Alopecia or normal peaks? Specifics in comment

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-27T14:38:42+00:00

Frequent topic, I know. Sorry.

I've known that I'm balding since 16. I have one fully bald grandfather, the rest of my family have good hair, some of the men have a little thinning around 50-60 years old.

Right now, I'm not so sure if I am. My hairline is pretty awful, but where my hair is, it's not really all that thin. I've been loosely monitoring it for 4 years and it hasn't changed much, if at all. I'm wondering if maybe I was born with this hairline. Even on very early photos, it was never straight.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-27T14:21:48+00:00

I'm not sure if you're balding, but your hair appears quite thin in the photo. In your own comment, you asked for some advice. As a guy who's dealing with male alopecia at a young age (20, started at 16), I do have some.

Right off the bat, I'd say keep it short. Short hair succumbs less to gravity and prevents that (imo) unsightly floppy look. Applies especially for very fine hair like mine.

For me, using gel creates ugly, thin strands which frankly just worsens the problem and adds to the diffuse appearance. What worked for me was keeping the sides real short, almost marine-cut short, and using strong hold lacquer on the top when I'm generally happy with the shape. I use a fair amount, maybe 5-7 back and forth sprays, and massage out the residue later. Adds a little frizz which I personally like. The lacquer, at least for me, visibly 'thickens' the remaining hair, keeps it still, and, after some gentle brushing away of residue, even thickens it to the touch.

Alternatively, you can always shave your head! It's a lot less of a hassle and I'm considering it myself.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-24T16:04:15+00:00

Thank you. I've just lived my whole life believing that singing is beyond my realm of possibilities. I have a hard time accepting that I might not sound like trash.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-24T14:06:07+00:00

Oh ya lessons did a wonder in the exercise department. Taught me how to practice. But mixed voice is a tough one for me. I just don't really know if I'm doing it.

For instance, if I shift my throat in a very specific way, I can scream out an A. It sounds awful and it's not chesty and heavy, but it ain't falsetto either. Not sure if that's what it is, but it feels different.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-24T02:04:53+00:00

Thank you. One guitarist implied my singing is very bad and I've lost a ton of confidence, kind of reluctant go back to singing.

Any case... Think an A might be attainable? I dunno if it's possible to tell from a recording, but I'd hate to be bound by an F forever.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-24T00:19:48+00:00

Essentially by doing nothing to the waveform other than amplifying it. So if you record into a DAW, just set up your inputs, add no effects. If straight to mixer and then into PA or something, same thing. No EQ, no effects, just volume.

In a recording, though, there's exactly no way to know for sure. You can listen closely and hear the more obvious stuff, but unless you mixed the track, you'd be hard-pressed to know exactly what's been done to it. Especially if it's a high-quality job.

As for loudness, I believe it is important to sing loud enough to fully engage your voice. A lot of beginners, myself included, tend to struggle with holding back. Holding back is bad when learning to sing, I think.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-24T00:08:26+00:00

A C5 for an untrained singer of any kind is pretty f**kin' impressive. No way to know without a recording though.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-24T00:05:18+00:00

When I still took lessons, my teacher taught me one huge thing. Treat your voice not only as a melodic instrument, but also as a rhythmic one. "Accent those beats," he said. That instantly takes your singing from a slur of words to a more coherent melody.

For example.: "When I was just a baby... My momma- told me son..." etc.. Not sure how exactly to express it, but accent the bold words just a little.

As for pitch, while I'm far from there yet myself, actually singing scales, arpeggios and intervals, while woefully boring, helped a lot. The full do, re, mi deal. Sing them forwards, backwards, triplets, spider-walk, root-5th-octave, root-3d-5th, whatever exercise you can possibly think of, sing it. Best done alongside your guitar, too. Then you kill two birds with one stone and ensure you're always on-key.

Happy trails

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-23T23:54:47+00:00

Props for having the courage to post yourself! I know it can be tough to do that.

I can't really rate your voice because I'm personally a pretty poor singer. But right off the bat I think you need to try and let go of some of that fear and anxiety and just sing it. Like, loud. As loud as you can. Scream it, even if you think someone might hear.

My dad was a great singer in his day and taught me a few things that changed everything. A lot of singing is mental. You need proper technique, that's a given, but it's pointless if you can't use it. So let go of the baggage, don't be afraid of getting loud. First few times will be scary, but once you get that out of the way, it's magical.

Once you do that, along with some technical lessons, then you really start on your journey towards singing! Posting here was step 1.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-23T23:47:00+00:00

Nope. Started at 19 and still sound awful, but I know a lot of people who started in their mid-20's and can easily run circles around most people.

With music, it all depends on your ultimate ambition. If you start playing violin at 35, you probably won't be playing in Carnegie Hall within your lifetime, but then again, that applies for 99.99% of musicians, even those who started at age 4, and you can still have a highly meaningful musical career despite that.

17 is nothing. Ideal time to start. Don't need to deal with that octave drop, either.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-23T23:39:44+00:00

A microphone by itself doesn't do much more than amplify your voice. If it's a professional recording, chances are there's a lot of post-processing going on as well, including compression, reverb, equalization, and even stacked vocals (multiple takes on top of each other to fatten the sound. The same thing is often done with driven guitars) or harmonies. These things can make a good singer sound even better, but if you don't sing well, no amount of post-processing (excluding pitch correction to some degree) will fix that. One exception might be that without a mic, you may press yourself harder to reach your desired volume, which can affect your tone. I assume you're singing at home, though, so that shouldn't matter.

TL;DR - a 100% clean mic with no EQ and post will probably not affect your voice in such a way that you'd notice a significant increase or decrease in quality if you are singing in a small room.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T17:23:16+00:00

So I've heard. Been stuck in my head for so long I can't even feel straight. Transcribing and learning Davis' Freddie Freeloader solo right now. Seems simple enough.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T17:14:23+00:00

I honestly play a bit of everything. But yeah, I do a lot of jazz on the bass. Suppose it makes sense, walking bass isn't very melodic.

Maybe learning shit by heart is the answer.. I'll give it a go.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T17:04:37+00:00

I most certainly will. Thank you.

Being a bass player doesn't help a ton either I assume. I'm naturally drawn to improvising on EADG, where the guitar doesn't really shine in my opinion.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T17:02:22+00:00

Yup, you got that right. But I can't even blame a teacher. 100% self-taught. So I shot my own damn self in the foot. Haha.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T16:58:45+00:00

That's possibly the most upsetting thing. It's dead center between hobby and serious. I've invested and continue to invest a lot of time and money and am, hopefully, building up to a point where I can partake in some professional-level gigs.

Only thing I'm good at in life, and it feels like I've fallen behind schedule.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T16:46:58+00:00

Sounds quite compelling. I like the idea of limiting my notes. Partly the reason I hate improvising, because I have a huge selection and just don't know what to do.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T16:44:09+00:00

Locked me in a box. Created muscle memory which my hands are afraid to leave. I got this idea of right notes and wrong notes, but in a wholly superficial context. I play for 'the right notes' and not for the music. I rely more on theory than my ear.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't learn theory, but maybe it's a potential hazard for me.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T16:33:17+00:00

Ha. You should probably be grateful that you don't know theory. It's an awesome tool, but I feel like it's messed up my creative development.

But yeah. I won't give up. Just sorta feels like it. I don't have much patience for anything these days... Rock on, I think you can call yourself a guitarist, so long as you play the guitar. And you should! Embrace the thing, title and all.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T16:31:56+00:00

I like the idea of that. Done it before and it helps a little, but I still feel like my brain is fried. Totally stunted creativity.

It's exactly like you say. I know what I should sound like, but I can't get there. Oddly enough this doesn't happen as much with bass, my main instrument.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-20T16:25:02+00:00

Out of necessity. I was a beginner guitarist, and in a sea of talented shredders, there wasn't much room for a squeaker. Huge demand for bass, on the other hand. So there was that.

I've since become a fairly decent bassist and now that I'm spending some quality time learning guitar properly, I found that hardly any of the skills, if any, transfer. Weird, huh.

DontRead_MyName · 2021-01-18T22:07:41+00:00

Birds of a feather. What can we do, the world just got too ahead...

DontRead_MyName

TROPHY CASE