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Arashikage
Sep 11, 2001

by Fistgrrl

Cemetry Gator posted:

A few points:

There are times where you are hitting around the note, but not hitting it dead on. I notice that when you do a glide, it usually starts off-pitch and ends where you want it.

On "I must push my barrow," it's clear that you are hitting the beneath bottom of your range, and it's flattening out. It makes it sound weak and it kills the rest of the line. It's the conclusion to the verse and the song. You want to end it a lot stronger.

It also feels like you are attacking and ending words to quickly. It sounds like on the first verse you are doing an imitation of a Vegas Lounge Singer doing Ian Curtis. It sounds very off the cuff and casual and I'm not sure that's what you're going for.


Thanks for the feedback!

I wasn't kidding when I said I was new to this and that coupled with having Leonard Cohen and Mark Lanegan as my idea of vocal perfection might cause me to go too low (also, I suspect my range isn't very impressive and I can't go very high without it sounding like absolute, utter poo poo so I 'safe it' by going low thinking missing a low note sounds less godawful than loving up a high one). I did that take in Dm (not Em which I originally wrote for some strange reason), I'll rerecord it in something between Em and Gm to see how that turns out.

In response to the last comment - I'm not exactly sure what I'm going for. Sitting down and making a conscious effort to sing is completely new to me (but it is super fun). At the moment my goal is probably just being decently on key and not embarrassing myself :)

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Pyrthas
Jan 22, 2007

Arashikage posted:

I suspect my range isn't very impressive and I can't go very high without it sounding like absolute, utter poo poo so I 'safe it' by going low thinking missing a low note sounds less godawful than loving up a high one
I did this for a while, too. But keep practicing those top notes. Sing them loud; screw the neighbors! (Don't hurt yourself, of course. It should never hurt.) It's fun to realize that you have more range than you did before.

Cemetry Gator
Apr 3, 2007

Do you find something comical about my appearance when I'm driving my automobile?

Arashikage posted:

(also, I suspect my range isn't very impressive and I can't go very high without it sounding like absolute, utter poo poo so I 'safe it' by going low thinking missing a low note sounds less godawful than loving up a high one).

Well, missing a note is missing a note. And no matter where it is, it just will kill the rest of the line. What I noticed happens when you get to "Push my barrel all the day," is that your voice gets very quiet when it gets very off key, which may be why you think it sounds a lot better.

But to flesh out my "Vegas lounge singer doing Ian Curtis," it's how you sing "Buying." Typically, you would emphasize "buy" and close on "ing" rather quickly. But here, you get to the "ing" very quickly. It's tough, because to me, singing is like playing an instrument in that there's more than just hitting the right notes. It's how you piece that performance together and make it say something that's important. And like with an instrument and learning a new piece, you just want to get the notes right at first.

However, you got a good voice to work with.

Arashikage
Sep 11, 2001

by Fistgrrl
Thanks again for the feedback guys, it is really appreciated. I'll take the advice to heart. I'm now dead set on seeing a vocal coach, getting instant feedback and correction should do a lot. Private lessons helped me immensely wrt piano as opposed to just reading books and loving around by myself.

dudemanbudguy
Jan 2, 2008
guybudmandude
Okay, I need some advice.

I took vocal lessons for about two months and I'm happy with how useful my voice is now. I gained a lot of confidence and control and can sing most of the stuff I try to play. However, I took lessons so I can write my own music and I'm really having trouble with melodies and singing lyrics I write correctly. Again, it's not really hard for me to sing OTHER PEOPLE'S music, but I feel like I always strain more singing things I write and have a harder time staying and key and coming up with melodies. The thing is, I play guitar and piano and have a really melodic sense when it comes to playing those, I'd really like to get that with my voice as well.

Probably a strange problem.. any advice?

Vainglory
Apr 15, 2010

Goonies Never Eat Pie
I've never recorded myself before. I barely ever sing, actually. I heard "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd tonight though and decided to give it a shot after reading this thread for the first time. I think it sounds alright, but I'm sure someone can pick it apart!

SlippyHat
May 25, 2003

Delicious!

dudemanbudguy posted:

Okay, I need some advice.

I took vocal lessons for about two months and I'm happy with how useful my voice is now. I gained a lot of confidence and control and can sing most of the stuff I try to play. However, I took lessons so I can write my own music and I'm really having trouble with melodies and singing lyrics I write correctly. Again, it's not really hard for me to sing OTHER PEOPLE'S music, but I feel like I always strain more singing things I write and have a harder time staying and key and coming up with melodies. The thing is, I play guitar and piano and have a really melodic sense when it comes to playing those, I'd really like to get that with my voice as well.

Probably a strange problem.. any advice?

I have the same problem. :) Try mapping out your vocal melodies on the guitar/piano, so that you are starting with something that you know sounds good. Then practice singing along to that. It's always far more effort than I want to put in, but it works when I actually do it. :)

dudemanbudguy
Jan 2, 2008
guybudmandude

SlippyHat posted:

I have the same problem. :) Try mapping out your vocal melodies on the guitar/piano, so that you are starting with something that you know sounds good. Then practice singing along to that. It's always far more effort than I want to put in, but it works when I actually do it. :)

Yeah, this is usually my method. I just get jealous because one of my friends has an amazing voice and just busts out beautiful melodies without any effort.

Family Photo
Dec 26, 2005
*cheese*


Hey guys, here's a little something my friend and I recorded. I sing fairly often, but haven't really ever recorded myself. I'd love some feedback!

ps flutes rock


Triple Tech
Jul 28, 2006

So what, are you quitting to join Homo Explosion?

Family Photo posted:



My first thought was oh poo poo, one of my favorite songs... Here we go... :rolleyes:

Absolutely beautiful! Some criticisms... Hold those long notes longer. My god, it was so beautiful, you're like cheapening the experience. Sing on, brotha!

The "I know I know" section was totally bland and robotic... :saddowns: Specifically, it was too legato and there wasn't enough variation. I think there were like 12+ iterations and only one of them got louder. Needs more punctuation and syncopation to break up the evenness. *I* know I *know* *I* know *I* know I-know, or similar.

Everything else is... Really beautiful. A great rendition and a lot of soul to one of my favorite songs of all time. Thank you.

Triple Tech fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Aug 9, 2010

Triple Tech
Jul 28, 2006

So what, are you quitting to join Homo Explosion?

Vainglory posted:

I've never recorded myself before. I barely ever sing, actually. I heard "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd tonight though and decided to give it a shot after reading this thread for the first time. I think it sounds alright, but I'm sure someone can pick it apart!



Largely on pitch. Needs more duration (aka actual singing) and more efficient use of breath. You're leaking air everywhere. All these things come from, you guessed it, technique.

Triple Tech
Jul 28, 2006

So what, are you quitting to join Homo Explosion?

Arashikage posted:

Eli teh Infamous Barrow Boy

You kinda sound like Lurch... :) The one rhythmic thing you do that is drastically different from other renditions is you clip the duration of the penultimate note of some of the lines. Like instead of

Craaaaaah-yihhhhhhhn

You sing

Cryiiiiiiiiin

It's too quick. And those are some of the best opportunities to milk the phrase and you're subverting the device. So it sounds weird. Granted, you could make the case that that's the style you're going for and it's a conscious decision in your rendition, but something tells me that isn't the case.

Technique, duration, better vowel sounds would go a long way.

And it sounds like you're at the bottom of your range. Especially the last note, which you didn't quite make. Bump it up to your midrange and you should be fine.

dudemanbudguy
Jan 2, 2008
guybudmandude
I think what really holds my voice back is classical vowels like triple tech keeps mentioning. My voice teacher would really try to nail those into me. Are there any sites you guys know with good exercises to really get good at those? I usually just take a song I want to sing and try to sing the vowels instead of the actual words.

Triple Tech
Jul 28, 2006

So what, are you quitting to join Homo Explosion?
I guess after years of hearing the same thing over and over, it's gotten pretty simple... I think the challenge is how to sing words in a classical way. Like...

father - fah-thur becomes fah-thuh

We learn that terminal R's aren't pretty and should be minimized. As for specific exercises, I dunno. Everything is ahh, ehh, eu, oh, and oo. Very tall. Everything converges to an ahh because it's the tallest.

Nothing beats live instruction... Plus practice.

Arashikage
Sep 11, 2001

by Fistgrrl
Thanks for the feedback triple tech!

Vainglory
Apr 15, 2010

Goonies Never Eat Pie

Triple Tech posted:

Largely on pitch. Needs more duration (aka actual singing) and more efficient use of breath. You're leaking air everywhere. All these things come from, you guessed it, technique.

Thanks! I've always had problems leaking air. Asthma sucks. I'm sure there's a way to fix that still, though.

washow
Dec 1, 2007

Here you go, op :toot:
So what are some of the basic skills that everyone should know? I'm not a singer but just like singing in the car and stuff. I wanted to know more about it so I've been googling around and I found stuff like correct way to breath and how you are supposed to keep your larynx down and such.

I understand it's very difficult to give "tips" without listening to someone actually sing but I just need real basic stuff.

Pedricko
Apr 7, 2008
Found an oldie here.

This is from 2 years ago, before I even considered lead vocals (or even backup) something I could do.

It's a cover of Jesus Christ by Brand New, I had to modify the melody a little, because even now I have very bad control of vibrato.

I find my voice on this to be a much lower and 'robust' version of my current 'delicate' style. Let me know what you think, goons!

http://www.tindeck.com/listen/xcgc

Gumball Dad
Apr 9, 2007

Wanna meet that dad
Here's me singing at karaoke. I dunno why I'm posting it, but I've been reading through the thread and felt like posting in it and this is all I got recorded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wksGg16Wdoc
Should be fairly obvious, but no I'm not being serious here. I like to sing and I like to make people laugh. The lady in front there got up to ask my buddy if he could convince me to sing Creed before we left lol. I'd like to actually get serious about singing because I love to do it, but I don't really know where to go with it. I've done a decent amount of non-joke singing here and there in front of (what seemed to me like) large audiences before and the reaction has always been way more than positive. A teacher from Julliard once bought me a beer after a song, gave me his business card, and said I showed some real promise but I didn't put much stock into it because he was loving wasted. I wish I had an opportunity to sing in front of an audience (not karaoke) more often. I'd really love to, but I kinda don't know how to go about doing that. I always wanted to work at a dueling piano bar, but I'm just straight up not good enough on the piano.

Gumball Dad fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Aug 14, 2010

Dr. John
Dec 4, 2007
WORLD'S SHITTIEST SECRET SANTA
Really overdue, but here goes:

This song's been in my head since it came out (Girls', not Iggy Pop's), recorded this one last week:


...and I recorded this a few minutes ago. Haven't heard this song in forever so the lyrics/riffs are totally wrong + there's a good minute you can skip after the first chorus where I just start playing different riffs from the song as I remember them.


I'm used to gigantic bass strings and frets so my guitar is pretty lovely, I totally tried to change up the outro part for Lust for Life and ended up eating it. The first is a good example of the range I like to sing in, where the second is lower but my voice is more isolated. I think it sounds much weaker than normal too - I have this bad habit of lowering my volume when the backing music is softer so it can get pretty brutal when I play acoustic songs without slamming every chord

My biggest gripe about my voice is how I slide to pretty much every note. You really hear this when I say "make" in the first (may-yake) one and at the end of the choruses in Ceremony. I've been trying to improve this but it sounds to me like I'm just getting better at sliding up faster. I'm going to try to get more lessons when I get back to Seattle and get my work sorted out, what other problems should I be keeping in mind?

SlippyHat
May 25, 2003

Delicious!
Gumball Dad, that sounds like a horse taking a poo poo in a bucket

Triple Tech
Jul 28, 2006

So what, are you quitting to join Homo Explosion?
The first recording is rough. But you get the same as everyone else. Learn how to elide properly and sing taller, more classical vowels.

Technique goes a long way... It sounds sing songy right now because you're pinching the sound when it isn't held on an open vowel.

AriTheDog
Jul 29, 2003
Famously tasty.

Gumball Dad posted:

creed imitation at karaoke bar

You clearly have a lot of control over your voice in order to imitate the lead singer of Creed in that way. There's not much else to say. Post something that you're not trying to make sound awful if you want more feedback.

Also, it sounds like you want to join a band more than learn more about singing. Singing is singing - you can do it anywhere, you should do it for fun. The easiest way to find more opportunities to perform is probably to join a community choir.

washow
Dec 1, 2007

Here you go, op :toot:
After "confidently" singing songs in the car during commutes, I realized that if I try to keep my larynx down, I can be loud and still stay within my vocal range. But I couldn't help but to feel that it sounded more like a rhythmic talking. I mean it is slightly different than my regular talking voice but not by much.

Is your singing voice supposed to sound very different from your talking voice?

Greggster
Aug 14, 2010

washow posted:

So what are some of the basic skills that everyone should know? I'm not a singer but just like singing in the car and stuff. I wanted to know more about it so I've been googling around and I found stuff like correct way to breath and how you are supposed to keep your larynx down and such.

I understand it's very difficult to give "tips" without listening to someone actually sing but I just need real basic stuff.

I'm curious about this too, I would also want to know if it's possible to find your vocal range without having a piano at your disposal, because I've been aching to get into singing for real and it's probably for the best if I know how high/low I can go so I don't try to do things my voice can't handle.

washow posted:

After "confidently" singing songs in the car during commutes, I realized that if I try to keep my larynx down, I can be loud and still stay within my vocal range. But I couldn't help but to feel that it sounded more like a rhythmic talking. I mean it is slightly different than my regular talking voice but not by much.

Is your singing voice supposed to sound very different from your talking voice?

As far as I know, your singing voice should differ from your talking voice.

pimpology 101
Aug 6, 2006
Pimpin' ain't easy.

Dr. John posted:

Really overdue, but here goes:

This song's been in my head since it came out (Girls', not Iggy Pop's), recorded this one last week:



This is really great, at least I think so. The recording quality is pretty bad, but your voice is really pleasing to listen to, and you picked a great song too (Girls hell yeah!!!). Though I think you could change it up a bit more, guitar-wise. The music is kinda samey the whole song through, but again, your vocals are good, very expressive.

dark_panda
Oct 25, 2004
Alright, I've finally worked up the nerve to post a tune. I just recorded this thing a couple of minutes ago via the lovely microphone of a MacBook and Audacity, so it's like totally unplugged and poo poo.

I'm pretty new to this whole singing thing, although I've been playing guitar for a number of years. I don't really have any aspirations outside of being able to (hopefully) competently sing at a campfire/party/low-key-non-event. I know I've got a way to go before being, well, anything, but a start is a start.

Two quick questions:

0. What can you do to get beyond cringing at the sound of your own singing voice? I'm self-conscious as poo poo about it and that's worrisome.

1. What the gently caress is the BYOB genre supposed to be on Tindeck? Is it that BYOB?

Oh yeah almost forgot:

Triple Tech
Jul 28, 2006

So what, are you quitting to join Homo Explosion?
The guitar is drowning you out. You need to hold notes for longer. Try doing the song in slow motion.

washow
Dec 1, 2007

Here you go, op :toot:
Some say that you should keep you larynx in a low position because that's the most relaxed position and the others say that you should just keep it at your neutral position.

Which one is right? Is this just two schools of thought that doesn't really have a clear answer

Triple Tech
Jul 28, 2006

So what, are you quitting to join Homo Explosion?
You might be spending too much time worrying what your larynx does and not enough time singing with an instructor.

washow
Dec 1, 2007

Here you go, op :toot:
Haha you are totally right. It's just that I'm very mechanical about things so I wanted to know things like that.

But yeah. I think I sing better without thinking stuff like that anyway.

AriTheDog
Jul 29, 2003
Famously tasty.

washow posted:

Some say that you should keep you larynx in a low position because that's the most relaxed position and the others say that you should just keep it at your neutral position.

Which one is right? Is this just two schools of thought that doesn't really have a clear answer

Low is neutral/natural (well, ideally your neutral/natural). Most people tighten up their throat/larynx when they sing, and that's what the advice refers to. I don't think it's even two different schools of thought at all, unless I'm misunderstanding something about it.

octothorpopus
Jan 22, 2010

JUST KEEP PLAYING!!!

washow posted:

Some say that you should keep you larynx in a low position because that's the most relaxed position and the others say that you should just keep it at your neutral position.

Which one is right? Is this just two schools of thought that doesn't really have a clear answer

Low is better for your voice and makes things just a bit easier, but it's not like you always have to do it. It depends on what you're singing. Opera: always. Pop: depends. I'd just say keep it low anyways.

starfish prime
Jun 22, 2010
I have a quick question about, uh, voices in general, I suppose. I plan on posting a recording for you guys to tear apart soon, whenever I have time to record something worth posting.

I am seventeen, and I have finally decided to start training my own voice because I can't wait around for somebody with talent to come forth and help me actualize my musical fantasies. When I started out, I was incredibly breathy, which I got over by researching correct technique. However, I found that my "proper" singing voice, while it can be loud, sounds very, very immature. When I play it back it's painfully obvious that the voice belongs to someone very young.

This is the part that confuses me - I regularly hear from others that I have a very deep voice. I do know that I have played online games with people that assumed that I was in my late twenties for months before I told them, and that was when I was even younger.

I guess what I'm getting at this: Is it possible to have a significantly immature voice at seventeen years old? Is there anything I can do to correct for it at the moment? I know that this might be hard to answer without hearing a sample, but I'm going to be moving into my dorm next week and poo poo, so now is not a good time.

Thanks guys. And sorry for being long-winded. :tipshat:

AhhYes
Dec 1, 2004

* Click *
College Slice

starfish prime posted:

I guess what I'm getting at this: Is it possible to have a significantly immature voice at seventeen years old?

I guess my short answer would be: Yes.

My only real formal training in singing was in my high school choir, but our director used to say that female voices matured later than males. So if you're a girl, you're certainly not there yet but regardless of your gender at 17, you're probably not there yet.

I'm a guy, and I feel like my voice really came into its own in my early 20's. I suspect this had something to do with being fully post-puberty, but I don't know for sure.

This is all anecdotal as hell, and based on not a whole lot. If someone knows for sure, feel free to correct me.

exquisite tea
Apr 21, 2007

Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."


A man's singing voice usually keeps maturing well into his twenties. For women it can take even longer, which is why in high school choirs there are very few true altos or sopranos - most everyone hovers in that mezzo-soprano area. Sometimes your natural vocal timbre just sounds young, and it has nothing to do with your actual range. I tend to sound a lot younger than I actually am singing, despite being a baritone and having a fairly deep speaking voice.

"Youthful" may or may not equal "mature," though. It really has everything to do with your vocal quality, whether or not your vowels are full and well-supported, whether or not you're breathing properly, etc. You can tell the difference right away from a developing teenage soprano and a chamber choir soprano a few years later. It's all in the fullness of her voice. Some of it is simply physiological, but most everything else can be worked on immediately.

Arashikage
Sep 11, 2001

by Fistgrrl
I've recorded a new song (bad things - the true blood theme), trying to go a little higher than previous. Very grateful for any critique.
Excuse the sloppy guitar, I'm easing my way back into it after focusing almost solely on piano for 2 years.

Arashikage fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Aug 29, 2010

Alternative pants
Nov 2, 2009

WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN LIFE.


I'd be happy to take any kind of critiques on this one.

AriTheDog
Jul 29, 2003
Famously tasty.

Alternative pants posted:

I'd be happy to take any kind of critiques on this one.


What are you going for here? It's hard to critique without knowing.

edit: same question for Arashikage.

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Hawkperson
Jun 20, 2003

Alternative pants, I realize you have posted this in the singing thread and are looking for singing feedback, but I am completely distracted from your singing by the rushing guitar. Especially the part where you're entirely playing offbeats - you lose at least one full beat, maybe even more by the time you finish it. (edit: relistening, definitely more holy cow)

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