The Robert Lunte Inspiration Story Behind Our Online Voice Lessons

I wanted to sound heroic and powerful when singing high

From an early age, when I was growing up in a small town in Idaho, I was captivated by a dream of singing on stage in front of huge crowds and doing so, sounding huge on the top end.

I wanted to be able to take crowds on a journey with the music that was pouring out from the speakers, music that I and my band would flawlessly pump into the space.

Along the way to making that dream a reality, I faced the exact same challenges that you’re likely now facing.

I know the kind of frustration you’ve been dealing with

Like you, I was a singer who poured my heart into dreaming about singing amazing but just didn't know how to create the vocal sounds I wanted.

My voice would push. I’d try to belt high notes that I heard my heroes sing, but all that would come out was a weak and airy falsetto voice.

I’d try to scream with some passionate grit to give a song some edge, and then I couldn’t talk for a week. Not a great thing to do when you’re trying to be the cool lead singer in a band and build a healthy voice.

How I solved the problem

I committed to voice training in a serious way. I was fortunate enough to study with some of the best vocal coaches in the business when high male, theatrical voices were the fashion. This put me on a path towards studying how to expand the range and make the head voice sound chesty.

I studied with the late Maestro David Kyle, who trained Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche, Layne Staley of Alice In Chains, Ann Wilson, and many others.

After a lot of commitment and training, the dream came true for me. I made it to the stage, with a huge heroic vocal range. It was everything I thought it would be…and more.

The TVS methodology for online voice lessons was born

In 1997 I started teaching voice. Through many years of experimentation, trial and error and the courage to innovate with my own ideas, I developed an effective vocal training pedagogy as a singing coach. That pedagogy is what The Vocalist Studio method is today, and is what my flagship course to learn to sing online, The Four Pillars of Singing, uses. This online voice lesson course takes thousands of singers through a journey or improvement every day around the world.

Maestro David P. Kyle

Legendary Contemporary Voice Coach

For more than 50 years, the "Maestro" was a renowned vocal teacher for rock, metal, and jazz singers, and a local icon in Seattle. Considered one of the best vocal instructors for contemporary singers in the country, he was known for his unique approach to expanding vocal range and eliminating psychological barriers to singers' freedom of expression, using creative visualization techniques.

In addition to embracing technology and amplification, the "Maestro" developed eleven essential workouts designed for bridging and head voice development. Today, at The Vocalist Studio, we continue to utilize these workouts alongside new vocalizes developed by Robert Lunte to provide a comprehensive vocal training program.

The TVS Method, which is presented in Robert Lunte's "The Four Pillars of Singing" book and course, incorporates several concepts and vocalizes from Maestro Kyle's teachings, along with original concepts developed by Lunte. And, in keeping with the "Maestro's" legacy, we emphasize the importance of training with amplification for our online voice lessons, for a more complete and effective vocal training experience.

Robert Lunte is a part of the legendary Maestro David Kyle's legacy as a singing coach, joining the ranks of other exceptional students such as Chris Cornell, Layne Staley, Geoff Tate, Ann Wilson, Liza Minnelli, Ronnie Monroe, Don Dokken, and many other world-class singers.

As a Maestro Kyle student, Lunte has carried on his mentor's legacy by incorporating his vocal techniques and philosophies into his own teachings as a singing coach, which are now a cornerstone of The Vocalist Studio's vocal training programs to help people learn to sing online.

Join us at The Vocalist Studio for online voice lessons and become a part of this extraordinary legacy, as you learn from the same time-honored techniques and principles that have produced some of the world's greatest vocalists.

Professor Dr. David Alt

Dr. David Alt, Professor (Voice)Chair, Department of Vocal Performance, and Program Director for Musical Theatre

Received a D.M.A. degree from the University of Iowa and a Certificate from the Conservatoire de Musique, Geneva, Switzerland. Alt studied opera with Wesley Balk, Minnesota Opera Institute, and voice with the French baritone Gerard Souzay and soprano Maralin Niska. Nominated for the Carbonell Award for Best Actor for his work in Brecht on Brecht, Alt has been heard in reviews of the music of Bernstein, Coward, Gershwin, Berlin, Sondheim, and Weill.

He also has performed with the New World Symphony, the Deerfield Beach Symphony, the Miami Bach Society, the Chamber Singers of Iowa City Bach Festival, the St. Louis Municipal Opera, the Quad City (Illinois) Symphony, the Southeast Iowa Symphony, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Carmel (California) Bach Festival, and New Theatre in Coral Gables. Alt’s articles have appeared in journals of the Music Educator’s National Conference, American Choral Directors, and National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Robert Lunte studied classical technique with Dr. Alt from 1988-1992 at the University of Miami where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Voice and Music Industry/Business. As a result of Robert Lunte’s work with Dr. Alt, he was exposed to a large repertoire of classical aria and art songs for Baritone voice. Robert’s work with Dr. Alt helped develop classical theory and baritone formant, melodic analysis, music theory, articulation and text interpretation.

Peter Egan

Renown Estillian & Voice Coach

Robert Lunte trained under the expert tutelage of Peter Egan, one of the world's foremost authorities on Estill Voice training. The Estill Voice Model, which includes compulsory figures for voice, is an innovative approach to voice training and speech pathology. It involves mastering 13 structures along the vocal tract and laryngeal mechanism to achieve better vocal control.

The Estill system places a strong emphasis on developing the ability to produce six different vocal qualities - speech, Sob, Falsetto, Twang, Opera, and Belt. Training with Estill focuses on both the craft of controlling the various structural components of the voice, as well as the artistry of applying that craft to performance.

At TVS, we have incorporated the Estill model into our own training programs, offering a set of 8 "Physical Modes" inspired by the EVTS "figures" or vocal modes. In addition to the six modes developed by EVTS, Robert Lunte has added two new physical modes - quack and distortion. These TVS physical modes include speech, sob, opera, falsetto, twang, belt, quack, and distortion.

Join us at The Vocalist Studio and discover the power of a voice training techniques that are inspired by Estill Voice training to help you become a true vocal athlete.

Dr. Steven Fraser

Phonetics and Vocal Formant Expert

Robert Lunte's understanding of singing vowels, formants, and resonance was greatly influenced by his studies with Dr. Steven Fraser, a renowned expert on vowel modification, phonetics, and formants for singing. Mr. Fraser holds a Bachelor’s in Vocal Music Education from Millikin University and a Master’s in Choral Conducting from Washington University in St. Louis, and is a recognized expert in the analysis of spectrograph analysis of singing.

Spectrograms, which are time-varying spectral representations used to analyze the harmonics and formants of singers, have been an important tool in Dr. Fraser's work. With Mr. Fraser’s guidance, the TVS Method has innovatively associated visual colors with 10 fundamental singing vowels or formants, enabling students and teachers to "see" singing formants in the context of training, modification, and tuning.

This approach has revolutionized the way we understand and teach singing acoustics. By incorporating Dr. Fraser's teachings on the acoustics of singing, the TVS Method offers a new and more effective way to approach vocal training, with a greater emphasis on science and technology.

Join us at The Vocalist Studio and discover how the critical understanding and use of resonance in singing, the mastery of singing vowels, is 50% of the path to success.