Problems With Vocals

[Whyte Ice]

Don't know where else to post this but for the last 4-5 years, I have been practicing singing almost everyday but yet I'm not satisfied with my voice and neither are other people. I can pretty much hit the note but its my voice, ya know?

I am really good at impersonating different singers but thats different, I want my own voice but I want it to sound good. Nothing is getting in the way like mics and other equipment.

I really need some help because I want to record my songs but there's always the vocal part that needs to be done. I've written some potential classics and I want everyone to enjoy them as much as I do.

[vox]

Pick a style that you like, steal good parts from other styles, put it all together and start using it. It'll evolve in time into a style that is all your own.

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Ice de Blanc:

Pavoratti can sing without a mic, as can the "good voices."

Most pop stars, and even the older singers, needed mics and mixing and reverb so they would sound good to the consumer.

I remember the very first time I turned on the reverb with my first 4 track unit -- I was astounded.

So, maybe, see a voice coach and record with a good engineer?

Green Hornet

[Krystof01]

Might want to check this post out:

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthr...highlight=sing

[PapaJack]

It seems there are quite a few pro's who sound good recorded, catch them live and they suck. It's smoke and mirrors (electronics), for some. Without a pitch shifter they would never hit the right note. They are a definite minority. Most sound good live.

Whyte Ice:

I know where you are coming from. Some people are blessed with great tonal characteristics. All in the sinuses. I remember reading an article on Barbara Striestand. She has a unique voice popular with many. She also has a big...nose. She stated in an interview onetime that she considered a nose job but was told it could totally alter her tonal characteristics and ruin her career. She kept the nose. I wonder if a breast reduction would alter Dolly Partons tonal characteristics? I believe 'vox' gave you some good advice. Now the following are country stars, but still a good case in point. I remember the early career of Alan Jackson and Randy Travis. Initial reviews for the two of them were very critical of the fact that they had no identity. They sounded too much like other, older stars. They stuck with it though, and became famous in thier own right using thier own voice. They may mimic to a degree, someone else, but it is still thier voice. So man, stick with it. Develop what feels good and sounds good to you. And as the Green Hornet said, see a voice coach for tips and tricks for breathing and possibly atlering some tonal characteristics. You've got the biggest part licked, your not tone deaf and you can hit your notes and know it. Good luck to you. I sing low harmony in a gospel trio, used to be in a southern rock/country band through all of the 80's. The band would not let me sing. The trio says I make a joyfull noise.

[ShakesTheClown]

Yet there are many that cant hit a note but yet the emotion they protray is breathtaking.. Maybe its not so much the tone that people are not buying but the feeling.. You might be hitting the right notes but if you hearts not in it, it will still not sound good.. I have sang my heart out and I know I hit wrong notes etc and I have had people say that it was beautiful... heh go figure. When I record I leave mistakes in if the emotion overpowers the mistake or note.. Believe what you sing and sing what you believe and if you can sing halfass you will do well...

[laj35]

Yeah I agree w/ Shakes, it's all about the emotion. Good singers make me get the chills, uncurable goose bumps, all that good stuff. Dylan, Kurt Cobain, even Thome Yorke, these guys don't have amazing voices or superb technical skills but they got the heart baby and that's all it takes.

Laj


ok maybe thom does have the voice

[rockroll]

Been singing for 10 years, loads of training. Some days I like my voice other days I hate it. WHyte Ice, you say you don't like your voice...can you give me some clues as to what you don't like about it. Flat, no power, no pitchy control?

[Whyte Ice]

I really don't know what I don't like about my voice. Whenever I sing to myself quietly while on guitar/piano it sounds really good but when I go to a vocal track, it comes out sounding like crap.

I do put my heart into my songs, all the time but there is something missing and I wish I knew. And to top that off, I don't think I'm the only one since no one has ever complimented my voice. "Oh, the music's really cool man, it should be an instrumental."

[vox]

Post a clip

[Whyte Ice]

It would probably take me a week to build up the courage.

I've been to the MP3 Mixing Clinic and I don't stand a chance.

[Gidge]

theres no way you sing worse than me so get your ass in the clinic now and post a clip....

[Gidge]

and also im curious of the advice youll get...i have similar problems....i can somewhat hit the notes, but my tone sucks.....chronic sinus problems doesnt help....just wondering is there anything i can do to get better.....

[The Green Hornet]

Yo out there:

If I sing in the shower, I don't sound too bad; if I sing without reverb on a track, I sound like NOTHING. [nothing is really not much]

I know my limits so what I like to do is write "funny" words to old standard tunes and use a music track, reverb, and sing. It works.

If I had to make a living singing, well, I'd be150 pounds lighter than my current bulk.

Green Hornet