Members meegaleedo Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 hey guys, it has been a while but I have a little issue concerning my band. Our singer is not as good as he thinks he is. OK, that is not an uncommon issue, but the rest of the band does not seem to think the same way as I do, as far as I can tell. Much of the feedback I get from people who hear our recordings say that he is the weakest link in our band. I wonder if other band members get that from other people they know. It seems like I am the only one who considers this to be a problem. Since we are about to finish mixing our CD, and even with pitch correction, (which I suggested in many spots) there are still issues. While recording the tracks, I often had to reign him in from some sillyness and told him to not worry about making a statement but to just sing. I have also told him, and the band ingeneral that NONE of us are really singers and we need to not focus on our lyrics and singing but to focus on our musicianship. I just wish that more people would realize that a critique is different from criticizing. I can no longer be the lone voice in the woods for this. When the CD comes out, I hope it gets panned. I hope that it is rejected because my desire to produce the best possible product is being hindered by an unjustifiable ego and no one willing to give an honest critique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L-1329 Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 Hopefully it won't get panned, for your sake. Bury him up in the mix as best you can and hope for the best. Do you think that the rest of the band is avoiding the issue, or can they even tell it's a problem? If they are clueless that his vocals are bad they are not that musically aware, and need to work on that. Maybe you should focus on them and getting them to open their eyes? Or just let 'em be until you find a better place to focus your energy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeroseneTrewthe Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 Originally posted by meegaleedo hey guys, it has been a while but I have a little issue concerning my band. Our singer is not as good as he thinks he is. OK, that is not an uncommon issue, but the rest of the band does not seem to think the same way as I do, as far as I can tell. Much of the feedback I get from people who hear our recordings say that he is the weakest link in our band. I wonder if other band members get that from other people they know. It seems like I am the only one who considers this to be a problem. Since we are about to finish mixing our CD, and even with pitch correction, (which I suggested in many spots) there are still issues. While recording the tracks, I often had to reign him in from some sillyness and told him to not worry about making a statement but to just sing. I have also told him, and the band ingeneral that NONE of us are really singers and we need to not focus on our lyrics and singing but to focus on our musicianship. I just wish that more people would realize that a critique is different from criticizing. I can no longer be the lone voice in the woods for this. When the CD comes out, I hope it gets panned. I hope that it is rejected because my desire to produce the best possible product is being hindered by an unjustifiable ego and no one willing to give an honest critique. Is the singer having problems pitch-wise or is it more style not working out? Answers to these questions may help finding a solution. If its pitch, it can be worked on....but someone has to tell him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lug Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 If it is the same singer as on your old CD, he works on some songs like "Markus" but not on others. He kinda grows on you after a while, but I didn't like him initially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leepmeister Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 Originally posted by meegaleedo I just wish that more people would realize that a critique is different from criticizing. I can no longer be the lone voice in the woods for this. +1 Our previous singer had a major problem with this (still does, but now he's just playing guitar). He would always get frustrated at practice and complain how we were too harsh in our methods of critique. Most of the time it wasn't anything more than "the note on that part was wrong." I was never sure how to say something like that any nicer At practice I was typically the only one who would say anything to anyone about parts. I learned to "suggest" rather than "command" (semantics to me), and the drummer and lead guitar and I got along fine. But the singer seemed to HATE getting anything that wasn't positive reinforcement. In one song the last notes of the chorus were different the first time from the later times. He would often get it backwards, and then roll his eyes at me when I reminded him. That kind of underlines the most frustrating part for me. On some days he could sound quite good. If there were problems we would suggest how to fix them and he'd sound fine. Then the next practice he'd revert back to old habits, and not really remember how he had fixed it before. ---> Lack of practice So we finally gave him the "this album isn't going to happen like this" talk and now he's just playing rhythm guitar and we have a new singer (green but definitely knows how to have stage presence and work the crowd). AND this has the added bonus that now since he can focus on just playing guitar and not sing, he adds a lot more stage movement and also plays somewhat better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mudbass Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 He doesn't have the range or the control. I think he's good backup singer material, but he's not strong enough to carry a band and burying him in reverb doesn't help.Definitely the weak link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_geez Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 Burying him in the mix is not a good idea as it then makes you ALL look ('sound', actually!) bad. I know where you're coming from regarding people's inability to listen to honesty from the very ones they SHOULD. (It's like the old mouthwash commercials: How do you tell someone he has bad breath? Worse yet, BO.) What he (they) needs to realize is it's better to hear it from YOU than from the general public. Pete Best got fired from what COULD have been a pretty good job. Who's to say it wasn't the right decision seeing where that band went AFTER he was let go... Post an mp3 and I'll gladly tell him the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LeBraniac Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 I've been band gigging for more than 30 years....It willall likely get worse........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meegaleedo Posted May 20, 2005 Author Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 Originally posted by the_big_geez Post an mp3 and I'll gladly tell him the truth. Check the sig and go to the MP3 page. These are rough mixes but they will give you an idea of what we are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_geez Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 Cool meegs! I just got there, and wanted to say this first: Tell him to sing 'American Woman' (The Guess Who) to the 'Tangerine' song that plays on auto... Then do 'Tangerine' with the same kind of GUTS. (We gotta start somewhere, right?) Listening further... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bottomfeeder Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 I just listened to Ocean Stars. He needs improvement, I like the tone of his voice but he is pitchy.You can't hide that with reverb and a low mix. But if no one is willing to talk about it, and he isnt willing to get some vocal coaching youre hitting your head against a wall and thats no fun. Just stress that you want him to be the singer but he needs improvement that a coach should be able to help him with. Maybe if he didnt play guitar while singing and just played fills and lead he could focus more on his singing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_geez Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 Oh, yeah! Here's a vocal lesson (for everybody). I got this one lesson once, for free. I got it from an old black lady who'd been singing since time began. It's the only voice lesson I ever had --or ever needed, so far. Mechanics: 1. Take deep, lung-filling breaths as if it's the last breath you may ever take. You have to suck in as much air as if you were going to dive to the bottom of a 20' pool. 2. Imagine that the back of your throat --right behind your tongue, is the size of a tennis ball; make it BE that size. Then make the sounds come out of that space. Spiritual: 3. Sing like you MEAN every word you are saying. IMO, most of us don't have a problem with #3. But lacking 1 & 2, nobody can tell... That is, unless we have a natural understanding of it, or can make up for it with SO much emotion. But truthfully, there aren't too many Janis Joplin's around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_geez Posted May 20, 2005 Members Share Posted May 20, 2005 Originally posted by bottomfeeder ... Maybe if he didnt play guitar while singing and just played fills and lead he could focus more on his singing. That's FANTASICALLY good advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.