Singing thread for amateurs

Sambostar

I know we tried it years ago. Wonder if we could revive an ego free singing thread, posting up stuff and listening to it, especially since it's so hard for the average male to sing in any frequency that allows people to understand the intonation, letting alone chopping from chest to head voice, which takes years to master.  Is Drew still about or did he die?  Also, you're not born with it, it takes years of practice and muscle memory, just like any other instrument.  Shame low baritones and bass singers don't cut through the mix with the melody, although I think we are in changing times and all will change and it is, albeit slowly.

Sambostar

Especially when they cut off the electric.

thecolourbox

I'm vain enough to go first don't need much excuse to share my singing even though I know it's fairly limited, here's a couple that are fairly representative of my style:





As far as I know I'm pretty solely head voice, I don't really have a chest voice that is useful (it sounds terrible)

Sambostar

Love it x

thecolourbox

Cheers, I know it's a bit dull and lifeless, I don't really like that style of music that my voice seems to suit but I'm kind of stuck with it so that's the type of music that gets wheeled out if ever I have to perform. I do wish there were more interesting styles of music I could do but I just don't have the range sadly

axisus

I wish I could sing but my voice is terrible. I seem to be a bit tone deaf with singing, plus my range is very narrow, plus my displaced septum gives a horrible nasal sound plus if I sing in the car something too high it damages my throat after 1 song and I love my ability to sing at all for that day.

I'd love lessons but I just don't have the balls for it starting from such a low place. 

axisus

@thecolourbox I couldn't play the songs right through as I'm at work, but having listened to sections of both songs, I love the sound of your voice! Understated and cool tone. Envy!!!!

thecolourbox

Thanks @axisus ;; that's very kind of you. My frustration is that whilst I feel like it's an acceptably pleasant sound, it's essentially the only pleasant sound I can make and as such I can only ever do that kind of dull background "bed wetter" music. In some ways the kind of reserved dullness that my voice has (and the music that goes with it) represents me very well as a person as I'm also rather dull and reserved but it's just not music I enjoy listening to, or enjoy playing other than the slight kind of appreciation of it coming together.

As such, I feel like I pretty much reached what I was capable of doing pretty early on in the journey - only really started singing in mid 20s (mid 30s now) but fairly quickly I was able to sound pretty much like I do in the recordings so I do frequently get bored of trying it as there isn't any interesting music to get my teeth into nor any real way I can change what the voice does to do the music I'd actually like. I'm a good actor so I can do stuff like that without people realising I don't really like it, but there's very limited scope for that kind of music in a performance setting

LastMantra

I've got a few on soundcloud I did years ago. This one is a bit different to the others.

https://m.soundcloud.com/davemc-2/andy-warhol-bowie-cover


Don't know how to make a proper link.

thecolourbox

I really enjoyed that @LastMantra you definitely got a great vibe going on with that one. I do love the older Bowie stuff like that song more than the more polished later stuff as well. But you nailed it mate, great stuff. Given you a follow on Soundcloud (not that you seem to need it with your numbers haha I don't get very many listens at all on there so you must be doing something right)

LastMantra

thecolourbox said:

I really enjoyed that @LastMantra you definitely got a great vibe going on with that one. I do love the older Bowie stuff like that song more than the more polished later stuff as well. But you nailed it mate, great stuff. Given you a follow on Soundcloud (not that you seem to need it with your numbers haha I don't get very many listens at all on there so you must be doing something right)

Thanks very much, very kind. 

I only have that many listens because I used to do some guitar playing collaboration with a guy that was very prolific on there 

That was ages ago. Soundcloud was better then I think they ruined it. There was a while on the old music radar forum when there was a nice wee bunch of guys sharing and collaborating. 

I've heard some of your stuff before and always enjoyed it. Bit more professional sounding than mine.

thecolourbox

I wouldn't say my stuff sounded more anything than yours, just different. I'm quite conscious that I'm very much aesthetically driven as a way to make up for my lack of performance and recording/production skills! So that is probably what you are hearing more than any actual genuine professional polish haha smoke and mirrors!

LastMantra

thecolourbox said:

I wouldn't say my stuff sounded more anything than yours, just different. I'm quite conscious that I'm very much aesthetically driven as a way to make up for my lack of performance and recording/production skills! So that is probably what you are hearing more than any actual genuine professional polish haha smoke and mirrors!

Well it's working. 

You say you can't sing the kind of stuff you would like to, what would that be?

I reckon you could get a bit more growl if you pushed it a bit. Do you use any distortion or fx normally? 

DiscoStu

I love singing though I accept I'm fairly average. I'm definitely a head voice and can do a bit of falsetto but that means that I'm crap at a lot of stuff I'd like to do in the heavier department. Like @thecolourbox I tend to default to the more singer/songwriter type stuff when it comes to doing vocals.
I get by. I was much better when I was younger but I have breathing problems and blocked sinuses now which make things a bit more difficult.
I'd love to have Peter Gabriel's voice though, he gets me every time! I don't, but here's me trying a PG track during lockdown.

thecolourbox

@Discostu enjoyed that too mate, you've a nice tone to your voice - i'm sure you know but i bet it would sound even better if you were stood up or sat on a taller stool without hunching over. Cat was digging it as well, i'm sure i saw it tapping its paw at one point. You clearly love the song which I think shows, I'm reasonably good at acting when performing but I do struggle to go that extra bit into really sounding like I'm in the song as I usually don't like the stuff I'm playing. One exception would be Hallelujah or Blackhole Sun when I've done those, but even then I don't think it sounds as genuine as yours. You've got a terrific sound mate, keep doing it. Have you tried Fishermen's Friends sweets?

@LastMantra in a lot of things I've learnt more how to hide my deficiencies than I have how to reduce them, not just in musical stuff. It's got me by but ultimately obviously isn't great for my self belief knowing that I'm a bit of a fudger of things. What I liek to listen to and what I can play on guitar/piano cross over in a few places I guess, but the voice capabilities don't cross over as much. The vocalists I enjoy playing the music of, tend to be on the one hand melodic stuff like Jeff Buckley, Chris Cornell, Jacob Collier, that kind of thing, then on the other hand quite percussive, wordy and percussive stuff like Jack White, Laura Marling, Lou Reed. What I end up having to do when performing is stuff like Simon & Garfunkel, Dylan, or various female singers transposed down slightly (for example You've Got a Friend Above), or when I'm writing my own stuff to record (for example the second song above) I have to stick to things like "What if person X did a mellow chilled song" and kind of collage a few things together. For example that one was kind of "if Damon Albarn sang a Life on Mars style Bowie song accompanied by Bridge over Troubled Water piano". Interesting for a while but limited enjoyment once done.

Re distortion/growl etc, I can add a bit of punch though it's hard to actually get a gravelly sound without having a bad throat to start with, however it just doesn't sound very good. The same element of luck which makes my brethy head voice sound ok has made my belt or punchy voice sound unpleasant! I have occasionally added distortion fx on my recordings to try and help with mixed results. 

I feel like it works on this original track:



But sounds awful on this cover:

LastMantra

@DiscoStu very cool fella. I agree you look a bit hunched over which can't be helping. Definitely something there though, nice tone.

@thecolourbox have to disagree with you about the second track there, I think it sounds great! Cool original track too and some very nice playing.

DiscoStu

Thanks @thecolourbox @LastMantra that means a lot. I don't do much performing these days due to self doubt and nerves so your positive critique is welcomed. Yeah I was leaning over in that vid, I had the lyric sheet on the floor haha! It was during lockdown and a lot of my mates were posting tunes they were doing at home so I thought I'd try something too. It wasn't meant to be a showcase number.
Some days I struggle with breathing/lung capacity and that really affects my singing. I can't hit notes and I can't hold them either. Some days I've nearly fainted when I'm singing and I can only assume that means less oxygen is getting to my brain. Total pisser!

Mellish

@axisus ; I'd encourage you to go for lessons.

Trust me, however bad you *think* you are, they've heard worse! It's just that first step, you'll be fine after that  

hessodreamy

Mellish said:

@axisus ; I'd encourage you to go for lessons.

Trust me, however bad you *think* you are, they've heard worse! It's just that first step, you'll be fine after that  

@axisus ; I'm pretty bad, so I took singing lessons. Now I'm slightly less bad. I've managed to lessen my nasal sound and make it more open. You get to know the moving parts and how to use them to get different sounds.

@thecolourbox if you feel your voice is limited then lessons could help expand that. There's certainly something there for them to work with!

DiscoStu

I've been thinking about lessons for years to improve my breathing and control but there's nobody round my way doing them. So I is wot I is!

LastMantra

I think the main thing is you need to just do it. I mean people here play and practice guitar every day and we all know it takes years to get any good, singing is no different really. You can't expect to just automatically be good.

IMHO anyway.

People get very self conscious though, I do anyway. You need to be relaxed really. 

What I do is record a bit and listen back and figure out what I like and don't like. When you're recording at home you can break it right down to each line, each word if you want, until it sounds how you want it to.