Help, I'm boring - how can I improve?

Funkfingers · August 2019

thecolourbox said:

Jeff Buckley's Sin-e album is helping a lot

Regular EP or deluxe extended edition?

thecolourbox said:

people say I'm boring ... I do bore myself a bit.

Never having met you, I can not comment on this.

Jeff Buckley had several unfair advantages. It can not have harmed his career to be a good-looking man whom numerous women found attractive.

randerson said:
I wouldn't bother with caring what people think at this stage (if at all). In the words of Warhol, "Make art. While others are deciding whether it is art or not, make more art".

I slightly disagree with this statement.

It is worth considering what an audience thinks in the sense that your material needs to be something to which they can relate. Adele, Amy Winehouse and Ed Sheeran have large followings because plenty of people can relate to the narrative content of their lyrics.

Fifty plus years previously, people related to Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. To some extent, their songs reflected the times. Likewise, the young Van Morrison - particularly on his album Astral Weeks.

thecolourbox · August 2019

Funkfingers said:

thecolourbox said:

Jeff Buckley's Sin-e album is helping a lot

Regular EP or deluxe extended edition?

The extended one, a work of beauty

Listening to it has reminded me I need to learn how to elocute more clearly though. Not easy as a nasal black country mon but worth a try. I myself am not a work of beauty but in fairness, I don't think that hoardes of fluttering eyelashes is really what I'm after, not least because it would cause Mrs Thecolourbox to ban me from attending such events

horse · August 2019

I reckon creating excitement / edge as a solo live performer is quite tricky, particularly if you are more introvert than extrovert. Prob easier with a guitar than keys though.

You might find it easier or more natural to try for poignancy maybe, although that relies on a certain type of audience to get a strong reaction. If you check out Peter Bruntnell live solo he seems to manage this well, although I can find it a bit boring if I'm honest!

viz · August 2019

I bloody loved it. Do you like Michael Franks?

thecolourbox · August 2019

horse said:

I reckon creating excitement / edge as a solo live performer is quite tricky, particularly if you are more introvert than extrovert. Prob easier with a guitar than keys though.

You might find it easier or more natural to try for poignancy maybe, although that relies on a certain type of audience to get a strong reaction. If you check out Peter Bruntnell live solo he seems to manage this well, although I can find it a bit boring if I'm honest!

Thanks I'll look him up, always happy to watch stuff especially where it's one person or a small group. I think I am better going with it on the introverted front, and not trying to jazz it up with jolly music as it comes across terribly fake. I did "Last Nite" by the Strokes mixed with "Heart Of Glass" by Blondie at a cafe type gig once and it felt like it fell flat on its face despite being decent in principle

viz said:

I bloody loved it. Do you like Michael Franks?

Your cheque is in the post. I'll be honest I've never heard of him but put his name into Spotify just now and with this particular song I can see what you mean. I was actually aping the guitar from a version of a Stevie Wonder song and added a bit of "Summer Breeze" in there with the solo. So probably would sound a bit familiar if you're into that style of thing...

gringopig · August 2019

.

horse · August 2019

A melancholy slowish cover of Heart of Glass could work on acoustic I think.

horse · August 2019

One of my all-time favourite albums, where I expect most people might find the vocals boring: (Red House Painters "Rollercoaster")

https://open.spotify.com/album/2zbrGDAGfwMhDVkeg1CGl5?si=V8iio0wQTgyT_kyYX0Rs4A

thecolourbox · August 2019

gringopig said:

I would personally concentrate on aking music you like. It's hard to kid yourself if you are honest. Seeking approval from others is just asking for frustration. People can sniff out uncertainty in a performer and it makes them uncomfortable.

I think the vocal melody is a bit wobbly on the first one and the song is a bit weak - no real rails for anything to run on
The Ryan Adams cover is a lot better but then again it's a great song and has a really well defined structure and melodic hook. You do sound like your breathing and timing is a bit laboured but you have a good voice. Maybe more 'focus' on notes? It sounds like the voice is coming from the throat and sounds a bit throttled to me.

So anyway just ignore all that pish and do music that you listen to and like personally is what I say.

Cheers dude, I know what you mean, if I can't convince myself it's genuine then ice no chance of convincing anybody else. I could do it with my old piano playing purely because of the ability I'd built up but I don't have that technique on guitar or singing.

I agree reed I should ideally stick to the music I like but unfortunately that's something I can't see changing as my voice just won't work for the styles I like. And I couldn't do those styles solo either as they need rhythm.

But the focus and certainty of what I am doing I think is spot on, so it's technique practice I think, or give up singing completely and go back to piano

horse said:

A melancholy slowish cover of Heart of Glass could work on acoustic I think.

Arghhhhhh no acoustic!!!! Hehe

flying_pie · August 2019

I'll throw in my tuppence.

If you can learn to sing in your upper register using mix voice, as well as head voice which you use just now, it will allow you to become much more expressive. Singing in the same register can become, dare I say it, a little "boring" even if it's not unpleasant to start with.

Belting out high notes with emotion is a bit of a cliché but for good reason. Thom Yorke uses it a lot and it gives great contrast the whiny nature of his head voice - Paranoid Android being a good example

PolarityMan · August 2019

Without wanting to sound harsh I think it's actually the music that is making it "boring". The genre you are writing in is fairly safe and middle of the road and I think your voice sounds appropriate for the music. I personally find that style pretty uninspiring but then, I'm totally into metal, so there are bound to be others who connect to that style and I don't think they would see anything out of place about your vocal delivery.

thecolourbox · August 2019

Yeah I know what you mean, I don't really listen to that to be honest either but I can't do the kind of music I like so I was (probably foolishly) hoping to do something interesting outside of what I like. I think only one of the original songs I've done is really in my kind of style ("If" on my soundcloud, plus one instrumental that was too), but generally my voice just doesn't work for what I like.

It's silly really but I've tried to give up loads of times but I just can't find anything else to put in the gap left by giving up playing.

But realistically, whilst I can improve within the kind of MoR stuff like that that neither I nor anybody else really likes (too MoR to be interesting but not MoR enough to appeal to MoR fans) there's ultimately very little point as neither I now people I play it to will like it.

Not sure I've got the skillset to go all out weird/alternative etc

IMC1980 · August 2019

I have just had a listen to your track "If"; I have heard your stuff before when you were putting your album out a while back and remember commenting on how you sounded like Damon Albarn on "Stay" (I like his stuff, so that is a positive). As for "If", I really liked it! It is a great song, there are a couple of things I would change; vocal double is nice, but your panning creates an unbalanced feeling as one track is too far to the right and the distorted guitar/solo section at the end was very jarring. I did like the solo, but it would have sat better on the original sparse arrangement. Overall though, it is a song I would listen to, as are your other tracks.

You say you keep coming back to music, so there must be something you enjoy in all the hard work involved in creating it. I wouldn't worry about gathering a following or doing something people want to hear. Treat it as a cool hobby that is something for you and it will feel more rewarding.

And just so you know, my family & friends also hate it when I play them one of my tracks - although my mum did raise half a smile at the "Hot Stuff" cover - I never offer to play them anything or even raise the subject when I see people, but if they are going to ask....

Stick with what you want to do and if you don't feel what you have produced is good enough, do another version or can it and work on something else. If the song "If" is the kind if thing you want to do, I think you should go ahead and do it, trying to be something you're not will never scratch your itch.

thecolourbox · August 2019

I keep coming back to it as I've invested too much time and money in it and can't sell my stuff haha

It is a bit saddening to think I should give it up but as I can't do the stuff I like I'll only ever be making stuff neither I nor even anybody else can enjoy so feel there's little point.

Might see if I can be inspired by the Radiohead stuff I've been spacing out to on the train recently instead although like the lofi indie garage stuff that's only going to do me for private noodling at home and not getting out there and playing stuff

Cirrus · August 2019

thecolourbox said:

Might see if I can be inspired by the Radiohead stuff I've been spacing out to on the train recently instead although like the lofi indie garage stuff that's only going to do me for private noodling at home and not getting out there and playing stuff

One of my favourite things at these open mics is to do something unexpected. Do what inspires *you*. Worry less about the audience, because if they don't like seeing someone doing music they genuinely love, they're wrong.

thecolourbox · August 2019

Cirrus said:

thecolourbox said:

Might see if I can be inspired by the Radiohead stuff I've been spacing out to on the train recently instead although like the lofi indie garage stuff that's only going to do me for private noodling at home and not getting out there and playing stuff

One of my favourite things at these open mics is to do something unexpected. Do what inspires *you*. Worry less about the audience, because if they don't like seeing someone doing music they genuinely love, they're wrong.

I kind of agree but with the proviso that it should still be done well and I don't think I'd have the ability to carry it off by myself to be fair! And I'd still not be able to do what I actually love playing and listening to anyway, as the voice ain't up to it even if unaccompanied garagey chord bashing were achievable

So at best I'd be doing music i don't mind, and at a less than competent level, so I'd not be proud of it, people who would like that style of music wouldn't like it because it wasn't very good, and people who don't like that style would never like it anyway.

Let's hope something else presents itself as a hobby instead

WiresDreamDisasters · August 2019

What's the problem with doing music you want to do, exactly? You think you can't do it? Why not find a way to do it instead of investing all your time and energy doing music that you don't want to do purely because it's in your comfort zone?

If it's vocals related, get some singing lessons with a good teacher who knows the genre you're roughly aiming at. If it's hard-rock, don't get classical lessons. If it's classical... don't get screaming lessons... etc.

Even though there are biological limitations of the vocal system, the voice itself is pliable and can be made to do things you wouldn't naturally do.

WiresDreamDisasters · August 2019

Four years ago I could barely sing. Now I can barely sing but give it a go anyway. It's all about consistency and just pressing on with what you want to do. Nothing comes for free.

thecolourbox · August 2019

WiresDreamDisasters said:

What's the problem with doing music you want to do, exactly? You think you can't do it? Why not find a way to do it instead of investing all your time and energy doing music that you don't want to do purely because it's in your comfort zone?

If it's vocals related, get some singing lessons with a good teacher who knows the genre you're roughly aiming at. If it's hard-rock, don't get classical lessons. If it's classical... don't get screaming lessons... etc.

Even though there are biological limitations of the vocal system, the voice itself is pliable and can be made to do things you wouldn't naturally do.

I agree to an extent but lessons and practice will not get me there with the voice, I've an introverted voice for which the inherent tone does not work and the frequencies of it do not mix well with the frequencies of the guitars for the range of notes/keys most of the songs I like are in, and they just sound silly transposed up even through an octave down pedal.

I can get higher and lower now than I've ever been able to before (Bflat above middle C and down to A the octave below middle C) but the general tone just doesn't work. I can't shout and "speak in tune" like the styles I enjoy and even if I did learn to it wouldn't sound like my voice.

(Edit: Reference point being the earlier White Stripes albums, first Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, Velvet Underground. I can do Strokes ok but that won't work with unaccompanied set up)

There's also the unaccompanied element of it - that style doesn't work by itself for very long without hurting everybody (myself included), but I don't have the personality or reliability to work with anybody else (probably the biggest problem because if I could, I'd just get somebody else to sing instead and sack off singing completely)

PolarityMan · August 2019

thecolourbox said:

Cirrus said:

thecolourbox said:

Might see if I can be inspired by the Radiohead stuff I've been spacing out to on the train recently instead although like the lofi indie garage stuff that's only going to do me for private noodling at home and not getting out there and playing stuff

One of my favourite things at these open mics is to do something unexpected. Do what inspires *you*. Worry less about the audience, because if they don't like seeing someone doing music they genuinely love, they're wrong.

Let's hope something else presents itself as a hobby instead

I hope that you don't take that route. I think your musical competence is hindering you to an extent because you are finding it easy to flesh out a piece that doesn't have the initial emotional connection into something that objectively sounds sonicallly and musically good but is just lacking the all important artistic direction.

I would try making something more raw, get a single hook riff that even if its gnarly as fuck makes you feel something then put the bare minimum instrumentation around it to make it a song. Spend the time on the initial inspiration first and get that right before polishing and see if you end up with something that resonates better with you artistically.

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Help, I'm boring - how can I improve?

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