Help with singing voice

Question

I've been working hard on getting my singing voice in shape.

My voice still sounds like garbage.

An example of me singing a cover of Two Headed Boy; there are a couple times that I can hear that I go out of key, but I think I hit the right notes mostly. It is not mixed, it has some reverb and an EQ and that's it. The guitar and vocals were recorded together.

Here's the original version of the song if you've never heard it (great band).

Am I more out of key than I think I am? Is it a timbre issue?

Do any of you vocalists have good input on this kind of thing?

Anything that I should practice to get it better?

Thanks!

PS. Please be nice. I know I'm bad and I'm am trying my best to get better.

Answer 1

From what you describe, I wonder if what you need to work on isn't singing, but listening. You hear that you go out of tune when you listen to the playback: good! The thing to do now is listen while you sing.

Try singing along with the original track, but quietly, not full-voice. Listen more than you sing. Worry only about whether you match what the track is doing. Try to make your voice meld with the track until it's indistinguishable.

At first, this will be very frustrating. It'll feel like no matter how hard you try, you can't do it. But with time & practice you can reach that zen point when your voice IS the track and you can follow it perfectly. Doing this with many songs in multiple styles will help you tune well with anything you hear.

Answer 2

You could try reproducing the notes at the same time with some instrument (piano or guitar), practicing with triades and scales. I belive that is a good exercise to sing in tune in right notes. Try to find your tone.

Answer 3

You sound OK for that style of music, but I can hear what you're saying... it's not "garbage" though without some context... how long have you been singing? How long have you been singing "seriously" ?... keep improving breath and diaphragm ...

I've been running and singing at the same time at a park nearby, has improved my singing strength tremendously... do what you can anyway you can to get stronger.

Answer 4

Listening to the two versions, the original is a LOT faster than yours- not sure whether that's deliberate but one effect is that you have to hold the notes much longer in the slower version, which possibly makes it seem more difficult than it needs to be.

Your timing is good, and your voice itself sounds like it has a nice tone.

I'm no singing coach but it sounds a bit like you're singing much louder (harder) in the higher parts than the lower bits. When people sing higher (in chest voice) the volume (or percieved volume) often raises anyway so maybe it's worht taking ait a bit more easy on the higher notes? Sounds like you don't have trouble singing that high.

Re staying in tune: Assuming it's you playing te guitar, one thing I've found rally helpful is to undertsand how the vocal line fits with the underlying chords by learning the melody on the guitar. It helps understand the relationship more if the tune isn't straightforward, which this one isn't really.

Answer 5

Are you using headphones to hear yourself while singing? I have been taking the singing success lessons and find that the exercises in Discovering Your Voice help to warm up. After those exercises I sing alone with a mic and headphones. Sometimes recording myself too, in order to match my tone and style against the original.