ronws

Normalizing is the worst thing to do, don't do it, step away from it,have your wife slap your hands until they are red for even trying to do it. Leave it alone. The reason is normalizing is like a limiter, it raises everything in a track to the pre-set limit you choose. That gets rid of dynamics and usually places the track very close to digital clipping. Trust me, you don't want that. If you do want that, I can no longer be your friend. (Union rules) 

What a compressor does is reduce the loudness difference between the highest volume notes and the lowest volume notes. Not the pitch, the volume or perceived loudness. Once a level of loudness has past a set point you have decided (the threshold) it will then reduce the output volume. How much? That depends on the ratio that you set. Most times, for vocals, 2:1 works, or something close to that. I usually prefer to err on the side of less, rather than more, but I could be wrong. Since this reduces the dynamic range of least loud note to most loud note, it has the effect of making the least loud more prominent, almost equal with the loudest. 

As for the sound of your voice at different parts of the range, your wife may be right. Or not. She is hearing you acoustically in whatever room you are in and that is always going to be different than how we hear you through an edited recording. It could be that other things you are doing in editing are changing some of the sound qualities of your voice. It could be that you are singing these songs and sounding american and that is a sound she finds to be "muffled," whether it is, or not. That if you sing something traditional, then you sound "better."

So much of what a person hears is affected more by psychology than by actual comparison of pitches, tonal quality, etcetera. And who knows, maybe your voice sounds brighter in person, maybe it sounds brighter in traditional music and that you are doing something to sound different and more american.

For example, I find some local singing styles from other parts of the world to be hypernasal, to the point of bringing on nausea. I can imagine others would be equally sickened by the sound of my voice. And if others are not sickened by the sound of my voice, then I have not worked hard enough and need to double down (to borrow a phrase from the gamblers in Vegas.)

\m/

4 hours ago, Sexy Beast said:

Sorry can't help you there my exercices only work for fish...

also depends on the sub-species. Small mouth bass, large mouth bass, striper (a kind of small mouth bass about the size of a southern Perch and found along with large Crappie (acutal name of the fish and pronounced cr-ah-pee by locals) at Lake Fork, home of the largest Crappie caught (4 lbs)).

And here is a singer who described herself as sounding like Kermit the Frog when she heard her first hit song on the radio.

4 hours ago, emme207 said:

ronws, I understand what you are saying and I am definitely the same singer. I think the reason for this is that I am very experimental and I am still trying to figure out "what works" for me if that makes sense. I have so many different sounds I can do and still trying to find myself musically. So when you say that you like these two covers better than the rock ones, that helps me get ideas on which direction to go towards. I myself have always been drawn to singers with very unique voices with memorable tones that cannot be mistaken for anyone else. I guess I am just trying to develop a memorable sound because that is what draws me in personally whether I'm listening to a professionally-recorded track or a webcam cover on Youtube. I'm still trying to find myself musically and trying to figure out what works. I have never had lessons and that is part of why I decided to join here to get an idea of how much work needs to be done since I am aiming to get professional vocal training in the near future.

I also have a unique voice and do better in certain genres than others. And it really helps to work in a genre that matches your voice. And if you covers, do them in your genre. Some are going to say, don't change a song too much when you are covering it. Well, that is because you have committed the sin of being unknown. There are a number of covers that are totally different melody and arrangement-wise from the original and people like it.

I would say to sing what you want, just sing it the way that you did these two songs and continue to expect crossover contamination from the other thread, where you were pitchy, out of time, and took melody lines in other places (talking bout my bad girl ...)

7 hours ago, MDEW said:

Check the southern  Rock band "Blackfoot" .  Kermit the Frog to me is more of a swallowing(high larynx closed back of throat) sound not depressed larynx.  Depressed or low larynx would be more of a Yogi Bear (low larynx, open back of throat) sound.

And also, Molly Hatchet.

And Ian from the Cult. My boss and I will sometimes sing in the office and I figured out that the best way to sing "She Sells Sanctuary" or "Fire Woman" is sound like Marvin the Martian.

Now I am confused. Are you sure you are the same singer as the rock thread? Because in these, the pitch and timing was great. Granted, like MDEW, I would have like more clear articulation on the Cold Play song. But you did Etta James right with your voice and your style.

So, I don't get it. Was the other thread to throw us off so that you can show that you actually have some chops? It would not be the first time. A "sleeper" like the 68' Mustang I used to have. It had body panels replaced by my step-grandfather who did not do a good job with his home-grown paint job. But the 289 small block and Holley 2 barrel would punch and run like a scalded ape. I smoked a BMW and a Cutlass 442 with that. In fact, the only person who beat me was a college mate and she had a '69 Mustang El Grande with a 302 Cobrajet. But I digress..

Also, I think this style of torchy ballads works for you, especially with your penchant for creaks and glottal stops that are so popular in pop music today.

Sounding plain, as you put it, could fix things for now. Embellishments should be sparse, now and then. Too much and it is no longer an embellishment, it is the whole thing.

26 minutes ago, Gneetapp said:

 I really like the way my voice sounds with this song. This is a backing/Karaoke track I downloaded from you tube. Cheers

And I really like how your voice sounds on this song, too. Again, you need to keep this in your "ready to sing" set list.

First off, you have a really good sounding voice. A nice tone.

As for the look, I think the "rocker chick" definitely works for you. Kind of like Brittany Spears and Lita Ford had a love-child born with the heart of a lion.

Of the two songs, "Sweet Child of Mine" works better in your tone than "Smells Like Teen Spirit." But I applaud you having the desire and heart to tackle that song.

I can tell from your pronunciation that English is not your first language so kudos to you for singing in what is a foreign language to you.

Simplify vowel sounds. For the word "ounce" in the lyric "see an ounce of pain" you sang ah -oh-oo-nz. It should be ah-nz.

Places here and there where pitch was off. It was more forgivable in the Teen Spirit because Kurt Cobain was pitchy. Kind of like, I could not complain of someone being pitchy on a Lou Reed song when Lou Reed is pitchy. 

You can also expand your range but it is going to take the effort of controlling how much volume you put out in the lower end of your voice. It is too much now, making the transition to the higher notes a more obvious flip to falsetto. If you hold back a little in the low end, then the high end sounds more balanced with it.

When you sing, think of the voice as a musical instrument. Don't try to sing the same way that you speak. Again, keep simple and single vowel sounds, ah, ee, oh, oo, eh. Doing that will, oddly enough, make you sound more american.

Performance wise, pretty good. I would suggest that when singing a line, don't move the hair out of your face, let it go. Between lyric sections you can do that. During singing, it is distracting.

Also, timing. Your timing is off because you were getting excited and losing your place in the song. I have also done that. I did a cover of "All of Me" totally botched one passage in the middle because of timing. Get the pulse of the music in your blood. Forget the camera is there.

And I can't wait to hear you on a real mic. I assuming you are singing into the inline mic in your phone headset. The squealing distortion from that is a give-away.

You definitely have a good voice and a great look and even a natural self-confidence that can take you places. Just need to tune up and align your instrument, which is your voice. 

And your pitch is good in some places, so I know you can hear and match pitch. That's way better than 90 percent of humans on the planet.

I think the timbre totally works. Just use one vowel instead of two in a long note. That makes it more consistent.

I think the pitch wobbles can be fixed by simpler vowels. For example, you sang "toon -a eet" and that was the correct thing to do. And remember, you have a mic and a DAW, so don't push the voice, let it get to where it needs to. And I like what you did. I think this song was made for you and vice versa. Definitely keep this one in your set of "songs I can do and get applause." It is right in your wheel house. You sounded strong and centered all the way through.

Are you recording your own instruments? I have not heard this arrangement. If so, awesome and well done.

I like the rough edge to your voice, If I could suggest, however, keep the vowels simple. Earlier, with "eyes", you sang ah-ees and that dipthong made a wobble. Later with "fight," you held the ah and that is what gave that line such mobility and you could take it wherever you wanted. When singing, you cannot pronounce the same way as when you speak. Later in the song, you simplified your vowels and it was the stronger section. If you do the first half like the second half, it will be consistent.

And that's just a suggestion, because I like what you did with this, including singing in or near the original key.

9 hours ago, aravindmadis said:

MDEW/Ronws.  I have corrected the compression issue in "Just the way you are".  I think this version sounds much better mix wise.. 

I agree, it sounds more consistent, like you clicked on "make-up gain after compression."

And did you imagine a few years ago that you could sing a Bruno Mars song and have it sound like you have been singing that way a long time, like you had a mail box in that range?

I liked both. As for compression, that is the reason the later part of "Just the Way You Are" sounds diminished in presence. Re mix and see if you can have compressor perform gain after compression. Then you can re-balance the volume of the vocal track against everything else. You can also lower the threshold so that more of the vocal is evened out. Soft knee. And even though the song is uptempo, it is double-time to the meter of the vocal, so use a slow release time.

16 hours ago, benny82 said:

Thanks guys!

Yes I'm a bass pretty much. Took me some time to realize that though 

Sometimes it's okay to realize what your voice is. Once I realized and accepted that I would never be baritone, let alone bass,I could accept being a tenor and work with my voice that way to free it up.

I'll never be able to do Caiaphas from JC Superstar, but I can still admire those who can.

"Ah gentlemen, you know why we are here. We've not much time and quite a problem here ...."

I agree with Gneetapp's judgement. And like I said in the email, go more intense.

On 1/28/2016 at 0:07 PM, Adolph Namlik said:

I wrote Aucka as well and offered the 50% discount. I also added some other kind words and am awaiting a reply...... (?)

@Aucka 

I did the conversion from U.S. Dollars to Australian currency for you and here's the cost(s) of a membership :

1 month - $ 5.64 Australian currency
1 year - $35.25 Australian currency

Not a bad deal

The one year deal, that is about half to less than half the price of one lesson in the US. A year worth of input and review for less than one lesson.

You can't even get guitar lessons that cheap.

That was awesome. Bravo, Benny.

I know everyone likes MJ but I suggest G should do Prince, especially "Kiss." You have the right balance of high and low.

"You don't have to be rich to rule my world. You don't have to be cool to be my girl ...."

This needs to be in the review section and I have fixed your avatar. You're welcome, in advance.

silliness. Your avatar pic looks like a young Bruce Jenner, the olympic gold medalist.

12 hours ago, #NA said:

So good!

Looking good, Bruce.

I agree with the others and well done. To me, your voice was meant for this song and vice versa, even if it was written for another voice.

This needs to be in the review section and I shall move it, forthwith.

3 hours ago, Gsoul82 said:

Interesting. I'll check it out.

Anybody else? You can pick 2

 

Don't think I've heard one Bee Gees song, but I'm probably completely wrong, lol. 60's challenge is a great idea in my mind. I'll get a few more people in here and see what the people say before we vote.