Anyone recorded themselves singing?? Yeeeouch!!!!

[doezer]

Hi folks...

 

ok i'll explain.

 

i do solo gigs on the wekends. singing + guitar + some backing tracks (but less and less backing tracks as time goes on)...

 

i would definitely say im a better guitarist than singer.

i often get postgig compliments on the guitar buit on the voice i would get comments ranging from "your voice was good too" down to last weekend someone saying "your voice needs tweaking though" - although i was trying out a couple of new covers which is always risky

 

anyways i recorded myself singing, just a webcam into the PC, nothing fancy..

 

and id have to admit, what i hear back is TOTALLY different from what i hear in my head. i dont mean some psychic mind trick im playing on myself, i mean my head resonances give me a sound that is very different from what i heard back. and not in a good way. im my head its sounding pretty good - pretty good pitch and nice tone, but on playback it sounds a lot more nasal!!! it doesnt sound HORRENDOUS but its worse than what i hear for sure..

 

anyone else experiecneing this, also, people do tend to say when they hear their voice played back it sounds horrible, so maybe its just a self critical thing kicks in - maybe folks dont hear it as bad as i do..

 

anyways its an intersting topic right?? this whole business of what you hear in your head isnt what the crowd here..

 

on the plus side, i found that repeated recordings and listen back, i am starting to tweak how i sing it and its sounding better on playback.. but theres still a ways to go! !!

 

d

[Christhee68]

Can you hear yourself through monitors or the PA when you perform? That should give you some idea of what you sound like.

 

I've got a little Tascam handheld digital recorder. When I'm learning a new song I'll record myself and then listen to it. Suprisingly, I usually end up sounding better on the recording than I did in my head. Maybe I just have low expectations.

 

Those hand-held recorders are great for a lot of things. You should get one.

[Chip Stewart]

The key is practicing with a monitor set fairly loud. The monitor will be what the crowd hears, and will give you realistic feedback on the quality of your vocals. After a few months, you'll be surprised how much better you sound.

[Nijyo]

 

anyways i recorded myself singing, just a webcam into the PC, nothing fancy.. and id have to admit, what i hear back is TOTALLY different from what i hear in my head. i dont mean some psychic mind trick im playing on myself, i mean my head resonances give me a sound that is very different from what i heard back. and not in a good way. im my head its sounding pretty good - pretty good pitch and nice tone, but on playback it sounds a lot more nasal!!! it doesnt sound HORRENDOUS but its worse than what i hear for sure..

 

 

Keep in mind those mics in those things aren't really designed to be anything more than barely passable. It's probably not a really accurate depiction of what you might hear from even an average dynamic stage mic into a PA.

[Lee Knight]

Keep in mind those mics in those things aren't really designed to be anything more than barely passable. It's probably not a really accurate depiction of what you might hear from even an average dynamic stage mic into a PA.

 

Please don't feed the self-delusion machine. Mics aren't going to change the basic idea of what he's hearing. Believe what you hear on the recording. Then start figuring out how to make your voice sound, in reality, like it sounds in your head.

 

This is a fantastic realization and one that more than anything helps a performer perform better. Good for you Doezer on facing the reality of what's going on... the more you listen to recordings of yourself the better you get. It is a direct relationship. The ratio is proportionate. Listen More = Get Better

[Nijyo]

Please don't feed the self-delusion machine. Mics aren't going to change the basic idea of what he's hearing. Believe what you hear on the recording. Then start figuring out how to make your voice sound, in reality, like it sounds in your head. This is a fantastic realization and one that more than anything helps a performer perform better. Good for you Doezer on facing the reality of what's going on... the more you listen to recordings of yourself the better you get. It is a direct relationship. The ratio is proportionate. Listen More = Get Better

 

There's nothing delusional about pointing out very real limitations in technology there, Francis.

[Lee Knight]

There's nothing delusional about pointing out very real limitations in technology there, Francis.

 

Not you, Nijyo, Doezer. It's easy to delude ourselves. "It's a crap mike!" You've got a fine point. There's a problem though. If his voice sounds wanting on the recording, it ain't because of a bad mike. It's his voice. He knows. You could record me with digital dictation machine from across the room and I'd be able to tell if I were singing well or not. Regardless of the crap capturing method.

 

It's easy for our ears to detect whether we are sucking or the technology is. Or both. So I was joking, don't feed the self delusion machine. It's too easy to lie to ourselve. I applaude the guy for calling it for what it is and wanting to make it better.

[the_big_e]

OK, I'm no singer (yet) but the best way I've found to make myself really hear how I sound is to video myself (at home in the 'office'). Even if it sounds OK to me from the speaker, it sounds totally different on the video.

[Dingoist]

I agree with Lee. Hearing yourself will only make you better. A couple of years ago I realized this when I got myself a 2-channel acoustic amp, and finally heard myself loudly. Felt like I wanted to crawl into some cave and not want to sing again. But.... what I did was get myself a headphone amp (the amp had no headphone jack, but it had a DI out) and started playing while listening through headphones. Then i worked up to recording and listening back.

 

It did wonders for my articulation, projection and even mic technique.

 

Though it can be disheartening hearing every single mistake in loud volume, it's worth it.

[fingerpicker]

Dont blame the mic, c'mon.

[BlueSteam]

I sound really boxy in my head, but fine when recorded... tonewise that is... As far as actually being able to sing goes... well... no.

[Jersey Jack]

Please don't feed the self-delusion machine. Mics aren't going to change the basic idea of what he's hearing. Believe what you hear on the recording. Then start figuring out how to make your voice sound, in reality, like it sounds in your head....

 

I agree about the mics--a better mic isn't going to make you a better singer.

 

But the claim that recordings provide the true sound needs to be qualified. It is true, of course, that a recording of your voice is closer to the truth than what you hear in your head, but it is also true that in most cases you will hear a lot more imperfection in the recording than other listeners precisely because you react to the discrepancy between the recording and your head sound, whereas other listeners have no access to that sound. The the singer can easily overreact to imperfections that no one else can possibly notice.

 

Consider this: The internal sound of the voice is sweetened by bone conduction and other resonances; this is what makes many people think they can sing. But the reality that hits us when listening back through speakers is so devastaing not because we necessarily suck but because the sound is so vastly different from the internal, sweetened sound. It's unsettling to discover that we've been duped, so we overreact.

 

The only way to arrive at the truth is to listen constantly to oneself; once you get used to the way you sound "out there," you're less likely to be driven to despair by comparison with the internal sound.

 

Best advice (made by several posters): Get a handheld digital recorder and work with it constantly--I mean every day.

[EightString]

Even after decades of singing, I'll still do little raw a capella recordings as a kind of sanity check. For instance:

 

raw a capella clip

 

But I'm used to the difference between the sound "out there" and what's in my head, so after all this time, either way sounds "normal" to me.

[Telecruiser]

Go book yourself an hour at a local studio. Sing into a U87. If you still suck then you need to head back to the woodshed.

[richardmac]

It's a pretty common thing to not dig the recorded sound of your own voice. I also think that we are sometimes the worst judge of our own voices - I think a lot of us are either too critical or nowhere near critical enough. But I agree that recording yourself and listening back is a very, very important way to improve.

[doezer]

cool..

 

thanks to everyone... im doing alot of recording and listening back. just using teh webcam.

and even speaking and listening back.. cos even that freaks me out (possibly even more)...

so the more i do the better im getting i think...

 

 

and i dont just mean more accepting of it... although maybe that too..

i mean i can tweak the singing voice so it sounds better on playback.. i dunno its hard to describe what you do you just try change things instictively and listen back to it

and try make the really embarassing sounds or ones that annoy you most dissapear...

 

its gonna be a slow process though!

 

cheers d

[SiCkboy78]

I dont care much for my voice.. But I think that's pretty common. I have gotten good feedback on my vocals, in fact surprisingly good. However, I when I hear myself recorded, I think I over sings parts alot.. I really should listen to myself more. It's just such a let down:P

[Andrew-sing]

Listening to and watching yourself singing is the most valuable thing you can do - it can be very strange to start with, but you can learn so much from it! And fast! It's a great idea to ask a friend or family member (someone you like and trust..!) to listen back too, just to get some fresh ears. It can be hard sometimes to spot our own mistakes.

 

Have fun!

 

Andrew

[b_f_c_99]

doezer, I completely know where you are coming from, for as long as I've been playing music I could swear my singing was ok, wife, friends, bandmates would say uh no its awful, and of course when I would record a song in my home studio and do vocals, it was awful. Pitch and tonal quality awful. Just the other day I got really annoyed and tried something for fun. Put on some headphones, hooked up a mic and ran it back through my guitar rig program so I could use the guitar tuner on my voice figured if it can tune a guitar it can show me where my voice is at pitch wise right? Anyway I back away from the mic, play an e major chord and just hum with the chord, sounds great in my head, move in so the mic pics it up, and boom sounds like hell, look at the guitar rig tuner I'm humming G# right on the third. If I play a single note I can pick it out, but if its a chord my brain/ears want to move me to the third. So now I've been practicing with headphones so I can REALLY hear whats happening, got a long way to go but making progress.

[stevolives]

 

It is true, of course, that a recording of your voice is closer to the truth than what you hear in your head, but it is also true that in most cases you will hear a lot more imperfection in the recording than other listeners precisely because you react to the discrepancy between the recording and your head sound , whereas other listeners have no access to that sound. The the singer can easily overreact to imperfections that no one else can possibly notice. Consider this: The internal sound of the voice is sweetened by bone conduction and other resonances; this is what makes many people think they can sing. But the reality that hits us when listening back through speakers is so devastaing not because we necessarily suck but because the sound is so vastly different from the internal, sweetened sound. It's unsettling to discover that we've been duped, so we overreact. The only way to arrive at the truth is to listen constantly to oneself; once you get used to the way you sound "out there," you're less likely to be driven to despair by comparison with the internal sound. Best advice (made by several posters): Get a handheld digital recorder and work with it constantly--I mean every day .

 

 

 

Incredibly sage advice right there. I think recording onesself and listening back over and over is critical to the perspective required to really get any improvement. Another thing I found is that I always kind of tried to hard "to sing." I am not a good singer but I have sung good before. Generally when I have sung good it was a result of almost just speaking the song kind of. By not trying to sing so hard and just relaxing and letting it out makes a difference. I constantly have to tell myself "quit trying to be Billy Joel or Elvis because you are NOT." Not to be negative but I think in terms of, don't try to sound good, just make sure you don't do the things that sound bad, and thats where recording myself has helped.

[pogo97]

If your voice is important to you, consider a voice teacher. A few years ago I had a serious bout of pneumonia and almost completely lost my voice. I went to a voice teacher and she helped me with simple warmups that re-strengthened the muscles in my voice. I recorded our sessions and still use the warmups when I want to get my voice back to where should be. Remember, it's just a muscle (like your hands) and will benefit from intelligent training.