Always Like This - Bombay Bicycle Club (Complete beginner, first time recording myself)

[Serotonin]

So, as the title implies, I have just started singing, I don't know nearly as much about how the voice works as many here do, so here's the result of me spontaneously singing a song that I'm fairly familiar due to it being the first one on my spotify playlist (I'm lazy like that).

Anyway, this is what the original song sounds like, I've tried to copy the singer's breathing pattern and such to keep in time, which is also what the long periods of silence and humming are.

 

 

And here's my rendition, bear in mind that it's my first time recording myself so please be constructive  

EDIT: Oops, forgot the soundcloud link - 

Just listened to it, god my voice is so shaky :/

[Serotonin]

Forgive my density, the links are embedded properly now -.-

[Serotonin]

Don't know if this is allowed here but....bump. (please forgive me if it's not)

[Elvis]

its a nice voice to start training. you seem to follow pitch ok but you are a pitchy. what i mean is, you can hear and follow pitch decently but not good enough. Also the main thing thats a problem with you is that you sing like you speak and thats not the way to do it. this takes practice but a decent start. get a training programm or a cheap vocal coach nearby.

 

I say cheap because you would want someone tto teach you the basics and that not a hard job to do so any decent coach can do that. later on upgrade

[Serotonin]

Okay,  thanks for the encouraging feedback. What is meant by 'singing like you talk'? It just seems natural to sing like that, my only other options would be a consistently lower, rather atonal chest voice or right at the peak of my upper register which I only reach by breaking my voice.

[Serotonin]

Is there no way to at least get started in learning not to sing like I talk? I'm terrified of getting a vocal coach, social anxiety (don't ask).

[Elvis]

Try yelling. You are basically whspering. Dont vebafraid ofbthe voice. Scream yell. Get loose. Dont close down

[Serotonin]

Try yelling. You are basically whspering. Dont vebafraid ofbthe voice. Scream yell. Get loose. Dont close down

So....just sing louder? Even at the detriment of the quality of the sound?

[Robert Lunte]

Elvis, thanks for jumping in here to help Serotonin... I appreciate you backing me up a bit.

Seratonin...

Great to see you in here... and good job getting sorted out and having he courage to submit your file. Sorry that I have kept you waiting... Ive just been super swamped.

Listening.... 

- Hmm... my first impression... I like it... nice tone to your voice.

- You also demonstrate  good sense of rhythm... you have groove here... great job in that regard!  It has good "feel" rhythmically.

- And for being a beginner with home recording, your production is also decent... I have to compliment you on that as well... I like the atmospheric textures with all the effects when you go into the "washy" chorus/hook.

... for what the song demands from your voice... which is fairly basic and easy.... (.. that only means there is not a lot of content here that requires bridging of the passaggio and head voice work, so that makes the review a LOT easier to analyze... )...  Really, I am pleasantly surprised... I enjoyed the song and I enjoyed your production. I think, especially considering my tough love "push" early on... you deserve a handshake!  It is cool... fun to listen to, I liked it a lot!

NICE WORK!!!

... see, that wasn't so bad... I hope that the act of just putting yourself out there and making the production helped make you feel more confident and assured of yourself. You have a nice voice and a great sense of "groove"... keep going, your not wasting your time pursuing singing at all!

As you have already discovered, I don't sugar coat things... so take that to heart and don't let anyone derail you from singing and you pursuit of your goals. BUT... keep working at it. It will ONLY come and ONLY get better if you keep working and practicing and challenging yourself. 

 

Ooops... I was listening to the original... I was being an idiot ... sorry bud... ok, lets try again... 

- Again, your voice has a nice tone to it, but you are going to have to learn to twang and compress you vocal folds more... you can't sing in a lazy, windy position like this and expect to get stronger or be taken seriously. 

- You sound scared in your recording... we understand where that is coming from, but you have to step up and "swing the bat"... this real quiet, windy approach is holding you back.

- I think you have what it takes Serotonin, honestly... but you have to train. You need to develop some twang/compression strength in your voice and confidence... Invest in a training program and get started on really doing this... It is kind of hard to give you any kind of assessment when the voice is not really engaged at all. It is almost just "vapor"... and I want you to understand what I mean... I am not saying you ability to sing is "vapor".. Im saying, THIS PARTICULAR demos is. This particular demonstration makes it difficult to judge anything... good or bad? 

It just kind of comes back to what we all already know... you need to train and REALLY do this. Train for 6 weeks and then come back and submit another version and I know it will be a lot more interesting and we would be able to give you more useful feedback as well... you just have to train. If you don't have any real voice coming through... ( Not because you can't do it, but because your just not worked out yet...), then there is little to comment on.

 

[Serotonin]

Thanks for the positive feedback! I might have a look at another few songs and add them here, I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet when it comes to a vocal coach if it really is so important to learning. Thanks again, the comments from both of you have been a massive encouragement.

[Robert Lunte]

You are basically whspering. Don't be afraid of the voice.

After I posted my reply... I read Elvis's comments and he hears the same thing I hear... If your just whispering and "hiding" from actually committing to it, we don't have anything to work with. You need to remove the fear and stop "singing in the car"... if you want to be a singer, you need to start doing the things that real singers do... and that includes training.

The best way to describe what Elvis and I are hearing here is... this is like saying, "Hey... watch me do a cart wheel! What do you think?"... in front of people that are doing gymnastic, mat/tumbling routines and balance beam routines. This is a cartwheel in the park. You need to get into a real gym, and learn and execute the real thing. 

[Robert Lunte]

I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet when it comes to a vocal coach if it really is so important to learning.

?... Seratonin... Singing is an instrument. Just like any other instrument. It is also an athletic endeavor, like any other athletic endeavor. You have to train... it is not something you just wake up with in the morning and , "... some can do it and some can't"... that is just not the way it works. I understand that is what a lot of people assume, but it doesn't really work that way.  

[Serotonin]

You are basically whspering. Don't be afraid of the voice.

After I posted my reply... I read Elvis's comments and he hears the same thing I hear... If your just whispering and "hiding" from actually committing to it, we don't have anything to work with. You need to remove the fear and stop "singing in the car"... if you want to be a singer, you need to start doing the things that real singers do... and that includes training.

The best way to describe what Elvis and I are hearing here is... this is like saying, "Hey... watch me do a cart wheel! What do you think?"... in front of people that are doing gymnastic, mat/tumbling routines and balance beam routines. This is a cartwheel in the park. You need to get into a real gym, and learn and execute the real thing. 

Okay, I'll just wait til I'm home alone again and yell the same song at a more...antisocial volume, and upload it again.

[ronws]

I agree with Robert. You need to sing like you expect people to hear you. There is no choice, no way around it. To have the awesome voice that you want, you have to let it out. There is no magic pill that turns you from a whispering and quivering mess one day into a Ronnie James Dio the next.

Get a coach or a teacher or get the program that Robert has. As Elvis said, you already have a voice that is good enough to be trained. So, start training. It's like me picking up a golf club and wanting to be Tiger Woods but "afraid" to go to at least the driving range and "fail." Because there are other people at the range that want to help. I had a nasty slice (ball goes hard right on the strike.) So, a guy told me, being as tall as I am, keep your knees together to force your body swing. And since I was swinging right-handed, though I am left-handed, he told me to roll the second knuckle of my left hand to visible part of the shaft. With that, 150 yard line drive with a 5 iron.

I don't have any magic words to give you and you are not getting an "Oh my god, the best singer ever." You have to work for it, just like everyone else. If you are not willing to work around your "issues" and get some lessons or some training, none of us can help and you might want to find another avenue of musical expression.