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Honest opinion needed about my wife's singing...


Jwink25

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Hello everyone,

 

I need an honest opinion about my wife's singing talent and voice. Below I will post 3 links to some songs I just put up on Putfile.

 

Here's is a little info about the songs:

 

She came into the studio and sang each song only once, and this is her raw UNEDITED voice. We did not have the funds to pay for anything more. Some of the songs have background music playing and one...Amazing Grace are of her vocals only.

 

http://media.putfile.com/Wife-singing-Go-Rest-High-On-That-Mountain

 

http://media.putfile.com/My-wife-singing-Amazing-Grace

 

http://media.putfile.com/Wife-singing-Cry-To-Jesus

 

 

 

A singing career has been a lifelong dream of hers but, as with most dreams it seems, has been put on hold. I have been giving it much thought and am willing to help her rekindel the fire. Your input would be very helpful. Also, the fields of music she would be most interested in singing would be: rock, country, a style like Jewel's, and possibly christan.

 

Thanks!

Jason

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If you know of anyone hurting, for whatever the reason...feel free to burn these songs or email them the links...listening to them has made more than a few people feel a little better. I know it helped me, we have had many loses in my family as of late.

 

God bless,

Jason

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After watching American Idol here and there over the past few years I would never ever hesitate to tell someone that they suck at singing....your wife deffinetly has a great voice if you ask me. I think she should try some other stuff and see what kind of songs she should be doing. She deffinetly has a voice for those types of songs you posted though. I could see her doing country but I don't know about rock, she's got a very soothing voice that would be great for country or christan stuff.

 

I would atleast explore this avenue!

 

Guy

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Odd I thought I posted here already. Charming sensual voice. Getting on some of the strong parts seem a little from the nose. Seems like she has a lot of power but is unwilling to put that forward.

Now I have no artistic talent in my whole body but have been an extream audiophile my entire life. So what it is worth, fundamentally, top notch voice! Even as is, I might be willing to buy that cd. (just want her to open up cleanly)

P.S. my all time favorite groups: cowboy junkies, enya and indigo grils. IAM NOT GAY!!!! I just love the passion conveyed in the musical talent that woman can convey thruough there voice when there not P.Oed.!

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Well, I happen to have an opera song as well, this is also a one take and unedited recording. She sings both vocals in this song. She did each part seperate and then they just put them together. The recording studio could have done a better job IMO of overlaying the vocals, but since we weren't paying them to edit anything...

 

 

http://media.putfile.com/The-Prayer-12

 

 

Oh, one more thing, the first vocal was origanlly made for a male voice and was going to be sung by her brother. He was unable to show, so at the last minute she chose to do both. You will hear her second vocal about 2/3 into the song.

 

Thanks,

Jason

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Any ideas on how I can get my wife "out there"? A couple years back we were almost scammed by a man claiming all sorts of things if we just signed on the dotted line...long story short, good thing we didn't.

 

Any thoughts or ideas on how to approch a record lable. Anyone on HybridZ "in" with one? Ha ha...

 

Jason

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Here is my take. It is not as glowing as some above, but in the interest of helping your wife I hoped to add some constructive criticism.

 

I am not a professional musician nor am I the world's best singer. However, in the past I have directed and been a singer in musical theatre productions, college a cappella groups and "have-a-day-job-but-want-to-earn-some-money-on-the-side-or-just-love-singing" singing groups. Some of these groups were good enough to perform at very well-known venues (and get paid -albeit not a king's ransom- for doing so).

 

While in these positions, I conducted auditions of hundreds of men and women. From what I have heard, your wife is a decent singer. She has the basic tools to sing with a small group, but will need to work on a few things if she hopes to be a feature soloist. Trust me, this is not a harsh criticism (and yes, I am picky). There are many people (especially women) who think that they are excellent singers when they are, in fact, terrible. Your wife is not one of these.

 

First, let me say that the business of being a singer is difficult. The pay is poor, the competition is stiff and the time commitment is significant if your wife wants to make a career of singing. I find it to be a better hobby than a profession myself... so I became a lawyer... basically the same but the pay and job security are better. ;)

 

With respect to the competition aspect, the samples you posted do not particularly distinguish your wife from many other aspiring singers who are committing their entire lives to the pursuit of becoming a professional singer. Your wife seems fairly solid on the pitch part, but could stand to develop her voice more. A good (emphasis on good) voice instructor could make a marked improvement.

 

Here are a few observations I have on where your wife could stand to improve:

 

1. Confidence: In order to be a very good singer, your wife will have to be completely confident in what she is doing. This is not to say that she must feel as though she is the worlds best singer, but she must let it all hang out. Do not fear mistakes. Simply know the note and let it come out.

 

It sounded as though she was holding back in much of what I heard. She sometimes did not come in strong on her pick-ups and sometimes did not fully sustain long notes. I also did not feel the passion for what she was singing. In a gospel context in particular, this is paramount.

 

2. Breath Support: Your wife's low-mid range is very pleasing to the ear. This range requires little breath support. When your wife gets goes up the scale, she kicks into her upper register (head voice) somewhat early. She has a very clear head voice, but there are times when singing the higher notes in the chest voice will be more appropriate (particularly in a song such as Amazing Grace). Additional breath support will come with increased confidence (#1 above) and with further practice to extend the chest voice register. With confidence, your wife may be suprised how high she can sing without jumping into head voice.

 

As an extreme example of the change that can come into play here... some of you may recall the first Sister Act movie. In that movie, there was a young petite nun whose singing voice was a mere whisper. Whoopie Goldberg encourages her to increase breath support and use her chest voice. The results are self-explanatory.

 

3. Raise the pallet: In your wife's upper register, she begins to sound more nasal. She closes her throat to produce the higher pitch, rather than doing so through increased breath support (#2 above). This quality is often heard in bluegrass and some country, but the majority of industry listeners will mentally deduct points for it. Additionally, singing in this fashion puts additional stress on the vocal chords and can lead to reduced endurance and (in worst-case-scenarios) the requirement for long periods of vocal rest to allow damaged chords to recover.

 

4. Phrasing: Taking the same words and singing them with breaths and emphasis in five different places will dramatically change the impact of the words being sung. By conveying each phrase more effectively, even a song that is performed without great technical skill will become a much more meaningful and touching song. Just something to think about after working on #1-3. With confidence and breath support, your wife will better be able to sustain long phrases and place emphasis where she wants to rather than having the emphasis driven by breath support. Harry Connick, Jr. is an excellent example of being able to change the entire character of a song by placing emphasis on certain words and only pausing to take a breath in certain places.

 

Here are a few suggestions to help with the above observations if she decides that a vocal instructor is not the way she wants to go:

 

1. Listen closely to others and emulate. Now, you have to be picky in who you sing along with. To build the breath support and lifted pallet discussed above, I highly suggest that your wife buy Eva Cassidy's CD "Songbird." Based on the demo songs, it sounds like Eva's type of music might be up your wife's alley. She unfortunately passed away a few years back, but Eva is a stellar example of breath support and confidence. Pay attention to the uses of chest voice and head voice and the times when either is appropriate to convey the feeling of the song.

 

2. Build confidence! Go out to a kareoke bar and get up there and rock! Don't worry about what other people think. Select a self-empowering song (Perhaps "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benetar - use only chest voice) and cut loose. Act the part as well. Don't stand staring off into space with your hands folded when singing a powerful song such as this. Reach out to the audience and draw them in.

 

3. Sing lots and lots of scales. Through practice, the range will expand, breath support will increase and the voice will become more versatile.

 

Hope this is helpful. Good luck to your wife. Knock 'em dead!

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I hate country music, and im not into religious music, but she has an amazing voice, I want to hear her do a cover of a Patsy Cline tune. She has the perfect range and sounds like she could belt it out no problem.

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