A naked voice in need of some further direction

[Enander]

Hi!

I'm just gonna put myself out there. I'm singing a part of a song I'm not very familiar with. No effects, and just one try.

This is the typical "me" and my common flaws, I guess. I hear some of it for sure (such as sour notes and bad timing), but being used to my own voice I might be "deaf" in some sense; afraid I've been travelling the same road for too long without looking back.

Have I been too eager to come off as aggressive and "distinctive", that I just end up sounding silly?

Is there a lack of well-balanced dynamics that's making me sound braindead?

Is my pronunciation off the wall?

Wrecking my voice?

Or, anything else I might have missed?

The reason for all this is because I feel stuck and uninspired.

Please be brutally honest if you need to. Rough truths take my farther than smooth lies.

http://www.box.com/s/dmy933vi1v7jpxbeyxym

Take care!

Edit: I've got problems criticising other peoples efforts just because it would feel like being a pot calling the kettle black, and I assume some people feel the same way. But, I can assure you, I'm not seeing it that way here.

[Keith]

That was nothing short of incredible. There isn't a backing track to compare it with, so I can't say anything about pitch or timing, but all in all your voice rocks! I just hope that the distortion that you are using is healthy for your voice.

[gno]

Sounds cool to me. I don't know if it's bad for your voice - do you feel hoarse or sore after you sing? You want to make sure that you are not doing some damage with those extreme effects.

[KillerKu]

I agree with the others. The sound isn't really a problem if that's what you're going for and I have good enough ears to suspect you are singing in tune relatively well enough to yourself for this style of music. Generally speaking if people can sing in tune acappella for themselves (harder) they can likely do a backing track no problem assuming it's in the right key as that actually is what gives a lot of people a frame of consistent reference. This style of singing is often slid around in pitch anyway with chromaticism and slides, because the rasp to note ratio is so high, cookie monster can probably do a passable job! You are better than that, and better than a fair amount of people who are getting paid for extreme rasp style singing at having pitch control.

Have you gotten some lessons or something with a distortion specialist teacher? The conclusion I've come to, is from sound alone it's pretty hard to tell what's healthy. If it feels ok and you're not going hoarse, it's probably ok, but if it's effecting you then you'll either have to pace yourself or rethink how you want to do things.

Bottom line, I dunno. I have questions in the back of my mind about long term distortion effects. Sure, some of these guys are fine in the immediate now, but if they will be fine when they are 80 if they keep going, who knows? Trust yourself, and be good to yourself, listen to your body and hopefully your instinct will be right. Come to think of it, the more extreme twang distortions I think have more evidence of being produced healthier than the old school rock and roll rasp, so if it does feel funny, you can probably change it's production and get something similar with less risk.

[Snax]

Rock on brother!!!! Nothing wrong with that voice at ALL!!! (Take it from a guy who knows all about distortion.)

[Enander]

Thank you all for your kind words!

First off, I'm listening to the track (instruments and vocals) in headphones because I didn't know the melodies (or lyrics for that matter) well enough.

But I think I'd probably do a better job if I had taken the time to learn the song for real and then go acapella (especially due to the fact that I can hear my own voice properly). That's usually how I get things done.

I didn't want to know it all too well either; wanted it to be honest, with all it's candy as well as faults.

Secondly, I'm totally autodidact. Perhaps I'm doing things the "wrong way" because of that, but as far as I'm concerned it's the price you pay for finding your own voice/expression.

To the point; me getting hurt and/or hoarse:

There's a threshold where I can't produce such harsh resonance without including "wrong tissue". I strive to continuously raise that threshold and nibble it's presence when singing, but of course, there are times where I fall beyond and experience pain. I don't get hoarse (well, if I do it for an extended time, I will get hoarse for an hour or two) and the pain subsides quickly.

I'd also like to point out that I'm in no way trying to become a perfomer/an entertainer. I know it might sound stupid, but I believe it's easier to justify a little more "dangerous" approach to singing if you're not using it on a daily basis, just for those special times when you feel the need to release the beast.

This is where you come in calling me on my bullshit! Haha!