Any good? Looking for an outside perspective.

Y

ylletrojan

New member
M22. Can't read notes, don't know how to breathe properly, have no clue about techniques whatsoever, I work on the road where I'm most of the time alone 40 hours a week so I sing in my lorry.

Singing has been my passion my entire life and I recently decided that it's something I want to explore further. I've already contacted a singing coach and I'll start doing that this fall(they have no spots atm) and another step in the right direction is to write this post to maybe get some tips, or just some nice responses to boost my confidence in singing.

Haven't really had anyone evaluate me before so here it goes, recorded on my phone.

https://soundcloud.com/user-556181116/singing-daniel-merriweather-cigarettes

What I feel personally is my falsetto needs work. I need to work on power to hit those really high notes. At the moment I have to resort to falsetto sometimes to be able to reach those higher notes when artists go full throttle. I have no idea how to use chest or head voice to my advantage I just go by ear and try to hit the notes like the artist in the song is doing. I don't even know if I'm in tune, I literally have no idea wether I'm good or not I just do it cause I like it.
 
My opinion:

1) Never sing along with a track that already has a vocal track. You need to hear only your voice so you can hear exactly what you are singing and to tell if you are on pitch. Mistakes are not audible to you as you hear the right notes (already recorded) along with your mistakes.

2) Never use your phone to record a song. Buy a real microphone, USB interface, laptop, DAW software and learn how to record yourself singing. You will not be using your phone to record a vocal for a song that will be mixed professionally or via home recording. You do not use a phone to sing on stage or record a CD so use the right tools for the job. A phone microphone is not a valid representation of your vocals for a serious singer. Take your singing seriously and buy the right tools. For example, you would not use a bicycle to do motocross racing. If you are not willing to do so then I suggest you give up now.

3) Submit songs with full backing tracks as we cannot properly judge delivery, pitch, timing etc etc without something to reference it against.

Thanks and good luck with your singing endeavors.
 
ido1957 said:
My opinion:

1) Never sing along with a track that already has a vocal track. You need to hear only your voice so you can hear exactly what you are singing and to tell if you are on pitch. Mistakes are not audible to you as you hear the right notes (already recorded) along with your mistakes.

2) Never use your phone to record a song. Buy a real microphone, USB interface, laptop, DAW software and learn how to record yourself singing. You will not be using your phone to record a vocal for a song that will be mixed professionally or via home recording. You do not use a phone to sing on stage or record a CD so use the right tools for the job. A phone microphone is not a valid representation of your vocals for a serious singer. Take your singing seriously and buy the right tools. For example, you would not use a bicycle to do motocross racing. If you are not willing to do so then I suggest you give up now.

3) Submit songs with full backing tracks as we cannot properly judge delivery, pitch, timing etc etc without something to reference it against.

Thanks and good luck with your singing endeavors.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I don't have any equipment at all, but I tried to sing as close to the mic as possible hoping my voice would overpower the track but I guess my attempt was futile. I'll see about acquiring some proper equipment and make an attempt on an instrumental track. What do you mean songs with full backing tracks? English isn't my native language so I'm not sure what you mean by that.
 
He means the same thing as instrumental track.

I don't need a musical reference to hear relative pitch problems. If you can sing in tune with yourself it's likely you can sing in tune with a band. And anyway there's enough of the music coming through that I can tell your pitch is pretty good. Your tone is also good. I'd say voice training wouldn't be a waste of money.
 
ylletrojan said:
I'm most of the time alone 40 hours a week so I sing in my lorry.

Singing has been my passion my entire life and I recently decided that it's something I want to explore further. I've already contacted a singing coach and I'll start doing that this fall(they have no spots atm) and another step in the right direction is to write this post to maybe get some tips
https://soundcloud.com/user-556181116/singing-daniel-merriweather-cigarettes
Click to expand...


Great decision. Time to find out what you're capable of. Your tone is fine, pitch is mostly there, and you have some vocal presence to build on. Keep going.

1. Get some backing tracks (karaoke, instrumental, without vocals) so you can practice singing without another voice. There are thousands on iTunes, for example, and they're cheap.

2. Getting a teacher is good, but you can start learning about technique right now for free online. There are various teachers who have free exercises you can download and work on in the lorry. Felicia Ricci is one that comes to mind. She has some good downloads that are free. You'll need a few minutes of breathing exercises and a few minutes of warms ups and exercises. Do these for 10-15 minutes before you practice singing songs. Another teacher I like is Mark Baxter (on youtube).

3. Get a phone app that has a keyboard on it and learn to play a C major scale. It's just all white keys so it's really simple. This will give you a beginning step towards learning to "speak" the language of music. You should be able to find a free app or maybe one for 99 cents.

Enjoy the process. Don't worry too much about the details. Just remember, if you work on it a little every day, a year from now you'll have improved so much, and you'll be thrilled with the results. Just keep at it and don't let any negative thoughts or people get in the way. Good luck!
 
Hey, first of all that first comment made was a bit harsh but you have to realize that you are posting on a home recording forum so there is an expectation of the desire to improve your recordings themselves. however, in this instance to work on your voice I don't believe a stellar recording is absolutely necessary.

With that being said, your main focus in training your voice right now should be in developing a head voice not just a falsetto. Here is the difference between falsetto and head voice and an in-depth explanation of head voice and how to develop it. Head voice will give you the ability to have one seamless voice from bottom to top and will eventually, with strength training, allow you to power into those high notes without them getting breathy or cracking into falsetto.
 
Well I am no expert myself but here's my input:
I think you have a great-sounding voice.
I wouldn't worry so much about the "right" way to do things if I was you. Even when someone tells you to NEVER do something. Do your own thing. Own it.
My main advice to you for improvement, would be don't try so hard, relax, and let your character and feelings come through in your performance. I'm not saying don't practice and be serious about it...I mean that I can almost hear you thinking about hitting the correct pitch and singing it the "right way". Listen to some Tom Waits! People do some crazy stuff that just ends up working.
Good luck. I'd say you have a ton of potential.
 
I agree with Jessica's analysis. You have potential but you're trying hard. Just relax and sing some music.
 
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