How to find my voice?

April 21, 2005 5:21 AM

Need help finding my own voice for tribute cd of Evan Dando songs.

I sing at home and have an average voice. I can keep a tune most if the time. However when singing songs by artists I know I mimic their voices. I am Irish and trying to copy Evan Dandos voice sounds completely wrong. My question is how can I discover my own voice? One of the songs I am thinking of submitting is Brain Damage mp3.

posted by kenaman to media & arts (8 comments total)

Change the key, change the tempo, or something.
posted by mds35 at 6:50 AM on April 21, 2005

Did he die?
posted by craniac at 7:08 AM on April 21, 2005

No he's still alive. Looking at the question again I didn't highlight the fact that accent is also a big problem. Its difficult to avoid an unnatural american twang...
posted by kenaman at 7:21 AM on April 21, 2005

Overdub yourself a few times, doubling the melody and/or singing in harmony with yourself. Come up with your own harmonies. And definitely change the key to best suit your range.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:33 AM on April 21, 2005

Maybe overdo it in the other direction for a while? Put on the thickest Irish accent you can and sing it like that.

I've got the same problem in the other direction — I love folk music, and it's hard not to pick up a fake British or Irish accent when I'm singing songs from those traditions. I just had to play up my American accent (really flat A's, really loud R's, etc.) until it seemed comfortable.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:35 AM on April 21, 2005

Put on the thickest Irish accent you can and sing it like that.

Very tempting...
posted by kenaman at 8:12 AM on April 21, 2005

I have the same problem, I tend to get all Zelig when I sing covers, I sound just like whoever did the tune originally. Slowing down or speeding up the tempo is a good trick. Also, be somebody else really extreme, like Tom Waits or Joanna Newsom, or Tom Waits doing Joanna Newsom. You'll come up with something original, and maybe it will feel good enough to be "your" voice.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:32 AM on April 21, 2005

Cheers Flanders sounds like a good compromise...........btw I got a couple of Big Star albums shortly adter claiming to you that they could not purchased in Ireland. They were under 'B' in HMV!
posted by kenaman at 9:45 AM on April 21, 2005