Was I Really That Bad....? O.o

[SaphiraSora]

I don't see alot of classical singers on here......I did a cover of Pie Jesu recently.....I had my fiance's dad (who was a music major in college) tell me he loved it, and that the only thing that he saw that was wrong was some latin pronunciation....easily fixed You know just constructive criticism.

I realize Youtube is full of jerks and just flat out mean people and that I shouldn't take many comments seriously, however, I'm very shy about my voice (guess it was a stupid idea to post videos). Someone told me I was flat and but everyone else seemed to love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqJ5VV19Hkc

What do you think? I'm not classically trained or anything.....I've just learned the song...

[JensTP]

Sounded just fine to me. There were a couple of pitchy notes, but I'd consider that normal for people who don't train their voices. Reverb and layered harmonies will amplify some of the small mistakes as well.

One thing I did notice was a hiss accompanying the singing. Obviously you're using an airy tone (to great effect) but you might be able to use the air more efficiently. Maybe some of the people on the forum who actually know singing can help out with that. It may also be a recording-issue though.

[SaphiraSora]

Sounded just fine to me. There were a couple of pitchy notes, but I'd consider that normal for people who don't train their voices. Reverb and layered harmonies will amplify some of the small mistakes as well.

One thing I did notice was a hiss accompanying the singing. Obviously you're using an airy tone (to great effect) but you might be able to use the air more efficiently. Maybe some of the people on the forum who actually know singing can help out with that. It may also be a recording-issue though.

Oh ok thanks for the help.....I use a laptop mic that kind of seems to dissect the voice, in lack of a better descriptive word. It's very sensitive and picks up any background noise.

I learned this song mostly by heart a day before posting it also, my "studio" is in a hot truck late at night and I don't know if being in a confined space matters or not.

I am not majoring is music or anything but I just wanted to ensure that what I myself was hearing is just fine (except for the few pitchy notes, I caught those too) but I was thinking surely I do have an ear for music or everything positive I've been told about my singing is a lie.

Thanks again for the input, that means alot to me! =)

[gno]

Excellent job. Your pitch was good the whole way through - it wasn't "flat". Your performance was more like a pop version than a classical version. If you did it strictly classical you would remove the "airyness" from your sound. But I like how you did it better. Your strong point is your phrasing - exellent legato and dynamic shaping. Overall great job.

[Robert Lunte]

Hi Saphira:

I listened to your singing and I think it is very pretty! For the style of this music and what I believe you are trying to communicate here, its good. I don't know why you would judge yourself too harshly on this, considering the context. Isn't it suppose to sound like "Angels" from heaven with a "heavenly", passified, peaceful vibe to it? Isn't that kinda the point of music like this? I think you achieved that and its very enjoyable. Definately something I would want to hear first thing in the morning.

Now then, the thing that may be interesting for you to consider is, if you wanted to sing jazz, R&B, Rock music... or music that is what we sometimes refer to as more "rhythmic" music, you would be chewed up and spit out with this kind of vocal approach. For those more aggressive genres you would have to learn to muscle up a lot more. Less windy, less of a neutral larynx, less "choral" sounding and engage some of the vocal techniques that we discuss here all the time at the TMV Forum, things like; learning to engage cricoid tilt so you can twang (Twang is a big deal. Everyone is discussing it and its probably the #1 thing you should look into if you don't want to always sound so choral), belting, bridging your Passaggio, for women, that usually is approximately around B4. You would also need to learn to blow more air, get more compression on your vocal folds and if you really wanted to get after it and make your heady choral notes in your head voice sound like chesty belts, you would work on developing some intrinsic anchoring strength and coordination. Intrinsic Anchoring essentially means, small, inside muscles contracting inside your laryngeal region. The Intrinsic Anchoring set is what you would train to make your head voice not sound so angelically choral, but more belty and full.

Note, that I am not saying there is anything wrong with the choral sound, it has its place and this music is an example of that, however the world of vocal technique can be pretty exciting once you dive into some of the more contemporary techniques and train to use your voice in radically different new ways as pointed out above. For many of the members of this forum, the point is not just to make a pretty sound, but its to make a sound that if powerful and commanding in its aesthetic as well.

You state that you are not "Classically" trained, well we need to know exactly what you perceive to be "classically trained". I do not know without discussing with you in more detail over email or a phone call in a consultation, however Ill tell you, you seem to have had some 'training' to make this kind of vocal sound and it most certainly is "Classical", specifically a sound that is used in choral music. You may be interested to now that hard core Classical singers that are soloists, those that sing art songs and arias are actually using more of the techniques I mentioned above, than the choral, windy aesthetic. If your interested, the first place for you to start would be, other then find a coach that can teach you these contemporary techniques, learn about twang. What is it? Why is it important? How do you train it? What does it feel like? What does it sound like? How do you learn to do it properly?

I hope this provides some insight for you and gets you thinking about what your doing and what your possibilities are. Im available to help you as a coach if you so desire. Have a great day, and keep singing... you voice is very lovely and I enjoyed this piece of music.

[Oliver]

Sounds impresive to me but that type of music is far from my ... knowledge .

[ronws]

I don't see alot of classical singers on here......I did a cover of Pie Jesu recently.....I had my fiance's dad (who was a music major in college) tell me he loved it, and that the only thing that he saw that was wrong was some latin pronunciation....easily fixed You know just constructive criticism.

I realize Youtube is full of jerks and just flat out mean people and that I shouldn't take many comments seriously, however, I'm very shy about my voice (guess it was a stupid idea to post videos). Someone told me I was flat and but everyone else seemed to love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqJ5VV19Hkc

What do you think? I'm not classically trained or anything.....I've just learned the song...

First off, at least with me, you are in good company. Though I like to sing a lot of styles and have admired many singers, my favorite all time voice in the world is Sarah Brightman. I have her cd's. I consider her voice the epitome of perfection and can now die in peace, having heard the perfect voice.

I am not "trained", either. Though I follow classical singing methods. I find it hard to believe that you've had no lessons, though it is not impossible. The old italian method involved hearing good music and mimicking it. It's not impossible to have naturally the kind of voice you have. It's just not that common. The only problem I heard was that it seemed the vibrato rate of the harmony vocals was different than the lead vocal, which led to an apparent pitchiness that was not pitchiness at all, but created a confusion.

Whoever told you that were flat is a stone, cold idiot and don't have a problem telling them that, if you are too shy to do so. Just say that Ron from Texas says that they, whoever they are, is an idiot. Tell them to come to Texas and I will tell them to their face, if they so desire. My BS tolerance is at a drastic low.

So, how long have you been singing like this with no training or understanding of the classical method? Or did you read some books? Or have you always done this, listening to music and copying the sound?

[ronws]

And you will have to understand our incredulity. This is not the first time someone came in, saying that they had no training, and posted a stellar performance, worthy of a voice that has trained for a decade under expert tutelage.