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Singing

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    Singing

    I play guitar and on occasion, have to sing. In my humble opinion, my singing voice sucks. It sounds alright in my ears, but recording and playing back, it's just horrible. I'm like a first-round dropout on X-Factor. Not hugely off-key, though it happens, just... bad.

    Is it possible to improve when you really suck? Or do you need a certain natural skill to build on? I do know in my head what I want to be doing, and I'm not totally unmusical... but what can I do? Does simply practicing help and if so should I practice with live foldback or what?

    I know a few musicians are on CUK, and there must be some gifted amateurs too.
    Originally posted by MaryPoppins
    I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
    Originally posted by vetran
    Urine is quite nourishing

    #2
    Take singing lessons, a good teacher can work wonders, so I'm told.
    "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
    - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

    Comment


      #3
      Singing will improve with practice and you would benefit from a singing teacher as Cojak's suggested.

      Warm up your voice for an hour or so before recording and you should hear a difference, I suspect you're not so much off key as not quite getting the pitch of certain notes right.

      Also when recording you might want to consider this which surprisingly many pro's use.
      Me, me, me...

      Comment


        #4
        Are you recording through a proper recording mic. if not it means nothing.

        A cheap mic. doesn't really record your voice.

        Trust your ears, if you sound good to yourself you probably sound good to everyone else as well. The main thing is you sing in tune....this is the most important thing, and as long as you don't shout, which is unlikely when you're singing with your guitar on your own, but easily done in the excitement playing with loud electric guitars, then it'll be OK.

        Everyone has a "voice" in there that's different, you just have to tease it out, it doesn't have to be big and powerful (but it's nice if it is) it can be quite "normal". Quite a few pop singers actually have fairly average voices, no better than average Joe in his bedroom , the really great singers are few and far between.

        But get someone to listen to you, anyone will do, just someone who won't politely say it's fine when it isn't.
        I'm alright Jack

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post
          Are you recording through a proper recording mic. if not it means nothing.

          A cheap mic. doesn't really record your voice.

          Trust your ears, if you sound good to yourself you probably sound good to everyone else as well. The main thing is you sing in tune....this is the most important thing, and as long as you don't shout, which is unlikely when you're singing with your guitar on your own, but easily done in the excitement playing with loud electric guitars, then it'll be OK.

          Everyone has a "voice" in there that's different, you just have to tease it out, it doesn't have to be big and powerful (but it's nice if it is) it can be quite "normal". Quite a few pop singers actually have fairly average voices, no better than average Joe in his bedroom , the really great singers are few and far between.

          But get someone to listen to you, anyone will do, just someone who won't politely say it's fine when it isn't or someone who yells "FFS are you strangling the f**king cat?"
          Sage advice.

          Comment


            #6
            It's not for recording, but playing live... I only record to get an idea what it really sounds like, because I'm sure listening to yourself with the sound vibrating through your skull is not accurate... it seems like my brain automatically hears what I want to sound like.

            Also - some people really just can't sing. Take the comedy auditions on X-factor as an example. Or are they really not that bad and were 'set up' somehow?
            Last edited by d000hg; 26 October 2010, 11:27.
            Originally posted by MaryPoppins
            I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
            Originally posted by vetran
            Urine is quite nourishing

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by d000hg View Post
              In my humble opinion, my singing voice sucks. It sounds alright in my ears, but recording and playing back, it's just horrible. I'm like a first-round dropout on X-Factor. Not hugely off-key, though it happens, just... bad.
              If all that is true then you are being overcritical of yourself. You ought to at least get to Boot Camp, if not further. And if you are fortunate/unfortunate enough to get Louis Walsh as your mentor, and look anyways reasonable in teenage garb, then the sky is the limit.......d000hgward!!
              “The period of the disintegration of the European Union has begun. And the first vessel to have departed is Britain”

              Comment


                #8
                I can't sing. On the rare occasion that I've tried to sing even one line, the voice doesn't change to the right note or pitch or something. Aside from karaoke songs obviously.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Take up Blues. I occasionally used to sing blues in a student club once, you can get away with anything.
                  bloggoth

                  If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'
                  John Wayne (My guru, not to be confused with my beloved prophet Jeremy Clarkson)

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
                    I play guitar and on occasion, have to sing. In my humble opinion, my singing voice sucks. It sounds alright in my ears, but recording and playing back, it's just horrible. I'm like a first-round dropout on X-Factor. Not hugely off-key, though it happens, just... bad.

                    Is it possible to improve when you really suck? Or do you need a certain natural skill to build on? I do know in my head what I want to be doing, and I'm not totally unmusical... but what can I do? Does simply practicing help and if so should I practice with live foldback or what?

                    I know a few musicians are on CUK, and there must be some gifted amateurs too.
                    Have you tried identifying the 'strong' part of your own vocal range and changing song keys to suit rather than trying to screech out songs in the keys you happen to find them in ? I've worked with loads of vocalists (including good ones) when I used to do a bit of semi-pro guitar/keyboardy stuff and was amazed at the number of them who would fight there way through songs in the wrong key or leave songs off their lists because the 'they were too high/low etc' and didn't know you could play any song in any key you want to.

                    A good example is the guy from The Crash Test Dummies, if anyone remembers them. He's a bass baritone so not your normal pop/rock type vocal range. Once he started working/writing in his own vocal range, he suddenly discovered he could sing (ish).
                    When freedom comes along, don't PISH in the water supply.....

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