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A whole new world - Peabo Bryson

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It's difficult for me to tell, as I suspect you are a bit of a lighter voice type than I am, but it sounds like you could maybe have a bit more twangier configuration on the upper notes just to make them easier. It sounds like you're relying mostly on the plaintive kind of sound. I've done this before, but it doesn't get there as easy for me if I rely on it too much ascending.

 

You're approaching the upper limits of my comfortable full voiced sounding range on this song with an A#4 and in order to get that functioning I have to 'sharpen the tone.' It's not that it sounds bad, you have a great round, smooth, relaxed tone in the tenorish range that is polished and beautiful, but even lighter voice types often have to get a bit more pharyngeal or whatever to get those notes comfortably. It doesn't have to be that noticeable like a witch cackling.

 

But that's the best advice I have is to experiment with increasing the twang and pharyngeal presence so you don't have to cry harder and harder at the notes.

 

It's really promising though. Heading in a good direction and it's cool you're exploring.

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Hey Bono!

 

First off, watch your diction on "Shining, shimmering, splendid". I could not understand what you were singing.

 

You need more legato in there. The phrasing is a bit chopped in places...

 

0:34: "Wonder" - that's pretty much the only place you tapped into your full voice. And you still got more! You generally tend to back off your voice too much (like many SLS singers do). Especially the chorus is too light.

 

Sorry if I seem harsh. Some of it sounds really good ;)

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Thank you Killer and Sexy for your comments, I really appreciate it! :)

 

 

 

Sorry if I seem harsh. Some of it sounds really good ;)

 

I always like an honest opinion! As Ron always says: "People hear what they hear"  

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This is a great song to work on, I'm working on it too but you will get the most benefit if you practice it the way my coach has told me to - trying to imitate every little nuance and subtlety that Peabo does. You can always go back after you've learned the exact way he sings it and make it your own but the main problems with you are NOT range - your range is completely there and fine and your mindset being caught up on that (btw this is happening to like 75% of the people on this forum, either with range and/or power) has distracted you from other subtle weaknesses you have as a SINGER and if you compare back and forth between yourself and Peabo you will hear them very profoundly and you will be like WOAH that's why Peabo is so amazing and I'm just another singer. So then you practice those amazing things he does and try to learn them exactly and you become a better singer! This is a commonly overlooked aspect of vocal training some folks don't seem to be aware of.

Your main areas to improve to bring your singing ability closer to the original version are:
 

-singing the exact lyrics with good diction. 

-learn every "riff" he does exactly, nail every little pitch even if it's fleeting.

-learn every dynamic subtlety (changes of volume anywhere in the phrases) he does exactly. You are already doing okay on this but there are a few key moments you missed
 

Work on this song phrase by phrase (play a phrase of the original, pause it, listen back and imitate and keep working to do all of the above at the same quality he is, repeat this until it sounds the same, then move to the next phrase. You will become a KILLER singer if you work on ALL your songs that way!!!
 

Just some main critiques to start you off:
-really nail the pronunciation of "shimmering", he sings it as three syllables not two.

-On "tell me Princess" notice how Peabo backs off to nearly a whisper on the syllable "ess" - make sure you catch that

-The lyric is "when did you LAST let your heart decide" (you sang JUST). Also, pay attention to the transition from "did" to "you", you are not doing it as smooth as he has
-you didn't do his incredibly beautiful riff on "ride"

-you didn't do his incredibly beautiful riff on "world"

-(there are some other incredibly beautiful teeny riffs and subtleties you missed, i want you to see if you can find them by ear  :) )

-the lyric is "where to go" not "where we go"

Now I don't really know what kind of person you are but there are a lot of people who will look at this type of training negatively as trying to become a carbon copy of the original and thus losing your originality. The problem is that all the greatest singers in the world have carbon copied a handful of singers and mixed that with their original style too and blended those qualities into a refined original style and THAT'S how they sound unique AND amazing. A lot of people use the desire for uniqueness as an excuse to never pay attention to anything other brilliant singers are doing and frankly that's why they just never become good singers. And since Peabo is really a master, I highly recommend you really STUDY what he does and CRAVE to live up to it rather than just ignoring his mastery in fear it will take away your uniqueness. It will not, it will make you a way better singer. As far as the risk of carbon copying - this is why you do this kind of practice with 5 or 6 master singers and combine it into your own style. And be sure not to ignore your unique strengths as well, just don't let your unique weaknesses bring you down! I'm not sure what your unique strengths are from hearing this, maybe your tone (usually I recommend imitating Peabo's tone too and that's what I'm doing, but yours seems great for the song too so maybe keep it) but I'm sure you'll figure them out over time. Most singers have no problem maintaing their individual strengths.

To be perfectly clear, you still did a good job overall. I just wanted to drive home the point that Peabo is still MILES ahead of you and I and everyone on this forum, in his mastery as a SINGER - he is nearly a perfect model singer, and you have a golden opportunity to become a much closer to that, right in front of you, ready to study, the second you stop being afraid of imitating him. I've just learned a lot personally from working on singing this song with the intent to absorb Peabo's mastery rather than just singing through it in with the same mediocre habits I've been singing with for years.

Cheers and have fun with this tune. If you seriously work on improving it for a long time it will build your voice extremely well. Great start  :)

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Hello Owen, thank you very much for your advice, I think it is a great one for this particular post because I choose the song as a voice building song to practice and not to perform in public... I mean, in this case Is not my intend to do a unique rendition of the song (thing I usually try), but trying to learn something. My vocal coach told me to listen to Peabo Bryson because, according to him, my voice seems to have much in common (range, weight, color...). However, I have never thought to try to do exactly what he does, maybe because this thing about being a carbon copy you pointed... 
 
I´ll follow your advice. Thank you!
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