Elvis - Bridge over troubled water

[SwedishRocker]

Hello 

I have recently been interesting in learning to sing. But the problem is i am tone deaf so i dont hear when im off pitch. I tried to record an Elvis cover with vocals but it just sounds like crap. How can i improve my voice? 

 

 

 

 

elvis.mp3

[Robert Lunte]

Hello Elvis, I will be happy to listen for you, but can you embed a link from souncloud for us, so we don't have to download a file?

[Robert Lunte]

Simon, I didn't want to keep you waiting so I downloaded your file, but for the sake of others, please embed a link... these services are good for that.

www.soundcloud.com

www.box.net

Your Review:

- The first thing that comes to mind is ... it is very difficult to give you a proper review when you are singing over the original recording with someone else. It actually has the effect of masking and hiding your voice, and that means hiding the mistakes and things that need to be fixed. In this recording, it is very difficult to hear you.

So... the first and most important thing you need to do is embed a link... of you singing this song by yourself... not with the original singer.  You can find karaoke files at the link on the home page... or sometimes YouTube has some karaoke videos.

Do that, and we can get more productive and real about your feedback. 

[SwedishRocker]

I tried uploading it to soundcloud but it got removed because of copyright. Couldnt you hear my voice at all? I tired to do a C5 there at the end.

 

I uploaded another version 

 

 

[SwedishRocker]

does it sound like shit?

[ellise k]

hi Simon sounds good but there are a few pitch issues so always make sure you record your voice and go back and listen and be super critical.

also maybe try a bit more light and shade in the song to add to the effect. keep up the good work

 

[ronws]

First thing, Elvis didn't write this song. Actually, he never really wrote songs. This song is most identified with Simon and Garfunkel. 

You sound nothing like Elvis. However, you sound very much like David Bowie. I would rather hear you try "Space Oddity."

Also, watch your pitch. It wavers now and then and don't push your vibrato, let it happen naturally.

[SwedishRocker]

Haha yes no one can sound like Elvis. I tried to reach for the C5  there at the end. But i hope it didnt sound too bad.

[ronws]

No one is actually tone-deaf. Can you hear the difference between two notes? If so, you are not tone deaf. As for singing off pitch, that is something you can fix by a few means. 

First, quit thinking that you will sing like you speak. Just stop it. If the stupid idiotic and detrimental idea of singing like you will speak where a thing to reach on the table, I would slap your hand every time you reached for it until you eventually either stopped because it seeped into your brain that your hands feel better when I am not slapping them, or the hands would fall off. So, just stop it. Quit acting like you will sing like you speak. You have to view everything, from breathing to vowel formation to articulation differently. If you cannot accept that, you cannot be a singer.That is step one, the hardest because it means changing your mind, something more resilient than aluminum cutting through steel, more stubborn than a donkey.

Step two is way easier. Match your pitch to what you hear. First, listen, really listen to the note that is to be matched. Second,play your voice like a musical instrument until it matches. Easy peasy lemon squeasy.

[Rosa]

I like your spirit, Simon! I like what you were trying to do with your song. I think if you go on learning and get this in better shape (learn the song better for the pitch), I'll like your version very much. You'll probably benefit from training falsetto. Then you go back to this coordination you are using here now and will have it easier (I am inexpert, just an opinion).