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Where to now vocal wise? Critique please, advice needed from the knowledgeable


paganskins

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So I'd never really planned on singing lead and had just trained my voice sufficiently to do backing vocals and sing well enough to write songs however change of lifestyle namely now being a dad means I can't really commit to anything musically involving others and need to go 'solo' if I'm to do anything other just noodle at home.

 

Here's an old song I re-recorded quickly earlier in the week

 

http://soundcloud.com/thomas-fitton/clothes-rough-200711

 

I think my pitching, note production, support etc are OK but I think I need to put some work in on style. Not sure what type of voice I've got or could have music genre wise, it's certainly not rock.

 

Nature of working on my own it's going to be acoustic singer songwriter stuff I expect but probably leaning more towards the more upbeat/robust rather than delicate.

 

What do you think?

 

Thanks in advance :wave:

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First, congrats on the Daddy thing! :thu:

 

As to your voice, it sounds fine to me. There is a little bit of pitchiness, especially early on and at what sounds like the upper end of your (chest) range. Nothing that a bit of dedicated practice wouldn't fix.

 

I think the idea of approaching the genre or style of music from the type of voice is not a good one, though. If you say your voice isn't for rock as a way of saying that you don't want to be a rock singer, that's cool--though you may want to think about why you would need to transpose the matter rather than simply saying that you don't want to focus on rock.

 

If on the other other hand you put it this way because you have no burning passion for a genre or style or for the work of a particular artist, then I'm afraid that you're dead in the water, my friend.

 

Bottom line: Your voice is capable of doing any kind of music, and it's up to you to decide where to take it. Classical, jazz, Jackson-esque pop/r'n'b, and metal demand chops you may not yet have, but even here the issue would be how much time it would take to get to these places, not that your voice can't handle them.

 

Focus on the music you love, and then work your voice into it. :cool:

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actually you sound pretty good i like it, for your tone i think you are a baritone you have fail in some pitch notes but if you keep working you will do much much better , BTW sorry if you didn't understand me English is not very good LOL

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First, congrats on the Daddy thing!
:thu:

As to your voice, it sounds fine to me. There is a little bit of pitchiness, especially early on and at what sounds like the upper end of your (chest) range. Nothing that a bit of dedicated practice wouldn't fix.


I think the idea of approaching the genre or style of music from the type of voice is not a good one, though. If you say your voice isn't for rock as a way of saying that you don't want to be a rock singer, that's cool--though you may want to think about why you would need to transpose the matter rather than simply saying that you don't want to focus on rock.


If on the other other hand you put it this way because you have no burning passion for a genre or style or for the work of a particular artist, then I'm afraid that you're dead in the water, my friend.


Bottom line: Your voice is capable of doing
any
kind of music, and it's up to you to decide where to take it. Classical, jazz, Jackson-esque pop/r'n'b, and metal demand chops you may not yet have, but even here the issue would be how much time it would take to get to these places, not that your voice can't handle them.


Focus on the music you love, and then work your voice into it.
:cool:

 

Sorry to thread-jack, but I just started lurking here again ~ haven't been back to the Singer's Forum since before the upgrade, and I've been debating whether to post my most recent recording over here. Some of my cronies in the amp forum have suggested that my voice isn't right for the style of music I'm doing. But seeing your response to the OP here really struck a nerve. I may have to post my song for critique here after all. :thu:

 

OP: I'm far from an expert, as you'll see if I post my work here, but my first impression is that you sing fine ... it's just the *performance* aspect that you might want to work on. You hinted at that when you mentioned wanting to work on "style." I'm not qualified to give any technical advice on singing, but as for style, think about image and what impression you want the song to project, beyond just the notes in the melody. What are the lyrics saying? What's the emotion under the words, and what does that emotion sound like? Also, do some aural research: check out artists with similar songs and listen to the different ways they deliver their lyrics, for ideas. :idk: In a way, singing is like acting, so think about the "character" who's speaking in the song and how you'd "perform" that character for an audience. (Of course, I was just recently told that my delivery style is "too theatrical," and I pulled a comparison to Jethro Tull, so you may want to ignore any or all of my advice! :D )

 

Chris

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Thanks everyone for your thoughts and kind words, all the positive feedback really made me feel much better about the singing thing. Empowered :lol:

 

Sorry to thread-jack, but I just started lurking here again ~ haven't been back to the Singer's Forum since before the upgrade, and I've been debating whether to post my most recent recording over here. Some of my cronies in the amp forum have suggested that my voice isn't right for the style of music I'm doing. But seeing your response to the OP here really struck a nerve. I may have to post my song for critique here after all.
:thu:

OP: I'm far from an expert, as you'll see if I post my work here, but my first impression is that you sing fine ... it's just the *performance* aspect that you might want to work on. You hinted at that when you mentioned wanting to work on "style." I'm not qualified to give any technical advice on singing, but as for style, think about image and what impression you want the song to project, beyond just the notes in the melody. What are the lyrics saying? What's the emotion under the words, and what does that emotion sound like? Also, do some aural research: check out artists with similar songs and listen to the different ways they deliver their lyrics, for ideas.
:idk:
In a way, singing is like acting, so think about the "character" who's speaking in the song and how you'd "perform" that character for an audience. (Of course, I was just recently told that my delivery style is "too theatrical," and I pulled a comparison to Jethro Tull, so you may want to ignore any or all of my advice!
:D
)


Chris

 

I think this is the crux of it, I'm probably looking for advice on how to get inside my voice and produce a performance that will engage the listener.

 

I'm not at the point where I'm relaxed singing, in the training speak I'm probably just about at the consciously competent level and need to become unconsciously competent so I can focus on the message.

 

Singing still feels uncontrolled for me, a bit like freewheeling downhill too quickly on a push bike if that makes sense.

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Ha! I know *exactly* what you mean... sounds like where I am with it, too.
:thu:

 

Nice to know I'm not alone, I think people tend to focus on the technical, extending range and whatnot as it's tangible.

 

I've been considering ordering this Singing with Your Own Voice by

Orlanda Cook which seems to be from more of a theatrical approach, the author certainly is.

 

I've got Set Your Voice Free though so I'll have a look at that first.

 

But yeah it's the confidence, comfortable in your own skin(voice) thing mainly.

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One thing I could suggest is to just start thinking of yourself as a lead singer from now on, since up until now you've just been planning to do back up vocals. Imagine yourself as the lead singer. Also, practice singing a lot of songs. Not just your own, but also other people's songs of which you can hear their recordings.

 

You sound like you have a lot of potential for someone who never planned on doing lead vocals.

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One thing I could suggest is to just start thinking of yourself as a lead singer from now on, since up until now you've just been planning to do back up vocals. Imagine yourself as the lead singer. Also, practice singing a lot of songs. Not just your own, but also other people's songs of which you can hear their recordings.


You sound like you have a lot of potential for someone who never planned on doing lead vocals.

 

Thanks *blush smiley* :)

 

Visualising myself as the front person is good advice, that's probably the harder part - positive mental attitude and all that.

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