Karaoke Forums

Well I sing fine all day long and at work or wherever I go, I sing really nice, but! When I get home and put my headphones on and start singing to songs on my computer, for some reason I start straining my voice/thraot and I just don't sound the same, I sound much worse and my signeses clog up in a heart beat.

So last night I sang one of my own songs and recorded a new one and it's sounds great I didn't have any problems at all, I'll post it asap, But! I also tried singing (can't remember the song) and I sounded awful.

Could it be that I have another singer in my head conflicting with my mind? Does this happen to anyone else too.

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"I see shooting stars in your eyes, come a little closer so I can get to know you better, but stay a sranger it's wild and sexier. First you see me, second it's daily, third you wont leave me, your making me crazy. It feels wrong inside that your stalking me tonight but I feel so alone even if I don't know you, don't ever leave my side."

It happens to me all the time. I hear the song the way I think it should sound in my head (based on the original) and I find myself trying to imitate the same thing note for note and, of course, it' s impossible to make it sound just the same and I end up straing my voice trying to duplicate that elusive sound quality that belongs to someone else.

For example....

Karen Carpenter had a particular way of singing a low note a very unique quality. I've heard some people come close to it but I can't get there. I really don't want to immitate her any way but when I sing a Carpenter's song I find myself subconscioulsy expecting to hear that same quality in my song.

One of the hardest things I struggle with is that (while my memory for anything important is here today... gone tomorrow) I can hear a song only a couple of times and remember every note and nuance. It makes it hard to find my own style.

I've never tried to do any original songs but I think the difference would probably be that you nothing to compare it to co you can use what comes naturally and not try to reach some impossible goal in your head.

Very interesting topic. It's good to know I'm not the only one who has this problem.

Now if anyone has advice for us please feel free to help.

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Too soon old......too late smart.

Singing to music and singing acapella are different (to me anyway).

It drives me crazy cause I can sing so many songs so well accapella (have the nice vibrato, perfect pitch, etc. etc), and then the music comes, and the same thing happens to me with the throad, sinuses, etc, etc. (Not so much at karoke, but in the apartment).

I am not a pro singer, so I can't tell you what you are doing wrong or why this happens (maybe you don't feel relaxed? and then if you hit a bad note, or feel you sound bad, you get stressed and your throat closes up??)

My only advice is (especially for you wannabe), is when you sing your Carpenters song, get Karen out of your head ! I used to have the same problem when I first started singing. I can hear a song a couple of times, and it is engraved in my head forever. Then, I sing the song and expect it to come out just like the original singer (for example, when I sing Ashlee Simpson Pieces of Me, I expect to sound lots like her). Or when I sing Power of Love by Celine Dion, I expect to hit every run like she does, and of course can't. So, in practice, I try, but in public, I know how to change it so it sounds good for my voice.

I know it is very hard to not sound like the original singer, and hear the original in your head, but what you have to do is just practice it to make it comfortable to you. That is how you develop your own style. Next time you sing that Carpenters song, do something different. Stick a run in somewhere it does not belong. Change a couple notes here and there. You will be surprized

And as for originals, Music guy, they always sound good cause they are your own. You make them comfortable to you, and have nothing else to go on (like wannabe said). You sing it how you want to and make it your own, cause it is your own

Thanks for the advice ritisroo,

It is way easier said than done and I have improved some over the years tho I still struggle. You're right, practice is the key.. The more comfortable you feel with singing a song the easier it is to forget the original and start adding your own inflection to it.

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Too soon old......too late smart.

It's funny... but I have a similar problem! I have two mic's... one for practice and one for recording.... when I practice I belt away and get the feel of the song.... then I switch mic's... put on my headphones to record... and something happens... not sure what... but it's like I get a mental block ...I get a bit tense... I don't have the same freedom to let loose and I just can't quite let it go.... it just throws me!

Try using the same methods for recording that you use for practice. With digital recording you're not using tape or anything else that cost money (other than time) so just belt it out. If you don't like it you can wipe it and start over. There is a possibility that it's the different procedure that might be creating the 'mental block'. Try recording without the headphones one time or have a friend manage the recording and just record one of the times you're singing without letting you know. You'll be surprised how it becomes natural once you get comfortable with the process.

Thanx for all the great feedback! I'm out of time for the day it's almost 1am I have to get to sleep. I think I am going to stop drinking soda's to help my throat, should I? What about salt?

Z

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"I see shooting stars in your eyes, come a little closer so I can get to know you better, but stay a sranger it's wild and sexier. First you see me, second it's daily, third you wont leave me, your making me crazy. It feels wrong inside that your stalking me tonight but I feel so alone even if I don't know you, don't ever leave my side."

Can someone email me, like forward a song they sang? I love to hear people sing when I know the personaly/ you know what I mean. It's not like I got Britney Spears personaly email me of a song of hers so this is a lot better

Notsomeoneelse@aol.com

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"I see shooting stars in your eyes, come a little closer so I can get to know you better, but stay a sranger it's wild and sexier. First you see me, second it's daily, third you wont leave me, your making me crazy. It feels wrong inside that your stalking me tonight but I feel so alone even if I don't know you, don't ever leave my side."

Soda is definitely not good for you... it dehydrates... as for salt... do you mean to gargle salt water? I've heard that can be good for clearing out any flem... but the best thing is WATER WATER WATER .... and more WATER!

Have you been in Singers Showcase. Many people post songs there for you to listen to. We'd love to hear one fom you too. Just go to the left an click on. Lots of good singers there.

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Too soon old......too late smart.

I have the same problem. For me, I am sure that it is the 'tension' of recording.

Diapramatic breathing is important too. I don't know how much it helps your sound...but it does seem help relax your chest and throat. When I get tense (like every time I see live ) I try that and it works great.

While some people drink beer/wine/etc during a show I won't. Ever since I started hosting I drink almost nothing but water w/ lemon and lime in it. Hydration is VERY important to vocal ability and not drinking enough water can really create problems with the vocal chords.

Gargling w/ warm salt water (that deep in the back of your throat gargling) can help to clear flem and to assist in recovering faster from a cold, etc but helps little otherwise (the warm water may help to loosen the chords a little by relaxing them).

Funny thing is that since I started drinking more water for my voice I've started loosing a little weight (nothing major, but my pants are looser now). Nice side benefit!

To get over the 'tension' of recording try making sure you follow the same procedure you use for 'playing around'. Record everything for a while and maybe even just let the recorder run. You can always clip out the song if it's really good and the rest you can pitch. We always want to put our best foot forward and the term it's all in your head really applies here. I get tense when I'm singing too but it's usually because I'm trying to sing, tweak the board, and make sure the recording levels don't clip all at the same time (I record from my board directly to my computer instead of multitrack recording in Audacity/CEP). It's either that or I'm just like everyone else but I tend to record everything and throw a lot of it out. BTW, you may find that the one time you let the recorder run is the time you did incredibly well on a song!

Not only is this a very helpfull topic and learning curve for me, and others, it's also a very ironic thread.

Let me explain before you stone me
In so many threads, especially the ranking/commenting ones, you have to read over and over and ..................over that karaoke is for fun, to which I agree to a certain extent.

This thread, with it's really helpful information just proves how serious we actually do take our fun.
Athletes practise before a marathon, band members practise new songs before a gig, and clearly, we gargle, spit, polish, and do other disgusting things before we sing or record our subs.
Now, why do we do this?!?!?
Just for fun (and this quote is from umpteen members!)

For FUN?!?!?!? You mean that ppl actually sing karaoke and record themselves for FUN!?!?!

Of course it's fun. We do it in the never ending persuit of self improvement. To sing a song well and be praised for the work is an accomplishment and it's fun to reach goals and be recognized for it by others.

As I said before, when karaoke (singing and/or hosting) stops being fun I'll stop. Until then I'll 'act a fool' and sing my heart out in the name of FUN!

And I rest my case

I gotta remember to gargle next time!

It's wierd, I'm 18 I'll be 19 in a month but I feel too young to sing. A few month ago I was singing a higher octave and now I can only sing deep and when I trying to sing high I end up straining myself. I don't really want to warm up because I want to be a natural, I guess that is how I feel about being a singer. I don't want to be asked to singa song in church or somthing and be like, give me 15 mintues to warm up. So I guess another few month from now I will be able to sing low perfectly and the highness or whatever.. I don't know what to expect of my voice. I'll hopefully put something on line for everyone to little to because I need feedback because I do not know where I stand at all.

And another thing about singing, sit up straight and don't suck in your stomache at all. (Some people do it to hide there big belly, haa.. but.. that's what I read off another site.. perhaps this one? It was a long time ago).

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"I see shooting stars in your eyes, come a little closer so I can get to know you better, but stay a sranger it's wild and sexier. First you see me, second it's daily, third you wont leave me, your making me crazy. It feels wrong inside that your stalking me tonight but I feel so alone even if I don't know you, don't ever leave my side."

Singing naturally doesn't mean you don't warm up. Most 'naturals' warm up to prevent injury and many insist upon it. If you don't think hurting your voice will happen to you - think about Meatloaf. This is a guy who was in the original 'Hair' (IIRC), a strong professional, and has an incredible voice. His career was almsot destroyed when he tore a vocal cord. Warming up properly prevents damage to your voice and allows for your singing to be more relaxed and less strained. It doesn't have to be much, just a few minutes of humming or singing quietly lower notes to warm up the cords for what's to come. The harder the piece is to sing, the more you should warm up. Where I work we have a dinner theatre and I hear the singers warming up every day about half an hour before the first show (there are 2 a night). Nothing really hard to sing, but they'll be singing for close to 4 hours (with a break between). Just like stretching before a run they prepare their voice for the exercise ahead.

Read up on the internet about warming up and how to prevent damage to your vocal cords at any number of sites that cover this information.

Don't rush your 'natural' voice. Most performing opera singers don't have a voice mature enough to sing properly until they're in their mid 30's (there are exceptions). Sing what you can until your voice 'settles in'. And then start working to perfect the instrument (your voice).

I was about to chip in with my twenty cents worth when karaokemeister beat me to it! You wont ever get to be a natural if you don't warm up before performing. I beleive it's just as important to "warm down" afterwards as well. Just the other night, I forgot to warm down and, sure enough, had a raspy throat next morning.

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Those who bring sunshine to others cannot keep it from themselves  
Snoopy

I don't use headphones -Ever- and I just use the same beatup SM 58's I use in my shows and belt it out , I mean who really cares about a little noise , for me it's just about having fun ,enjoying the posts of others , learning ,teaching , and sharing , to be honest since I started posting songs here in Jan.04 I've posted about 100 songs , and of those about 85 were done single track in 1 shot...It may not be marketable but it's fun and simple , and for me that's all I care about. ooohh , that's right I do use those $2.00 foam wind screens.. I use them live and just don't bother to take em' off i guess =)

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Gotta' Sing , Gotta' Sing !!!