Here's an alt-rock song that I'm currently writing. Are the vocals off-key?

MANnequin X

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I'm primarily wondering if the vocals sound good. I've been working on it for about a month. I think the harmony may be a bit off-key, but if you think so, lemme know. The lyrics are mostly filler lyrics. The song is not done yet. But if there is anything e;se about the mix you would like to help me with, lemme know. Thanks!
 

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Here's an alt-rock song that I'm currently writing. Are the vocals off-key?

Does it matter for Alt-Rock? :D

Seriously though....you're off in spots, but it's not like crazy bad. Maybe don't try so hard to do the Nick Cave/Billy Idol voice...sing it a bit more naturally.
The real issue is that the vocals simply don't blend with the backing tracks at all. The vocals sound like you recorded them in small, dry room, while the backing tracks have a lot more life to them.

Oh...just out of curiosity...are you singing "the sheep will run to me"...'cuz that certainly would be "alt" rock...or are you saying something else? :) ;)
 
The lyrics are temporary. I'm not finishing the final lyrics until I get a melody with everything on pitch. Somebody else on a different website who was critiquing my song said that the chorus is where the off-pitch notes are bad. It's like I'm getting different answers from different people. What do you think?
 
Hey, miroslav, I was wondering what you think of this comment: Some guy on another website said I can't sing for shit after he heard this mix of mine and he said I shouldn't continue. Why would he say that? Any thoughts, bro? He said everyone is telling me bullshit by not just saying that. How does somebody get the idea from this recording that my vocals sooo "bad" that they are hopeless? I'm seeing a huge range of answers which is leading to more questions than progress. Can you throw me a bone, brotha?
 
I had a listen. Its not horrible to the point where you should quit, but it's not good.
The guy telling you to quit is just an asshole.

Your vocals however do need a lot of work, both in singing and recording.

The off pitch is not too bad, but it sounds like you are out of your voice's 'sweet spot' You're pushing for something that's not naturally there. Kind of like you are trying to sing like someone else.

Things sound a bit forced. Everyone needs to find their 'own' voice, just like guitar players need their own sound.

As far as recording, right now it sounds like this vocal is just pasted on top of the music.

Don't get discouraged. Just work at it and find your sweet spot.
:D
 
Thanks RFR. Interestingly enough, I used the term "sweet spot" when helping others learn how to sing. I thought I found it. But I transposed music recently 4 times and found out that I cannot reach my sweet spot if it's in a lower key---It is currently in B minor. I experimented with A#/Bb minor, but I couldn't reach the point of sounding excited and I sound dull since I'm in chest-voice the whole time, and when I sing in any key that is any higher than B, it is nothing but forced. It feels quite good to sing what I'm singing, actually, as long as I'm warmed up, and I'm definitely not forcing now but rather belting when I reach my nighest note. That is opposed to how I sang when I sang in keys that were too high, in which everything was belting. So if the pitch is not all that bad, then are people really not liking the general tone of my voice? I would think that to some degree the production would take care of that issue if I eq it correctly to sit better in the mix. But really? I sound forced when I reach my high notes? If that's the case, maybe I will go back down to A# to see what I can do anyway. I've got a low voice, but if Peter Steele can do it, I should definitely be able to do the same without question. Peter Steele has a lower voice than I do. But which parts would you say I sound good on? Bad on? Do you think that if I got this vocal to sit well in the mix then I would still get the reaction that it sounds bad by being forced? I'm trying to nail down EXACTLY what I'm doing wrong, here so that I can scientifically and systemically fix it.
 
Oh, keep in mind that I'm not really "singing" the whole thing. You actually hear a lot of my "garbage" and "practice" vocals in this. I'm only really needing feedback for the first verse up until before the "prechorus", then the choruses themselves. All other garbage, ignore. So, I suppose I'm really only interested in hearing feedback for the BEST of what it is you hear. Ignore the "mumbly" stuff.
 
But really? I sound forced when I reach my high notes?

No...RFR saying the same thing I said...it sound like you are forcing a voice that is not naturally yours
That's what I meant with my Nick Cave/Billy Idol comment in my first post.

IOW...it's like you are trying to "sound like"...someone else.
 
It's not bad. It sounds like you are hitting the major notes okay. It's the little passing notes that you are missing. And no doubt, they aren't part of a chord, so you don't have a reference.

Figure out the melody, then play it on guitar or piano or something and sing along, with no backing tracks. Just the melody. Focus on the passing notes and train yourself to know where they are. Muscle memory and all that.

If that doesn't work, then Melodyne it. For real. Load your vocal track into Melodyne or Autotune. Pitch correct so you can hear it the way you want to sound then sing along to it. You'll learn where each note is.
Then do another take without pitch correction and see where you are with it.
 
Oh, keep in mind that I'm not really "singing" the whole thing. You actually hear a lot of my "garbage" and "practice" vocals in this. I'm only really needing feedback for the first verse up until before the "prechorus", then the choruses themselves. All other garbage, ignore. So, I suppose I'm really only interested in hearing feedback for the BEST of what it is you hear. Ignore the "mumbly" stuff.

I can't ignore what is there.
Sounds like you're saying you can do better. I wouldnt put up my shitty guitar scratch tracks and ask for critique.

Do the best you can and THEN post something. :D

And again, what I mean by you sounding 'forced' has to do with it coming across like it is not your own natural voice, but that you are trying to copy anothers style.

I can't sing that well, and I tend to write stuff not in my vocal range. Do I try to force myself? Nope! I have a singer. :D I'll demo a tune with my vocals to give him an idea, and then he properly sings it.
Problem solved......for me.
:D

You have your own hurdles. But you'll figure it out.
Peace out!
:thumbs up:
 
Oh, BTW, I am transposing the song down to A#. It turns out that the other song in which I was singing in A#(when I sounded too weak), I was singing a melody that went no higher than the 3rd of the scale-and that was in the chorus. Also, the song was in A# Major rather than minor, so that was probably not an accurate assessment that lead to me transposing up one key and staying in B in this current song that is minor.
 
Ignore the "mumbly" stuff.

I was wondering about that second verse.

In general, the pitches sound appropriate to the song. The exception being (as mentioned earlier) the transition notes.
Your voice isn't amazing. It's not "quit immediately" bad, but it will take some work for you to figure out how to use it well.

The straining in the choruses kind of works. It's grunge, you're allowed to sound like it hurts to sing it. It's the verses that I thought were particularly weak.
 
I thought the drums and the drum pattern needed the most work. There's a good melody there. Vocals are a bit Nirvana-ish. That's a good thing. Just needs a few spots to brush up on. But that drum beat isn't driving the song heavy like it could be. My opinion to get it in better shape:

- different drum software. a heavier kit. no electronic sounding snare. the drums are ruining the song, to me.
- better vocal take. mix the vocals better. the verb isn't applied like it's matching the rest of the track the same.

those are just my thoughts. like you said, everyone is telling you different things. but that's how it usually goes. take the info you get and decide what you agree with or not.
 
I agree with Andru the drums are weak.
The vocals are okay. They get the job done. It sounds like you're singing them from a weird part of your body though, like a lot of booming chest sound in it...i'm not even sure how you did that.
 
I think I know what you're talking about. It's during the chorus, right? I'm opening my throat a lot, there. Here's where I think I picked up that habit:: bands called "Breaking Benjamin" and "Type O-Negative". For example, in Breaking Benjamin's 2001 album song, "Home", Ben B., the lead singer, just after he sings the words"...a little white porch....", it sounds like he does that same thing I'm trying to emulate. Another maybe closer example--Peter Steele from "Type O-Negative"--in the song "Christian Woman"--very near the end of the song, there is a transition to a part that is rhythmically more lively(actually, it sounds like a whole other song) in which Steele sings "Jesus Christ looks like me!..."(the higher octave, not the low singing when he says the same thing), it sounds like the singer is doing the same thing. Check out those songs. "Christian Woman" is a long song, and it is near the very end that you hear what I'm talking about. If you have any pointers about me pursuing that style of vocal coloring further, lemme know. And for my song, I think I do have to transpose down just a tad. That F# is really hard to hit if I'm not completely 100% warmed up, but that still screws up my pitch on the other notes I sing just before and after it, I think. I think I can make it sound "grungy forced" and emotional, but not "straining" forced(in an awkward way) if I sing in A# minor rather than B minor. THANKS!
 
The drums I had to take from an online source. I have much less control over the drums than all the other tracks, because the drums are the only part I did not write and they are all prerecorded on one track--not in stereo, I don't think. Any suggestions on helping a mono prerecorded drum track sound better in a mix like this?
 
Hey...can you toss in a line-break once in awhile? :D

It's a PITA trying to read the larger paragraphs with the text all jammed up like that.
 
Hey, somebody said my vocals are missing timing , and I can't hear any parts that matter in which I'm singing off-rhythm. What does that guy mean by "timing"?
 
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