Karaoke Forums

This thread for critique and discussion related directly to requests made for critiques ONLY..  Not Critique theory.  Please take discussions and wishes for KS evolution regarding Critiquing to established critique

1)  Request Critique
2)  Critique
3)  ensuing discussion regarding songs posted here for critique directly related to
    process

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

That's a good idea -- starting a fresh thread dedicated to requesting and giving critiques exclusively.

Here's an idea for a generic "template" that could be used in the new
song critique thread. Simple, straight forward -- nothing real fancy.

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SINGER:

SONG TITLE:

ORIGINAL ARTIST:

I AM ESPECIALLY CONCERNED WITH:
(optional critique specifics)


LINK TO MY SONG:
(paste the URL below)

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The person seeking a critique would quote the template and fill in the blanks.  The person giving a critique would quote the submitted "critique request" then give his critique.

The singer could sub his song on SS in the 'L' category (if he didn't want any comments left on SS). Or he could put the song up some place else instead. He'd copy the URL for the song and paste it on to the "critique request" in the forum. The song description in SS could also refer people over to the forum thread where formal critiques could be given.

These are just some format ideas anyway. Other people have brought up a lot of them already.

Woo-hoo!  You're awesome, Steve!  :hug:

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"I hold the key to an open door....will I ever be free...?"

Steven and Don.

That is a good idea. started a new thread and I will mod it very strictly. It may have to be a sticky.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Billy,  Remember that Blood Sweat and Tears song we were discussing ?  

Manic Wheel ?

I stank up a version here  LOL

This is no FX, and should be louder..

I'm not going to put it in the actual critique category because I need to know where I should start to establish my vocals... Here's some of the confusion..

http://www.ksolo.com/actions/showSongPr ... uid=391398

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Thanks Lena,  Let me go listen to that part...

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

hi my friend....did u find this song a tad low?   ur singing an octave low, the high part ur singing is the normal key..... i'm thinking the song if sung normal would be too high but maybe not....start the song out higher like u did the cho....listen to their version,  u may have to lower the key...listening again...yep wayyyyyyyy too low the way ur singing, doing it that way u can't put a thing into it....

ur right i hear no effects at all on ur vocals......personal opinion....drop the song.....that's not you....but that's JMO.....

find a song u can relax on and just sing, no matter what it is...mary had a little lamb, i don't care....ur wanting to learn to me ur picking tuff songs to start off with....not that u couldn't go back to them later but for now i think u need simple, then build on that....baby steps....oh and i for 1 will pay good money to hear u sing mary had a little lamb....ll....and yes u have to dress the part.....gag....
keep at it my friend...

i think others will agree with me and can put it into words much better than i can....

Yes Billy,  WAY too high for me currently (to sing consistently at that register that is),  it's straining !  Now maybe once I warm up, and learn how to relax and learn some technique that will be perfect for me.. BUT, that is good to know.  This song was a combination of different ranges, and style attempts, purpose being to find out via feedback just WHERE my best range is in  others opinions !  I personally can't determine what "sounds better" at this point,  however I did go listen to the portion SweetestL mentioned, and I DO like that part... but of course, THAT particular ending line was just a whim, it was a spontaneous choice based upon having the energy and breath at THAT point to belt that out, I COULD NOT sing like that currently consistently. But learning all these things is great reference for me ! Singing that part reminds me..  WHile I can get some songs out've brass instruments, since my technique isn't accurate, I just end up hurting myself.. This song isn't for me  yet... SO this is EXACTLY what I was hoping for, feedback as you gave me... It's REALLY good to know, Just because low is easier for me, as you stated "Low without expression, or too low for dynamic shifting isn't good either' because there are areas both at higher and lower edges of comfort range that are bad for me to fall into, so even LOW must be thought out !  Sort've reminds me of tennis,  getting stuck in that zone where it's BAD to be for handling the return shot, it's all strategy.....  yes,  this song is WAY WAY WAY over my head, as is ANY DCT song, but I wanted to make sure I was heard..hehe.. This is the type of thing I've been finding lately,  Songs I like are just "not for me" YET...  Thanks,  baby-steps.  easier songs.. Somewhere between the low and higher ranges of this song...

Much appreciated...  True,  this wasn't relaxed at all, it wasn't me, wasn't even fun, there was not much emotion... It was just TRYING to sing..  I was trying to do a song I don't even like ..HAHAHA... BUT, I was going for advice regarding a rough idea as to where I belong range-wise so somewhere between these upper and lower singing range extremes is where I'll be searching for material to sing in my REAL VOICE.. this had no falsetto

(I did try singing that song UP in the higher range throughout, and it was too tough, I dropped it after the second attempt to the lower octave alternating)

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Correction... I was wrong.  "Show me the colors that are real" is in my range.. Here
s what I don't understand... This song is roughly C to C.  Now C falls into my comfort range. Which is about  B or Bb around MIddle-C,  "Real" is an E above my comfortable B area (of course it's mid-range in THIS particular song).  So what is it about this song that makes it so tough for me ?  The Blood Sweat and Tears style and energy or belting ability needed in a slightly higher singing range ?  or is DCT singing this in a "C" starting area an octave above my comfort range of about middle C ? Maybe belting in an area I can't belt in ?  Dunno..  I don't understand what the problem is UNLESS I just can't handle this level of volume, breathing, and energy needed because it involved too much power and comfort at a higher output singing level. Possibly too much power is needed for this.  JUst wondering if this is about needing to build and establish basics before belting this type song or belting any song even in my comfort range ??   Dunno... Seems that might be the case

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

i drop songs all the time but when i do depending on how far i drop i may have to sing it completely different...kinda bluesed in order for it to work....

i did the song....I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME....Bobby Vinton...way too high of a song for me, but knowing i wanted to sing it i found a way around it, and singing it an octave lower let me take it somewhere else...kinda blues...i really liked the way it turned out....

but all that will come in time for you, right now u need to find ur voice and what ur capable of ....

finding what ur range is would be tuff for me as i don't even know mine...
i do bee gee's songs but yet i have a pretty low voice...i just use the high part of my voice...hard to explain....but if asked to sing some other song in that key i'm guessing i couldn't....i really don't have much of a range i just squeeze everything i have out of mine....most of it is an illusion just seems higher than it is....

you'll get there, but i do think finding ur voice and what ur capable of is the first step....then u know what u have to work with....you have the tone....now let's see how much control u have r don't have....can u soften ur voice at will? change the tone?   the expression?  can u attack a song?   take command of a song? all of that goes into singing,  it's much more than just singing on key, but you know all this ur always yelling at me for not doing it....ll...

but all those things you think about AFTER u sang it...there's no way i could sing thinking of 14 other things to do.....just let her rip and then play it back and listen....
every time i sing i'm learning, in a way i'm like you, i'm learning what i can and can't do with this new voice of mine....it's not easy getting used to it....i want to do things i can't do anymore, yet i can go higher but when i do get there i think omg i never hit that note before now what do i do? ll....my vibrato has slowed down, i'm glad of that, but just something else to deal with....

just takes time steven, you'll get it....and when u do it will all be worth it....either that r we'll pay you NOT to sing

Agreed




OK,  can you start the pool, and get me the money before the holidays ?  I can use it


What you stated all makes sense Billy.  While I've said "this isn't going to come over night", I suppose there's still that part of me that for some reason wants to run before I can even walk.. I need to tame that down, and just sing within reason, otherwise I'm shooting myself in the foot.  I need to keep reminding myself, It's my voice I'm doing this stuff with,  not David Clayton Thomas's, or Burton Cummings.. Although if K-solo had "Guess Who" stuff, I'd be trying that in a heartbeat

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Billy,  I should lay off ALL reverb for starters too right ?  Just bite the bullet and do whats toughest ?  Expose my raw voice ?  Since there's going to be the tendency to hide ANYWAY I can ?

One more question.. When starting singing like this,  I'd imagine it's foolish to over-do it... IOW... stand around pushing myself for a few hours at a time ?  What's a reasonable amount of time given aspects such as being new at this,  being middle-aged, out've shape,  not having breath control yet ?  Not having broken in the chords ?   I'd imagine there's a reasonably safe amount of time I should limit this too daily ?

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

nooooo use reverb, i wouldn't wish that on anyone...reverb to me helps u sing and hit notes u wouldn't normally reach for....but use it wisely weedhopper...

i honestly can't answer ur last question, really up to you and ur voice,  we're all different, some r more different than others...but do remember to stay relaxed and in control....

Billy,  I decided to get back on the roller-coaster,  yeah,  this song I still can't do, BUT I wasn't able to hit these notes a week ago,  (still can't hit many) but I'm getting some range... It's timbre I don't have, that's what's irking me... I am singing out, that's the problem... I AM putting feeling into this stuff, maybe not enough... I don't know, that might be... I just don't have that Umph... or voice timbre... or something... Anyway,  decided to try this Glen Campbell song again using some exercizes for range I was reading about, and some has come.... Who knows... now all I need are your vocal chords...


http://www.ksolo.com/actions/showSongPr ... uid=391398

OK,  I butchered LOADS if not all of those higher notes, and was horridly flat on "all", and many others, but this song is just my warm up exercize and range builder..

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Billy,  yep.  you are absolutely correct about "The other Guy" from the little river band,  I did that song many times til I felt it was only worthy of about a "C-" grade tops, I tried to just pass with it... I got sick of doing it over and over, and I couldn't put feeling into it after lord knows how many takes... That's the problem, I'm trying to get some technical stuff down, and I'm not combining "feeling" with it... It gets tough... When I do put feeling into it, at the expense of technical fine-tuning attempts I flunk completely.  Problem is feeling alone doesn't cut it... This is what's confusing me now.. The timbre, strength, umph, or whatever it's called just isn't there my voice is too mellow...

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Little Drummer Boy sounded OK I suppose.. I did that LOW... I suppose I really need to lay off've the higher stuff... I'm probably not going to be able to make that happen.. I figured if I can't sing well,  I could at least have a 4 octave range...

I know... Don't strangle me.  I'm figuring out I'm not rock tenor, but it's not sinking in overnight... BUT,  maybe if you strangle me,  I can get more edge to my voice ? ..  I'm trying too hard,  I'm taking a few days off singing..too many hours today and yesterday just trying to :get it done:

Just sort've figured that since today is two weeks since I started singing, I should at least be a "9.6"  :(

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

steven i can't remember did you say you were practicing scales, doing warm ups and such?

whenever i get around to doing that and stick with i can hear and feel a big difference when i sing....problem is i don't stick with it and it's just starting over every time....

i'm trying to schedule a time to practice and do voice workouts AND stick with it...i might even get off my duff and take those voice lessons that i've been talking about for years

my problem is i'm just to impatient and lazy....i need to change some bad habits for sure

i'll pm you some vocal stuff i have if you'd like....

you definitely have the potential....as billy says you're just like me, you hold back too much....i'm gonna get sloshed one night and see if that helps....couldn't hurt...

Hi Milo,

   Really my only regiment is starting with songs that aren't as difficult for me, and when I begin to get frustrated shifting to a different song often in a different range.  I currently have no structured practice regiment.. I honestly haven't a clue what I'm doing.  I just sit down and TRY to sing, and devote as much tolerable time to singing as I can.. Often redoing and redoing, and just never feeling I'm making any headway.  A vocal coach for me would be quite a valuable thing, assuming I could find one.. Currently you folks are all I have.. But the help has likely been every bit as good if not better than I could get from a vocal coach in person (assuming I had  or could even find a decent coach that is), because I'm getting super valuable advice from different excellent vocalists in Karaoke Scene, and nothing has conflicted posing the "Too many cooks" scenereo as of yet..  I pretty much have an idea of what this is going to take, and that's shedding my fear daring to take the next step which as I perceive it leaves me most vulnerable during this "blind walk" I feel I am on, the Next step being, my daring to sing loud and confidently exposing what I have always believed to :suck: at a louder more confident level, because quite honestly, that's what I'll be doing, I CAN NOT hear myself as much more than a horrid sounding wannabe vocalist, as much as I hate to say it,.. It's weird but self-perception in this area is really confusing (at least to me), I suppose I must just trust that this is what I MUST do while hoping it's *my* inaccurate perception of my voice quality and that I'm not sounding like an overconfident emotional fool ..

True Milo.. We both seem to have that projection issue, but you ARE a very talented singer with a gorgeous voice, you just might not hear it..  I'm not in your category, you can sing,  I'm still trying to learn WHERE I should begin to sing.. and to me I keep trying stuff over and over finding that I'm trying to hide my voice behind anything and ALL I can find to hide behind when I sing, It's like I've said to people, I don't want my blechy sounding voice to upstage the singers in the song so I try to blend with the harmony as if the vocalists are doing me a favor allow me to sing harmony with them .  That's TRULY how I feel, my esteem is horrid !!

You have an amazing timbre, I think we both tend to have softer mellower voices ..  In my case I'm looking for a timbre and can't find it... I'm looking all over... I've got that soft mellow voice thing going, and I'm wanting to be a powerful rock vocalist so I'm DANG confused...What I can sing, and what I wish to sing,  OR what I sound like, vs what I WISH to soundlike are very different, and I'm honestly clueless !

ALL help is appreciated.  The biggest problem I have is being able to accept a voice that sounds like mine in the SINGING realm.. It just doesn't seem to belong there..

Oh well !

Thank you !    I'm just chugging along with this.. not giving up,  we have some amazing talent in here...  As long as I stay out've showcase, and people are honest with me, I stand a chance !  But to get to like MY vocal qualities ?  This is a TOUGH TOUGH thing.  Why ?  dunno !

Billy brought up a REALLY good point too during a discussion we had..  and that pertains to singing where I belong vs where I'd like to be in a fantasy... When he brought up a few groups, and I said yeah "But I really want to be able to sing like so and so" he mentioned that we can't have everything we want..  I suppose I'm still hoping I'll be standing their, and all of a sudden become the next  Do it all ARENA ROCK cover artist..  That was what I'd always hoped to be... Problem is keeping such a fantasy might be a quick road to total frustration.  The degree of psychology involved in singing amazes me.. I never figured it's so heavily rooted on confidence. I was sure it was JUST about technique..

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Regarding the critique area in the showcase, and comments... for those that have asked for Critique.


Why can't people that are having a bad day have the maturity to KNOW this, take a deep breath if in a bad mood, or not read or type or interact with others at all online but instead "sleep on it" prior to posting ANYTHING ?  There are times it's NOT a good idea to respond, and impulsive responding to a critique is NEVER a good idea.  It's the people, not the process (as intended), that make aspects of this "negative".  Nothing about receiving requested opinions on how to improve IS negative if thought out on both ends.  People need to grow up before entering a Critique category.. While it's not negative,  it DOES require a person stating their actually desires, and being emotionally honest with themselves as well as others.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".