Autistic with a 12-String and USB Laptop Mic -- Help with Singing Technique

[Wabatuckian]

Edit: WAV file didn't stick. Trying again. Solved: WAV not allowd. MP3 used.

I hate my voice.

That said, I don't objectively know what to make of it, or how to fix it or sing better. Being autistic, I've always had an issue with word hunting and just not being able to turn the pictures in my head into words as fast as the pictures came.

Singing, I don't know what I sound like to others, and I remember and hear everything I know I messed up when I listen back.

I think I need to relax. When I do, I sound a bit country. I don't like sounding country.

If anyone has tips, that would be great. I suspect that the first thing I need to do is relax more, and the second thing I need to do is find... what, a base tone maybe? One to return to each time I go up or down.

I know nothing about singing or vocal technique. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

Love it, Wabatuckian!
Yes, it is all handmade and un-polished, but it has character.
The singing is a little out of tune, here and there.
I can offer one tip for singing:
Sing up. That means put the mic a bit higher than your head, so that you have to lift your head to sing to it.
As Rob said elsewhere, that opens your throat which improves the singing.
I do that, as my singing is not much to bragg about.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Love it, Wabatuckian!
Yes, it is all handmade and un-polished, but it has character.
The singing is a little out of tune, here and there.
I can offer one tip for singing:
Sing up. That means put the mic a bit higher than your head, so that you have to lift your head to sing to it.
As Rob said elsewhere, that opens your throat which improves the singing.
I do that, as my singing is not much to bragg about.

I appreciate it. My computer mic is above my head because it helps me keep my throat open, I guess; I wasn't thinking of it in those terms. It just made it more comfortable, and, thinking about it, that's probably why.

I had my other mic higher up and I lowered it, but don't like it as much. I'll have to move it back up.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Love it, Wabatuckian!
Yes, it is all handmade and un-polished, but it has character.
The singing is a little out of tune, here and there.
I can offer one tip for singing:
Sing up. That means put the mic a bit higher than your head, so that you have to lift your head to sing to it.
As Rob said elsewhere, that opens your throat which improves the singing.
I do that, as my singing is not much to bragg about.

I prefer doing my original stuff. I think it helps that I'm not comparing myself to an original singer (in the case of In the Pines above, I'm comparing myself to both Leadbelly and Kurt Cobain.)

Here's Happy Song, recorded in my living room on a couple cheap mics, an old Realistic mic mixer, and an MP3 player/recorder; mixed with Audacity: