getting the right voice

[iovaykind]

like ryan cabera's song "true", how do you achieve that kind of sound? Is it seriously just great singers like that that can do that? Because people like Ashley simpson can't sing but it still sounds like they can on recording. I can sing, but not as well as I want to..is there anyway to record better or techniques to help your voice?

I don't know if this is the right forum, sorry.

[MadAudio]

Talent is key, to be sure.

Great voice + proper environment + quality mic & mic pre = great sound.

[BigRay]

Originally Posted by iovaykind

like ryan cabera's song "true", how do you achieve that kind of sound? Is it seriously just great singers like that that can do that? Because people like Ashley simpson can't sing but it still sounds like they can on recording. I can sing, but not as well as I want to..is there anyway to record better or techniques to help your voice?

I don't know if this is the right forum, sorry.

ah yeah...get a voice teacher. that is the only way to get a good vocal sound. period. and it might not be like ryan cabrera or whoever the hell,. but itll be your voice, and youll own that sound..

[Rokket]

You don't want to go the Ashley Simpson route, really... Her voice gets a lot of high dollar help in the studio, and you have to hand it to the audio engineers who are using very expensive mics and mic pres, and more vocal processors than we can afford to have in our home studios.
I can't sing very well either, and the option I am choosing is a vocal coach, not technology.
But I second what MadAudio says: good mic, good pre amp, proper tracking in a good room will give you a good vocal track.

[scrubs]

hire ryan cabrera to sing your stuff.

[Bartman]

Originally Posted by iovaykind

like ryan cabera's song "true", how do you achieve that kind of sound? Is it seriously just great singers like that that can do that? Because people like Ashley simpson can't sing but it still sounds like they can on recording. I can sing, but not as well as I want to..is there anyway to record better or techniques to help your voice?

I don't know if this is the right forum, sorry.

iovaykind,

There are improvements you can make on your lead vocals that don't involve voice lessons or tons of new expensive gear.

BTW...all the prior posts offer sound advice. Multi-million dollar studios staffed with the best pro engineers and producers CAN polish vocal turds into the realm of decency. Most of us home recordists are not great turd polishers. I'd also say that a world class professional vocalist would probably be able to deliver a great vocal track with a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder (yes, I'm an old bastard and actually have one of these!) and an SM57.

Here's my addmittedly amature common sense (no additional cost) approach:

Before you track your lead vocal part, rehearse it till it stops improving. Record pratice takes and study them for proper phrasing, pitch and positioning (working the mic). This will allow you to approach the track with complete confidence.

Attitude, emotion and vibe are critical to a strong lead vocal performance. Tom Petty (ex: Breakdown or American Girl), Mick Jagger (ex: Memory Motel from Black and Blue), Eddie Vedder (ex: Jeremy or Even Flow), etc, etc...don't have great voices IMO but all have leveraged their imperfections into "their sound".... Their voices fit their material. They are professionals and work at this as their job...their art, probably maniacally so.

I'm not suggesting this is what you are doing but don't expect to throw up a vocal mic and one take a perfect vocal that can be compared to a commercial release. Thinks weeks/months until you establish a great core process and the ability to successfully adapt to the next musical situation. I don't have a great lead vocal voice, probably not even average but I can tell you that my lead vocal performances showed great improvement when I started taking more responsibility for my performance by paying closer attention to the track and fixing my own performance problems. I do all originals so I often end up re-writing a melody line to better fit the tune and/or my voice.

I'd say fix everything in your control before you even start thinking about magic fixes (ie: gear, effects, etc). You can also read all the great posts on this site and experiment. If you look hard enough and apply yourself you can learn something new here most every day. Just keep trying and experimenting. Don't get caught up in wanting too much, too quick. You can't cheat the talent and knowledge God's.....

Bart (stepping off the soap box)

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by Bartman

Attitude, emotion and vibe are critical to a strong lead vocal performance. Tom Petty (ex: Breakdown or American Girl), Mick Jagger (ex: Memory Motel from Black and Blue), Eddie Vedder (ex: Jeremy or Even Flow), etc, etc...don't have great voices IMO but all have leveraged their imperfections into "their sound".... Their voices fit their material. They are professionals and work at this as their job...their art, probably maniacally so.

That was an excellent post, Bart, and I agree with it entirely.

I'd like to add one (IMHO) very important point to the above. You hit upon two of three characteristics of vocals, and how being great at one (emotion, attitude) can make up for deficiencies in another (tonal quality.) Very true. But I believe there is a third quality that is absolutely required, that without it neither tonal quality or attitude will make a gram of difference: being able to sing in tune and hit the right notes.

Without that one is lost. You could have the most beautiful voice in the world, but if you're flat, your dead. Same thing with attitude; you could be the most confident and characterized mofo ever to step in front of a mic, but if you sing even a single note flat, you'll sound like a lousy vocalist.

Hit the notes right, and hit the notes first. Put crap like Melodyne out of business. Then you'll be a good sounding vocalist .

G.

[Robert D]

Good points. I'll add this one.....
Hitting the right notes isn't that much different than hitting the right numbers on a dart board. You don't just decide one day that you're going to be great at darts, pick them up, and immediately start winning dart championships. It takes a lot of development and fine tuning of the right motor skills. But for some reason we tend to think we can either hit notes perfectly or we can't. There are people who will never be good at darts, and there are people who will never be good at singing, but there are lots of people who can become good singers and hit the notes on target if they actually work on their aim the same way they would work on it with darts, or anything else.

[Hee-man]

Anyone interested in improving their own vocal sound should stop worrying about mics, preamps, compressors, etc. and just put that money towards voice lessons. If you're serious about singing, and willing to practice, it will make a HUGE difference. If you spend $500 on voice lessons (a really good teacher should charge over $50 per hour), then you'll sound better on your $100 mic than you would without the voice lessons on a $1000 mic. Your voice is an instrument - voice lessons can teach you how to play that instrument.

[iovaykind]

Thanks guys, that really helped a lot. I am quite comfortable with my voice, I just wanted to know if the whole editing thing could really help in a home studio situation =D

[sonnylarsen]

Don't be afraid to use pitch correction a little bit if needed. Not everyone can be on all the time and pitch correction is good to help out takes that are great except for one part. Using it too much will make your vocal sound unnatural because part of the beauty of a human voice is the minute pitch wavering that happens in singing. Pitch correction should be done with a scalpel, not a machete.

The other thing to remember is that the natural sound of your voice may just not be pleasing to the ear and there is very little that can be done for that. Ashlee Simpson could not be characterized as a great singer, but her voice has a pleasant sound, and using extensive comping and pitch correction she can be made to sound good. Some people just will not sound good no matter how much time and money is spent on them. Sad but true. I know quite a few people who are essential backbones to various choirs but should never be allowed a solo. That's just reality.

[Lomas]

OT

Ryan, is that the annoying surfer/skate guy with a shitty show on MTV?
I don't mean to offend anyone, but if he is what passes for a good singer today, I'm horrified.

Boring songs, boring voice. Totally uninteresting. To me.

[Gnash5150]

My advice. Put a good comp on them vocals. You gotta have it!

[BigRay]

piss on the magic bullet bullshit...workon your voice, and the damn fundementals of recording, and youll come by improvement honestly.

and you can have all the emotion in the world, but if your voice sucks, well.. it just sucks.

get a voice teacher and work on it..THAT is the most important step. there are enough autotuned POS around..

or try to cover the shit with a layer of veneer. so youll have veneered shit.

my vote is for common sense. your voice is lacking. work on it.

and piss on compressors too. get a solid signal, with a solid voice, and then worry about taking all the life out with compression.

and if you are off pitch..THIS IS ONE REASON YOU NEED A @)#(@)#(@ VOICE TEACHER. music theory wouldnt hurt either.

[Bartman]

Originally Posted by BigRay

and you can have all the emotion in the world, but if your voice sucks, well.. it just sucks.

true that BigRay......I'd add that in the pop/rock/alternative, etc.. genres you can have a technically excellent voice which is devoid of emotion and honesty.....and suck.

I'd also add a recent personal experience that supports your position.....my oldest daughter, a high school senior sings in the choir at her school....very good choir with many kids making the Regional and State choirs. She was a middle of the pack performer and could get a little pitchy and nasal at times....a very bad thing for a soprano (ouch!). The wife and I hooked her up with an excellent vocal teacher over the summer....huge improvement. The natural ability was there but her technique wasn't. She had to relearn seemingly simple things like breathing, posture and muscle control. She auditioned for the Regional and State choirs two weeks ago and stands a good chance of making the Regional squad. That wouldn't have been possible without the lessons. Her instructor charged $40 per session and was not a clock watcher. They worked until they met their session goal.

[BigRay]

Ive been a professional Operatic Bass for about 7-8 years now. Been singing rock/bluegrass/southern gospel for about 15. Degree in vocal performance..Im not the smartest dude around, but voice is one area that I know. you arent going to find your voice without a teacher to bring it out...it is like a treasure buried in the ground..you need a good archeologist to bring it to the surface.

and you wont have an "excellent" voice without developing it properly.

you may have a raw gem...but nothing like what youll have when it is polished!

Originally Posted by Bartman

true that BigRay......I'd add that in the pop/rock/alternative, etc.. genres you can have a technically excellent voice which is devoid of emotion and honesty.....and suck.

I'd also add a recent personal experience that supports your position.....my oldest daughter, a high school senior sings in the choir at her school....very good choir with many kids making the Regional and State choirs. She was a middle of the pack performer and could get a little pitchy and nasal at times....a very bad thing for a soprano (ouch!). The wife and I hooked her up with an excellent vocal teacher over the summer....huge improvement. The natural ability was there but her technique wasn't. She had to relearn seemingly simple things like breathing, posture and muscle control. She auditioned for the Regional and State choirs two weeks ago and stands a good chance of making the Regional squad. That wouldn't have been possible without the lessons. Her instructor charged $40 per session and was not a clock watcher. They worked until they met their session goal.

[Bartman]

Originally Posted by Bartman

true that BigRay......I'd add that in the pop/rock/alternative, etc.. genres you can have a technically excellent voice which is devoid of emotion and honesty.....and suck.

I'd also add a recent personal experience that supports your position.....my oldest daughter, a high school senior sings in the choir at her school....very good choir with many kids making the Regional and State choirs. She was a middle of the pack performer and could get a little pitchy and nasal at times....a very bad thing for a soprano (ouch!). The wife and I hooked her up with an excellent vocal teacher over the summer....huge improvement. The natural ability was there but her technique wasn't. She had to relearn seemingly simple things like breathing, posture and muscle control. She auditioned for the Regional and State choirs two weeks ago and stands a good chance of making the Regional squad. That wouldn't have been possible without the lessons. Her instructor charged $40 per session and was not a clock watcher. They worked until they met their session goal.

Ermmm....BigRay,

I agree with you.

Peace,

Bart

[dirtythermos]

Everyone is right about getting a voice teacher. I've spent ~$1000 on voice lessons and every penny was worth it. I'm still not a "strong" singer, but at least I *can* sing.

That said, every singer on the radio has been treated with AutoTune. If that is the standard you want to achieve, you might consider buying it.

[47ronin]

I wonder how many vocal lessons Joe Strummer had, and he had one of the most iconic rock voices ever...vocal lessons can help but it might not make your voice more appealing to a huge degree