Bono

So I wrote a new song today, some of you might have listened to my song "Don't be Strong," this new one is a little different. Please share your thoughts kind people

I think you need to be on the radio. I was listening to this at work on my desktop with the really good speakers and it sounded like something I would hear on the radio.
 
As glamorous as living on a ranch can be, you might consider a professional singing career.

If you want to keep singing this way, and posting it. I'm cool with it personally, but you yourself have said it was pitchy. If you want that, that's cool. If you don't then you'd have to make some kind of change. Lessons would be by far the fastest way for your to improve. Sometimes people go off key cause they have too much constriction, other times it's musical error. Only you can really verify how much you have.
 
For constriction, if you are constricted, you'd either need to get as honest with yourself as you can (ego aside) and try to find a more relaxed, free flowing phonation, which sometimes isn't possible on our own, or get a professional who would help. For musicality you have a lot more options. Do you have some kind of instrument? If not can you download a trial of Fruity loops or some other kind of composition software (Anvil Studio was an older free one)? They have things called 'piano rolls' where you can move the notes up and down, listen to and sing along with the pitches, and compose music.
 
Basically to improve pitch from a musical standpoint, you'd play pitch games with yourself. Sing along to other things. Play what you sing. Back and forth, scales, intervals, melodies, harmonies and so forth. You can tune yourself to some degree this way.
 
I dunno man. You seem to be looking for improvement. People are giving you a hard time, maybe trying a tough love approach with you, or maybe just are annoyed. But fundamentally, you don't achieve goals by banging your head into the same wall. Sometimes you gotta find the door that you've been missing. It's possible you can find this door yourself, but it's faster when someone knowledgeable shows you.

Hey guys, after some oldies I decided to record something newer
 
Please let me know what do you think!
 

I`ll give you some emotional feedback cause a can not put my thoughts in a clear way. I see a route, a kind of desert with some trees and stones, could be that is dawning or dusk, i hear some radiohead, some country, something special, you are special man... I like it

I wrote you a post that got removed in the transition from the old forum. Basically, I showed your self penned tune to a known Nick Drake fan and she was feeling it. I think you're closer than you think to capturing a kind of vibe that his fans would appreciate.
 
The issue basically is: Nick Drake was a very subtle guy, and subtlety was a really hard art form to be heard in those days. Nick Drake wasn't heard too much until after he died, so it was hard back then, and even harder now. In the modern age people are always moving, with a constant stream of 'stimulation' from the internet, from their phones, from work life, driving, there's constant movement, constant stimulation.
 
To catch people's attention, it usually takes a spectacle. Neon lights, loud bangs, naked people, meat dresses, frog suits, cosmetic butt surgeries. To sum up the difference to me, it feels like we live in the kind of world that is no longer fascinated by Mona Lisa's smile, but is genuinely confused why she isn't naked.
 
My thing is I hear you, and if you're content to be a subtle artist, it's cool stuff man. It sounds fulfilling and like a deeply personal journey for you. On the other hand, I hear something else in you, that maybe with a bit more hook might capture more attention. I mentioned in another thread, if Radiohead never wrote Creep, it's very possible few people or even no one would have heard Kid A, or liked it if it was released. they basically gained 'license' to do material that required a bit more effort to digest, by first gaining a fan base.
 
One way would be to try to write hookier songs at some point. Supposedly even Drake made sacrifices to try to achieve that goal, as even the folk listeners found his stuff too subtle, without major choruses, and practically booed him off the stage. I'm just wondering if there is a way you can make a bit of a bang or spectacle to catch attention in this life. It could be musical, it could be visual (dunno if Gaga has done a lizard dress yet, ).  It'd just be cool if you could capture some of Drake's inspiration and reach more audience than he could in his life. I know my friend has listened a lot to Pink Moon. She digs subte, vulnerable sounding artists.
 
But it's about what you want as an artist. You're pretty good at what you do. Either way, I'd recommend you keep writing your own tunes as well as covering 
Drake and being inspired by him. You him well, but he had enough trouble himself getting heard. At least with your own tunes, maybe people will discover you at a later date.

You have a very nice voice, I don´t think you have pitch issues at all... I agree with you your voice could be a lot stronger, I would add with training, practice and time (and patience)
 
To the classical school you could be a "lyric tenor", according to my brother who sings opera i´m a lyric tenor too; but in popular music could be whatever... there is already a post in this forum you may be interested in 
 
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Back to the old school I´ll give you some examples of different kind of tenors starting with the lighter and finishing with the deeper, all of them can hit the same notes but they have different repertoires, at least theoretically because in practice most of them, specially young tenors sing most of all and that is how they end up ruining their voices at an early age (i´m repeating what my brother says).
 
The aria is called Che gelida manina from the opera La Boheme, composed by Puccini. This opera was written for a lyric tenor.
 
Leggero tenor
 

 
Lyric tenor
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHkTqNx5eDw
 
Spinto tenor
 

 
Dramatic tenor
 

 
Now, returning to the subject, I think killer gave you a good advice, George Michael is an excellent option for you so far, you may also try with some luther vandross now that I see you like RNB

Thank you guys.   Jonas, is good to hear that it sounds relaxed, when I started to sing my biggest problem was that I used to squeeze and pull a lot... high notes seemed to be forbidden for me until I started to relax the muscles of my throat   Killer, thank you man. I don´t want to sound like those old people that claim that all the things were better in the past, BUT I can´t avoid feeling that before singers used to sing with more heart and truly passion. That´s why just few new songs call my attention... regarding to the "little vibrato", I have to tell you that I don't do it on pourpose, it started like a resource to come back from a high note more gently without loosing the tune... respecting the mix thing you pointed, I agree with you! fortunately I had not closed the garageband and could restore my breath to the track, if you listen again you will notice the changes.

Tough love or sugar-coat?   How does one give a review? If the whole thing has problems, a reviewer has a few choices.   First option is to not respond at all. Let it go to obscurity as newer posts come along. Assuming that option is not chosen and someone chooses to comment ...   I think there is tough love without having to be rude. We can be as choosy as Simon Cowell without the acerbic wit, which was more for tv ratings than to help. "Even if you were the only one to enter this competition, you would not win" is my favorite Simon zinger.   So, someone puts up a song. And everything is out of tune. Either he is carrying a melody line that is not relating to the music or there is no good interval and the melody line would not match anything in any key. Nothing wrong with saying, "Dude, you are all over the place." Followed by advice ranging from exact procedures to the simple advice to get a coach and some lessons.   What I am saying is don't hold back on an important piece of advice but also, be as accurate as possible. Granted, we are not all singing experts and may lack enough vocabulary to express an advice, but give an idea, if possible, what can be done to help and improve.   And I am not against tough love, which I prefer to see as honesty but I think I can do so without being offensive, at least intentionally. I think, in times past, I have given advice and probably came off as pompous and that was not my intent but even I perceive that, accurate or not, when I read some of my old posts. And wonder some times, if I had hurt feelings doing so.   Personally, I am one of those people who, the more I learn, the more I realize what I don't know. But anyway, so, if a person's performance is unredeemable, I think it helps to remember, for me, that not everyone will agree with my review.   And that is okay. Let it go. Everyone has an opinion. What if I give a review and the singer doesn't like it or gets defensive or says, fine, but I am still going to do this? What then?   Don't argue. You, or I, have already given an opinion. That being said, I am not a singing expert and I don't have reputation to uphold as a reviewer. Plenty of people have thought me to be right, or wrong, and still the world turns.   And if someone puts up a really good effort, it is okay to applaud that, it really is. Just because someone posts here does not mean he needs something fixed. That is, as a review, your or I don't have to post a response only if we can find something wrong that needs fixing.   As far as not responding, there are plenty of songs I have not commented on. Either I am not into the style, or I don't care for the song in any form or fashion. Or, it is so problematic and I don't know where to start and hope that the lack of response is, of itself, a critique by means of embarrassing silence, followed by the sound of chirpping crickets.   Or, I don't have the time. Something I should have included in how to receive a review is to address impatient posters who post a song and an hour later are throwing the equivalent of a fit by wondering why no one has commented?   Some, like myself, have busy lives with work and personal life and just don't have the time to listen to or read everything.   Also, and I get tripped up by this, too, try to remember that not everyone understands your words and what they meant. Maybe English is not your first language. People may not understand your use of it. English is my first language and I still can have problems with it.   So, maybe it's a fine balance. TOS would prohibit character assassination or ad hominem attacks. Ad hominem is where you can't answer the question and attack the character of another as proof his point is wrong.   Some discussion was made a year or so ago that giving sugar-coated reviews was doing a disservice to singing. Telling someone they were doing fine was not helping to improve that person or to maintain standards of singing. To that, I would say, I don't think I have seen much of any sugar-coated review that was completely erroneus. That is, it is okay, I think, to mention what seemed right, as well as what seemed wrong. I won't bore peole with operant conditioning, again. That did hurt some feelings.   Point being, we learn faster not only by being told no or stop, but also what direction to go in.   If I give a review and there were some problems, the singer may ask in response for some help or ideas. Well, now, it is upon me, at least in my sense of responsibility, to to respond to that in as helpful a manner as I can manage. I gave the review, the least I can do is try to help. It beats the daylights out him, the other guy, getting defensive.   And then, let it go. Someone may disagree with my review in bits or in its entirety. That's okay, too. Let it go.

How to receive criticism.   This is more for myself than anyone else, though I hope it helps others. There are many aspects to what a criticism means. And every bit of it has to do with how you, the recipient of the review, react to it.   At times, I have reacted to a criticism by explaining things I thought may not have been apparent to the reviewer. And realized later that not only did I seem defensive but I was missing a key point. Though I may have thought it was great, others did not.    The audience only hears what he or she hears. And it doesn't matter if the "audience" doesn't have the right appreciation or attitude toward your music, or does. Which also leads to the flip side of the coin . I can very well be filtering what I hear in the present, as well as in playback, through my own mentality, imagination, what have you. What really brought this realization home is that in this year of 2014, I have spent quite a bit of time watching the failures and rejections on shows like X Factor, BGT, AGT, AI, etcetera. More than once, a judge said, "maybe they were hearing themselves differently than we hear them."   I have imagined, as maybe we all have, being there and doing our thing. I would certainly be shot down in flames.   And that could happen, even in playback of a recording. That is, even though it is said that you should record and play back, sometimes your, or maybe my own, psychology may still be influencing perception. What am I hearing? And does it bear any relation to what others are hearing? You cannot hear yourself as others hear you and it is not just because you hear yourself with bone conduction.   And what about song choice? I am more guilty than anyone of choosing songs to do that are not a match to my voice, especially if considering the original singer of a well-known song. There is no escaping comparison and to wish that others would not compare is a fool's errand. Which has not stopped me from doing so.   I have the range to do just about any song I care to do. But that does not mean that  I should, other than just the enjoyment of singing. But, joking aside, I am trying to avoid using my voice as an assault weapon. Ron - AR15 - ws. (with a 30 round mag and a 50x laser sight.)    Is there a standard of singing against which to compare everyone? Who's standard and by who's definition? Lou Reed has been on pitch a few times, probably by accident, yet he is being inducted into the RARHOF.   But for the sake of this forum and this post, let us say there are some standards of singing to be expected here. Pitch accuracy and appropriate tone. Don't be surprised if you get judged according to those. Because you don't have to be here. I don't have to be here. I don't have to post a single recording. And many valuable members here do not post recordings where as I have lost count of how many things I have posted since May 2010.   First, let's err on the side of the singer. Let us say that you sang well and still got panned, or maybe no reaction at all. Okay, doesn't mean that you won't be a success somewhere else. Consider the audience. Maybe you or I want the approval and applause of fellow nit-picky singers, a forum full of Simons, Sharons, Louises. That's good, too, though not always a predictor of success in the world of professional recording and release.   Or vice versa. I usually get applause when singing live for friends and strangers. Then, again, to be fair, they are not singing experts, many are not even musicians as I am. Probably half the time, they are in various states of inebriation, since I have played at parties, karaoke, warming up for a band who's members were friends of mine while they were setting up the rest of their gear. Or applause just because I have the chutzpah to get up and sing.   At least I didn't get run off. But, as you can see by my pic, maybe they are afraid and are waiting for me to get tired and go away, without confrontation. Or, a case of it's not amazing that a bear dances a waltz, but that the bear dances, at all.    As opposed to here. Only two people from this forum have met me in person. Former moderator Aaron. He has family here in Texas and we got to meet and make his mother think I ran over the dog! (Long story, some other time.) The rest of you do not know me and will never be able to hear me singing in the same room with you, in case I wanted to blame it on mics, my atrocious recording and mixing skills (which I am working on improving, please believe me,) and whatever else. All that you can hear is what is in the recording and whatever you are listening to for a file player.   The other person is my real brother, slstone, because we grew up together though it has been many years since we have visited and we live in different areas of the country.   And rather than blame whatever critique on the state of technology and the lossy format of mp3, I certainly need to account for that.   Someone says you are off pitch, whether you thought you were, or not. It is what they are hearing. Maybe you had good pitch but the tonality was different and the only thing they know how to say is "pitchy." Doesn't matter. They are hearing something that you have not heard. Fix it, or don't, as you see fit. Because here is the most important part.   You do not have to get defensive. And I point the finger at myself more than I would anyone else. How could someone not appreciate the awesomeness of my singing? Quite easily, apparently, from time to time. Getting defensive doesn't help. It doesn't make someone like your singing, now. It doesn't help you improve or change, assuming you need improvement or changing.   All the times someone argued with Simon Cowell, not once did it make him now appreciate their singing or noise. And to be fair, he is a good judge of talent. His odds-on favorite was Adam Lambert, who did not win, but has gone on to success with solo albums and now being the legitimate singer for Queen. And all the other winners don't have near the notoriety or are in the public eye past the end of the show's season.   Or, you take the advice of the review. Make some changes. And a lot of times, that works to your benefit. Some of my better achievements have been from taking advice and actually using it. One time, it was to raise the key and that worked out well. Another time, it was to lower the key and that also worked out well. Even though we pride ourselves as singers to sing in the original key of the song, pro production is about getting the right sound from your voice. Bzean linked in a free audit course on recording production and the award-winning producer, who has also been a judge on some of these talent shows said, right of the bat, they will try a song for an album in different keys until he hears something in the singer's voice that sounds right. It's not about getting the highest note ever by a human, unless that is what the particular song needs.   Other times, the advice has been, at least to me, to choose wisely what song and arrangment I am going to use, which can also involve key change. And that has worked out well and I continue to work on being more choosy. Just because I like singing a song does not mean that my performance is going to work for it, even to my own satisfaction, as I have been discovering with a few songs I have worked on recently.   And for that, I have been taking the advice of recording professionals. First, record as best you can and then leave it alone. Your ears have become saturated. Come back another time and mix. Let it set. Come back another time and pretend you have just turned on the radio. Does it sound right? I have done all those things and the song is still not sounding right but at least I am taking past critiques to heart.   Which will not save me from receiving poor reviews, later. But I am learning.   Third option, discard all the advice. What you or I did was just fine. Not everyone will be a fan, here or out in the big wide world.   In any case, I have found that best response in myself and others is to thank people for their review and the time they took to listen. Or more precisely, to even comment. Many is the time I posted a song and received one or two comments, usually good and be happy with that.   Other times, no comments at all. That is okay. Sometimes, "no news is good news." Nothing was so bad for someone to say, "please, for the sake of humanity, stop that."  

Trying something new I just stumbled on while trying to figure out how to lift the soft palate, like my teacher keeps saying and I never seem to figure out. It was something like feeling any tension in the jaw instead of the throat with a more covered position. Like "lions roar smile" or something. It looks really stupid and at first I couldn't figure out how to actually form words like that. Anyway, I sang this mostly using that technique that I just discovered today and I'm pretty sure I like the sound. And I wasn't straining as much as usual! Progress
 
This was all raw takes with no instruments, (split between verses though)
 
Please let me know what you think!

Hi guys,
 
I just thought it would be fun to post a short clip of me singing Eye of the tiger into my mobile phone. It's been a while since I posted a song and I just dug this one up and decided to let it fly here for the fun of it. Been buisy singing lots of different songs in a cover band for the past few years, actually. Here it is:
 
https://app.box.com/s/7c0xn7i8z3j54zbfibfh