I have doubts whether this late in his career teaching Ian anything is gonna affect the sound of his voice much. And he must be doing something right because for all its age-related limits he did not sing it to shreds like DC. And GH does warm-up exercises before every gig, yet even his voice has lost elasticity in the last 10 years.
That older voices get more nasal as they still try to reach notes they really shouldn’t is a frequent thing. Think Klaus Meine, Rob Halford and Jon Bon Jovi.
All true.
Yet Geddy Lee just told how he went to a vocal coach for one year and a half in preparation for his band’s comeback tour and how it improved his range and performance.
Of course, to his advantage he had a full decade break from touring so that may have helped!
Sadly dudes like Axl Mouse, DC, Ian Anderson and JBJ are simply beyond repair now 
Cheers, J.-
Something is better than nothing, Uwe. As a professional vocalist myself, I can tell you that there’s a big difference between using proper technique and not. All Ian really needs is a bit of training to give him a decent technical foundation to keep his voice in shape so he’s not straining his upper register all the time and to help improve his tone. He doesn’t need to hit the high notes anymore, and he shouldn’t be straining to sing the parts of Highway Star that don’t involve screaming either, which he unfortunately is. Even a listen to live videos now vs ten years ago shows a remarkable difference in how much singing these tunes that are clearly still within his range are putting a remarkable amount of strain on his voice.
All I’m saying is, he doesn’t have to sing on hard mode with no training. An old dog can learn new tricks!
Perhaps he should speak to Geddy and get the name of his coach!
Oh no, please Ian, do not listen to any of Geddy’s advices…i love Ian’ s voice, even nowadays, strained, ripe but still recognizable and beautiful…Geddy’s singing is the reason i never could listen to Rush for ten minutes
Geddy’s voice was and always will be an acquired taste - don’t think he would have gone too far as a Motown artist frankly -, but it’s idiosyncratic and he does what he does well.
Me too 
…
A lot of Rush stuff evidencing Geddy’s pleasant and very natural voice is still in the vaults.
Where is should probably stay.
I did not mean he was a great singer or anything, my point was that even as a seasoned pro, he sought vocal help, put the effort & commitment and it worked to his advantage, which has allowed his band to take on the whole span of their repertoire and no just the “easier to sing” songs.
Therefore, I agree (again) with Mike: nothing wrong in improving your performance through coaching.
Geddy’s coach specializes in getting aging rock stars their voices back, and there are others who specialize in this area.
Considering Ian still has his voice, any coach this talented and who has worked with a number of clients could be of great benefit to him.
At the very least, ending his practice of going on stage cold and warming up beforehand would help - somebody pointed out in another thread that Purple’s sound tech only has Ian’s vocal levels worked out by the third song.
Not being able to hear yourself on stage plus no warm ups is a nightmare combination for any vocalist. With proper training, a vocalist can feel in the mask of their face if vocal resonance is placed correctly, and so they can physically feel if they are on pitch even if the sound isn’t worked out. I’ve done this a few times in my career to make sure I’m singing on key even if I have a subpar mix or sound engineer for the performance.
If it can work for me and others, it can definitely work for Ian! Being warmed up can go a long way, and because he is no longer of the age where he can go on stage and wing it, I’d argue it’s necessary at this point.
Guys,
don’t confuse how you hear the singer as an audience member with how he hears himself in his in-ear monitors or stage monitors!
They are two parishes that have always been completely separate!
is the stage engineer responsible for the sound reinforcement for the musicians on stage.
BigIan has always had a voice rich in nasal harmonics; naturally, he has lost many of them now, because facial cavities change with age, but his fundamental vocal placement remains the same.
And for a simple reason: he is an Englishman born in England, and according to the studies of Alfred Tomatis, a person’s linguistic background affects the way they sing; the way an Italian, a Russian, a Spaniard, a German, or an Englishman pronounces vowels is naturally different, and the formants shift based on that alone.
The British have a natural advantage when it comes to singing rock, precisely because of that nasality you mention.
So, from my point of view, BigIan’s nasality is welcome if it helps him sing the way he currently does!
Which, after all, isn’t all that exaggerated, and shouldn’t be confused with a lack of body or depth in the voice.
As for singing lessons -I was saying 20 or 30 years ago that Gillan needed to do something about his voice- but do you really think he’s going to start working with a vocal coach now, at 80 years old?
He should have thought about that back in the 80s!
And in any case, do not underestimate his personal awareness of his own voice.
The man who invented belting on Child in Time and Jesus Christ Superstar must surely be aware of all the feedback his vocal apparatus provides him.
Well Mike, you are right about vocal coaching, i had some lessons about twenty years ago as i was the singer in our spare-time Band doing mostly blues covers and a few originals. When we attempted heavier rock i reached my limits quite fast. The coaching did help my singing to some extent but i had to realize that i can sing blues but that i can’t shout or scream heavier rock songs.
For Ian i think he simple gets along to his own satisfaction and also that noone is willing to tell him that his vocal Instrument needs coaching
Mike is perfectly right in principle but Ian is a stubborn old donkey. I‘m pretty sure he never saw a vocal coach in his life and has no intention of changing that for the rest of it.
You nailed it, plus the fact that with such a natural gifted voice like Ian’s you won’t think of getting even better
I dunno, Uwe. Ian does alot of meditation and works on personal spiritual growth - as evidenced recently by burying the hatchet with Ritchie - if he can change and do that, he might just surprise us where his voice is concerned!
The only thing that grows on me a lot are papillomas - in the most inconvenient places, so I must be doing something right spiritually, creating all that new life.
Or not. I‘m to spirituality what the Ramones are to keyboard solos. That‘s probably why I only saw an old man struggling with his Strat in Wantagh while other people had fully immersive spiritual nirvanaesque experiences spawning aural hallucinations. There is probably some medication against it though.
Oh, you meant meditation? That two to three minute period between laying down in bed and falling more or less immediately asleep as I always do? 
I don‘t levitate much either.
Mike,
If Bigian will go to a vocal coach, I’ll offer you a beer wherever you are!
I appreciate the offer, although I’m actually deathly allergic to alcohol and don’t drink and am on a rather restrictive diet atm - I’ll take a glass of warm water and your kindness in exchange, however, if he does go for vocal coaching.
People change in every moment, I’m very curious to see how Ian changes, even if he doesn’t change how I’d like him to.