Bed of roses and Money talks

[jonpall]

Hi guys, I just recorded myself singing Bon Jovi's "Bed of roses" over a backing track and also AC/DC's "Money talks":

http://www.box.net/files#/files/0/f/32098742/1/f_416047422

It's fun to be able to sing a bit and not just scream throughout the song I normally sing so many rock songs with my band, you see.

Here's Money talks:

http://www.speedyshare.com/files/21750894/Money_talks_Johnny_.mp3

I'm still not good enough at thickening up my sound a bit during decending melodies through my passagio when I'm using distortion, i.e. I don't change as much from head voice to chest voice in the right places here - so I actually sound a bit too much Brian Johnson (on a bad day) for my liking. But I'm going to work hard on fixing that.

It has a nice G5 scream in it that I don't think is in the original recording but I've heard Brian do it on other songs like Shoot to thrill. Recording stuff like this is much more helpful for my voice than I thought it would be.

Lots of love and keep rockin',

jonpall.

[David]

I'm confused Jonpall. All the music files you are uploading and having us listen to, seem to be a flog on just receiving compliments or comments about the sang material, and not needing a review or critique. As in the top entry with Money talks and bed of roses, you already answered what you need to have done and don't seek advise as to how to achieve it.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I thought this section of the forum was for people that are having difficulties singing certain songs / notes andor have put a different sound to their voice where they are singing with closed expression opposed to open for example and not for just displaying music that you sang... I don't know... am I wrong here?

[jonpall]

I'm sorry if I offended you, David. That wasn't my intention. But I can't see the difference between my threads in this part of TMV and the ones from other people. I didn't put the usual "any critique would be good" or "could you tell what's wrong and how to fix it" disclaimers because that's kind of the point of this section of TMV and I don't see the need in typing in all that for every post.

I stated what I think is wrong with my singing in those clips because I know that sometimes singers don't realize that they're doing something wrong, just so that people wouldn't have to explain that to me in lengthy detail. Like f.ex. sometimes singers are very out of tune but they don't hear it. Notice that I did not suggest how to fix my problems. But that is actually what I would like to hear from people, some exercises or something they think could be the remedy.

So far I've received both support and critizisms for my uploads and the critizisms have been very helpful and I've worked on them. Maybe you only see the praises? This forum has been very helpful and friendly and I feel that I've improved since I joined it about a year ago. Appart from maybe "Bed of roses", none of the songs I've uploaded are sung good enough for me to show them to people other than guys on this forum that I trust not to rip me apart but give constructive critizism and a few friends.

Cheers,

jonpall.

[joshual]

Hi jonpall

Great singing here!

I just listened to bed of roses ( anyway speedyshare make safari crash...).

On the verse it sound a bit nasal, you may get more clarity trying to fix that.

For the chorus, seems like you're pushing too much and bridge too late ' for tonight i'll sleep'. That make you push too much.

My 2 cents, good singing anyway ;-)

[kalapoka]

Hi David, i support jonpall as well. I, for one, like to hear what other singers are doing and what they are changing and improving and I learn from that. I would read what other members suggest to jonpall and think about it if it applies to me as well. So there's no harm in this. and also, compliments do help a lot for any musician (well any human being) so we are all helping each other here.

Cheers

fahim

[analog]

David,

I would interpret "Review"(of Review and Critique) as an open examination of whatever is being offered. In no way would I assume that a critique is an absolute or even always necessary. I find it very pleasing to hear a vocalist tackle challenging material and succeed!

Just my thought on this.

[David]

I actually like your voice, and think you have a good sound on ya....

I posted my comment because I wasn't sure as to what this section is used for.

When I read your posts it just doesn't look like you are asking for any help on developing a skill, but just pointing out what you are doing in the songs.

I'll break it down on how I read it (so you guys understand why I wrote my comment)

Like for your quote here, I took it as you knowing exactly what the issue is ("not good enough at thickening up my sound"), and knowing the solution ( " I don't change as much from head voice to chest voice in the right places"), and shared that you have the knowledge on obtaining the skillset you are looking for ("But I'm going to work hard on fixing that." and then just a comment on your voice " Recording stuff like this is much more helpful for my voice than I thought it would be "...

I guess it's just a different style of asking for help, with posting in a section..

I got confused I guess, because I don't see WHERE you are actually asking for help and hearing your recordings they sounded pretty good to me..

That's all.. wasn't picking on ya bud...

[joshual]

I think Jonpall was asking if he had a good analysis of his voice and and what he have to work on ;-). It necessary to know ( even if you're singing is good) if you are on the right way .

[David]

fair enough :)

[jonpall]

Would it be too much to ask if we could change the subject and discuss the recordings?

[Jens]

Jon Pall I think it's very good that you post all these covers! Man it's great how much youve improved since I heard you the first time, if all singers had your dedication we sure would see alot more good singers

My biggest tip to you is continue to train how you do it, because it's certainly working.

[joshual]

Jonpall what do you think about what i said about your singing ( nasality etc.)?

[jonpall]

Joshual, those are very valid points and thanks for pointing them out because then I can try to fix them. I do think that they're not THAT apparant in the song Bed of roses (being about the only recording I'd dare to show to people outside of this forum) but both those issues are things that I've had problems with in the past. Thanks again for the help, Joshual.

Thanks Jens, for the kind words. Much of my improvement has come from the help from you, dude.

[chele1000]

Hi Johpall,

I have no issues with any of the sound. I think you sound great actually. I don't hear any strain...good implementation of distortion. I would suggest you be careful with your phrasing. You sound like English is not your first language. The sentences..."just as close as" and "the holy ghost is" sounds like it's being rushed a bit. A bit more flow...that's part of the charm of the song. That would be the only thing I would say.

There might have been a bit of tension in the highest part. Look down or bend over a bit when it gets to that part. That will help you relax. (I'm sure someone has said this already but just in case).

I haven't been around for a week because I was driving across Canada!

cheers!

[jonpall]

You sound like English is not your first language. The sentences..."just as close as" and "the holy ghost is" sounds like it's being rushed a bit.

Yeah, english is not my first language And I agree with your that these sentences bother me a bit and if I was recording to put on an album, I might re-do those parts. Hope you have fun in beautiful Canada, be it in Vancouver or elsewhere!

[kalapoka]

sigh...can't download. can't even open the page. most prolly my office network won't allow it :(

[g0dvollie]

Johnny, I love your bed of roses. I think you're confused on how to get the rasp of the AC/DC stuff so you're letting go of your connection and getting a weak falsetto/gravel. Basically, it's too easy and you can hear it right away. The pitch isn't clear, and it sounds like your voice is hiding next door I would say if you want to sing these songs convincingly you're going to have to not only twang the crap out of them, but also keep your throat open. I hope this helps man. Keep rockin!

[g0dvollie]

Check this link. The AC/DC stuff starts at 7:10 and I think there's some at the end too. You can clearly hear that he's in a strong head voice/falsetto with some extreme twang and he's keeping his throat open (which gets rid of the pinched sound). Twang is easy to distort, in fact I find it hard not to. There are a lot of threads on twanging on this forum so you can look it up I hope this helps man, you have an awesome chest voice and lower mix, it would be sweet if you could figure this higher mix/powerful head voice thing out. Looking forward to your next submission of songs!

[jonpall]

Johnny, I love your bed of roses. I think you're confused on how to get the rasp of the AC/DC stuff so you're letting go of your connection and getting a weak falsetto/gravel.

g0dvollie, thanks a lot for the help. I think you're absolutely right - I'm losing my connection and switching to some type of neutral-falsetto type of sound. I seem to be able to fix this if I pause a bit between the lines. However, for some reason I find it very hard to distort by twanging harder and harder until a distortion appears. The only way to distort HIGH pitches for me at the moment is to do what Jamie Vendera says and that's to move the sound further back in my throat, into my soft palate, increase my downwards support, and think slightly evil But maybe that's just another way to describe overtwanging? Thanks for the tips!

[kalapoka]

sigh...can't download. can't even open the page. most prolly my office network won't allow it

Care to post it in youtube for me?

Fahim

[jonpall]

I was trying to do that yesterday but I'm having a real hard time posting mp3 files on youtube. I also tried converting the mp3 to a wmv file but it didn't work. I'll try again now and see what happens...

[kalapoka]

I was trying to do that yesterday but I'm having a real hard time posting mp3 files on youtube. I also tried converting the mp3 to a wmv file but it didn't work. I'll try again now and see what happens...

Oh Sorry man. Don't bother if its a big hassle. no problem.

[jonpall]

No problem at all. Youtube is maybe the best place to put songs on, so just for the future, I need to know how to do this I'll let you know how it goes.

[kalapoka]

No problem at all. Youtube is maybe the best place to put songs on, so just for the future, I need to know how to do this I'll let you know how it goes.

Super. Send me the check for suggesting this when you reel in the big money :D

[jonpall]

My Bed of roses and some other experimental stuff can be found here: http://www.reverbnation.com/jongunnar

I'm also doing some guitar covers there, like Steve Vai's "For the love of god", as I started out as a guitarist, but the audio quality is bad on that tune and there is no backing track like there is for Bed of roses. Still, you should be able to hear pretty much every detail.

But right now youtube seems to be having some problems. Or maybe it's just me.