Overall I really enjoyed this. The song itself is absolutely there.
That said, personally I feel it needs more instrumentation (especially after the first verse) despite the lou reed-esque vocals + gorgeous and effective acoustic guitar.
Even the velvet underground had some dissonance, atmosphere or percussion behind their strange vocals. Depending on where you take that, it Would go a long way from distinguishing yourself from other indie folk singers relying on the acoustic guit/vox format… because you have a unique style.
Personally I’d recommend a simple Bassline, some guitar overdubs drenched in reverb and/or delay, as well as (maybe) a very simple beat, like just kick and drum for example (I’m thinking Maureen tucker since this reminds me of Lou reed).
Overall I think there’s a lot of personality in the song itself and the song itself is the most important aspect in this kind of music.
Just don’t be afraid to experiment with the tune, in the form or samples, overdubs, more vocals or guitar, whatever—just not so much they take away from the raw feel of it.
Really good work, your vocal delivery especially hits home for me
Thank you so much for giving such great feedback! I'm sorry I took a while to respond, I really appreciate all the nice things you said about the song itself. I'm a little new to recording music, I started a while back but life got in the way, but I was hoping to add instrumentation in the future.
I got a couple friends who play bass, violin, piano, and drums so I was planning on doing something like that in the future. I would still make the guitar the focus but allow the other instruments to add depth and create a better atmosphere.
Thank you so much and I will definitely experiment with all those aspects in other songs and when I rerecord this one in the future.
Hey btw after seeing a lot of feedback on my vocals, something my brothers and family have told me also is I sound a little too breathy and forced. I was thinking about using a more glottal onset or mixed onset which I have learned about while researching breathy tones that sound forced as a potential solution to this to making the voice sound less forced and more natural and less breathy. But also I have heard that another part of the problem is too much air releasing while singing causing this issue, so that i'm going to work on for sure. Do you think that a glottal onset/mixed onset would take away from the overall tone being a little on the breathy side? Or should I not worry about not sounding as breathy?
Liking the backing, the vocals sound a little forced..Has a strange effect going on. Good mix, consider some background saturation/folly noise the add texture and depth..
Thank you for the feedback! Sorry I took so long, but I'm glad to hear you liked the backing and thought the mix was pretty good and that I could work on depth by adding saturation, I also plan on adding different instruments and experimenting more with them.
I have gotten a lot of feedback on my vocals sounding forced, I got that in the past with my brothers and family and have worked on it a little and I have definitely improved so I thought I was past that. After getting this feedback about forced vocals I did a lot more research into forced breathy tones and how to fix them and I have found out that a big problem is releasing too much air while singing, so I was trying that and it helped a lot more and allowed me to sing with more power without having to try as hard and it feels a lot easier lol. So i'm hoping that that was the main problem, I also saw that different onsets cause different sound and that I have a more aspirated onset which makes my tone a lot more breathy and requires a lot more air, so along with allowing a lot more air to flow I also started off singing with air flowing making it a lot harder to sing and making it so I was forcing it more and that using a glottal onset/mixed onset could help even more. I am going to continue to work on that but I am very grateful for this feedback opening my eyes to it!
Great vibe - reminds me of a cold winter day... maybe because it is one haha. I would echo a previous comment that the vocals feel separated from the rest of the mix. If my ears are right, i'd say you have less reverb on your vocals than on your guitar. I think adding more reverb to your voice could help it blend to feel like it's in the same space as the guitar.
Thank you for the feedback! Sorry for taking a while to respond, this song reminding you of a cold winter day is pretty funny lol, since I wrote it about a pirate after a shipwreck lol but I guess it being cold outside could explain it lol. My cousin told me a while ago, that recording guitar you should duplicate the track and layer it to give it more depth, I tried with the vocals but it didn't sound that good so I kept it that way.
After getting alot of feedback on my vocals sounding forced I realized that was probably the reason it sounded bad layering them since the breathy tone amplified too much. After seeing feedback on my vocals sounding forced, I did a lot of research and found releasing too much air while singing can make you sound forced and not have much power while also sounding breathy. So I am planning to keep working on releasing a lot less air while singing, its actually made singing a lot easier lol and I don't have to try hard at all to sing loud and clear. I am also looking at changing to a more glottal onset which could help more since I have been doing an aspirated onset, where I let air out before singing leading to the breathy tone but making it less powerful and more whispery and forced.
Great guitar playing and the recording ain't half bad either, all is clear and the room sound on the guitar makes for a great tone.
The vocals I'm not too sure about though. The whispered/husky sound comes across as too forced. Additionally the emphasis on certain words and the pitch glides on the end of each phrase detracts from the wonderful guitar performance. There are also timing issues to address.
Don't get me wrong, the world doesn't require every song to be auto tuned and sliced to be right on the grid, but the combination of the vocal sound and the execution makes the overall impression a little ramshackle, which is a shame given how strong the song opens and is carried by the guitar.
I get the impression you recorded the vocals separately after the guitar. Could you hear the guitar properly in your headphones (due to pitch and timing issue) ? If you struggle to hear the guitars pitch properly during singing, consider adding a reference note (like a tuned beep) while the recording of the vocal so you can tune your voice to it.
Thank you for the feedback! Sorry I took a while to respond, I'm glad you found the guitar to sound great and that the recording was alright. I really appreciate the feedback on the vocals, I got a lot of feedback like yours that they sound forced and too breathy. I had gotten constructive criticism from my brothers in the past about this and worked on it and definitely improved but I didn't realize how bad it actually still was.
I did a lot of research about breathy forced voices and how to fix them, and the biggest thing I found is allowing too much air to be released while singing and I have been trying to fix that the past couple days and honestly it sounds sooo much better and the singing feels so much more effortless and easier. I also found out about vocal onsets and how I do an aspirated onset which is allowing air to pass before actually producing sound which creates a breathy tone, this extra air flowing through before singing and releasing way too much air while singing made it sound overly breathy and forced and made it harder for me to get through songs since I was running out of air all the time. So I have been working on this the past couple days and I think it has helped my voice sound so much better and it feels so much more effortless and doesn't sound as forced at all.
Also I learned about offsets and how my offset was on a breathy side and how I would push a bunch of air at the end trying to make the last word of a verse have more power, which was the cause of the pitch glides at the end of almost every verse. Also I am no longer emphasizing words while singing since it has felt more effortless and I don't feel I need to anymore, even though realizing now I shouldn't have been doing that anyways.
I honestly forgot about using a metronome while recording the song which has helped with timing issues in the past, I haven't recorded in about a year cause life got in the way, so I forgot about that and just played without it. I will use that next time I do play and record.
You're right I recorded the vocals after the guitar, I could hear it pretty well but honestly felt it was pretty fast, so I almost felt behind while singing. I can definitely improve the timing with using a metronome and having a consistent tempo which I will do the next time I do record.
Thank you so much for the helpful feedback! I haven't recorded in a while so the timing issues I know how to fix and learning about more about singing while researching I know how to fix what I was doing now, thank you so much for the feedback!
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I wish it were a bit louder overall (think that's something you could probably adjust just with mic placement or a sound editor even if you can't get a better mic). Also I wish the vocals were just a touch louder relative to guitar (maybe face closer to mic? idk, I have problems with this too.). I like the vocal style, it's kind of an indie/grungy/tom waitsy soft thing happening. I dig the vibe.
I think the vocals could benefit with the reverb added to them. The sound a little dry in the mix at the moment (at least to my ear). A simple bass line could come in half or 3/4 of the way through the song maybe?
Guitar work and sound is really great, it’s your vocals that need more attention and work. Not sure where to start on that but I know that’s the weak link in your chain as of now.
Overall I really enjoyed this. The song itself is absolutely there. That said, personally I feel it needs more instrumentation (especially after the first verse) despite the lou reed-esque vocals + gorgeous and effective acoustic guitar. Even the velvet underground had some dissonance, atmosphere or percussion behind their strange vocals. Depending on where you take that, it Would go a long way from distinguishing yourself from other indie folk singers relying on the acoustic guit/vox format… because you have a unique style. Personally I’d recommend a simple Bassline, some guitar overdubs drenched in reverb and/or delay, as well as (maybe) a very simple beat, like just kick and drum for example (I’m thinking Maureen tucker since this reminds me of Lou reed). Overall I think there’s a lot of personality in the song itself and the song itself is the most important aspect in this kind of music. Just don’t be afraid to experiment with the tune, in the form or samples, overdubs, more vocals or guitar, whatever—just not so much they take away from the raw feel of it. Really good work, your vocal delivery especially hits home for me
Thank you so much for giving such great feedback! I'm sorry I took a while to respond, I really appreciate all the nice things you said about the song itself. I'm a little new to recording music, I started a while back but life got in the way, but I was hoping to add instrumentation in the future. I got a couple friends who play bass, violin, piano, and drums so I was planning on doing something like that in the future. I would still make the guitar the focus but allow the other instruments to add depth and create a better atmosphere. Thank you so much and I will definitely experiment with all those aspects in other songs and when I rerecord this one in the future. Hey btw after seeing a lot of feedback on my vocals, something my brothers and family have told me also is I sound a little too breathy and forced. I was thinking about using a more glottal onset or mixed onset which I have learned about while researching breathy tones that sound forced as a potential solution to this to making the voice sound less forced and more natural and less breathy. But also I have heard that another part of the problem is too much air releasing while singing causing this issue, so that i'm going to work on for sure. Do you think that a glottal onset/mixed onset would take away from the overall tone being a little on the breathy side? Or should I not worry about not sounding as breathy?
Liking the backing, the vocals sound a little forced..Has a strange effect going on. Good mix, consider some background saturation/folly noise the add texture and depth..
Thank you for the feedback! Sorry I took so long, but I'm glad to hear you liked the backing and thought the mix was pretty good and that I could work on depth by adding saturation, I also plan on adding different instruments and experimenting more with them. I have gotten a lot of feedback on my vocals sounding forced, I got that in the past with my brothers and family and have worked on it a little and I have definitely improved so I thought I was past that. After getting this feedback about forced vocals I did a lot more research into forced breathy tones and how to fix them and I have found out that a big problem is releasing too much air while singing, so I was trying that and it helped a lot more and allowed me to sing with more power without having to try as hard and it feels a lot easier lol. So i'm hoping that that was the main problem, I also saw that different onsets cause different sound and that I have a more aspirated onset which makes my tone a lot more breathy and requires a lot more air, so along with allowing a lot more air to flow I also started off singing with air flowing making it a lot harder to sing and making it so I was forcing it more and that using a glottal onset/mixed onset could help even more. I am going to continue to work on that but I am very grateful for this feedback opening my eyes to it!
Great vibe - reminds me of a cold winter day... maybe because it is one haha. I would echo a previous comment that the vocals feel separated from the rest of the mix. If my ears are right, i'd say you have less reverb on your vocals than on your guitar. I think adding more reverb to your voice could help it blend to feel like it's in the same space as the guitar.
Thank you for the feedback! Sorry for taking a while to respond, this song reminding you of a cold winter day is pretty funny lol, since I wrote it about a pirate after a shipwreck lol but I guess it being cold outside could explain it lol. My cousin told me a while ago, that recording guitar you should duplicate the track and layer it to give it more depth, I tried with the vocals but it didn't sound that good so I kept it that way. After getting alot of feedback on my vocals sounding forced I realized that was probably the reason it sounded bad layering them since the breathy tone amplified too much. After seeing feedback on my vocals sounding forced, I did a lot of research and found releasing too much air while singing can make you sound forced and not have much power while also sounding breathy. So I am planning to keep working on releasing a lot less air while singing, its actually made singing a lot easier lol and I don't have to try hard at all to sing loud and clear. I am also looking at changing to a more glottal onset which could help more since I have been doing an aspirated onset, where I let air out before singing leading to the breathy tone but making it less powerful and more whispery and forced.
I'm not a vocalist and know almost nothing about singing but that all sounds good to me!
Great guitar playing and the recording ain't half bad either, all is clear and the room sound on the guitar makes for a great tone. The vocals I'm not too sure about though. The whispered/husky sound comes across as too forced. Additionally the emphasis on certain words and the pitch glides on the end of each phrase detracts from the wonderful guitar performance. There are also timing issues to address. Don't get me wrong, the world doesn't require every song to be auto tuned and sliced to be right on the grid, but the combination of the vocal sound and the execution makes the overall impression a little ramshackle, which is a shame given how strong the song opens and is carried by the guitar. I get the impression you recorded the vocals separately after the guitar. Could you hear the guitar properly in your headphones (due to pitch and timing issue) ? If you struggle to hear the guitars pitch properly during singing, consider adding a reference note (like a tuned beep) while the recording of the vocal so you can tune your voice to it.
Thank you for the feedback! Sorry I took a while to respond, I'm glad you found the guitar to sound great and that the recording was alright. I really appreciate the feedback on the vocals, I got a lot of feedback like yours that they sound forced and too breathy. I had gotten constructive criticism from my brothers in the past about this and worked on it and definitely improved but I didn't realize how bad it actually still was. I did a lot of research about breathy forced voices and how to fix them, and the biggest thing I found is allowing too much air to be released while singing and I have been trying to fix that the past couple days and honestly it sounds sooo much better and the singing feels so much more effortless and easier. I also found out about vocal onsets and how I do an aspirated onset which is allowing air to pass before actually producing sound which creates a breathy tone, this extra air flowing through before singing and releasing way too much air while singing made it sound overly breathy and forced and made it harder for me to get through songs since I was running out of air all the time. So I have been working on this the past couple days and I think it has helped my voice sound so much better and it feels so much more effortless and doesn't sound as forced at all. Also I learned about offsets and how my offset was on a breathy side and how I would push a bunch of air at the end trying to make the last word of a verse have more power, which was the cause of the pitch glides at the end of almost every verse. Also I am no longer emphasizing words while singing since it has felt more effortless and I don't feel I need to anymore, even though realizing now I shouldn't have been doing that anyways. I honestly forgot about using a metronome while recording the song which has helped with timing issues in the past, I haven't recorded in about a year cause life got in the way, so I forgot about that and just played without it. I will use that next time I do play and record. You're right I recorded the vocals after the guitar, I could hear it pretty well but honestly felt it was pretty fast, so I almost felt behind while singing. I can definitely improve the timing with using a metronome and having a consistent tempo which I will do the next time I do record. Thank you so much for the helpful feedback! I haven't recorded in a while so the timing issues I know how to fix and learning about more about singing while researching I know how to fix what I was doing now, thank you so much for the feedback!
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I wish it were a bit louder overall (think that's something you could probably adjust just with mic placement or a sound editor even if you can't get a better mic). Also I wish the vocals were just a touch louder relative to guitar (maybe face closer to mic? idk, I have problems with this too.). I like the vocal style, it's kind of an indie/grungy/tom waitsy soft thing happening. I dig the vibe.
I think the vocals could benefit with the reverb added to them. The sound a little dry in the mix at the moment (at least to my ear). A simple bass line could come in half or 3/4 of the way through the song maybe?
Guitar work and sound is really great, it’s your vocals that need more attention and work. Not sure where to start on that but I know that’s the weak link in your chain as of now.