I'm 41 but I sound like 18 - is this bad? (vocal example)

INFJ

So, I am looking for feedback not so much regarding the technical side but more subjectively. I am in a hate/love relationship with my vocals.
I have worked just short of 3 years, 6 days a week, 2 hours per session and I think I still sound like a younger boy. Maybe not as extreme as "little boy voice" but something like that.

I just took a random song I like, which sits in the natural range. If you just want to play a snippet I suggest going towards the end of the song as more stuff happens there.
Does it sound ugly? You don't need to be a technical expert to answer that.





Some things I notice:

1. The sound is not big (it's bigger than before KTVA but not a whole lot)
2. It lacks attitude and grit (not that I look for distortion but some more attitude would have been nice)
3. Everything is very flat-lined (no vibrato and it seems it just does not come naturally for me)
4. It's sensitive to pitch mistakes (maybe because of point 3?)
5. It has agility but not a lot of power

Would anybody listen to this or I am just wasting a lot of time?

@Terence Any thoughts on my sound here? I think I am in a stylistic crisis or something.

Elara

Your voice does not sound ugly at all. And there is nothing wrong with having a "flat" voice. Not everyone uses vibrato. Your voice is your own, and you have a style that is unique to you.

I think you have already identified things you can work on. You're right that you could have more power. This comes from strengthening your abdominal support. This will help with the pitch issues, too.

Grit will come as your voice develops. Make sure you focus on the PING when you train.

You are not doing badly at all.

charlie_v

I wonder if air is escaping into your nose? It sounds like this may be the case.

When you look, is your soft palate raised? You can also pinch your nose, which will quickly reveal if this is the problem!

Please let us know!

INFJ

Thank you so much for the feedback @Elara
I will continue and try to focus more on the ping and improve the support.

Elara said:

Your voice does not sound ugly at all. And there is nothing wrong with having a "flat" voice. Not everyone uses vibrato. Your voice is your own, and you have a style that is unique to you.

I think you have already identified things you can work on. You're right that you could have more power. This comes from strengthening your abdominal support. This will help with the pitch issues, too.

Grit will come as your voice develops. Make sure you focus on the PING when you train.

You are not doing badly at all.

INFJ

I think the throat is too closed. I don't see the soft palate raising that much. Nothing like what he is demonstrating in the course.
When I manage to open the throat correctly I feel like there is this very agile upper range available. But due to hard consonants and long passages I tend to close the throat again. Because of this I try to avoid songs with a lot of hard consonants and/or very quick tempo. I simply cannot get through them even though the same note values have been sung many times before.

charlie_v said:

I wonder if air is escaping into your nose? It sounds like this may be the case.

When you look, is your soft palate raised? You can also pinch your nose, which will quickly reveal if this is the problem!

Please let us know!