Survival Tips For Choral Singers

WARM UP, ENERGIZE! Most choral singers arrive at evening rehearsals exhausted after a long day's work, so it's important to begin with an overall physical warm up. Stretching, "loosening" exercises and calisthenics "wake up" the body, while "yawning" and relaxed humming gradually get the voice going before more extensive vocalizing. Warming up should begin in the car, en route to the rehearsal.

THINK POSTURE! A "collapsed" posture limits breathing capacity and puts stress on laryngeal muscles. Most choral singers rehearse sitting down, with music in hand -- a position that often becomes inefficient, through "slumping" back in the chair, crossing the legs, etc. "Sitting up" may seem to require effort, but in fact, an erect, well-balanced sitting posture is less tiring in the long run. A good concept is to imagine the head "floating" directly above the pelvis, and the rib cage expanded. The music should be raised to eye level, however the shoulders must remain relaxed. Both feet should be "flat on the floor". When standing during a performance, be careful not to "lock" the legs. Always wear comfortable shoes -- no high heels! A rigid stance, combined with nervous tension and inadequate ventilation can cause choir members to feel faint, and occasionally lose consciousness!

BREATHE! This may seem obvious, but many choral singers simply do not allow themselves an adequate breath, and instead, "gasp" for air in order to stay with the conductor's beat. Admittedly, breath management can be challenging in group singing. Good choral directors are aware of this, and endeavor to indicate breathing with their conduction gestures. Ultimately, however, it is the singer's own responsibility to maintain efficient breath support.

SING THE RIGHT PART! Singers may be incorrectly classified in order to accommodate the needs of the choral group. Tenors are often scarce, so baritones may be induced to sing the tenor part, which can strain the voice. It is possible to use certain vocal techniques, such as singing falsetto in the upper register, to render the voice more versatile. If you are uncomfortable singing in the required range, and suspect that you are "mis-placed", request a change of part or help with vocal technique. It is hoped that choral conductors will guide singers in the best possible use of their voice.

DON'T OVER-SING! Singing loudly in order to hear oneself over other singers usually stresses the voice. "Showing off" one's voice is inappropriate in group singing -- it doesn't contribute well to a choral "blend," and it is usually resented by fellow singers! If you need to check the accuracy of your pitch, simply put a finger in one ear. Even when fortissimo singing is required, it is wise not to push the voice -- always sing on the "interest," not the "principal"!

ARTICULATE WISELY! Discomfort in singing is often caused by tension in the articulation of consonants and vowels. Choral singers are generally encouraged to enunciate clearly, but care should be taken that the jaw, tongue, and lips remain as relaxed as possible. Furthermore, it is necessary to modify pronunciation for efficiency and ease of vocal production; for example, sopranos need to "open" vowels on high notes.

PREPARE YOUR MUSIC! Whenever possible, try to learn your part before coming to the rehearsal. If you are insecure about pitch, it is unlikely that you will sing well. Hesitation impedes good vocal technique!

AVOID TALKING! Not only is chatting disruptive to others (especially the conductor!), but it tires the voice.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! Being a choir member is the same as being a member of an athletic team, and you have a responsibility to safeguard your health. Avoid smoke and alcohol -- partying should be postponed until after the final performance! Get plenty of sleep and aerobic exercise. "Hydrate" -- drink plenty of fluids in order to reduce irritating phlegm. Use common sense when you're sick -- if possible, miss a rehearsal rather then sing over a cold or flu, and avoid exposing other choir members to your germs!

TAKE VOICE LESSONS! If you really want to maximize your enjoyment of choral singing, a few voice lessons can provide valuable insight. Ideally, your teacher should understand and appreciate both choral and solo singing techniques.

Singing: 10 Basic Breathing Tips

1. The significance of the diaphragm as a muscle of breath support is over-emphasized by most music singing schools and teachers. The diaphragm has two jobs: it furnishes the power for inhalation and then controls tone support.

2. When you take a breath for singing -- to open the throat -- add a yawning feeling as you're about to produce the tone (the beginning of a yawn, to be exact).

3. Be sure the shoulders do not raise when taking a breath.

4. If you can hear your inhalation, you're taking in too much air or your stomach is tense. Be sure your stomach is relaxed before, and as, you inhale.

5. Always inhale gently when singing. Heavy gasping of air will tighten your throat.

6. Posture is the foundation. Be sure your posture is erect when singing -- not a military stance, but comfortably upright. This positions you for maximum support.

7. Always imagine the sound that you want to make and then sing it -- using all resources available -- your entire physical being, emotions, psyche and spirit.

8. A tight jaw is bad for good singing. Do whatever is necessary to relieve your jaw, neck and shoulders of tension before you sing.

9. Don't smoke. Smoking puts at risk the entire mechanism you're going to stake your claim to a vocal career upon.

10. Don't try to imitate another singer's voice. Discover your own, unique, vocal identity.

Great Singing Tips

Don't do anything that will hurt your voice in any way

When looking for a teacher, ask about his/her backgroud in music, and whether they are willing to help you learn how to sing something other than their style of singing

Just because a singer sounds nice doesn't mean s/he can sing

When you are learning to sing, you are doing it to find out what your voice is capable of, not someone else's; be happy with what you have

To those who want to sing pop music: There is nothing wrong with learning classical

To those who wish to sing classical: There is nothing wrong with learning popular

You are not the person on the radio-don't try to imitate them unless you are trying to learn something

Karaoke Vocal Remover

No, all vocal removers are NOT ALIKE! We Invented the world's first Vocal EliminatorTM back in 1976. Even our early analog units outperform any alternatives! Far beyond every one else's simple L-R simple center channel elimination scheme the VE4 uses advanced and proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms to remove more vocal with less loss of background instruments. We use two totally different methods to remove the voice. One of the methods actually reduces some (not all) of the reverberation that can remain on some recordings! We preserve almost all of the stereo content and do not go to mono the way a L-R scheme does.
You can actually create a simple free L-R eliminator without any equipment! Just connect the Left Plus (L+) and Right Plus (R+) speaker outputs on your amplifier to a single speaker and the center channel will be removed! You can use the balance control to fine tune the voice if it is off center. We never considered this acceptable and even our early analog units in the 70's and 80's fine tuned both level as well as time delay offsets between the two channels to maximize high frequency elimination. We also went to great lengths to restore the Bass signal as well. No one else (as far as we know) has even gone as far as we did in the 70's ! !
Today, with DSP, it's a totally different world! Now we will be the first to admit that improvements are not linear! Don't expect that if you throw 100x the effort and expense at a problem, you are going to get 100x the result!

Thompson Vocal Eliminator

CAVS DVD-303G Karaoke System

CAVS DVD-303G is the next generation of DVD Karaoke system that plays DVD, MPEG-4, Super CD+G, CD+G, HDCD, and CD. This machine has everything you're looking for. You can just connect it to a TV and start enjoying karaoke right away. Its that easy since it has its own built in 70 watt speaker system you won't have to connect it to a separate amplifier and speaker system if entertaining a small group. If you ever find the 70 Watts isn't enough, its easy to expand this player for use with a separate amplifier and speaker system. This system will even allow you to record your singing, just use the cassette deck that's built in to this machine.

There's a lot more features packed into this machine. To make things even easier for you, there's the direct access 0-9 buttons right on the machine. Just key in the number to your favorite songs and begin singing. No need to forward through all the unwanted tracks. You can also change the keys to match the singers voice to the music and adjust the echo to your preference. And of course we know some peoples voices are soft spoken while others are louder so this machine offers a solution -Individual microphone volume control. This way when two people are singing, you can adjust the microphone volume so no ones voice is more dominant than the other. This machine is designed for parties, retailers, professionals and KJs in mind.

Enjoy new Super CD+G karaoke discs in this new powerful system. The concept of the Super CD+G format is simple. By compressing the song track of karaoke music into MP3 format and storing the data on a 9 Gigabyte DVD disc, you can store up to 2,000 karaoke songs on a single DVD!

The Super CD+G discs are convenient and economical for parties and rentals. From now on, instead of wasting time searching for your favorite tunes, you can spend more time singing them. Song ordering is simple. All you do is punch in the 3 digit song number from the song book, and your song will start right away. No more scratching your discs since you don't have to swap discs in and out any more.

Karaoke Singing

The smile technique, taught by many teachers is actually detrimental to vocal health and good vocal sound. Yes, it does make the sound brighter and somewhat louder but this is just a quick fix solution. In actual fact the sound will also become very thin and tinny, with no 'bottom end' or lower harmonics - I call it the chipmunk sound! Scientific studies using fiberoptic research has demonstrated that the smile technique raises the larynx, lowers the soft palate, moves the jaw forward and prevents proper closure of the vocal cords - all of which are detrimental to good singing.

So if you'd like to sound like a pro singer instead of a chipmunk, the correct technique is to smile inwardly by lifting the soft palate, without spreading the lips into a smile. If you look in the mirror whilst you do this you'll see the (zygomatic) muscles at the top part of your cheeks lift up very slightly. You may feel a sensation of being very light in the head, like you're on the moon with less gravity! Once you become used to the concept of smiling inwardly, which can take time to develop, you'll realise just how awkward and ineffective the old smile technique was

Disney Classic Plug-n-Play Handheld Karaoke Player

Review for the Disney Classic Plug-n-Play Handheld Karaoke Player:

We have a blast with this toy! Its cables connect easily to the front of our VCR/DVD player [best done by an adult] And it helps my beginning reader improve his word recognition and fluency, by reading the lyrics as the words light up on screen. The kidslove hearing their voices come out of the TV, and they especially like the feature that modifies the output of your voice [dragon, horse, mouse, or bird] But there are a few things I don't like- the placement of the buttons on the barrel of the microphone, for one thing, and the fact that despite the product description claiming the availability of additional song cartridges, I've been unable to find them. I have tried Circuit City and Disney Electronics online. There, three cartridges are described, butthey each contain only ten songs [compared to the 25 included when you purchase the microphone] and many of them are duplicates of songs already on the microphone when you buy it. Even so, I would still purchase this product and recommend it to others, though $50 is a little pricey, given the lack of available accessories promised.

Karaoke Revolution Vol. 2 Cheats

Cheat list
Play show time mode and score the minimum gold for each song in each venue (easy mode). Now you can activate any of these cheats:

Small head character: RIGHT, RIGHT, UP, UP, L2, L2, R2, R1, L1

Big eye Character: SQUARE, SQUARE, SQUARE, SQUARE, CIRCLE, DOWN, DOWN, R2, L2, R1

Banana Microphone: L1, L1, R2, R2, RIGHT, DOWN, CIRCLE, LEFT, UP, SQUARE

Toothbrush Microphone: R1, L1, R2, L2, RIGHT, LEFT, DOWN, UP, CIRCLE, SQAURE

Dwayne Doll Microphone: CIRCLE, R2, SQUARE, L1, R1, L2, SQUARE, UP, CIRCLE, SQUARE.

Big head characters: DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, UP, R1, L2, R2, L1, CIRCLE, CIRCLE

Glass Character: SQUARE, SQUARE, CIRCLE, R2, R2, L2, DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT, UP

Oil Slick Character: L2, R2, L2, R2, SQUARE, DOWN, CIRCLE, UP, LEFT, RIGHT

Mercury Character: CIRCLE, L1, R2, UP, UP, LEFT, LEFT, SQUARE, SQUARE, R1

Wraith Character: R2, LEFT, R1, RIGHT, UP, UP, SQUARE, CIRCLE, DOWN, L2

Things to Consider When Hiring a DJ

References

Can your DJ provide you with references?

Pay close attention that the references you receive are for the type of party you are having. It's not helpful to get birthday party references if you are planning a wedding.


Years in Business

How many years has your DJ been in business?


Number of DJ's in Company

Safety in numbers?

Not necessarily! Sometimes companies with large numbers of DJ's are not able to provide each DJ with a complete set of selections. Also, some DJ companies advertise "combined experience levels." Be sure to find out the experience level of the DJ who will be performing at your function. It's perfectly acceptable to ask to meet the DJ who will be performing.

How Will Your DJ Look?

What will the DJ wear? What does the equipment look like?


Music Selection

Does your DJ provide a variety of music? Does your DJ take requests?


Other considerations:
Does the DJ provide a list? Will he/she take requests?

Contracts

Be sure that you and your DJ are in complete agreement as to expectations. Also, one of the occasional horror stories occurs when the DJ backs out at the last minute for another show. Be sure that your contract ensures your DJ to be responsible for hiring his replacement should he be unable to perform.


Deposits and Pricing

When shopping for prices, be sure to ask if there is a charge for mileage, or if you will incur surcharges for peak seasons (wedding, Christmas). Pricing is not as critical as you might think. Just because you paid a lot for a DJ service doesn't mean that they are any good. Find out if your DJ requires a deposit, and if it is refundable.

Karaoke Etiquette

There are some unspoken rules of etiquette to follow if you want to become a karaoke regular. These are not written in stone, but they will be helpful to you in the long run. As with any other creative or performance outlet, feelings can be bruised very easily through harsh criticism. Karaoke performances are going to run the entire gamut from near-professional to tone-deaf. As a singer and audience member, you have an obligation to support those who may not feel supported.

1. Remember your first time. If a brand-new singer struggles through their first song, resist the temptation to ridicule or otherwise disrupt their performance. Others may not be so kind. Polite applause is most appropriate, as well as an invitation to join your group. If you feel comfortable offering advice, do it privately and with considerable tact. Don't overwhelm a new singer with a hundred nuggets of sage wisdom- keep it simple. If their volume was a major problem, address that first. Suggest ways of positioning the microphone to best suit their singing style. Quiet singers may need to hold the microphone closer, or increase their singing volume. Those who threaten to overpower the microphone should be shown the proper way to back off. Most karaoke hosts will do their best to mix a singer's voice up or down to match their volume level, but sometimes this just isn't enough. Once you've addressed one major difficulty with his or her performance, leave any more advice off the table until the next song. No one wants to be barraged with a laundry list of perceived faults. After a few songs have gone by, compliment the singer on whatever improvements have been made and then address any new issues. Also, practice what you preach and avoid the same performance traps yourself.


2. Rotations and 'Host Relations'. Your biggest ally in the karaoke world is the host or hostess. No one else has a obligation to make sure your mike is mixed properly or the monitor is working the way it should. This is a hobby for you, but a livelihood for the host. Respect their position by keeping complaints to a minimum. One of the biggest problems singers have with hosts is rotation. Some hosts have a strict policy in which the same singers follow each other throughout the night, and new singers are added to the end of that particular rotation schedule. Others have a more arbitrary system, in which personal favorites or audience requests override the natural order. This can be frustrating for singers who must wait a long time between performances. Nevertheless, this is the karaoke host's playground, and patience is still a virtue.

Unless the situation becomes completely intolerable, complaints to the host should be kept to a minimum. The relationship between a host and regular singers can be a delicate one, and complaints may not be handled as well as you may have hoped. Be polite when inquiring about rotations and schedules. Anything less than polite and you may find your request slips have suddenly disappeared. Establish a good working relationship with the host and your problems should be minimized.

3. "HEY! That's MY song!" Another delicate area for regular performers is rarely discussed, but is definitely a consideration when selecting your songs. Certain performers have 'signature tunes'-songs that audiences have come to expect from them. Sometimes new performers will select one of these songs, which may bother the regular performer in the extreme. This situation becomes especially troublesome if the regular singer was scheduled to perform that song next. If you are in that situation as a regular, the most polite thing to do is have an alternative song or two ready to replace the first one. Any reaction less courteous than that will not endear you to the audience or your fellow singers. You can always do the original song later. In the same vein, it is never a good idea to deliberately perform someone else's signature song just for the sake of causing strife. Some singers, especially those with limited repertoires, can be hurt very badly by such poor sportsmanship.

4. "I brought my entire family to hear you do that song." For many regular singers, the audience determines hits and misses. Certain songs become synonymous with certain performers, and the audience looks forward to hearing those songs every week. While that may appear flattering, the accompanying peer pressure might be a difficult situation for the singer. Karaoke singers like to be experimental at times, and the temptation to try a new song or two is always there. But the audience may have other ideas, and are more than willing to share these ideas with you. It can be very difficult to reject a heartfelt request for a song, but you may have no other choice. Try to be as tactful as possible when handling audience requests, but don't allow pressure tactics to affect your song selections. Sometimes the karaoke host will understand your dilemma and allow you to sing two songs in order to accommodate the audience. If this is not possible, you should thank the audience members for their support and explain that sometimes a singer enjoys performing new material. Hopefully, the audience will understand and support your new efforts.

Karaoke tips and ideas

Microphone-Each person holds the microphone differently. Some cover the top of the mic with their hand, and some hold the top with their fingers. Try holding the mic with just the neck and leave the area you sing/speak into open. This is the way it was designed. If you have a light voice with low volume, hold the mic closer to your mouth. If you have a loud voice than of course hold it farther away. The KJ (karaoke jockey) will adjust the volume, but holding the microphone properly allows you to fine tune the adjustment. Sometimes the audience may not be able to hear the singer or speaker. The karaoke jockey may have the mic volume turned up but you may still have a weak voice. It is common for the singer/speaker to be too far away from the mic or not singing/speaking loud enough. If you need assistance, or just have questions, just ask your KJ for help. Please never scream or yell in the mic

Practice, Practice, Practice.


Tips and Ideas

· Hold the mic horizontal for best results

· Do not yell or scream in the mic

· “Listen” to yourself while singing

· Do not over power the music with your voice

· If you need help or have a question, ask the DJ

· If you’re nervous, look at the monitor or back of the room at first. Starting is always the hardest part. Relax, and just do it.

· Sing easy slower songs first. This will help you warm up, and be easier on the throat.

Karaoke Tips

There are three categories of appeal that every audience has: audio appeal, visual appeal, and emotional appeal. All great performers typically perform well in all of these three areas, including politicians, entertainers, salespeople, etc. If you can create appeal for the audience in these three areas, you generally will put on a great performance!

Audio Appeal: This area I’m not going to get into many details, because it encompasses a wide range of topics. In short, audio appeal is "how well you sound." Again, I have seen contest winners who didn’t have a whole lot of audio appeal, but they excelled in some other area. You don’t always need to have a good voice in order to get a great reaction from the audience, as I’m sure many of you have observed. On the other hand, if you have a tremendous amount of audio appeal, you may not need appeal in the other areas. In other words, you can just stand there and sing, and everyone will love it!

Visual Appeal: This area can be correlated to "onstage performance." Basically, it’s how well you appear on stage. This area encompasses many elements including your attire, body movements, and facial expressions.

For example, try to wear something appropriate to your song. If you’re going to sing a heavy metal song, it might look kind of weird of you’re dressed in a suit and tie… but you never know these days! Avoid looking sad, confused, or bored. If you look bored, it will make the audience bored. Be lively! Smile and get eye contact with the audience. During the presentation, you can also make various facial expressions that fit the song. Pay attention to how you hold the microphone. You may want to vary how you hold the mic, switching hands during the song for example. Avoid sitting down while you sing, unless it really matches the song. If there’s a monitor in front of you, don’t hide behind it. Stand far back behind it (where you can still read it), or to the side. These are just a few basic tips on visual appeal. I will be discussing more in depth in future articles.

Also note that your visual appeal can win a contest all by itself! For example, have you ever seen someone get up on stage and had a great dance routine or maybe wore some type of "costume?" They appealed to the audience visually, and their "show" kept everyone entertained throughout the song.

Emotional Appeal: Lastly, and in my opinion probably the most important, is emotional appeal. If you can appeal to the audience emotionally, you’re guaranteed to get a great response. Have you ever seen someone do a "joke" song that made everyone laugh? Or sung a classic song that hardly no one sings? One time I won a contest with a rare 80’s tune. The audience loved it. However, I did the same song somewhere else the next night and didn’t get anywhere near the level of response I did earlier. What happened? Same song, but different circumstances. Either the song didn’t fit the mood of the audience, or maybe the song was out of their age range.It’s somewhat difficult to determine what songs the audience might like. However, you can get clues by observing the audience when other singers are on stage. Is the audience clapping along, tapping their toes, or bobbing their heads? Are they in a dance mode, or do they seem to prefer love songs? Look for songs that you might be able to tie into a current event, a recent movie, an upcoming holiday, or something that is currently "in vogue."

The average age group of the audience is also an important factor. Personally, I try to pick songs that I think might trigger positive memories of their high school days, or I bring back great songs that they’ve forgotten about. If you sing a song that is too old, it’s possible that they’ve never heard the song before. And, the same rings true for new songs with older audiences.

New Blog

This is my new Karaoke Blog.