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A vocal teacher's opinion on Axl's voice and technique (2012)


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That’s my first post so hi to all.

 

There’s this 2012 video of Ken Tamplin (vocal coach) where he teaches a guy how to sing like Axl.

In the comments he is asked about his opinion on why Axl lost his voice etc. I don’t know if it was discussed back then.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTLLQnS3QiU

 

-When Axl Rose sings, does he do it in full voice or falsetto?

-Most of it was full voice using extreme mask

-Are you gonna do a follow up to this Ken with a bit more "how to"?

-yes, it's coming...but without building the strength and the mechanism, just talking about Mask and the different ways Axl compressed his sound won't ultimately get you to where you want to go...

-What do you think about axl's technique? his voice was very good in 2010, maybe even better than the old days, and from 2011 to nowadays he totally lost it...

-He doesn't have much technique except the over-use of mask.

-How to get that dirt in voice like axl..?

-The same way you lose your voice like AXL if you don't know how to compress properly.

-Nobody can sing like Axl Rose

-Not even Axl anymore because of the way he sang

-Mr. Kentamplin, I really need to know something, please: Is it true that the instability of Axl' s voice is his fault? Doesn't he know how to sing?

-The way he sang is what cost him his voice and could have been avoided.

-it could have been avoided but it would have avoided his fame too 

-no it wouldn't have, he would have been able to sustain a long career like Paul Rodgers.

-Did axl lose his voice because he forced his throat so much? Or was it because of the smoke, drugs, alcoohol?

-all of the above

Edited by WhenYou'reTalkinToYourself
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johnulcer 1 year ago

so from a technical standpoint, why exactly did axl 'lose' his voice? and if you watch a video of him singing live in, say, 2002 when he had no rasp (where his voice was much 'cleaner,' higher-pitched, and almost sounded as if he was sucking helium), can you tell whether he re-learned how to sing in another style? it seems like using the 'rasp' destroyed his vocals and he tried to re-learn all his songs in a different falsetto, but i don't know much about the technicality behind singing. i'd love your insight.

 

Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy 1 year ago

+johnulcer Lack of good support, the way he compressed his sound, the over use of air, singing from his throat...drug abuse, there are quite a few things

 

where is he he getting this drug abuse shit from

 

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I've read the "opinion" of that guy before and I think he's full of shit.

This is like a doctor diagnosing someone online. He doesn't know Axl. He doesn't know what technique Axl uses, he hasn't worked with Axl. Voice is not a guitar or piano or bass, its like another "organ" of the human body.

He can speculate all he wants but he shouldnt come off like what he says it is what happened to Axl. Fuck, just a sleepless night would change the voice of anyone.

We don't know what Axl goes through or went through, his health in general, his eating habits, physical activity, emotional problems, etc.... it's a wide range of issues that could affect him and we will never know, unless someday he goes out explaining what are the issues with his voice (which I don't think will ever happen).

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Ken Tamplin is a ridiculous singer and a proven vocal coach, so it's hard to disagree with him. However, Axl definitely has technique, even if it's a bit "natural ability" over the traditional working with a coach. 

Also, while Axl definitely had a rough couple of years, he's basically singing now as good as he's ever sang... so! I don't think he's lost his voice. He certainly could lose his voice quicker by using the mask technique improperly for too long (you can definitely hear him struggle a bit on some of the more rapid vocal AC/DC songs: Back In Black etc). I would say that they would benefit to tune back down to Eb like they did for Brian (rock or bust tour only) for some songs, others are grand in Standard tuning.

I don't know why he lost his voice in 2011, maybe that's a question someone should ask him (Axl) if they ever meet him, then report back here. Everyone else's opinions are based on inaccuracies / myths, supposed injuries, diseases, depression etc. Would be great if he gave his opinion... maybe he thought he was fine, for all we know! Which would explain why he toured for 3 years with a fairly up and down vocal ability.

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Axl's voice is a mystery, he had one of the most dynamic and great voices in history in the 80's. Maybe poor technique played a role in his demise vocally. He only has two good ranges left now with 2006 being his last great vocal year that carried the most dynamic. 

 

But nonetheless Still incredible as a singer...they don't make em like Axl anymore. 

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Lol. I don't even have to read the responses to know how they will play out. 

Because the guy was negative about Axl:

this guy doesn't know shit

who cares what this guy says 

fuck this guy, he sucks 

A professional vocal coach gives his professional pinion. But because he doesn't worship Axl, then posters (with no vocal training at all) will think they know better than the professional. Too funny. 

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Ken Tamplin is brilliant, probably the best vocal coach (for rock anyways) But he thinks he's a bit of a knowitall. I disagreed with an anti vaccine comment he made and he tried to argue the whole "Governement is pumping us all full of chemicals" nonsense and when I replied he deleted my comments and me haha.

He's also a devout Christian and only eats "natural" food etc. Lots of weird quirks that raise little red flags when attempting to take him seriously.

So other than just wanting to inform people of this it may or may not good reason to question the accuracy of his take on Axl's vocals.

I personally think it's because Axl is one of the only singers you can't replicate using his method.

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What about the fact he had throat surgery in the late 90s. I'd imagine like with all other surgeries it takes time to heal and you have to take it easy. 

Now 2006-2010 he really pushed it. Was his voice damaged from 2011-2014? It's fine now so I would  chalk it up to being uninspired with the replacements of the replacements and mailing it in. Axl was forced out there out of necessity imo. He had to pay the bills like pay his hired Guns.

 

Going forward it's probably best that Axl continues to use the controlled rasp. He can do it without screaming and straining like 91

Edited by Top-Hatted One
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1 hour ago, Apollo said:

Lol. I don't even have to read the responses to know how they will play out. 

Because the guy was negative about Axl:

this guy doesn't know shit

who cares what this guy says 

fuck this guy, he sucks 

A professional vocal coach gives his professional pinion. But because he doesn't worship Axl, then posters (with no vocal training at all) will think they know better than the professional. Too funny. 

Umm... just to be clear, we are not allowed to be critical of anyone who criticizes Axl? 

I suppose I am just a dumb biased fan who worships the ground Axl walks on because I have problems with Tamplin's work. I must an ultra superfan because I stumbled across Tamplin three or four years ago before he did any GnR stuff. I could sense in the force that he was going to be critical of Axl. Isn't that awesome?

I'd like everyone to bow down to my super dumb biased superfan status!

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Ken's a good vocal coach but he's always been very critical of Axl, to the point where he's deleted comments that disagree with his view point. I wouldn't put much stock in his opinions.

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8 hours ago, WhenYou'reTalkinToYourself said:

That’s my first post so hi to all.

 

There’s this 2012 video of Ken Tamplin (vocal coach) where he teaches a guy how to sing like Axl.

In the comments he is asked about his opinion on why Axl lost his voice etc. I don’t know if it was discussed back then.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTLLQnS3QiU

 

-When Axl Rose sings, does he do it in full voice or falsetto?

-Most of it was full voice using extreme mask

-Are you gonna do a follow up to this Ken with a bit more "how to"?

-yes, it's coming...but without building the strength and the mechanism, just talking about Mask and the different ways Axl compressed his sound won't ultimately get you to where you want to go...

-What do you think about axl's technique? his voice was very good in 2010, maybe even better than the old days, and from 2011 to nowadays he totally lost it...

-He doesn't have much technique except the over-use of mask.

-How to get that dirt in voice like axl..?

-The same way you lose your voice like AXL if you don't know how to compress properly.

-Nobody can sing like Axl Rose

-Not even Axl anymore because of the way he sang

-Mr. Kentamplin, I really need to know something, please: Is it true that the instability of Axl' s voice is his fault? Doesn't he know how to sing?

-The way he sang is what cost him his voice and could have been avoided.

-it could have been avoided but it would have avoided his fame too 

-no it wouldn't have, he would have been able to sustain a long career like Paul Rodgers.

-Did axl lose his voice because he forced his throat so much? Or was it because of the smoke, drugs, alcoohol?

-all of the above

oh geez I had to turn it off after like 20 seconds. that was BAD. funny how many people try and sing this song. I googled what song of GN'R's was most covered and SCOM seems to be the #1 choice. if you have the time and the interest there are some classics out there like people singing it in competitions like The Voice Australia and such. nowadays i'd rather watch all the new stuff and the Bon Scott AC/DC songs but this was back when I was determined to learn as much about GN'R as I could before Axl and Slash reunited because I was always positive they would :)

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17 minutes ago, janrichmond said:

I don't get the difference between 'Mickey' voice and 'clean' voice:shrugs:could someone show me an example of each so i get it?

Clean Voice:

Mickey lol :

 

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8 minutes ago, AxlsFavoriteRose said:

oh geez I had to turn it off after like 20 seconds. that was BAD. funny how many people try and sing this song. I googled what song of GN'R's was most covered and SCOM seems to be the #1 choice. if you have the time and the interest there are some classics out there like people singing it in competitions like The Voice Australia and such. nowadays i'd rather watch all the new stuff and the Bon Scott AC/DC songs but this was back when I was determined to learn as much about GN'R as I could before Axl and Slash reunited because I was always positive they would :)

Yes, I posted this for the commends not for that guy. Of course he is not Axl and will never be.

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