• Registered: 2011-06-13
  • Posts: 1

Topic: New singer - first gig

I am a new singer in a rock band, I have only been in the band about 8 months and previously only did karaoke. The band is about 60% our own songs and 40% covers. We have our first gig on 9/7/11 and I am worried about remembering the lyrics. I have not written any of our own songs. I am planning to keep my music stand on stage for this gig as I am bricking it!! Sitting at home I can remember the words but even at band practice I find my mind goes blank.
Any tips/thoughts?

Cheers

  • Mike
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  • Registered: 2009-10-04
  • Posts: 156

Re: New singer - first gig

Most songs tell a story. Try to keep track of that story and the words will come out naturally. Just get rid of your lyrics when rehearsing as soon as possible. Try to sing from memory every band-rehearsal. It doesn't matter when you miss a few words when you're in the rehearsal room. The band won't matter; as long as you do it right on stage. This forces your brain to memorize the lyrics and you'll find it much easier to concentrate on your singing when you don't have to worry about reading lyrics  anymore.

I guess every singer has his/her blank moments when the intro of a song starts. Should that happen: don't worry and don't think! The words will come at the very last split second; your practice and rehearsal sessions made you develop a sort of muscle-memory (like good athletes).

  • Registered: 2011-08-30
  • Posts: 40

Re: New singer - first gig

@boabamatt, how did your gig go?

  • Registered: 2010-12-08
  • Posts: 3

Re: New singer - first gig

I'm a hard rock singer and I use VOICELIVE2 for my performances. It's great. But as Singer I have a problem with monitoring. An year ago I bought SHURE PSM 200 in ear monitor Kit. I’m a singer and I need high volume in my ears to hear my voice singing. I had thought if I could have used this monitoring system all of my problems of voice loss during stage performances would have disappeared, but I discovered that PSM 200 does not give enough volume to ears when it receives a microphone signal (voice) rather than line signals (instruments) from mixer console. Moreover, I noticed it clips (transmixer and receiver) on lower volume with microphone signals than with line signals. Some people suggested met to buy Sennheiser ew300 G3 to solve the volume limiter problem. What is your experience with this product? Nowadays I can’t trust in the use of in ear monitors, because I paid so much to have such a low volume in my ears, so that  my voice strove so many times; so that I don't know if I have to pay more than 900€ to buy another monitoring system not able to give enough volume to a rock and heavy singer. I know this is a psichoacoustic problem, but I’ve noticed several people had this problem with PSM 200. Is there an in ear monitor kit giving higher and more controlled volume than an active speaker? Because at the moment I don’t know whether is better buying a 400 w active speaker or a Sennheiser ew300 G3 in ear monitor kit

  • Mike
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  • Registered: 2009-10-04
  • Posts: 156

Re: New singer - first gig

@Johny Heart: Perhaps you should start a new discussion on this typical topic to get more response. After all, this thread is about a different subject.

But to answer your question from my experience en my point of view:

In-Ear monitoring is absolutely the way to go, especially for singers. But you always have to make sure the volume isn't loud. High volumes will damage your hearing and will lead to loss of hearing! With In-Ears you bring the sound directly and very close to your ears. Your Shure receiver has a built in limiter for a purpose: to protect your ears. I work with the Sennheiser ew300 G3 and that system also has a limiter. Imagine what would happen if a sudden loud signal (unplugging a live cable, mistake made by technician) was fed to the system and you wouldn't have a limiter. Not nice at all!

Furthermore you don't need a LOUD signal to hear your voice: your voice just has to stand out from the rest of the music. When you make a monitormix (using floormonitors or in-ears alike) make sure you only feed the signals that you want to stand out from the rest. If you want to hear the whole band, but want your guitar, your voice and the keys up front, just feed those signals to your monitor, leave the rest out of your mix. This way you'll lower the total volume and are still able (even better) to hear the things that are importand to you.

You might want to go for custom-made in-ear drivers. These will filter the stagenoise much better than standard earbuds and will give you a better sound for monitoring (a bit more mid-mid/treble and a bit less bass).

The loss of voice during or after a gig is serious and has to be looked after. It seems like you do something with your voice that damages it. In other words your technique needs working on. If you already have a vocal coach or voice instructor tell him or her about your problem. If you don't have a vocal coach/ instructor or singing teacher you'd better find one. Trust me: this will open a whole new set of tools you can use for your singing.

Last edited by Mike (2011-09-18 10:03:20)

  • Registered: 2012-02-07
  • Posts: 1

Re: New singer - first gig

Six Ways to Be a Better Singer

Take care of yourself.
Your body is your instrument and you only get one. So, stay hydrated. Get enough sleep. Don't smoke.     

Support your breath.
You've probably heard this before by every choral director and voice teacher you've ever had—and there's a reason for that. Proper breath support is imperative if you want your tone to sound the best it can. Unfortunately, it seems like every pedagogue has a different way of explaining breath support, which leads to a lot of confusion. This is an area where a personal voice teacher will come in handy for you. He or she will work one-on-one with you to help you learn or improve your breath support so that your tone is always supported. [Read: "Choral Cliché: Support the Tone."]

Keep your jaw loose.
A tense jaw will cause your tone to sound constricted and may even cause you to sing out of tune. So, reduce your jaw movement to only what is necessary and don't chew on your vowels. For example, if you are singing a major scale on "ah," there is little need to move your jaw while ascending from pitch to pitch. Keep your jaw as stationary and as loose as possible, and think of making the shape of the vowel inside your mouth rather than with the muscles in your lips.

Read ahead of the beat.
When reading music, always have your eye at least one or two beats ahead—that way you can anticipate what's coming next and you'll be less likely to be caught off guard when you encounter a curveball interval jump. This can be especially helpful when doing a cold sightread through a new piece of music.

Listen louder than you sing.
Aural multitasking—the ability to listen to yourself while simultaneously listening to other singers and musicians in your ensemble—is a challenge that every choral singer faces. Please: Do not plug up one earlobe to be able to hear yourself better. Why? If you have to do that to hear yourself, then you aren't training yourself to listen holistically.

If you're having trouble hearing yourself in the group, one trick is to angle your music book or folder in front of you (but without completely burying yourself behind it, of course) so that some of your sound bounces back to you as you sing. Use acoustics to your advantage.

Get over your mental blocks.
We all have at least one. Maybe you had a Simon Cowell-esque choral director in high school who told you had a dreadful voice and ever since you've had low self-esteem. This is another area that a personal voice teacher can help you with. A good voice teacher will help you to sound the best that you can using the voice that you've got. Because remember: No matter the raw materials you've been given, your singing voice can always be improved upon. So, be proud of your unique voice.

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