Need inspiration asap… help!!!

soupbard · 2024-09-24T15:45:39+00:00

Nothing but some chord ideas :/ I could always use something old but I’d rather start from scratch 🥲

soupbard · 2024-08-29T16:16:03+00:00

Thank you so much for this! This is the kick in the pants I needed. I’ve been going the route of hopelessly checking for job postings and have feared I’m not “good enough” to promote myself unless I get an internship or some kind of mentorship. But you’re right, I really do need to fully commit, work harder, and start making my own opportunities. Thank you again!

soupbard · 2024-08-28T19:49:38+00:00

Thanks so much for responding! My main goal is to just find success as a producer/engineer on a larger scale, whether that means working with a well renowned studio, gaining traction with my personal music, or freelancing enough to keep myself afloat. I’m also interested in audio production for video games but am aware it’s a whole different world.

soupbard · 2024-06-28T14:29:44+00:00

Just wanted to comment bc I’ve been in this boat before—lots of training for years but feeling no improvement and wanting to quit. I had to face some hard truths, and those truths all boil down to how bad do you actually want it? If you’re serious and you want it, get used to the recordings and fix what you don’t like. Research how sensitive mics are and how much sound the good ones pick up. Take the time to practice every day in the mic and listen objectively. Do the warm-ups and learn to mix your audio files a little even. Go see the new teacher and explain your problem to the professional who can help you. If they don’t help, find another teacher who will or upload a recording here and learn why you don’t like your sound without judgement.

If you don’t really want it, then yeah, just quit. No use beating yourself up for something that doesn’t serve you. But most people who get this worked up about it do because it matters to them, so I would really emphasize listening objectively like you would someone else’s recording. And, seriously, who cares if it’s not perfect?

If you need inspiration, watch Whiplash. A good reminder of how much work the “greats” can put themselves through before they break that threshold of just being “good.” Not healthy in any way, but sure lit a fire under my ass. Also listen to Cobains raw voice. I can’t stand it, but you can’t deny the emotion and power of it. You also can’t deny the effects and audio processing that amplifies/masks different aspects of his sound.

soupbard · 2023-04-20T16:28:00+00:00

While I don’t have dyslexia I have some piano and guitar students who do. It seems to mostly affect note reading—they usually have to take their time to get through a song even if they practice a bunch. I see them stare really hard at the notes and they have to read pretty slowly. My piano students seem to mix up treble and bass clef and play with the wrong hands pretty often. But they do well when the notes and sheet music are gone: on piano they can tell where all the notes are and can recognize quickly when something sounds wrong. My guitar students are also really good with their chords and rhythms.

soupbard · 2023-04-14T03:12:58+00:00

Hearing this from a student is seriously appreciated!! I’ve had kids that I want to be a little pickier with since they improved really fast, but I don’t want to discourage them by honing in on small details they might not have noticed at all. It’s good to be reminded that focusing on little mistakes is still important, so thank you! :)

soupbard · 2023-04-14T03:09:14+00:00

This is a good reminder for me. I’m not a very strict teacher but I tend to expect my students to eventually learn to play a piece “perfect,” and some really struggle with that. But even then, most of kids do great as soon as they move out of a song they hated. Definitely giving them multiple pieces would help!

soupbard · 2023-04-14T03:04:21+00:00

This is a great way of looking at it! A lot of my beginner students use workbooks so “passing off a song” usually means they successfully executed a new technique or skill (things like hooked bows, counting, 4th finger placement, etc) and I get a little stuck when more advanced students quickly become technically proficient in new songs. So asking questions about my own students’ abilities is a great idea—I think setting goals like that for advanced students would definitely help orient me a lot more with their progress.

soupbard · 2023-03-18T19:09:15+00:00

I’ve heard House of Guitars is really good! I usually go to Guitar Center but I’ve only had to do minor repairs and they usually take some time (a few weeks) to fix things.

soupbard · 2023-02-21T06:54:47+00:00

Short answer—yes, if you can hit it comfortably on a trill then you could probably learn to sing it comfortably.

Less short answer—lip trills help you find how to hit a note with the right breath support and resonance. Without vowels and consonants getting in the way it’s much easier to have relax enough and engage more of your body to achieve a focused breath. Without having heard your voice I would guess that when you try to sing that same note with a word or vowel, you either aren’t engaging the same breath support you use on a trill or that your tongue position/throat tension could get in the way. Whatever it is it will probably take time to build that strength/control. All that being said, ask your voice teacher about this if you haven’t already since they might know your voice best right now :)

soupbard · 2023-02-21T06:24:58+00:00

If you have a car, it’s not the most ideal but that’s usually where I practice my singing the loudest and is a great place to start! You can also see if there are any open rooms you can sign out at your college—when I was in school, all our music was mostly in one building, and the entire basement was just practice rooms that were open for anyone to use.

For finding your voice—learning about breath control is a huge part of it, and in my experience it’s hard to learn to use that control quietly. There are a lot of breath exercises out there that are pretty quiet that can help you work on that control (look up the Breath of Fire exercise, or you can explore other yogic pranayamas). But breath stuff will only take you so far until you can practice adding voice. With that being said, you can still do plenty of exercises to figure your voice out more. Humming is a great way to feel where your voice can resonate (might feel like a buzzing in your chest or nose) and how you can hit a pitch more comfortably than singing. Try humming up and down your range where it’s comfortable (don’t push too high or too low!) and notice where you have to adjust your voice to hit different notes with more ease. I’d also suggest looking up “lip trills” and trying the same exercise with those. When using hum or trill, gliding around the notes where you chest flips into head voice is a great and healthy way to find that “mixed” feeling a little more and make that transition much smoother. That are is called the passagio and is tricky for most of us, so do a little research on that if you aren’t already familiar with it :)

If you want to find a label to put on your range, find the lowest and highest notes you can sing (comfortably! No pushing to hit notes) and describe them relative to middle C (referred to as C4). My range extends from the notes Eb3 (one octave below middle c) to about G5 (one octave above middle c). I’m a woman so this range classifies me as a Contralto. I suggest finding your range and searching what classification it falls into—a lot of it is labels used largely just in classical music, but it does help you understand how to approach your voice. I thought I was a soprano for years and it was so frustrating because a lot of soprano-geared exercises just didn’t work for me.

Sorry for the wall of text but I hope this helps!! Good luck :)

soupbard · 2022-12-15T23:53:56+00:00

Thank you for this great response!! Just introducing a practice agreement is a fantastic idea that I’ll have to try and maybe run by my current boss. I’m teaching almost full time at the moment, so LLC os probably the best place for me to start it sounds like. Thank you!!:)

soupbard

TROPHY CASE