learning to love one's own voice

First song is awsome. Nice tone to your voice. Definately too hard on yourself. But then again, we all are.

It helps to record and then playback. Gives us a better idea on how we sing, how we sound for real. The we can use it to work on what doesn't work. My first experience with playback was a year ago. I found a backing track to Strawberry Fields without the vocals and thought I'd mess about with laying my own track down. Going in to the mic was John Lennon. Coming out of the speakers was two cats in a wet sack. I wanted to drive my head through the monitor. But with time I got used to it enough to be able to be critical of the mechanics of my singing and how to work on correcting the things I can.

Personally, I don't like the tone of my voice. Too...something, can't put my finger on it. Not a marketable voice maybe.

You sound good Jersey. :D

Thanks to all for listening and commenting. I feel a bit better now. 8)

(Hey pearlthecat: Not noticing the nasality, is good, right? Can I count your response as a thumbs-up?)

My wife is now accusing me of trolling for compliments! But, really, I posted my vocals only because I was asked. I meant this thread to be about learning to live with the sound of one's own recorded voice--e.g., do we all come to appreciate the sound of our own voices eventually, or do we simply come to terms with the fact that the bad stuff we hear coming from recordings is in a different way no more accurate than the good stuff we hear in our own heads?

But since I've already stepped forth, any other comments about my voice would still be appreciated! :wink:

Best,
Jersey Jack

yes. it was a thumbs up!

:D :P :lol: 8) :D

I wish they had a dancing smilie on this site!

Thanks to all! I shall continue to sing!

I think joefish's comment about paying attention to vocal mechanics and stylistic concerns while listening to one's own voice is spot on. The icky tone many of us experience is subjective, and it seems to get less discomforting as one listens more and more to recordings. The other stuff is more real, and luckily can be addressed through lessons and practice!

Jersey Jack

I found your voice very pleasant :-) I think we are always our worst critics (with the exception, of course of occasional american idol tryout types that think they walk on water ;-p ) - what we hear on the recording IS accurate, but I think when we listen to ourselves we hear little things that noone else will hear, we pick it apart, and also we compare it to that magnificant voice in our heads to which NOTHING can compare and next to that we're always going to think it's crap ... even if in reality it's very good. It took me quite a while to get used to hearing my voice recorded and to mesh that with what I hear in my head - but over time I actually have gotten to the point where it seems pretty much the same to me (but I hear myself recorded ALL THE TIME - call it emersion therapy) - and I'm STILL my worst critic - picking out small bobbles here and there and faults that others don't hear (or at least claim not to hear) - but try to trust yourself and all the other people that are telling you you sound good - we have no reason to lie ... people around you if they really care would not let you go make a fool of yourself if you didn't sound good ... and your voice instructor - if they are at all worth their salt should tell you the truth as well - that IS part of their job.

We all want our voices to sound like people who are in the business we admire but I bet if you ask the people in the business, they would have the same opinon of themselves. It's funny, I'll record some demo and play it back and think hmm, that's not bad. Then I'll do something else and go holy crap cut my throat...please. I've been told by others around me that my voice sounds good and is good enough to support singing in public. Protia's right, those around us can help if we really ask them. If we doubt them, ask us. My wife, never missing an opportunity to tell me when I'm doing wrong, inadvertantly revealed to me some weak areas in my singing. When trying to coax our daughter to try out for a local musical, she used me as an example of practicing until you sound better. "Remember when your dad said he wanted to sing at church. I thought 'oh no.' Sometimes he sing off key, and is shrill, but look at him now." It was one of those moments when you go "yah, see, look at me, I....hey wait a minute! What's that supposed to mean?" But it did help me look at what I wanted to fix.

It also depends too on what you plan to do with that voice and how you want to be preceived. Are you singing for yourself? Then it shouldn't matter. Singing for public consumption? The how do you want to sound. There are many recording artists that have no singing quality to their voices it's all just gimick or style. Jack White (White Stripes) doesn't have a real good sounding voice, but can write some great songs and back it up with some wild guitar work. What style music are you singing. Are you going for a stylized gimicky voice like Red Hot Chile Peppers or Green Day. Or do you want to sound more controlled like a James Taylor or John Mayer. These guys can't cross over to eachothers music very easily. There is a reason why they sing what they sing. Like I said, there are a lot of crappy vocalists making boatloads of music and there is a market out there for those people.

Does that make sense?

Wow, Portia, your post really hit a few bells for me: The idea that we HEAR FURTHER into our recorded voices than other people explains quite a bit! I have to remember that people listening to us don't have that resonant internal voice to compare us to, so they don't hear so many of the flaws---that's it!!! :D

And the confirmation that over time one gets used to the sound is very comforting!

I have noticed, in fact, that as I learn more about singing and begin to listen more carefully to famous singers I can hear more flaws in their voices. If I really listen, vocal performances I've long admired exhibit many problems. But, you know, it doesn't matter much, in the end--the performances I love still sound great. :wink:

And thanks joefish for your comments. I agree about style--I'd love to do a Tom Waits-ish growl, but that ain't gonna happen. That doesn't mean I can't sing Tom Waits's songs, in my own way. I guess I see my voice as relatively clear rather than dirty or gravely.

This is a great list--I only wish it was more active! Where is everybody? I mean, lot's of people sing, right?