Chest voice vs head voice

[onurbayrak03]

I just wanna know why he uses his head voice on songs like NR, PC, RQ or any song that he sounds like mickey. why Cant he just sing them with his chest voice? November rain sounds awful with head voice, and NR could be the highlight of the shows if he used his chest voice. Is it harder for him to sing in chest register ? singing in chest register runs him out of his breath ? Why in the hell he uses his mickey falsetto, damn...

[Towelie]

Those songs are not sung in falsetto. The only occasion I can think of where Axl uses his falsetto on record is the intro to Better. He's still singing in chest on PC, Nov Rain etc, he's just using a head resonant quality.

Edited November 26, 2016 by Towelie

[rudolf1978]

I dont like the falsetto and i dont know where its coming from chest,head or asshole but i dont like it at all.Miss so much AXL 2010

Edited December 8, 2016 by rudolf1978

[NachoLZ]

13 hours ago, Towelie said:

Those songs are not sung in falsetto. The only occasion I can think of where Axl uses his falsetto on record is the intro to Better. He's still singing in chest on PC, Nov Rain etc, he's just using a head resonant quality.

I think he means at the shows.

[Towelie]

1 minute ago, NachoLZ said:

I think he means at the shows.

Yes, I know, I'm talking about the shows also.

[onurbayrak03]

23 hours ago, Towelie said:

Those songs are not sung in falsetto. The only occasion I can think of where Axl uses his falsetto on record is the intro to Better. He's still singing in chest on PC, Nov Rain etc, he's just using a head resonant quality.

Then why his chest voice sounds like head voice? So weak

[Towelie]

1 hour ago, onurbayrak03 said:

Then why his chest voice sounds like head voice? So weak

I've studied vocal lessons for years, it's about resonance. You can sing with chest resonance, nasal resonance, mouth resonance and head resonance. The "Mickey" sound Axl produces on recent performances of November Rain, he is still using chest voice but he is doing so with head resonance, which will drastically alter the sound. And I agree, it doesn't sound good.

[StrangerInThisTown]

He thinks it sounds good. Only explanation that makes sense to me. Would like to know how Slash feels about it since he only used to perform with full rasp Axl back then. I cringe sometimes

Edited November 27, 2016 by StrangerInThisTown

[IncitingChaos]

Easiest voice for him to use is this one

perfect for November rain...the falsetto or Mickey voice is just a choice at this point, he could easily go out and produce this voice where he's weak. It's all about how he projects his voice, Mickey isn't very audible but this voice is clear, loud and much more soothing to the ears 

[TheDemocracyRose]

Well sometimes he is strugling on the patience outro... 

[IncitingChaos]

1 hour ago, TheDemocracyRose said:

Well sometimes he is strugling on the patience outro... 

He tries different voices on the outro, when he runs its bc he goes to that voice in the above video. When he stands there and you see his eyes wincing its bc he's trying to hit a higher note which is harder to do for him then singing in a more natural tone...again he's 54 so that higher note comes off weak sometimes, however he nails it sometimes. It's just funny to me that he can sprint around the stage using that natural tone voice and sound amazing. 

I think Axl just likes challenging himself. He could make all the songs sound appealing but I think he gets bored...which to us is odd bc we think he's bored when he sings bad, but again I think it's about him not wanting to be a one dimensional singer  

Edited November 27, 2016 by IncitingChaos

[ForcedToRegister]

1 hour ago, IncitingChaos said:

I think Axl just likes challenging himself. He could make all the songs sound appealing but I think he gets bored...which to us is odd bc we think he's bored when he sings bad, but again I think it's about him not wanting to be a one dimensional singer  

This is wishful insanity.

The guy is in his mid-50s attempting to perform vocals that pretty much no one else on Earth could pull off in their prime, including the 27 year old version of Axl at times. If a magical genie offered him back his Appetite era voice there's no chance in hell that he wouldn't take it and use it on a nightly basis. He's not opting to sing in that lazy falsetto voice (or chest with head resonance according to Towelie) as a stylistic choice; it's just way easier for him to do. Maybe if a show was a one song long rendition of Paradise City he might be able to reach back and blow out his voice to make it sound reminiscent of the UYI years, but apart from that, it's all about conservation.

[IncitingChaos]

42 minutes ago, ForcedToRegister said:

This is wishful insanity.

The guy is in his mid-50s attempting to perform vocals that pretty much no one else on Earth could pull off in their prime, including the 27 year old version of Axl at times. If a magical genie offered him back his Appetite era voice there's no chance in hell that he wouldn't take it and use it on a nightly basis. He's not opting to sing in that lazy falsetto voice (or chest with head resonance according to Towelie) as a stylistic choice; it's just way easier for him to do. Maybe if a show was a one song long rendition of Paradise City he might be able to reach back and blow out his voice to make it sound reminiscent of the UYI years, but apart from that, it's all about conservation.

I'd agree with you, but even at 54 his voice is versatile as I showed in that video and we know how good he can sound currently on certain songs. 

My point was he still has an appealing voice but it's more up to Axl to change up how he sings a certain song. He has the voices to take away that falsetto but he chooses to try and sing with that voice on songs to be authentic and reach into his prime years, as Axl pointed out fans don't respond well to this voice. 

So I'm not saying he could sing like he's 27 I'm saying he's capable of changing up his vocal style to make the performance better live...we all know he's terrible on November Rain but he seems too stubborn to sing with a full chest voice here 

[onurbayrak03]

Thats what I exactly meant. That patience outro is the way how he should sing NR. There is no way "he cant" sing NR with the same voice as patience outro.He can sing it, but why would he think that mickey sounds better on NR, is he fucking deaf...? Trust me if he sang NR or any mickeyish song with that natural raspy strong chest voice, instead of weak head(chest) voice, there would be many things to discuss. But as you all see, there is close to no pages in Show Discussion topics. Cause there is nothing new with the shows. Its %90 of the time "Great WTTJ" "that outro of RQ" "pretty good Better" "ycbm gets better every show!" "even pc sounds good(nope...)" thats why I stopped watching  videos like a month ago or so. Same things, same comments every show...And same axl voice.

At the beginning of the SA tour, I thought he was gona pull everything off with his "classis Axl voice". (acdc shows were a proof that he still has the mid range raspiness). But he still sounds weak.

Houston was the best he ever sounded in 2016. But even in Houston, NR wasnt sang as it should be. 

 

I know that discussing this wont make any difference about Axl's singing technique, but cmon Axl... You can do better than this.

[IncitingChaos]

I think he sings NR like that bc he's trying to sound fragile, or some sh*t...maybe he doesn't want to sing over the music bc he likes it too much. Idk

NR would definitely be the highlight of the show if he sang it with volume 

[onurbayrak03]

4 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

I think he sings NR like that bc he's trying to sound fragile, or some sh*t...maybe he doesn't want to sing over the music bc he likes it too much. Idk

NR would definitely be the highlight of the show if he sang it with volume 

Yeah NR, scom, pc etc. 

[IncitingChaos]

11 minutes ago, onurbayrak03 said:

Yeah NR, scom, pc etc. 

SCOM is fine somewhat clean but he should use this voice here

PC is a faster song...so I'd say if he did something like he does on out ta get me or Nightrain then he'd sound better 

[onurbayrak03]

49 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

SCOM is fine somewhat clean but he should use this voice here

PC is a faster song...so I'd say if he did something like he does on out ta get me or Nightrain then he'd sound better 

Your examples are on point man. Those voices would fit his mickeyish songs.

[BOSSY78]

I don't really see all the Mickey talk. I see him using his clean voice. 

To me it's not falsetto at all. Of course I've not seen every single video of him doing November Rain but many and live.

In November Rain he actually sings in baritone and tenor mostly. It's just clean. 

As fans we always want him to be full on rasp all the time without understanding that vocally that can take a toll. I think his voice has been awesome. Axl's voice is very powerful considering he's been doing this for over 30 years.

Of course when your touring like this your gonna have bad nights but I don't think it's anything to worry about.

It's not easy singing Guns songs.I see no issues with him wanting to do some songs clean. His vocal chords and nodes are very important to him. I happen to like his clean voice while still enjoying what so many call the Axl rasp as well.

Also trying to understand the volume thing I mean NR is a ballad and I'm gonna use the Mexico City one in my example but I think he did very well there. 

I just don't see the point in complaining about his voice going 'mickey" as some call it when he's literally giving a hell of a show night after night.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2016 by BOSSY78
Added

[IncitingChaos]

30 minutes ago, BOSSY78 said:

I don't really see all the Mickey talk. I see him using his clean voice. 

To me it's not falsetto at all. Of course I've not seen every single video of him doing November Rain but many and live.

In November Rain he actually sings in baritone and tenor mostly. It's just clean. 

As fans we always want him to be full on rasp all the time without understanding that vocally that can take a toll. Axl's voice is very powerful considering he's been doing this for over 30 years.

Of course when your touring like this your gonna have bad nights but I don't think it's anything to worry about.

It's not easy singing Guns songs.I see no issues with him wanting to do some songs clean. His vocal chords and nodes are very important to him. I happen to like his clean voice while still enjoying what so many call the Axl rasp as well.

 

 

It's not the worst thing vocally but after the first few lines his voice kinda disappears. This isn't his natural tone, he's forcing this voice. It would be better if he atleast projected it louder. It sounds like he's tired of singing it

go back to 06 and you can find some performances where his voice sounds stronger, but he's not putting forth much effort in bringing it out. 2016 Axl has a very strong voice so him choosing to sing it the way he does isn't bc he's too old now, he has a great low voice, and him singing much higher than he needs to is harder on his vocals than when he's closer to his natural tone. 

You can make these comparisons with SCOM, PC or whatever he isn't "good" on. 

But again this shouldn't be about him protecting his voice, he could sound more appealing on some of these songs if he chose a lower more natural tone which in theory should be less stressful on his vocals. He has to try and sound "mickeyish" to achieve that sound bc it's nowhere near his natural voice. I don't think anyone is asking him to let out some Hell Bells screams we would just like to hear him approach these highlight songs a bit differently. November Rain, SCOM, and PC are huge hits for the band, people come to hear those songs and yet none of these songs are ever really a highlight when you go to a recent show...which is a shame bc they really are great musically, but Axl's voice disappears on these classics when he goes to that higher falsetto clean whatever voice...which really there is no reason to use this voice on any of the songs listed, he has a beautiful voice, but 98% of people would agree that clean voice isn't one of em currently. 

And really it's not a big deal but if they ever do a live performance then it's going to sound bad if they choose any of these songs...it's just the way it is. 

Edited November 28, 2016 by IncitingChaos

[IncitingChaos]

And I was just listening to some more Axl/DC and screw Axl for this 

WTF, I imagine this voice isn't super easy to achieve but he nailed this song at every show...very hard to imagine this voice transferring to any GNR song considering how fast and how many lyrics pop up on GNR songs, but that gets me to another point. Why does PC have to sound like a frantic race of hey Macarena and November Rain have to be played in under 6 min...slow it down. Rock or Bust isn't a fast song, there's plenty of spots to breathe in it and Axl of course sounds like he's 27 again...so screw you Axl Rose! Stop hiding that voice under that weak ass falsetto 

[rudolf1978]

On 28/11/2016 at 8:44 AM, IncitingChaos said:

And I was just listening to some more Axl/DC and screw Axl for this 

WTF, I imagine this voice isn't super easy to achieve but he nailed this song at every show...very hard to imagine this voice transferring to any GNR song considering how fast and how many lyrics pop up on GNR songs, but that gets me to another point. Why does PC have to sound like a frantic race of hey Macarena and November Rain have to be played in under 6 min...slow it down. Rock or Bust isn't a fast song, there's plenty of spots to breathe in it and Axl of course sounds like he's 27 again...so screw you Axl Rose! Stop hiding that voice under that weak ass falsetto 

if he could only sing Civil war,Estranged,you could be mine and estranged like this.....

[Cory Trevor]

please realize Axl has done vocal damage from that small chunk of AC/DC shows... listen to for those about to rock from the final US leg, it gets worse and worse every night and he noticeably didn't go as hard in SA as he did USA this past summer

[Cory Trevor]

conservation is key, and I think he'll just gradually get better and better as long as it's GnR, and if he does AC/DC again, it'll be shorter shows and tours with 100 percent screaming chest voice.

also, Axl is pushing a LOT more air than he ever has from 2000-2012.. when he does the 'rasp' it's much clearer, louder and tonally pleasing and healthier sounding than that crap nasally 90's thing.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Cory Trevor

[SWINGTRADER]

It is really sad considering that Slash is kicking some serious ass in this reunion. If only Axl could have brought back his vocals closer to what they sounded in the 90's, this thing would have been out of this world. As great as it is to see Axl and Slash reunited again, and on the road again, it is very hard to fully enjoy considering how weak Axl's vocals have been. There is so much footage of this tour on YouTube, but at the end of the day, I always resort to 80's and 90's live shows to watch. There is just no comparison. The Axl of old is just on a different planet. Axl is one of the strangest things to explain. The guy totally transformed himself in such a short time. He was already a dismal weak version of himself when he returned in 2001. So age has nothing to do with it. Even his stage moves totally changed. The guy used to be so freaking cool and unique on stage. It is sad.

That being said, this version of GNR is better than nothing.