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Welcome, David. Just a side question. Does everyone in Yukon have crazy spiked white hair as good-looking as yours or is it just you? If so, who is your stylist because that guy or gal is a genius. There are a number of singer training programs, chief among them being the 4 Pillars of Singing, available through this forum thanks to our benefactor and author of 4 Pillars, Robert Lunte, who also gives personal lessons in whatever fashion. In person at his studio in Seattle, WA, USA or via skype. Certainly there are a number of us amateur (unpaid) singers but really, you should consult a professional voice teacher when given a chance.

Won't play. By the way, go to the Audacity website and follow the link for the free LAME mp3 encoder. It will also work in Reaper because it also does not have an mp3 encoder because of proprietary reasons. Anyway, so get the LAME and make sure your copy of Reaper sees it. Then mix and render in mp3. And then you can get an account at box dot com. Your file will be associated with a player page. Paste that link to a player page in a reply in this thread.

Okay, those links worked. You are off pitch and it is not just a matter of singing a song relative to itself but in a different key. There is no consistency to suggest another key. That is important because instead of a deficiency in hearing the key of the song which might make you consistently a half-tone away in either direction, what it means is that you are not hearing yourself and your notes in relation to the music. So, you need to work on that. If you do not have access to an instrument you can find tone files online. And you may have to continue to record yourself and listen back. Are you listening back now and can you not hear the difference between what you are singing and what the music is? It's been said that there are no tone-deaf people. I try to stay from such grandiose statements. Second, articulation. Singing is different than speaking, forever and amen and I don't care how stubbornly someone else may want to hold on to the idea that it is and they would easily and in dedicated fashion beat their head against a brick wall until it is a bloody, pulpy mess, having died proud and mistaken, this is not the hill one should die on. Give it up. So, that means quit reciting the lyrics but sing them as notes of a musical instrument. You are not hear to sing as a kiwi, aussie, or a proper brit. Can others do it? Yes, and a big woohoo for them. For others, it is best start plain and simple and bring the fancy stuff back in later. And stay away from the harsh consonants and fricatives. Your k sound is actually, to my ears, a ch sound. It is so pronounced in the chorus "walk away" and it is distracting. You need to soften that to more of a g or softer, even,

A little slice of life. I like it. Made me think of Talking Heads with a higher range.

mp2 not playable. See if you can save it as mp3 or 4.

Just now looked at the link and my first thought was; "Travelling in a fried-out combie. On a hippie trail, head full of zombie ..." I would say that there is a little too much nasality and volume, which could easily cause you to miss the pitch you actually need to be on. Everyone here has already offered better advice.

Yeah, actually, an avatar of anything is in the info you get when you sign up for this forum. so, I gave you some hair from Beaker from Sesame Street. Enjoy. Thanks.

What I have noticed, across, albeit, just a few covers is that Jeremy has this thing, away of infusing some kind of good feeling, a kind of happiness in the face of all that life is, in his voice. I have a feeling he could sing "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil and it would sound like a party. Or, "City of Angels" by RHCP and it would be a solitude to which we are all invited, a sweet irony. And yeah, I think he could do some impersonations. I could imagine a spot-on Christopher Walken, "I need more cowbell." Because, let's face it, you can never have too much cowbell. "I've got a fever. And the cure is more cowbell!" Although, Collin, I think you could do a great Walken and maybe a splash of De Niro. I hear some northeast in your accent. maybe a little Yonkers, a little Brooklyn or Flatbush. Somewhere around the Big Apple. Where as,my voice has the dusty sound of Clint Eastwood with the accent of Bill Paxton. In fact, I used to do a pretty good Clint. "Now I know, you've got to be asking yourself one question. Did he shoot six, or was it only five? Well, in all the excitement, I kind of lost count, myself. Now, being that this is a forty-four magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and could blow your head clean off, you have to be asking yourself one question - Do I feel lucky? Well? Do you, punk?"

Actually, Collin, I think you are getting what I was talking about, with this. You have a better flow in this. Granted, it is more of a speaky kind of song with a dense pack of lyrics but I think you sang this, instead of speaking it.

Thanks, Bzean. considering I was overloading the mic, singing so loud. It is also my favorite part of the song. The rest of the song, I feel like I am holding back but during that part, the G-F-C progression, I can let go and get it out. "Talk, Talk I felt the coldness of my winter. I never thought you would ever go. I felt the gloom that set upon us, upon us But I know that I love you so ..."

The recording and mix stinks but the playing was much easier when I scaled back the guitar part to just guitar. "Rain Song" # 2 by Led Zeppelin http://www.box.com/s/09def48d0af59a258e5b

I was hoping others might join in, as this sounded like an interesting topic. I don't think I have anything to offer. Problem with the FOH guy trying get rid of that is that it will also change how you sound. You may have to re-invent the stand. Something like a set of springs or dampeners joining the mast to the base which "decouples" the vibrations, somewhat.

Well, a perfect example of what I am talking about in simplifying is in playing and singing the "Rain Song" by Led Zeppelin. Having heard the song, I learned to play it from manuscript, which is a full arrangement, not just the guitar part. And the full arrangement is guitar, bass, melatron, drums, strings. I was tying my hands in notes trying to get chord voicings that accounted for everything. However, another song, "Dust in the Wind," really is played with two guitars (a duet of Rich Williams and Kerry Livgren) but I had figured out how to play it on one and tend to keep it that way. By all means, keep the rhythm and meter of the song in mind. In fact, I have re-arranged chord shapes around what the vocals need to do. Another thing, change how you play a chord to fit the song. For "Highway to Hell," I play the A chord with just the middle finger across the strings at the second fret. this sets up my had to play the first inversion D chord that follows and alternate F# and G for what is essentially a harmonic bass line, though it is not the bass guitar playing this. In fact, the bass guitar only comes in at the choruses. Normally, I might play A the way that I learned it from Mel Bay's Book of Chords, which was first finger on A, middle finger on F# just below, and ring finger on C# just above. "Land Down Under," I start with Bm chord and use the pinky for the floating melody and move to A with the first finger across the second fret and the pinkie finger on the 5th fret and kind of arpeggiate the chord, just a smidge. "Travelling in a fried out combie. On a hippie trail, head full of zombie." (combie is australian slang for an RV or caravan type of vehicle and zombie was a slang for funny cigarettes.)

The same problem as any other entertainer. Travelling all of the time and living out of a suitcase and you don't have as much time for the beach, at least if you are going to make money. And these days, with less income from recordings, live shows are what is left for making money. Your family grows up while you are on the road.

"Don't know the reason, stayed here all season. Nothing to show but this brand new tattoo. But it's a real beauty, a mexican cutey. How it got here I haven't a clue ..."

Something else I learned in guitar playing. Simplify, don't try to play a whole band arrangement on one guitar. Especially if you are singing along with the guitar in a live situation. Another thing I have found through harsh experience and study of others, keep simplifying parts when recording. Otherwise, you can wind up with a shredded mash that is too busy. A song is not about how many parts you can put in it but about how the story gets told.

And I think between us three guitar pickers, we ought to figure out "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffet. "Blew out my flip-flop. stepped on a flower pot. Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home. But there's booze in the blender and soon it will render that frozen concoction that helps me hang on."

As good as the original and in some ways, preferrable to the original. You have the right tone for this song and vice versa.

I can fly the airplane. I do have a box cutter (utility knife.)

Thanks, man. I learn some things the hard way but I do have the capacity to learn. Eventually.

Not a problem. The two briskets I still have in the chest freezer are over 14 lbs. Even after I trim off some of the fat, it is still around 14 pounds. You could feed a regular squad or a SEAL team in training. I thaw them in a fridge, like you would a turkey. Basic formula is 5 hours for each pound. So, I count backwards from the day I plan to smoke and add a day because I like to put the seasoning rub on the meat the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. That way, the following morning, I can wake up about 6, start a fire, throw the meat on, just that easy. I smoke it no less than 12 hours, starting with high heat to sear the outer layer of the meat, which keeps the juices in. You know, as a singer, I am a pretty good barbecue chef .....

I could go hog wild about recording instruments and may well do that but I wanted to concentrate for a moment on just singing against karaoke track. Especially for those of us who do not play an instrument or or not well enough to produce a music track for what we want to do. So, in that case, you bought a track from the link Robert has at this forum. And I would always recommend that link and not for the reason of being on Robert's good side. I mean, it is always nice to get along with your brethren in singing. But also because it is a really good site and you can order the track to your custom order. With or without BV. With or without guitar solo, in case you want to noodle some guitar, as well. And all for about a buck or two. And it is professionally mixed and tight. So, you drag that into a track in Reaper or Logic Pro, similar actions. Then all that is left is to sing. All you need is a mic. If you only have money for one mic, get a large diaphragm condenser. Or get one of the home recording bundles on the page in this forum that Robert has provided. The price is right, trust me. If you bought that stuff separately, it would cost you more. So, how do you make a recording as well and professional sounding as the recordings from Felipe? Well, you have to be a little bit like him. Or a lot. No, you don't have to dance salsa, though it couldn't hurt. Here is the Felipe "secret," if I may be so bold to reveal it; Don't keep crap. Everyone, Felipe, Ronnie James Dio, even you, make mistakes. A bum note. Slightly off time. Garbled word in a lyric. Don't keep it. Do it over. This may take some time. You will get no awards for recording, editing, and posting within one hour by the clock. I have recorded stuff in one take and it was well received. And I have recorded something twenty times over two weeks and it was not well received. And all the variations in between. So, if you think you have crappy recordings, be aware that I am the king of crappy recordings and just offer this advice as a fellow miscreant. So, 400 takes or partial comps later, you finally have a vocal that sounds like you want. Use shift and tempo tools in your DAW that makes sure it is on the beat and not dragging. And then, to save on processing power, render that comp'd track to a new unified track. With one exception. In Reaper, each section of lyrics or sound can be a separate item. And you can do effects and stuff on each item. If that is not important to what you are doing, then create the new track of pieces into one. This saves processing power and speed. Now, you are going to do all your mixing stuff. EQ, delay, reverb, or both. And we could go way deep into that and probably will but for brevity, I wanted to talk about the workflow, in general. Take your time. I have read so many books on recording and mixing and more than once. You really should not record and mix on the same day. Your ears are tuned one way for singing. They need a rest to be tuned to mixing. Don't spend too long mixing. You start second-guessing and doing drastic things. Better to give it a day or two and then listen with fresh ears. That being said, let me sound contradictory and say that you should set a deadline for release or posting. Here is why: no mix is ever "finished." Especially in the day of digital editing. You could edit and mix forever. Pick a stopping point and let it go. This will cause you to focus on major moves and sounds and not get bogged down in minutae. So, spend maybe a week total on the project but not more than a month. Don't talk about how long or little it took you to do it. It does not matter and I promise I am not going to be impressed if you recorded in one shot. Because I have done it, too. So, big whoopie ... Or how long. I don't need to know how dedicated or perfectionist you are. All that matters is how it sounds. I am not a technical reviewer. I want to be entertained. So, make me want to sing along.

We'll be a southern version of "two and half men" with ages approximately close to the actors. Actually, Charlie Sheen is a few years younger than I am and Ashton Kutcher is a few years younger than that And MDEW is one year older than I am. You are probably around the same age as the young-un, though a whole lot smarter, which is not saying much. That is, not much effort is needed to be a whole lot smarter than the kid in the show. Kind of backsided compliment, sorry about that. The only trick is transportation. I live in a little town with 1 stop sign and 4 or 5 churches (I lose count) about 60 miles north of Dallas, a few towns south of Oklahoma. As I like to brag, if I sneeze to the north, it is raining in Oklahoma. Actually, Ok is a beautiful state with a widely varied scenery from a rain forest in the east to high desert in the west, home of the majority of tornados in the world (partially due to trade winds that create this varied topography, more on that later.) Greyhound does make stops in Sherman, the biggest town nearest to me. Actually close to the border of Denison. You can catch a taxi to my place but there are no bus stops. But the nearest airport for transcontinental is DFW Intl or Love Field. I mean, here in Grayson county Perrin Field is big enough and Air Force One landed there last year so the pres could visit the Choctaw Nation near Durant, Ok. But that was a military op and it just does not get a lot of long distance traffic. It is used mainly for military training exercises. But I live close enough to DFW and everything here. With minimal traffic and my cruise control set at 80, it would take just about an hour to get to DFW Intl. That's because Rayburn Tollway (sh 121) goes right into DFW. Love Field, near Mockingbird and Inwood takes more time because of traffic and lights. Love Field is only about a mile or so from where I work. So, now, we're talking what? Plane tickets or bus tickets or train tickets? Union Station is in the downtown Dallas area but is accessible. It's either that or we get skype and I have to ship my wonderful smoked brisket. Brisket so good it would tempt the faith of a vegan. Yes, being a vegan is a faith and I would be tempting that faith with brisket that nearly melts in your mouth. Talk me in to it and I will make the homemade barbecue sauce, though I have some store-bought that is pretty good. Then I can do something with shredded slaw, and steamed corn on the cob. I get the unshucked and break them in half for easier eating. I'll cut mine off the cob when ready. Any choice of spices. Seriously, we have spices everywhere. A cabinet I bought, just to house the spices and mixes. On of the few shelf places in the house not loaded down with cook books. Still, you really need to be here to smell the burning of mesquite wood chunks in a true smoke. Get a snootful of smoke, choke a little, grab a Shiner Bock to clear the palate.

I really liked it. I have a fantasy dinner, now. You, MDEW, and me at my house, smoking a brisket and I have a few guitars here and you can bring yours and we would inflict our guitar playing and singing on whoever is near, usually my dog and cat and my wife, Brenda. And yes, she likes all kinds of music. One of her favorite albums is Christmas Polka by Brave Combo. And in her car on the way to visit her mother, we have the radio set on Hair Nation or Ozzy's Boneyard. And, I do have the cd Live and Sleazy by the Village People. So, something for everyone to groove on.

Actually, following Felipe's mixing advice helps, as far as getting the sound. Most people don't realize how much doubling and delay Robert "Mutt" Lange used on Joe for the Pyromania album. MDEW offers good advice. I did something similar with a Journey song. Sang it a whole step higher for a while to force myself to break with dichotomy of "head voice" and "chest voice." The sooner I got into one voice, the easier it was to drop back down to the original key and sing it acceptably ,though I would not post because, oddly enough, I do not sound like Steve Perry. And there would be too much comparison. Even I would be guilty of that. I am human, after all.