Success Stories

Stories from people using Sing & See in their voice training

If you would like to contribute something please add your own story here



Helping a rank amateur

I’m 72 and took up singing by joining a local Barbershop Chorus a little over a year ago with no experience or training.  (Something to do in retirement!) Being a long time techie guy, I loaded myself down with all the appropriate tech tools I could find in despartion.  Sing & See was one of those.  Progress has been slow, but they haven’t kicked me out yet, so I guess that means something.  Anyway, I have found that Sing & See is the program I use most frequently – usually in conjuction with other programs.  It’s the only one I have found that is able to record my efforts visually with any degree of usefulness. It has helped me to at least be acceptible.  Pavarotti need not rise from the grave to defend his status, but Tiny Tim definity would. While there are some improvements I would like to see, it is worth the $. I know it seems relatively expensive, but I’m of the old school – you get what you pay for. I have no complaints on that score (pun intended).
By: Bill Nott

Sing&See Makes a Huge Difference

Starting with the original beta version years ago, I have used Sing & See virtually every day during teaching sessions. Sing & See is an integral and vital part of my teaching process. Feedback from singers of all ages, levels and genres has been consistently positive. I also use Sing & See as part of introductory sessions with prospective students in order to target areas for improvement and goal setting. The visual feedback is quickly understood, and is invaluable in demonstrating areas of strength, which builds confidence in beginning singers. Prospective students are impressed with a high tech approach to vocal improvement which contrasts to endless “drill and kill” training they may have known. It has been years since an introductory session has not resulted in student enrollment. Several students have purchased Sing & See to work on intonation and onset issues (beginners) or resonance and vibrato (advanced). I highly recommend Sing & See.

—Patrick Cunningham, Arizona Music Project, Chandler, Arizona, USA
By: Patrick Cunningham

[An Indian flute player] Quite an interesting product

I am a classical bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) player from India. I had bought this product couple of years ago after much thought and interaction with William and have been quite happy with its performance. It helps me at least know about the modulation level in my flute and sometimes I also use it for training my vocal cords. I am quite happy to use it and hope the continuous product improvement will increase ones ability to learn music in a much better way. I think it can have applications in speech therapy, leadership training (as voice is an important factor for leaders, watch The King’s Speech). It could help people who have stammering problem and are afraid to speak on the stage. I wish William a great luck and best wishes from the land of The Buddha! I will pray for his success.

Siddhartha Priya, Alumnus – IIT Kharagpur (B. Tech.), IIM Ahmedabad (MBA), ESSEC (France), Solvay (Belgium)

By: Siddhartha Priya

Using Sing&See in Harmonica Playing

Singandsee is not just for singers! It is the perfect for harmonica players as well!

Without getting to involved in the technical aspects of harmonica playing (yes it can be quite technical) most harmonicas are 10 hole diatonic instruments – seven pitches. However, to play Blues requires ‘bending’ (altering the pitch) of notes and, for a beginner, this can be a real challenge but with Singandsee you can practice (and practice and practice) and see when you have it just right – not to mention playing it back and listening to the ‘cool blues’ that you are playing!!!

But wait there’s more; a diatonic harmonica can be played as a chromatic instrument as well (this is very advanced). Chromatic meaning 12 pitches each a semi apart – this requires advanced techniques, and a lots of practice. Once again with the Singandsee you can see the notes on screen and, equally important, use the playback for aural training and confirming when you have the scale and/or song just right.

Glen
Gold Coast
Australia

Karmyn Tyler Cobb – NY

“I have used Sing and See for quite sometime in my studio and I find it one of the best tools for teaching voice. I work with all types of voices: beginner to advanced vocalists as well as professional speakers. For the beginning singer, it is hands down the best way for them to “see” when they are not matching pitch. When they do “see” it becomes easier for them to understand adjustments that I give to improve phonation. It can be even more useful if a teacher learns how to read spectrograms (i.e. Scott McCoy, DMA with NATS.) Then you can help a vocalist see when their tone is breathy, thin, pushed or irregular. Every vocal teacher needs this in their studio!”

Karmyn Tyler Cobb – KT Vocal Studio

Two mice

I use S&S on a secondary monitor, set up at some distance from my main desktop. To save going back to the desktop every time I want to play a note or alter things on the S&S screen, I just plugged in an extra USB mouse, and put it near the S&S screen. To my surprise, both mice control the same pointer, which makes life a lot easier!

By: Don Taylor

Every flaw stands out –

Sing and See is great! You can SEE and hear every flaw, The beauty is that you can see everything and you have a means of feedback so you can correct what you hear. Example, If I let too much air go, I can see it, as the wavering around the note begins, same with supporting notes in the higher register.  I can then add additional breath support or correct as necesssary.  Fortunatley I don’t have a problem staying on key. You can also see any glotal shock – and through feedback, soften accordingly.  Everything you do – right or wrong stands out to be analyzed and corrected. I love it!  Its like bringing your singing coach home with you Laughing

Cindy

 

By: Cindy Klenk

Using Sing & See to help improve pitching

This is a demo of how I use Sing&See in practice to help me work on a pitch problem.

Here, after a piano cue, I am singing a fifth interval, from A3 to E4 (actually the second two notes in the song “Edelweiss”), and the problem I have is that I sing them flat. To me, at the time, they sound in tune, but if I listen to the audio I don’t like what I hear.

The trace clearly shows that I was singing about a quarter-tone flat. Read the rest of this entry »

Cross instrument success at the Elder Conservatorium

I used to use Sing and See sporadically in the teaching of Mixed Belt to both Classical students and the Jazz students in workshops. The spectrogram shows clearly the shift of energy to the upper partials in Mixed Belt. It has also been very useful in language classes when working with vowels.

Recently I have been been using the pitch trace frequently during one to one voice lessons.

The biggest recent success has been an Honours Flute player who was not reaching the desired standard because of out of tune playing. I suggested she do her Minor Recital in Voice. I have used the pitch trace extensively with this girl, training her to hear the notes BEFORE she goes near the onset. This has been very successful with her singing, but most exciting was that she has just won the local Flute Eisteddfod against very good competition.

I have set up a practice room with the program for the singers, but it is also beeing used extensively by the string players who want to see where their vibrato is actually sitting.

Patrick Power,Elder Conservatorium of Music.Adelaide

By: Patrick Power O.N.Z.M.

Sing & See in Finland

Recently the Pohjois-Kymen musiikkiopistossa put on a workshop about using technology in music teaching. The College’s cello teacher Mikko Lehtola has been using Sing & See and demonstrated this to a group of singing teachers at a workshop on May 8th. He is leading a project –  “LABRA – making instrumental studies more effecient through use of music technology” – which is funded by the Finnish ministry of education.

Mikko Lehtola is also using Sing & See in teaching his cello students – and some other instrumentalists, violinists and flautists, are also finding it useful.

Here is a photo from the news report of the event (English translation here) showing the use of Sing & See on a large smart display.

Sing & See in Finland

18-year-old Sally Mattila, rehearsing with singing teacher Anne Korpelainen and the computer program Sing & See. Photo by Tiina Aho (kouvolansanomat.fi)

Laulun ja soiton opiskelu on siirtynyt nykyaikaan, julistaa pilke silmäkulmassaan Emilia Vesalainen. Pohjois-Kymen musiikkiopistossa laulua opettava Vesalainen on yhdessä kollegansa Anne Korpelaisen kanssa innoissaan Labra-hankkeesta, joka tekee tietotekniikasta työkalun musiikkiopintoihin.

Elokuussa alkaneen hankkeen ideoija ja vetäjä on opiston sellon soiton lehtori Mikko Lehtola, jonka mukaan musiikkiteknologia selvästi kiinnostaa nuoria — enemmän kuin aikuisia. Tällä hetkellä musiikkiopintojaan tehostaa tietotekniikalla noin 10 Mikko Lehtolan sello-oppilasta. Lisäksi joukkoon kuuluu muun muassa viulisteja, huilisteja ja klarinetisteja.

Labra-hankkeessa mukana olevan oppilaan treeniapuna kotona ovat tietokone, lisensoidut harjoitusohjelmat, kaiuttimet ja mikrofoni. Tietokoneruudulle ilmestyvät nuotit ja kursori, joka osoittaa, missä kohdin kappale etenee. Suorituksen lopuksi ohjelma antaa palautteen.”