My Experience with Singdaptive

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by a company called Singdaptive to try out their asynchronous, online, one-on-one vocal coaching platform. Between the name and the concept, I was immediately intrigued. Anyone who knows me knows how obsessive I am about singing, technique and learning new modes of vocal expression. Between recording sessions, live performances, the admin tasks of being a recording artist, a full time job, and a social life (sometimes), it can be hard to find time for regular, consistent vocal coaching and practice. I’ve felt that pressure first hand - knowing I should be keeping my instrument in its best shape but never finding the time. Enter Singdaptive!

I’ve ran the gamut of ways to work on and learn more about singing and my voice. I used to watch videos on technique online for hours and try to replicate the exercises . I sang in choirs where we would get tips and tricks and general technique guidance from the Choir Directors. At some point, I did some in-person one on one training as well after I noticed my voice was getting hoarse faster after lots of singing. As a result, I felt like I had a broad basis of vocal training experience to compare Singdaptive to. 

I was excited to get the journey started and go back to working on my voice with a professional, but still a little apprehensive about doing it online. The need to do lessons over zoom for the last year and a half was a major part of why I decided to hold off on going back to my training. Once I had made an account, the platform asked me for what my singing goals were in order to tailor my experience. That was the first good sign - I knew this wouldn’t be a generic online experience - everyone’s voice and goals are different and require different learning paths and it felt like Singdaptive was acknowledging that. In addition, it was an extremely helpful reminder for me to set a goal - I chose to focus on building more agility into my voice. I mean everyone loves a good, clean run, right? 

My instructor was assigned to me based on that goal and it was time for my first “exchange” on the Exchangely platform i.e. my first set of exercises and instructions. At the top was a video from my instructor introducing themselves followed by a personalized video from them discussing the plan for my first exchange. This was extremely important to me - I’ve always been highly selective with my voice teachers and like to learn more about their educational background and singing philosophies - that this information was offered to me without asking was another great sign. I then had a number of exercises to perform and record to send back to him. We went back and forth in this way for a few lessons, with the instructor tailoring the next exchange based on what they heard in my videos and/or how I was progressing. We did exercises that improved agility but also worked on more fundamental aspects technique as opportunities to address them arose - including breathing, body movement during performance, connectivity between registers etc. 

There’s no doubt that live, in-person individualized coaching is an amazing experience for any singer and one that I am lucky to have had. However, it’s not one that is accessible to everyone. It requires investments of time and money that not everyone has. Singdaptive fills the space between generic online singing videos and expensive, sometimes inconvenient in-person instruction. The instruction is individualized and personalized - every exchange built on my individual journey, it was a team-based approach which meant that there were opportunities to bring in other instructors for different exchanges as needed. Due to the asynchronous instruction mode, I could take my time practicing the skills in the lesson and film my exercises whenever I was ready - I’ve responded within 24 hours when I could, and spent over a week before responding other times when I was too busy. That being said, if you do end up going through with this experience, it’s important to set some parameters for yourself on when you want to complete your exchange by - I fell into this trap of letting it go for too long. Like anything else, you get what you put into it! 

Singdaptive offers an effective, convenient, safe (in COVID-19 times), and cost-friendly alternative for singers who want to continue to work on their vocal goals. I’m happy I got the change to try out the platform and am looking forward to continuing my vocal journey. If it sounds like a fit for you, feel free to check out their platform and sign up for a free trial at https://singdaptive.com .

9 comments