Johnbee58

Too late? My music is dead and so is my spirit

Some other member here has seen fit to make a mockery of my efforts in a post he presented above. I have taken all of my music off the internet. I give up. I can no longer stand this hobby. It has broken my heart. Some people are just *****holes and are no help at all. First thing tomorrow I'm destroying all of my projects on all my drives. You're all right. My music sucks and I will no longer subject the world to it. And since I've loved it so much, I think this will be taking me into a major depression. Thank you

Sorry to TVR and others for overreacting. You're right. My voice sucks, but I think and hope I can improve it using some of the advise I found on this thread. ?

Great idea. I think my next opus will be about being a struggling amateur singer/songwriter who gets no respect (ala Rodney Dangerfield)?? JB

HS. You and I are overlapping. I was just finishing my last post as your new one came up. ?JB

Well, I admit, he did for a little while. But I'm not going to except his viewpoint that I should just give up. I've let people like him get to me before but not this time. I'll take Tezza's fine advise and I'll, as you say, move on. Tezza is spot on. In my 20s I had a good voice. In college, I was encouraged by one of the choir coaches to join because he heard me sing in my overall audition to get into the school and he told me that the choir could use a tenor like mine. That was 45 years ago and I never made it my profession. I went a different way. Now I'm almost 64 and have asthma, and I can hear all that Tezza is saying. I have no pitch control anymore (it was better even 10 years ago) and I've forgotten how to sing from my diaphragm, like I was taught. Maybe a coach can help me with these. I'm not expecting to make it to "America's Got talent". I know I'll NEVER be of that caliber anymore. I just want to improve the best I can. I'll never be perfect. I just want to be better, and I think I can improve. Encouragement is nice. So is CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. But to just be told more or less, "Give up. Your voice is no good"! I don't accept that. It can get better. Not perfect, but better. My skin is getting thicker. Thanks, HS ?JB

TVR wasn't a critique. That was a PUT DOWN! This is saying "You have no talent! Just give up!" But I'm not letting this idiot get to me. He could've put it better, like Tezza. That was a critique. To say "Face it. You don't have a good voice" is just an ignorant put down by someone who likes to troll and make trouble!

@TVR PRODUCTIONSNo. I take this all back. For once I'm going to stand up to trolls like you and tell you to shove it where the sun don't shine! There have been people on this thread who have been very encouraging and gave me the best advise they could. None of them put it so bluntly as you did and I believe you're just a troublemaker and I refuse to let you get me down! I'm just doing this for fun. You didn't have to put this the ignorant way you did. As musicians and artists we should all encourage each other as best we can, whether we are pros or just amateurs. I don't know what YOUR problem is regarding YOUR voice. Maybe YOU should give up. You should definitely give up giving people advise

I was looking around my area for a vocal coach today as per Tezza's fine advise. I was looking into buying a new mic stand to allow for me to sing UP to the mic, but now I think I'll take a sledge hammer to all my gear because this troll come on and tells me not to bother. I don't have that good of a voice. Guess it would be futile to even TRY. Well, TVR, you made my decision for me. I'm DONE with music. I don't do this for money. I put my tunes up on the net for free. I know I don't have what it takes to make it pro, but I just want to have fun and do the best I can with it. You have destroyed in one post all of what I've been working for the past 4 years on. Thank you very much!

Why don't YOU face it and speak for yourself! Some encouragement I get from this forum. I ask for advise on recording and I get "Your voice is no good. That's telling me that I might as well give up. I don't do this for money. I write for fun and put my music up for free. You're saying I might as well give up even doing that. Do you say this just to be a trouble making troll? ?

This is how my voice sounded back in 2006. Those were the days https://www.soundclick.com/html5/v4/player.cfm?songID=12733242 I was collaborating with an excellent french guitarist/composer. He would send me a guitar part he came up with and I would finish it with lyrics and melody. This is probably the best my voice ever sounded. ?JB

Thanks, Paul! ?John B

Sounds good so far. I can tell not much has been done in the mix but even in mono it's very pleasing. ?John B

Thanks for the tips, Tezza. I know what you're saying about the quality of my voice. I'm in my 60s now but I took vocal lessons in 20s. My voice was much better even 10 years ago. In the passing years I've developed asthma and have lost control of being able to hold pitches. I'm not serious anymore with this and it's just a hobby. I would like to try what you said about singing UP to the mic. I will have to buy a new mic stand for that because the current one I have does not have a counter weight (and I don't know if it would accept one) and placing the mic above me would result in the whole thing being front heavy. So maybe I'll look into a new stand with a new boom and counter weight. They're not that expensive. I was also considering vocal lessons, but I don't want to make it a major investment. You say a few will improve things. ?JB

I like the melody and the chord changes in this a lot. I don't think the beat does it justice though. I'd opt for a more quieter one myself, but hey, It's your tune. ?JB

I admire your approach to this type of music, even though I'm really not into it. I tend to lean to more melodic stuff where yours could be considered atmospheric and experimental (not knocking it, BTW). That being said, your music does create a feeling and a certain type of emotion which I associate with nature type documentaries or maybe Carl Sagan kind of background things. It's a type of music I respect, even though I don't partake of it much, but I must say I found this particular piece appealing. The bell type sounds were especially pretty, like ear candy. There is a part of me that would like to experiment with this kind of music, but right now I'm too inundated with the more traditional Pop stuff ideas to work on. You do well with this. ?John B

It's kind of weird. I go through this stuff every new project. I hate how it sounds in the recording (tracking) process, and struggle to get it right in the mix, but after I give my ears a break of several hours (ie OVERNIGHT) I re listen and with fresh ears, it sounds fine. When I take morning walks I take along my Walkman and my Beats by Dre headphones and my mixes sound better on them than anything else. I still hear what I defined as dirty even with fresh ears, but after a long break and a new perspective it becomes more tolerable and eventually doesn't bother me anymore. I've never recorded in a professional vocal booth, but always wondered what the experience is like. Would I hear what I hear on my voice in a pro booth with a pro engineer? Has anybody here had that experience? ?JB

Bob, I like the video. I LOVE the song! Well recorded and mixed! ?John B.

Well then maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm too critical of my own sound, or my ears need to be tweaked. ? Thanks for all you insights. I appreciate your help. ?JB

A pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones.

martins-I checked and I don't have that plugin. I looked in the plug in manager and I don't see it. Might it be someplace else? I listened to your sample and I'm sure you did your best but to my ears it still has that dirty distorted sound. It sounds almost as if I'm singing right up against the listener's ear. Maybe Light Grenade is onto something when he says that I'm too close to the mic. I do record about 6 inches away from the mic using a popper stopper. I always feared that if I back up further there would be too much white noise to deal with. If I upped the input gain to compensate for the distance, I'd only wind up with a "quieter" version of this mess. Light Grenade. Thanks for your observation, but in the context of mixes. this example is typical. This sample is from a work in progress so I didn't actually do any mix on it yet. I just recorded this line this morning and I sent you this example. I'd be willing to bet that any of your recordings, dry or in mix context would sound 20 times better than what I get. Better and cleaner. There's just something so dirty and gritty in my track(s). If I could get rid of that dirt/grit I would be much happier with my tracks. My finished mixes sound the same. It's so hard to balance the vocal track like this into a mix because I find myself having to try to "clean it up" and it doesn't work too well. ?JB

Yes. Please tell me what you do with it when you get a satisfactory result. Thanks. VX-64. Is this in with CbB? ?

The preamp and soundcard are a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 interface. The setting, if you mean room characteristics is a rather tiny (5' x 12') dedicated room with Auralex panels, placed where Auralex recommended according to a picture I sent them in a pre evaluation. I know the room is small but it's the best I can do. The routing-Not sure what you mean, but I go by the usual routing one would take to go into Cakewalk by Bandlab, although there may be several different ways that I'm not aware of. I don't use an external mixer, if that's what you mean. I just go through the interface. I also have a Pod Studio UX2 interface that I still have and it's still usable, but about a year ago I tried re connecting that but only got roughly the same results I get with the Focusrite. martins & Grem-Thanks for your suggestions. I'll try them. I like the fact that you gave me EQ settings to work with. I'll most definitely try them. ?JB

Please listen to this tid bit and tell me why it sounds soooooooooo crappy. This is typical of my raw vocal takes. To me this has a very dirty sound and it's not even at the mixing point yet. I can't get good mixes if I can't lay down a good sounding track. I'd like to polish this up and make it sound as clean as some of you people seem to be able to get on your recordings. I don't expect a professional sound, but at least as good as most of you get and this garbage is nowhere near! And before you ask what mic I'm using, I'll tell you that it doesn't matter. I have 4 microphones from a cheap $80.00 Apex 435 condenser (that's what this is from) all the way to an Avantone CV 12, which is a $500.00 mic. I get the same crappy results and dirty pathetic sound with either! It's not the mic. It's another factor which I've been ripping my hair out of my head for 4 years now to solve to no no joy. My room is acoustically treated as per the advise I got from Auralex back in 2016. Anybody who can help me resolve this I will be your best friend forever and you will be my all time hero (at least musically). ? Please let me know if you can give me hope. This is my biggest concern in my recordings. https://soundcloud.com/john-bowen/vt-1

Thanks all so much. I was getting a bit worried when I saw that there were close to 80 page views and no replies and judging from a previously posted song that was construed as political I was nervous that I offended again. Perhaps you were all taking the time to take the song in to give the best perspective of how you felt. I apologize for jumping to conclusions. Bjorn-This song was meant to address both 9/11 and the flag. As far as abuse, I could link you to several videos of people flying Old Glory and being confronted by neighbors demanding that they take it down. A few years back there was a certain group that will remain nameless that demanded the Confederate flag be banned in the southern US states and later all of the (American) Civil War statues. That offended me in a minor way, but I never thought it would escalate to our own Red, White & Blue being referred to as a "symbol of hate". This country may not be perfect, but it's the one I was born into and when I compare the freedom we have here (and the human cost it took to maintain it) to some other areas of the world, well, let's just say I'm glad I was born here. I know that this forum reaches people around the globe and those from other countries may not share my opinion about the US. I realize and respect that. You each know how you feel about your own homeland. Bjorn-I remember the days and weeks after 9/11. I remember feeling the fear and desperation from almost everybody I saw and interacted with. My daily drive to work every day was about 11 miles and in the months following the attack there were beautiful American flags flying on at least 70% of the homes that I passed. And this lasted a long time. I felt that for that short time we were truly united as a country. It's too bad that it took such a horrible disaster to make that happen and faded away too soon. Now, almost 18 years later we're at the point where overpaid athletes disrespect our flag and our country. Tell me what other country in this world could these people make so much $$$$$$$ doing what they love, playing a GAME?! So, thinking about the pride of so many in flying the flags after the attacks and thinking of the current disrespect, I merged those two concepts of the attacks and the flag into one song. The nuclear power plant idea of the 4th plane was just a theory and we will never know where the hijackers wanted to take it. Most think they meant to take it to Washington DC (White House or Capitol building), but whichever, the brave souls aboard that plane saved lives and I wanted to give mention to that but there's only so much that can be said in a 5 minute song. I wasn't planning on writing a whole story about it. Just a song, so I had to condense a lot of my feelings. I hope I clarified some of the issues you questioned in you post. To all the others, my most heartfelt thanks for your replies and feedback. EDIT-Bob O-Your post especially brought me to tears regarding your father. May God bless his soul and I thank him for his service to our country. ?John B