Singing Man in the Box has kindof become a right of passage for many rock singers.
Sure, there's 100 other great AIC songs - but Man in the Box is really the one that people reach for when they're working out the nuts and bolts of their voice... plus it's also a crowd favourite I'm sure.
Here's the thing though, the chorus brings 90% of singers undone, and it's largely because of the vowels.
You see, your VOWELS are tuned to very specific frequencies - aka each vowel likes to be sung at a certain note! Unfortunately, that's not really how rock songs work though, you want to sing every word and every vowel at ever note in your range, right?
Here's where vowel modification becomes a key part of your technique as a singer.
Base Vowels
AH/AA - back vowels
AY/EE/OE - front vowels
Modifications for range
AH/AA - Hard/Hawed/Heard/Who'd
AY/EE/OE - Hey/Head/Hid/Heed
Key words and vowels for Man in the Box
Feed = AY vowel sung as EH (remember, this is a 'red zone' choice, not a regular choice you'd make for other songs)
My Eyes = AA and AA (think of a Texas accent, "it's TIME" with an AA vowel like the first syllable in the word "lateral")
Jesus = AY and OE (both modified to EH in the back for the red-zone effect)
Christ = AA modified to UH
Remember, your VOWELS are tuned to a specific pitch, and the harmonic that creates your vowel is actually formed by the fundamental vibration of your vocal folds. Instead of focusing on the 'pitch' of the note first, focus on the 'vowel' that corresponds to that note!
Kegan DeBoheme
Founder - Foundation Vocal Method
