Hey guys, I'm the lead singer/rhythm guitarist for my band and we're starting to get serious, so I want to improve my singing. Our songs can be found at:
http://myspace.com/thereruns11
First of all, I'd like to know what you guys think of my voice. I know I'm not a great singer, but I don't think I'm terrible. Recently though I've asked for some critique of my bands songs on other forums and people came down real hard on the vocals. I'm not disagreeing with them, but I'm looking for some tips on how to improve. I've been to Guitar Noise before and the people here have been very helpful, so I'm back now. :) Anyway, what do you think of my voice? And be honest! You can listen to the songs on our myspace, I personally thought that Just Another Dream was my best vocal track.
Basically people have been telling me a few things. The main thing was to put more emotion into my singing, but I'm having a lot of trouble with that. When I'm just singing over a track I have a really hard time getting in to it. And even if I do get in to it, I still don't really know what it's supposed to sound like. What does it sound like when you put emotion into your singing? You can't hear emotion per se, but you can hear the byproducts of it (if that makes sense). What do those byproducts sound like?
Another thing is that I need to sing with more "oomph". I'm having trouble with that too. I actually did do a couple of tracks where I just sang as loud and as powerfully as I could - it ended up way flat and dull sounding. It was so bad that we had to scrap the song for the time being.
Finally, people tell me that I have a "juvenile" voice. It's high, harsh, and immature sounding. It's something that actually really bothers me because its the first thing I notice when I hear my recordings. I'm 16 and I'm wondering if my voice will just mature on it's own. Or is my technique just poor? Luckily I have noticed an improvement from 6 months or so ago where I actually sounded like a girl, now I think I just sound like a high-pitched dude. Also, I'm told that I sing very nasally. My voice normally is very nasal so I struggle to keep this under control.
Okay, that's very long-winded. Any thoughts no matter how short are greatly appreciated. Or maybe there's some kind of underlying issue I'm missing here...
Thanks very much!
With the emotion thing, don't just focus on hitting the notes. I think that's what a lot of singers do. Singing isn't just about hitting all the notes, feel the notes. Use some vibrato. You have a tendency to just be monotone as you sing. Use some vocal inflections, enjoy the music.
Also don't try to just sing as loud as you can. Experiment, find out what kind of volume you think you sound best at, and g o from there.
Also your voice is good, it doesn't sound juvenile to me. What I did when I started singing was just keep recording myself. I tried to pick out what I didn't like about my voice and see what I could do to change that. If you just keep doing that eventually you will find yourself getting better.
One chord is fine.
Two you're pushing it.
Three and you're into jazz.
I think your voice sounds just right for the style of music you play. I agree with elpantella about feeling the note and about trying to hold back your volume.
Actually, I wonder whether a little, ahem, vocal process ing might help--you clearly double your voice on occasion--how about some reverb, delay, eq, etc.?
You will certainly grow into your voice, but I think you're off to a good start.
Jersey Jack
I'll post more later once I give it a full listen, but agreed with the posts above - also, varying the volume depending on the line you're singing can add emotion to a song. Nick did a lesson on here on adding emotion to vocal performances that is well worth a read, I'll try to dig up the link to it. Generally, singing is a bit like acting - if an actor just read the lines of a script with no emotion, variety, etc, you'd get bored easily. Its the inflections, the use of dynamics, the way certain words/lines are stressed that give it emotion. I once heard a tip for playing guitar expressively which is to watch a movie and try to mimic the dialogue on guitar, expressing the same emotions/inflections/phrasing as the actor speaking. Might be worth a try for singing too.
hth
At the end of the day, only you know exactly how you want to sound. But theres a huge difference between how you sound in your head and how you sound to everyone else, so make sure to record your voice and listen back.
As for the emotion, no technique in the world can teach you that! But try and right lyrics that you care about, sing songs that you love, or that provoke some sort of emotion in you.
But don't be too harsh on yourself. You have a good voice!
Nath
Thanks a lot everyone! I've read over all your tips and I'm starting to take them into consideration whenever I sing. This is why I love Guitar Noise. You guys are awesome. :D
If anyone else has something to add, please feel free to. I'm going to keep browsing these forums so I'll be sure to check here every so often.
Thanks again!
Here is a site I discover that deals about singing and I believe this will answer some of your questions. http://www.bestsinging.com/ is where I found solution to my problems and question regarding singing and I hope it do the same for you.
That source seems interesting at a quick glance, Ill be sure to read it all and report back. Although it looks very scientific... not sure we all want to become vocal robots, but nevertheless worth a read.
Nath
I think your voice sounds just right for the style of music you play.
if you were a punk rocker, you'd probably get stuff thrown at you, but for that sound, your probably a-ok. not that my opinions matter much since i can't figure out how to stop straining my voice when i sing. but those other folks are right...your probably on the right path....just keep doing it your bound to improve anyhow...
