BlackieJane

Thanks KillerKu! You always give such thoughtful critiques and I very much appreciate it. I'm always really glad when someone says "you made it your own". That's like the best compliment. I consider myself to be an improvisational singer...I never know what my exact path in a song is before I start, so I'm always trying to play with the phrasing, time, tones etc. So I always try to sing in the moment, and it's never the same twice...just like Billie and Louis and Sarah and Nina. That's my favourite part. I've also been doing a lot of scatting too, which has helped a lot in finding my own voice. Which brings me to the yodel. Totally not intentional lol. I need to figure out how to make the transition there smoother bc i hit it most of the time, but I'd like it if I could get it smooth every time. I just have to figure out how. Anyhow, thanks for listening and your comments. I hope you have been well.

Thank you so much for listening Pikka! I appreciate the feedback :)

Thanks MDEW! I sing mostly old jazz and pre "rock n roll" blues from like the 1920s-1950s, so I'm used to our music being overlooked at times lol. But people usually like it once they give it a chance. Thanks for listening though! I've been around the community for a while and I've posted other songs in the past (hadn't recorded anything new for a few months though), and you've always been kind enough to listen and comment

Hi! i quite enjoyed it. You have a nice voice. It's definitely easy to listen to. I love acoustic stuff. I could tell that this song was important to you, but you sang with a bit of a guard up. You want to find a comfortable level of vulnerability where you can access those emotions, but still be able to remain composed. Basically, use your emotions for the song in a way that makes it more dynamic in your phrasing, volume etc. Other than that, you should "sing" more! The more you do it (and believe you're doing it), the more comfortable you'll feel. When you start off singing a song, don't even have the thought of "well, I don't sing and I don't consider myself a good singer, but here goes anyway". Just sing it and trust yourself because you've got the skills.

You have a really nice voice. There's a vintage quality to it. Kinda reminds me of Roberta Flack. My only criticism is the backing track. I just thought that the cheesiness of the backing music took away from the overall feel and the beauty of your voice. But the backing music isn't whats being critiqued here. You have a really nice voice. My only advice is, get a band together and go play some gigs!

Just me and the boys at The Bedroom Studio. And by THE Bedroom Studio, I mean OUR bedroom studio. This is based on the Nina Simone arrangement. We are an improvisational group that mostly focus on our live performances, but we want to start recording more (hopefully in a professional studio), so we want to get more comfortable in a studio setting, while the mistakes are still free lol enjoy!

    I'm a huge fan of Nina.  She was just so...Nina.  She didn't care what anyone thought.  She was was classical and blues, feminine and strong, soft and hard, innocent and mischievious.  She fascinates me.  I try to be more like her, by being more like me.  Sometimes i doubt myself though.  I'm sure we all have our moments, but i'm happy to say those moments of doubt are fewer and further between.   And now that we've found ourselves an Upright Bass Player, i'm going to try to do a recording of "My Baby Just Cares For Me", as my nod to Nina         Thanks Mr. Flake!

Really beautiful voice. You have a great vibrato and the accent is charming. I remember one of my marketing professors telling us that a lot of people see their accent as a disadvantage, but it doesn't have to be. If you sound confident, the accent will actually make people listen to you actively and more carefully. I really like your voice. I hope you are getting out there and sharing it with people who pay you money, so you can make a living and keep focusing on your music. You have the potential to be a really huge voice once you carve out your path.

thanks bubblycrazy for the compliment and advice!

Thanks so much for explaining that in detail to me.  Someone had once mentioned vocal fold closure to me, but a lot of the technical stuff goes over my head.  I'm going to look into it more and try the exercises.    I always imagined i'd sound like Bessie Smith once i learned how to access my natural voice...big, loud and all woman... and i was pretty disappointed at first once i started hearing myself.  But i've come to terms with the breathy girliness of my voice...i just need to learn to manage it better, so i don't run into the crackling.  So i'm very greatful for the advice.  You're awesome and thank you for listening and the thoughtful feedback

So I have two recordings of this song...the live one was record in November (my 3rd time on stage) at a gig we did at a restaurant/bar here in Toronto; the othe video was done at home about a week and a half ago. There are at least 2 spots where my voice crackles. How do I fix this? I felt like my throat dry. Is it a dry throat issue or more of a technique thing? It doesn't happen all the time, but it's kind of embarrassing when it does happen, so I want to get rid of it. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the responses guys! I'm going to look into the mic suggestions and keep singing!

I thought the vocals needed to be louder...I couldn't really make out the words very well (granted, it was through my iPhone speakers), and I've never heard the song before, so I don't know what the original sounds like, but it was cool. I like your voice at the top of your range the most, you sounded more comfortable up there. There were some really cool moments and Im a little envious of the power of your upper range :D

Thanks Killer and ronws!  I was kind of hesitant to post it because i didn't think the recording captured the colors of the song when i perform it live.  I'm usually impressed with myself after singing this song when i do it on stage, but i wasn't impressed with myself after listening to the recording.  People who have seen me live vs on a recording always tell me that the recordings don't do me justice and i'm waaay better in person.  And i think it's a really nice compliment bc i'd take live perfomance over recording any day, but at the same time, i've got it in my head now that my recordings suck lol.  And I guess i'm just not really an overall fan of my recorded voice.  But i also dont really know a whole lot about mixing tracks and whatnot.  In fact, i don't really even know if the mic sounds 'dead' (i'm not even sure thats a real term lol), but i just felt like the umm..."brightness" of the sound wasn't there.  Maybe it has nothing to do with the mic and just needed a little reverb.  Or maybe i'm just still getting used to the sound of my own voice )   Ronws...i use a Shure SM7B currently...someone had mentioned that a condenser would be better for me.   Thanks for listening though guys, i really appreciate the kind words!   blackiejane www.stoptimeentertainment.com

Click the link and have a listen! Please 😄 I'm also trying to figure out a better mic for my voice. I felt like this mic sounded a bit too "dead". Any suggestions? Thanks for listening

I think you have a great voice! The song however is not a good choice for you. Without live instrumentation (when you're performing live), you don't have the luxury of changing the key or the arrangement or the tempo. The song is too restrictive for you and I felt like it boxed you in. I felt like there was a lot of power hiding in your voice, but choosing the wrong key will leave you just trying to keep up with the song instead of free movement within it. So choose your songs wisely, especially when you're doing it live with a backing track. I'd love to see more though...I'm really curious to hear what you can REALLY do.

Let me say first that it's a big step putting your recording out for the first time. So you've already taken a big leap. Your natural tone and texture is really nice and you have the potential to have a really rich sound. So I hope you accept that and own that you have a naturally lovely voice. Everything else is just developing the basic techniques to bring that sound out. The technical stuff won't seem as hard once you accept your own abilities and potential. What were you doing when you recorded this? Were you alone? Were you wearing headphones? Maybe you didn't want to make too much noise? I suspect you couldn't hear yourself very well. You tend to talk-sing in some parts, which is okay to do, but it has to be well placed. Billie Holiday was a big influence on Norah Jones and noone could talk-sing like Billie. Of course Billie had such a limited range, so she kind of had to, but honestly, you have such potential to be a good singer, I think you'd be cheating yourself. You have a much better natural voice than Billie Holiday, who is regarded as one of the best singers ever. You already have an advantage so don't let anything hold you back from finding your voice.

Bono & Ronws thanks for the response! I feel like I've come a long way since I recorded this (it was my first recording). It feels like ages ago. But I'm really appreciative for the feedback I got bc it really made me work hard to improve my sound and style Bono, I'm not sure I'd do an Aretha song very well. I'm not really a belter (yet). I'm working on finding my belting voice, but I find that I'm having a hard time with it because 1)Being loud and belting things aren't really a part of my personality...so I often feel like a phony when I try to belt. 2)I CAN be pretty loud when I try to be, but it makes me feel awkward (phony), so it ends of sounding really tentative. So I could do an Aretha cover, but it wouldn't be very Aretha sounding lol Thanks a lot for listening though!

You have a really nice voice. Good job. You can definitely sing, no questions asked. I agree with Boni about the build up though. It's like sex...you can take him/her in the back and smash...and some songs need that...or you can play around a bit first with some foreplay to wet the appetite. You have a really beautiful voice though

So I took the plunge and have done a few gigs so far with a few more coming up. This is just a video my brother took of a gig we did at Harlem Restaurant in downtown Toronto. It's a cover is Black Coffee that has been done by Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. It's not the best quality, but I'd love your feedback!

Hey, I thought you did a really good job. You have a really nice tone and your pronunciation is really good considering English isn't your first language. Overall, you have a great voice. I'm a big Louis Armstrong fan, so I love the song choice. I love jazz and blues personally, so my advice would be to study Louis a bit more. Although his voice was a one-of-a-kind, he was so huge in changing the way singing was approached and he influenced a lot of other singers. If you want that jazz feel, try playing around with the time and connect the time with the telling of the story. I mean, that's if you even do jazz or want to do jazz. If you do, listen to Louis solo on trumpet and try to follow those and then eventually veer off and tell the story your way. I'm only giving this advice because I think you have an awesome voice and think you could pull it off. Good job though.

Thanks ronws! That's awesome to hear Robert Flack and Sarah Vaughan even mentioned near my post. They're both amazing. I like how Peggy Lee sets up that same kind of scene you described, so lately I've been trying to listen to her a bit more. I'm glad she's rubbing off on me. I just started working on "Black Coffee" and if all goes well, I may have an upright bass and trombone player get in on it too. And thank you for fixing the embed...I haven't been able to figure it out lol )

I don't think your link works...

Thanks so much for listening and giving me your feedback, tips and encouragement. I really do take your advice to heart and I really appreciate it, especially since you seem to be the only one listening lol! :cool:

So this is my 2nd recording. After doing 'The Nearness of You', I had a friend who's had quite a bit of training come over and teach me some exercises. I didn't really know about diaphragmic stuff until a few weeks ago, so I've been working on that to strengthen my support. In critiquing myself, I think that because I've become so conscious about breathing, I'm doing it too much when I don't need to. So I keep inhaling when I'm not doing parts that need the extra support, making the less intense parts too airy and uncontrolled. How do I find that balance? Will it just work itself out once I have more practice and the diaphragmic breathing becomes more of a reflex and less of a conscious effort? Anyway, have a listen and your feedback is very much appreciated! Thanks