Divulge Your Secrets to a Beautiful Voice!!!!!

^What the title says.

What's your secret to keeping your voice sounding clear and beautiful? Lots of water? Tea with honey? A special warm-up exercise that only you do? Let's pool our experience~

Mine is oranges. The acid in citruses keeps phlegm build-up (which I used to have a problem with) more-or-less at bay. Plus they're just plain yummy. :3

:O COOL THREAD!

Hahaha but the thing is, I don't really have any secrets when it comes to singing. No special drink, no special vocal exercises and what not, BUT singing often and with the correct techniques really hones your skills. So keep practicing! Also, I just do vocal-warm ups and drink lots of water when I am recording, and then take a rest for days before I record again, in case I strain my vocal cords!

^ Shuuki I will try oranges next time, seems really helpful! :D

o.o Oranges huh? I might try that.

D: uhhh I don't have anything special to share. except that I don't sing first thing int he morning because my voice sounds groggy and low and gross. And don't record too much at once, because I lose my voice .-.

I would try that but I hate oranges [like orange juice but that creates phlem =3=].

Honestly, I have no real secrets. Before I sing, I drink sugary drinks and stuff so you'd think I would sound plehmy [do I?]. I guess the most I do is practice the song twice then do the final recording. If the third take sucks, I don't re-record. So, all of my singing covers are the third attempt at the song. I take a small sip of water before each take, too. Nothing much.

One good tip I heard about was green apples. I learned this when I started voice acting a few years back. They're really good for helping to clean out your passageway to allow you to let yourself out more.

@Carette: Vocal exercises are definitely a must (but I am a hypocrite and don't do them. -_-). Personally, I sing whenever/wherever I feel like it, which is pretty much all the time. I sing in the shower, when I do work, during transport times.... Yeah... I try not to sing too loudly since people give me weird looks. >_> On the up-side, if I sing a lot, my voice is pretty much always ready to go.

@Chiroyo: I answered my phone in the morning once, and for the rest of the week, I had people ask me if I was feeling better because my friend who phoned me thought I had caught a cold. @_@

@Ameshi: Really?! Green apples? Apples are yummy too!!!! (<-fruit fanatic) I'll definitely give that a try. =D I actually find that a little sugar helps. I drink heaps and heaps of water (which... doesn't come in heaps...) since the air in my house is really dry, and I find that it just tends to exacerbate the problem, strangely enough.
I've done things like record the same song over ~30 times before I lose my patience with it and just upload, but by the end, my voice just gives out, which must be reaaally bad...

See, I record and if I don't like it...I don't upload it. You know my story from another thread it seems, haha.

LOL I totally do. But don't give up! It's been my ongoing project for the past 6 months to self-duet Magnet, and Soundless Voice has been on for at least 3 months. >_> But I finally recorded Soundless Voice! (<-You know this story. 8D)

Ah, Soundless Voice <3 I have wanted to sing that for the longest time but it's too low for me at alot of parts so I might try Proof of Life instead.

Anyway, back on topic XD If you wanna talk you can PM me.

*back on topic XD* I dun have any techniques ><

@Ameshi: Green apples? Oh! I'll have to try that! I have an apple tree (/green/ apples only!~) in my backyard but i never really found ause for it...i'm gonna have to try and steal some from the animals in there....

Not sure if this is a /good/ technique, but sometimes i just randomly burst out singing in a really strong opera voice XD I guess its my sort of warm up, but it scares alot of people around me -_-; Doing so helps me clean out my throat a bit before i sing/record. Also, if i record too long, i get suuper tired and feel like taking a nap. After a 3 hour nap, i'm all recharged XD

I'm soo...odd 0_o Unlike most people here, i don't usually rest my voice for a few days. I sing almost everyday because i find that if i rest, it usually takes me a while to get my voice back the way before when i usually record because i don't do vocal excersices everytime i sing/record.

jascarly123zo wrote:I'm soo...odd 0_o Unlike most people here, i don't usually rest my voice for a few days. I sing almost everyday because i find that if i rest, it usually takes me a while to get my voice back the way before when i usually record because i don't do vocal excersices everytime i sing/record.

Actually, I do that too. I force myself to sing at least a little bit each day (something that pushes the edges of my range) so that when the big recording day comes, I'm not going, "Oh crap. Can't reach that note anymore. O_o"

(Opera is awesome~!)

EDIT: Does anyone else feel that after singing for a while at one end of their range, the other end kind of... dies? For example, I'd have no chance whatsoever of singing Soundless Voice after singing Meltdown. @_@ Kind of a problem, because it forces me to consider what I sing on which day.

Well for me, I usually just gargle some water before I record *SHOTDEAD*
Since it takes the dirty stuff out of your mouth 8DD
And it also makes your mouth and throat feel fresh when you're recording after you just wake up

Drinking tea also works 8D -likes to drink lemon tea-

@Shuuki: I'm sometimes like that too! i'm usualy singing high songs to try and get a wider range (btw, i can sing like miku now whenshe goes really high :3) and then whenever i try to suddenly genderbend after singing high pitched songs,my troat suddenly hurts really bad >w<

Most of the time, I use liquids to keep my voice clear and my throat moist (as dirty as that sounds). However, my teacher taught me a method to have your voice reach its maximum potential, and even reach ranges you'd never thought possible.

First is posture. Sitting doesn't help. Stand straight with your feet apart, at most and least shoulder-width. Also, stand in a position as if you're going to walk forward.

Second is breathing. Takes much of a deep breath as possible before a long phrase or a high note. When exhaling and inhaling, don't expand your entire body. Store your air in and expand only your stomach when inhaling while keeping your body shape the same (basically, stomach should be the only one changing shape). When exhaling, try not to lift your body, like your chest and shoulders.

Finally, body technique. It's required to give you that extra push that keeps your voice clear and forceful without a problem. It's also essential for reaching notes you can't normally hit (don't be afraid to hit them or to mess up). When reaching that point, push and tuck your butt (yes, your butt) in. It REALLY helps for some reason.

Hm... I've heard the "breath using your diaphragm" thing a bazillion times by now, but whenever I try to take too deep a breath by expanding my diaphragm, I feel like it really strains my ribs because I'm trying to force the air down. Any thoughts on that, Kamiya-san?

As for the tucking your butt in (8D)... I guess it automatically forces you to contract your diaphragm so you get more air out/a stronger sound? (<-hopeless life science kid)

.....Is the diaphragm located in the chest or the stomach? My method was to expand the stomach than the chest....

The diaphragm is the thin muscle that separates your guts (intestines) from the cavity that houses your stomach, liver, lungs, etc. When I inhale, I fill my stomach area first, but by the time that's reached its limit, I still haven't finished inhaling, so then I begin filling the chest area. Somehow, though, my chest doesn't expand enough, so it starts to strain. O_o

I drink plain lemon juice...even though it taste sour..it clears up ur voice, kinda like what green apple does(I don't eat apples thats why)

Ahaha...Somehow milk works for me OwO' Idk...Something about milk just really calms my throat and keep it from being phlegmy. Also, in one day, I change my voice a lot =w=' I like to speak in silly tones or accents. So, by the end of the day...its almost like I've been doing voice exercises all day long....I dink~

For me...
I like to eat or drink lemons/lime...
It allows me to develop Phlegm and coat my throat...
Constant water is also good especially for a screamer as myself...

I also like to do these special warm-ups which my voice teacher gave me...
Its scales but sung in different vowel sounds and shapes.

sing a 5 note scale from the 1st degree to the 5th degree on aw (autumn), then aa (cat), ee (beat), oo (boot), oh (tow), etc.

thats just one thing..
also singing in your own "comfortable" range.
not to STRAIN your voice.
singing shouldn't be hurting, it should feel comfortable and relaxed so the vocal chords can vibrate freely.

just my two cents.

-「リョク」

^A big thing I notice on YT is people trying to sound like their favourite Vocaloid/Nico Nico singer (<-guilty as accused, personally)/otherwise trying to sound how they don't naturally sound. I don't think this is necessarily bad as long as you don't strain your voice, but you should definitely know your own comfort zone and have it so that you can retreat back into it on your bad days. owo

I sing better after I eat a lot.....xD *shot*

say "hi" XD

aeriia wrote:I sing better after I eat a lot.....xD *shot*

Haha, I'm the opposite, I sing better when I'm hungry, more room for air
Then again, it might be because I always feel sleepy after eating

I also use apples sometimes, but only after I sing because it feels good in my throat with some apples after using my voice