Karaoke Forums

Hot, warm, or cold?

Do you like to hear the encouragement for going to the trouble of displaying a personal peice of yourself? Do you want to hear an item or two that might need a little work? Do you like to hear the down and dirty, nitty gritty, of the whole array of errors made in your sub.

The next sub I do, I will probably ask for private critiquing by PM. I might actually want to know all of the things I need to work on so I can decide for myself whether I want to continue singing tunes by that one artist or from that genre, or even if I might to hide in a basement while I sing.

How do you like to have your critique served?

There is a person currently visiting our site who has been critiquing myself and two other people on a regular basis.  My problems with this person is he will make blanket statements ("off key all over the place", "breathing technique needs work") but does not indicate just where in the recording he/she is referring.  I mean, if it's just not good all around , it's just not good, but if you liked most or part of it, point out the parts to me you thought needed some attention.  The major problem I have in his comments is I don't exactly know what kind of credentials he has to make these suggestions.  

He ripped up something I did several days ago ("I Got Rhythm") and told me perhaps I should consider taking singing lessons and definitely needed to work on the ending and my breath control.  I was quick to let him know I already am taking singing lessons (and with a highly reputable teacher here in the Twin Cities--hell, she was a backup singer on "Saturday Night Live" for some years and has a number of other pretty impressive things).  Then he said, "Well, you should let your teacher listen to it and see if they don't agree with me."  Since I conveniently had a lesson that very night, I recorded it for her to get her feedback (actually, I do this quite often anyway). She said, more or less my breath control was very good for a fast tempo song of this type, the ending I devised was somewhat conventional but sounded right to her ears.  And trust me, when something is out of whack she doesn't waste time letting me know.  It's still posted if you want to see what you think.

I think if you are pretty cofident and what you're doing, you yourself know exactly what could use some work or what could use some improvement--singing is imperfect by nature--it's not liking striking the keys on the piano and getting a perfect tone and execution every single time (oh yes, I play piano and for a long time now).  

Steve Kaplan recenly critiqued a couple of my submissions and he knows what he's doing.  What Steve does is not only explain where something was a bit lacking, but he explains why and ideas for how to perhaps improve it.  

Related to this, my suggestion to Jeff earlier was not that he stinks as a singer (he has a fine voice I think) but that my feeling was he is much better suited to other genres that he apparently does like to do (it is apparent on listening).  Everybody is going to be better or worse than you or the next person--it is really subjective anyway.

Special comedy note:  The last thing I submitted I wrote that "I really butchered this  one" (and I really didn't do such a great job on it).  This above person responded with "I agree with the first four words of your description" (like my disclaimer wasn't enough)   I really think he's Simon Cowell in disguise or perhaps think this is "American Idol" running here.

Signed

Disgruntled Fool in Minneapolis Who Really Should be Working on this Ad Copy on his Desk at Work Right Now

I have ultimate confidence in myself most of the time so no single comment would affect me much. As I said I thought it was funny.  Bothersome but funny. I do think that people here are here to have fun and be praised for their work, however good or bad it may be, so I have chosen not to comment on a few I listened to. I prefer to leave 10s for people so that they are given positive criticism that makes them want to go on to another song. There is no point in taking someone down in here. What a waste of energy.

Michael I was going to PM you after I listened to your rendition of "Summer Wind" but I haven't PM'd anyone here and I would rather do it the 1st time with someone I want to talk to, not just trade criticisms of each other's work.

I thought your rendition of Summer Wind was an 8 or a 9. You have a great voice with much inflection but the song was not ever meant to be uptempo. It's a song of lost love. I thought it was out of place in how you sang it.  You change the whole song by overinflecting and staying uptempo. I did not leave a rank so as not to ruin your perfect 10. People are ranking your voice and not the rendition.  That is just my opinion. I prefer my own rendition, which if I had known I was going to have to defend it would have spent more than 1 take to get it done.  To each his own.  You have a great voice and I never came in here to get into any arguments. It's a waste of my time.
I'm spending too much time in here today. I stayed home from work with a headache which is starting to come back. This forum should be nothing if not a rise for the peeps who come in. No one needs a singing lesson here. -.  :(

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Who loves ya baby?

I like mine served on the veranda with a twist of lemon. My secoond choice would be by PM.

I remember my first PM. It could have gone better but it was still a magical experience. I was clumsy but she was forgiving. She showed me the way. At least one or two ways. Since then I haven't been able to get enough of them.

I wouldn't mind reading well written and constructive criticism of my subs.  My stuff is far from perfect and I know it.  But my intent is not to be perfect; it's to do the best that I can do.  When I post a sub I hope that whoever listens will enjoy what I've done.  That's the way I approach my performances too.  I consider myself to be an entertainer.  And that's what I do.  If the listener likes what I've done then I have achieved my goal.

But it's not like we're all candidates for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame here.  And based on what I've heard in the Singer's Showcase there is a pretty wide cross-section of talent that subs.  So just how valuable is the criticism.  I don't think anybody subs anything they don't think at least representative of their ability.  How instructive is it then to tell someone that they are off key if the singer doesn't have the ability to do it better?

A friend of mine has a really good voice.  His problem is that when he sings karaoke he has difficulty getting the words started in time to the music.  He's usually a few words behind.  I tried working with him on this.  When I told him about it he was completely unaware of the problem.  Even after we taped a song he still had difficulty understanding what the problem was.  He doesn't know how to listen.  So when I would play back the song all he really heard was his voice and that sounded okay to him.  He's getting better because we've done a lot of work on his listening skills.  But if he had subbed a song and received a written critique he would be totally lost.  It wouldn't do him any good at all.

So for a lot of us who are doing the best we can do, I don't know that criticism is all that helpful.  We're probably not going to be able to do it any better.

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"Life is too short for diet soda and lite beer"

I like it when people critique honestly. I would rather have it in a pm if it is
really negative. It is nice when people start off saying what they like first then tell me what is wrong. Then let me know how to fix it - please.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I've heard your stuff.  What's to critique.  You are terrific!

Larry

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"Life is too short for diet soda and lite beer"

That is the style most good motivators that I know of use.

Well taken Jeff... I agree the tempo should have been slower;  alas I had done this tune some months ago with a much better backing but could not find it--I think the backing on this one is from the Michael Buble version--it sure wasn't Sinatra's!  Now, if you listen to my idea of "Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", this would probably get an "Oy vey, is dat bad or wot?" from you or others seriously critiquing. I would be the first to agree.  Actually I've listened to it again and my take was "Sweet Caesar!  It's the mating call of the Canadian Wombat set to music!"

Michael I just gave it a listen - I enjoyed it. I like to hear the voice a little more out
front. I know sometimes it is hard to get the right balance. When I record I do it once full through and have no editing tools, so what you hear is what you get.  LMAO
I read the music critque's reply - yikes he is rying to be mean. I loved your response  LMAO

Thanks guys for the compliments. I just subbed again because of your encouragement.  :oh yeah:

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Well if you listened to "The House I Live" in I had it coming from Mr. Wisenheimer and I have to admit (I hate making excuses!) but yesterday when I pulled this one together I'd been up for two days with insomnia, my voice was shot (I smoke too much) and my lips were all parched from the aforementioned cigs and too much coffee for 42 hours, but geez, I saw all those patriotic tunes going up and I knew no one would think of this song so I did what I could before the day ended (and admittedly, I had to break this into separate sections--I always aim for a straight through take even if it takes 5,00 times).  I really appreciate your kind words, but I admit it's not as good as I would have liked to have done it.  Just my "patriotic" flagwaver for the Good of the Country and all that stuff.  

Man I don't feel like being at work today, and apparently neither does anyone else around this joint I'm employed by.  Don't you hate that? It's bad enough you don't want to be here but everyone else is the same way so why don't we all turn out the lights and shuffle on out the door?  Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....

I have to work tonight, karaoke. I'm off from my day job this week and next.
I'm leaving on vacation soon. I'll miss you guys!

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I hope your headache gets better soon.

All we are is dust in the wind. I love Kansas, Arkansas is pretty too. Whatever happened to Alabama?

Ah, my gawd.......... not another "how to critique" thread.

This has been done, over n' over n' over....... blah blah blah.

Everybody here has lied, and everybody here has been lied to. It's a fact of SS life.

Me? I don't care what's a true comment and what isn't. Good comments don't swell my head, and people being flat out rude to me don't hurt my feelings any. I go out to live karaoke, and sing other places with live music often enough.... and those experiences tell me just where I stand.

It would sure be nice if we could all give & take honesty here... but we can't. (most of us) I see so much falsity in there, but it doesn't matter to me personally. (reason stated above) I just kinda feel sorry for people who really depend on the comments received here, and they don't get what they need. And it goes both ways..... I've seen great comments given on sucky songs, and sucky comments given on great songs. (IMO of course)

But, as Gilly stated in another thread on another topic..... this is not real life. And, do you think your subbed songs ever sound as good here as they do from your hard drive. Mine sure don't. Quality is lost somehow in the upload.... so people need to realize that what SS people are hearing here, is not what they would hear in real life.

Okay, so I babble, sue me for it.

I gotta go catch up to Jeff's music.

BTW........... Anybody wanna come help put new brakes & rotors & header gaskets on my Bronco this evening? No takers? Okay, fine then.... Don't ask me for any favors.  LOL

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♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

I was one of the 2 other people Michael's talking about besides himself that was critiqued.  A lot of people came to my "defense" and I was actually a bit embarassed that this person's comments on two of my subs caused my friends to get upset.  I didn't like being part of anything causing havoc in the SS community.

Although I never ask for critique because I like to view my time here as mostly a fun part of my day, I have no problem receiving constructive criticism.  Michael and I agree that if you're going to critique, you've got to do it effectively.  What that means to me is, point out exactly where those flat notes are that you thought you heard on my song cuz, I'll be damned if I (or anybody for that matter) could find them.  This person also "senses" that I was holding back, he thought I should sing "soaringly", however I don't see how my doing something like that would improve that particular song.  But, it's all a matter of opinion.  I really have no issues with that person, he was complimentary to me, stating that I was very talented.  He thought my best genre was country, and although I'm not pinned to any one genre, I believe it because most people say that to me.  

I think critique should be very specific and always positive.  In other words, don't disrespect the person, tell them what were the good points in their submission and tell them how to improve.  Critique should be intended to HELP a person, not bring them down.  If you feel a sub is really bad and can't say anything in a positive light...move on.  

A few months ago I had some bozo come on one of my Karen Carpenter subs and say something to the effect of, why do this song when you can't compare to Karen.  Well...I'm not Karen, I don't wanna be Karen.  I can only sing like me...so that comment was neither respected nor desired.  That, to me, is worthless.

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I guess I should have searched more thoroughly for this topic before I started it. It's looking like a bad idea anyway.

I did a search for critique and did not find it in any of the original posts that came up in the search.

This is bound to happen.

There is a big difference between helpful critique and just plain meanness. If someone can't properly pick apart your performance (i.e. explaining exactly what is technically wrong with it) then it's pretty much a given that you ignore them. I think both MJK and Luly are awesome performers and neither deserves to be shredded on a comment. I wish for once people could just take a performance at face value and enjoy it for what it is. SS seems to bring out all the Simon Cowells (funny how most of them aren't anything to write home about vocally) which is sad because this is a karaoke site. None of us get paid for subbing songs, we do it for fun. I don't ask for a rating for a reason. I am sharing a piece of myself, people can take it or leave it. I am not auditioning for Idol or even entering karaoke contests. I am quite content with the idea of singing at karaoke or at an open mic here and there, I don't need some self proclaimed music critic to tell me I can sing. I like sharing that part of myself, just to know someone took the time to listen. If they like it, even better. I got Simon Cowelled a while back by someone who said I was off pitch in several places (didn't mention where of course) and complained about my echo....the funny thing was the echo was to disguise the noise of 3 kids running around the house somewhat...heck I even subbed one with my stepson screaming his lungs out at the start. The fact is that if someone wants to come off looking like a total jacka$$ saying someone's performance was bad when it obviously wasn't, then you have to consider the source.

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Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure. (I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear.)

We all need improvement--all musical ability in any form is developmental but dishing it out in a heavy handed manner doesn't really inspire one to to achieve those goals--it's just detrimental.

Well said, Michael. I have been catching up on Music critic's comments and they don't seem particularly useful, and as you said heavy handed. I just don't see the point in that. LOVE the dedication by the way

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Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure. (I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear.)

I'm really a nice guy, I hope you all know that.  But I just to send off that dedication with all the love I could find in my heart for the guy.  He may very well be from the Plant Mongo for all I can figure.  Have a good night....