Bad music structure...

C

cfw

New member
Okay here is the problem, I write songs in my spare time. More like poetry but I try to make it into a song. I decided that I would like to put my words to music awhile back and now I am just recording to my (crappy) computer. My equipment is a crappy comp with 64MB RAM, Win98, 10GB HD, 466mhz, a $10 computer mic, and Windows sound recorder. I told you it was crappy. Now that you have stopped chuckling, please read on. I have a keyboard and a cheap guitar and have been doing drums on keyboard. I try recording to my computer and the quality is nothing special at all. My main concern is that I seem to have horrible timing or my song structure is all wrong. I mean my lyrics are usually verse chorus verse chorus or something simple but I don't possess the ability to make my voice blend with the guitar. I mean its easy to "rap" and play a simple beat on my keyboard but I like mostly rock music (hate rap). Does anybody have any ideas or vocal excercises I could perform in order to sing correctly alongside instruments. I cant record a guitar to comp as 1 track then record vocals and make it fit. It just sounds goofy and doesnt fit at all. Maybe I just need help with tempo. Or maybe it's because I can only record one track at a time and cant listen to guitar while I sing. Does anybody think that is the problem? I would like to make something like a Smashing Pumpkins sound but it ends up sounding like a slow Radiohead guitar with awful nu-metal singing. Does anybody know of a site, or a book I can buy that will teach me how to keep time better or notice when something doesnt fit. Anybody else have this problem when they first recorded? Please try to help, and don't laugh at me.
Thanks in advance. (sorry for rambling)
 
I suggest you ditch Windows Sound Recorder and get a multitracker - try Quartz AudioMaster Free from http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com .

Singing is a skill that you can learn, so if you can't afford lessons get yourself a teach-yourself guide from your local music shop. I've got two in front of me now: "The Contempoary Singer - Elements of Vocal Technique" by Anne Peckham, and "You Can Sing" by Jerald B Stone. There are many similar guides; usually they come with accompanying CDs of vocal exercises. If you're completely broke you could at least consult one of several useful singers' websites, eg
http://www.vocalist.co.uk , or join a newsgroup for singers - I belong to one at Yahoo called Tessitura.

My own general singing advice would be to develop good breathing habits and vocal support, i.e. using your diaphragm, not the upper chest for breathing, maintain a good posture (don't slump over your guitar, keep your neck, shoulders and jaw relaxed at all times, warm up by humming and singing up and down the scale for a few minutes before you start, and, above all, stop if your throat starts to hurt. Then become a good listener - a good ear is a practised one.

Sarah
 
It may also be that a part of the problem lies with your equipment's inability to mix voice, guitar, and drums in such a way that they sound good together. Bad mixing makes everything sound disjointed, unsynced, etc.

It seems this is a common problem with low end equipment; each track sounds like it was recorded in a different room and they don't sit well together in the mix. Sometimes compression helps, sometimes using the same reverb unit on all the tracks helps. Maybe there is latency in your system; it sounds good when you record but on playback it seems your voice lags the instruments.

The cheapest way to develop your timing (if that is the problem) is to sing along with records or the radio. Get your peeps together and jam, take turns singing, etc.

Practice...a lot.
 
Hi cfw,
You're on the right track (no pun intended). I am a teacher and I've been a teacher for almost 30 years. The biggest and most important step towards improving yourself is realizing that there is a problem and wanting to correct it. Do you know how many people do "God awful" things and think that they are doing brilliant work?
Much of your problems can be solved with time and experience, but a bit of coaching and formal study will also help and make the improvement quicker and easier. Learn how to constructively be your own worse critic. Never go easy on yourself, analyze every thing that you do and isolate the problem areas and then very systematically work on correcting each problem.
Getting some better gear will also help. This doesn't mean spending a fortune. You want good gear that gives you an accurate reading of your peformances. Stay away from all of the gimmicky processing gear for now and get yourself a real good mic or two,some decent monitors and a decent way of recording. GREAT recording was done in years past on far less sophisticated gear that what we have available today. You have to think that maybe they just knew how to use their gear real well. Learn that too.
Get feedback from friends with ears you trust, and listen to them. That doesn't mean that you do all that they say, but listen to them and develop a tough skin for criticism. Stay way from people that just enjoy trashing what you do or people that tell you everything you do is wonderful, neither is helpful.
It sounds like you have a lot to wotk on, but don't be overwhelmed. Take things one step at a time and allow yourself time to grow. After a while if you don't think that you're growing that much, go back and listen to earlier work right next to your newer work and you will hear the growth. Save that for when you feel disheartened. Then after you've stroked your ego a bit, go back to work.
Good luck.
-Jeff
 
The Actor Speaks (voice and the performer) by Patsy Rodenburg Is loaded with vocal excercises and things one might not realize about the voice.
 
Thanks everyone

Thanks for the helpful feedback. It is most appreciated. I believe some of it could be my awful awful gear and I have all my stuff (guitar, drums, and voice) centered and not panned any at all, so that makes it sound like mushy dog turd when its all jammed together. Some of it, I think, may be my guitar work, I'm not really a guitarist and I'm not very good at all but I think I am so afraid of sounding like other artists that I stray so far from it, that it just sounds bad.
Thanks for the book references. I will look into those.
I'm looking to get a job, some money, and with that, some better equipment. My computer doesn't, but do most computers have the ability to record and play back at the same time? For instance, recording vocals with a mic while listening to a drum track through your computer speakers?
What equipment do you use?
Thanks for all the help!
 
A lot of us learned by FIRST actually trying to sound like other people, and THEN after our chops were a little better, trying to carve out our own style.

Nothing wrong with being derivative, especially at first.

A little time with a college voice teacher / coach can do wonders, too. I just finished a 6-week class, my always-been-sucky vocals are only a little bit sucky now...:rolleyes:
 
The best place to get books is where? DA LIBRARY!

Don't stop on picking up a few vocal books there. Look into what they have on studio and recording tapes and books. Heck, these days some libraries will even have equipment you can borrow. Whatever you do, keep writing!
 
You could try the library at the university closest to you for good books on these kinds of topics if your town library is a bit on the sad side. I know my uni had a bloody wonderful music section. They taught drama too so the place was rampant with performance type books also. Milk it for all its worth!
 
The ability to playback and record at the same time would depend on your soundcard. You are looking for one with full duplex capabilites. I doubt with the specs you listed for your machine that you currently have one but I am no expert and it is possible. I made my first recordings with windows sound recorder And a 10 dollar mic on a hand me down machine that I got from my nephew. I was floored when I clicked play and heard sound. It was like magic.

I have a question for you. At the beginning of this thread you said: "I cant record a guitar to comp as 1 track then record vocals and make it fit. It just sounds goofy and doesnt fit at all."
How are you mixing those to tracks together to make one track with windows sound recorder?
 
Ah yes the library...

Yeah, the library closest to me is a little crumby when it comes to music books, but I will go look again sometime soon. Thanks for the tips guys.

terocious: I don't use sound recorder to mix them, I use Internet Audio Mix to mix them.

The more I think about it, the more it seems possible that not panning different instruments is a bigger problem than I thought, and I uh *cough* don't compress *cough*. I will get better equipment when I (hopefully) get some money working for my uncle, until then I will read all I can and work on my guitar/keyboard playing and "singing."

Thanks again everyone.
 
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