Thanks for posting this and your other songs. I've been listening even though I haven't been commenting.
Congrats on the songs -- the compositions seem strong.
Now, if you don't mind some constructive criticism from a professional voice instructor... I come up with the same problem in each of you pieces: intonation. The guitar is out of tune, the vocals are often out of tune. I see you mentioned you keep the stand high -- that is not good -- it should be straight in front of you (or slightly lower) so you need not look up nor down. There is a lot of tension in your larynx (Adam's apple region) which is causing the intonation issues and also why you're having difficulty filling out the chest register. Keep your chin DOWN. Work on breath support. You HAVE to get the vocals in tune.
But the music itself is fun and the recordings are good! Keep at it!
Thanks for the compliments and criticisms.
I probably do not hear nearly as well as I used to, which might be part of the problem of keeping in tune. We recorded very quickly - I only had ten hours to make the CD. Getting the guitar in tune was a chore, constantly moving the capo up and down the frets. It is impossible to get a guitar completely in tune, to begin with, because the third note of the scale is always a few vibrations flat (or sharp - I forget which). I use one of those electronic gizmos to tune the guitar, but then I usually have to make adjustments by ear. Time after time the song was fine until the final chord, but then the final chord was out of tune and the song had to be re-recorded.
I have no explanation for why my vocals were out of tune. I noticed it a little but didn't realize it was a major problem.
As for the music stand, I don't like to bend over when I sing, since I want to keep my lungs wide open.
By the way, our valley was full of smoke from the Yosemite fire during the recording of most of the songs. I think I was a little hoarse.
