Karaoke Forums

Well, I'm trying again (appropriate name dontcha think?). This song is probably more 'suited' to my voice (although I am trying to expand my limits).

I think I did better with the mixing this time and yep, I decided to use some reverb... so sue me It still isn't 'perfect' to me... but heck, I wasn't going to record it over a thousand times. This was already the third take. :p

So, let me know what you think about this one. Honesty again please folks.

First of all, this one IS better than the others I have heard.


As I was saying in the "box"...

The mix is better, but still very "murky" with the vocals not really standing out for me. With your voice, the main problem i have with you, is not clearly pronouncing anything.. you sort of drift from word to word, line to line, etc etc, without any distinction, or even change of emotion. Then, you slliiiiidddeee off the note at the end of most lines.... and drop the pitch. You also are off with the timing in places, which is distracting on a song like this, with an obvious rhythm to follow... it is alright to change things up, but it still has to follow the backing you are singing to... generally a hard thing to over come. again, complete lack of emotion.. I like to listen to someone, and hear SOMETHING... of their personality, or character. The lack of emotion only makes that lazily drifting, from word to word more obvious.


I have more floating around in my head to say, but, I am in the process of baking some pies....

i am sure you will respond, and give me a place to finish my babbling.




(by the way, no fluff, i enjoy your VOICE, but, i don't think you are using it to your full potential.. at least, in my opinion. if that is the style you are goign for, then who I am to say it is wrong:)

Thanks Gilly At least I'm improving.



=o And we were trying to 'blend' the vocals more into the music this time!! *sigh*



I'm going to have to figure out how to get the emotion I'm feeling to show itself in the music I guess! It's a good thing I'm getting outside feedback on this stuff, because I thought my emotion was pretty good!! :p Just goes to show how we can be deaf to our own work.

Interesting about the drifty thing... that might be my style, I'm not sure yet. As for the diction, I DO try to speak my words clearly, but I guess I'll have to work harder on that.



Ok, I'll have to go back and listen for that. I really appreciate these little details. This is the kind of critique that can really help a person improve.



!! yeah I know... =p I kept messing up that one part, getting behind the timing. Hate it when that happens!! argh. It wasn't intentional.



I'll definitely see if I can improve that. One of the biggest things I was complimented on in the past was having emotion in my voice... so I don't know what happened to it!!! That's ok, as I said, at least I'm finding out where my weak spots are.



Oh fine... NOW you're being mean!! We don't have any pies



Yep!!!



Well, that's kind of the point here (mine anyway), to try and bring out a little more of my 'potential', work with what I have and try to improve. It's a tough audience when a person asks for 'honesty' (especially when *I* do), but it has to be. Thanks for all the feedback Gilly. I really appreciate your time.

All of what I said, was mine and my husbands own personal observations. I only listened once, as he accidentally closed it.. and with dial up speeds, I was really too lazy to do it again. A couple other friends of mine, (also on this site) made the same, or similar observations to me.

However, I know what it is like, when people tell you what you are doing "wrong". I do a LOT of things wrong when I sing, and there really isn't anything that is going to make me change 'em:) I have my own style, and do my own weird thing. People are picky about what they like, and don't like, and heck, i am FULLY aware that many people don't care for MY style. However, just because I say something, doesn't mean that it is true, or wrong, or that you have anything to change. IF that is simply the way you sing, than that is the way you sing, and if YOU like it, and don't HEAR what I hear, than there is no reason to even pay attention to what I say. I am sure you have MANNNY friends that don't say what I do, and think you are fantastic:)


I know it must be hard to request critiques.. and THEN receive them... I know I couldn't do it:)


Happy holidays:)

Don't worry about it. I asked for it.



Gosh no... not really. I've been away from WV for almost a decade and we haven't performed anywhere out here. We don't go places, I never meet anyone (except online) and the most feedback I've ever really had on my voice (aside from what my husband has told me) I've gotten here. This ability to record directly into the computer is a fairly new phenomenon for us, so I haven't had the advantage of hearing myself that much. No one tells me I'm 'fantastic' or 'great' or anything like that... and now I know why. Maybe I'm just destined to be a backup singer (if that), I don't know. Maybe I have potential and just need to work on it.. I don't know that either, but that's what I'm trying to figure out.



Oh it's not that bad... I do get a little frustrated, but it's not going to kill me or anything. I really do feel honored that folks would take time out to offer helpful comments. Just because I don't hear something doesn't mean it isn't there! Aside from blatant things like pitch, it's easy for a person to become numb to their own faults. To me, it's kind of like doing your own makeup for years and never realizing that you just plain don't look good with green eyeshadow, until someone comes along and points it out for you (kindly of course).

Thanks again and enjoy whatever family tradition you might decide to participate in.

Chicki,

why don't you re-record it taking Gilly's comments into account? It would be interesting to hear an improved version.

Morten

Syberchickie, I finally listened...you have a beautiful quality to your voice; something indefinable but original and likeable. Just wanted to tell you that. That "X" thing.

Wow Tigger That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me about my subs on this website. Made my day!

I'm nearly finished with a new one I'm getting ready to sub... and if folks don't think IT's good, they're not going to like ANYthing I ever do. !!

(crossing my fingers)

Thanks a million

I was getting really annoyed cos I couldn't listen, then I realised the XP popup blocker was stopping the play box from coming up DOH!

OK Syber, I quite liked this, it suits your voice very well, the mix could be better, yes, but that's something that comes with practice (I've been mixing for 8 years and still don't always get it right!) Try to bring the vocals a little more forward, they were getting a bit drowned in the backing, and don't go too mad with the reverb, as this can cause mushiness, and will lose clarity. I tend to use a smidge of reverb, and just the tiniest bit of double delay... sounds like LOADS if you listen to the vocal line on its own, but it usually works well with the backing. You could also try taking the bottom down a bit on your vocals, or maybe increasing the top and mid just a little to bring it forward more.

I agree with Gilly that it sounds a bit "flat" emotionally, the most obvious part there for me was the higher "I will be waiting" at the end, that line is perfect for injecting a little passion into this song But this is a difficult song to inject a lot of emotion into, its also a very easy song to lose pitch on, but you held it well throughout.

Overall, I'd say it wasn't spectacular, but it WAS a nice, pleasant listen

_________________

!!! Yeah... I had the same problem at first, until I realized what was going on, so now I hold down my ctrl key (overrides my pop-up blocker) when I want to hear a sub.



Tell me about it!! It's especially hard with my headphones because I have discovered there is an override somewhere (either in my internal sound card or in the headphones themselves) to prevent blowing out the headphone speakers, so... I sometimes can't tell if something is overdriving or not. But, I think I'm getting better with it.



That's what I was trying to do! I think it came out better in the sub I'll be putting up next (I've been tweaking with the mix for 2-days now) heheh



Great suggestions! I need to figure out how to do that. I know there is a 'mixer' somewhere in CEP, but i haven't been able to find it yet. I sure wish we had an actual mixer to mic through! It's so much easier to get the balances right LIVE!!



Thank you VERY much Yeah, I'm trying to learn to put more 'emotion' into my stuff now. You know, I was naive enough to think that if you 'felt' emotion, it would come through in the singing... not necessarily true!! I think my next sub will be better *cringing & crossing fingers* !!!

I think it would be cool if I could show a marked improvement on each submission I make. Some folks here don't believe it is possible, but I'm going to prove them wrong.

Thanks so much for the feedback!!