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So what can you do if you don't have the strongest voice? You can still sing and sound decent, but you need to tailor your songs and your performances to the voice. For example: Don't do this: http://tindeck.com/listen/hleb Oh god. Don't do it. First off, I was singing with a cold. Bad idea. Secondly, my voice isn't really one that can smash a song out of the ballpark like that. Finally, the phrasing and all that is messed up. Lines run together and all that. In general, when singing, this is what you shouldn't do (in a version that isn't William Hung). If you can't belt out a torch-song like this, you might not want to. On the other hand: http://tindeck.com/listen/wbou Let's ignore the bad mixing in general (phasers ahoy and a little too sparse) and focus on the voice. Is it the best singing performance I could give? No, but this time I do things to make my voice sound better. First off, I'm singing lower, which makes up for my weird vocal quality (I just feel like I'm a muppet with a nose-bleed). I'm not rushing my phrases together. I have a chorus effect on my voice to give it a bit more presence. Another example of how to how a weak voice isn't a detriment: http://tindeck.com/listen/dqxl When done right, a weaker than normal voice won't stand out as a bad voice. It's when you don't do things right that it all begins to fall apart and stand out. Remember, Elton John never considered himself a good singer, and in some ways, he's not really that great of a singer, yet because he uses his voice properly, he can really sell those songs.
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May 7, 2010 18:39
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Business Octopus posted:I'd like some vocal critique as well. I think I've got a powerful voice, but I'm very much a bass singer. I can hit the bass E but it'd be cool if some of the more experienced folks here would give some tips as to extending the upper range a bit (so often I'm just like a semi-tone or two off singing a song that I really want) or just giving more weight to the notes I can already sing above middle C. It sounds like a warped record dude. And then there's some weird stuff with your vocal dynamics, like how "Me" trails off a bit before getting louder. You also just seem off key a lot, and it seems like you're content with hovering around the note you want. Like, "sound" is a really sour note suffering from that. And I would argue that powerful isn't just being able to sing loud. Yeah, that's a part of it, but it's also being able to cut through everything and knock people dead. Whitney Houston and Roy Orbison had powerful voices. You give those people the phone book to sing, and they could bring a tear to your eye. You just got to work at it, and develop your tone more. And one more thing, if you're just recording your voice, you'd probably want to do it in mono. It's a minor, meaningless thing in terms of your performance, but it's really weird and annoying to only have your voice from the left speaker.
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May 8, 2010 13:21
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Okay, I'm looking for an honest appraisal of my singing. Overall, I'm happy with this take, even though I hosed up the lyrics a little bit, but I doubt that if you don't know the song, you could possibly know what I did wrong. In spite of that, I just feel like it has the most tone and it just feels good throughout aside from the goof-off ending (which I just got carried away). But I want some honest feedback because I just feel like something is missing from my voice, and I don't know what. But somehow, it just doesn't sound like it's quite right.
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Aug 5, 2010 18:05
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AriTheDog posted:It sounds like you did this acapella - you drift between keys and the pitch is all over the place. It also sounds like you're singing at the top of your range, where you lack power and control, a problem which is compounded by your total lack of breath support and control. You should try singing it with instrumental backing, standing up, and with smoother breaks between words. It's really, really staccato and I think it's because you're singing on practically no breath at all. Ouch. But you're completely right. I tried listening to it again, and I just cringed. So hopefully I'll get something better. I think my performance betrays me. I didn't really feel like it was from the throat, and it felt like I was using my diaphragm. But the only issue for me is finding that right register. It's really frustrating because it seems like my vocal range is getting smaller with age. At the low end, my notes become flat. At the high end, it feels weak and powerless. And in the middle, it always feels too quiet. The only thing I disagree with completely and will ignore was that I wasn't trying to sound like the Bee Gees. And frankly, who knows, maybe singing the song in a falsetto throughout will work perfectly. But thanks for the advice. I'll try to do it again as soon as possible, and get you something that hopefully sucks less.
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Aug 6, 2010 04:12
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AriTheDog posted:I don't think it's terrible. It is what it is - I tried to give you constructive criticism on things you could avoid/improve. And you did a very good job with the criticism. Everything you said has a ton of merit. When I said it sounds terrible to me, it is because I know I could have done better. Also, if you want to be more familiar with the 60s Bee Gees, check out Odessa. It's their only double album, and there's not a single falsetto at all. Plus, it features some great songs that don't get a lot of press. And no falsettos.
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Aug 6, 2010 12:16
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 So, I got a lucky break today, and I spent it trying to get a good test run. This was when I didn't have to worry about holding back, so I didn't. I have about a half-hour of vocal runs that are either good but feature a few too many issues, or are me ending in goofing off. I know there are a few problems already. Such as a few really bad pronunciations of words like "Juliana" (Bfuhliana?), "Frankincense," and my personal favorite, I forgot that "Desired" has a d and an s in it. And I don't know what I did to the line "No promises as fake as heaven," but every time I recorded it, I hosed it up. But I think aside from that, it's a song that works for me and my voice. You can't sing a song that you can't understand, and Jane is one of those songs that I just resonate with. So I tried to put that into my performance. Aside from that, it's all pretty decent. The biggest immediate issue is the pronunciation, and if I was doing a serious recording for an actual release rather than a technical recording for feedback, I'd keep going until I didn't screw up "Juliana" or "desired." Also, right after I finished, I no longer had the place to myself, and couldn't belt it out anymore. So I hope you don't read that as laziness.
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Aug 6, 2010 16:29
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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.
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Aug 6, 2010 17:36
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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.
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Aug 7, 2010 04:06
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