That's the signal to lay off the wine now for the evening, Monica! Just teasing.

Ok, for tomorrow, I propose a "guess this speaking voice" game. If you wanted to oversee it, perhaps everyone (except me and you and Raymond or anyone else who has already been heard) could send you an e-mail attachment with their voice on it. Each person would have to read the same poem or something, so we could use their accents as a bit of a hint in guessing who is who. Then you could post them all (except you would know all the answers) and see if we can guess who everyone is. I can just see Techneut shaking his head and thinking, "Oh brother, how daft.". But it could be fun.

I consider myself mute when it comes to "having a voice".

I can't count the number of people who only wish they would hear me say that about myself once in a while.

Well, I hope not everyone is shy. The curiosity to know what everyone sounds like when they talk is very strong for me, anway.

Not sure the ladies will like my terrible french accent trying to speak english.

Non, ce n'est pas vrai, Martin!!! Tu sais que nous adorons les accents !!!

Nicole, great singing!!! You have lots of talents also for singing, a clear voice also in higher registers and you hold the pitch precise. Great!

Regarding my voice, well, it is very weak. Even the dog leaves the room if I try to sing.
Nevertheless here is a blues song I played with guitar and sang simultaneously, it is called "Stack O Lee Blues", telling a true story from end of 19th century, from the great John Hurt:

http://www.mindenblues.family-schmidt-m ... ckoLee.mp3

It seems so that I do sing with strong German accent. Sorry for that, can't do better unfortunately.

Sometimes I dream to visit the Mississippi Delta in the hope to find some of the old bluesmen playing on an old acoustic guitar Delta blues songs that I love so much (therefore my forum name). And to jam with them together. Well, only a dream, and New Orleans is probably not the same as it was before the last flood. Nevertheless, the dream remains, to catch the spirit of old great delta blues men like Robert Johnson, Son House and the other blues giants, the root of rock'n roll at the end. Sorry for coming OT so much ...

Wow, Olaf. I'm in shock. You played and sang so well! I had no idea! Man....just goes to show you - you never know about people.

Your guitar pickin' was great. I so much want to learn to play guitar better. My brother taught a few things long ago. Currently, I can only play Stairway to Heaven, a Pink Floyd song - can't think of the title, but it starts out with a single quitar that sounds like it's playing on a radio and then it becomes more stero - some lyrics, "so, so you wish you could tell, heaven from hell...." whatever.
Also about 20 seconds worth of a Spanich piece, and that's about all. I have an accoustic guitar just sitting by one of my fireplaces, just waiting for me to pick it up. I usually do when there's a party going on, until someone mercifully takes it away and plunks me down on the piano instead. Anyway, you sounded terrific. And your German accent was not very noticeable. Yeah, I heard it, but it is sort of endearing. Reminds me of my mother when she starts singing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" in German. Cracks me up everytime.

Nicole - I think that's a neat idea about everyone sending me their voice samples and then we (not me) all guess. If anyone here is willing to participate, say so on this post and we'll get it started.

Oh, and I saw the space station before I had finished my first bottle of ice cold beer. Perfect on hot summer nights.

Thank you Monica, for the compliments. As teenager and as student I played in a blues group guitar, long, long ago. I liked so badly to play in a group, and had no access to an electronic organ, and piano was uncool and foremost not loud enough so I learned guitar a bit by myself. The only style I can is fingerstyle blues with thumb- and fingerpicks and also a bit slide guitar (have a cool dobro for that).

Regarding the Pink Floyd song, it is "Wish you were here" from the same named vinyl from 1975. I think, I could play it still today - we played it on my graduation ball, I taped it: musical content is total crap, but the mood and the applause was that fantastic that I still get goose bumps only thinking of it...

Wow! Thank-you for singing, Olaf! And thank-you for compliments. I listened to my clip before I submitted it yesterday, and realize I sound a lot like my old singing teacher used to sound when I first heard her, when she dared to sing in public once, well before she finished her training. I truthfully thought, when I first heard her sing so long ago, that she was hopeless. But after a few more years of training, when she then became a singing teacher, I listened to her in concert a few times before signing up for lessons, and was truly amazed. I couldn't believe it was the same voice. Maybe if I worked as hard, I could end up sounding like that someday!

Ok, everybody. So now that Olaf and I have dared to sing, submitting speaking will be even easier.
Although, more singing is fun too.

Yes, applause is great. I was in several groups when I was younger too. But the very first one was with my girlfriend, Margaret. She played guitar too and that was when I first learned some chords. (around 14 years old) Anyway, a pizza joint down the street somehow heard that we were a guitar duo and asked that we come and play a set or two. So we said, "sure", not telling them that we only knew one song. It was John Denver's, Take Me Home Country Roads. Well, we got some good applause after the first run through, but it died off quickly after the third time. Now, after a piano recital, I don't even hear any applause, because I'm just so happy to have survived through my time at the piano, and then I'm only concentrating on exiting the stage without tripping.

I am sure you will! Everyone says that the voice must be treated like every other music instrument - it needs practising. In your case, it sounds already strong and, evenly and your way is not that long. My wife however, told me recently that my singing voice reminds here on the sound of a crow (very charmant, isn't it...), and really, only if kids and wife are absent I can dare to cry out an old blues tune.



The only explanation is that they are so deeply stirred from your Mazurkas they don't dare to clap there hands!

Herr Olaf, you do have an accent. But it's not as bad as Schwarzenegger's from the 1980s

Juufa, I should send you a sound clip sometime of my brother's Arnold impression. He says "Get your a_ _ to Mars" exactly like Ah-nuld from "Total Recall". Cracks me up every time. Yes, everyone should be so lucky to be a bodybuilder, famous movie star and then Govinah of Caleefonia. Can't help but like the guy, even if he is enviable.
N

Olaf, what is a dobro?

That's an acoustic guitar with plate material, and a completely different acoustic principle: it works like a loudspeaker, but not electric driven, instead the thin plate membran is driven by the string bridge vibrations. It gives a typical earthy blues sound and is used in old times because it is a) louder as a normal acoustic guitar, b) it sustains a lot - great for slide playing, and c) it is bullet proof - a great advantage in old day western saloons

Here's a picture:
http://www.mindenblues.family-schmidt-m ... _Dobro.JPG

and here is a little song I came up with a dobro. I put a slide on the pinky to add some slide notes on the treble strings, played together with the open bass strings:
http://www.mindenblues.family-schmidt-m ... ToCome.mp3