When I set out to create V60 Vocal System, I had a clear vision: create the most effective and comprehensive voice training system there is. It was a colossal endeavor, of course, that became my labor of love and, ultimately, a monument to my obsession with the voice and its expressive power.
When I shared V60 Vocal System with the world, I expected it to help everyone who chose to use it. After all, I had diligently developed, researched, tested and refined the cutting-edge techniques in V60 over the course of years. I’d seen them work transformative magic firsthand in thousands of private lessons with beginners to professional singers.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the outpouring of success stories from people in every part of the music industry. Turns out hit-making producers, bands of every stripe, opera singers and chart-topping pop artists alike use V60 Vocal System to take their voices to the next level.
And those in so many other walks of life, too! CEOs who rely on the power of their voice to succeed in business, voice-over artists who need to keep their most crucial asset in tip-top shape, film and television actors…the list goes on!
Discovering that what I created has empowered so many, all over the world, to develop the kind of voice they’ve always dreamed of has been one of the most profoundly inspiring experiences of my professional life.
Why am I sharing all this? We’re coming up on the 6 year anniversary of V60 Vocal System! Yep, V60 is turning six. So a little retrospective basking is in order. My larger mission has always been to create the best voice training tools and make them accessible for everyone who wants to sing; With a reach that’s spanned the globe and empowered singers in every aspect of the music industry and beyond, I’m proud to say V60 is fulfilling that mission every day!
Don’t have V60 yet? See the lesson below to explore my teaching style or go ahead and get V60 Vocal Systemnow!
From the very beginning, I declined to do any pushy marketing or aggressive advertising. I knew I wanted V60 to spread on its merits, by word-of-mouth from those who love it and by the transparent, proof-of-concept efficacy of the lessons I publicly share.
Memorizing music, learning ornate melodies at first listen, composing complex ideas or improvising with overarching coherence all rely on storing musical ideas in working memory. Counterintuitively, having a capable musical memory doesn’t actually have very much to do with maximum cognitive aptitude for remembering. That’s a good thing because the working memory in raw terms is actually disappointingly meager: according to Miller’s Law, the immediate memory can only hold about seven things at a time (plus or minus two). Anything you’ll want to do musically is surely bound to be longer than that.
It turns out that improving musical memory is more about how you conceptualize music. Recognizing larger structures is the key. By identifying fragments of tonalities, harmonies, tetrachords and other ‘geometric’ outlines, we can compress massive swathes of melody into a few simple units. This facilitates the ability to think about, remember and work with genuinely large-scale musical ideas.
After following the techniques in this video, the augmentation of musical memory and subsequent functional improvement in related musical skills can be very dramatic!
This is a vocal exercise based on tetrachords for developing pitch perfect intonation. Made up of four-note spans, tetrachords are something like archetypal melodies. Singing these melodic building blocks makes for extraordinarily productive practice as tetrachords frequently show up as melodic fragments. Simultaneously, we’re training the mind to recognize the tetrachords as melodic chunks which enhances our aural memory and melodic processing. Training voice, mind and ear all at the same time? A potent vocal exercise for improving the ability to sing in tune.
For more lessons on singing in tune and perfecting your intonation, as well as mastering every other aspect of your singing voice, get V60 Vocal System! It’s the most comprehensive and powerful voice training program there is.
Sing along to learn three vocal runs that invoke adventure, mystery and the surreal. All built from exotic scales to push the ear and expand musical horizons! Singing runs is one of the best ways to develop flexibility in the voice. Plus, artfully applied vocal embellishments is a crucial way we transform solid performances into transcendent expressions of ability.
For a complete approach to developing vocal flexibility, plus a deep exploration of every important area of vocal technique, get V60 Vocal System! At over 30 hours and 1000+ tracks of instruction, exercises, musical examples and more, V60 is the most complete vocal system there is.
V60 is a vocal program designed to get your voice sounding the best it ever has. And the reviews are in. After thousands of enthusiastic comments, emails and success stories, one thing is clear. V60 is a hit! From user feedback, here’s the top 10 reasons why V60 is so well-loved:
1. V60 makes it easy to know what to practice. It’s a complete and guided vocal system to help you become a great singer. With a unique training session every single day, all you have to do is open up the day’s workout and sing along. Simple.
One of the biggest reasons more people don’t achieve singing greatness is plain old follow-through. They don’t stay with it long enough. It’s easy to get distracted by something else or stall out when you don’t have clear direction. That’s where V60 comes in. Because it’s guided, you always know exactly what to do to take the next step toward your goal. Because it has everything you need in one place, you can stay totally focused. Because it’s effective and progress is motivating, it’ll keep that fire lit. That’s how success is made.
2. V60 is progressive. It builds you up day by day, starting with the foundations of vocal technique and guiding you through to advanced levels of singing. Introducing new material and building on it in each workout, V60 is like having a personal vocal coach with you every day of your life.
3. V60 is fun! It’s full of games, challenges and song applications to keep you having a blast while developing the greatest voice of your life.
4. V60 helps you understand your voice. V60 is laser focused on what will directly improve your voice and it also reveals insight into how. The techniques and exercises are explained in the context of how they will give you expert control over your voice so you can reliably deliver compelling vocal performances.
5. It’s complete. In fact, V60 is the biggest, most complete vocal program there is. It’s 1000+ tracks and over 30 hours of vocal exercises and instruction. You’ll expand your range, build power, improve tuning, sing fast vocal runs, perfect breath control, beautify tone, develop expressiveness and much, much more. Everything you need to become a great singer.
6. V60 speaks for itself. No hype, no marketing, no glitzy celebrity photos. Wondering about the teaching style and methods? You can follow entire, unabridged lessons on YouTube and see for yourself that the methods in V60 work.
7. It’s proven. V60 was rigorously developed, researched, tested and refined over thousands of hours of one-on-one work with singers of diverse musical backgrounds from beginners to touring pros. The outcome is a complete, cutting-edge vocal method that’s extremely effective.
8. V60 is innovative. The exercises and instruction in V60 are new breakthroughs in vocal development. Many of its insights are found no where else. Because of this, you’ll see giant improvements in your voice. More than you’ve ever experienced before. Looking for a big leap forward in your ability? V60 is for you.
9. It’s convenient. V60 is an instant download. You can use it on any device of your choosing. And you’ll never lose access. The exercises, instruction and training methods that have made V60 a top choice of vocalists worldwide are yours to keep. Forever. Buy V60 and you can start right now.
10. V60 is empowering. Everything you need to become a great singer is contained in V60. No upsells, no hidden agenda, nothing is held back. The mission statement of V60 is simple: You deserve to reach your greatest potential and sing like you’ve always dreamed. V60 will show you the way.
As you might imagine, for such a colossal product with a long development cycle and a stunning track-record, we could have tacked on an equally impressive price tag. But we wanted to make V60 accessible to any person who has the desire to sing. For the price of a night out, you can invest in yourself and transform your voice in a way that’ll change your life.
In this interactive singing lesson, I show you how to harmonize vocally. We’ll write a vocal harmony part then sing it together!
Learning how to sing vocal harmony is fun and opens up so many musical horizons. You’ll instantly improve the sound of your band. You’ll be able to join an a capella group. You can cover some of the most iconic songs in history. Plus it’s great for your ear and general ability as a singer! Check out the video above. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
You’re a singer/musician and you want to get noticed. With YouTube and music streaming services, you have instant access to millions of listeners who’re devouring digital music. Literally trillions of songs get streamed every year! So obviously you need know how to record your music and get it out there. Nowadays that’s easier than ever. You can have a top-notch setup in your bedroom that rivals the best of the hit-making studios a decade ago. Pretty exciting!
Here’s how to record a song, starting with the equipment you need.
USB Mics:
The first thing you’re going to need is a microphone to record your voice and instruments. The simplest setup is to get a USB mic. This sidesteps the need for more elaborate gear. A USB mic plugs directly into your computer or laptop’s USB port and you’re pretty much ready to go in one minute.
The Blue Yeti is an excellent USB mic for the price.
A step up would be the Rode NT-USB. Rode makes rock solid gear and their support and service is some of the best I’ve experienced.
If you want to be able to plug your mic into your iPhone or iPad, the Shure MV51 is what you want. Shure has been making top-notch equipment since 1925. You can trust their gear.
Audio interfaces:
While USB mics are really convenient, they can be a little bit noisy and are almost never used in a serious studio setup. Want to know how to record like a pro studio? A leap forward in sound quality comes from getting an audio interface and a standard (non-USB) mic. An audio interface is like a kind of soundcard. A proper audio interface can typically record at higher sample rates and bit-depths (relating to the dynamic and frequency range you can capture) than the soundcard in your computer. It also will have a lot less inherent noise than in-built soundcards so your recordings come out more clean and detailed. I generally recommend the audio interface approach to everyone who wants to know how to record because you get much better results. If you’re serious about music, leave the USB mics to the casual hobbyists.
What are you looking for in an audio interface? First, check what kind of ports your computer has. Interfaces connect either via Firewire, Thunderbolt or USB. Then you’ll want an interface that can record at a bit-depth of 24 bits (most interfaces now are capable of this, but some of the older interfaces are 16 bit only). Then focus on reviews of the preamps; these amplify the level of your microphone and can be a significant source of hiss and noise if they’re low quality. Then finally check on the drivers; Some manufacturers pump out a decent piece of hardware, but the drivers are a nightmare or don’t keep pace with updates. If the last software update for an interface is more than a year ago, you might think twice about getting it.
If you think you’ll only ever use one mic at a time, the Focusrite Scarlett Solo is a good place to start.
I own Steinberg’s UR22 for mobile use and really like it. Rock solid physically, very dependable, simple to setup and use. Highly recommended!
The Scarlett 2i2 is the next product in the Focusrite range. It has two inputs which is required if you’re going to plug in two mics for stereo mic’ing (which you may do if you intend to record acoustic guitar, piano or strings) or if you’d like to record two sources simultaneously (guitar and vocal, for example).
For the next bump in quality, look at the Apollo Twin. It’s incredible. Professional-grade sound quality with on-board effect processing (you’ll come to appreciate this when you get to mixing your music).
The above connects via Thunderbolt, but if you need USB connection, get thisApollo Twin.
Standard Mics:
With an audio interface, you can use a standard mic which opens up the world of professional studio microphones!
If you only have around $200 to spend on a mic, you can’t really beat the Rode NT1A for vocals. Clean, detailed, cheap.
I personally use the Shure KSM42 as my vocal mic and it’s unbelievable. Transparent, noiseless, huge sweet-spot. I love it. It’s triple the cost of the NT1A, though.
For a low-cost, nearly indestructible, all-purpose instrument mic you’re going to use just about everywhere, get a Shure SM57. Every studio needs at least one.
When recording instruments like acoustic guitars, pianos, strings and ensembles, it’s very common to use two mics (an identical matched pair) to get a true stereo recording. The Rode M5 matched pair is a good, cheap way to get into stereo mic’ing.
Have a little extra money? The Rode NT55 matched pair are glorious. Without a doubt the best buy in the upper echelon of stereo pairs.
Monitor Speakers:
You don’t want to use standard desktop computer speakers to playback your music because you won’t get an honest representation of what you’ve recorded. Consumer speakers are usually hyped in the low and high-end giving you an unrealistic picture of how your recording sounds. To really evaluate your work, accurate studio monitors are crucial. Note that while monitors are usually sold in pairs (you need two of them, of course), they are also sometimes sold solo–watch out!
The Mackie CR3s are a small but formidable pair of studio monitors if you’re on a tight budget. They’re ideal as a cheap reference for consumer desktop speakers. Note that they only go down to 80hz, though, so you’ll be missing some low-end.
I quite like the Mackie MR8s for (relatively) low-cost, full-size monitor speakers.
The Yamaha HS8s are very well regarded studio monitors.
Headphones:
When you’re recording music, you very often need to listen to a backing track or a metronome for timing and reference. But you don’t want this reference to be picked up on the recording–you only want to record the part you’re performing. Basically, if you’re anything other than an acapella performer, you need isolation headphones.
I really, really recommend the Sennheiser HD280s. I’ve used a pair of these for over 10 years. They’re comfortable, have incredible isolation and give ridiculously detailed sound. Buy them, you’ll be glad you did.
Cables:
Right, you have to hook all this up!
You need XLR cables to connect mics to your interface.
If you’re plugging an electric guitar into the hi-z input on the interface, you’ll want instrument cable.
For your monitors, get TRS to TRS cables. The 1/4″ jacks will do but you can also use XLR if your monitors inputs and interface outputs have such a jack.
DAW Software:
To record your music, you need a program to manage all the tracks and mix them down. This is called DAW (digital audio workstation) software. There’s lots of software that does this and it all does basically the same thing. Don’t get caught up in which is ‘best’ but rather which fits with how you think. Watch some tutorials, download some trials and see what clicks with your brain. I personally use Cubase. It’s a little costly, but if you’re a student make sure to get the academic license. It sports all the same features as the full version…just generously discounted for students.
Now you’re well on your way to knowing how to record. Any questions, drop by the video below and leave a comment. I’ll be happy to help.
Note! I’ve partnered with Amazon on this how to record tutorial which means you can show your appreciation for this article by purchasing your products through the links I’ve provided and Amazon will give me a little tip for the referral. The price to you is the same. Cheers! 🙂
Two singers locking into perfect harmony is one of the most transcendent experiences in music–but many singers have no idea how to harmonize! So I put together a video on harmonizing that’ll have you singing a vocal harmony line along with me in a matter of minutes. Give it a go!
Saher Galt is a singer, composer and producer popularly known on YouTube as S.B. Galt whose colorful music career involves the co-founding of an award-winning rock band. He’s developed a singing lesson program to help you become the singer you’ve always wanted to be.
His unique and inspiring lessons have helped millions of singers achieve their goals—from beginners to professional recording artists.
The singing lesson downloads are a series of easy-to-follow instructional exercises to dramatically improve your voice—all you need to do is sing along. Used by the top vocalists worldwide, you can download them instantly and start becoming a great singer right now! Get the lessons here.
Now offering a limited number of openings for one-on-one singing lessons over Skype!
