by Solidarity 9-6347 » 1/22/2004, 5:51 pm
ok, are we ready for constructive criticism? yes? no?
jeff, the timbre of your voice is fine, but could use variation. as my choir director used to say, "no note is created equal". try not to sing a whole song the same way, it becomes mundane after a few measures. if you can keep this in your mind as a general "rule" of thumb, one way to make a song more interesting is to arch the song in terms of intensity (sort of like a book...slower at the beginning...action...climax...detente[or whatever the hell it's called, i can't remember]) and then arch each phrase within a song. use different vocal techniques every few measures or every verse, chorus, what have you. your biggest problem is pitch recognition and stability. this means, unfortunately, that you are going to have to listen 10 times as hard to the notes being played than if you were just casually listening to a song. one way you can improve this is to go to a piano and just pick out some random intervals and then sing them back. since what you hear may not be what others hear, maybe have someone else there as a 3rd party to judge if it's too sharp or flat. another HUGE way to improve pitch is BREATH SUPPORT (also another choir director quote "breath support is always the right answer"). here are a couple of visualizations to help you: think of a ping-pong ball suspended in the air by a hair dryer or some sort of tube blowing out a steady air jet...the hair dryer now becomes your lungs and trachea and you have to keep up a steady stream of air to keep the ball suspended. another thing to visualize is a lazer beam coming from your mouth...a constant, concentrated beam of light that you use to target your audience with. again, the operative word is constant, as in constant air flow, and the only way to acheive this is to breathe from your diapragm...think of breathing from the lowest point in your stomach and then breathing out through a straw. breath support adds intensity as well, so if you can master this, you'll be ready for anything vocally. it can also help you to develop vibrato, which can be an effective vocal tool. if you have trouble hitting the higher notes on pitch, think of looking down on the note instead of coming up to it. i don't know what your intentions are...if you just sing for fun or have plans for a future career in music but if you do plan on playing professionally, i would most definetly suggest voice lessons...and that isn't meant as an insult, i take voice lessons and i can't imagine what my voice would be like if i hadn't had any vocal coaching at all...it would probably be pretty horrific
with that said, i'm not sure if you're using a program or this is a recording of a band, but if it is the latter, the tempo is inconsistant between members of the band and so it sounds hesitant and choppy. if you are just using a program and recording one instrument at a time and its fucking it up, disregard what i said
in closing, my comments are meant objectively...notice how i didn't say "you suck" or "emo sucks" and i hope that i can help you with my experience in vocal production
<3 Mademoiselle Pamplemousse
~The world would be a better place if only more things were made out of statue~