Do You Like (Or Hate) Your Voice?

How do you feel about your singing voice?

  • I love my voice!

    Votes: 95 12.4%

  • My voice is o.k., but could be better.

    Votes: 186 24.2%

  • I have mixed feelings about it.

    Votes: 214 27.9%

  • My voice is not so good, but I live with it.

    Votes: 103 13.4%

  • I hate hearing myself on tape. Sometimes I want to quit.

    Votes: 170 22.1%
  • Total voters
    768
I used to hate my speaking voice but in my career in the Navy, I have to speak over intercoms etc quite a bit so I got used to hearing myself talk. Singing is different though... I've never had a problem with my singing voice. I know what type of music suits me best and I stick to that genre (new age / celtic) I'd never be good at hard rock though.... fine by me because I love the genre which suits me best! :)
 
i love my voice when i am singing and there are no nerves involved...honestly, probably more than anyone else's. but if i am nervous even in the slightest, my voice downgrades a couple of notches.

recording myself has proven this to me...if i forget about being recorded, that's when i start to sing really well. but if i record, and especially in a studio in that very hushed, very serious moment with other people listening, i doubt myself, mess up much more often, and then have mixed feelings about it.

so my voice is okay but could be better.
 
Since I started recording, I've had to learn that the way I used to sing, which sounds nice from inside my head, sounds rubbish on tape (well, hard drive). I can sing ok, I think, but not very consistently yet.

(P.S. the recording in my signature is my old, rubbish way of singing - I think I've made vast improvements since then.)
 
I can sing, but my voice is not "lead singer" quality. Since I love to sing, I try to be in situations where I can sing back-up and harmonies. I voted "My voice is not so good, but I live with it." The problem is that everyone wants to be the lead singer, but trust me singing back-up can be every bit as much fun as singing lead and with less pressure.
 
Illsidgus said:
I can sing, but my voice is not "lead singer" quality. Since I love to sing, I try to be in situations where I can sing back-up and harmonies. I voted "My voice is not so good, but I live with it." The problem is that everyone wants to be the lead singer, but trust me singing back-up can be every bit as much fun as singing lead and with less pressure.
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Actually, some lead singers are reluctant lead singers. Also sometimes, people will take the lead vocal because no one else can put across what they have envisaged, with all the nuances they want.
But you're right about back ups and harmonies. I think they are every bit as important but in a lesser way. :D
 
grimtraveller said:
Actually, some lead singers are reluctant lead singers. Also sometimes, people will take the lead vocal because no one else can put across what they have envisaged, with all the nuances they want.
But you're right about back ups and harmonies. I think they are every bit as important but in a lesser way. :D
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I certainly can't disagree with what you just said. Let me try to clarify what I was trying to say. The term quality was not the best word to express what I meant. I don't know if I can find the right word so I will try to use an example. I can sing in key, I used to have a pretty fair range (until I had three vertebra fused in my neck and a titanium plate installed) and I could hold a note for a goodly amount of time. I have played in bands where the lead singer was not nearly as proficient as I was but, he had a stage presence and charisma that I could not come anywhere close to matching. I think that is what makes the difference between a good performance or recording and a great one.
 
I'm too inconsistent to say I like the sound of my voice. I've heard live recordings and for some reason I those sound better than when I record at home. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is the case.
 
Just keep recording your voice, listen to what you like and what you hate. *Edit your technique to change what you hate - example, voice can't extend notes - practice breathing more, find better breathing technique.

Find a singer who has a voice you like. *Watch videos of him/ her singing live on YouTube. *Watch heir technique - breathing, jaw placement, how they attack the notes. *Record your voice, compare with theirs. *You will find the technique....may take few days, maybe even years.

this is me twenty years ago. *Could not extend notes, could not reach high notes, didn't record and review my voice, did not have much of a technique --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0dLkLcUycc&sns=em

2 years ago, I bought recording equipment, started recording my voice, developing a technique, *still working on it --> http://soundcloud.com/chadherrella/dont-give-up-on-us-cover-by
 
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Ballad of a fussy wanderer.....

Illsidgus said:
I certainly can't disagree with what you just said. Let me try to clarify what I was trying to say. The term quality was not the best word to express what I meant. I don't know if I can find the right word so I will try to use an example. I can sing in key, I used to have a pretty fair range (until I had three vertebra fused in my neck and a titanium plate installed) and I could hold a note for a goodly amount of time. I have played in bands where the lead singer was not nearly as proficient as I was but, he had a stage presence and charisma that I could not come anywhere close to matching. I think that is what makes the difference between a good performance or recording and a great one.
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I don't disagree. You make a good point. The only bit I was reacting to in my attempted humourous way was
The problem is that everyone wants to be the lead singer
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which I don't agree with.
But you're right. The ability to sing correctly and in tune is by no means a guarantee of great vocals. That said, I'm not one for "it doesn't matter if you're off key or out of tune or miss the notes in parts as long as the feeling is there" either. Stage presence is no substitute for well sung songs. What if half the audience is blind ?
 
Actually sometimes I really have a good feeling about my voice but I think it's really inconsistent in a way :(
Last week we rehearsed and in general I felt really good at that day. But my voice was totally crushed anway... And then yesterday we had another rehearsal and I was quite sick with fever and stuff like that... But I went anyway and what should I say? The voice was totally perfect and I really had the feeling to go whereever I wanted, low and high.
Anyone has an idea why that is? o.0
 
I sing a lot when I'm alone and I think I'm pretty decent and haven't taken any lessons. It could definitely be improved though but I think I can sing enough to get by lol.
 
Sometimes I hit notes well when singing a certain style and I sense some sort of potential in it!! However, when I try to sing softer songs I hate my voice because I feel it is too coarse.
 
I spent years thinking I couldn't sing - my family left the house when I started recording vocals! Then I posted some stuff on a collaboration site "Kompoz" and people asked me to do some vocals on their tracks! I was amazed - it gave me so much confidence that I never worry about doing vocals anymore.
 
I don't think I'm very good, I try and have fun with it instead and not worry so much but there are other times when I start to try an analyze and really listen ... that is when I normally feel a bit discouraged.
 
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