Ok, time to make a complete and utter fool of myself here - because I'm actually singing on this track ... please bear with me - I thought I'd give it a go.
As you'll be able to hear, I can't sing (I can hold pitch from time to time and that's about it). But maybe some of the amazing, amazing singers on here can give me some advice on improving my singing? It's frustrating, because I feel that I phrase reasonably well, but something's not working (tone??? timbre???) ... fix that (if it's fixable) and who knows? Help, please :-)
Anyway, here's the song I've butchered ... Amazing Grace, no less. All feedback VERY welcome.
EDIT: here's the video version, too ... the sound quality's worse than the Audiomack link above, but you get images with the video version ...
****** Song Summary ************* Title: Amazing Grace - 7 October 2019 File:Amazing Grace - 7 October 2019 B.SGU Key=Db , Tempo 55, Length (m:s)=3:09 No intro. 18 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 18. Repeat x3 choruses No Melody No Soloist track. Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0, Style is 9-8_SLOW.STY (9/8 Slow-Tempo Arpeggio) Style MIDI Instruments are : Acoustic String Bass (33), Electric Piano (5), Acoustic Guitar (26), Orchestral Strings (47), MIDI Drums :1 Standard Drum Kit (1)
RealDrums will be substituted :Pop98^3-a:Brushes , b:Sidestick, Ride
Wow. If someone like you, Greg, likes it ... well, then perhaps I dare hope the future is not as dark as I thought for my voice :-) Seriously, thanks - you've just made my day :-)
Ok, time to make a complete and utter fool of myself here
Dear 'musician17'...
There are people who pursue a career in singing professionally by investing a massive amount of time in practicing, and by spending a lot of money for lessons and guidance. And then, there are people who want to sing because their is something deep within their souls that they want to express through music.
I have listened to people sing with such a lack of musicality that some members of their audience laughed at them. Then again, I've heard other people sing who also didn't have any training, but who sang with such deep and profound feeling, that they brought tears to their listeners eyes, or brought them to their feet offering roaring applause to the singer.
What I'm saying is, if you sing from your heart, and convey what's in your heart to your audience, then as far as I'm concerned, you've made your mark using honest emotion, and technicalities shouldn't apply.
Also, I think the fact that you produced the hymn only using MIDI instruments lent a purity of sound and a true sense of innocence to the production that enhanced the impact of your vocal track.
You can't miss, really, when you sing an evergreen spiritual song such as Amazing Grace. It's one of the greatest songs of spiritual consolation that ever was written.
I am moved by the simplicity and the earnestness of your peformance.
Most sincerely,
- bluage -
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
Wow, thank you so much bluage for, firstly, taking the time to listen and, of course, for being so wonderfully kind as to write such a detailed and supportive comment. You're absolutely spot on - one can't really go wrong with "Amazing Grace". On listening back to it, there are things that even I notice are not quite there (for example, some of the long notes at the end of phrases that I hold, sometimes even over dissonant harmonies, or the crescendi I make on some notes which shouldn't really be there) - but this at least is totally true: I sang from the heart, it's a hymn I absolutely love, so thank you so much for seeing that.
Many of my friends who've heard me try to sing say this about my attempts: "you deliver the song, no matter what". It's that "no matter what" that's been bothering me a little, haha ... I would dearly love to take my singing up a notch somehow, to eliminate as many technical difficulties as possible - if only so as to communicate the music better. But yes - if it IS a matter of choice (which it really shouldn't be!), I'd rather sing musically well than technically spotless, of course. It just feels like this: I already seem to have the musicality, why not work on my weak parts and fix any fixable technicalities?
You are again right, though - so many people out there forget about the music in their search for perfect technique - they sound incredibly polished and incredibly, incredibly bland at best. So, all in all, I'll settle for what I have, for the moment at least ... and will try to shorten those long notes and curb some of those unwarranted crescendi next time! haha. Maybe I'll do more takes (I did this one in one take, and it shows, haha), take my time on it, etc.? or maybe it's just a matter of being more confident in my own abilities when I sing? Who knows. But, in short - to be praised for my musicality in such a wonderful way as you have done is something so truly rewarding for me ... THANK YOU SO MUCH for such marvellous words!
Practice makes perfect, and this was by no means a 'butcher' of the original tune. I thought it flowed nicely, and no - you don't sound like Freddie Mercury or anything but that's okay. It's a convincing cover, and the more you practice the stronger your singing voice will become
This is really nice!! Your voice has a nice tone, and your sense of pitch is excellent! I've always loved this song! Nice rendition! Take care. Greg
Like floyd we agree with Greg's thoughts.
And floyd's comment of "keep singing."
Hey, I didn't even know Janice could sing until after we'd been married 8 years! She would sing a bit "under her breath" along with songs in the car, etc., but a very musical friend heard her very quietly singing harmony to him, encouraged her and soon she was in our band So just do it!
And that song brings back many memories of the old wood framed country churches we both attended as kids. And the congregation would typically sing it a cappella -- so thanks for the memories!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
This is a pretty version of the song . . . your vocal is heartfelt and resonates against the backing track. Nicely balanced as well; the vocal sits well over the music. Feel good about this one . . . it’s nicely done.
Deryk: thank you! Never mind Freddie Mercury (that is the stratosphere indeed!), I just wanted to sound good enough to give a reasonable version of the song I'm singing, haha. But yes - practice makes perfect ... so I'm going to keep singing and see what happens!
floyd jane: thanks! I am genuinely humbled that you, and everyone else, is encouraging me to keep singing.
Bud: thank you SO much for such nice words. Your comment about not knowing whether Janice could sing until well after you were married made me genuinely smile. I think that, with me, it's a confidence issue more than anything ... I seem to have convinced myself that I can't sing - and that makes it worse, of course. Solution? as everyone else said: keep practising and keep singing - and get silly notions of "oh, I can't sing" (even before I've sung a note) out of my head, it seems!
Deej56: thanks so much for the kind encouragement - so genuinely appreciated.
Thanks everyone - your words mean a lot. In light of such nice words from everyone, I'm going to stop whining now about not being able to sing, etc., haha ... and just do my best and practice - after all, such a pre-conceived idea can't help my singing and will probably only make it worse, if anything. Thanks everyone for helping to remove it out of my head :-)
I concur with what everyone else has previously said. Your voice is much better than you think it is. It's a beautiful song and you sang equally beautiful. In my opinion, you are a better singer than I am. You hold pitch very nicely and your voice has a very nice resonance. I struggle with both of those ... but I don't let it stop me from singing the songs that are within my very limited vocal range.
Your vocal on this song is convincing ... meaning it's obvious you believe in what the lyric is saying and do so in a way catches the listener's ear with a sense of admiration for your performance. I think you met both of those standards.
As far as improvements, I would suggest putting a small amount of reverb on your voice and perhaps back off the lower EQ just a bit. Doing so would take an already nice vocal and put a little more shine in it. It's not so much that your vocal ability needs work; it's more a matter of of the recording elements. Your voice is nice.
Don't hide the talent you have! Keep singing and playing around with the recording elements. This recording was a very nice listen.
Thank you so much Alan! I had a free morning this morning, so gave it one more shot ... re-recorded the track, applied lowering of the EQ at the low end as you advised, tinkered around with it ... and here is the result. It's safe to say that I am, personally, much happier with it now - but, if you (or anyone else, for that matter) have further thoughts on this, PLEASE let me know! THANK YOU!!!!!!
This first version here has reverb on it also (at 5% in Audacity).
I've also done a reverbless version (but still with EQ changes, as advised). I think it sounds better WITH reverb, but more authentic, as it were, without - I'll have to think about which version I prefer! haha. Again, any and all feedback welcome - and THANK YOU, EVERYONE, for having taken the time to encourage me and help me along. I wouldn't have given it another shot without your kind words.
I will join the chorus of approvals, James. Do you sense a certain enthusiasm on this forum for your music and recordings? It is well deserved. The October 9th remix was well worth the effort. I believe you definitely made a good decision, bringing your singing into the mix. It is an original sound and really, quite moving. Hoping to hear more. Incidentally, I am envious. I've been struggling with backing tracks for Amazing Grace and a couple of others for a long time. Now, you come along and nail it with Style is 9-8_SLOW.STY (9/8 Slow-Tempo Arpeggio) Envious is not exactly the word. It's more like, "What!?!" Can you do "Just As I Am?
Ed: Wow, thanks! It's wonderful to hear such genuinely positive comments. I want to put down here, on record (haha), that I also really, really enjoy what you yourself do - I've heard you sing many a sacred song that you've posted on here and I personally think that you've made that genre, especially, your own on here. So it's really heartening to see that you like my effort :-)
I must confess that I didn't know "Just As I Am". Just had a listen right now - whoa. I'll have to think about whether I want to do it, simply because it's not an easy song. I want to learn it properly, note by note, etc. - of course - before I even attempt it :-) But ... so long as I get the time to do that and I feel I can actually get my voice around it ... why not? It's a really beautiful song, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Spoiler: I was thinking about doing "Deep River" or something, also, in light of all these positive comments :-) But, again, it has to be done reasonably well or not at all, so ... we'll see! I've certainly got food for thought and plenty of choice now :-)
Again - thank you so much for such wonderful words ... they do help the confidence! I feel like I'm a baby eagle jumping off a cliff and wondering whether his wings will work as I attempt to actually sing, but ... it's an exciting feeling :-) Take good care!
The pleasure is all mine, James. Thank you for turning up that 9-8 Arpeggio. Hope I have that one. As Beatmaster, Al-David, and others suggest, confidence comes with persistence. I hear a qualitative difference in take 4 compared with the original. Is there still time to alter the link? Thanks for considerine Just As I Am. That's quite a web site you have going there, BTW.
Despite your warning of doom and disaster, I actually enjoyed listening to you sing.
So there.
Here are the things that didn't stand out as needing fixing:
1. Pitch. You can hold a pitch! Congratulations, because when someone says "I can't sing", they typically mean they can't hit the pitch, or stay on pitch. This is important.
2. Timing. You've got a nice sense of timing and phrasing. That's usually the other big problem people have, and that doesn't seem to be an issue, either.
All right, on to what I'd suggest most stood out as candidates for correction.
1. You've got a tendency to slip into "speaking" instead of "singing". It's not unpleasant when that happens, and it's a legitimate technique. In fact, it works rather well. But I'd suggest you should "sing" more, and "speak" less.
This probably has more to do with confidence than anything else. Singing tends to be louder, and if you aren't confident that you sound good singing, you tend to back the volume down. Less volume means less breath support, and you're speaking instead of singing.
I suspect that you're probably too close to the microphone. This gives sufficient volume when you're speaking... but also lets you "cheat" by speaking instead of singing.
You might want to move back and put a bit of distance (but not too much) between yourself and the microphone. This will force you to use good breath support and sing. Imagine that there's a line from your lips to the microphone, and project your voice to the microphone.
2. While singing, you'll generally want to connect all your notes together smoothly. There are some spots where instead of doing that, you phrase the notes as separated, stacatto notes. For example, at 0:08, were you sing "amazING", you there's a melisma on "ING", which should be sung legato, but you sing as separated notes.
Aim to sing these notes smoothly, with the same amount of air pressure at the beginning, middle, end, and transition to the next note.
Mostly, keep singing, recording yourself, and listening.
Ed: I will see if I need to alter the link, but I think I'll leave it like this to avoid confusion for now? Thanks for the website compliment also, haha ... it's all done so that it costs me nothing, so - given that - I'm glad you liked it!
David: Thanks! REALLY appreciate you having took the time to listen and give me such genuinely helpful comments.
It's funny ... I played the arrangement to a totally non-musical friend of mine recently, just to see the reaction from a non-musical perspective - they said EXACTLY what you said, both about the slipping into speaking AND about the staccato melisma - they wondered the very same thing as you ... "can't you sing it joined-up (they meant legato, of course), instead of broken up?" :-)
Your point about the microphone is also spot-on. I hold the mic in my hand when I sing ... maybe I should invest in a small tripod or something, so that it stays still as I sing and I can have a certain distance from it?
I really liked this. It was definitely worth the while taking a bit of a gamble and adding vocals.
"Amazing Grace" is one of my all-time favourite songs and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to your take on this classic. Your vocal sincerity shone throughout the whole musical journey.
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