Some honest opinions, advice on my singing

[NPro]

Hi all,

Looking for some brutally honest opinions about my singing.

I have alot of doubts on wether it’s good or not and no real idea where to start with improving singing. I have no clue about techniques at all… feedback and tips are appreciated.

Here are a few links, there are many more but I selected the ones I like the best

royksopp remind me uku cover


No sound but the wind bari uku cover


Sleeping by myself eddie vedder uku cover


Thanks in advance

 

[rainbow21]

From an equally clueless listener (but a fan of "The Voice"): Your voice is quite good. Sounds like you are in tune with good emotion. It is quite a pleasing tone and touches closer to "professional" than "wannabe".

 

[Patty]

You’re really lucky—great vocal chops, a pretty good range, and good intonation. In other words, a lovely singing voice. I can’t offer any tips for improvement (and I’m not qualified anyway), but if you want to improve, a vocal coach might have some ideas.

There might be some techniques re breath control, diaphragm exercises, and so on, that would make you even better.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Sounded good to me. I think you should get on with whatever you’re trying to do, or get a good teacher to help you improve what’s making you lack confidence.

 

[NPro]

From an equally clueless listener (but a fan of "The Voice"): Your voice is quite good. Sounds like you are in tune with good emotion. It is quite a pleasing tone and touches closer to "professional" than "wannabe".

Wow, thanks for the kind words! Happy to hear you like the tone since I'm not always a fan of my own.

 

[NPro]

Sounded good to me. I think you should get on with whatever you’re trying to do, or get a good teacher to help you improve what’s making you lack confidence.

I have alot of stage fright. I'm really trying to push myself in that area though... I've been invested in playing ukulele and improving in that regard for the last 5 years. Maybe it is time to really do something in the vocal area... singing to me is a very vulnerable thing in my mind and I don't enjoy being vulnerable in front of others... if that makes any sense...

 

[NPro]

You’re really lucky—great vocal chops, a pretty good range, and good intonation. In other words, a lovely singing voice. I can’t offer any tips for improvement (and I’m not qualified anyway), but if you want to improve, a vocal coach might have some ideas.

There might be some techniques re breath control, diaphragm exercises, and so on, that would make you even better.

Thanks... maybe it's time to invest towards the vocals instead of the ukulele playing for a while then. Techniques could only help at this point.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I have alot of stage fright. I'm really trying to push myself in that area though... I've been invested in playing ukulele and improving in that regard for the last 5 years. Maybe it is time to really do something in the vocal area... singing to me is a very vulnerable thing in my mind and I don't enjoy being vulnerable in front of others... if that makes any sense...

Everyone is scared to perform in front of others, but your fear is stealing good times from you. I’ve heard lots of geezers like me say “gee, I wish I would’ve done so-and-so when I was young. We’ve all screwed up in front of an audience and lived through it.

 

[Ukecaster]

Excellent...great tone, timing and phrasing. Of course, if you think there's something missing, you could work on that, but as is, you're already way ahead of many others.

 

[NPro]

Everyone is scared to perform in front of others, but your fear is stealing good times from you. I’ve heard lots of geezers like me say “gee, I wish I would’ve done so-and-so when I was young. We’ve all screwed up in front of an audience and lived through it.

True... a year ago I pretty much froze but I'm trying to push the boundaries. Joined a jam group where I sometimes sing. Record alot... went on a tiny stage at a ukulele event.

Next month I'll sing a song in front of people knowing that it's not going to be great (it's for a group assignment and not in a key that works for me)... but I'm going to do it anyways. Figured if I'm able to do a song a feel insecure about it'll be easier doing the ones I'm sure about...

Don't want to grow old and have regrets not having tried getting over it.

 

[Renaissance-Man]

I said, I know this voice. Then it dawned on me. You're vocals are very Cat Stevens-ish. Nice.

 

[NPro]

I said, I know this voice. Then it dawned on me. You're vocals are very Cat Stevens-ish. Nice.

I'm not at all familiar with his music but after this comment I will surely do a deep dive this week

Maybe there's inspiration for another cover in there...

 

[SweetWaterBlue]

You have a very nice voice. I am not a sound engineer, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

The only small thing I noticed was that occasionally your voice trails off before you are finished with a phrase. It can make it hard to hear or understand the last word of a phrase. I am sure some of it you are doing it intentionally for dynamics. You may be slightly running out of breath; or, you are moving away from the mic. A sound engineer would run you through a compressor to even out some of the volume, but of course that destroys some of the dynamics.

 

[NPro]

You have a very nice voice. I am not a sound engineer, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

The only small thing I noticed was that occasionally your voice trails off before you are finished with a phrase. It can make it hard to hear or understand the last word of a phrase. I am sure some of it you are doing it intentionally for dynamics. You may be slightly running out of breath; or, you are moving away from the mic. A sound engineer would run you through a compressor to even out some of the volume, but of course that destroys some of the dynamics.

Aha, nice one... I'll try to look out for that!

 

[SweetWaterBlue]

Next month I'll sing a song in front of people knowing that it's not going to be great (it's for a group assignment and not in a key that works for me)... but I'm going to do it anyways. Figured if I'm able to do a song a feel insecure about it'll be easier doing the ones I'm sure about...

In my groups we usually try to agree on a key that suits as many as we can. We can't always agree, but If you have a choice, sing in a key that suits your voice.

I sometimes have trouble with my voice trailing off, and not necessarily at the end of a phrase lol. Trying to be cognizant of where my mouth was in relation to the mic helped some. Getting a wireless headset mic helped a lot, since it removed the distance from the mic problem.

 

[PetieT]

All in all, very good, but a little more work on the control of breathing. Check out some videos on YouTube, there are tons of them

 

[Yukio]

I don't know how I found this thread, but I am glad I did. I listened with pleasure to all three of the videos you shared, @NPro.

Right out of the gate, I can say you have a solid command of your voice, you ukulele playing, and the technical aspects of recording yourself and producing your videos. Everything sounds and looks great, so you should really be looking to share your talents widely.

Performing in front of an audience can be daunting at first, but it gets easier with practice. Mistakes will always happen, but as you get more used to performing, you get better at ignoring them and continuing to move your performance forward. Give yourself some time to get used to it, but get out there and sing.

Eventually, someone will take a video of you performing and share it with you. People share such videos with me all the time. They can be hard to watch, at least to me. When you are ready to do a little constructive self-critique, then watch them. It is good medicine, but it can be hard to swallow, so pick your time.

As far as singing technique is concerned, I would just keep expanding your horizons. @Renaissance-Man is having you look at Cat Stevens. That is a good suggestion. CS has a baritone voice that can really rumble with grit when he starts or finishes a line. You could do something similar too, to help finish a line powerfully (as per the discussion with @SweetWaterBlue.)

In a totally different direction, listen to your middle video, (No Sound but the Wind) and then go listen to some Roy Orbison. I can hear some of his high vocal embellishments being worked into a song like this. It would let you stay in that rich redolent register that seems natural to you and let you ornament that with some higher vocal effects to make your audience swoon.

Also the Eddie Vedder angle is a good avenue for you to explore if you want to go into some more rock vocal styles. That is what I am hearing at least. You have a solid basis, now you just push out in several different stylistic directions that are of interest to you and keep evolving your style and technique. It is a process that is never ending.

Good Luck!

-Yukio

 

[NPro]

I don't know how I found this thread, but I am glad I did. I listened with pleasure to all three of the videos you shared, @NPro.

Right out of the gate, I can say you have a solid command of your voice, you ukulele playing, and the technical aspects of recording yourself and producing your videos. Everything sounds and looks great, so you should really be looking to share your talents widely.

Performing in front of an audience can be daunting at first, but it gets easier with practice. Mistakes will always happen, but as you get more used to performing, you get better at ignoring them and continuing to move your performance forward. Give yourself some time to get used to it, but get out there and sing.

Eventually, someone will take a video of you performing and share it with you. People share such videos with me all the time. They can be hard to watch, at least to me. When you are ready to do a little constructive self-critique, then watch them. It is good medicine, but it can be hard to swallow, so pick your time.

As far as singing technique is concerned, I would just keep expanding your horizons. @Renaissance-Man is having you look at Cat Stevens. That is a good suggestion. CS has a baritone voice that can really rumble with grit when he starts or finishes a line. You could do something similar too, to help finish a line powerfully (as per the discussion with @SweetWaterBlue.)

In a totally different direction, listen to your middle video, (No Sound but the Wind) and then go listen to some Roy Orbison. I can hear some of his high vocal embellishments being worked into a song like this. It would let you stay in that rich redolent register that seems natural to you and let you ornament that with some higher vocal effects to make your audience swoon.

Also the Eddie Vedder angle is a good avenue for you to explore if you want to go into some more rock vocal styles. That is what I am hearing at least. You have a solid basis, now you just push out in several different stylistic directions that are of interest to you and keep evolving your style and technique. It is a process that is never ending.

Good Luck!

-Yukio

Thanks for the reply! It is a challenge to find out how to evolve singing styles and knowing what is reachable with a certain voice and was is not...

I did some Cat Stevens songs, 'Father and son' being one that I like the most and feels like a good fit. If I manage a recording I'll share.

Roy Orbison is a huuuuge challenge for me vocally. I tried to sing along in my car yesterday. The only song that went easily was 'one more time'... wich sounds very similar to 'acky breaky heart'... I wonder if others have noticed that aswell

 

[Yukio]

Thanks for the reply! It is a challenge to find out how to evolve singing styles and knowing what is reachable with a certain voice and was is not...

I did some Cat Stevens songs, 'Father and son' being one that I like the most and feels like a good fit. If I manage a recording I'll share.

Roy Orbison is a huuuuge challenge for me vocally. I tried to sing along in my car yesterday. The only song that went easily was 'one more time'... wich sounds very similar to 'acky breaky heart'... I wonder if others have noticed that aswell

I know that Orbison is a HUGE challenge, but if you listen to that No Sound but the Wind video, you can sprinkle it with a few touches of Roy here and there. It is something to aspire to, at least. Good luck and keep singing!

 

[Stoneyrun]

I enjoyed your videos. Reminded me of a young Gordon Lightfoot. I hope you'll take an interest in the weekly Seasons of the Ukulele (SOTU) song challenges here. I have no critique as I don't claim to be a professional singer. One thing I dislike about my own vocal performances is my lack of control over vibrato. I tend to add too much vibrato and have a tough time dialing back. You seem to have better control. Are these phone recordings?