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Constructive criticism please...


kickingtone

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http://soundcloud.com/kickingtone/cassandra-001le

 

I've got my list of things to fix, but I'd like to cross-reference with other opinions for things I have missed.

 

(I'm a year into starting to sing, now. Most of it has been research. Practice has been very sporadic, but I now feel confident about what I am practicing, so it's "full steam ahead" -- except that time is limited! But, hopefully, I'll be able to look back at the above clip in 6 months and see considerable improvement.)

 

Thanks in advance. (As you can probably hear, rock ain't gonna be my genre.)

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1. Drop the effects! If you're here for help, we need to hear your actual voice.

 

2. You have an accent - if you don't want one, you'll need to fix it. Are you from Deutschland or thereabouts? :p

 

3. Your pitch could use improvement.

 

4. You sound comfortable even at the high notes, which is nice :]

 

 

That's all I could think of at the mo. I hope it helps!

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Your tone is getting better. High notes are sounding pretty good too. I think you need to add in more dynamics to your singing though. From all of the clips I heard from you, I feel that your dynamic is too even, there's not enough variation. I think your musical expression would benefit if made this adjustment. Also, it would be nice to try the next recording with some musical accompaniment.

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Thanks guys. Your comments are really helpful. And thanks for taking the time.

 

Masklin

 

There is a bit of echo on there, but that's all. Is that what you are referring to?

 

I was born and brought up in London and speak with the British standard RE pronunciation ;-)

 

But, yeah, a British English accent is limited for singing. Too many exaggerated diphthongs and lazy vowels. Every speaking accent has a problem so we have to alter it. Most folks here would tend towards a US accent. I tend towards a 'West African Cosmopolitan' accent (West Africans know what that means!) , since that is my heritage and what I use with extended family.

 

I'm kind of dual accented. African accents often suffer from the opposite of the British accent, in that the vowels tend to be very pronounced and clipped and don't diphthong much (better for more staccato rhythmic stuff). I'm not too fussed. I just have to try to find a balance for each particular song. This ballad type song seems to have subconsciously pushed me towards a more African pronunciation.

 

The pitch issue does concern me. I hope this is not an ear problem. I sang the clip completely from memory and I hope that explains it, otherwise I've got my work cut out. Anyway, I will need to do what Davie suggests and use a backing track, so that I am not singing some whacky distorted version of the song I've dreamed up over the months.

 

I felt at ease throughout the clip, so I am glad it sounded that way, too. :-)

 

Davie

 

I have been thinking about the dynamics side of things, because you have mentioned it before. Part of the problem involves discovering what constitutes "expression" to different people. e.g for me, shifts in darkness, brightness carry so much life and meaning. For other people, it may be invisible, or worse, pitchy. And I may totally miss the idea of a drop in volume (or I may even find it intrusive). So, yeah, interpretation is a whole area on my list.

 

The only real access I have to backing tracks would be to download them, from somewhere. I don't play a musical instrument as many of you do. Then I'll have to buy some kit, along with a decent mic. I'm going to have to find time to make all the right choices. It'll probably mean getting an Apple Mac, to replace my Windows laptop, too.

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