My Music by Me Music: Vociferous (My Voice by Me)

As I listened to the selections for the latest compilation of my music by me, I found myself alternately liking and deploring the sound of my singing (if that's what it could be called). Although I try to deliver the vocal performance in keeping with the character of the music or the "voice" of the lyrics, while working within my own limitations – and around situational and medical impediments – I usually don't do more than one or two takes of any vocal performance, since the element of surprise that I feel at finding the melody and the words forming in my vocal tract is important to me to capture in relief to the digital realm in which the music is realized. A particular situational impediment often forces me to concentrate my effort and just spit it out; to try to get it as close to "right" as possible, which results in a compromise in which it is as emotively "real" as possible.

I realize that some people don't like my singing, but then, it might depend upon which song they're hearing. There are some good singers whom I just can't stand, myself. Some of them are "good" within the parameters of their signature-stylistic mannerisms, which I notice and which get on my nerves really quickly. Others sing like they're in love with the sounds of their own voices; still others too obviously imitate other singers. Thanks to the ubiquity of Auto-Tune in slick pop-music production, indie musicians who sing outa-tune are perceived as "authentic," but I myself try to carry a tune in a bucket without spilling too much of it. A low-baritone voice is more difficult to control and articulate than one might imagine, and though in recent years I've managed to expand its range upward – where it sets better in the mix – when singing in the lower end it's difficult to hear it well enough through headphone monitors to articulate and intonate it. I understand that smoking cigars might help in this regard, but I'm gasping for air as it is.

In popular music, however, there have been lots of vocalists who can't fuckin' sing worth shit, and yet, people are into them. After the initial period of acclimation, their fans no longer notice or care that the singer poses a challenge to the ear, no matter how good the music behind him and the songs being performed. ("Him," because, with female singers, it's often the opposite: great intonation, control, and expression – but sounding too much like a passive-aggressive girlfriend.) Some of such vocalists I "don't mind" because I like their songs or their music, but in the cases of some of them, I profoundly resent having had to work eight-hour shifts with their off-key mewlings blaring above my head. Most of them make me feel better about my own capabilities, at any rate. Here's a list of some:

https://youtu.be/zcWaHBOFkUw?si=efrZrlUEZoDDMc0L

https://youtu.be/svitEEpI07E?si=YdstU1S73XDNw7tI

https://youtu.be/eVy1h2FcRiM?si=dx1plMNVCQxDkxxI

https://youtu.be/Jwtyn-L-2gQ?si=3eU8DRbpzC6kE3JZ

https://youtu.be/1RN6pT3zL44?si=wmpDE2v7mnJDGHtQ

https://youtu.be/skGqpC0WYSk?si=JfYygtTGe_fdVcs4

https://youtu.be/GbD1sZj8BbA?si=1t_imtlDkb7mb4LL

https://youtu.be/E3dFmNolsPA?si=Aljx_f0SzuysDyKC

https://youtu.be/5wh7ylJManI?si=yiBWrdLZg20Kixos

https://youtu.be/659pppwniXA?si=3cKxhyXY85ogkeGr

https://youtu.be/6ZlJDVOkjmc?si=Dm9LTt3uRBG-EfE5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfySK7CLEEg