I don't feel flat

[BCRich]

Ok, I took a long break from singing.. well, trying to improve my singing.

I ditched my instructor (took a month of lessons or so) because I had to go on a long trip for work & I just didn't think we were jiving enough to start back up.

Anyway, I convinced myself that I sing well enough.

So I'm in my home studio, I'm trying out Reaper. There's a plugin called Reatune, and I guess it works like autotune. So I'm running my vocal through it & it looks like I'm flat on every note. I also have a sustain issue as it gets flatter the longer I hold the note.

But I don't hear it. It sounds like I'm where I'm supposed to be, or at least I feel like I'm hitting the notes. Now when I listen to my singing, I don't like my voice, I think I sound goofy, & bad. But I normally wouldn't think flat, I just think, "not good"

So I turn on my keyboard & play a G Major scale, singing the notes I hear. I've got the whole reverberating thing going, where (to me) it sounds like I'm nailing the notes. Up & down the scale, I'm nailing the note. I run it through Reatune again & it's the same thing. consistently flat. I can see where my voice rises to "match" the pitch, then level off.... but I never hit the note in reality.

How can I get better, if I can't hear that I'm flat?

[chamcham]

Only one month of vocal lessons and you figure your voice is good enough?!

Also, I don't even know why you're messing with autotune at this point.

Anyway, there are smartphone/tablet apps that tell you what note you are singing.

I use "eTuner" for iphone/ipad/Mac OSX, but there are tons of other apps.

It looks like this:

I connect a USB mic to my Macbook or iphone/ipad and sing into it.

eTuner tells you if you're too high or low. So maybe you're pitch is almost there, but a little sharp or flat.

You've only had lessons for a month and have a long way to go.

So it's not like you're going to sound amazing overnight.

Many singers don't even like their voice.

I would look for another teacher if I were you.

Someone that jives with you.

You might need some ear training. Or maybe Solfege.

You could try these 2 books:

http://www.amazon.com/Sightsinging-Complete-Musicians-Institute-Essential/dp/0793581915/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364361737&sr=8-1&keywords=sightsinging

http://www.amazon.com/Ear-Training-Contemporary-Musician-Elliott/dp/0793581931/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364361771&sr=8-1&keywords=ear+training+for+the+contemporary+musician

[BCRich]

Only one month of vocal lessons and you figure your voice is good enough?!

Also, I don't even know why you're messing with autotune at this point.

Yeah, didn't mean it to come out like that. My singing goals are quite modest. I'm using "autotune" as feedback, for the first time, I'm actually able to verbalize one of my problems.

You're right, & I probably will seek out another vocal coach.

The rest of your post was solid, thanks a lot.

[Mivke]

Just keep recording yourself and listen back to it in detail. Take note of where it says you are flat and where you can hear "not good". Your "hearing skills" will evolve with practice and time, and most importantly focus.

Good luck!