Well, after reading your comment, I just had to listen to the track again to see what I thought of it after all this time. I think it definitely has promise. Needs lyrics. And a proper singer, but on reflection I think it's worth some more effort on my part. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I think I needed that. :)

Thanks 3iad. I appreciate the positive feedback!

Hi, CitizenMofo. I find it hard to believe that I sing better than you, or anybody else! :) I have not yet come to my senses. I am attempting vocal parts out of desperation because I can't find good vocalists to collaborate with. Part of the problem is that my tracks cover a range of styles/genres. And, I will admit that sometimes I haven't followed through on collabs, usually because I felt that the track I was considering wasn't good enough or didn't actually have lyrics. I have a lot of difficulty writing lyrics. I have never focused on lyrics in songs, always on the instrumentals. In fact, I used to only like instrumental songs. That's put me at a disadvantage now I think. Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing any more detailed suggestions you might have for improving this song, if you have time. Crucethus has suggested more variation in the percussion track. He's right about that. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to building the drum tracks, which is a bit surprising because I was actually a drummer in my past life. I also have problems with song structure. I tend to latch on to one chord sequence and just stick with that for the whole song. Finding a good sequence for bridge, chorus, etc. seems to be a challenge for me. I think it is just laziness. Thanks again for the comment. I did appreciate it.

What???? You want the vocal stem? Really? The vocal is total crap!!! :) So, BlaqTi, did you want only the vocal stem for a remix? You would re-do the instrumental backing for your remix?

thanks for the positive feedback, kingmadi. I will definitely keep at it. :)

Hi, benjiko. I totally agree with you about the vocals letting things down in the track. It was nice to hear you say that the intro was good. It never occurred to me, however, that it would raise expectations that would then make the track more disappointing than it might have been otherwise, due to the crappy vocal. I think you are probably right about that. The only fix for that, of course, is to find a good vocalist to collaborate with. I do have vocoder plugins, but that vocal effect really isn't appropriate for everything I attempt. (emphasis on "attempt"!)

Hi, TrippyHippyCrew! "Weird" is a total understatement. You are being kind! :) They are pretty awful, which is why I put them so low in the mix. I was trying to minimize the damage to Looperman members' hearing. Thanks for the comment. Sorry I took so long in responding.

Hi, Steve. You definitely could be right about the bluesy female singer on this track. Frankly, anybody other than me would be better! :) I am astounded that anybody here on Looperman thinks the vocal had any redeeming qualities! Your reference to Rie Ockasiek was interesting. I keep wondering if there's some kind of "character" voice that I could find that would actually sound halfway acceptable. Other than the quality of my voice, the major problem I have is that I can't hold a note on pitch properly. My voice quavers, and it is particularly bad if I try to hold a note for any length of time. I think that's an issue of age because I have noticed that many professional singers have the same problem when they get older. So, the solution is to cut off each word/syllable and shift to a combination of singing/talking I think. Not that I want to focus on vocals. I'd much rather find a couple of good vocalists to collaborate with and leave the driving to them. :)

Thanks, MGproduct. Nice to hear from you! I guess I will get back to this. Does need more work on the mix, but most importantly, it needs a good vocalist. :)

Thanks,kdhsfm. Sorry for not acknowledging your comment sooner. Lost track. I do appreciate the feedback.

I like your first suggestion better! :)

Brado: that is a very kind offer! I would be very interested in having you try a remix. BUT, I think I do need to get some lyrics worked out first and I would want to re-record the vocals before I create the stems for you. For the record, the vocal track does have compression, and EQ, and reverb, and I used Auto-Tune to fix up the warbling pitch issues which permeated the entire track. Except that either I don't know how to use Auto-tune properly, or the warbling it so bad that even Auto-Tun can't fix it. :) As I mentioned in a previous response, I think I just need to find a range I can work in comfortably and I need to stop trying to hold notes. And, probably, I should use my condenser mic instead of my iPhone. Anyway, I much prefer the idea of having you do a mix instead of your suggestion of mounting a competition. That's way too much attention. What I really, really, want, is a competent singer. I don't understand why it is so hard to find people who can sing and who are willing to help out on tracks. Loads of producers and lots of rappers. There must be thousands of decent singers out there someplace.

Hi, Wikkid. thanks for the feedback. I'm VERY surprised at the encouragement I've been getting to make the vocals better. That certainly wasn't my intent or expectation when I posted the track. I keep thinking about some of those really embarrassing moments on American Idol auditions who clearly thought they were great when they were, well, "not". Watching those episodes made me realize that people sometimes just don't hear how they actually sound when they are singing. it's a strange phenomenon. Watched the movie, Florence Foster Jenkins, last week and it was the same thing. Meryl Streep was fantastic in the role (as usual), but oh my god - the singing. Same situation. I really don't want to think that I'm afflicted by the same thing. That said, I am going to try to work out some lyrics and if I get something worthwhile, I think I will try the vocals again. The one I posted was actually just sung into my iPhone in one take. I do have a decent mic and I do know how to comp vocals, so I should be able to improve things.

Wayne: Very good advice. Nobody has ever given me advice on vocals before, but then I've never done vocals before! :) I think your suggestion is very sound. I need to get some lyrics worked out as the next step. And, I've discovered that when I try to hold a note I warble off pitch horribly. So, the solution to that is to cut things off before I start wandering up and down and all around the actual note. In the shower I sound great! Of course, everybody does. But I also think you are correct in suggesting that I need to find a range that I'm comfortable with. But, most of all, I need to find a real singer.

Hi, Igor. Thanks for the encouragement. I've been told that I sound a bit like Leonard Cohen. Except he sang on key. :) There are no actual words in the vocal. All nonsense sounds. I think I might try re-recording the vocals once I develop some lyrics.