I'm scared of my own voice

[donkey tugger]

drink a glass of milk, stand up, relax and do it medium loud..it's amazing how the mic/recording gear affects the voice..a bit of echo helps the confidence too

Yeah - I always drench my vocals in reverb for monitoring.

When your voice is fed back to you with reverb you tend to sing better for some reason. I think it's because the vocals in isolation sound really nice with the reverb or something and then you sing more confidently.

Caleb

Wellllllll, for some people..I can't stand singing with any kind of reverb or delay on, puts me right off, and I start singing like a girl.

[Spe3D]

So the options are – get drunk, drink milk, relax and use extreme delay or reverb – do rap or better yet industrial rock, the last option is actually possible I reckon. If all else fails, talk to yourself

You will be ok Spe3d, your voice isn’t all bad – it has quality, especially when pissed (grrrrr)

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

[Spe3D]

hic.... burrrp!!

[Caleb]

Wellllllll, for some people..I can't stand singing with any kind of reverb or delay on, puts me right off, and I start singing like a girl.

Yeah - well you'd have to slap on the distortion wouldn't you?

How else can you get that 'wall of shite' sound you love so much.

Caleb

[Borogove]

Gin and tonic.

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

Yes, but if you choose to go into the realm of industrial rock, make sure that your neighbors aren't easily offended by furious shouting. Especially shouting of the profanity-laden persuasion.

[suburban grilla]

Wow, a few hours sleep and a day at work and I come home to a myriad of posts. I have obviously hit on a topic that is pertinent to many people.
I rarely contribute to forums (just hate typing) although I regularly browse kvr and fl looptalk.
It's definitely worth all the hunting and pecking in order to participate!

thanks again to you all for your kind, helpful and humourous replies.

there's too many posts that I would like to expand upon, but sp3ed has summed it up quite succinctly

So the options are – get drunk, drink milk, relax and use extreme delay or reverb – do rap or better yet industrial rock, the last option is actually possible I reckon. If all else fails, talk to yourself


:O)

special thanks to those of you who wrote
" get over it, just do it"
or something along those lines.

you are right , you are right , you are right...

peace

[suburban grilla]

is a sychophant a deranged pachyderm?

[Sleek Month]

Hmmm.

These are ye Sleek's mighty commandments for singing:

1. Drink.

2. Take kolonopin for singing pretty stuff.

3. Adjust the lighting to fool yourself that you're actually in an intimate, isolated space.

4. Sing a lot, and record it. You really do need to get comfortable with your own voice.

5. Try to change your perspective. I look at voice as "just" another instrument, and treat it as such while singing...which is to say, figure out what you want the vocals to sound like, then do it, just like you would with guitar or whatnot.

6. Drink more.

7. Have stuff set up so you can sing whenever the mood hits. I have a mic ready at all times...if you have an hour drive home and sing in the car, then when you get in may be the best time to sing...after rehearsals is good, too, because chances are you're already warmed up.

8. Close off the room. It might not actually make it more soundproof, but I always feel better if I close all the doors and windows...

9. Do it when you're pissed off or really depressed. Chances are, something will just come out...

10. Get something to hold. I sometimes use an unplggued mic on a stand, (for feel), and then have the actual mic somewhere behind it.

11. Don't sweat the details. Just sing, especially if you're working out a melody or lyric while you're recording it. After a million takes, you'll have it down pretty good...and if it's still got some minor problems, live with it. That's you. If you hone it until it's perfect, you might as well be Jessica Simpson...in which case I wanna do you, but I don't want to listen to you.

12. View it as "craft" instead of "art". Craft is something you can whittle at until it has enough quality. Art needs inpiration and talent, which can be intimidating...chances are, if you put in the work, your craft will turn out to be very artfull.

______________

As far as I'm concerned, I'm no singer, but using these techniques, (especially the drinking), I have gotten to a point where I can make a good vocal on a song, and for me it's almost more a point of pride, because there are plenty of people who just seem to have a gift, (f**king Plunge! I hate you! ), but dammit, I work for every decent sounding note I produce (no pun intended).

I swear to you, anybody can do it with the right attitude, will, and a bit of visualization (hear it first, then fill in the blanks with your voice).

Don't be shy.

-S.

[Emerald Tablet]

and if you already didn`t
brainwash yourself with vocals from singers you like
don`t do it to much or you`ll end up like a crappy clone. I know these things.

[origami]

I think that, in popular music, what really matters is not necessarily having a great voice but having an interesting voice.

for example, for me, Ogre (Skinny Puppy), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) Jean Luc De Meyer (Front 242), Mainard (Tool), they all have very interesting and personal voices, and they don't need to be Pavarotti.

[Gwydi]

12. View it as "craft" instead of "art". Craft is something you can whittle at until it has enough quality. Art needs inpiration and talent, which can be intimidating...chances are, if you put in the work, your craft will turn out to be very artfull.

I think I'm going to print just that out and stick it in my studio. Really, really nicely put!

G.

[Gwydi]

I totally relate to that fear of singing. I spent a lot of my youth in musical theatre and not only wasn't nervous about singing to 500+ total strangers, I absolutely lived for it. Yet now at 36 I am all but paralysed trying to sing in my room, because my family can hear me - even though they think my voice is great and are doing everything they can to encourage me to get over this fear.

Perhaps the difference is that now I'm trying to sing my own material, which adds to the whole "is this shite?" fear. End result is I'm not singing at all, which is just stupid and making me (and everyone around me) miserable.

As other posters have said, I guess what it comes down to is the "wisdom of St. Nike" - just do it. OK, but first I have to do this other thing over here, and this synth needs recabling, and I've got to empty my deleted items, and ...

On a related note; what to do about accents? I have an English/Australian accent which means that my vowel sounds are different to American singers. For example, the word "can't" when sung by an American, rhymes (roughly) with hands, but in my accent rhymes more with "hard". If I sing with my accent, it sounds "wrong" because the vast majority of music I'm exposed to is American. Does anybody else feel that way, and what do you do about it?

G.

[suburban grilla]

Im english but have lived in aus for about a dozen years and my vowel sounds sound a bit aussie sometimes, unless I get really pissed or really angry
then the northern monkey accent comes back in full.

I can only suggedt listening to a few none american singers whose accents come through, The Beatles spring to mind but there must be more.

But consider when white guys started rapping, this sounded odd at first but its all good now.

Or bands like the police who adopted the reggae style
with no jamaican accent and created a sound all of their own.



But look on the bright side gwydi
Kylie's doing ok

[rpc9943]

weird, heh. I love singing on my tracks. It's all about letting out what you have stored in, for God knows how long

RonC