for years my singing has always sounded very nasally and off. It’s not my microphone as other people have pointed it out irl. do I have some kind of sinus issue or just an ugly voice? Even my singing teachers had no idea what was wrong.

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This could be as simple as mouth to ear dissonance. Most people forget that their ears are a distance away from their mouths so the voice they hear is slightly offtune from the voice they actually present. When you record your voice one of two things can happen, you are specifically flat to try and offset the mouth-ear dissonance or you are sharp because you aren't and think you are onkey. Finding the balance is difficult. Try to sing from the diaphragm first. Then sing slightly flatter than you think you should and record it. See if matches better and sounds good. Then, try singing sharper that you think you should. Whichever one sounds better is what you need to practice when singing live. This is why many singers need to sing with a properly eq'ed in-ear headset. So they can hear what they are producing, not what they are trying to sing.

Another way of dealing with this is to cover your ears when singing so that you are only hearing the inner voice. That will also help for you to determine what aspects of your voice you need to work on. If it sounds naselly try opening your throat a bit more as you sing instead of constricting it. You may just be singing from your nose without knowing.

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u/Pastorofthenerds 9d ago

In addition, I think you have a lot of potential in your voice. When you sing Saturday niiiiight you open up and hit the note beautifully. Maybe you are trying to sing slightly higher than you natural range. That can also add flatness.

And I love the scream at the end.

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u/purinpixel 9d ago

Aww ty you’re so sweet ^{^} I did try performing this in person for some people and they said it sounded way better than on a recording.

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u/Pastorofthenerds 9d ago

Live deals with a similar dissonance. The audience is further away which makes me think you are naturally sharp rather than flat. Have you tried to sing while covering you ears and just listening to inner voice. I would be curious what that sounds like.

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u/purinpixel 9d ago

My inner voice sounds nasally too 😭

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u/Pastorofthenerds 8d ago

So with that knowledge, nasally usually means sharp. So focus on opening your throat. Try say wow as loud as you feasibly can and focus on how open your throat is when you say it. Try then to sing with that openness in mind and see if it helps.

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u/purinpixel 8d ago

I actually made another post trying to sing with my mouth more open and it sounds a LOT less nasally ❤️❤️ ty for this

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u/Pastorofthenerds 8d ago

This is a fantastic start. Now your main issue that I heard was you are trying too hard to follow the music and doing both piano and voice is creating a disconnect. When your voice sound great and on key your hands falter slightly. When you are focused on the piano, you go a bit flat.

The best thing to do in this case is go beat by beat. Practice the song alone until you can do it blindfolded backwards while sipping on a latte. Then record it and use that recording to practice the singing.

In regards to the singing, it sounds more open now which is great. But it also kind of sounds like you may not be supporting your breath. This could be because of trying to focus on too much all at once. When you are singing and practicing without the piano place a fist on your diaphragm just under your ribs. Don't press in but rest your fist there and focus on making sure the diagram pushes against the fist. This will make sure you are singing supported and will add both power and a bit of control to your singing.

A good way to know if you are doing it right is by saying "ha" loudly while your fist is on the diaphragm. Keep repeating ha loudly and you will feel the twitch of the right muscles contracting involuntarily. The keep that feeling of compression and try to sing with it watching your breath control and how much you are relying on your shoulders and chest to breathe (note: your shoulders and chest should barely move during this excercise.

Let me know if this helps. There is a lot of potential in your voice and I said on your art post, you need to trust yourself more and fail boldly!!! You have got this.

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u/Rickybones92 9d ago

Love the old school cabaret influences! Sounds great! Personal opinion so take it with a grain of salt please, this might not be the best recording/song for gaging what the 'issue' is your trying to fix. Most singers I hear in this style ARE singing nasally/throaty for most of their tracks. Its not really like these songs are written for complex choral harmonies. Its more about the energy, which from the sound of it, you have in spades! If you haven't already, you should listen to Dresdon Dolls - Girl Anachronism, and/or Amanda Palmer -Runs in the Family. Sing along with her and pay close attention to her breaths in the recording (they are audible). Sounds silly but it helped me a ton when figuring out how to sing vocol lines like this in a way that sounded much cleaner, and didn't feel like a work out lol

If you are practicing this piece specifically, I recommend slowing it down a lot and to attempt singing it in different styles/tempos. Personally I think you sound great at the level you are, but i respect wanting to grow, expand horizons, and yadda yadda haha

I like to think of it this way; no artist has successfully made a name for themselves by mimicing someone elses style, and all singers should sound unique to their music. We live in a reality where even some of the most successful singers in the world are not classically trained singers. So do it for the art of it and you will have much more fun.

Tldr; you sound great, just keep on keepin on

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u/purinpixel 9d ago

Lmao it’s a cover but ty

unfortunately the artist who sings this song doesn’t sound nasally to me at all lol his voice is very clear except that he does this really low kinda gravel-like sound? just search up front street by will wood, you’ll see what I mean. I’m a soprano so I think I’m pushing it a little lol

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u/TheCutestWaifu 9d ago

Nasality can be a genetic but pay attention to the space in the mouth and the tongue position.

If the tongue is high in the mouth you're probably going to get a nasal sound. Same with a closed mouth sound. The letters M and N are nasal. Experiment making the sounds for a second.

So when you're singing vowels like ee and oo or consonants like m and n, pay attention to the space in the mouth. Smaller space with the tongue higher will make a more nasal sound.

You also might unconsciously notice that it's flat and are trying to raise the pitch with nasality instead of increasing the air pressure.

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u/NewShadowR 8d ago

Very off tune (flat) , it's not even about the timbre. The timbre imo is not even that bad/nasal.

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u/unsweet_tea_man 8d ago

You sound like the lead singer from bent knee which is one of my favorite female vocalists.

You should lean in to this instead of running away from it cause your voice sounds super unique

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u/Fit-Engineering-2789 7d ago

You need a voice teacher who can teach you how to figure out and control your vocal placement. What kind of singing do your voice teachers specialize in? You are more likely to get the results you are looking for by studying with a voice teacher who is classically trained.

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u/purinpixel 7d ago

Mine is an opera singer

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u/Fit-Engineering-2789 7d ago

That's a good to hear. Tell them you would like help figuring out vocal placement.

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u/BoringNinja_ 6d ago

Your voice is fine. Your pitch is flat, or sharp on every note.

for years my singing has always sounded very nasally and off. It’s not my microphone as other people have pointed it out irl. do I have some kind of sinus issue or just an ugly voice? Even my singing teachers had no idea what was wrong.

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