MDEW

You are more likely a Tenor like 80% of the males in this world.Most of us think we are Baritones because we are more comfortable singing below F4 and we sound funny above that. But it is the Quality and strength in our voice below C3 That makes a Baritone or Bass.
 
This mirrors what I was saying about Confidence. "Being confident and questioning whether you sound good or not makes a difference in the sound being produced. When confident you naturally take on a stronger more focused full sound and when not confident you end up with a week timid shaky small voice which just makes it harder to control."
The weak(yes, I wrote week before. so sue me....) Timid, shaky, small ,voice comes from not wanting people to hear an off pitch so you sing more quiet on those parts and mess yourself up. So, like Kickingtone said, practice somewhere where you can screw up without feeling self-conscious and let loose the singing god within. 
 

I hear voices in the background. It may only be my (vivid) imagination, but you sound to me as if you don't want to attract too much attention to yourself. You sound as if you are singing to yourself.
If you are singing somewhere where you are not yet comfortable, I advise that it is an absolute MUST to find somewhere where you can relax. If you don't, you could end up training all kinds of inhibition and nervousness or tension into your voice.

Wow... Welcome back  Aravindmadis. Good to hear that you are still singing and sounding so good.

Hey Jarom, What's up? Sounds pretty good to me, but I like happy little tunes. Kind of sounds like something from the early 70's. Like John Sebastian or Randy Newman. Cool.

The song sounds great and you look and sound awesome. The best advice I can give is tell you not to sign any contracts that take away your rights to your songs and other personal rights. That has a habit of happening in the music business. Other than that God bless and keep on singing......

YES, You Should...
 
 

What MDEW is hearing as compression, I'm hearing as singing in the throat too much. Similar results, until you try to lighten compression and then the voice suddenly gets super airy/breathy. What he's hearing as out of control vibrato, I'm hearing as not being able to stablize the notes and overcompensating with more vibrato. You need better resonant placement and proper breath support, so that the voice will resonate better in the soft palate and have the support underneath to better stabilize, cause better cord closure, and add to the resonance. 
To get an understanding and feel for what I mean by better breath support, try to make a loud "hooah" sound while pushing only from your diaphragm. That lock down of your upper abs is what you want to feel when you sing. When singing softly, it's a subtle feeling. As you get louder, it can greatly intensify. This is also the beginnings of a technique called appoggio, which means "to lean" the voice. Think of it as a leaning forward into your diaphragm.
For better resonant placement and getting your voice out of your throat, place a finger on your bottom lip (maybe just under) and try to sing up and over your finger. If you're focused only on the breath support and the pressure caused by that support going up and over your finger, you'll have a much better feel for what I'm trying to say.
Here's a much more in depth explanation:
 

HI Gill, Welcome to the forum. I love Janis. My favorite is Take a Piece of My Heart. I do not know what is is about that song but it gets to me.
Try this song a little less "Singy" and more "Conversational" and almost like pleading. The idea behind the song is "Please lord won't you help a girl out? All my friends are getting something in this life and I am being left behind. I try Hard. Please? "

On most of those songs there was too much processing and not my style to really hear your voice. I was able to listen to Stand by me. That sounded pretty good. It does show that you can keep a pitch and you have a pretty good tone in the lower range.
    To give you a perspective of other peoples opinion........My wife likes to hear me sing, But most of the songs I like she cannot stand the song itself. It is so frustrating to have someone who likes to hear you sing but constantly telling you to sing something else.
     So even if you have a good voice there are people who will not like it. It is just something that singers have to deal with.
     If you have a passion for singing keep doing it. Record your voice WITHOUT processing. Notice the things that you think sound good and those things that you do not like and go from there.

Thanks for listening. To be honest I ran through this song quite a few times trying different things. My first approach was heavier and more matter of fact rather than soft. I viewed a few covers by other people to get a handle on the acoustic guitar rhythm. Most of the other singers used a lighter approach and I guess I let myself be influenced by them. I will rerecord this and see how it goes.

Just to be straight, do you want tips BEFORE you practice with the band? Kicking it with the band is the best way to go first. You and the band need to be in sync. Not you and your imagination or you and Karaoke. Record the band with you singing and without so you can practice at home with the recording.
    Or is the band not even going to work on it if they think you cannot sing it? Changing key is also an option if it is too high for you at the moment.
     What you presented here does sound like a solid starting point. 

Just to be straight, do you want tips BEFORE you practice with the band? Kicking it with the band is the best way to go first. You and the band need to be in sync. Not you and your imagination or you and Karaoke. Record the band with you singing and without so you can practice at home with the recording.
    Or is the band not even going to work on it if they think you cannot sing it? Changing key is also an option if it is too high for you at the moment.
     What you presented here does sound like a solid starting point. 

Great to see you are back. One thing though, you forgot to link.the video.

Hey guys, I'm posting this as a sort of "hey all, long time no see, I'm doing well" hahah EDIT :Also, I don't ask for critique or review, I'm just showing what I've been doing for others who want to listen or study. 
I think someone posting about what they think the distortion is, or how it compares to theirs does not help my singing directly. I repeat myself "I posted this as a "hey all, this is what I've been doing" because the "tell your gains" thread is dead. If after this clarification my thread still belongs here, then I'm ok with that, but I just wanted to make it clear. I just wanted to debate singing and technique in general, or whatever someone wanted to ask ( about my vocal fold gap, reflux, etc ), cheers everyone!  .

I've been working hard on my voice as always, carrying weight up and my headvoice twangy range.  My max weight is on B4 and headvoice range topping on E5 on good days, with a solid D#5. I have a vocal fold gap ( acording to my stroboscopy on 2015 ) and I don't know the current state of it. It's a lot better, sound, strength and stamina has gotten waaay better. I still feel my voice a lot different though, I don't know if its because of the vocalis muscle that's grown stronger or what, but I wouldn't give up the stability of my voice now or my sound, for the flexibility or -strained- range I had before ( 2014-2015 )

Well, I come to tell you guys... I at last found some kind of distortion that feels healthy in my voice, and is sustainable.
I've tried the "throat singing" type of distortion ( false folds and cartilage, Hetfield style ) but it hurts and always leaves me with air leak and poor stamina for days or a week or two, even.
I've tried creaking distortion but as I already mentioned, my voice is kind of f***ed up in some way, and I don't know if it's normal but I have a hard time coordinating fry, lol. and when I manage, it leaves my voice very worn out if done for 20 minutes.

This kind of distortion I found is probably like the rattle described in CVT terms ( kind of what Jorn Lande does most of the time ), where something ( I think arytenoid cartilage ? ) vibrates, but in a different way, I feel like the upper and side walls of my pharynx contracting, which makes something vibrate and produce this "overlay".
I
t's still a thin grit and I have to put quite a bit of effort in it to make the walls contract enough to make the sound but I guess with time and patience the strength will come and I'll be able to put more "anger" into it coordinated with vocal weight.  I must mention that doing this distortion makes my voice last longer, stamina is better, and closure is getting better too. I feel my muscles are working out and getting stronger, and I have an easier time mixing into my upper range. All this change in a span of 5 days, so it's important to note.

I hope you guys like how it sounds, this is the fifth day since I found it, videos are from yesterday  

 

 

Avinash,
Your kid is cute.
And I can confirm for you that she has a gift for singing. You are not delusional or just the "over zealous parent". For her to even DARE to try to sing this song at 9 years old, and then actually ... sort of pull it off, is impressive. 
It does need a lot of work, but that doesn't hide the fact that for her age, there is something here that is promising.
For example:
- Here pitch is not perfect, but for her age and the difficulty of this song, not bad. About 80% in.
- Notes such as at 1:40, are very nicely resonant and pretty. Foreshadowing what she could do with a more mature voice , more consistently. 
- She seems to have a rather darker tone to her voice which is unusual for girls. Girls tend to be very shrill and it is nice to NOT be hearing that ear piercing shrill from a little girl, but some more warmth from her sound color. Again, another hint at potential here.
As far as competing for talent shows are concerned, I think she could be competitive IF she trained and got serious. Does she have a voice coach? Without professional coaching and someone to really raise the bar to prepare for auditions, she would not be competitive. I believe she can do it, but you and your family are going to have to make a decision to commit to hard work and serious training, not just singing songs for fun. Is she ready to make singing her "job" and study it like she does homework at school?  If so, she has a chance.
I am available to help you and your daughter if you are looking for a qualified coach. I have a training program that would do a lot to clean things up and get her stronger and more serious about what she is doing. Feel free to give me a call or send me a private email.
I hope this helps.

Thanks Draven, I have embraced my identity more as a story teller than a singer. Jim Croce, James Taylor, Jackson Browne along with Dylan and John Prine. 
I dropped the key from Bb or B to G so the highest note as I sing it is G4 staying away from the dreaded passaggio.  As I mentioned above after watching other people perform this on acoustic I thought I had been singing it a bit too heavy. With any luck I will be able to rerecord this evening with the suggestions that you and Robert made along with my original approach before being influenced by the way others have presented this.
  I have been trying to get a handle on my dipthongs for some time now.  I grew up with Bluegrass/Country gospel. Part of their appeal is a thin piercing sound. It goes well with the Banjo and fiddle but leaves a little to be desired for other types of music.

Thanks for listening. To be honest I ran through this song quite a few times trying different things. My first approach was heavier and more matter of fact rather than soft. I viewed a few covers by other people to get a handle on the acoustic guitar rhythm. Most of the other singers used a lighter approach and I guess I let myself be influenced by them. I will rerecord this and see how it goes.

It has been a while since I have presented anything. I still have not found time for true practice but I have improved since receiving the FOUR PILLARS OF SINGING. 
Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks
 

Singing is hard to write about, especially when it is about tone. I do not really hear anything wrong with the tone, but then again it all depends on what style of music is behind the singing.
   In these examples you are singing word for word with distinct stops between each word, like each word is a separate note. In some styles that is good but with others it is bad. Think of singing in terms of phrasing. There is not a hard stop between words but a continuous flow, unless of course if the song calls for that.
  The voice is another instrument. When you are playing a lead on the guitar do you stop each note before you play another? or are you playing four or five notes in succession with some of the notes sustaining? At the same time you are also expressing an emotion with your voice. Using dynamics to express the feeling. When you are happy and expressing love for someone do you yell at them like you are mad? Not if you want them to return the feeling. You use a soft tone when expressing love and a Harsh tone when expressing Pain or anger. Phrasing can be thought about like that also. Slow and melodic for expressing love and quick and blunt for anger or pain.
   These are just guides to give you a different way of thinking about singing.

Sounds good Jeremy, I have to agree with everything Robert said.
Just use a single vocal line(unles adding harmonies of course).
The character thing he was talking about is adding prosody or rather when the lyrics are making a statement sing it like you are making a statement and when the lyrics form a question sing it like you are asking a question. Add emotional content to the singing.
In a song like this you are telling a story AND acting out the lyrics with voice. Vocal technique is only part of singing and performing.
Keep up the good work. I really like your singing. Add this one to your list. Soon you will have enough to perform two or three sets in public...........then the fun really starts.

Sounding good Javastorm. Nothing to say as far as tips go except to keep singing this and add it to your set list when performing for an audience.

Sounds good Jeremy, I have to agree with everything Robert said.
Just use a single vocal line(unles adding harmonies of course).
The character thing he was talking about is adding prosody or rather when the lyrics are making a statement sing it like you are making a statement and when the lyrics form a question sing it like you are asking a question. Add emotional content to the singing.
In a song like this you are telling a story AND acting out the lyrics with voice. Vocal technique is only part of singing and performing.
Keep up the good work. I really like your singing. Add this one to your list. Soon you will have enough to perform two or three sets in public...........then the fun really starts.

Bravo! This is exactly my intent from my words. @muffinhead, I see you working hard in TFPOS. I have no doubt you can do whatever you want with your voice as long as you stay determined to do so. Don't let "I wish I could..." or "If only..." ever stand in the way of knowing you'll reach your goals because you will stop at nothing to do so.
I don't want to hijack this thread though. So to relate that back... I've had a lot of pleasure teaching an SLS student how to belt. They have amazing control of their voice. Sadly, I've yet to meet one that has the strength to sing in a full voice after a few notes above their bridge.

something MDEW said in my old siren thread. Makes good sense now for this thread


 
Yes. I have been referencing "shedding weight" as you ascend. But if you are already really light to start with then you dont have anything TO shed and you might have to work more to maintain air pressure and cord closure etc

JonJon, I just had the chance to listen to your sirens. You can even see that the second siren in your first clip is almost perfect. My browser shows the little sound graph. in the second siren there is no low energy spot you just switch to a solid sound.
 I never had trouble producing a pitch between F#4 and E5. My trouble was sounding like Miss Piggy, Ethel Merman or Edith Bunker. When I tried to maintain a masculine sound that is when the Flipping/choking at F#4 happened.
   You have a nice solid tone throughout. Singing lighter is about shedding vocal cord weight and reducing sound volume.
   One thing that people do not think about in terms of light singing and Heavy singing is that if you have a heavy cord closure or more mass to the folds as you ascend and approach the passaggio you reduce vocal mass before shifting. If you are already singing light you do not reduce mass you just increase pressure as you shift. If you are singing light and try to lighten more at the shift you will lose connection and flip to falsetto.