First time I let my voice be heard

[soundprizm]

Okay, this is the first time I'm posting something that I did, and put some vocals to it. Be warned, this is a mushy song. I think my voice just sux. I would like to be critiqued so maybe I can work on it. I don't know, there's something I don't like about it, and this board is just da best for criticism. Rip on it all you would like. I need it. Any questions about it feel free to ask. Oh, for some reason I couldn't get the HI-FI link to play, and the lo-fi sounds like ass. Really, don't even play it if you're gonna click the lo-fi one. Here's da link:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/soundprizm/singles

"It's You" Is the name of the song...

 

[TheRealWaldo]

Bad MP3 Encode... What'd you use to encode it?

W.

 

[soundprizm]

Wavelab... the original plays fine on my system... 192kbps.. 16 bit stereo...

 

[TheRealWaldo]

Which codec have you got it set up to use? (And it will always play fine on your machine, because the codec used to encode with is on your machine

W.

 

[soundprizm]

Okay, I re-encoding with the same utility as I did the other song with. It should work now....

 

[erichenryus]

ok. so you got up the guts to sing in a semi public way. feels good doesn't it! from your post it sounds like you want your singing critiqued? well, on that front i would first work on intonation. i'm not a vocal coach, so i only know what works for me in that area. but the first place to start is letting someone hear you so you're on your way.

my other comments are immediately the acoustic sounded very directly recorded. try micing it. if i had a dime for everytime i see a post with a direct recorded acoustic and the 'mic the acoustic' nazi's showed up i'd have a handful of dimes, probably enough to go out and buy a doughnut.

the timing is rough in a lot of spots. slow songs are tough when you are doing everything. are you doing everything? you gotta really be a slave to the click since you can't play two instruments at the same time. i guess that's true with any speed song but slow songs are so much easier to glitch.

 

[Track Rat]

I'm listening on cheesy PC speakers right now so i can't comment on the sonics of the mix just yet. I'll listen again when I get home. As far as your voice, some slight intonation problems. You sound like me (you poor, poor bastard) . I've had to find where my range is and strictly adhear to it. It's about two or three notes wide. Keep singing and recording it. The more you listen to yourself, the more you'll focus on what you're doing right and also what you're doing wrongI will say I'm digging the production of the tune very much. It has kind of a vintage quality to it.

 

[TripleM]

Kind of a cool vibe to the song. I personally like the guitar sounds.

The heavy reverb on the vocals is a cool effect and it fits the mood of the song fairly well. But it garbles up the words. I couldn't understand much.

Yes there are some pitch issues. Not sure what I can offer on that but to keep doing takes, concentrate on hitting and holding notes, and punching in spots that need it until you get something that's decent.

Trip....

 

[soundprizm]

Hey guys, thanks for the posts. Yeah, I'm looking for the whole song to be critiqued, but especially the vocals. Is it really a big pitch issue, or maybe I chose a bad way to do a back up vox. I'm not sure, that's why I'm here. The song was recorded all with mics. 4 sm57's and 2 CAD drum mics for the drums. The acoustic was mic'd with an sm57. Electric was played on a marshall halfstack mic'd with an sm57. I was using the boss DS-1 pedal. Bass played on a yorkville B.M. 200 and mic'd with a sm57. All vox were done with a Sennheiser MD750.


erichenryus- By intonation you mean pitch right? I do have to work on that, but I'm thinking that the placement of the backup vocals didn't help either. Or maybe my voice is just shit for singing. The acoustic wasn't recorded direct. It was played on a Fender (I forget the model #), and mic'd with an sm57. Could be the way I eq'd it to make it sound like it was direct. I did have multiple tracks of the same line tho. Yeah, the timing is rough if you're doing everything yourself. Especially songs with a bunch of tempo changes. This one doesn't really have any tempo changes, so I don't know what the hell was wrong with me, my primary is drums too. so yes, I am doing everything.

Track Rat- Yeah, I would like to hear some good critiqueing on the mix. Yup, poor me. I must take a listen to some of your tracks to see what you're talkin about. hehe... I'm not sure what you mean by vintage quality, but thanks.

TripleM- Thanks man, I'm satisfied with the guitars. Just my singing and a little bit of timing issues. I end up putting reverb on all my vox, dunno why. Maybe it masks my horrible voice. Like I said before tho, maybe bad choice of backup vox? Or the "way" I'm singing.


Thanks for all the comments guys.


~Donnie

 

[soundprizm]

Alright guys, I fixed the problem with Media Player... Sorry about that... I'm thinking a lot of the views were using Media Player...

 

[JimH]

I’m no authority, especially on singing, but I’ll tell you what I thought. Two things I liked about that song: (1) the moodiness of it and (2) your voice has a nice tone to it. I also like the change in time signatures to add some interest and throw the listener off a bit.

There were two things I noticed about the vocal. Like others, I noticed some off-pitch stuff. I think it’s a case of you sliding into notes instead of hitting them from the start. The other thing was that my ear was trying to reach for the vocal. I thought it was too far back and not quite up front enough. I know the mood of the song requires it to not be up front too much and to have more than average reverb. But a little more to the front (or a little less reverb) would be good, I think.

Another thing I try to do with background/harmony vocals it to make sure they end at the same time. If they all end at different times they tend to sound not together. But I hesitate to use that criticism on this song because I can see how that would be an effect you’d want to get to support the mood. Depends what you want I guess.

 

[participant]

s.p.,

These guys are onto something IMO with the 'verb... do you have a pre-delay setting, or a way to adjust how long it takes for the reverb to .... uh... reverb? If so, you could bring some clarity to your vox...

The distorted guit, right in the middle of the mix is taking up the most room... it's even crowding out the bass guitar

Have you tried hard panning a pair of distorted guit tracks on something like this? Might open up the middle a bit more...

"Vintage" could mean "like 60's psychedelia..."

An in-tune vocal would help things, too... just takes concentration and practice...

Those three things would bring it up a notch IMHOP... then we could see about more notches?

Great feeling in the song, at any rate


Chad

 

[soundprizm]

Hey guys... I'm sorry I'm replying so late. I really appreciate all the replies and critique. Really helps me improve.

JimH- Thanks for the compliments. Never had anyone tell me about the tone of my voice, that's kewl. The time signatures weren't planned, in fact I never plan my time signatures. I just go with what I'm feeling while writing. Maybe a few tweaks later down the road to make it more listener friendly. You're thinking that turning down the reverb would help bring the vocals more upfront? I'm gonna have to play around with that. Also, maybe the volumes of the lead and backup vox need to be tweaked. I know the backup's kind of drown out the lead at some point. I think your pointer will help a lot. The backup's ending at the same point, or not as far strectched is a good point. Thanks for the comments man.

Chad- Yeah, I do have a pre-delay setting. You're thinking the reverb kinda deadens the vocals huh? Hmmm... Okay, I have a lot to play around with. You mentioning the distorted guitar tracks though. Wouldn't panning it to one side get rid of the umph that dist. guit. has? Maybe thin the mix? Also, I like the way I do a panning at the end of the chorus. I'm not sure how I would be able to get that effect when keeping it panned to one side or the other. Damn notches, too many of em... hehe


Thanks for all the comments guys.. I have lots of work to do.. later..

~Donnie

 

[junplugged]

cool

I like the mood. I've done something similar, now i want to go look thru my stuff and find it. I remember recording things a little too early in the song's development where i would change or start to form the melody while i was recording and wind up at the end with a different one than i started with You have a good thing started, what I would do myself, is now play it on an acoustic a lot, and that may be hard for this type of song, but I did that with one of my ethereal pieces and eventually worked out the melody and phrasing and form to get them to the most appropriate structure. Is this one of the first recordings? If it is I suspect you were very inspired at the time and may have gone ahead with it without working out your exact melody - I've done that and I still do it. So your voice and intonation may be fine in general, but maybe just a little unsure in this track version.

Keep em coming this is very cool. Am I close or just blabering?
-j.

 

[participant]

Yeah, I do have a pre-delay setting. You're thinking the reverb kinda deadens the vocals huh?

A good way to set that is in a "musical" way i.e. set it to the length of an 8th or quarter note... How? Say the song is 120 bpm.... 60 (seconds)/ 120 bpm = 1/2 second per beat (.500)...
Since a beat is 1/4 note, an 1/8th would be .250 or 250ms.

At any rate, try a setting that's "musical"... if you have to, divide that in half again (125ms) and play with it. Of course, if your song is a different bmp, just divide it (e.g. 60/160bpm ==> 1/4 note = .375, 1/8 note = .186, etc...)

This works good as a starting point for compression, too... or any effect.

You mentioning the distorted guitar tracks though. Wouldn't panning it to one side get rid of the umph that dist. guit. has? Maybe thin the mix?

Not tooting a horn so much here, but click on the "www" button under my post and listen to "Lumber"... the heavy guitars are all fairly hard panned, but have oomph...

Rather than listen to mine, listen to a professional job by someone on this board:

Check the song "Crashing" ... another song with hard panned electrics...

Also, I like the way I do a panning at the end of the chorus. I'm not sure how I would be able to get that effect when keeping it panned to one side or the other.

Not sure which one that was... but you could always record two identical parts... and pan them

You don't have to listen to me anyway... this is your pup Have fun whatever you do.


Chad

 

[muzeman]

Cool tune,reminds me of the early sixties stuff.
I dig the vibe.
The electric guitar tone was great.

I think your voice fits well with this.

I'm struggling to sing too,here's a couple of things that helped me.
Singing without headphones,listening through the monitors.
Doubling my voice.
Using small foam headphones instead of full ones.
Take it for what it's worth.

I think your voice has a lot of potential,has a nice tone to it.
I'd take Track Rats advice and stick in a range your comfortable with,till you build your confidance.

I enjoyed your song,thanks,
Pete

 

[soundprizm]

Hey guys, I actually went and took a listen to the mp3 I have posted on NWR and listened to the difference from that one and the one that came right after mixing down. I did try to spoof up the one you guys heard with some mastering effects and I think that ruined it. I updated the song on NWR. The mix is much more clean, but the level is low. For some reason I always have trouble with that. Something always clips so I have to bring it down. Still have a lot to learn I guess.

Chad- Wow man, setting the reverb in a "musical" way is pretty damn cool. I never even heard of that. Kind of brings another instrument into the mix that way. Lots o math tho. The Crashing song was a killer tune. I liked it. The guitars still had a full sound to it. Sounded like 2 tracks of guitar, one panned left, and the other right. The version of It's You that I just put up really fixes the guitar problem though. It's still sits in the mix the same though. Check it out maybe. You're filling me up with knowlegde man. Thanks!

Hey Pete! Thanks.. Everybody's saying vintage and early sixties. Not a bad thing though... hehe.. I like the ideas with listening through monitors and doubling your voice. I'm always learning stuff here. Hopefully that will help me with hitting those notes dead on instead of me sounding like I'm trying to tune a guit with my voice. hehe... Thanks again man...

Oh, let me know if the first version is better than the second. I was only trying to make the first one more cd or radio quality.
Later...

~Donnie

 

[A1A2]

you lead vocal sounds in tune most of the time, but the background vocal is what I would focus on. I think you just need to write the background vocal on a guitar or keyboard first to make sure your harmonies work together, and practice it couple of times. Other than that, I really think you have a nice voice

AL

 

[theron]

A good way to set that is in a "musical" way i.e. set it to the length of an 8th or quarter note... How? Say the song is 120 bpm.... 60 (seconds)/ 120 bpm = 1/2 second per beat (.500)...

Granted, this might be "simpleton advice" but, I'm a simptleton in many regards and that was a nice slice of a post!!

Intelligent use of effects, with the advent, easy access to and general proliferation of plug-ins and home rec'ing really makes a difference. I must get better at this!!



Nice post Participant.

 

[theron]

Hey soundprizm,

I havn't read the whole thread. Participants suggesting caught my immediate eye and I had to send props.....

You've some great vocal ideas and the lead vox sound pretty decent. I think it needs a volume push in the mix.

You've organized the vocal, particularily the back-up vocal, ideas well and I can sense that solid execution there of is well within your singing grasp. The pressure is off. I'd say retract all the vocals with a knowing that you can do it well. Just lay back and sing. Don't push your voice, just sing the parts that you've written and let the power of the entire song that you've built ( nice song btw) do most of the work. It will all fall into place.

Hope I've helped some and please push up the lead vox.


Peace,
Theron.