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I posted a few months ago about how I had a singing teacher who rubbed me the wrong way. I've got a new teacher who I really like. We share a sense of humour, he's patient, he knows what he's talking about. So he's pretty much perfect for me. Unfortunately, I am not perfect for me. I have this terrible psychological block about singing. I know it isn't rational, because I know to some extent I can sing. I've recorded myself singing and not found it terrible, and I'm a pretty harsh self-critic. It's not like it's great, or even particularly good, but it's not a hopeless case. I can hold a note. I can breathe, sometimes. I can project and sing loudly and sort of confidently. Blah blah. Sometimes. What I can't do, a lot of the time, is... physically sing. It just won't happen. I feel self-conscious and ridiculous and humiliated and the note won't come out, or my mouth won't even open. Sometimes it almost feels like a physical block, a weight I'm too weak to lift. It's the worst thing in the world. Nothing so completely and immediately disabuses me of all my musical pretensions. I just had a lesson where I didn't sing a note. I just lay still on the floor and felt awful for an hour and went home. Waste of money, waste of time, waste of my teacher's time. Why do I have lessons where I can sing and not care, even enjoy myself, feel proud, and then feel like a robot without batteries? Do I have some kind of suppressed psychological trauma I don't know about? Is there anything I can do here beyond "keep doing it until it works"?
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Jul 17, 2012 19:49
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I had a block like that with my high range. My old teacher who was very sweet had a lot of trouble helping me through it. When I got to college I switched to the vocal jazz professor (old teacher was way too far away anyhow) who had me start doing warmups. When we got to high notes I stopped singing and was about to explain how I totally couldn't sing high notes and she didn't even let me talk, just kept doing warmups and suddenly it was fine. So what helped me was having a teacher who did not give a gently caress about my mental blocks to my singing. She's a really nice person, she just didn't have any tolerance for any bullshit hesitation and that worked for me. Since you said your teacher knows what he's doing, I wouldn't be surprised if his plan for your next lesson is to power you through these situations, or possibly some other idea that he thinks would work for you. My other suggestion is to start singing in the car, like all the time. Turn up the music if you want, it doesn't really matter if anyone can hear you or not. Just get used to the feeling of making sound come out of your mouth. For a very smooth transition, get a CD of whatever music you're doing in voice lessons, or warmups even, and sing with that in the car. And if you choke up in lessons, bring in the CD and sing along to it.
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Jul 17, 2012 20:22
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I recently started dating a member of my favourite choir in the world (coincidence, I swear; I found out after we started seeing each other). He took me to one of their concerts and I got to rub elbows with the director (who I worked with when I was a pre-teen) and now I get to audition for said choir in August. I am so loving excited, but absolutely terrified. I have to prepare an aria and I haven't sung anything classical in over a decade.
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Jul 20, 2012 14:05
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Here comes another one who's looking for brutally honest critique os his singing! I've started to listen to The Mars Volta alot lately and realized that I can sing along to some of their songs but I would like to know just how well I am doing. Here's me singing With Twilight As My Guide and Televators:  I think it sounds ok, I even thought I sounded pretty good at the 5:37-5:47 part but I would like your opinions on the whole thing.
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Oct 3, 2012 11:22
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Odd that your falsetto is less pitchy than your lower range (usually people have the opposite problem). I think it's because you're sustaining notes better in your falsetto. Try focusing more on the vowels in the non-falsetto parts, I think that will help you get them in tune. (edit) Also smile a little when you sing
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Oct 3, 2012 15:29
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You have a pleasant sounding voice, with some work I'm sure you can sound pretty good. You have a good falsetto, and when you allow yourself to open up into your higher modal voice in the second song it sounds good. Hawkgirl is right. I wasn't familiar with the song so I looked it up, and you're mostly accurate when you're singing in your falsetto (which sounds pretty good, by the way). On the first verse before you flip into your falsetto you're singing below the part--not just flat. The first three pitches of the song ("I'm bolted from within") are E, F#, and G. You sing some pitchy thing that sort of starts on a B, I think, and then doesn't go above an F. You repeat these pitches pretty exactly on "from long conniving heights" so I think this may be an ear problem and not a voice problem? In contrast the falsetto section following this is mostly on the right notes-you're a little sharp or flat here and there, but not generally on outright wrong notes. On "my devil..." you're way above the lower of the two parts, and a little above the falsetto part taken down the octave. I think you'll see a lot of improvement with a little ear training and a little more attention to what the pitches of the original recording are. Try singing along with the original recording one phrase at a time making sure you're matching the original line. I don't think you're tone deaf or anything--you match some parts accurately, you just need to spend some time learning the parts. As for your voice itself, the simplest advice that will get you results right now is probably to practice singing out more. Imagine you're trying to sing to a group of people acoustically instead of your microphone in front of your computer. The added volume will probably result in your supporting your voice a little more, which will make it more consistently on pitch and probably richer sounding. Cool song, by the way.
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Oct 3, 2012 18:42
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I am *so* not in shape to post a tape. I have a physical problem. Thirty years ago, when I was in college, I sang with the Glee Club and could belt out (oog) the tenor part to the choral part of Beethoven's Ninth. (I'm an alto. We were short on tenors.) I had an adequate but not stellar untrained singing voice. Thirty years go by. Stuff happens. I stop singing after my kids outgrow the lullaby phase. This summer I've tried to take up singing again to sing along with the ukulele. However, if I sing at all my throat hurts. Originaly I thought it was because I was trying to sing to tabs that were set for the male voice; then I realized that my throat hurt even if I sang a capella. What can I do to warm up? Is it likely that I've completely lost my singing voice?
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Oct 9, 2012 17:51
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No one's going to diagnose this correctly over the internet. I would seriously see an ENT if you have the insurance. In my head, it goes like this: best case, you just need to relearn how to use your voice properly. Worst case, you've got vocal nodes and are potentially hosed. If you don't see an ENT, at least see a voice teacher in person in case it's the best case scenario.
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Oct 10, 2012 01:11
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What? Is a medical problem really the only possible scenario? I had assumed I was singing too softly or speak-singing or something like that. I looked up the symptoms of vocal nodules, and I don't have any of them. My speaking voice is just fine. It's strictly a matter of singing, and I assumed I'd simply picked up some bad technique in my years of not-practicing.
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Oct 10, 2012 02:34
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Huh? No, I said that's the worst case scenario. And that's also why in my opinion you should see an ENT doctor over a voice teacher; voice teachers clearly can't diagnose medical problems for poo poo. If I met you in person, I would have you do some simple warmups, listening very closely to your voice and watching your physical movements (including any painful winces) very carefully. And I'd try to make some sort of judgment based on that. But no way am I trying to do that over the internet, when the worst case scenario (again, not probable case, worst case) is serious enough that you might actually damage yourself.
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Oct 10, 2012 02:42
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Gotcha. Thank you. I'd feel like a total idiot going to an ENT saying, "I feel completely fine, I just can't sing", so I may let it lie for now.
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Oct 10, 2012 02:46
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Thanks for the input, I have since the last recording had two singing lessons and kept what you said in mind and here's take two: I can already hear a little improvement, feels good!
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Oct 11, 2012 12:26
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Claeaus posted:Thanks for the input, I have since the last recording had two singing lessons and kept what you said in mind and here's take two: You need to take deeper breaths and expend more air on your singing. Hopefully your teacher is talking to you about taking silent breaths, and your making sharp inhalation sounds is a stylistic choice. It sounds like you're trying to ape the style of the singer here, and it's something you really shouldn't be doing until you have better command of your own voice. Compounding the problem is how the singer you're copying has a pretty weird (bad, in my opinion) singing voice that he covers up with layering and effects. It's not a good thing for learning to sing, and it doesn't sound good to imitate (for other examples, see bad Louis Armstrong karaoke covers, bad Prince karaoke covers, etc). It's fine to do as a cover, but if you're trying to learn (and get useful criticism) you should probably pick something that's done a little more straight and has a little more technique behind it. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but there are points in your examples where it's clear you have a decent singing voice hiding in there somewhere, but it's never going to come out if your goal is to sound like the lead singer of The Mars Volta. (For reference to other people giving him advice, here's the song he's covering in his most recent example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIwH9R03fAg)
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Oct 11, 2012 17:24
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Yeah you're right, but the imitating comes without me thinking too much about it. I actually appreciate the harshness, that's why I'm asking for critique on an internet forum instead of from my friends. 
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Oct 12, 2012 07:48
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I'm used to being a backup singer in my band, but recently started recording my own solo stuff. I'm still not completely happy with my voice and feel I could use improvements. Let me know what you think (these are original songs). http://jamesmurray1.bandcamp.com/ This song relies heavily on harmony tracks. In some places it works, and in others I think it would sound better with a solo voice. The problem is that main melody is at the very top of my chest voice range, and it sounds a little too much like I'm straining. I feel more comfortable singing the lower parts, but they don't blend as well with the guitars. I definitely like the 3 part harmony on the "when aquarius broke through the wall" part towards the end, but feel it should alternate between single voice, and 3 point harmony. Any suggestions? http://jamesmurray1.bandcamp.com/track/drakus-demo-without-drums This is an older one I recorded and better suits my range. I'm mostly happy with the vocals except that I feel it's a little weak at times, and would benefit from vibrato (something I can't seem to pull off). Any other suggestions would be of great help.
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Oct 13, 2012 01:07
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I just started to sing. Is fun  I've got a bit of an awkward range. I'm 2 Fs below middle C up to the D above middle C. I'm pleased I've got something resembling a range, but the trick now is figuring out how to use it.
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Oct 16, 2012 10:17
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Looking for someone feedback here. I've never really worked on developing as a singer before so any pointers are helpful. Apologies for the poor quality, working with what I got here. http://soundcloud.com/charlie-stoplight/murdered
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Oct 16, 2012 17:59
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Hammer Floyd posted:I just started to sing. Is fun For what it's worth this is about dead normal for an average male baritone without vocal training. It's likely you can't sing very well much lower, but with training most guys can at least sing at least an F above what you can, and very likely more. You also probably have a fair amount of additional range in your falsetto. That said range is not at all the most important element in singing, so don't try to push it. Focus on general vocal technique and musicianship instead, and range should come in time. A lot of rock/pop emphasizes higher vocal range, either for tenors or baritones singing very high in their voices. Don't let that get you down. There's lots of great music in your range.
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Oct 16, 2012 22:55
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Cheers. I've got a reasonable falsetto but I dont really want to go there. BeeGees weren't really my thing :P (Yes I know that there's a lot of awesome uses of Falsetto in Rock\Metal, I'm just using the most extreme example). I've been focusing on listening to my favourite singers and trying to figure out where they pitch their voices. It's helping me figure out where I should pitch my own. One who has eluded me is James Hetfield. Does anybody know where his voice normally sits? There's a fair bassy rumble to his voice, but I think his pitch might actually be quite high.
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Oct 17, 2012 07:38
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So I've been trying this whole singing gig for real this time (me and two classmates are going to play at a gig on wednesday at our school) and I'm wondering if I'm unintentionally hurting my voice if my voice gets a bit hoarse the halfhour after singing (it then goes back to my regular voice without any strains or it feeling like it is hurting). I think I've got the whole singing through my stomach thing down, at least I feel that I'm reallly pusing with my stomach and lower upper body when I sing.
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Oct 22, 2012 20:26
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Hammer Floyd posted:Cheers. I've got a reasonable falsetto but I dont really want to go there. BeeGees weren't really my thing :P (Yes I know that there's a lot of awesome uses of Falsetto in Rock\Metal, I'm just using the most extreme example). Hetfield is a baritone (like most men). In the early days he could hit some really pretty high notes in the tenor range, but he screamed them all and pretty much destroyed that part of his range. Nowadays he's pretty much limited to his baritone range. Gianthogweed fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Oct 24, 2012 |
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Oct 24, 2012 00:08
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Gianthogweed posted:Hetfield is a baritone (like most men). In the early days he could hit some really pretty high notes in the tenor range, but he screamed them all and pretty much destroyed that part of his range. Nowadays he's pretty much limited to his baritone range. Yeah, so it's probably the differences between our voices that makes it hard for me to tell if I'm on pitch. Cheers for that
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Oct 24, 2012 08:29
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I figure this one works for this thread; http://soundcloud.com/skriket/big-butt-adventure-time This is me singing, I'm certain there are plenty of things you guys can point out that I'm doing wrong or need to fix.
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Nov 23, 2012 03:10
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Greggster posted:I figure this one works for this thread; Are you happy with the sound you're getting? If so, you're doing great, keep it up. If it's punk, it isn't exactly supposed to sound polished.
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Nov 23, 2012 04:20
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AriTheDog posted:Are you happy with the sound you're getting? If so, you're doing great, keep it up. If it's punk, it isn't exactly supposed to sound polished. I'm fairly happy with the sound I'm getting, like most singers though I'm really self-concsious about my singing voice and I really feel that I need to get a lot better before I can actually say I'm proud of it. What I'm most conscious about is the tonal quality of my voice, I mean the range and all the technicalities with singing is probably going to get better the more I sing, but the tonal quality is what I'm most concerned about. I mean, does it sound pleasant or is it just a bunch of noise? Thanks for taking the time listening to it by the way, appreciate it
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Nov 23, 2012 20:34
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Greggster posted:I'm fairly happy with the sound I'm getting, like most singers though I'm really self-concsious about my singing voice and I really feel that I need to get a lot better before I can actually say I'm proud of it. What I'm most conscious about is the tonal quality of my voice, I mean the range and all the technicalities with singing is probably going to get better the more I sing, but the tonal quality is what I'm most concerned about. I mean, does it sound pleasant or is it just a bunch of noise? It's some kind of punk music and it sounds like you're yelling/screaming your way through it, either that or you have vocal nodules. It's pretty much impossible to give you specific advice on that style of singing because it's so antithetical to traditional singing technique. I will warn you that if you haven't already, you're probably going to damage your voice (possibly permanently) if you keep singing like this. There are ways to get the tone you have without hurting yourself, but they take time to learn and require very good breath support, which I don't really hear in your voice. Are you able to sing without the hoarse/growly/screaming sound? If so, post a sample here and you'll get some more helpful advice.
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Nov 23, 2012 22:15
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AriTheDog posted:It's some kind of punk music and it sounds like you're yelling/screaming your way through it, either that or you have vocal nodules. It's pretty much impossible to give you specific advice on that style of singing because it's so antithetical to traditional singing technique. Hmm, is there any way I can tell if I have vocal nodules without having to go to a doctor? I currently live in the forest (like, literally out in the forest, the closest town with any sort of medical care is about an hours drive) which means I'm pretty much at a loss at doing that. When I sang that song (had to do about 20 takes before I got pleased with the vocals) I didn't really feel any discomfort, I did take a couple of takes where I really let my throat vibrate to get that really rough edge on the right channel which was exhausting, the one on the left channel (not 100% panned, and it is generally the only thing you hear in the song) it felt good afterwards, I could feel how it all came from the stomach and I didn't really apply any pressure on the vocal cords consciously, if that makes any sense. I'm going to try and ease up on the hoarse singing though, until I've got some proper tutoring from a vocal coach here on school that can correct what I do wrong now when I've just started out. I'll try and get a recording of me singing a song I've written where I plan to try and really just sing with a clean tone, and post it here.
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Nov 25, 2012 03:08
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Is your normal speaking voice raspy? If not, and it doesn't hurt, you're probably ok. That you say that it feels like it's coming from your stomach is a good sign, as healthy ways to obtain a growl or screamy quality involve pushing with the diaphragm.
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Nov 26, 2012 00:55
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What's that nifty David Lee Roth-like squeak at around 1:14 in this song, and how do I do it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBcX9plkfpU
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Nov 27, 2012 22:14
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Boz0r posted:What's that nifty David Lee Roth-like squeak at around 1:14 in this song, and how do I do it? That's the whistle register. It takes a lot of training to be able to do it correctly, and some people simply can't do it (usually due damage of their vocal chords). If you have a fresh untrained voice, though, you should be able to train yourself to do it. There are many youtube videos with vocal instructors showing techniques on how to reach it, but it's best to get a vocal trainer.
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Nov 29, 2012 22:33
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Is it pretty difficult to work on recording projects remotely? I want to commission a singer for some demos but I don't if I can find someone locally (Omaha NE). I've tried craigslist but found no one over the past 9 months. Maybe I can try larger metro areas, but I don't know if it's worth it. Are there other good sites for ads besides craigslist?
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Dec 3, 2012 08:28
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AriTheDog posted:Is your normal speaking voice raspy? If not, and it doesn't hurt, you're probably ok. That you say that it feels like it's coming from your stomach is a good sign, as healthy ways to obtain a growl or screamy quality involve pushing with the diaphragm. My normal voice isn't raspy at all so I take it that's a good sign I've started going to a singing coach now, or well whenever he's available at school but it really felt so much better after being there, both mentally and vocally.
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Dec 3, 2012 17:05
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My band's looking at working some Machine Head covers in, and I'm wondering if there's any technique tips to get a Robb Flynn style bark. I can hit modern day Hetfield and Corey Taylor clean to rasp, but can't death metal growl for poo poo. Should I just accept that I can't do it?
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Dec 8, 2012 15:47
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I've started recording myself singing lately and since then, I've noticed my voice cracks way more easily on syllables that begin with H. It gets worse and more frequent when I'm higher up in my register. I'm assuming this has something to do with support, though I could be totally wrong. Either way, anybody have any advice on how to minimize this sort of thing?
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Dec 16, 2012 01:17
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Can you record it? The only thing I can think of is if you're suuuuper exaggerating the "h" you might be improperly using your air to do it. But who knows in what way or how to tell you to adjust it.
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Dec 16, 2012 01:33
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Yeah I'd also guess you're blowing extra air out on your H sounds, probably with your breath in your upper chest (not from the diaphragm) which causes the cracking. In singing, H is very nearly silent - with proper breath support, if you were to start singing a word like "heaven" or "home" you could hardly prevent yourself from making the H sound at the beginning of the word even if you wanted to sing "eaven" or "ome". Try singing a simple run of "la" with each note held for a few seconds, up and back down. Then try doing "aaa" and see if you aren't really making a bit of a "ha" sound. You should be, with good breath support. Likewise, in classical singing you're going to be saying "hwhere" and "hwhen" when singing in English instead of "where" and "when", because you're already making the h-like sound by simply blowing air. Uh, yeah, there's my diagnosis and suggestions without hearing you so I can know what the real problem is. Like Hawkgirl said, record it and post it here.
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Dec 16, 2012 03:03
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It was actually something I recorded last night that made me notice it. Here's the worst bit. I know I'm not in the best singing position, but I've noticed it happening no matter the position I'm in. Thanks for the help, both of you.
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Dec 16, 2012 03:06
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I don't hear your voice cracking, exactly, it sounds more like you're just straining at the top of your range so it's kind of squeaking out. The only way to deal with this, if it's the case, is to work on extending your functional range through relaxing (instead of clenching) your throat as you go up in pitch.
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Dec 17, 2012 03:24
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Sorry, I wasn't sure what the right word was, but it's cool that it's something that's not only preventable but can help me develop further. Thanks. I'll definitely get to work. (Also thanks for not, like, tearing into the video. This forum knows way more about music than I do; it's a little intimidating for me.)
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Dec 18, 2012 15:50
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I've been seeing an SLS instructor since February and have definitely seen growth in my voice, but I'm still often unsure whether something is head voice or falsetto. I recorded myself singing the same song in two different registers (might not be the right term), and I hope someone here can identify what I'm doing. First two clips are in what I'm hoping is head voice, but it might just be falsetto. Either way it feels a bit lacking in power, but I should mention that in the beginning of the year, I wouldn't have been able to hit those lower notes like that with even 1/4 the volume (whether head or falsetto). The third is me attempting to "full voice" it, complete with pushing and straining, but technically hitting (most of) the notes. https://soundcloud.com/gandlethorpe/sets/isnt-she-lovely What I hope is to achieve something in between these: unstrained like the first two, but powerful like the last.
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Dec 19, 2012 12:19
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