( I mean I expect my mid timbre a bit). is it going to get stronger in time? or I do it wrong?
It's hard to know without hearing you sing, but it sounds as though you are simply singing in a cricothyroid (vocal fold lengthener) dominant coordination above the upper passaggio, which is what our vocal instruments are designed to do. When singers move into head voice (full CT dominance), the chest voice muscles (thyrarytenoids) begin to release. Most singers, especially males, report experiencing a sense of 'lightening' as this happens. It may be that your head voice is imbalanced or underdeveloped, but for most singers, head voice does feel different from chest voice, especially in terms of vocal weight.
I think you pointed out the exact cause. is there any exercise to engage TA muscle in that area? the interesting thing is for two or three times by chance, I could go up to the high C with full heavy voice by different adjustment without any tension, and I have no idea how I did that ;)
Any way, your explanations are really helpful. I work on it. thank you very much indeed.
"It's hard to know without hearing you sing" May I send a sample of my singing to you?
I just noticed this message! Sorry about that. While you should aim to extend your TA dominant (chest mix) range, you have to be very careful when you do so. It's not a heavy chest coordination. We have to let the vocal folds thin a little bit yet maintain a consistent glottal compression and subglottal pressure levels while still remaining in a TA dominance (i.e., not moving into a CT dominance). If we increase the subglottal pressure and glottal compression, the voice becomes increasingly shouty and likely squeezed. We need to keep it all very steady as we move higher. The thing that I've found is that what feels like maintaining a pure or heavy chest voice as we go higher is really just maintaining the same degree of glottal compression, or resistance to the air pressure. As we go higher, and as the TAs, (which provide medial compression - compression of the folds in their middle sections), start to release a little bit, the glottal closure mechanism undergoes some changes. I imagine that the arytenoids increase their efforts at the posterior end of the glottis. (You mentioned using a "different adjustment." I suspect that you're referring to an adjustment to the the glottal compression mechanism.) The voice still feels 'compressed' and there is still relatively the same degree of resistance - or so that is the subjective experience of the singer - but how the folds stay closed seems to alter as pitch ascends above a given phonation frequency. I also need to mention that vowel modification is absolutely critical. If you shade your vowels toward /ae/ - the vowel in the word 'cat' - or AH, you'll have a higher first formant to start out with. A heavy chest mix or belt sound can be maintained as long as the first formant remains above the second harmonic. We can keep raising the first formant by shortening and narrowing our vocal tracts. (Narrowing is not the same as constricting!) We open/lower our jaws more, spread our lips more, raise the larynx, narrow the pharynx, etc.. This helps to keep the resonance stable and within the same 'tuning' (second harmonic at or below the first formant). I hope this helps.
Absolutely helpful. thanks for your time and long reply. I am experiencing this as I transmit the voice from lower pitch to high pitch. when you say same amount of pressure it's the correct explanation. It's not like turn on/turn off button(as so many people expecting their head voice). I consider it as a gearbox in a car with millions of gears inside instead of five, so, when the gears change we actually don't realize it because they are changing very smoothly and keeping the same amount of power of the engine. so engine is our lung and diaphragm, vocal fold muscles are the gearbox and the whole vocal tract is the machine which should be in good coordination with all parts to sound balanced and powerful. sorry I explained in technical words. I hope it can help anyone who reads this.
thanks again for your time. I'm getting better and as you said I try to be patient and wise on using it.
Good analogy!
Hi, I asked you a question in part 1.5, can you please respond? Thanks in advance.
you are great, so well explained thanks so much
Awww. Thank you!
Has part 3 come out yet?
I recorded it a while back, but I decided that, for whatever reason, I didn't think I should post it. I've actually been planning to rerecord it soon.
I really want to do this! Could you assign me a song to work on this skill?
❤❤
Glenn Campbell.
You always wear so sekcie dresses.