Let me know what tou think

[MDEW]

I haven't had the oportunity to record anything new and add your suggestions.

This was recorded about 6 years ago. Let me know what you think.

http://soundcloud.com/mdew/bobby-mcgee

[ronws]

If you haven't been able to record anything new with the suggestions given to you, and then we critique a 6 year old recording, how is that fair to you? And I have on the other end of that myself, without meaning to be.

I shared a recording with someone who proceeded to "diagnose" what they thought I did wrong. Some of it was simply them critiquing from their own particular aesthetic. But the other thing, some problems I might have had, I don't have today. I realized then that I had them critique a recording that was over a year old. That whatever I did wrong was that day, on that take (it was a single take recording like this one you provided) and not anything like I am doing today, Saturday, 07/28/2012.

So, this is what I could hear of what you were doing 6 years ago. Singing like you speak and the problem is with how you speak. Stop it. Do not sing like you speak. Sing like a professional singer.

You get better in pitch accuracy as you sing higher. Here's why I think so. First off, you were trying to sing like you speak, which changes the intonation on your notes, making you a bit flat. Trust me, I've done it. Such as singing "love" the way one speaks it around here, causing me a drop in intonation until I shaded toward the italian oo sound. Second, you might be singing too low to be natural for you. But fix the sing/speak thing first and see what that clears up. Although, maybe moving things up higher in range will force you to quit trying to sing like you speak. Kind of a back door way in.

Or so I would have said, 6 years ago. There's no guarantee that you are doing those same things today.

[Guest]

Ok MDEW, I'm going to give a different review than my buddy Ron here After his review I was about to go back and listen again but decided against it. Here is why.

I liked it the first time! It sounded good enough for me to listen to as if I were at a folk festival or something and so I just went with it. I thought it was a nice version. the melody was there and it was recognizable, yet the tempo was a little slower which added some interest. Your voice was pleasant and on pitch enough for me not to raise my eyebrows much. So I just listened like an audience member and I liked it.

Now, if I were to go ...hmmmm...and go back and try to listen for the points Ron made, then I would be falling into what I think happens here a lot. I would be forgetting the fact that I just listened to and enjoyed the song and now purposefully "looking for" mistakes. And I think that happens a lot here in this section.

So, I liked it and that's that!! :)

[ronws]

Finally ... I get to be the "tough love" guy and someone else gets to be the appreciative audience. Usually, it's the other way around.

And Tommy's right - hindsight is 20/20.

[Guest]

Finally ... I get to be the "tough love" guy and someone else gets to be the appreciative audience. Usually, it's the other way around.

And Tommy's right - hindsight is 20/20.

I'd rather you were tough because if you like everything then it makes me question your compliments of my songs

Ok....back to MD's thread :/

[ronws]

[quote=Tommy

I'd rather you were tough because if you like everything then it makes me question your compliments of my songs

And that would be a matter of your perception. That is, if I like everything you do, then you question my critiquing skills and judgement, assuming it is colored by the fact that we get along. Which I see as separate and divorced from anything about the quality of your singing. That is, I tell it like I see it, friendship or not.

It's a family trait. My brother can tell me straight up (and has done so) when I sing something wrong and it has nothing to do with us being brothers.

One of my biggest faults is that I don't care about image in an image-conscious world. I have no shame. Our mother told me so, on more than one occasion. About the only deceit I have engaged in, if you want to call it that, is the deceit of omission. Where someone's singing was so bad that I simply could not or would not comment.

Not to be confused with the times I have not commented because I didn't see the thread before it rotated to the next page thanks to newer submissions. Or the times I don't comment because I'm not interested in the genre and don't want to color a critique with my lack of interest in it. Even though I like all kinds of music, I really only care to comment on music and/or genres that move me.

Other times, I just don't hear the problems that others do. And, like you have noted, some pick on things just to pick on things, constructive or not, I guess, for the purpose of appearing knowledgable or being in a position of power. Which is social competition, not singing.

I was not looking for problems in this recording. In fact, when most people say "my singing is crap" they are usually better than their description, and are being disingenuous. Just like when people say "don't say this to be mean" and then absolutely shred you to pieces with language that is way harsher than necessary. The disclaimer doesn't smooth anything over.

Then we have had others that think they are God's gift to the world and fall short of that appellation when you hear them.

And all points in between.

Sometimes, believe it or not, a good review is warranted. Not because I want to be anyone's friend or like being wishy-washy or wish to avoid confrontation, but simply because it was good. Good enough for me.

And I do think this was a good recording and a good performance.

[Guest]

I was just trying to be funny! :D

[ronws]

And you were. I'm laughing, on the inside.

:cool:

[MDEW]

Ronws,

Thank you for listening. I appiciate Tough Love. For me It's harder to get advice or a true opinion because people may not want to hurt my feelings.

I went ahead and posted this song because I feel that it is a good representation of the way I have approached singing for the last 30+ years. It should show the good and the bad.

I was at practice last night. My band is playing for a benefit Today. Last week our Guitar player decided to get a guest singer to sing for us. He wanted the new singer to sing all the songs. We had one practice with him. Last night and we play today.

I took your advice and insisted that they keep my song in. I redirected that frustration into my support and emotion. The song went way better. I hope it does as good today. I will do my best for the sake of the song and for the Girl we are Honoring today.

Tommy,

Thank you also. Sometimes I do play that song faster and sometimes slower. I have heard it from a lot of people from Kenny Rodgers,Kris Kristopherson,Johnny Cash and Janice Joplin. I was just singing it the way I feel it. I still haven't landed on a solid beat that I will always use with the song.

It is good to hear someone say faults or not I liked it. That lets me know that i have something to work with.

[ronws]

M, you have such a warmth in your upper notes. I mean, kudos for using your emotion to power a song. But you also might consider singing this and other things a little higher. It will get you out of the speaking thing and into the singing thing. Plus, you sound good higher.

[Guest]

Sometimes I do play that song faster and sometimes slower. I have heard it from a lot of people from Kenny Rodgers,Kris Kristopherson,Johnny Cash and Janice Joplin. I was just singing it the way I feel it.

And that is exactly how it should be. It is how I do all my songs. You can't sing a song just like the original because you aren't the original singer and don't know what they were feeling at the time. You have to sing what you feel. This is about guitar but the idea is similar. Albert King, the great blues guitarist (and vocalist) once said:

"It's not how many notes you can play, it's how you play them."

[ronws]

That quote also reminds me of BB King. He could not read music. Never strayed out of the blues scale. Made a living out of the upper quadrant of the blues scale (the A chord form, though he never would have called it that, never having studied music theory. Others would call it the "BB box.") Not bad for someone who "wasn't doing enough with his instrument."

[MDEW]

Ronws,

You are on the mark with my "singing as I speak" especially in the lower area. I tend to sing songs from a story telling basis. I will keep in mind that even in my speaking pitches I am still supposed to be singing.

I had not made that connection. Thank you.

[ronws]

Ronws,

You are on the mark with my "singing as I speak" especially in the lower area. I tend to sing songs from a story telling basis. I will keep in mind that even in my speaking pitches I am still supposed to be singing.

I had not made that connection. Thank you.

Excellent, M. Singing is mental. And the hardest part is going to be to remind yourself that you should be singing, not speaking. And that is mental.

And if you can make use of that, I can't wait to hear what the effect will be.

Just the same, I am not a vocal professional anything. I don't get paid to sing or teach singing. I'm just a lazy electrician "living on the promises of yesterday. But I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time ..."

(apologies to David Coverdale)

[MDEW]

Someones' tag on here is "you are the master of your on destiny". I have always felt that music was my destiny. After 40+ years it is time for me to get out of my way.

Weather you area teacher or not you have at least let me know some of my road blocks. I will take the info and strive to improve.

[ronws]

After 40+ years it is time for me to get out of my way.

That is the biggest part of my progress in the last year or so, most especially, this year. Learning to get out of my own way.