I've noticed that when I sing at relatively low volumes along with a recording on my stereo - I find my voice tolerable and usually not so far off key. If I then TURN the stereo off and sing a capella - imitating what I just practiced along with the original recording of the song, - still not so bad.
If I then try singing the same way with a fellow guitar player - both of us strumming the chords - it's like I've never learned to hold the tune ever.
Now I'm a guitar player that's singing mostly to make pop songs sound better, because it's too hard and inconvenient to find a singer that is always around when I need him or her. And without vocals, let's face it - most pop songs are empty, even if the melody is played on another guitar. It's ok sometimes IMHO to do a pop song without a singer, and the melody played on the guitar - but it gets old fast IMHO.
So my guess is my less satisfying vocal experience playing with another guitar player and trying to sing at the same time comes from 2 things:
1.) NOT amplifying my voice - because I think I'm trying to sing up to the volume of the guitars - which often requires far more volume than my 'bedroom practice' along with and without the stereo
2.) a slightly innaccurate interpretation of my own voice's contribution to the recorded song (and wishful thinking) - when singing along with the original recording lol
3.) without vocal training - I think it's easier to hold higher notes at lower singing volumes, whereas as soon as you try to do the same at a higher volume - all bets are off
Have any of you experience the same ?
Now I haven't practiced singing through a microphone at lower levels - but have any of you without stellar God-given voices found that singing and practicing at lower volumes through an amplified microphone produces a better result than trying to 'belt it out' ?
Make sure you are singing in the best key for your voice. Use a capo to find the best range and your voice will be stronger.
For intimate settings I have switched to fingerpicking with bare fingers. Acoustic guitars, especially when played with a pick, tend to overpower unamplified vocals.
A simple solution is to turn down the guitar's volume!
If strumming with a hard pick try either a soft one or your fingers. Strum closer or on the fret board. Do not attack the strings. As suggested one or both of you finger pick.
Try micing only your vocal. Sing at your 'bedroom practice' volume and let the amp do the rest. You will probably have to sing via a mic at a club so practice that now.
If you want to hear two acoustic guitars and a couple of voices I can send you a cover that BobH and I did about a month ago. We sang into one condenser mic and recorded it. BobH is singing lead and playing a steel string guitar with his fingers and I sang the harmonies and played my acoustic 12 string via a hard pick.
Good luck and I hope this helps.
Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up. Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Like you I believe I sing better at low volume than I do when I'm singing loud enough to be heard however, the occasional comments from family members have convinced me that I am fooling myself. The truth is singing requires energy and enthusiasm even if you're singing the slowest and most mournful song. Think about trying to sing "Happy Birthday" like you mean it at a whisper volume level, I don't think it can be done; especially in a recording.
You breathe differently when singing and playing guitar than when just singing. You or I are not professional singers or recording artists so we need to be able to concentrate on doing one task (playing guitar, singing or recording a performance) as best we can.
I am a square dance caller. Square dance calling is a kind of karaoke. The difference is that we improvise our text. This text is a kind of scat or gibberish for the uninformed public. To not lecture too much this should be sufficient for now.
There are reasons for a square dance caller to buy specially produced backing tracks. These tracks are usually produced in a key comfortable for the average singer. If your vocal range is not average you have to select the music that you want to use very carefully.
So, if you want to sing a certain song in public, you have to try it in performance mode. Performance mode is not whispering or low volume. I tell new callers to select their music by singing the highest and the lowest notes of this song as loud as they would sing this song on stage. The personal vocal range spans a larger interval in low volume as it would if you'd sing it on stage.
Summary: A large vocal range is easier to achieve in low volume. Singing louder reduces your ability to reach highest and lowest notes of a song on key. A fact that you can notice in many pop songs where the singer has started the respective song a second or a third too high.
Anyway: You can expand your vocal range using useful practice techniques. A good coach can help you to make your voice stronger and more versatile, a bad one will ruin your voice.
If you want to be a better singer, you must sing. Sing all the time.
Do you run? If so, SING while you run. It will develop your vocal strength.
Most folks who "can't sing" are like that because they have weak vocal muscles. Running and singing will make your voice stronger. Many folks with weak singing voices sound like what Barney Fife looks like, bench pressing 100lbs. The answer is to build up those muscles so you can hold those notes.
There are more than a few examples of singers with "less than stellar" sounding voices who have learned to sing with the voice God gave them and have made careers from it.
I wouldn't pick Tom Waits as a singer who "learned to sing with the voice God gave them", as early recording of him show that's not his natural voice, any more than Pee-Wee Herman's voice is Paul Reuben's natural voice.
But whether you believe he got that voice by screaming into a pillow (good story) or simply taught himself to sing that way (more likely), pairing a voice that matched the character did his career good.
So (details aside) it makes Guitarhacker's point anyway.
"I wouldn't pick Tom Waits as a singer who "learned to sing with the voice God gave them", as early recording of him show that's not his natural voice..."
Actually, that is his natural voice. He speaks like he sings.
Joe, it seems you are surreptitiously asking questions about live performance and cover all one of technical questions you really don't need to worry about. Here's my advice: pick two songs you love to sing, if you don't love singing forget about the whole singing performance thing. If you do love singing, practice the living daylights out of those two songs until you can do them wrote without thought. Practice singing them loudly. Pick an open mic date at the bitter end no more than 2 months from now. That is enough time with just 15 minutes a day to totally nail those songs Commit to that date and just go do it. Louder singing is nearly always better than quiet singing from the sound engineers perspective and if you dont have a way to amplify your voice, you still win. What you describe as being easier to stay on pitch at low volume is common, but practice singing louder to overcome the issue. The guy running sound at the bitter end will be very likely a somewhat seasoned pro. You and your duet partner get on the list and let him/her worry about the sound, you just give him/her enough volume to work with with voices and guitars and it will be great. Forget about the amp for now. You will want to practice singing "around" a mic, where your mouth is about an inch from the mic and you move "naturally" around that pivot point. That takes practice, and why I put the quotes there. Your questions leads one to presume that live singing into a mic and maintaining consistent proximity is not something you do regularly. Definitely practice that. Do it in front of a mirror. Practice until the guy you see in the mirror looks like he is having a good time. Then get to that open mic and kill it!
Again - great advice from all. I've picked my songs, and I'm working them. I've learned that for me - learning all the words to a song feels like it takes forever, even for songs I've listened to 1000 times. I think all my life I had the impression it shouldn't take so long - because of how simple it is to open a book with chords on top and sound good. Now - in hindsight, how silly is that ? I can open a book and sound pretty good interpretting a poem - but it's apparent to me that memorizing that poem would take a long, long time.
I have changed my expectations and time frame, and I'm putting far more time into it than I ever have - and I'm seeing slow but steady results. Now I just have to stay with the routine long enough to nail at least a few from beginning to end.
Again - you guys have helped me enormously, thank you.
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