Lavishous

Wrote and recorded a spooky little intro this morning, possibly to be included somewhere in my band's upcoming EP. Tell me what you think of technique, mixing, ect. http://vocaroo.com/i/s030h3kOoexJ

Any additional thoughts?

Thanks a ton for the responses guys! I will try to focus more on cutting from the top in future takes and brighten the vowels slightly, both of which have been consistent problems for me. I've been told several times that I have a very dark tone and heavy sound which can lead to unfortunate outcomes in the higher registers; all of which I'm sure can be rectified with proper training. KillerKu, I'm really glad you enjoyed my band's sound and what we're hoping to do in the prog-metal genre!

Hey guys, I would love to hear your thoughts on my recorded vocals for my progressive metal band! I'm only 18 years old and have much to learn singing-wise, but my band and I were hoping to be able to record a demo within the next year or so and I'm attempting to prepare myself for a studio setting. In case you're interested, the instrumental piece is still in it's earliest phases and I haven't yet been able to track real bass or drum parts yet. http://vocaroo.com/i/s13sQ06GCXgR

I thought you did a great job on this. I noticed you did some improvisation on the chorus towards the end, which was nice and showed your flexibility. The high notes didn't sound strained or really difficult which was impressive and there weren't any noticeable pitch problems. I thought the verses lacked a bit of energy and could've used some more head resonance, but outside of that minor issue I thought this was excellent!

I'm an avid metal fan and have recently begun experimenting with some of the high vocals that many of these bands use in the "clean" parts. I used to have to sing many of these songs an octave down due to my lower range but now that I can belt up to G4 with proper warm-up, I can sing some of them in the appropriate octave. I wanted to get some opinions on my tone on the recording I just made and what you guys think sounds pleasant for non-screaming vocals in this genre. Here's the recording, my parts are somewhat scattered and I only did the non-screams. http://vocaroo.com/i/s1W0eCZLCGwr

I'm 17 yrs old and I have experienced many of the issues you are discussing when I was a little younger. I now have a around 2 1/2 usable chest octaves (B1-F#4) with a bit of wiggle room on the upper and lower sides if I want to go in either direction. I started at 16 barely able to go above middle C without tremendous voice cracks or flipping into falsetto abruptly. I began training what I did have in range carefully and without stressing the parts I couldn't yet reach, and with time and some pubertal balancing I have come a long way. Naturally, there are still moments where I feel as though I'm very limited but it's important to maintain some perspective about your voice, especially at our young, developing ages. I would also recommend you try training your falsetto register a bit; not excessively or to the point of priority, but I found it helpful in establishing the "sensation" of using higher notes than I could initially reach in chest/mixed voice. Hope this helps!

Man, you could give this a try as an acapella version.

With Audacity just record the backing humming, and then sing over that. It could be pretty cool Plus, it's so fun to do stuff like that haha

Thanks, I think I'll give that a try. Any thoughts on the vocals themselves?

I gave this tune a try as I was a major fan of it from the Hobbit film and thought it suited my voice nicely. I would greatly appreciate critique and general thoughts on my voice from this video. Thanks guys!

Final bump.

I really loved this. I'm quite the amateur in singing terms, but I really enjoyed your darker tone/timbre. Your voice is very different from the Rise Against vocalist but it was refreshing to hear the song in a completely different vocal style. Keep up the covers!

Any thoughts?

Back with another cover, this time "Brothers in Arms" by Club for Five, which includes a lower bassy verse and then transitions to a section where I can demonstrate some of my upper-middle range. Unfortunately, I've been suffering from allergies so my voice is weaker than normal and feels almost "empty" but I would still love some thoughts on this. Thanks so much guys!

No, man , you keep on singing the low stuff. Because you have a gift others do not have. It's just not fair, that's all. Well, revel in your individuality and excellence, even if it is considered gauche to be exceptional or have a unique talent. We have more than enough instances of bassos and baritones singing stuff in the tenor range or wanting to, at least. Very few honest to goodness dark bassos.

I appreciate the comment, and I'm happy to tell you that I'm not really trying to sing in the tenor range or anything as I certainly enjoy the resonance and overall feeling of bass singing. However, I think the next post will be in a slightly higher range just to get some critique on my upper-middle tone/production.

Man! I'd like to hear a song in your mid to high range if possible. You have a very dark timbre and I am curious as how it would sound higher.

Still deciding which song that's going to be. I can usually produce a pretty convincingly light tone in the upper middle if I really focus on resonating in the head, but unfortunately allergies have been impeding my voice recently.

i meant how he keeps calling himself a bass. I remember a thread by him wanting to increase range. I just don't want him to get locked into this mentality that "he's a bass and can't learn to sing high"

I really don't consider myself locked in the "bass" mentality. I called myself a bass or baritone for the purposes of this post mainly because the notes I sung where in that range, not because I'm necessarily either of those voice types. I'm only 17 anyway so who really knows where my voice may end up, and I'm always trying to work in the upper-middle as much as I can to feel comfortable up there. Thanks so much for the response!

It's cool that you can go that low but go ahead it sing it an octave higher like Johnny does.

If you want to practice your Bass singing try Old Man River. That is a pretty cool Bass song.

"I walk the Line" By Johnny Cash is another song for singing Low.

I did not notice any pitch issues but that low is a little too low for that song.

Yeah once I start getting near those G and A1s, I really begin hitting the lowest part of my voice that is quite hard to control. I'll try it an octave higher and see how that goes. Thanks!

I don't think you are a bass baritone but you did well in that range.

Hard to tell from this clip but I would shoot more for baritone. Are you speaking really softly? Usually baritones also have more weight but with a very trebley webcam mic I doubt it would be picked up!

Put bass/baritone because I've been told both about my voice and didn't want to sound too certain about either. Didn't mean the "basso-baritone" classification itself. Thanks for response!

Thanks for the response and recommendation, always looking for bass-y songs to help work on my lower end.

Would love some opinions and critique on this. Tried to capture a bit of the southern effect while doing this but it's tough being from Philly and 17 yrs old. By the way, I know things get a little pitchy at the bottom end in the G to A range.

Seems like you're rushing the beat a bit in the choruses but not a huge issue. I personally think your voice sounds a lot like Ellie's with a light, airy tone that worked especially well in the higher "When the light started out" parts. I agree that there is some work to be done in the low end but that should come with time and deeper, supported breaths. Hope this helped!

I've attached a video including some examples of my lower and upper ranges to showcase any improvements I've made recently. The first is "Misty Mountains Cold" from The Hobbit soundtrack and has a deeper sound to it, and the last couple are "Set Fire to the Rain" and "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele (sung an octave down and with some modifications). Any critique/assistance would be greatly appreciated!

I really enjoyed this. I'm not exactly in a position to give an actual critique considering I'm a 17 yr old student with a little over a year of singing experience, but it sounded phenomenal to me. Only potential critique is those A2s sounded a tad airy to me but once again I'm just a humble beginner. I remember you responded to my post in the vocal technique section and I appreciate your kind words. Haha maybe that JC Superstar show will even end up happening some day :)