Need help on choosing vocalists...

[CantBuyAThrill]

So, as of late, my band, The Tinsmen, has been undergoing the arduous task of figuring out what we should do following the potential departure of our former vocalist. He left because he had a serious Christian awakening and because he felt like he was the "odd man out". At first, he seemed like he might want to return to the group, but after grasping how strongly he felt, we were unsure of whether or not we wanted to keep him in the band.

Right now, we are trying to figure out if we could just continue on with the other four members of the band, with 3 of us taking up vocal duties, and one of those three doing the main parts. Here I have a recording of "Norwegian Wood" as recorded by one of the guitarists in the band doing guitar and vocals (I would probably also do the same, and although I am a bit under him in vocal skill and training, we are about equal in all around skill guitarwise- he has a certain creativity that I don't have, but I usually am able to write more songs. Our technical abilities are a bit different, but generally speaking we're about the same overall.)

The other 3 recordings contain the singing of the other vocalist, the one who may be leaving. I would greatly appreciate any insight on which vocalist you think you would rather choose if you were brought down to the two of them, or if you felt you needed to search for yet another vocalist. We plan on writing new material (and have around 4 songs in the works,) to better fit the vocal style of our other guitarist, if that's what ends up happening, though we will probably keep two or three of the old pieces we had. (All of the songs that we play right now have either been written by myself, our drummer, or the other guitarist, so the other vocalist would have no argument if he thought we were "stealing" his songs.)

http://www.myspace.com/thetinsmen

Thanks for your time and commentaries and such, in advance. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks again.

[flywithdiamonds]

Hmm in my humble opinion try and keep the lead singer you've got. Your other guitarist isn't bad but having listened to the demo with your original lead vocalist it's clear he has a much stronger voice.

[CantBuyAThrill]

Hm... thanks alot for the input. I can see what you're saying.

Any other opinions?

[TyDrummer]

Seems like they've both got different styles. It's tough to say, but I'd work with what you have for a bit - it's definitely worth a shot, if it doesn't work out then get yourself a new vocalist. I didn't mind the singing in the new song - but you can't go wrong in getting someone who does singing as their thing..

Best of luck.

[CantBuyAThrill]

Thanks- so you're suggesting that we should keep the old vocalist? (The one who does the 3 other songs on there)

Anybody else?

[carpediem12]

I listned to all your clips. First of all, I am very, very impressed with Drifting and soft machine - The guitar parts. Soft Machine's intro was very supertramp (im a big fan of them as well)
I must say when I first started playing Im down, I thought your old vocalist did sound good until it got to higher parts. I think it was terrbile how his voice break, I think I have heard this clip before actually and I said the exact same thing haha.
Your new vocalist sounds pretty good to me, definitly fits the acoustic song. I cant tell how will sound like in high registers though. thats very important if you want to keep your old style.
I was impressed by his harmonies.

To be honest, I wouldnt have any problem letting the old now 'religious' vocalist go. Espcially since he has changed. That would have been enough for me atleast but thats just me.
I dont think you dont need to look for another vocalist. Your guitarist can handle the main parts, if one of you can hit those high notes then you wont have any problem and i still havnet heard you sing, if your vocal abilities are comparable to your guitarist then you guys are good.

If you do find a singer though, make sure he writes songs! I am very surprised that none of those songs was written by your old vocalist!

[CantBuyAThrill]

Thanks a ton for the input Carpediem.

Anymore thoughts from anybody are appreciated.

[Surgicalgod]

I thought you old vocalist was better than your current one, but that doesn't mean any of them was actually that good. I suggest getting a new one.

[CantBuyAThrill]

I thought you old vocalist was better than your current one, but that doesn't mean any of them was actually that good. I suggest getting a new one.

Fair enough. However, it's proven fairly difficult to find someone who will openly admit that he or she likes to sing, sings well, enjoys the same kind of music and has a basic understanding of our preferred genre, and fits the persona that we'd like to see in a frontman.

[GDan]

The guy on norwegan wood suited the song better. The other guy sounded like he was trying to do the powerful rock thing but wasnt quite strong enough to pull it off.