Drills & tools

Jump into the parts of Vocal Lab you use for drills, rehearsal, and setup—everything lives behind these entry points.

New to the app? Start with the guided starter program on Exercises (no track required).

  • LibraryTracks, loops, and starting practice
  • ReviewTracks with sections marked weak for extra practice
  • MIDIMIDI and melody tools; MIDI-guided melody (plan section 2.7) is backlog
  • SetlistOrdered set for rehearsal
  • SettingsApp and account preferences
  • YouTubeImport or reference from YouTube
  • SessionsPractice history and stats
  • Practice — open a track from the library first; practice needs a selected track

Name and save micro-session presets (vowel, interval, length) in Settings; plan 2.6 will hook them into one-tap timed blocks on the practice page.

Register map (today)

Jot where your voice feels easy today—ranges, breaks, or anything you want to remember before practice (plan 2.2).

60s sweep timer

Glide gently chest→head

01:00left

One minute of easy sirens or slides—stay soft. Saved notes go to your register map journal for today.

Rhythm & micro-timing

Tap on the beat against your saved practice tempo (from Settings) to see how consistently you land early or late (plan 2.3).

BPM from settings: 100 · Space to tap (last 16 vs quarter grid)

Early ← → Late

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Bins 25 ms wide, range -100100 ms vs nearest beat.

Reference timing (plan 2.5). When you record takes, compare them to your own reference stem or backing later for pocket and phrasing—not just pitch. Review takes in Sessions, and open material from the Library.

Load a reference stem and a take (optional each). We decode in the browser, downmix to mono, and draw a lightweight RMS envelope (50 slices). Same section length lines up best; this is a rough shape check, not sample alignment. Last successful pair is saved on this device for quick reload.

Reference envelope

No file

Take envelope

No file

Melodic sing-back

Hear the short motif, then sing the middle pitch back; recording uses your mic for a rough cents readout (plan 2.3). Practice drones and generated tones here use equal temperament by default; advanced just-intonation drills are planned for later.

Target: middle of three (~294 Hz).

Voice care & SOVT

SOVT adds gentle back-pressure and steady airflow—handy before loud singing or after long sessions.

  • Straw — narrow tube phonation; balances breath and closure without pushing.
  • Lip trill — buzz through scales or sirens; forward resonance, low tension.
  • Humming — closed-mouth hums on easy pitches; quick resonance check or warm-down.

Level targets are still on the roadmap (plan 2.2). For preset timed blocks, use SOVT timers below; for count-in, tempo, metronome, and lane defaults that pair well with warm-ups, open Settings.

Warm-down hum sequence

After a long session, three short descending hums—5, then 4, then 3 seconds—ease the voice down without pushing (plan 2.2 warm-down).

Warm-down · plan 2.2

Step 1 — 5 seconds

On a comfortable mid pitch, hum softly with lips gently together. Let the sound be small and steady—about five seconds, no push.

Descending hums help you ease out after loud or long singing—keep volume easy throughout.

SOVT timers

Preset countdowns for common SOVT work—start, pause, and reset as you like (plan 2.2).

Straw in water & voiced fricatives — how-to and hygiene

Educational information only—not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have pain, persistent hoarseness, or injury concerns, consult a qualified clinician or voice specialist.

Straw phonation into water

  • Use your own straw and your own water bottle; do not share.
  • Keep water below lip level on the straw—bubbles, not gulping; stop if dizzy or strained.
  • Protect electronics: keep your device away from splashes.

Voiced fricatives (/v/, /z/)

Light jaw, steady airflow, soft buzz—SOVT-like resistance without pushing the throat. If tone gets tight or breathy, shorten the phrase and lower volume.

02:00left

Level target (plan §2.2) — rough mic RMS while timer runs

Start the timer to open the mic meter.

Count-in, metronome, and lane defaults live in Settings.

Onset lab

On the same pitch, a smooth onset means the sound arrives gently: you let air and tone build without a hard 'grab' or click at the start. A glottal onset adds a small, firmer closure at the beginning—you may hear a light catch before the note settles. Both can be useful to recognize; this lab is about choosing them on purpose, not pushing volume (plan 2.2).

  • In Library, pick a track and loop a single comfortable note (or a tiny phrase) so you can repeat the same pitch without hunting.
  • Sing several soft onsets in a row: ease in like a hum getting clearer, same pitch each time—no extra punch at the attack.
  • Then several controlled glottal onsets on that same pitch—small clear start, still easy volume; notice the difference in feel and sound.
  • Optional: use count-in / metronome and your usual lane so timing stays steady—adjust in Settings.

Click grid. Internal 90 BPM click; press Space on each quarter to see how early or late you land (last eight taps, milliseconds vs the beat).

Onset labFixed 90 BPM · Space on quarter beats · last 8 errors (ms)

Early ← → Late (nearest quarter)

Negative = before the beat; positive = after. Grid is quarter notes at 90 BPM (~667 ms).

Consonant landings

Loop phrase endings that land on m, n, ng, or l—steady nasals and a clear liquid close help you finish lines without pinching or trailing off (plan 2.2). Choose material and loops in Library; set count-in, tempo, and lane defaults in Settings.

Consonant landings

Plan §2.2: loop phrase endings in the library and exaggerate clean releases on these consonants. Use a short loop + metronome; one vowel shape per rep.

  • mHum on /m/ through the release; keep pitch from dipping at the cutoff.
  • nNasal /n/ landings: let the tone stay forward without squeezing.
  • ngSoft palate friendly /ng/ — avoid hard glottal stops on the way out.
  • lLight /l/ tongue; don’t let the larynx hike on the final lift.

Library → pick a track → set A–B loop on the last word of a phrase → slow BPM in Settings if needed.

Rhythm pocket

Clap or sing against a steady grid so syllables sit in the pocket—not just on the downbeats, but through subdivisions—then carry that feel into phrases (plan 2.3; pairs with rap-table flow work). Tighten metronome and subdivision in Settings; pick a track or loop in Library.

Rap cadence ghosts

Generic flow templates as a silent grid—where syllables might land on straight 16s, triplet swing, or a bounced eighth feel (plan 2.9). Pair with tempo and count-in from Settings when you practice over a track from the Library.

Kick vs. snare landings

  • Kick prompt — place stressed syllables or phrase starts on downbeats where the kick would hit; keep the bar breathing on the grid.
  • Snare prompt — aim punches, doubles, or line endings on the backbeat slots (2 and 4 in straight 4/4); switch without rushing the pickup.
  • Toggle rounds — four bars anchoring to kick feel, four bars to snare feel, then mix within a phrase so pocket stays obvious.

Enable metronome, count-in, and beat-grid subdivision in Settings.

Plan 2.9 — cadence templates as visual ghost rhythm only (no audio, no metronome). Use with your own beat or count; dots are one bar of 4/4.

Straight 16s

|●-●-●-●|●-●-●-●|●-●-●-●|●-●-●-●|

Sixteenth notes: even grid, four beats per bar.

Triplet swing

|●··●··●··|●··●··●··|●··●··●··|●··●··●··|

Twelve triplet eighth slots per bar; middle partial shifted late for swing.

Bounce

|●-·-●-·-●-·-●-·|

Swung eighth bounce: stressed pulses with lighter ghost offbeats.

Diction warm-up

Quick articulation resets before lines or recording—pair with consonant landings and lyric work (plan 2.9 diction).

Tongue twister

Betty Botter bought some butter, but the butter was bitter.

Say it slowly, then speed up—keep consonants crisp without tensing the jaw.

Breath planning

Budget how long a line's worth of air should last, run the countdown, and match it to commas and breath marks in your lyrics (plan 2.9). Add tracks to your setlist in Setlist so the breath-marks shortcut can open Practice for the first queued track.

8seconds of air left

Breath marks on track — open a track from the library, then use Practice to mark breaths in lyrics (plan 2.9).