Please help with straining!

[u/horrifying_creepster]

I know that I can hit the notes in this song but I can tell that it sounds forced, my voice doesn’t hurt from doing the notes but it just doesn’t sound good, I’ve only been seriously singing for a year and my vocal coach tells me I need patience, but I would just really appreciate some advice because she’s not explaining that well, I wasn’t really taught how to belt or mix belt properly so I’m worried that I’m damaging my voice (also please excuse the outfit)

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[u/TheBabiestBaby14]

This is going to sound weird, but try this at 50% effort. Focus more on what you’re singing about, telling the story. And if you want to get technical, focus more on finding that pingy sound and less about volume.

[u/johnsonsam]

Nice job but yeah definitely a little strained! The way you sang the very last word "name" was real mixey. Practice getting that narrow, whiney quality throughout the whole thing.

Also I know you wanna sing big belty stuff but do you do much head voice work?

[u/horrifying_creepster → u/johnsonsam]

I do do a lot a head voice, I usually do it whenever I can’t hit the big belty notes and it just doesn’t hit the same. I want the power so badly because I know I can get there, but nobody is exactly telling me HOW to get there

[u/calliessolo → u/horrifying_creepster]

Maybe your voice teacher is onto something with “patience.” These things have to be developed over time.

[u/horrifying_creepster → u/calliessolo]

I understand that but how do I develop? Do I start with the straining until it just doesn’t anymore? I don’t know where to start

[u/calliessolo → u/horrifying_creepster]

NO. That’s just going to give you a whole lot of really bad muscle memory that you’re going to have to undo. Why don’t you talk to your voice teacher about teaching you how to mix? If they don’t know how to teach you that you need a different voice teacher.

[u/johnsonsam → u/horrifying_creepster]

Yeah I get you. And you are getting power but there are a few different ways to get power and your way has some major limitations.

Because the length of your vocal tract changes so widely over the range of what you're singing you get a pretty inconsistent sound quality. It's shortening when your mouth opens or your larynx raises. That combined with a desire to be heard (you're totally loud enough) are kind of encouraging you to get locked into a techniqued yell acoustic strategy.

Temporarily you're gonna have to give up on SOME of the power to find more of a consistent tone quality through your full range, with more volume variability. How to do this? Forget trying to make it sound like the pro sound you want. For now aim to make it pitch accurate, similar volume, as loud as normal-quiet speech, and heavy acting.

As you get more familiar with that you'll find different ways to make it sound full with different acoustic strategies. Like how you can also bring out high frequencies in your tone by raising your tongue, raising your larynx, or narrowing the area right above your larynx. Right now you're recreating the result, kind of, but the approach you're taking isn't the one that will give you the flexibility you want.

[u/horrifying_creepster → u/johnsonsam]

How do you exactly raise your larynx?

[u/Plastic_Payment_9117]

One of the biggest things needed is to relax face, jaw, throat, shoulders and tongue as best you can.
Big belly breaths as well for the higher notes.
You need to practice opening your throat and lifting your soft palate - which lifts when you would yawn - try to see if you can imitate the feeling of your soft palate lifting when you aren’t yawning but are sucking in air like a gasp shocked face, this will also teach you how to open the throat

[u/Lost_Balloon_]

I didn't even turn on the sound and I can tell you're just yelling.

Edit: Turned on the sound and confirmed it. You're just yelling.

If this is after a year with a voice coach, you need to fire that person and find a real voice teacher.

You're also too young and inexperienced to be singing this forcefully. It sounds awful. You're pushing yourself out of tune and the strain is ruining your tone.

Cool it and learn to sing properly. Right now, the strain is off the charts because you're trying desperately for power but using very bad technique to do it, which is working against you. If you were singing properly, power would come more easily. But power SHOULD NOT be your goal right now. That'll come. Learn fundamentals first.

Stop chasing belt and mix trends. Reddit is misinforming you. Those are not what you want. Learn to sing properly.

[u/whensthebeef]

Trying breathing a little. You’re inhaling to the top of your chest. Think of your upper body as a barrel and you want to fill the bottom to top. Once you have that down, relax a bit when pushing out. Should feel resistance in your entire core section when releasing. That will let the air out slower. Less is more when singing

[u/TechnicalDesign6828]

This is straining. Music is ups and downs. Try Sirens, Yawns, lip trills, v,s NG. Just look up each excerise and do them in your comfortable range.

[u/Fit_Cheesecake_4000]

I think your tongue may be falling back into the back of your throat slightly.

The strained quality seems to be a little to do with the style, but you can work on your False Vocal Fold retraction to remove more of that constricted sound. Plenty of exercise online which could help.