Never say Never

[Collin571]

Let me know what you guys think.

https://clyp.it/q500koz2

[Collin571]

Also I need help with my mic if anyone can, I can't find a good balance of gain for the high notes and Idk if it's my equipment or my settings.

[JonJon]

take my comments with a grain of salt, as you know im an old dude so this isnt my style etc. I dunno if I have ever heard the original...is it Beiber?   Besides, im not a singer nor the son of a singer....I tend sycamore trees etc

 

To my ear it sounds like there isnt much breath being used...so parts of it sound almost "spoken" instead of "sung". It may just be a stylistic thing though because it sounds like a quasi GreenDay approach. Since im old etc I think Green Day sux lol.

Seriously though thats how it sounds to me, like you never bothered to inhale and let things vibrate and resonate.

maybe try training sirens with vibrato etc? in other words work on some training where you actually hold the notes longer. The other end of the spectrum from the quasi-spoken approach

 

Also, just curious. Do you have a developed headvoice yet? Sounded like this was mostly chest with the high note(s) going to falsetto. again I dont know the original so im not sure how its supposed to sound. Can you siren up thru the passagio into head voice? if not I can relate because my first songs on this forum (stuff like "Happy Birthday Sugarboo") where mainly chest with falsetto thrown in.

Actually the last high note sounded like headvoice to me maybe

 

The mic thing, yeah that can be a drag. I hate to sing a line and then I look down and notice I peaked the DAW. Then I bring the gain down, sing it again and look down and it peaked again and im freaking out and screaming, hehe. especially when u FINALLY nailed a take. In the end I think you have to play with how close or far you stand from the mic. if you set the gain a certain way and you want to stand close to the mic for a nice close sound, you of course are going to blow the meter of you really blast out something...unless you step back some or aim off to the side a bit.

Mic proximity etc is probably a whole world to be explored. If u watch good live singers you often see they will hold the mic off to the side for certain fx

[Javastorm]

@Jon It's by a band named The Fray, they had some Top 40 hits like ~10 years ago, stuff like "How to Save a Life" was frequently on the radio.

@Collin What DAW do you use? Remember in a recording setting you don't necessarily have to one-take everything. A lot of people in a studio setting will record certain sections of a song's lead vocal, verse/chorus whatever and then go back and track background vocals and ad libs over it. It will really help the final product because you have full control over what you keep and what you omit from the mix.

I really felt certain parts of this, like the first few choruses. I think in the original the singer modifies the vowel on "go" in the phrase "don't let me go" to an AW/UH if my ears are right, but in this track it sounds like you were singing an open "O". Vowel modification could be something to consider. I agree with most of Jon's technical points. After the instrumental breaks the beltier notes sounded like they lacked support. It sounds like you know the song really well but like I said, doing multiple takes could help you focus on specific parts that have pitch issues or phrasing issues or whatever, and allow the whole thing to sound cleaner.

For mic distance/gain, I'm no expert on this but the relationship that makes sense in my head when I work is something like: high input + close mic proximity=sing quietly, low input + more distance from mic=sing louder. You will find you have to adjust the gain many times in one song, especially if there are many dynamics or many layers or types of vocal effects in a complex mix similar to what Jon does. Getting the gain right before trying to fix peaked vocals in post will save you a lot of trouble, believe me.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/audio/pagi2.html

Above is a better explanation of the mic to singer ratio.

Play around with your DAW, learn the tools you have available, like faders, compressors, amplifiers, reverb plugins, etc. and experiment. Don't even need a particular song, can just record your voice. Learn what they do! It can be really fun and open you up to new ways of polishing your projects. There was a great thread a while ago on mixing here on TMV, DAWs, home studios, and all that sort of stuff. Check it out-

 

 

[Collin571]

That is good advice Jon thank you.  I think I know what parts you're talking about with the breath running out and sounding spoken not sung, could you give me an example so I know for sure?  There was some falsetto sprinkled in but it was intentional.  As for the chest voice/vs head voice thing I'm not sure I was trying to keep a consistent timbre not sure if it's head voice or chest I feel very little vibration when I sing (unless I sing nasally) so it's hard to tell where the resonance lies.  I do have a heady belty voice that I can use but sounds iffy at times and I can use pure light headvoice but it's not as good as it has been.

[Collin571]

Thanks for the comments JavaStorm,  I wanted to have the last chorus sound forceful and a bit strained but in an emotional kind of way not a lacking support kind of way.