Please review&critique my singing : Judas Priest (JB) - Diamonds&Rust

[akarawd]

My 2 previous examples were based on my natural (neutral) voice with no twang or distortion recorded about 4 months ago.

This one has both twang & distortion (creak or vocal fry on the lower&softer parts and distortion on the high notes at the end).

I started implementing these 2 about 2 months ago and this my 1st attempt to record the results.

I would be grateful if you let me know if there's any progress through the use of these 2 elements and any critique is welcome.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1781520/Vocals/Judas%20Priest%20%28Joan%20Baeth%20cover%29%20-%20Diamonds%20%26%20Rust.mp3

Best,

akarawd

PS. Most of the original vocals have been removed along with most of the center channel info.

PS2. If on mac/safari, you'll need safari 5 to view this link.

[ronws]

You have good articulation at high pitch, which is not easy. I had not heard this slower version of D & R so, I'm not sure what to compare it too other than the other live recording that is the one I am used to hearing (circa 1987, in Dallas, Texas. Now, in comparing to the original there will be differences which doesn't mean you are wrong or that you did it badly. That judgement is reserved for me. Some people hit a wrong note and that's just jazz or being interpretive. I hit a wrong note and I've cocked it all up.

Anyway, I'm using to hearing this song sung with a softer volume and attack. You gave it more bite and certainly more singing volume. Maybe it's just the volume on your mic, I'm not sure. Usually, I am the one who is singing too loud.

I get the impression that your speaking voice is quite low, perhaps low baritone to upper bass,much like Axl Rose's speaking voice. That can make it difficult, I think, to learn how to sing softly at high pitch. For example, having heard myself on an answering machine, my speaking voice sounds similar, though not quite as raspy as Clint Eastwood. Kind of a soft baritone with a little gravel in it. In fact, people are surprised to meet me in person. They hear my voice and think I'm an average size guy and I show up and I am 6' 6" (2 meters) tall. Point being, it can be difficult even for me to learn to sing my upper end with less volume but it's helping. And this will be the first hurdle. Just because you sing an upper melody with a softer volume doesn't make it falsetto. Falsetto is a tonal quality that can be used in any part of the vocal range, even while speaking. In fact, I use a little falsetto when I want to do a Clint Eastwood impersonation. It adds a little more dust and grit in my low end.

"I've got this badge, I've got this gun, and I got the love of Jesus in my pretty, green eyes" - from "The Gauntlet."

So, when you sing with slightly less volume at high pitch, it is not falsetto, it is still head voice and you won't lose the strength of the note.

But I like your intepretation of the melody line. That was cool.

[akarawd]

Thanks a lot ronws. I totally agree with you that I should have done it a bit softer, at least the part before the drums and bass kick in.

This version is taken from the meltdown live JP cd with Tim "the Ripper" Owens on vocals.

[kalapoka]

Hey aka,

I thought you have more potential to improve this one. I think you have very very strong head voice, but you can definitely improve your chest or mixed voice much more than currently. I din't listen to the whole clip, just some parts of the beginning and I thought the lower parts needed more work, and on some notes you were 'pulling chest' (IMO)

I think those are the areas you should focus and improve on. Definitely you've got a very good thing going already.

[akarawd]

Hey thanks kalapoka. By "chest" voice you mean the lower part of the voice before the 1st bridge ?

[kalapoka]

Hey thanks kalapoka. By "chest" voice you mean the lower part of the voice before the 1st bridge ?

Hi, yes. The chest voice is the lower part of the voice, usually in the lower part of your singing, where the resonance or vibration happens in the chest area, or just below your neck area. Keep a hand on your upper chest, pick a low note below your first bridge and say 'buh buh buh'. Can you feel the vibration in the upper chest area?

[akarawd]

Hi, yes. The chest voice is the lower part of the voice, usually in the lower part of your singing, where the resonance or vibration happens in the chest area, or just below your neck area. Keep a hand on your upper chest, pick a low note below your first bridge and say 'buh buh buh'. Can you feel the vibration in the upper chest area?

I was just checking 'cause it can get messy with all the terminologies, but basically because I always thought my chest voice was the strongest part of my voice.

That's why getting others' opinions is so important, thanks man, I appreciate your input.

[ronws]

It's funny because it depends on who you talk to and when. There are times when I know I have pulled the chest voice high and I do better when I learn to mix in head voice or go into head voice. And then am told I am using too much head voice. But, essentially, a well done "head" voice is just as strong as anything else. And one of the things I like about the viewpoint here, as espoused by Robert Lunte, is bridging and connecting. To where you don't have separate voices or registers, really. You just have different resonances supporting or providing placement for the notes. We still use the terms of chest and head voice, I think, as something of a misnomer to explain where the resonance is taking place. In actuality, chest resonance is not truly in the chest, where your lungs and heart are located. It is in the throat, as opposed to head resonance being behind the soft palate. I used to think of it being behind the sinus, which may not be truly accurate but it gave me a mental picture of where I should be.

The note is created in the area of the larynx, to be general. Then it resonates in the space above it, which is the back of the throat, I think, just above the tongue. Anyway, it's not usually going lower than the larynx, as far as I know. Therefore, it might be more accurate to call it throat resonance. But then, I have also seen a descritption where even low notes are properly resonated behind the soft palate. So, then, what is changing to change the size of the resonating chamber is the inner diameter of your air column, running from larynx to sinus. Think of a note resonating in a tube. If you change the inner diameter of the tube, you change what range of notes can resonate in that space. Or, vice versa, to resonate a high note, you, aside from providing proper tension on the chords to produce that pitch, change the inner diameter of your tube to resonate that note. So then, the dynamic range is a result of having supple muscles that can change the resonating space to match.

That is probably not a scientifically accurate description but it gives me a mental image to help understand it.

[akarawd]

We still use the terms of chest and head voice, I think, as something of a misnomer to explain where the resonance is taking place. In actuality, chest resonance is not truly in the chest, where your lungs and heart are located. It is in the throat, as opposed to head resonance being behind the soft palate. I used to think of it being behind the sinus, which may not be truly accurate but it gave me a mental picture of where I should be.

I am with you ronws, I interpret my "chest voice" as resonance just under my adams apple. I perceive the voice as a whole and mainly use these terms to be able to communicate and identify.

It's a fascinating instrument though, so much to learn.

[ronws]

I am with you ronws, I interpret my "chest voice" as resonance just under my adams apple. I perceive the voice as a whole and mainly use these terms to be able to communicate and identify.

It's a fascinating instrument though, so much to learn.

So true. I am learning something every day.

[kalapoka]

Well yeah, there lies the problem of getting feedback from other students/learners in forums. I am no expert so I know my feedback may or may not be perfect. So do take them with caution, esp about difficult terms such as those mentioned above. Even long time teachers are not able to agree on many vocal terms yet, so you can guess all of our predicaments lol!

[ronws]

Even long time teachers are not able to agree on many vocal terms yet, so you can guess all of our predicaments lol!

So true, Fahim. If you actually study anatomy or just ask your doctor, the diaphragm is an inhaling muscle, not an exhaling muscle. As someone here rightly pointed out at one time, you inhale with effort but exhale by relaxing and should sing in the exhale. So, in reality, one should concentrate on fold closure and resonance and the breath should balance itself. But so many teachers have said, "Sing from the diaphragm." You don't actually sing from the diaphragm and when you push air, you are contracting with your chest muscles, not the diaphragm. And I used to think it was the diaphragm, too. And part of the pitch problems you may have heard from me was pushing air, which forces the folds too much and they resist and thicken and go off pitch or don't vibrate freely, as they should.

The speed of sound is 750 mph or about 1100 feet per second. And your resonating space is mere inches in comparison.

[ronws]

And to further illustrate a point of where resonance actually happens, in my version of "Heaven and Hell," near the end, I am humming and then ah'ing the guitar fill. The range is baritone. But I feel it vibrating the soft palate. Many would call that chest voice. It can't be. It's vibrating the soft palate and it certainly isn't originating in the lungs. There is only the air column and the vocal chords or folds, which are approximately the size of your thumb (again, with the anatomy.)

[akarawd]

Hi,

As with my other posts I'm slowly trying to identify my mistakes and better these performances.

So far I've been told to sing the "soft verses" using a better "connection" between chest and head voice.

Are there any other areas you feel should be addressed in this song ?

Thanks in advance,

akarawd

[gno]

akarawd - that sounds great! It sounds like you are using overdrive in the passagio area E4- A4 , and head above that. The only thing I can think of is to try curbing in the passagio area - might be easier and sound more in control. But this is purely a stylistic choice. You might be going for that extra tension. It sounds really cool the way it is, so either way.

[akarawd]

akarawd - that sounds great! It sounds like you are using overdrive in the passagio area E4- A4 , and head above that. The only thing I can think of is to try curbing in the passagio area - might be easier and sound more in control. But this is purely a stylistic choice. You might be going for that extra tension. It sounds really cool the way it is, so either way.

Glad you liked it guitartrek, I will practice the song in curbing (I did take a couple of skype lessons with cvi). Thanks for your observation.