Thread: how am I doing? (vocals) harrharr

I suppose this will fall under art and such, but recently i've been trying some vocalization and would like to know, quite simply, if it sounds good lol!!

personally, the bullet for my valentine covers are better (in my opinion), but feedback is always welcome!!

Vocal Covers - YouTube

thanks guys and gals!!

You should try practicing with music that brings your voice out some more, instead of just rattling along to heavy music with tons of screaming. Not being disrespectful towards heavy metal vocalists, but before you can sing metal, you must be able to sing ordinary music first.

With that said, it's pretty bad. I don't know too much about vocals, but you just aren't singing correctly. It doesn't have to be something you can't fix, but first you must learn, and you are learning nothing by screaming along like you are currently.

It's sort of like drawing. You shouldn't try to draw a non-human looking character for a cartoon, without first being able to draw basic anatomy, perspective, proper proportions and so on. You will simply end up with characters that constantly warp and twist for each panel/frame/whatever you draw and they will generally not look great, because you don't have a base to work off of.

So, take some simpler music. It might sound weird, but hymn's often test your voice very well. A lot of the older music might also work well for you, such as Pink Floyd, Beatles and Queen.

edit: btw. don't interpret this post like I don't like metal, I do, I just am not impressed with your singing. I was never a huge fan of screaming though. You could try some Machine Head instead. They still have screaming, somewhat, but also a lot of much more ordinary singing.

Hi, I'm actually a huge melodic death metal fan. Don't feel too bad about responses from people who don't like metal in the first place, since they'd probably think even the best metal voices sound like crap. You aren't that bad, but there's definitely something lacking in your voice, and I don't know whether it could be fixed or you just don't have a natural metal vocalist's voice. Perhaps the talent of sounding good is rare, and you either have it or you don't. Or maybe there are things you can do. I really don't know. The following are just guesses, they might be complete bs. I have no expertise. (Well I used to sing when I was younger and have a good natural ear for music, but that's all, I have no idea what goes into singing metal).

I kind of wish the second and fourth songs didn't have the original vocalists in the background, as it got slightly confusing. I think you sounded best in the second song though.

The first thing I notice is that your voice often just sounds a little young while singing. Maybe when you get slightly older this will be fixed.

It also sounds like there isn't enough emotion in your voice. I don't know whether this is fixable or not, but while listening I feel like you aren't doing it strongly enough or something, like I want to hear more intensity. But, again, I don't know if that's possible.

I kind of got the feeling that I'd like to hear your voice slightly deeper. You seem to be going more for the In Flames-ish higher pitched scream, and that works, but just a little deeper might sound better, if it's possible.

One thing I did like was, at the ends of some lines, your voice would trail off and it sounded really good. The best example is at 3:40 of Claws so Deep (and you started smiling and nodding your head afterward, maybe because you liked it too, lol). That sounded amazing. Maybe that's only a line-ending thing, but maybe it's possible to take whatever qualities are in there and extend it to the rest.

What I'm going to say is my own personal opinions and I hope you are not offended by them.

Firstly, you have a nice voice when you are speaking but I was kind of taken aback when you started singing. It just feels to me that you're not using your real voice to sing, more of like an imitation of style by other singers. I do admit that I'm not a metal fan, but I've heard the original cover for "Alone - Bullet for my Valentine" and he is not singing with a hoarse voice. So I was thinking, stop using that hoarse voice and try to bring your real voice out and find a style that's truly yours. Besides, I think the way you sing might be damaging to your throat.

I agreed with Dianeva that the second video is the best and... You have a nice hat!

your screaming would be more powerful if you reduced the rasp and added more pure tone to it. At the moment is almost only rasp. You need more power from the diaphragm too, but don't do it with a constricted throat; you need more pure tone to do it. Basing my opinion on your trivium cover.
Singing is a whole different kettle of fish. It really is much harder to do well than screaming and you will need to practice it a lot more than screaming to become good. I notice your singing voice splits into octave chords because of the rasp. It's a sign that you are putting too much pressure on the rasp. When people sing raspy, the overtone is usually a higher pitch than the fundamental tone - at the moment yours is a lower pitch.
One thing I have to admit is that screaming is bad for your voice no matter how you do it. So is over-singing.

thanks for the honesty guys, positive or negative, feedback will always help!

so i decided to upload another video, but this time one that isn't very aggressive and doesn't incorporate screaming for easier recognition when it comes to pros and cons of my voice/singing.

here's the link:

Dream theater - fatal tragedy (vocal cover) - YouTube

and yeah, i guess reply in a form like pros: then cons: or something like that just so I know what i need to work on or what I shouldn't be doing. Then i guess ill try what you guys suggest and go from there! Thanks a lot!!

I'm sensing that something is holding you back from singing with your whole voice. Basically, you need to work much more with your lungs, really move some air around. Right now it sounds like you're trying to whisper and sing at the same time.

Yeah, it almost seems you have the same problem as with the other songs. Try singing with something between what you're doing already and your regular speaking voice. And try singing from your lungs, if that makes sense. You should feel a slight pressure from closer to your lungs, not higher up in your throat. Right now it sounds like all the sound is coming from your mouth.

oh wow, yeah my tone just got a lot less airy and just a lot better xD hah, i think i figured it out :3 haha, began by holding a note at my talking pitch + tone, then tried to keep that exact "feeling" in my head register, then arpeggio downwards, trying to maintain it..if I hit a vocal break, im doing something wrong (i think), so I just kept altering my "head tone" until I can go downwards (or upwards) to/from my talking pitch, keeping the same tone (as when im talking) without hitting a vocal break xD just have to make sure I keep up the airflow and breathe with my diaphragm!

but it's getting late here (4AM!!) so ill practice more the next few days and post my progress, thank you all for the feedback!!

Sing something low and easy. You don't want to have to use head voice at all in the beginning. Dream Theater is really hard. You really have to use the same technique you use when speaking just with more power - it's like the amount of volume you'd use to call someone in another room. Your speaking voice is quite low so you have to start with a low song. I'd recommend jazz songs like singing in the rain or come fly with me. Once you know how they go, sing them without the music in the background so that you can change it to a key you're most comfortable with. To get range you have to start in the middle of your voice where you are most comfortable. Once you have power there you extend it at the top and bottom (mostly at the top).

hey, so i've been trying some arpeggios and such around my vocal break and this is what i'm able to do.. is this what you are all getting at? the feeling is just like when im talking, but there is a lot of concentration involved because of incorrect muscle memory.. my hand is just there to feel my larynx in case of movement, but it's not holding anything in place; my larynx is still free to move if I want it to (but it doesnt xD).

I've improved - YouTube

hmm, my brother brought up something about me changing my soft pallet when I raise pitch..he's actually a pretty good singer, but can't really tell me how to change what im doing or what it should feel like..
is that evident in the video? and if so, how do I not change it and/or what will it feel like?