Voice Help

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sleepyd

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So... I took a peek in here and I see lots of covers.

I have a passing interest in singing, so... can any of you share any little tips and things that all vocalists should know? Tips on finding a vocal instructor? Hardware tips?

About me:
My range is... probably tenor/baritone-ish. somewhere. And sometimes I'm off key, sometimes I'm not. haha It's different, hearing yourself through headphones and speakers... Also, a lot of the songs I'd like to sing often have a few notes here or there that I can't ever get right. Although, I think training to increase my vocal range just a bit would probably rectify that fairly quickly.

tl;dr--general voice help thread for everyone. XD;
 
maybe you should cover a song and then post it here so then we can give you feedback and tell you what we think! :sparkleguy:
 
maybe practice pieces in which you are comfortable with.constant practice helps, i'm not a singer but i think i do know how to listen :XD:
 
So, here are some things that shouldn't hurt...

Get used to your voice through speakers. Vibrations traveling through your own viscera and the air are different, and if you ever sing with anyone, it will matter. Eventually you'll mentally adjust - you hear what you sing (which can be even wierder, as your mind might still not adjust for speech).

Sing loudly at first. Keep water near by. Subtlety can come later - you will need to build up lung capacity. Sing your mouth dry, drink, repeat - sing to exhaustion if possible. Your pitch will be off. Fine. The voice doesn't auto-tune, unlike many recordings you may be listening to.

If looking for an instructor, community theater groups and community collages are a good place to start. Somewhere where you can find people to vouch for the instructor. Music stores may also have instructors - but there is less of a reputation to hold up for an individual instructor. Be cautious.

If you are looking for a microphone to record, I'd suggest looking for a USB mic if you don't already know what your computer's soundcard is. If it's labeled "for podcasting", it is probably good enough. Not the cheapest, but not the best either. For recording software, http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ is all you should need for a while.


Anything else I'd say would be more instrument related...
 
I'm by no means a vocalist (I sing just well enough to teach my songs to my vocalists) and I often joke that if I ever sang in public, I'd probably get arrested for an act of terrorism... but I've worked with a lot of different vocalists, so here are a couple of things I picked up along the way...

Treat your voice like a muscle - it needs to be worked out regularly. Singing regularly will build your lung capacity and your control.

Strive for control - not just pitch control but also force control. The best vocalist that I've worked with could not only control what note they sang but also how loudly or softly the note came out. Most beginning vocalists have a tendency to "punch" out higher notes. Don't worry about it yet - with time and practice, you'll learn to reign it in.

If you know an instrumentalist (preferably a pianist) who can pick out melodies from songs, bribe them to practice with you. Have them play JUST the melody and try to hit each note. Don't just sing - LISTEN as well. Listen to what's being played and what you're singing and manipulate your voice to match the note(s).

When you have a new song, don't worry that you can't nail it on the first try. Remember the muscle idea - in the same way that every instrumentalist needs to practice and create "muscle memory" so that they know where their fingers are supposed to go, for new songs, you need to practice and create the "muscle memory" for your voice.

In terms of hardware/microphone... see, my problem is that I try to get as professional as possible within a budget. Personally, for just dedicated vocals, I'd go with the Audio Technica 2020 USB version - it's a semi-professional-level microphone so you'll get a cleaner response than your typical USB microphones. I'll also second the suggestion for Audacity, since it is free and gets the job done. Another program you can use is Reaper (http://www.reaper.fm), which is professional-grade so it might have too many nick-nacks, but it's free and works as well.
 
Just curious guys (in particular to icedphoenix and Sud), does Audacity allow for zero latency monitoring during recording sessions? Some of the cheaper entry level gear I've tried seems to still have that very noticeable latency issue (although said gear would work pretty well if it's only simple post-pro/listening).

I would second the 2020 USB mic. Does the job pretty well and it is actually quite scalable with a lot of other studio/pro-level hardware (and to quite an extent, software as well).

Maybe when I'm a bit more free over the weekend, I could do a simple summary of the various miking options available to the uninitiated (will try to be as layman as possible, I promise!).
 
Nah, zero latency comes from the hardware, not from the software. Bascially, zero latency recording happens b/c your interface sends a direct signal to your monitors/headphones, bypassing the program itself. I think Pro Tools has a "low latency" option, which removes all of the effects leaving you with just a clean signal (which I suppose is fine for vocals). Audacity MIGHT have such an option - I haven't used it in a while so I can't say for sure.

Basically, if you've got about $150 to spare, you can get a relative inexpensive interface that has zero-latency monitoring. I personally use the Mackie Onyx Blackjack but I'm fairly certain that the Mbox brands around that price range offer it as well.
 
I have not seen any zero-latency options in Audacity while recording. It should be a soundcard option, should it exist - and if you do not have any more specialized hardware, ams mentioned above. There are options for overdub and latency offset for multiple track recording, though.

Personally, I have a Blue Snowball Condenser USB Microphone, though that is more a "cheap as will suffice" option.
 
UMG, I WANT TO BUY THAT SNOWBALL TOO!
ugh, ugh, I keep forgetting to order it.
 
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