I just recorded this video for fun but i was wondering if i actually sound good or not? also any advice on how to sound less strained on those higher notes toward the end would be extremely appreciated :)
thankyousomuch!
Yes, you sound good. The quality is showing real potential, and "really nailing it" is almost there. Good for you - you have the voice - and the timbre to work on! I think you need more confidence, and to believe in yourself. I didn't feel that your voice was strained, but I thought I heard a little more from the larynx at times, where you could have carried it with the diaphragm. Mouth shapes were great in most places, and are commendable, just really beautiful over and over again, especially in words that are either not monosyllabic, or in a single-syllable word that gets carried into more than one pitch. You have a talent for that, and you can also jump a full octave when required, which is cool and with the best!
Many commentators have attempted to decompose timbre (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound) into component attributes. For example, J.F. Schouten (1968, p. 42) describes the "elusive attributes of timbre" as "determined by at least five major acoustic parameters" which Robert Erickson (1975) finds "scaled to the concerns of much contemporary music":
1. The range between tonal and noiselike character.
2. The spectral envelope.
3. The time envelope in terms of rise, duration, and decay (ADSR — attack, decay, sustain, release).
4. The changes both of spectral envelope (formant-glide) and fundamental frequency (micro-intonation).
5. The prefix, an onset (attack) of a sound quite dissimilar to the ensuing lasting vibration.
I would encourage you to work on numbers 1 and 5, those parts of timbre which you might want to develop and enhance.
And you can either sing everything a semi-tone or a tone lower, or practice breathing, which I think is going to take you there fully, and completely. You're not wasting your time. You are definitely in the right field and can only go right up! :D
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
I agree with most of what Jay said, at least the parts that I understand. (I'm not familiar with some of the terminology.) But I do think that you sound a little strained. I can't say what the cause is, but part of it at least is breathing. As Jay said, your sound is more from the larynx than the diaphragm. Maybe it's because recording makes you a bit nervous. That's certainly what happens to a lot of people, even when they really know the song. It sounds to me like your not opening up your throat. Your enunciation is really good. It could be that concentrating so much on that is keeping you from getting the vowels out, which is where the music is.
Try singing higher as well as lower. It seemed that your throat opened up more on the higher notes and it does not sound like anything in this song is too high for you.
In addition to the comments that Jay made, you have a good sense of pitch. You definitely have what it takes to become a very good singer.
Renee
