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RandomCheese posted:words Thanks for the huge reply! I did do some EQ/compression/reverb on the recording I made, but I probably didn't do it too well if it sounds raw. Well, trust me that the raw version is much, much worse-sounding. As far as the mic gain goes, there is a -10db switch on it...but even with that switch set I still had to stand all the way across the room to record the screaming parts. There doesn't appear to be any sort of gain dial on the mic (it's a $50 USB condenser from Amazon). Anyways, my conservatory is letting me take voice lessons this semester instead of piano so hopefully I'll improve.
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Jan 26, 2014 05:07
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Omniphile posted:So here are a few covers. I wanted to chime in cause I think these were sort of lost and you didn't get any comments, but be warned I have no expertise in this area at all. I like the singing, but it sounds like you're not "pushing" it enough. Does that make sense? Like, if that was me singing, I'd think I was embarrassed and holding back cause I think I sound dumb or something. Were you listening to the songs while singing? A few bits maybe sounded off the original song (mainly listened to the REM one caused I knew that song), so I'm guessing no. Try again but really push stuff out there. Does that make any sense?  Like I said I'm not a singer, so take this all with a pound of salt. 
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Feb 1, 2014 18:50
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Hi- I don't feel I would suggest that Omniphile "push" more. I would not typically suggest that for singers, though I know some people do. What you seem to want from Omni is a larger more open sound. It feels to you as if Omni is holding back somehow. There might be a couple of reasons for this. The songs are sung at the bottom of Omni's range I think. I suspect Omni may have an undeveloped top end. Omni certainly has an amazing ear. I might want to ask if the nasality in the tone is on purpose? This might be one of the things that leads to comments about 'push' since it can feel a bit closed. One the other hand it is a very cutting sort of tone appropriate to certain kinds of music. Based on those tracks Omni could probably sing with the "high lonesome" sound often present in bluegrass leads or traditional musics from Appalachia and such. I would also ask if the slides in and out of notes is intentional? The way to discover that is to sing and record the track for yourself without any slides at all, whether or not you feel that is the best interpretation of the song. Omni seems to slide into most pitches, but also seems to have a good enough ear that it shouldn't be necessary. I think some choices could be made there.
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Feb 1, 2014 20:35
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Wow, this thread is slow. I'll bring it back from the dead to share my excitement. Even though I play many instruments, I've historically been a pretty bad singer; I had very little sense of pitch and a very limited range due to a total lack of technique. My girlfriend is a great singer and she's been coaching me gradually and even though my technique is still lacking, my range opened up and I can now sing on pitch most of the time. We've even been able to dabble in harmony and I'm starting to pull my own pretty well. I understand the general idea; 90% of the time, harmony notes seem to be within the chord being played. If I "lock in" the note before we start singing and I know the chords being played I'll usually be able to follow pretty well (I just imagine my voice traveling on the notes of a piano, following the chords). It all falls apart when I try to "jump in" a song though. I can never really find a proper starting note and even if I do, I'll rarely know where I am in the chord and thus cannot "move" freely. Is there a trick to this, besides just playing lots of songs and trying out all the harmonies I can find in them? I guess eventually if I do many repetitions my instinct will get better but if there's any specific exercises I could do I'd love to hear about them.
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Mar 13, 2014 22:38
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Try some of the ear training exercises on musictheory.net. Sounds like you just need to understand how to pick out a root, 3rd, 5th, or 7th. Start with roots only if you struggle. In most music the root will 90% of the time what the bass player is playing.
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Mar 14, 2014 00:04
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While this might be a very stupid question, I need some help. I quit singing last autumn due to money issues, but I'm thinking about starting again. I was getting taught to sing opera, specifically bass because my voice is deep as gently caress once I start singing so my teacher wanted me to continue with that. It got to the point where I could sing the male part of Phantom of the Opera technically good(all the right notes and such), but she kept saying that I should be more emotionally involved with the song to give it that "edge". I had to quit before I got that far, but now that I've got a steady income I'm going to start again soon. Any tips on how to completely let go and give singing that emotional edge? Note that I was 18 when I started and had just become 19 when I quit. I had no prior experience with singing, playing music or acting before that so I think it was mostly about me being insecure about my abilities. I know that there's no proper way to let go of your emotions, but any tips or recommendations would be nice.
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Apr 10, 2014 00:16
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Here's what works for me (teaching middle schoolers). They don't get how to be emotional in music either. It's one of those lame things where you have to approach it very mechanically before it clicks and you understand intuitively how to add emotion to music. First, the words. What are you talking about? What emotion are you sharing? If this is the titular song from Phantom, you're the Phantom and you're being a creepy gently caress. Sorry, I kind of hate this musical...anyway, you should examine the words and emphasize - over pronounce and sing louder - all the words that further that effect. Like most singers will emphasize "here" and "mind" because it makes the whole sentence super creepy. See? Circle all the words in your music that you're going to emphasize. Second, you can't just sing a bunch of words and then sing one word super loud. It sounds dumb. So now look at the music and the musical phrases (helpfully, these tend to match sentence phrases) and decide if the music should crescendo (get louder) or diminuendo (get softer). As a general rule, if the focus word is at the end of a phrase, crescendo, and vice versa. If it's in the middle, crescendo to it then diminuendo after it. There are exceptions (like diminuendo to a very soft focus word to sound creepier). After a while it should kind of click how to do this without breaking it down like this, although to be honest with you I still do it with my jazz stuff.
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Apr 10, 2014 00:46
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If you're not a professional, just don't sing music where you don't identify with the lyrics. Not that amateurs can't be expressive, but if you're not getting paid to fake it why would you want to? Read the lyrics and understand the words and meaning, and deliver them as concepts not abstract words with a pitch. It can help if you extract the text from the music and spend a while with it, looking at the lyrics as prose. Dynamics and phrasing are important too, of course, but your teacher is (or was) probably treating this as a separate issue. For the record, I absolutely hate the acting portion of vocal performance, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
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Apr 10, 2014 08:01
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Basic question just out of curiosity: whenever I played in/saw bands and would hit venues, I'd never see vocalists with their own mics. I'm not sure if this is just part of the punk/hc/metal scene etc, but the rest of the band would be carting huge speaker cabinets and drum kits upstairs but I never once saw someone pull out an SM58 or similar. Not just local bands, but international touring bands too. Given that the thing that most went wrong seemed to be dead mics or dead cables, this just always struck me as weird. I can't hit a single note in tune, but I still have a 57 and 58, and they're not expensive. Certainly not compared to guitars/amps anyway. Plus club microphones are so, so, so goddamned disgusting I can't understand why anyone would want to put one near their face.
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Apr 20, 2014 19:44
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EL BROMANCE posted:Basic question just out of curiosity: whenever I played in/saw bands and would hit venues, I'd never see vocalists with their own mics. I'm not sure if this is just part of the punk/hc/metal scene etc, but the rest of the band would be carting huge speaker cabinets and drum kits upstairs but I never once saw someone pull out an SM58 or similar. Not just local bands, but international touring bands too. That's sort of the opposite of what I've observed in my scene, everyone has their own mic. A couple national acts I saw just last thursday had their own mics too (one was a pretty sweet wireless mic that let the singer run on top of the bar and pelvic thrust in patron's faces). I have seen a guitarist show up to a gig without a guitar before (he figured he could just use one of ours.. that was the first and last time he ever opened for us), but most singers I know bring their own mic. Maybe its just a punk thing?
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Apr 21, 2014 03:13
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EL BROMANCE posted:Basic question just out of curiosity: whenever I played in/saw bands and would hit venues, I'd never see vocalists with their own mics. I'm not sure if this is just part of the punk/hc/metal scene etc, but the rest of the band would be carting huge speaker cabinets and drum kits upstairs but I never once saw someone pull out an SM58 or similar. Not just local bands, but international touring bands too. Mics are incredibly easy to lose track of and/or steal. Plus, many singers don't own their own stuff or just have a mic at the practice space (hurr my voice is my instrument). It would make sense if singers had a mic that flattered their voice or just an SM58 since it lasts forever but I think most people just assume the club will have the mics and the PA and everything else is their responsibility. 
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Apr 21, 2014 04:03
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I've never had any voice training but used to sing in stage musicals as a kid I would really really really like to sing like David Byrne. Is that a realistic goal? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uncTpRaXiBI oh baby also I love Devo's vocals, especially on this track for instance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwx_Qq56YTA I am gonna start practicing 
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Apr 21, 2014 04:44
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Griff Lee posted:I've never had any voice training but used to sing in stage musicals as a kid Singing like David Byrne is easy, dozens of indie bands do it every day without realizing it
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Apr 21, 2014 15:20
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Hello singing thread! I've wanted to make my voice not suck for over a decade now, and about 7 months or so ago I finally pulled the trigger and took the first serious steps to fix that (read: got wasted on the internet). I signed up for group classes at a local school, and found that I really enjoy what I'm doing. I've figure out a couple things about myself: 1) I'm a much better singer than I thought I was, albeit I'm still not great. 2) I really need to work on my mix voice more than anything. It seems like I wind up using one of head or chest and can't quite feel out how to get the two to mix together elegantly. Anyone with any mix voice tips? 3) I need to work on a way to comfortably stay on pitch with reasonable resonant qualities (i.e. not breathy) without also being really loving loud. Granted, it's probably a better problem to have than being too quiet, but still... My first time singing in front of people outside of a class or karaoke bar went very well, despite a botched line or two, and I hope to do it again soon.
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May 1, 2014 23:22
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Maybe you were just meant to be an opera singer  (Don't be an opera singer)
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May 1, 2014 23:45
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If you have an iOS device there is a great app called Erol Singer's Studio which has a ton of great vocal exercises as well as real-time pitch tracking so you can tell how close to each note you get as well as being able to see how you approach each note (ie slide up into pitch as opposed to entering it dead-on), it has been a really valuable resource for me and I have noticed improvement even after only using the app for a few days.
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May 1, 2014 23:47
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RandomCheese posted:If you have an iOS device there is a great app called Erol Singer's Studio which has a ton of great vocal exercises as well as real-time pitch tracking so you can tell how close to each note you get as well as being able to see how you approach each note (ie slide up into pitch as opposed to entering it dead-on), it has been a really valuable resource for me and I have noticed improvement even after only using the app for a few days. Holy hell, that looks awesome. I don't own an iOS device, but I had considered one for various other musical endeavours. This app may just be the tipping point. Thanks!
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May 2, 2014 01:28
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Hawkgirl posted:Maybe you were just meant to be an opera singer He, it's not about being loud! On my opera front, it's May of an even numbered year so it's time for Opera Scenes! I've been cast as Camille in the Act II Finale of The Merry Widow, Don Curzio in the sextet from Le Nozze de Figaro, Nemorino in Act I Scenes 8-9 of L'elisir d'more, Ralph in No.11 from HMS Pinafore, and one of Tabor's cronies in The Ballad of Baby Doe Act I Scene 2. All of those have to be performance ready and staged by May 20th. At least I don't have to memorize French!
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May 3, 2014 17:41
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RandomCheese posted:If you have an iOS device there is a great app called Erol Singer's Studio which has a ton of great vocal exercises as well as real-time pitch tracking so you can tell how close to each note you get as well as being able to see how you approach each note (ie slide up into pitch as opposed to entering it dead-on), it has been a really valuable resource for me and I have noticed improvement even after only using the app for a few days.  That's just what I needed. Thank you for linking this!
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May 9, 2014 17:39
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Hey guys. I'm currently working on an EP, and it would be great to get some critique on my voice. http://picosong.com/CuJU/ Critique on the song itself is also very welcome!
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May 9, 2014 23:03
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R3M posted:Hey guys. You're out of tune a lot and you lack breath support. Work on your pitch and/or your ear, and take breaths more often.
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May 10, 2014 00:26
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http://picosong.com/CtXw http://picosong.com/CtXy http://picosong.com/CtX4 I'd appreciate any feedback. I don't really have anything to back it up with right now unless I grab a knife and a stovepan, had two people tell me it's not at all bad but could use some more strength. For some reason I have a lot stronger/better voice when I'm sitting in my car than standing or sitting elsewhere. If those people lied and a platypus-on-raven orgy would be a more pleasant aural experience I can handle being told that as well.
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May 22, 2014 04:57
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Vorenus posted:http://picosong.com/CtXw The first was really timid, imo. The second link was just silence >.> The third was the best of the three. Play something in the background if you have to~ personally helps me get into it more if I'm surrounded by the music (be it a band, recording, karaoke track, whatever). You do need more support, though. It sounds like you're holding back because you're afraid of being too loud or something? Don't be scared of making noise. That's the whole point ^.^
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May 23, 2014 03:49
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Another warbly soul here looking for feedback. This thread has been amazing, and I've gone back to the start of it and cut'n'pasted a lot of tips into a document, so many thanks, vocal masters! I've been playing instruments for awhile, but was totally afraid to sing, never did it in my life. I started taking vocal lessons about three years ago, which has mostly been lip rolls and various noises (nyahs, gi-yas(?) etc etc) mixed with cover songs so my teacher can gauge what I'm doing. She has helped tremendously, and I can now lip-roll up to a... I think B above high C? (7th fret on the high e on a guitar), whereas three years ago I broke an octave lower. However, I've been having trouble connecting this to singing actual songs, and I'm wondering if after three years I still basically can't sing. I think my teacher is maybe a little too encouraging; I'll maul a cover, and she'll say she didn't hear anything that needed fixing. I have a bunch of originals on soundcloud. I'm just aiming for "the voice is not ruining the song" as opposed to a kind of style. I think these two are the cleanest- no FX and little accompaniment. Any feedback is appreciated! This one is the closest to what what was in my head: https://soundcloud.com/oakislandvalentine/miracleworld-1 This is more recent; I hate how nasally I sound in parts of it, but I don't know what to do. It's also a demo, so please excuse the lapses in timing: https://soundcloud.com/oakislandvalentine/injured-stars-violin-back-vox eta: this might be more useful: a spare demo I did very recently; I don't know if it's audible, but I try to hit higher notes throughout, but I feel a resistance that bounces me back into a more monotone melody. I can't cross the bridge. https://soundcloud.com/oakislandvalentine/rainey-daye-demo ASMR Yodeling fucked around with this message at 20:18 on May 27, 2014 |
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May 27, 2014 20:09
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I find it hard to believe you've been taking voice lessons for three years based on these samples. You're either hopeless or your teacher is poo poo, and from what you're saying about the lack of constructive feedback it's probably the latter. Have you played your teacher these recordings? Do so and ask for serious critical feedback on how you can improve. Seriously I'm amazed. Three years of lessons and you don't know how to eliminate a nasal sound in your voice that bothers you. There are moments in some of the recordings that sound ok, but generally you sound completely untrained, and when you go for those high notes it sounds absolutely terrible. There's no point in extending your range when there are basic problems to start with. Find another teacher who will actually make you better, or better yet join your local community college's choir or group voice classes. I'm sorry to be so harsh but you are being taken here. Stop wasting your money with this teacher. Vorenus posted:http://picosong.com/CtXw This is bad but who cares? Are you trying to do anything with it other than enjoy singing in the car? My guess is that you have a stronger voice in the car because you're more confident because no one can hear you. There is very little constructive criticism that can be given to someone with no training who is singing as quiet as a mouse beyond things like "get drunk and do karaoke".
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May 27, 2014 21:25
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AriTheDog posted:I find it hard to believe you've been taking voice lessons for three years based on these samples. You're either hopeless or your teacher is poo poo, and from what you're saying about the lack of constructive feedback it's probably the latter. Have you played your teacher these recordings? Do so and ask for serious critical feedback on how you can improve. Whew, that's brisk! But thank you for the feedback. When I've asked for serious critical feedback, I've gotten more "fine-tuning" than "basic problems." The idea that's been evolving for me is that I am in fact hopeless, and so she hasn't bothered with constructive criticism. Which is kind of hosed up now that I'm looking at it in print.
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May 27, 2014 22:58
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ASMR Yodeling posted:Whew, that's brisk! But thank you for the feedback. When I've asked for serious critical feedback, I've gotten more "fine-tuning" than "basic problems." The idea that's been evolving for me is that I am in fact hopeless, and so she hasn't bothered with constructive criticism. Which is kind of hosed up now that I'm looking at it in print. Despite what I said, I don't think anyone is hopeless, and you are NOT tone deaf by any stretch which is the only case I can see someone being beyond help in. Seriously, find another teacher, most should be happy to give a free or heavily discounted introductory lesson. This teacher is perhaps unable to help you, though, which can happen... That said, if that's the case he/she sure as hell shouldn't be taking your money. Positives, that I should have included: You seem to have a good grasp of timing and dynamics, your breath support is there at times, and you have a clue about style. The things you need to work on are constant breath support, vowels, and not tightening up your throat when you go up high. You're not super far off, but there are some serious problems that, once dealt with, will result in huge improvements in the quality and control of your voice. AriTheDog fucked around with this message at 01:55 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 01:43
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ASMR Yodeling posted:Whew, that's brisk! But thank you for the feedback. When I've asked for serious critical feedback, I've gotten more "fine-tuning" than "basic problems." The idea that's been evolving for me is that I am in fact hopeless, and so she hasn't bothered with constructive criticism. Which is kind of hosed up now that I'm looking at it in print. Yeah that guy was harsh but your teacher is loving with you, you have fundamental issues witch pitching and control that need to be fixed before moving on to "fine tuning".
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May 28, 2014 18:10
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ASMR Yodeling posted:Another warbly soul here looking for feedback. This thread has been amazing, and I've gone back to the start of it and cut'n'pasted a lot of tips into a document, so many thanks, vocal masters! Depends on what you are going for. This is all very Dylanesque from a certain period of Dylan. You have a kind of shout folk vibe going. This can be great if you know you are doing it and it is what you want to do. One aspect of such music, in my opinion, is that the story really matters, so you need to choose songs accordingly. About the singing itself: - you are scooping into many notes and almost always at the beginning of phrases. Again, fine if you want to do that for some reason, but you are almost always sliding to pitch in this way. Even if you don't like the way it sounds initially you might want to try singing some things without sliding at all. This might mean less time on covers for a bit and some time just playing notes and intervals and toning those without sliding. Perhaps start with no beginning consonant. This also has the advantage of really focussing on the moment of bringing your chords together and different ways to do that. Then you can add consonants,which is easier because you can engage the chords behind the cover of the consonant in most cases. - breath. I feel you might want to work on your underlying breath and support. What have you told your teacher you want? Though having positive reinforcement is all well and good, if they are not giving you feedback, suggestions and some guidance that is allowing you to improve then what is going on there? Are they just stringing you along for the money or what? That is about the teacher not about you. In terms of covers or song selection have you done any Dylan covers? You could also try some traditional songs. The Smithsonian Folkways and the Lomax collections are excellent sources of traditional songs that you can learn and do your own versions.
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May 28, 2014 18:15
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Thanks for all the additional feedback- I appreciate y'all giving a listen. It's been super useful and a good (if painful) reality check. I have a much better idea of what to focus on with a new teacher. FWIW, I know other students who had success with my current vocal teacher, but they were already bringing some singing skills to the table. I'm now thinking she's giving it an honest try, but "fine tuning" is her only mode. So just not a good match. Sogol posted:Depends on what you are going for. This is all very Dylanesque from a certain period of Dylan. You have a kind of shout folk vibe going. This can be great if you know you are doing it and it is what you want to do. One aspect of such music, in my opinion, is that the story really matters, so you need to choose songs accordingly. That is extremely helpful- thank you very much! The vowel work also sounds like a very fundamental thing that hasn't come up much in my lessons, so I'm starting to get what I've been missing. My teacher does give me feedback and new exercises in response to my requests (mainly being able to sing through breaks), and she has been working on breath control with me (I had zero before, like "how am I alive?" level) but I haven't been able to connect any of it to actually singing songs. I've heard the Dylan comparison before. If a magic singing angel came down and said that's the only way I'd ever sound, I'd be frustrated by the limitation, but I'd accept it and work my songwriting around it (I'd also stop taking lessons). I haven't done any Dylan covers, but I've done a few Neutral Milk Hotel, which I feel has a similar sound. I'd like to have some range beyond it though. ASMR Yodeling fucked around with this message at 20:53 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 20:51
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Hi goon friends. I recently did a quick one take to test out my new recording gear (at2020 xlr mic) and wanted to get some feedback so I know what to work on while I search for a teacher (always wanted to take voice lessons but never had money) http://soundcloud.com/justin-chu-11/on-the-way-down My apologies for the choice of music. Also I have thick skin so don't feel bad going to town on me Razzled fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Dec 5, 2016 |
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May 28, 2014 23:32
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Razzled posted:Hi goon friends. I recently did a quick one take to test out my new recording gear (at2020 xlr mic) and wanted to get some feedback so I know what to work on while I search for a teacher (always wanted to take voice lessons but never had money) Most notes in this recording are out of tune. I would say start with tuning your guitar really well and I don't know if you played and sang at the same time but if you did record the guitar and voice separately and focus a lot on nailing them (esp. the guitar). To do both at the same time and it to sound good you need to master them separately. You seem to have a lot of potential, but the fundamentals are lacking. Colonel J fucked around with this message at 00:08 on May 29, 2014 |
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May 29, 2014 00:01
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Colonel J posted:Most notes in this recording are out of tune. I would say start with tuning your guitar really well and I don't know if you played and sang at the same time but if you did record the guitar and voice separately and focus a lot on nailing them (esp. the guitar). To do both at the same time and it to sound good you need to master them separately. You seem to have a lot of potential, but the fundamentals are lacking. Yes, if you have any sort of mobile device, download a tuner. Your guitar tuning made my teeth hurt. You also need to be able to hear that. Right now you are teaching yourself to sing out of tune. You voice itself has a kind of warm raspy quality that sounds natural and could be good. Hard to tell about pitch on that track. Rhythm was all over the place, but might be due to this comment above?
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May 29, 2014 00:57
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Sogol posted:Yes, if you have any sort of mobile device, download a tuner.
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May 29, 2014 01:03
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Thanks guys for the help. I did record them both at the same time mostly because I am very bad at playing/singing in time. I'll start practicing each separately though and start paying more attention to being in tune. I picked up some new strings, a metronome and a tuner on the way home so that should be fun!
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May 29, 2014 02:14
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After being for a choir for awhile, I finally got some 1 on 1 voice lessons. The first lesson was such a positive experience. I never really thought of myself as a 'singer' before but now I do. I see how much potential there is to grow with hard work! Can't wait! My first piece that I want to serenade people with is the Canadian National Anthem. Hopefully in French as well as English! hehehe
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May 31, 2014 15:58
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Joni Mitchell songs can be difficult to cover, but she has a few wonderful Canada songs.
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May 31, 2014 20:30
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khysanth fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Jun 17, 2014 |
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Jun 11, 2014 04:11
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Are there any baritone hair metal/80ies metal singers besides David Coverdale?
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Jun 17, 2014 19:13
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https://soundcloud.com/someguybrian/mack-the-knife If anybody would like to see what a difference 4 years and some effort can make, check out the first reply to this thread on page 1.
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Jun 30, 2014 23:39
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