Question on vocals... again

  • Thread starter Thread starter six
  • Start date Start date
six

six

New member
Maybe it just IS the way I'm singing... but no matter how much soul I lay into my singing recorded it sounds always 'sleepy' - or like I sang with an "oh no... not once again"-attitude.

I wonder if it's about compression - mainly that attack and release stuff.

I mean you don't have to yell all the time to get a little attitude in your vocal tracks, do you?
 
It's not your singing. It's your self-confidence. You have to learn to hear the good aspects of your voice and not be so critical of your faults. Then just put all you've got into the vocal track, and try to sing it like it was the first time. Good luck.

Bob
 
I am convinced that though we can all train our voices to a certain degree, truly charismatic voices are just the luck of the draw.
I can sing OK. Technically, I can sing as well as many popular vocalists. I'm resigned to the fact that I'll only be singing backup forever though, because my voice just doesn't have that extra something that other mediocre singers have. Sting for example. Dave Matthews. Taj Mahal. John Lennon and Paul McCartney. How do you practice charisma?

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Singing

Buffalo Bob said:
It's not your singing. It's your self-confidence. You have to learn to hear the good aspects of your voice and not be so critical of your faults. Then just put all you've got into the vocal track, and try to sing it like it was the first time. Good luck.

Bob
Click to expand...

Aaron,
Soul...confidence...(Bob hit the nail on the head) ATTITUDE...sing it like you mean it. Record it just as hot as you can. Use a good tube mic. Too much effects can subdue the resonance of your voice. What Type of mic are you recording with?


Gidman
 
As for style, try adding a little texture to the words you sing. One thing I love to do (and comes out sounding real good on tape) is to add a slight bit of scratch before you articulate certain words beginning in vowels.. Robert Plant always did this (check out "Rain Song": "iiiit is to you iiii give this to")..

Another articulation trick is add a "uh" like syllable at the end of certain words.. some examples are Freddie Mercury ("another one bites the dust-uh"), James Hetfield ("but the memory remains-uh") and Maynard James Keenan ("in my shadow-uh")..

Other things you can try: John Lennon laid on his back when he sang "Revolution".. they also recorded "Strawberry Fields" at a slightly faster speed and slowed down the track for the final master.

Cy
 
A lot of vocalists (especially the ones starting) are shy of their voice and think that they cann't sing but really they can. So even if they nail a great take they still think it's crap, because they did it. That's why it's great to have someone else record it so they can objectively give you feedback on your singing. Or just get someone to be there with you while you track.

Keijo
 
Cyrokk, your comments are exactly the things I have noticed and tried to incorporate into my vocals. I often add a kind of harsh breathiness to my vowels. As far as the "uh" at the end of words, I see it more as just making dang sure you use proper diction, and end every word correctly. I had a choir director once that always stressed "These are words with endings, dang it! Pronounce the whole word!"
If a word ends with "nd" for example, pronounce it! By doing so, you naturally end up with the "uh" sound at the tail end.

Maybe Warlock is right, and I just need an objective opinion. Anybody mind going to my site and checking out my voice? Download the song samples and tell me what you guys think.

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
aaron, aaron, aaron...

your vocals on "bad luck... good story"? jeeeez... I really "like" those guys saying that something about their vocals (or mix or whatever) isn't the way it should be and then you download the song and it just sounds great.

how the hell should they sound like then???

do you know those supermodels telling you they have to lose weight? thousands of girls will run to the toilet to get rid of their lunch...

and me? ok... running to the toilet might help a bit because vocals sound better in the bathroom.

no, serious: damn, aaron... stop saying anything bad about YOUR voice.
 
practice singing without any feeling, then immediately juxtapose it with singing with feeling.

practice singing at very low volume, then break into loud volume. Record it and see how the loud compares to the low.

practice singing with anger, love, feeling. You can try what some actors do. Be the emotion. When you want to sing angry, be angry, when you want to sing sleepy ,feel sleepy.

Make sure that performance is not just a good practice session. If you are recording, feel the audience right there.
 
OK GUY's, I want to get in on this one.

SIX:

The problem you are having seems to be more "MIC FRIGHT"
then anything else.

This happens to the best of singers, Including me.(not saying I'm the best of)

Like most of us, you are not yet used to the sound of your own voice.

This is where you must trust other opinions you value.

I have just recently discovered that it is more important to get a real
honest opinion on my voice(production), then to trust my own ears.

This works weather you think the track you just laid down is good
or bad.

DO NOT TRUST YOUR OWN EARS ON YOUR OWN VOICE!


Aaron:

FIRST OF ALL, YOUR VOICE IS GOOD!

I must state however, that I completely disagree with your statement;

QUOTE,
"I can sing OK. Technically, I can sing as well as many popular vocalists. "

To my ears, having spent many hours at singing lessons,
I hear no lessons in your voice, am I wrong ?

If I am correct, you may want to consider another teacher
who will teach a different method then the one taught to you.

Regardless, if you have taken lessons or not YOUR voice is a good voice
& does the job fine, so why fret.

Love,
Sean
 
Aaron, your vocals sound real good. I particularly like the emotion you put behind your voice, really animates the song well.

Cy
 
Ive allways found it difficult to get my singing up to live level. Meaning If Im onstage Ive got a croud to sing to and the attitude just comes out.

If im just stareing at a microphone Its not the same. I find that closeing my eyes and imagining a croud there, helps. You can also sing to the dude in the control room.

You should also use you chest voice, because singing with attitude in a head voice for too many takes can ruin your voice.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
Ive allways found it difficult to get my singing up to live level. Meaning If Im onstage Ive got a croud to sing to and the attitude just comes out.

If im just stareing at a microphone Its not the same. I find that closeing my eyes and imagining a croud there, helps. You can also sing to the dude in the control room.
Click to expand...

Yo, I hope that dude is a lady :D

[
You should also use you chest voice, because singing with attitude in a head voice for too many takes can ruin your voice. [/B]
Click to expand...

It depends on what you are doing with the head voice. If one is trying to push the chest voice into the head register, then problems will occur. But if you are in head range, you should sing with head voice. If in chest range, sing with chest voice. It is necessary to make a conscious effort not to strain the neck, even though we see many(bad) rock vocalists do this.
 
When all else fails, try this time proven trick.
Stand buck naked in front of the mic, with an audience watching. The exhiliration will give you vocal takes you never could have imagined. :)
Remember that old Skid Row song where he belts out that high note that then gets higher, and it is super powerful with tons of feeling? Naked. Buck naked, in the studio. No lie. He couldnt get it until he tried that.
 
Six - I think everybody here is saying useful things, but there's another possibility as well - it might be that recorded singing doesn't come across as emotional as it is to the person doing it. I say this for two reasons: that's my experience, and I've read it as well. These days, I put more into the singing because I was having the same experience you've been having. It sounded like I was just singing the notes, if you know what I mean. My experience is that if you want people to *hear* the emotion, you sometimes have to change the way you sing so they can hear it. My take on it is this: it's like stage acting live in a theatre - your voice and facial expressions can't be subtle, because no one will see/hear it. You have to act large, talk big, if you know what I mean. I think there's a similar thing going on with a singer and a microphone.
 
Not to disagree but to add to what's been said.........

Some "famous" artists have the same problem; Martin Sexton and Richard Thompson are two who come to mind whose voices sound much more powerful and expressive in person.

I think that part of it is the emotional give and take with the audience; a friend of mine once suggested that I have a half dozen friends come and listen while I record!

Perhaps more importantly is the mic technique and monitoring set up. In the studio you are probably singing in a dead room with headphones, about a foot away from a very precise large condensor mic. Live, you are right on top of and driving a dynamic mic and you can't hear every little detail. For me, it's a more natural setting and the emotion comes out much more naturally.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.
SmellyFuzz, you are right: no lessons here. I've just picked up on bits of advice here and there, with nothing formal. I didn't mean to say that I can sing as well as any professional vocalist. What I was trying to say was that there are many professional vocalists with no trianing either, with shortcomings similar to mine as far as breathing, diction, etc., but who have a charisma in their voice that makes it intriguing nevertheless.
And I couldn't agree more with Dobro: delivering a good vocal performance is very mutch like acting a part on a stage. You have to exagerate everything to make it come across to a casual observer.
And lastly, Tubedude, I tried that once.

The mic laughed at me.

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Tube dude

Funny You mentioned Sebatian Bach, Biggist prick Ive ever met. I only worked one day with the dude and I have like 4 stories.

His drummer is cool, He used to be Leslie West's drummer from mountain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top