Jim Brewster

My only pet peeve is mix-related. On the first song at least, you need to bring your vocal forward and the guitar back. Other than that, magnifico!

OK, so now I'm going a little out of the comfort zone. Here is some messing with mix in the car. Whether you call it mix, or pulling chest, these G4's feel pretty effortless (no matter how they sound :/ ), which should be the point, right? In the middle I think I'm compressing too much or starting to push, so it starts to distort. Guess I'm a little impatient to add volume! And notice how easily I flip into a yodel on the "EE" vowel toward the end. Might not sound like much, but this is progress for an entrenched bass-baritone like me! Thanks to Phil for helping me out! And another for the list of visualizations. This coordination and sound reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld in his old sitcom, yelling in surprise or outrage at one of his friends. Say "Elaine!" in a high crying tone! :D

The thing with Minne Ripperton is that she was pretty relaxed with pitch. She had a jazzy style and tended to swoop and slide a lot, but she hit them long enough to establish a coherent melodic line. It can be a fine and subtle distinction with that style. More precise singers might be easier to follow. And very few of us have musical talent that doesn't take work to develop and refine.

This sort of post always makes me wonder, "what's really going on here." Is it because of comments on this post? http://themodernvocalist.punbb-hosting.com/viewtopic.php?id=9063 Don't get discouraged by that, get motivated. Otherwise you're never going to stretch and grow. Even Felipe, in his terse way, said "study," not "pack it in." I don't think there's too many "naturally gifted" singers on this forum, who never had to put in some long and hard effort to develop their vocal talents. If they were, why would they be here in the first place?

Good voice, and nice melodic line--interesting but timeless. Could fit into a variety of genres depending on how you dress it up.

Nice job! I can tell you've got a natural feel for the music, and you convey the emotion well. It sounds like maybe you're damping your larynx a bit much, maybe to try to sound like Johnny, but too much and it strains the throat makes it harder to hit the higher pitches. You did seem to relax into it more by the middle of the songs. A little more relaxed and natural in the throat, and a little more open in the mouth would be my only suggestions.

The whistle tones sound awesome! Kind of wish I could do that, but might be a bit freakish coming from an old man like me! Maybe that's why I play flutes and pennywhistles... You do have pitch issues in the rest of the song. It's impossible for me to tell if it's tension, lack of support, or hearing and matching the pitches that the biggest issue. Are you singing with a Karaoke track here? You might try singing along with Minnie, and let her pitch be a guide. Also certainly any good teacher would be able to help you. You have a beautiful voice, so go with it and take any criticism as a chance to learn and grow; certainly not as a reason to stop singing! Whatever your voice type, it suits this style of music just fine!

Try this link. Seems the '#' broke it: Sounds good. Not Lou, but you! As it should be!

Here's one I've been playing for a few years. It's a cover from my good friend and musical co-conspirator Steve Strauss. Didn't want to give a way too many of his clever lyrics though. Range for the lead is B2-B3, for the bass B1-E3. Key of Em. Sorry for the unintended rasp in a few places due to morning clams.

Well you are a little airy on the low notes, but you are hitting the pitches. I don't know how old you are. If you are in your mid teens or thereabouts your vocal anatomy is still growing, so the bottom end of your range should naturally expand. Just keep at it, but don't push. Quiet and in tune is better than loud and way off the mark! If you are older than your early twenties, I would guess you might have smaller than average vocal folds. In that case you can still expand your range a bit at the low end, but your strongest potential will be in the higher octaves. You might be a lyric tenor, but that's only really knowable, and only really relevant, in a classical context.

I concur with the above comments. Sounds great! You've got some weight/color to your voice, but I think that is a good thing, and yeah, you can do country, rock, rnb, whatever you want. As far as belting vs mixing the high notes, you're doing what comes naturally, and it's perfectly normal for your untrained voice. My top-end belt note that can sound decent in the right context is around E4. Well of course you don't want to hurt yourself, and you want to keep it in context. In this song it sounds good, but wouldn't it be great to have control over the volume and tone of that note? All the gradations between a bellow and a squeak? That's the stuff I'm working on, currently in the slow self-study mode, but I'm looking into taking some lessons to speed up and smooth out the process. And you won't find a better batch of coaches for that purpose than right here on this forum!

You might be playing in G with a capo on 1 or an over-tuned guitar, but the key you're singing is G# (or A-flat). No matter, it sounds pretty good to me. ronws's advice on the vowels is good, and is icing on the cake. Lots of artists in the folk/alternative/singer-songwriter realms rely more on stagecraft than technique, but since this is a vocal technique forum, might as well lay on the icing!

That really depends on how musically literate you are. You might think singing into a tuner would be easiest, but matching pitch with an instrument or pitch pipe (acoustic or electronic doesn't matter) is probably easier for most beginners because tuners can pick up harmonics and give a false note value, or be jumpy and hard to read, especially if your pitch is unsteady. Once you match a pitch, say an A, try matching it in lower and higher octaves. Then find your range by matching the lowest and highest notes you can sing. For reference, your song clip is within the range of Ab3 to F4. If none of this make sense, since you mention taking lessons, I'd suggest asking your teacher for help. If they can't help you, find another one, and in the meantime ask one of your musical friends for help.

Sounds good. Nice and relaxed and in your comfort zone (which sounds pretty close to mine). Makes me want to hear the whole song...

Or do both. Singing with a band is a great teacher!

Hello all, I so want to share some of my singing and get some feedback, starting with my paltry studio output. Here is a pre-preview from Kiva, one of the bands I play with. These clips start with instrumental intros and cut out before the chorus, so when I get a chance I will edit some clips that are more centered on vocals: http://www.kivasong.com/recordings/so_far_final.html I sing lead on "Spirit Waltz." This is from 2009. http://www.kivasong.com/recordings/beauty.html I sing lead on "Star of the County Down." From 2002. Feel free to browse around. I'm doing harmony vocals on lots of stuff from 2002 onward, and there are some other fine vocalists in the band. Again, more vocal-centered clips to follow...

That's one thing I can tell you will change if you record yourself. You should start to hear it as you sing it, though recordings and other people's ears will still be valuable. You'll have to pardon my middle-aged ignorance, but is this a cover or an original? It sounds familiar but I can't quite place it, maybe somewhere between Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars. XD I'm hearing the main chord progression as F - C - E - Am G, with a capo on the 1st fret. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) You could try it without the capo and see if it's more comfortable to sing. Or to go even lower, try C - G - B7 - Em D, open or capo'd anywhere from frets 1 to 4. Or if you're fluent with barre chords that's a whole other matter... I have one song I really want to do in Em, but my bandmates insisted we transpose it down to Dm. It was the recording studio that convinced me to go along, for now! :D

Another new guy here. I'll bite! I'm not an expert on vocal technique by any means. As far as my expertise goes, I'll say the rhythm guitar work is solid! :cool: Other than that I just have my ears. Your voice sounds good and clear, but you seem to be having trouble hitting some of the pitches. I don't know if that's due to strain or other issue, though it does sound a bit strained at the upper end, or at least unsupported. You got to have good abdominal support in that bridge range! I hope some of the voice gurus chime in. It might help if you put up some different clips that show different ranges, tempos, etc. Of course there's no substitute for face-to-face real-time feedback from a good vocal coach. As far as what kind of band you would fit in, I'd say music you enjoy singing!

You have a nice voice! :)

That's good, because I'm brand new to this forum but "old as the hills" when it comes to internet discourse! So I think I have a pretty good perspective, but not everyone will agree, and that's okay. I went back and listened to the Highwaymen version and the original by Jimmy Webb, and those are all quite different and interesting. In Webb's the drama is in the instrumental arrangement, complete with horns and strings. The tune is also quite compelling, with some interesting melodic elements and meter shifts. (See I'm still hung up on the music! ).

There's certainly room for drama and variation, just saying it can be overdone. And not necessarily in this case, though I still think the song could use some breaking in--which is only to be expected from a song you just picked up. You might try singing it a little more "the same" and see if it is as boring as you think it would be. Where to draw the line between sameness tending toward boredom, and variation tending toward distraction and artifice, is indeed a subjective thing. Sometimes artists who trust in their songs can get away with a lot that might be otherwise considered "boring" or worse. Look at Bob Dylan. He might not be your cup of tea, but his songs and recordings have deeply touched millions. I hope you don't mind me offering my impressions, since that's what this forum is supposed to be for, isn't it? And don't worry, I intend to offer clips of myself sometime soon, and I would hope for honest feedback. :)

Snejk, granted, I only listened to it once. I'm also more of a "music" than a "lyric" guy, so take that into consideration. I'll give it another listen and try to absorb the lyrics a little better. I did notice the changes in timbre, and frankly it made it sound a little like 3 different people were singing. I wasn't sure if that was your intention. It's possible you're too emotional about it at this point(?) These things can be overdone (I've been guilty of that myself), and that can distract from the message. Wear it in like a good shoe, sing it naturally, and let the overall feeling take over. :cool:

I like it! It has a sort of British folk feel, or like Dire Straits with David Bowie fronting the band! I like music that brings things full circle and connects their roots in unexpected ways. If you owned the song a little more emotionally it could really go places, and given that you just picked it up that's no criticism toward you.