I'm bummed, my vocals suck, it must be the gear

B

Bob's Mods

New member
Gee, I know I can sing. It seems the quality of my voice never appears to be captured in digital the way I'm hearing it. Yeah...at first years back, my gear was really bad and so my vocals really sounded like shit, plosives, essing, dark. The professed wisdom is find the mic that works for you. That don't seem to be happinin for me though. Now, after gear changes and upgrades, my voice still sounds.....like shit! It just gotta be that mic. I need another new one, that'll fix it.

Just in case that new mic is a dud, is there any plug in out there or outboard box that will transform my vocals to lets say an Axel Rose? Or Roy Orbison? Bon Scott? Alice Cooper? WOW even?

Please help, I'm desperate and despondant. My buddy Jack Daniels is easing the pain some but just in case I think I've got one shot gun shell left....

Bob the Mod Person
 
A mic will never capture your vocals the way you hear them. What you sound like to yourself is not what other people hear or what a mic hears. If you have gone through a few mics and your vocals always sound like shit, you might try vocal lessons.
 
I think good vocals are 99% reliant on the performance. Finding a mic that compliments your voice is definately a good thing but the performance is the most important thing.

Practice makes perfect. Some of us, myself included, need alot more practice than others to get the results we want. What exactly do you not like about your vocals? Is your singing flat or sharp? Is your timing a little off? Are you good at controlling the volume of your vocie? There's alot of different things to consider but no one is hopeless. Maybe you could throw up an mp3 of yourself singing and ask for some advice on what you should work on.

Good luck.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
Maybe you could throw up an mp3 of yourself singing and ask for some advice on what you should work on.

Good luck.
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Do you have an ample supply of air sickness bags handy? I've been singing for some ten+ years now. I did start out with lessons early on. My voice is just not getting better with time. I have limited range and power. I can sing good enough live so that people don't run for cover but it just doesn't sound great when recorded. It sounds barely OK. Mostly bland. My father in law had a powerful voice and he could sing. He just blew my away. My voice works, but I don't think I can go anywhere with it. Maybe it's lung capicity. It is what it is. I have a hard time singing my own songs. Its a struggle to get them to the point of just OK. Some got it and some don't. It has hit me that I don't and thats that.

Bob
 
before investing money on a new mic, try diffurent placements, effects (reverb, delay) and doubling to thickin the sound of your voice and if it sounds too dark then try to brighten it up a bit with some Highs. Like everyone else said, it's not the mic, it's the singer. If the singer sounds good, then you will still be able to tell that they are good even when they use a $5 mic, Not to say that the sound quality will be good, but you will be able to tell if the singer is good or not. And with that said, just get out there and play around with your gear ;)


..........the Microphone does not lie......

;)
 
Red Dog Studios said:
before investing money on a new mic, try diffurent placements, effects (reverb, delay) and doubling to thickin the sound of your voice and if it sounds too dark then try to brighten it up a bit with some Highs. Like everyone else said, it's not the mic, it's the singer. If the singer sounds good, then you will still be able to tell that they are good even when they use a $5 mic, Not to say that the sound quality will be good, but you will be able to tell if the singer is good or not. And with that said, just get out there and play around with your gear ;)


..........the Microphone does not lie......

;)
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I've tried all the tricks....I suck. It's me. My wife has a great voice and it shines no matter what mic I use. Your very right on that point.
 
Red Dog Studios is right in what he said. But, don't be down on yourself about your voice. Never compare your voice to someone else's voice. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you have'nt found your strengths or maybe you just worry too much about your weaknesses. There have been tons of singers that were'nt particularly good but worked with what they were given and pulled it off anyway. Do you think Bob Dylan or Madonna were ever great singers? I don't. But I do like what they did with their voices. They made it work for them. Maybe you should play around with some different styles, tunings, keys. I have to tune my guitar down 1/2 a step and sing over slow tempoed chord progressions to make my voice work for me. I'm sure you know a song or two in which your voice sounds it's best. Start with what you know and what you're best at. Work on that and perfect it. Work on all the little subtleties. When you feel you've done all you can with the songs that you're good at, start looking for another song to work on.

The same idea applies to singing in a mic. Find it's sweet spot/spot's. Listen to the little subtle changes that happen when you move the mic slightly or when you change the angle. It's all about inspiring yourself to do your best.

Find something that works for you, perfect it, then expand upon it.
 
When I get a stinker in the studio I usualy throw up the EV RE20 to get myself a workable signal.

Reverb is only gonna highlight the weaknesses so you might wanna try adding a short delay to the vocal signal in the cans while tracking to help your performance instead. Another trick I use is to double track the vocal, use one track and smash the shit out of it with heavy compression, I mean really slam it hard..... Put a short delay on the other vocal track then slide up the compressed track underneath to fatten it up and add body then season to taste.

I have a voice like a goose farting in the fog, I haven't met many people who actualy like the sound of their own voice so the best thing you can do is learn to live with the way it sounds played back (which will be a LOT different from how you hear it in your head while you sing) and roll with the compliments you get, after all.....everything musical is objective and opinion based.
 
hey man i had the same problem
why dont i get that warm sound that u hear on records
well before on a vocal i added so much plugins it was crazy form limiter reverb delayz compressors eq's and doublers
now i know that it all has to sound good from the beginning
have a decent mic ready for beginner an audio tecnica a good low noise xlr cable
but the key is the mic pre! a cheap to start is the focusrite trakmaster tube mic pre
which will enhance ur vokalz alot more then addin a little reverb eq will sound almost perfect.so the steps are mic 2 mic pre 2 interface or ur soundcard the adding not much plugins!!!
 
a singing teacher i know said that one of the most common training methods is recording a singer's voice and making them listen to it, so they can get used to the sound. i tried that a bit, and now that i'm aware of what my voice does i can actually 'hear' it when i'm performing and push it in that direction.

practice practice practice... and yeah, try different keys, it makes a huge difference. also, try singing different material, short intervals vs. long intervals, fast lyrics vs. slow lyrics, chromatic vs. diatonic...all these things will affect the way you sing. you may find that certain combinations start to make you sound better...
 
if you're struggling with your own songs you must not be writing within your range and capabilities. you gotta do what you do. I can sing my own songs perfectly ten times out of ten, but if I try to do a cover I become tone deaf. check out wesley willis, it might change your attitude. its all about finding what it is that you do that nobody else does.
 
mikey@thecave said:
tell us what range your voice is and the type of music and how much you are willing to spend $$$
Have you used a tube mic yet?
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My in the pocket range is approx from A 220 Hz (open 5th string on the guitar) to D 587 Hz (3rd position on the 2nd string). Its approx an octave and 1/4.

I think the better the mic, the more it will show just how bad my vocals are.

I don't have a lot of tone or sustain power. I can hold a tune if its rekeyed to the above range. Sometime my throat dries out and causes a choke effect. What ever covers I do are rekeyed to my range so its not as much of a problem.

I have had comments like "What did you spend that money your parents gave you for vocal lessons on?".

The real eye opener is working with someone who has power and range and tone. It puts you in your place fast. I'm like a guy who was born paralyzed, he wants to walk but just can't.
 
You know the answer already - just accept it and go with it.

Take the money you would spend on more gear and use it on 6 months of voice lessons with a real voice coach. Look for someone with a performance background, prefereably opera or musical theatre. Those genres take the voice to its limits and the training to reach competence in them takes a lifetime and a great deal of technique.

What you need is some of that technique, not all of it. The first thing is to learn all over again how to breathe for singing. There are specific skills to be learned here. Related to that is the ability to relax the muscles around your vocal chords as you sing. If you feel cramping or pain in the area from your ear to the bottom of your chin as you sing, particularly as you tire, you are working way too hard and accomplishing way too little. There should be none of that at all.

Voice training is like martial arts in some ways. There is physical conditioning involved and there is technique. There is also mental and emotional discipline involved. Put them together with a good teacher and you will be astounded at what you can accomplish in a few weeks.
 
Bob's Mods said:
My in the pocket range is approx from A 220 Hz (open 5th string on the guitar) to D 587 Hz (3rd position on the 2nd string). Its approx an octave and 1/4.
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That A is 110 Hz, by the way, and that D is around 300 (294?).

But, Bob, you have discovered how truly humbling recording can be. Kudos to you for being able to criticize yourself, as that is the beginning of wisdom!

I'm not gonna blow smoke and say you need to try different mics or preamps or effects or positioning. It is probably what you say it is: You suck. Now - you may not suck as bad as you think, because it's hard for most people to hear what's good about their voices.

The question is: Whatcha gonna do about it? My advice: Voice lessons. I think adults can benefit a whole bunch from voice lessons, because we listen and analyze much better than most children do, and we are truly motivated.

We're all born with awesome voices. Listen to a baby cry. Wow. Over the years we forget and suppress that voice and fall into bad habits which attenuate that voice. Sounds like you've developed some. Go and let someone tell you what they are and how to unlearn them.
 
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