How do you know when to sing then pause then sing again?

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Speed Of Sound

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It turns out, that my dad has never heard me sing; so he wants me to make him a recording. (I use that term loosely.)

I don't have any equipment whatsoever, with the exception of this computer. (P4,XP,3.2ghZ, 2GB RAM)

I'm so wet behind the ears, I've got flood damage. :rolleyes: :)

I love to sing, but my question is:

How do you know when to sing - pause - then sing again without the aid of a karaoke machine? That way, you are right in time with the song that you are singing...

Thanks in Advance,

S.O.S.
 
Way too vague. You need to explain your problem way more for us to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it.
 
Okay, so it's NOT the "Noob" section- so what? This is obviously a noob question, from a brand-new forum member ("Join date: Jan 2011. Post: 2,") By his own admission, he does not even know enough to know what questions to ask. Cut the poor boy a break.

I think the "Karaoke machine" comment is a clue to what the OP really is trying to ask- "How do you know when to come in at the beginning of the song (after the intro,) and again after, say, the lead break?"

Yeah, it's vague, but I will try to answer that question. By all means, ask again if I missed the mark.

You know the song. You know how measures are between the start of the intro and the start of the first verse. Same with the lead break- you know how long it is, how many measures. You also pay attention to what is happening, instrumentally, during the part of the song when you are not singing.

Use a song you know well. Make a CD or MP3 of it, and listen the bloody hell out of it, till you know it like the back of your hand. Then take a shot at recording it. Keep the recording simple, esp. gear- don't buy any. Well, maybe a microphone, if you don't have a decent one (TIP: Be careful buying Shure SM58's- that may be a fine mic for your use, but there are so many conterfeits out there- buy from a Shure dealers, so you don't have to spend lots of time educating yourself on how to spot a fake.) Use the sound card on your computer, and the audio file recording software that probably is already installed- or download a SIMPLE one from the 'net. Your Dad won't care, and won't be impressed by the $1000's you spent on ProTools software and a 16-channel DAW, unless he's either a professional sound recording engineer, or a crazy spend-thrift. He just wants to hear you sing! If you decide you love recording, you can ask later about that stuff.

I think it's terrific that your Dad wants to hear you sing, and that you are willing to indulge him thusly. Looks to me like you two have a good relationship.
 
Way too vague?

I asked a specific question. "How do you know when to sing - pause - and then sing again without the aid of a karaoke machine?" (A karaoke machine would help keep the singer on time with the song - so I mentioned it for that reason.

A vague question would be:

"When do you think would good time for me to get married?" (Way to many variables in that equation to be answered in a forum.)


Way too vague. You need to explain your problem way more for us to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it.

Okay, so it's NOT the "Noob" section- so what? This is obviously a noob question, from a brand-new forum member ("Join date: Jan 2011. Post: 2,") By his own admission, he does not even know enough to know what questions to ask. Cut the poor boy a break.

I think the "Karaoke machine" comment is a clue to what the OP really is trying to ask- "How do you know when to come in at the beginning of the song (after the intro,) and again after, say, the lead break?"

Yeah, it's vague, but I will try to answer that question. By all means, ask again if I missed the mark.

You know the song. You know how measures are between the start of the intro and the start of the first verse. Same with the lead break- you know how long it is, how many measures. You also pay attention to what is happening, instrumentally, during the part of the song when you are not singing.

Use a song you know well. Make a CD or MP3 of it, and listen the bloody hell out of it, till you know it like the back of your hand. Then take a shot at recording it. Keep the recording simple, esp. gear- don't buy any. Well, maybe a microphone, if you don't have a decent one (TIP: Be careful buying Shure SM58's- that may be a fine mic for your use, but there are so many conterfeits out there- buy from a Shure dealers, so you don't have to spend lots of time educating yourself on how to spot a fake.) Use the sound card on your computer, and the audio file recording software that probably is already installed- or download a SIMPLE one from the 'net. Your Dad won't care, and won't be impressed by the $1000's you spent on ProTools software and a 16-channel DAW, unless he's either a professional sound recording engineer, or a crazy spend-thrift. He just wants to hear you sing! If you decide you love recording, you can ask later about that stuff.

I think it's terrific that your Dad wants to hear you sing, and that you are willing to indulge him thusly. Looks to me like you two have a good relationship.
 
Okay, before anyone else starts in, I'm moving this to the Newbs section. Obviously, this is newb material, so be constructive or don't post.

I asked a specific question. "How do you know when to sing - pause - and then sing again without the aid of a karaoke machine?" (A karaoke machine would help keep the singer on time with the song - so I mentioned it for that reason.

Your question is vague at best. You haven't told anyone how you are recording, what you are recording with or what you are listening to when you record. Don't get upset because people have told you your question is vague. Give us more info so we can help you.
 
June is a good time to get married.
A June bride has a Spring child and that's a marvelous time to get born in.
 
How do you know when to sing - pause - then sing again without the aid of a karaoke machine? That way, you are right in time with the song that you are singing...

Instead of watching for karaoke cues...listen to the music, the song...it tells you when to sing.

Like...did you never, ever sing in the car to music on the radio or just free style, a song you already knew...???

It's a bit unsual, that you know how to sing...but then, you don't know when to sing.....
 
I asked a specific question. "How do you know when to sing - pause - and then sing again without the aid of a karaoke machine?" (A karaoke machine would help keep the singer on time with the song - so I mentioned it for that reason.

I use a printed lyric sheet on which are noted the sections where I sing and the sections where I don't.

Question -- a karaoke machine provides backing music to which you sing. Assuming that you do not have a karaoke machine, what are you going to use for backing music?
 
I asked a specific question. "How do you know when to sing - pause - and then sing again without the aid of a karaoke machine?" (A karaoke machine would help keep the singer on time with the song - so I mentioned it for that reason.

A vague question would be:

"When do you think would be a good time for me to get married?" (Way to many variables in that equation to be answered in a forum.)
Your question is specific in that it's a question. But it is vague because in order for anyone to understand it and not do some stevieb style mind reading, there needs to be supporting information that can be made sense of. We haven't a clue what you are actually doing. I'm curious; why can't you sing live to your Dad ? If that's a silly question, I have a second point of curiousity > what has given your Dad the impression that you sing ? And why does he want a recording as opposed to hearing you some other way ? Have you ever recorded at all ? Even on a basic cassette ? Being wet behind the ears doesn't necesarilly mean you've never done anything.
I often tell my kids that their voices and their writing at school are not for their benefit, but for those who have to hear/listen to them or read their stuff, so they should speak clearly and write in such a way that they can be relatively easilly understood.
Ironically, your example of a vague question is far more pointed and specific than your opening request because you are asking for an opinion that is dependent upon the person you are asking. And the answer is easy ~ "when you and the other person are ready".

June is a good time to get married.
A June bride has a Spring child and that's a marvelous time to get born in.
My wife and I got married in a June. Her logic being that the weather would be lovely and warm. It wasn't. It was chilly and overcast {ironically, the July and August of that year were tropical !}. And our kids were born in Novembers and Decembers. Both times the weather was freezing ! The memories are wondrous, though.
 
I often tell my kids that their voices and their writing at school are not for their benefit, but for those who have to hear/listen to them or read their stuff, so they should speak clearly and write in such a way that they can be relatively easilly understood.

So true, I tell my son the same thing....


My wife and I got married in a June. Her logic being that the weather would be lovely and warm. It wasn't. It was chilly and overcast ....

You live in England!! What did you expect??!!?? :D
 
Perhaps what you're looking for is...
If you're struck with hearing or not feeling with where to come in, listening to the song you count along a few times and make a note of where the part actually starts. Like at the begining, during the breaks etc. At some point after getting over the hump you can hear it and not need the count likely.

A gotch'a- Sometimes (quite often in fact) lines will start before the one' count, or on the and' (the 'up beat etc.
This is also one of the real good reasons for the music score. (..'instructions' as in 'The Fabulous Baker Boys'. :)
 
In general you listen to the music while you track. It's why it's called multi-tracking. Generally via headphones so it doesn't make up a significant part of the recording being captured at the microphone. How else can you tune and other things? You could for some instruments have a click track and count while reading the music. For those with a fixed pitch like drums or piano. Although I guess with the aid of autotune these days you could do it for any instrument. Not that doing such a thing would be easy with JUST a karaoke machine.

Beyond that practice, familiarity with the actual song has it's pluses. Which is the advantage of recording in general. You can do it over and over again until you get right, or at least enough parts of it right to stitch something together in post.
 
You start sing at 10:23.361 Zulu time
You pause every 36.34 seconds for precisely 11.6 seconds
You stop singing after exactly 5 minutes
this will work on every song in every genre

YMMV

Now, can I get directions to the market closest to my buddies house please
 
You live in England!! What did you expect??!!?? :D
The irony is that each day up to the wedding was lovely and warm. A bit of wind now and again, but essentially warm. June here is generally OK. That year {'97} was no different......until the wedding day ! Then it was kind of crappy for a week or so, well, rain, wind and a bit of sun. Then an amazingly hot next 2 months, most of which I spent in shorts.
 
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