What all am I doing wrong?

DonnieWitt

Hey guys, 

I posted a video of me singing about a year ago on this site and it was horrible so I took it down, so I don't have a comparison, but heres a month old video of me singing Take You by Justin Bieber, it isn't the wrole song I left the rap and stuff out. I know I'm messing up in here but I just wanted to know what you think I should work on from this video, I need to practice singing in my falsetto or louder or somethingto get the high notes out, I was cracking in this video a few times, lol. Anyhow, here it is, constructive critism is appreciated!

http://youtu.be/sqz5JVUSh9g

sspatrick

Hey Don, Not bad not bad. I would say more support over all. You should be able to do this whole part in your chest voice without dipping in and out of falsetto. Work on your bright tone just like the ah exercise add more support to the whole thing. Make sure that when you are doing your exercises you are not defaulting to falsetto around the C4. Keep the voice connected keep the sound pressure and support the same adding more support as you sing even higher. All the best.

DonnieWitt

Thanks for the feedback, I'll practice on support, I think that's what I'm missing more then anything, I have to think about my throat opening and my larnyx going down to actually produce a good high sound that would be needed on a vowel. Also, just to point it out, I've never had lessons nor do I have any intrruments, I just been practicing by ear so it's hard to know what C4 sounds like exactly, lol

*edit* And I record myself with my ipod to get feedback but I sound different on my ipod, it gives me a deeper voice but my voice on a real recorder sounds like it does in the video above.

highmtn

Donnie,

You actually have a very nice sounding voice.  I agree with Scott that the one thing that your voice needs the most is solid support.  That would do so much for your voice and allow it to really become more what I believe you want to be.

Please don't be afraid to use a webcam for these demos.  We can pick up more information to make better suggestions to help you improve.  Also, your voice was recorded at a very low level.  It would be easier to hear the detail in your voice if you get a little closer to the mic and use a little more volume.

Support is something we all need to improve.  It's amazing what support will do for our voices.

If I recall correctly, you were having some problems with pitch last time you posted.  It sounds to me like you have been practicing and working through those issues.

Keep up the good work, and don't give up.  You have improved a lot.

Bob

DonnieWitt

Should I post a video of me doing some excersizes involving scaling? I can give myself plenty of support and I'm still learning day by day and improving and I feel I can sing better now then I did when I posted that demo, just I have to really think about going higher/louder to get a note out. When I'm calm and I do the AH vowel I can do it loud(ish) effortlessly, is it suppose to be like that cause I thought you had to go way down to produce that sound, it's hard to explain what I mean but if you would like I can post this same song again and you can do a comparison to before and now and see what other problems I'm having. 

I feel comfortable with my riffs, even though I'm a bit tone deff so it's hard to hear and reproduce the good riffs some musicians do, like the long 14 notes ones I can't do. I also have trouble doing vibrato when I go higher sometimes, but I think thats something I just need to keep practicing at, and when I say go higher with vibrato I mean like in my head voice. If theres anything you think I should do let me know and I'll post it, Id really like to know what I need to work on.

*edit* Oh, also, as you can probably tell in that video, I've gotten used to singing in my head voice where as I should be singing in my chest voice, I have to really think about it before I sing now and it's something I've been working on.

DonnieWitt

If it helps, when I sing in my head voice now I feel it around my right nostral, like a vibration kinda, I think thats right, I can sing in my head voice louder when I do this, altho when I try to get louder like when I said "don't get me wrong" in that song, it's hard to do that with my head voice, should that note be pushed into my lower chest like belt it out or something? If I think about it and build it up slowly I can kinda hit the note in my headvoice but I cant jump right to it like its suppose to be, if you know what I mean.

DonnieWitt

I just recorded myself singing Be Alright by Justin Bieber, I naturally speak in my head voice so I tried using my chest voice when singing this and it sounds way too low and has less range it sounds like. When I did the few high notes it was hard at some points and I switched to head voice a few times to hit the notes. 

What do you think I should work on based on what you hear? I'm currently trying to work on support but no matter what I do I cant seem to sing loud without getting a weaker more breathy sounding voice.

highmtn

Donnie,

That was a much better recording.  We can hear your voice better.  Still need that support.

It would be good for you to have a music track playing in the background.  Experiment listening back to make sure your voice is nice and clear like it is in this example, above the sound of the music track.

We kind of need the music track to critique your pitch and see the context of your song.

Thanks for working with your recording setup.

Bob

DonnieWitt

I'm not sure how I would be able to play a track in the background, I'm using my ipod/earbud mic to record myself. One thing I noticed from listning back to the last recording I made is that I'm singing to quietly it sounds like even though I'm at an above speaking volume it sounds really low, and when I plug my ears and listen to myself sing I sound way more brighter then in the recording, not sure which one I should trust more as to how I actually sound.

Another thing is figuring out support, I know its pretty much the foundation of singing but it's hard to understand if I'm doing it right, is there suppose to be absolutely no tension in the upper region of my body, cause I produce my headvoice by pushing air from my stomach and I feel it vibrating kinda around my nose, when I do it theres not much tension and its fairly loud, not loud enough as a yell, but its slightly above a speaking but in my head voice, lol kinda hard to explain. 

I do have a slight soreness after practicing/singing for like 6hours, however it's not bad, it's more under my larnyx kinda around there, not sure if its just from doing it too long or doing it the wrong way, but I figure it's from just doing it for too long.

Thanks for the reply Bob!

Any recomendations as to what I should do are greatly appreciated.

highmtn

Support is the answer to your quiet-sounding voice.

You need to put the tension into your abdominal muscles instead of your throat.

If your larynx is telling you that it wants a rest, you'd better listen to it.

Bob

DonnieWitt

I just made a new video of me singing U Smile by Justin Bieber. Can you let me know if you hear anything wrong and what I need to work on please, thanks!

http://youtu.be/tonFO3pnATU

BTW, I blocked the camera cause I was uploading it to youtube and didnt want my face matching a bad voice for people to make fun of me so I didnt wanna take a chance, lol.

highmtn

Please include the music track at a lower volume than your vocal so we can have a reference to pitch and key.  It's hard to tell what's going on melodically. 

You can put videos on youtube that are for private viewing rather than public to the world. 

We don't make fun of forum members here, we offer constructive feedback.  We're not all supermodels or supercool, either.  We might be able to give you better feedback regarding support, posture, or other relevant issues if you removed the cover from the camera, but at least please include the music for reference.

Thanks.

Bob

DonnieWitt

I haven't been here in forever but I've still been at it, I've posted a few short videos on YouTube but haven't recorded an actual cover yet, i will one day though. My channel is TheCentralPlaza