Jimbo 88
My guess is your problem is what's behind your mic when you record...you are picking up too much room.  Isolate the mic more.  Try something like the product in the link below. but make sure what is behind you is treated also.  Trying to remove things (like frequencies) after the recording is harder than just getting a good recording from the get-go.
I have built my own isolation stands and they make a big difference.  If I can build them ANYONE can...trust me on that!
 
Good Luck.
 
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ReflexionX--se-electronics-reflexion-filter-by-portable-vocal-booth
 
 

I wonder if you've ever seen pictures of my room.  I have posted pics here not long ago.   I do have Auralex treatment and installed as per their advise, but the room is very small (5' x 12').
JB

Johnbee58

Jimbo 88
My guess is your problem is what's behind your mic when you record...you are picking up too much room.  Isolate the mic more.  Try something like the product in the link below. but make sure what is behind you is treated also.  Trying to remove things (like frequencies) after the recording is harder than just getting a good recording from the get-go.
I have built my own isolation stands and they make a big difference.  If I can build them ANYONE can...trust me on that!
 
Good Luck.
 
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ReflexionX--se-electronics-reflexion-filter-by-portable-vocal-booth
 
 

I wonder if you've ever seen pictures of my room.  I have posted pics here not long ago.   I do have Auralex treatment and installed as per their advise, but the room is very small (5' x 12').
JB

To my ears, your vocal sound is pretty good as is.
 
If you've not already done so, you could try to add a high-pass filter to roll off some of the low end, try starting between 60 & 100 Hz. You shouldn't hear any change to the vocals in solo at these frequencies, but it may remove any muddiness if there's any rumble competing with other tracks. 
 
You could also try a small boost somewhere between 2KHz - 5KHz to bring out the presence, but to be honest it doesn't sound as if it needs it much here.
 

Hello John,
I remember commenting in another thread about your voice. So now listening to the song here I have an opinion.
I am beginning to wonder if it's "your voice" you do not like? Please understand, it sounds fine to me. It sounds like you. 
At a small get together, I played a recording of a song I wrote for some friends wedding. The folks that were listening to the recording asked me "who is that singing"? I was shocked. I said that's me. True story.
 
I really do not hear any offending freq's. but that's just my opinion.
 

I think the tone is what it is, and that's not the issue. IMHO the problem with the vocals is that they're not produced. That's the difference between a so-so vocal and a good vocal.
 
With the right production, I think you'd have a voice very much like the lead singer in Bread. I'd recommend:
 
1. Melodyne is your friend. If you fixed the pitchiness, that would help give the vocal strength.
2. Phrase-by-phrase normalization can also add strength to the vocal.
3. Breathing is crucial for singing. You want to push air up from your diaphragm, not sing from the mouth or throat. Get a deep inhale before a phrase, and push the air out. If the breath noise is too prominent, do a fade in on it.
4. Doubling parts judiciously in crucial parts, with the doubled vocal way back would make the vocal not seem to stark, and blend better with the song.
5. A little ambience would be good. Try some reverb - NOT with a long decay time, but with a short decay time. If anything, to my ears the voice sounds almost too isolated. I think a little room sound in there would help, especially if it was done artificially so you could control it.

I think the tone is what it is, and that's not the issue. IMHO the problem with the vocals is that they're not produced. That's the difference between a so-so vocal and a good vocal.
 
With the right production, I think you'd have a voice very much like the lead singer in Bread. I'd recommend:
 
1. Melodyne is your friend. If you fixed the pitchiness, that would help give the vocal strength.
2. Phrase-by-phrase normalization can also add strength to the vocal.
3. Breathing is crucial for singing. You want to push air up from your diaphragm, not sing from the mouth or throat. Get a deep inhale before a phrase, and push the air out. If the breath noise is too prominent, do a fade in on it.
4. Doubling parts judiciously in crucial sections of the song, with the doubled vocal way back would make the vocal not seem to stark, and blend better with the song.
5. A little ambience would be good. Try some reverb - NOT with a long decay time, but with a short decay time. If anything, to my ears the voice sounds almost too isolated.

BTW, John Lennon hated the sound of his voice. He did okay 

Thanks all!
 
Mr. Anderton , I feel somewhat honored for a person I consider a home recording "guru" to have listened and evaluated one of my tracks.  I remember I bought a book of yours back in the late 80s.  I don't remember what it was called but it was interesting for the equipment available at the time. I also remember it had a "soundsheet" record with it.  It was back in the days before drum machines sounded like real drums and more like "beat boxes", but that was what many of us in the home studio realm were using then.
 
 I do have some reverb on it but I depend mostly on delay, which I also have on it.  I've learned recently how to actually set a delay to sound like an effect and not a "special effect".  IOW set it up to give depth and not to just make something sound weird.  I could go more on both these elements and I'll try it next session.
 
Yesterday, when I posted my rather colorful cry for help, I spent the better part of my day in my recording room with the headphones on working on this.  I finally called it quits for the day at around 6 PM.  This morning, with fresh ears, I went back in for a final tweak and asked myself just what I complaining about.  This morning it sounded fine, even to my hypercritical ears.  On this project I applied many of the techniques I've made myself finally actually learn and I think it's panning out.  Up until just a few months ago I would just either use presets or blindly turn knobs and move fader controls and hope for the best.  As with anything else, it pays to learn what you're doing so I've looked intensively at tutorials and literature on how to apply equalization and compression, set up a delay to give depth (in addition to reverb) and other tidbits of knowledge largely from this forum and other places as well.  Actually, I never even used compression before because, in my ignorant mind, it only made the sound worse, but that was only because I didn't know what the hell I was doing with it.  Now, I'm finally realizing how much of a valuable tool compression can be IF you know how to use it.
 
Thanks all so much for all of your help.  My knowledge of recording/producing grows more everyday in no small part with your help.
 
JB

Johnbee58
I never even used compression before because, in my ignorant mind, it only made the sound worse, but that was only because I didn't know what the hell I was doing with it.  Now, I'm finally realizing how much of a valuable tool compression can be IF you know how to use it.

We're all learning...always!
 
I don't like the sound of compression "working," so after doing phrase-by-phrase normalization I use a limiter to take off the main peaks, followed by a compressor - but at that point, very little compression is actually needed.
 
If you want to hear what all the above tips sound like in action, please listen to the song previews for "Simplicity." 
 

Anderton
1. Melodyne is your friend. If you fixed the pitchiness, that would help give the vocal strength.

This is like prescription pain killers.
You advised the OP to do really great things and I agree 100%, however, the above will ultimately diminish the efforts.
If we are telling someone to practice air control, but at the same time use the above, not sure that will help in the long run.

I am not saying it's wrong to use the above but if the guy needs to practice, this will in a nutshell make him perplexed.
(A politically correct way of saying lazy). 

Even I will get perplexed. 

>>I am not saying it's wrong to use the above but if the guy needs to practice, this will in a nutshell make him perplexed.>>
 
100 percent!
 
Johnbee--to my ear you have a very pleasing, character-ful voice, which seems to be reasonably matched to your vocal mic! A mean feat in itself. I'd say, as far as this particular mix, it's high enough in the mix and dry enough to sound a little exposed to my ears. I'd be tempted to knock it down just a hair in volume and use a mild bit of delay (with no feedback) and very mild amount of reverb to help it sit in the music rather than on top of it.
 
As for the pitch, it's definitely much further off where you're jumping intervals (singing "skips") rather than singing the nearest-neighbor notes. I'd suggest, when you've written a new song, you take some time singing the song, as excruciatingly slowly as you can, while playing JUST the melody along on a fixed-pitch instrument such as a keyboard or guitar, playing the melody in unison with your singing. No chords, just the melody. And after a few passes at this you'll hone in on the areas (most likely jumps) that are the most pitchy, i.e. places where your vocal is initially wandering from the fixed-pitch instrument. These are the places to practice! Wash, rinse, repeat. Your intonation will improve in no time.
 
You have a lovely voice and this is a lovely melody. And obviously you have some singing skills already! But what will push this to the next level is a greater awareness of pitch, especially when the intervals involved are less familiar to your voice.
 
Keep doing what you're doing John :) No need to smash your equipment with hammers. Just keep enjoying yourself and moving forward with every song!