Can you sing?

If you consider people like Robert Wyatt good singers, then you might consider me one. But I still get reviews saying '...of course, Momus can't sing for toffee...' Which annoys me, of course, because I hit all the notes and inflect rather well, I think. I remember Mike Alway saying, when he helped me make the first Momus records, 'I like how you sing as if you were very, very handsome'.

The secret is writing the songs in such a way that you disguise your limitations. And, as John Shuttleworth knows so well, microphone technique.

That has to be one of the best backhanded compliments of all time. Did he intend the double meaning? Robert Wyatt...hm...*runs Ultramarine collaborations through head*...you know, I can sort of see it.

That has to be one of the best backhanded compliments of all time.

Yes, Mike never paid his artists with money, he paid them with compliments like this. Then you realised that you'd been robbed.

The last Rufus Wainwright album, however, has taught me that I can project pretty well in a register I'd never even tried to tackle before.

But, yeah, I've been known to carry a tune fairly well, from time to time.

"The panic, the vomit".

There's something incredibly cathartic about singing, it never fails to cheer me up, even if it does depress the hell out of everyone else. But like dear old Paddy McAloon says, whether it soothes or annoys, in itself it's a joy. There's plenty of unconventional singers out there who are still great vocalists - Lou Reed, Jonathan Richman, Darren Hefner etc. Being a great singer is all about finding your own voice rather than trying to emulate Sealion Dion.

I have spent a lot of money on singing lessons, but to no avail. I'm still crap. I *love* singing sooo much though. I have to do it when I'm alone.

I can sing for my supper.

Reviving out of curiosity. Well, can you? Do you?

http://redfyscheye.freeyellow.com
wow what was that link to? I don't remember that at all but such is the "net".

it seems like singing has become some kind of olympic sport to people these days with American Idol - like what's important is you sing like Whitney Houston and then you "win". i can sing on key and I can sing low but I would not win Idol.

informally, ya sure i can sing.

I'm no dan perry tho

if the television license man comes at a quarter to three
and the fictionalized characters are becoming a reality

I hardly ever sing in front of people; hence I don't have an external measure of how good my voice is.

it seems like a lot of (straight?) guys who do sing casually in front of their friends do so in an intentionally off-key ,ugly way, or else their singing is so mumbly and restrained that you can't make a judgment either way. I'm guessing they hold back for fear of appearing too silly or too gay or too showy. although it's possible that I'm being too generous and they really just have crap voices overall.

I've never heard Dan Perry sing but can safely assume that I, too, am no Dan Perry.

I like when pirates just belt out some song like "yo ho ho and blow me down and etc etc" in a merry voice

Well, who doesn't?

the guys who hunt the pirates, they only sing Englishy songs

I don't sing, I croak. It's horrible, but I do it anyway (when nobody else is around).

I cannot resist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhsQRbdJpN8&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

fucking genius

that's seriously pretty fucking great.

...wow!

thanks! Its one of my "hits" - it was once played on WFMU of which I am so proud

how can an athlete be a musician at the same time?

this morning i found my life's purpose. becoming obscenely wealthy so that i can put out your records

always liked the Rod Stewart song!

Yeah, he did once play soccer, had a trial at Brentford which is sort of my local team.

To me, my singing voice sounds amazing. To others, they would add ly bad.

you can hear another "hit" here down a little ways

http://www.andorejr.com/post/origins-andore-jr

oh Mike this is genius

f-ing brilliant! I can't decide what I like best: the juxtaposition of fat synth lines against otherwise lo-fi acoustic instruments and singing, the randomness of the synth lick around 0:37 and the drum rolls, the way it sort of reminds me of Nick Drake's "The Thoughts of Mary Jane", the hey-I've-noticed-that-too-but-never-said-anything lyrics....

I was a passable singer until a few years ago; now my higher range is completely gone and my lower range struggles to stay in tune and not be scrathcy. It sucks, because I never got to record many of the songs I had in my head.

Is there a "post your amateur recordings" thread? If not, there should be!

I'll let you all decide...this is about 25 seconds of me singing the opening from @nnie T0dd (a musical in which we mashed up @nnie and Sw33ney T0dd).....

http://www.mediafire.com/?v7bywyy2x3b6l3b

I've decided to start getting tough and working out at the gym two hours a day because I am not a good enough singer. I found my old high school buddies on the internet. One of them said I don't sing anymore. I said name the time and place and I'll sing for you.

The rest of us sing because we can't lift weights.

I need more discipline. I regret that I am a failure in this regard. Someone said working out two hours a day would give me the mental and physical discipline of a champion. I guess this is why I don't sing in public.

since i gave up smoking tobacco i sing like the dylan of nashville skyline rather than the dylan of love and theft

I am glad I smoked for a while. It put more of my own personality into my voice. Voice lessons damaged my voice. I hope quitting smoking makes it easier.

Be careful with voice lessons, choral music is very anti-jazz, anti-folk, anti-gospel. Which is my style.

I *love* to sing (in the car, in the shower, rockband, karaoke), but I sing like a drain. But I have fun when I do it so I figure fuck it.

^ This.

Can I sing? Yes, yes I can. Try and stop me. Can I sing on pitch? Well, I'd say I hit one out of five notes on a good day.

I can usually mimic what I have heard someone else sing with a fair amount of precision, unless it is a singer with world-class chops who's really laying it down, which of course leaves out a large chunk of recorded music. My voice is a pleasant baritone with an average range. I do OK, as long as I am singing solo and can hear myself. Singing with other voices is much harder for me. It is def hard for me to transpose to another key from the one in which I learned a song.

tis a hobby of mine, though I haven't done much 'choral' singing in years other than seasonal caroling...just musical theatre.

this is from like 2 years ago:

http://youtu.be/5AqaKoESz1k

one more try:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AqaKoESz1k

Wow, you can really sing! I'm astounded by how many people say they "sing" and....don't. My sister and brother perform professionally and my sister is auditioning to be on The Voice.

I don't sing in public anymore, I got burned too much from insulting and lame audiences who want you to do this and that for them.

Duuuude, I totally missed this when you posted it! Hell yeah you can sing. And Sweeney Todd too no less! <3 Bravo!!!

thx :)

i can sing well, but not as well as i used to when i took singing more seriously. still, i'm good enough to be that tryhard asshole everyone hates at karaoke.

i am an absolutely horrible singer, but i love singing and do not gaf, so...

^ describes my ILX presence pretty well, as it turns out

here's a deliberately ridiculous pisstake of "wuthering heights" i recorded:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/oxmmme

I wish I could sing. I only sing in the shower when I know no one is home. Wish I could sing. I wanted to be a song and dance Broadway chorus girl...when I was nine.

WOW!!!!! Overdrive, that is great!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I'm an OK singer but unfortunately I literally only have a range of an octave, which is frustrating.

ty *tera :)

voice has felt crackly and weird for a while now, and losing practice steadily due to losing the one regular gig I had so trying to get back into shape. did this today, cos my voice felt better than it has in a while

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jafagcz1s6w&feature=youtu.be

err, trying again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jafagcz1s6w&feature=youtu.be

da fuuuuuuuuuuq....try #3

https://youtu.be/Jafagcz1s6w

(couldn't hear the music at the end which is why I got a bit ahead)

hey, that's really good! and I guess it's true what they say about Sinatra being the godfather of [insert metal subgenre here]

I'm singing in public on Friday for the first time in ooh, twenty years (discounting karaoke), wish me luck..

indie dude sings along to indie song

('Winslow Place' by the Walkabouts)

tbrr I don't have much vocal range or power, so music as a social activity is pretty much out of the question for me — I can't sing along to pop music (unless it's mumbly melodically bankrupt stuff like 'Royals') and probably wouldn't be too exciting at karaoke. but I enjoy singing along to saddo folk songs like the above while driving/showering/ilxing

I mostly just wish I could sing like Maria Barton