I need help with vocals.....pls read

[Pacifica604w]

Hey all. I'm extremely new to recording and mixing vocals. I've recorded a quick little something for you to listen to. I'm looking for some help on the vocals. Yes it is me singing.... badly I must say but I was the only one around tonight Tell me why it sucks and how to fix it please!

Thanks,
Jake

 

[dafduc]

I wish MY vocs sucked like that.

It sounds like you have a good voice, pitch is mostly there, though you waver a bit. Nothing like me - I'm the King of Wavering (trademark pending).

The level on the vocs is a bit low, so it's hard to pick up detail, but the vocal tone is thin. It sounds, my best guess, like that's either the signal chain or post-processing that's doing that, rather than a problem with your natural voice.

Are you EQing at all? What mic are you using? How close are you standing?

Without knowing the answers to these questions, I'd say to cut the presence (2-4k) some, bring the level way up, and see if it sounds closer to what you like. High mids would be the next thing I'd cut, if that didn't do it.

Nice changes, BTW, and I like the guitar sound. Not that you asked...

 

[Ledmech]

Sounds pretty good

I'm actually listening to your song while I'm typing...hehe. I think its sounds pretty good myself except for certain parts.......but they can be easily fixed. I think you have the same problem as I do. I think my voice sounds like ass so I sing a little to weak. Try singing a little stronger and more confident and I think it'll sound good. Catchy song though.....overall sounds really good

Just drink a few beers, redo it, and post again....I promise it'll sound better


Led

 

[Jagular]

I listened to it a couple times. Cool sounding tune man. It sounds to me that your vouce would be damn good sounding if you let it be heard. I hear some trailing off at the end of phrases. They are not being finished strongly and therefore go a little flat. Keep the energy up through the whole phrase and finish it. It sounds like you may not be breathing and singing from your diaphragm properly and therefore not getting the proper support which doesn't help intonation. Plus it sounds like you are singing timidly which doesn't help intonation either.

All that being said, it sounds like you have a good sounding voice and that if you worked with it (maybe some lessons?) it would sound quite good. Especially for the style of music this song is.

Keep on singing

 

[Kramer]

Your voice sounds pretty good but you seem to be missing some notes here and there.....you're a little flat at times.First off make sure you have plenty of Monitoring Volume when you are tracking your vocals.......you must be able to hear yourself singing to lay a decent track without flats or sharps....try doubling your lead vocal on another track also once you get the pitch issues taken care of.

You're on your way,you just need to hear yourself enough to keep from falling flat on some of the notes.

 

[M.Brane]

Try this little vocal excercise:

Make yourself yawn. As you yawn, make a sound. Don't worry about hitting any certain pitch. Continue to hold that note and notice how relaxed your vocal cords and throat feel. This is how it should feel whenever you sing.

Power comes from correct breathing. You should use your diaphram "push" the sound out, not your throat!

Confidence is strictly mental, but essential for good delivery & pitch.

Your voice is like any other instrument. It takes practice to improve.

 

[Pedullist]

Listen to M. Brane! He's so right it makes me wanna spit!

 

[erichenryus]

bring up the vocals! they are too far back in the mix. but you did say you're uncomfortable singing still right? well that's how you mixed it, sang it, etc.

listen to mbrane. open up and let it out. sing like you mean it, like you want us to hear you. your missed notes don't sound like you have an issue with pitch for some reason. they sound like a lack of confidence and practice. Try singing some scales for a while ('do-re-me, etc.) and concentrate on pitch.

Check out this book. It's very good with some excellent excercises. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_6/103-4727716-6462213?v=glance&s=books

 

[Pacifica604w]

Wow... Thanks for all the responses guys, I really appreciate them. Yah, I'm just starting to sing. I've always carried decent pitch (not perfect) but you never realize how bad you sing until you record yourself. I am seriously thinking about getting some vocal training.

Oh dafduc. The vocal chain sucks. Its a Shure SM58 direct into my soundcard (which has a mic preamp). I did a bit of eq'ing but only to what I thought sounded good. I boosted the upper frequencies because it sounded real flat, and a little in the low end. I can't remember what frequencies as I'm at work now and I dont have my stuff with me. My distance to the mic was about 3 inches.

 

[Pacifica604w]

I guess theres not many people on during the day like me......I get to surf at my office.

 

[Robertt8]

Hey Pacifica boy...

The vocals definitely seem off here and there, but as people have said, it's probably because you may be a little shy about singing. try it without anyone else there, belt it out and see what happens. Also, (this may sound stupid and obvious, but) make sure when you're recording vocals (as well as anything else i guess) you can hear your voice well enough to make pitch decisions. I know I've been shocked at how I've been off on songs where I swear I was ON during the recordings. It's almost always because I had the music cranking and couldn't hear myself good enough to judge the vocals. Give that a shot...and be confident.

Also...you wouldn't happen to be located in Pacifica CA would you? I surf there quite a bit...

 

[Pacifica604w]

Hey Pacifica boy...

The vocals definitely seem off here and there, but as people have said, it's probably because you may be a little shy about singing. try it without anyone else there, belt it out and see what happens. Also, (this may sound stupid and obvious, but) make sure when you're recording vocals (as well as anything else i guess) you can hear your voice well enough to make pitch decisions. I know I've been shocked at how I've been off on songs where I swear I was ON during the recordings. It's almost always because I had the music cranking and couldn't hear myself good enough to judge the vocals. Give that a shot...and be confident.

Also...you wouldn't happen to be located in Pacifica CA would you? I surf there quite a bit...

Hey Robert. I hear you about the pitch thing. I'm going to try listening through one head phone so I get some room sound with my voice also. I've heard this can help. I've been tracking with both head phones on. I am really shy about singing. It took a lot for me to even let my wife hear that track.

No I'm not from Pacifica CA. I wish though Pacifica is a favourite guitar of mine. Its a Yamaha Pacifica604w in cherry red burst with a Wilkinson VS100 vibrato, Sperzel locking tuners and a classy pearloid pickguard.

 

[Robertt8]

cool...

were you recording that live? ...as in you had one head phone open so you could hear the music being played? Because other than that You really don't need to do that. I think it's more so people can hear their own voice better, and if you can hear it in the head phones fine, there's really no reason to do that.

good luck!

 

[Pacifica604w]

cool...

were you recording that live? ...as in you had one head phone open so you could hear the music being played? Because other than that You really don't need to do that. I think it's more so people can hear their own voice better, and if you can hear it in the head phones fine, there's really no reason to do that.

good luck!

No it wasn't live. All instruments were tracked separately. I was thinking of leaving one ear open to hear more of my natural voice while tracking. Also, I'm just going to try and turn the monitor send of my vocal up a little more.


Jake

 

[Pacifica604w]

Vox re-tracked and mixed.

Ok guys.... I've retracked the vocal and did a bit of re-mixing. Please comment on this. I'm still having a bit of a pitch problem but I think its mostly cause I dont really sing. Just to note... I copied the vocal track and panned both hard right and hard left. I heard from someone that this was good to do.



Thanks,
Jake

 

[Kramer]

Much better...still off on the words "heavy" at 35 seconds and "day" at 1:05....you hit it ok at :55 so you can hit it...Im still thinking it's a monitoring problem and not actually being able to hear your self sing while you are tracking the vocals.

gettin better......or maybe it's the same and this is an experiment.

 

[Pacifica604w]

Much better...still off on the words "heavy" at 35 seconds and "day" at 1:05....you hit it ok at :55 so you can hit it...Im still thinking it's a monitoring problem and not actually being able to hear your self sing while you are tracking the vocals.

gettin better......or maybe it's the same and this is an experiment.

Its not LOL... I swear. I took the advice from you guys and backed off the mic a bit and sang hard. Well as hard as I can right now.

 

[Ledmech]

gett'n better

Sounding better, but like Kramer said, still missing a few higher notes. I still don't think you are singing loud enough though. And I'm not talking about the mixing level of the vocals either. I say this because I can hear you licking your lips or somethin at :30 sec's. It comes through just as clear as the vocals.

Or are you just kissing the mic or sumthin

 

[Pacifica604w]

Re: gett'n better

Sounding better, but like Kramer said, still missing a few higher notes. I still don't think you are singing loud enough though. And I'm not talking about the mixing level of the vocals either. I say this because I can hear you licking your lips or somethin at :30 sec's. It comes through just as clear as the vocals.

Or are you just kissing the mic or sumthin

Singing loud is hard. Its a lot harder to keep pitch while belting it out than it is at a nominal level. Yes. I licked my lips a few times. I tried to gate it but was unsuccesful. I get real nervous while doing a take and end up licking my lips..... Not kissing the mic LOL...

 

[Kramer]

Yes, this subject sounds interesting, indeed.

Somebody ban this idiot.He;s posting this same one liner response to threads throughout the site to make it look like he has a a legit post count so he can post his spam in the ads forum.Dickhead.

He joined today and he has a 70 post count already....every mother lovin one of them say "Yes, this subject sounds interesting, indeed. ".