11/20/2024
Just wanted to give an update since it has been awhile.
Outside of music, I completed my first successful 50 mile endurance horseback ride in Quitaque, Texas. It took about 9.5 hours. I could still feel it a few days later ... 😀
I also continued playing bass guitar with our practice group/band, and playing keys/piano.
In terms of singing, you may remember that I was on a waitlist for a singing instructor and I still am, but at least we have moved up the waitlist meanwhile, so that is good. But I also remembered @rsl12 advice to get started with formal instruction, and found a way to do that while being on the waitlist.
Specifically, I found the Austin Chapter of A Cappella Texas and initially my wife and I just visited for curiosity. But then, when we arrived, we received an "initial assessment" and that is how I learned that I have a bass voice. I also learned that I am scooping my notes, meaning that I ramp up the pitch until I match a given note. And the scooping can even be seen in the app SingScope. Since then I have worked on improving the scooping by doing regular singing exercises.
The Austin Chapter of A Capella basically sings in barbershop style (4 simultaneous voices) and they sing in a choir and also in quartets. Someone commented that they are singing karaoke "on steroids" and yes, they are really good, knowledgeable and were also very welcoming.
We then attended the rehearsals for the next 4-5 weeks. Right now we are learning a holiday repertoire of about 15 songs, and there is quite a bit preparation at home in learning the lyrics and the particular voice. The learning at home is done based on reading sheet music as well as listening to and singing against vocal tracks. Then, in the rehearsal, the choir director guides the vocal warm-up, listening exercises, and provides feedback on how to sing lyrics. They also have group leaders for each voice (bass, baritone, tenor, etc.), so in the choir I am standing next to another bass singer that can guide me as needed. I have to say that I am really impressed by this group.
Please find below a few practice recordings at home for "Carol of the Bells", "Christmas Eve In My Hometown", and "Winter Wonderland." This was recorded with a Motu M4 audio interface, an E945 Sennheiser microphone, and Audacity as the recording software.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/156tNnzR3OZAw0DHrmGlnkjrpiP9IRVBm?usp=sharing
Currently, my wife and I are working toward becoming members of this group and part of that is doing an audition in a quartet. The audition song is "Little Saint Nick". We have been diligently working towards that goal and had our first practice audition run yesterday. Currently, my biggest weakness is that when singing with other harmonies/voices, I focus too much on the other voices, and that affects which notes I sing.
In other words, sometimes I may sing a note of the chord, but it is not the note of my bass voice that I needed to sing. So, that is currently the area that I need to focus on the most. I imported all 4 voices (tenor, lead, baritone, bass) into my DAW (FL Studio) so that I can play back any combination of those.
So, that's it where I am at the moment. In general I can say that singing is a journey, and I can feel that I am making progress, but the progress is not felt on a day-to-day basis. It is more like when I look back to what I did a few months ago, then I can say that I either improved something, or I got just a little more confident. For example, when I started this journey about 18 months ago, I felt very insecure when I sang in a circle with other musicians, and I did not always hit the right notes. Compared to that, whenever I sing today in a group, that sounds a bit more confident, and hopefully in another year it will even be better. 😃
Thanks so much for listening to this blurb, and I wish you lots of success in your instrument playing/singing journey !
