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  #16  
Old 01-26-2021, 10:33 PM
Fatfinger McGee Fatfinger McGee is offline
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I was a DJ on our college radio station, definitely an adjustment but it goes fast. I find singing much easier than speaking. I kind of stop hearing it as my voice and hear it as an instrument in the mix, if that makes sense. If you do learn some basic vocal techniques, listening to yourself sing in real time or recording can really help remind you to apply them.
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  #17  
Old 01-27-2021, 12:47 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brent Hahn View Post
Have you noticed that you take a better selfie if you can see your own face in the camera as you snap the shot? Same thing with your voice -- you'll learn to adapt. That, and it'll start to sound more normal. When that happens, you can get over yourself and start concentrating on the musical aspects.
I agree with Brent's thoughts here.^^

The first time I heard my singing voice on a tape recorder I was 16 years old, as soon as I figured I was good enough with my guitar to step in front of a microphone. And like just about everyone, I had to get used to the recorded sound of my voice.

But since that time I have been recording myself pretty regularly so that when I hear my voice on a recording I don't even think about it.

However, as Brent has commented, being able to hear ourselves allows us to make adjustments on how we sing. To adjust vibrato, tonality, phrasing, pitch, all kinds of things that hopefully allow us to sound a little better. The formants built into our voices are there and there's not much we can do about what we've been given. But we all can make the best of it with practice and continual adjustments.

My oldest son is a voice teacher and I have always thought he had an especially good voice, great control, terrific vocal range. But in recent years I have worked with him on some projects and stood by why he recorded himself on my computer using Cubase, a program he also uses. I would never have made any comments about his recording one way or the other, because he knows what he is doing. But what I found comforting is that he does vocal recordings pretty much like I do: over and over. He knows what he wants and he won't accept less. And when he's got it down, it's a great recording. But it doesn't just happen. He works at it.

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  #18  
Old 02-05-2021, 03:43 PM
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rllink rllink is offline
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I recorded myself in the basement, just by myself, nothing but me and the walls. I played it back and I sounded terrible. I took it upstairs and asked my wife if that was really how I sounded and she said that was how I sounded just down in the basement by myself. A month or so later I had a set for a singer/songwriter night at a local bar and my wife videoed it. There were maybe thirty or forty people there. I sounded a lot better on her video. She says that I feed off an audience and am a lot more expressive when I have people to sing and play for. She says I'm lifeless when I'm singing to walls. I record myself a lot, but I keep that in mind when I listen to them.
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  #19  
Old 02-06-2021, 07:28 AM
CASD57 CASD57 is offline
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One thing I learned years ago.... You sound different mic'd and not mic'd
You hear different mic'd and not mic'd
Because of all the noise(Live band with unmic'd guitar amps) I found I sang from a feeling in my chest and muscle memory because your monitors never really sound perfect..usually not loud enough.
I guess what I'm getting at is..make sure you sing plugged in often or it's going to feel totally off the day you do plugin and hopefully, that isn't at a live gig.
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  #20  
Old 02-06-2021, 08:31 AM
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Methos1979 Methos1979 is offline
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I hate the sound of my voice listening back to it when recorded but I've been told by many that my voice is not that bad. (Note that no one has said my voice is great, by any measure!) I love to sing so I just do it and hope for the best and try not to listen back to it much. My wife does most of the singing anyway with mean singing lead on a precious few that I can pull off well.

What I'm really digging though is singing harmonies. I have no built in talent for it but after years of trying really hard I'm starting to get the hang of it and when it works it's wonderful and just takes our performances to a whole new level. A couple more years and we'll be just hitting our stride with our acoustic duo, just in time for our retirement so it will be a nice little income stream doing something fun that we love to do.
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  #21  
Old 02-06-2021, 08:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Cecil6243 View Post
as in via audio vs. just your ears:

How long does it take to used to it and comfortable?
Hi Cecil
When I operated a studio, this was a frequent/constant problem with novice clients who'd never heard their own voices amplified in high quality.

I'd just have them put headphones on and sing/talk for 15-20 minutes as we rehearsed and interacted, and about 10 minutes in, I'd have them uncover one ear because they sang better in tune while monitoring both the mic and the room. They adjusted very quickly.

So my answer to "How long to adjust…" would be not long.

The process was how I learned to get used to monitoring my own recordings. The first week I was recording in studio (my own material) I just hit "Record" and began to sing/play, and when mistakes were made I let the recording 'roll' and just kept going for about an hour. Got some great takes.

This would not have been handy with tape, but with digital and a DAW, it was easy to edit later.

Some musicians who came to the studio could not sing unless they were playing, so they didn't need headphones, and in fact often performed better without them.



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  #22  
Old 02-06-2021, 08:50 AM
Cecil6243 Cecil6243 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ljguitar View Post
Hi Cecil
When I operated a studio, this was a frequent/constant problem with novice clients who'd never heard their own voices amplified in high quality.

I'd just have them put headphones on and sing/talk for 15-20 minutes as we rehearsed and interacted, and about 10 minutes in, I'd have them uncover one ear because they sang better in tune while monitoring both the mic and the room. They adjusted very quickly.

So my answer to "How long to adjust…" would be not long.

The process was how I learned to get used to monitoring my own recordings. The first week I was recording in studio (my own material) I just hit "Record" and began to sing/play, and when mistakes were made I let the recording 'roll' and just kept going for about an hour. Got some great takes.

This would not have been handy with tape, but with digital and a DAW, it was easy to edit later.

Some musicians who came to the studio could not sing unless they were playing, so they didn't need headphones, and in fact often performed better without them.



Great to know! Love your posts!
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  #23  
Old 02-06-2021, 09:47 AM
Brent Hahn Brent Hahn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ljguitar View Post
[size=2]Hi Cecil
When I operated a studio, this was a frequent/constant problem with novice clients who'd never heard their own voices amplified in high quality.

I'd just have them put headphones on and sing/talk for 15-20 minutes as we rehearsed and interacted, and about 10 minutes in, I'd have them uncover one ear because they sang better in tune while monitoring both the mic and the room. They adjusted very quickly.
It's great that this method worked for you!

Over time I've learned a different way, initially from working with kids. I often don't even bother with headphones, and just set up a single speaker behind the mic and have the artist(s) work with that. There will be some bleed, but in a relatively dead room it's never a deal-breaker. And I've found that the little bit of bleed from the speaker can actually help the vocal blend with the track.
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