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Looking for brutally honest feedback about my voice, PLEASE, before I do something stupid!


WallyOk

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Spending the last three years driving 1 hour to work each way, I've started to convince myself I can sing. I was so sure I wanted to start singing Karaoke. Then I started recording myself and I've got mixed feelings now. Sometimes I think, yea I got it, but then the next day I'll think I'm really not very good. I've got one good friend I've dared to let listen once. All he did was laugh and say that neither of us has great pitch. He was the lead singer/lead guitar in a punk/alternative band that we had many, many years ago, and we were pretty popular, for a bunch of dumb kids!

 

I really don't know what to think and I don't want to embarrass myself if I do Karaoke live, and thinking I'm good, but I'm not. I know you all get a lot of these requests and I'm sure it drives you nuts, but really, I don't know where else to turn. I know I sound nasely (sp), and wonder if there's anything I can do about that. Below are some links and I apologize for some of the recording quality. Bring it on! I've got tough skin! ADVISE!

 

 

http://www.redkaraoke.com/profile/wallyok/recordings/603797

 

http://www.redkaraoke.com/profile/wa...ordings/597715

 

http://www.redkaraoke.com/profile/wa...ordings/601415

 

http://www.redkaraoke.com/profile/wallyok/recordings/598886

 

Sorry, not all of these seem to appear as hyperlinks, so you may have to copy and past into your browser.

 

Thanks you so much!

 

Wally

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I only listened to part of the first track. I'm looking at it from the perspective of a musician whose performed for the better part of 50 years. There's some positives and some negatives going on there. I'm not going to sugar coat it because it doesn't do anyone any good. if you want back slapping family and friends are there for that.

 

First thing I couldn't help but notice is the poor quality mic or mixing you were using. Mics are by no means created equal and cheaper mics cover up or at least fail to reveal details that can easily be confused with a bad voice and lack of skill using a mic. The backing tracks and mix were bad too but that's really a recording/mixing issue which is another topic all together.

 

From what I can hear you have some decent tonal range and ability to control it but also had several sour notes in there. Not as bad as some but hitting the pitch and staying on it is important. I'm not a great singer myself. I've worked with many pros who have great voices and leaned there are more then one way of coming across as a professional then having a golden voice. Experience has allot to do with it as well as showmanship.

 

Technical skill "working a mic" is one of those important skills professionals learn to use to their advantage. Its something most beginners have no knowledge of and wind up sounding like an amateur because they don't even know it exists. Mics have a proximity effect. As you get closer to them the sound gets louder and the bass response increases. Using that bass boost to your advantage while you sing to boost words that are soft and backing off on words that have allot of bottom end is one key item. Esses and pops are some others they can be tamed by simply turning a mic off axis and singing across the diaphragm instead of hitting it dead center and sounding like a cannon going off.

 

None of this is easy to learn. You have to know what words are coming up and predict how much distance form the mic you need.to avoid them.

All that comes with practice. There's one old trick that's been around forever. I don't know how many centuries it goes back. You simply light a candle and try to sing into it like you would a mic. If you blow it out its because you're an air breather, not a tone maker.

 

All this comes down to false concepts in how you think people sing. Many of these hard rock singers give you the illusion they are blowing their lungs out to get those driven tones when in reality its all happening in the back of their throat with conservative amounts of air. In any case its something you have to learn. along with that us developing great pronunciation of words. I learned to use the alphabet, and both hard and soft vowels while working my scales. It did wonders for me making improvements.

 

I'd start with the first consonant and work the vowels, First the long vowels, Bay, Bee, Bye, Bow, Boo - Then short vowels, Bat Bet, Bit, Bot But. I'd start with the B, Then C, Then D on through the alphabet. The words don't have to make sense. Its the action of making your throat and vocal cords produce them that yields results. I can some will tie your tongue up in knots, but after a few weeks focusing on this kind of exercise insures ever word you sing has an even attack. You're less fearful of the mic and you learn, every word counts when you sing, not just the ones you favor.

 

There are other things you can use on mic like compression and effects to get rid of dropouts, but none of them are any good if you don't work on the ability to project words well.

 

Pitch takes the basic stuff of working scales within your singing range. A big problem for people is they try to sing like people they aren't. They figured if that person can do it I can. The thing is you aren't that person and never will be. Some who have the gift for mimicking other peoples voices can get pretty close but unless you plan on replacing that bands singer if and when he dies it doesn't do you much good being a copycat.

 

This doesn't mean you cant do cover tunes. Pro bands do it all the time. Some even sound pretty close to the original artist, but most star bands simply play the song and sing like they normally do., with their own unique voice. If it just happens to sound similar because they have a similar voice that's fine but You don't expect them to be torturing themselves trying to sound like another musician just because they did the song first.

 

Whet this comes down to is developing your own unique identity as a singer. Yes we all learn from singing other peoples music. Its cool if you can copy them closely, but beware. The best you can ever be is a second rate clone. You will and should go beyond what the original artist was capable of.

 

So un summary. Get yourself a good mic. Expect to spend $100 for something like an SM57. This will prove your serious about singing and not just another wannabe. if you do your own recording get a professional grade interface that has a decent preamp for the mic. It will set you on the path to really accomplishing something well beyond a bar full of drunken Karaoke singers who all sound like someone is chopping up a cat with a butchers knife. Man I hate those places.

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From what I hear people say, embarrassment has nothing to do with how good or bad you may think you are. People of all abilities can suffer from it.

 

I think it has more to do with attitude to human imperfections. If negative thoughts, snide remarks and swear words pop into your head when you see other people "mess up", that is what you will feel other people doing when you "mess up". Kind of what goes around comes around. So, being a positive critic in all walks of life, will set you free from embarrassment. Then you can drop all the preemptive self-deprecating stuff, wear your heart on your sleeve, and not let negativity get to you.

 

You do not sound nasal in the whiny sense, which some people say can be caused by too much airflow through the nose. But, if you go to the other extreme, with absolutely no airflow through the nose, you can end up with a hint of 'b' in your 'm' and 'd' in your 't' consonants, which is a different kind of nasality. So, if you are holding back the nasal airflow to try to prevent whiny nasality, you may be overdoing it. What happens when you hum, "mmmmmmmm"? You should be able to feel a trickle of air if you hold your hand in front of your nose.

 

I definitely speak as a non-musician when it comes to pitch, although I don't think my pitch discernment is bad. What I am hearing is that your pitch intention seems to be OK, but, in the production, the note doesn't always peak on time, or at all in some of the faster phrases. If an intended note fails to peak, it can sound a touch flat. So, some sort of responsiveness exercise may be in order -- rapid scales, sirens or something of the like.

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