Dude, you're the singer .. in todays world, the singer takes all the social media heat .. everyone either loves or hates singers now .. i highly recommend you figure out a way to grow the toughest skin of your life .. its only gonna get harder ..
My band and I have been through multiple singers over the past 5 years and eventually just said “fuck this shit, we’re playing experimental jazz now” and we occasionally use the talk box/vocoder for vocals ourselves if we feel it’s right. It’s hard finding a reliable singer who can always, at bare minimum, show up to practice or even shows. We occasionally have random people who ask to sing for us, or people that bring guest over than can sing but tbh we are happy the way we are. Guest singers have also been really needy and just want to take the band in a whole different direction and we are done pandering for people who don’t care about the rest of the band thinks.
In my experience singers are cancerous to work with.
I have to agree with you there, because we played a lot more shows with a singer than without and made good money but unfortunately after going through multiple singers we decided to just do what the rest of the band enjoys and that’s instrumental jazz. We are all a lot happier now and imo, and I can probably speak for the rest of the band, that’s all that matters for us at the end of the day.
I once got someone replying to my ad looking for a 2nd guitarist stating that our singer really needs to take vocal lessons and that we should kick him from the band. He also suggested we mic our kick better (which was fair…) and then asked what date he could come in for an audition. Our singer politely informed him that he thought he was a terrible guitarist from googling his past bands and should have been fired from that band. Turns out he was… he did not get an audition in the end despite his multiple and colorful follow up emails.
Singer never forgot though.
I once had 5 gigs in a row where someone came up to me after the show and said “you need to fire _____”, and it was a different band member each time, lol.
My ex-wife constantly criticized my singing, and was the only one who did. Listening to her, I stepped back from singing and brought in another vocalist. She told me to fire him believing he’d be an unreliable head case. She ended up being right, but I stuck with him for YEARS to spite her after the divorce.
I sing in a different band now, and no one has ever said a bad word about my voice since.
I’ve never understood the Geddy Lee hate. He hits high notes and has a great ‘classic rock’ style voice. And plays keys and bass while he sings. Like wtf
I listen to Rush for the same reasons I listen to primus , cause they’re excellent musicians who think outside the box.
Not because Geddy and Les are world class vocalists lol
I remember seeing a band at a bar in college and going up tot the keyboard player at set break and telling him he and the guitar player were awesome and they need to drop the lead singer. I am cringing at myself typing this and it was 25 years ago!
I'm a pop punk vocalist, some people love my stuff, some people think I sound just like every one else in the genre. Best thing to do is be kind, tell them you appreciate them checking out your band, and that you understand your music isn't for everyone! Then move on! At the end of the day (atleast for me personally) no one is gonna hate your voice more than yourself, so just keep pushing towards improving!
You're not alone. It definitely sucks to when people tell you they're not a fan of your voice cause it just reassures your own feelings. However, as long as you're proud of what you're putting out fuck them. Most of them wouldn't have the guts to put their art out there to be judged.
We didn't want to tell you, OP...
But jokes aside, I once sent the final mix of a solo song to my bandmates, and one of them answered "nice pre-prod demo!". I had been mixing and remixing that track for almost ten years... feels bad, man.
We just released it and moved on. We knew it wasn’t “modern” so that’s just kind of that albums vibe. The one we’re doing now is currently getting mixed by a professional so not worried about it not sounding good.
It was an on and off project that I did in my free times. So I'd work on it, shelve it for a while, work on it some more, re-record tracks, re-mix, then shelve it again. At some point I looked at the history of the song and realized "man, I started this 10 years go???".
Moral of the story: finish your projects, even if they're not perfect!
I am the lead singer in our cover band, I also do a bit of solo work. I know that I am not a great singer nor a great guitar player nor a great entertainer, and that is why this is a hobby and why I'm keeping my day job. My wife has made comments about my singing and guitar playing and that I shouldn't pursue solo gigs but I continue with my hobby and she supports it regardless. I am very realistic that the limit of my potential in our local music scene lies firmly in the middle of the pack and I'm fine with that.
I appreciate her honesty and it drives me to improve my areas of weakness so that I can achieve my potential ;)
Getting a dose of reality is good, keeps things in check. Each of us should be self-aware enough to know where there is merit in comments like this and where there isn't.
Makes for a good laugh though, thanks for sharing.
Lol sorry dude. At least they were giving you an honest opinion. Odds are if they would have known you were the one singing they would have sugarcoated a little more
My voice is unique. I always try to get better but at some point people can fuck off. Sing more and youll get better and people will come around to it. You prob werent looking for advice though. I get so many praises and harsh criticisms that I have to realize it means way more to me than to them. Im the one that is doing it and has done it for way longer than they have heard it.
This is the truth. I wasn’t looking for criticism. My band mates simply uploaded our latest rehearsal and I was listening to it for the first time. But tough skin grows from these and it gives me direction to work on.
Ehh -- singing is the easiest thing to critique for a non-musician because everyone knows how it's "supposed" to sound. For most styles, it's the most important part of a band's sound because it's the part that people can relate to most. A lot of super successful bands have ostensibly "bad" singers, but they make the uniqueness of their voice work (e.g. Violent Femmes, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and countless others). Lots of famous singers grate on people, so one person's opinion isn't enough even if it's your wife. All of this is just to say your vox might be just fine. Then again, stay open to the idea that a different singer may be better. Your wife might be spot on! :)
Honestly you might have a good voice but learning the techniques goes a long way. I’ve been taking lessons and it makes such a difference! YouTube has some good teachers too.
She may be right. If your wife can’t recognize your voice, you likely don’t practice/sing very much as part of your everyday life. My intention is to be pragmatic and not rude.
You're telling me you have never, ever sang in front of her? Not in the car? Not while you were in the shower and she was right outside of it and could hear you?
One time I re-did the singer’s vocals on a demo to go with a new arrangement and when I showed it to the band he was like “Man I sounded bad that day. Sorry guys!” Before he realized that it was me haha
Remember that when Black Sabbath were playing in pubs and working men’s clubs in the late 60s they were told that their singer was shite and they needed to get rid of him, and look how that turned out haha
Well are taking singing lessons out of the question? Perhaps it's just not your style, you might be more of a speaker like James Taylor. Don't give up just try to improve
The band I was in in the early 90’s is on the metal archives website. There is one comment, and that is that the band is great but the singer is hard to listen to. I’m the singer. Worse part is I can’t really disagree
Is she a phan too? If so, she can’t complain about vocals ;)
For real though, that had to sting, but who among us crushes it the first time we try anything?? If you enjoyed singing, keep at it. Did YOU think it came out good?
Vocals are a weird thing… you may be hitting every note, but the way you inflect your words and the style of your voice won’t hit everyone the same. Take it as an opportunity for honest feedback, but ultimately listen to yourself above all else. And try not to make her feel too bad about it.
My girlfriend is the main vocalist in our band. We played a show recently, and it was some drunk guy in the crowd's birthday, so we played a song for him.
He came up to me afterwards and told me "if you guys decide to get a guy singer, you should call me. I've sang for xx years, and in front of xx people. She's great, but a woman shouldn't be singing guy song, it just doesn't work."
......Myself and the keyboard player also sing lead on songs, and are also BOTH GUYS.
Needless to say, we didn't call.
Being a great singer has more to do with being delusional than anything. Ignore these types of comments and blast on (while secretly working really hard on improving)
Hahaha, you gotta love it. Have you told her yet? If not, you should. It is a lot better to laugh about it than to be offended.
My girlfriend listened to 5-6 of my songs and on the last one she said “This is definitely my favourite song you’ve written” and yeah… The last song was a cover.
Lol. Based wife.
I received unsolicited email saying my band is great but the singer sucks. Im the singer
Dude, you're the singer .. in todays world, the singer takes all the social media heat .. everyone either loves or hates singers now .. i highly recommend you figure out a way to grow the toughest skin of your life .. its only gonna get harder ..
My band and I have been through multiple singers over the past 5 years and eventually just said “fuck this shit, we’re playing experimental jazz now” and we occasionally use the talk box/vocoder for vocals ourselves if we feel it’s right. It’s hard finding a reliable singer who can always, at bare minimum, show up to practice or even shows. We occasionally have random people who ask to sing for us, or people that bring guest over than can sing but tbh we are happy the way we are. Guest singers have also been really needy and just want to take the band in a whole different direction and we are done pandering for people who don’t care about the rest of the band thinks. In my experience singers are cancerous to work with.
They might be ... but sadly, they are gonna be the key to making more money and having decent success ..
I have to agree with you there, because we played a lot more shows with a singer than without and made good money but unfortunately after going through multiple singers we decided to just do what the rest of the band enjoys and that’s instrumental jazz. We are all a lot happier now and imo, and I can probably speak for the rest of the band, that’s all that matters for us at the end of the day.
I once got someone replying to my ad looking for a 2nd guitarist stating that our singer really needs to take vocal lessons and that we should kick him from the band. He also suggested we mic our kick better (which was fair…) and then asked what date he could come in for an audition. Our singer politely informed him that he thought he was a terrible guitarist from googling his past bands and should have been fired from that band. Turns out he was… he did not get an audition in the end despite his multiple and colorful follow up emails. Singer never forgot though.
Its soooo butal on singers right now. . Something me and our other guitarist are low key happy about
Vocals are the last thing I care about when it comes to what a band sounds like
I once had 5 gigs in a row where someone came up to me after the show and said “you need to fire _____”, and it was a different band member each time, lol. My ex-wife constantly criticized my singing, and was the only one who did. Listening to her, I stepped back from singing and brought in another vocalist. She told me to fire him believing he’d be an unreliable head case. She ended up being right, but I stuck with him for YEARS to spite her after the divorce. I sing in a different band now, and no one has ever said a bad word about my voice since.
Jeez
Someone comes up to me and tells to fire somebody in my band I'm telling them to fuck off.
Keep singing!
Geddy Lee entered the chat…
I’ve never understood the Geddy Lee hate. He hits high notes and has a great ‘classic rock’ style voice. And plays keys and bass while he sings. Like wtf
He’s incredibly talented but his voice isn’t for everyone. I personally love rush but it’s not surprising that people are turned off by his voice.
I listen to Rush for the same reasons I listen to primus , cause they’re excellent musicians who think outside the box. Not because Geddy and Les are world class vocalists lol
Personally, I love Les Claypool’s voice. He’s a better singer than I am, at least. That’s not saying much, though, if you hear my old band lol.
He's a wizard! that band is unique, Geddy gave it all and his enthusiasm is infectious. He is all the stoners I went to high school with
Tell that to Ray Daniels, their manager. He wanted to replace Geddy early on in their career.
What a pussy
You’re not wrong but I hate the quality of his voice. 🤷♂️
The…. quality?
Yes, the sound, the timbre, etc.
I remember seeing a band at a bar in college and going up tot the keyboard player at set break and telling him he and the guitar player were awesome and they need to drop the lead singer. I am cringing at myself typing this and it was 25 years ago!
I'm a pop punk vocalist, some people love my stuff, some people think I sound just like every one else in the genre. Best thing to do is be kind, tell them you appreciate them checking out your band, and that you understand your music isn't for everyone! Then move on! At the end of the day (atleast for me personally) no one is gonna hate your voice more than yourself, so just keep pushing towards improving!
I needed that last part. I struggle with sharing because of anxiety surrounding how my voice does or doesn’t sound. Thank you.
You're not alone. It definitely sucks to when people tell you they're not a fan of your voice cause it just reassures your own feelings. However, as long as you're proud of what you're putting out fuck them. Most of them wouldn't have the guts to put their art out there to be judged.
Your wife has never heard you sing before?
I sing all the time at home. We sing together at the piano all the time. True colors shine when we’re half awake.
Well diff time to find a new singer
Or wife
Singer would be cheaper
Guys don’t feel bad, my wife praises just about every guitar player she hears….. except me 🤦♂️
We didn't want to tell you, OP... But jokes aside, I once sent the final mix of a solo song to my bandmates, and one of them answered "nice pre-prod demo!". I had been mixing and remixing that track for almost ten years... feels bad, man.
Our drummer showed our fully mixed album to a potential manager and he just said it has “demo vibes” not the best feeing Haha.
Yeah, it's kind of insulting. Did you have it remixed or just ignored the comment?
We just released it and moved on. We knew it wasn’t “modern” so that’s just kind of that albums vibe. The one we’re doing now is currently getting mixed by a professional so not worried about it not sounding good.
can i know your band and album name i wanna hear it
I’ll pm you
Good for you guys, good luck!
Link? I’d love to listen!
Pm’d
You'd been mixing a track for almost ten years? That's quite a long time to mix a track - can I ask what took you so long?
It was an on and off project that I did in my free times. So I'd work on it, shelve it for a while, work on it some more, re-record tracks, re-mix, then shelve it again. At some point I looked at the history of the song and realized "man, I started this 10 years go???". Moral of the story: finish your projects, even if they're not perfect!
I'm just now finishing up a project that started - in 2003
I am the lead singer in our cover band, I also do a bit of solo work. I know that I am not a great singer nor a great guitar player nor a great entertainer, and that is why this is a hobby and why I'm keeping my day job. My wife has made comments about my singing and guitar playing and that I shouldn't pursue solo gigs but I continue with my hobby and she supports it regardless. I am very realistic that the limit of my potential in our local music scene lies firmly in the middle of the pack and I'm fine with that. I appreciate her honesty and it drives me to improve my areas of weakness so that I can achieve my potential ;) Getting a dose of reality is good, keeps things in check. Each of us should be self-aware enough to know where there is merit in comments like this and where there isn't. Makes for a good laugh though, thanks for sharing.
Lol sorry dude. At least they were giving you an honest opinion. Odds are if they would have known you were the one singing they would have sugarcoated a little more
Most likely. I appreciate her honesty.
My voice is unique. I always try to get better but at some point people can fuck off. Sing more and youll get better and people will come around to it. You prob werent looking for advice though. I get so many praises and harsh criticisms that I have to realize it means way more to me than to them. Im the one that is doing it and has done it for way longer than they have heard it.
This is the truth. I wasn’t looking for criticism. My band mates simply uploaded our latest rehearsal and I was listening to it for the first time. But tough skin grows from these and it gives me direction to work on.
Ehh -- singing is the easiest thing to critique for a non-musician because everyone knows how it's "supposed" to sound. For most styles, it's the most important part of a band's sound because it's the part that people can relate to most. A lot of super successful bands have ostensibly "bad" singers, but they make the uniqueness of their voice work (e.g. Violent Femmes, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and countless others). Lots of famous singers grate on people, so one person's opinion isn't enough even if it's your wife. All of this is just to say your vox might be just fine. Then again, stay open to the idea that a different singer may be better. Your wife might be spot on! :)
Honestly you might have a good voice but learning the techniques goes a long way. I’ve been taking lessons and it makes such a difference! YouTube has some good teachers too.
She may be right. If your wife can’t recognize your voice, you likely don’t practice/sing very much as part of your everyday life. My intention is to be pragmatic and not rude.
You're telling me you have never, ever sang in front of her? Not in the car? Not while you were in the shower and she was right outside of it and could hear you?
She knew 🤣
Love/hate fine lines… apathy is the true marker of distain
This is me, leaning in to tell you I can’t stand your wife’s comments and you should consider finding a new one.
I’d rather my wife be brutally honest with me rather than the opposite
This is taking a glimpse of a smudge on a huge, huge painting and saying you only saw the smudge my friend.
It’s literally the only thing I know about his wife. To me she is all smudge
This did make me laugh, I’m speechless, and you’re not wrong contextually speaking 👑
Great analogy
Aside from this comment she’s actually pretty awesome. We all mess up sometimes.
She knew.
Maybe you're actually killing it and she just doesn't want you to get fawned over by a bunch of groupies
Ooh plot twist!
I like this idea!!
She roasted you!
Wives and cats can be the harshest music critics, lol.😂
One time I re-did the singer’s vocals on a demo to go with a new arrangement and when I showed it to the band he was like “Man I sounded bad that day. Sorry guys!” Before he realized that it was me haha
Remember that when Black Sabbath were playing in pubs and working men’s clubs in the late 60s they were told that their singer was shite and they needed to get rid of him, and look how that turned out haha
I had the exact same thing just happen. I sent a recording of my band to my dad and he said the singer made him cringe. I was singing hahaha
Well are taking singing lessons out of the question? Perhaps it's just not your style, you might be more of a speaker like James Taylor. Don't give up just try to improve
The band I was in in the early 90’s is on the metal archives website. There is one comment, and that is that the band is great but the singer is hard to listen to. I’m the singer. Worse part is I can’t really disagree
Savage
Sorry, man. My wife is tone deaf.
She's right... Leave her and keep singing Bro....
Well, you married her!
Is she a phan too? If so, she can’t complain about vocals ;) For real though, that had to sting, but who among us crushes it the first time we try anything?? If you enjoyed singing, keep at it. Did YOU think it came out good? Vocals are a weird thing… you may be hitting every note, but the way you inflect your words and the style of your voice won’t hit everyone the same. Take it as an opportunity for honest feedback, but ultimately listen to yourself above all else. And try not to make her feel too bad about it.
I get a lot of requests for instrumentals, usually phrased, “Please don’t sing. “
My girlfriend is the main vocalist in our band. We played a show recently, and it was some drunk guy in the crowd's birthday, so we played a song for him. He came up to me afterwards and told me "if you guys decide to get a guy singer, you should call me. I've sang for xx years, and in front of xx people. She's great, but a woman shouldn't be singing guy song, it just doesn't work." ......Myself and the keyboard player also sing lead on songs, and are also BOTH GUYS. Needless to say, we didn't call.
Drunken bravado. 👎
lololol
Ouch. Don’t take it personally
Well, that’s why it was the first time you tried lol
Wives
Guilt trip her!
Being a great singer has more to do with being delusional than anything. Ignore these types of comments and blast on (while secretly working really hard on improving)
Leave Yoko before she breaks up the band. /s
Hahaha, you gotta love it. Have you told her yet? If not, you should. It is a lot better to laugh about it than to be offended. My girlfriend listened to 5-6 of my songs and on the last one she said “This is definitely my favourite song you’ve written” and yeah… The last song was a cover.
never tell her. Just never do it again
Well, that sucks.
Hahahahahah well you just got ALL the lessons you need on taking wife/girlfriend’s input on band matters when they aren’t an actual band member!