All of Me...Challenge

[MDEW]

     This is my latest attempt.....back to the piano backing track......This time all the way through, no dubbing and trying to fix things.....It is what it is....

     Thanks for all of your suggestions and any more are welcomed........

 

      

[MDEW]

    Thanks for listening. 

I decided to stick with the piano track Because it is out of my comfort zone.

   I wasn't trying to sound like John or anything like that but I was hoping to kickstart some vibrato. Didn't Happen.

   I think part of the difference between me and typical RnB guy is that I was singing this with a kind of airy sound to get a smooth laid back feel/sound.

  The last few guys like Dstarr and OldPainless had a more firm adduction but also had maybe a fry sound to get that coolness where I was using air. Their vibrato sounded awesome.

  Anyway, I am learning and you pay attention more when you have to work at it.

[Gsoul82]

Thanks for listening.

I decided to stick with the piano track Because it is out of my comfort zone.

I wasn't trying to sound like John or anything like that but I was hoping to kickstart some vibrato. Didn't Happen.

I think part of the difference between me and typical RnB guy is that I was singing this with a kind of airy sound to get a smooth laid back feel/sound.

The last few guys like Dstarr and OldPainless had a more firm adduction but also had maybe a fry sound to get that coolness where I was using air. Their vibrato sounded awesome.

Anyway, I am learning and you pay attention more when you have to work at it.

Nice effort. You have this cool way of pronouncing things. I actually recognize it from somewhere, but can't recall at the moment.

A few people on here told me I sounded like John Legend. The thing about him is he uses his lower range a lot and he really makes use of vibrato. I wouldn't be surprised if he came from a classical voice background. It would make sense because of his piano skill.

[MDEW]

   Thanks GSoul, Pronunciation is something I have trouble with really, especially in singing. For plain speaking I am right in the middle of Baltimore and pennsylvania Dutch country add to that North carolina and virginia influences......quite a mixture. Americans have it bad enough with dipthongs, Try tripthongs and quadrathongs on words like "This" Looks simple but comes out like "The-ih-us". It comes in handy some times when a little run or embelishment is called for like with Elton John's "Daniel"....."Headin' for Speh-ih-ah -ehn" All I have to do is pronounce Spain like I normally do and that run is there.

   Having an RnB background do you believe the RnB sound is from a firmer closure on the vocal folds? My description above was not quite accurate, I am singing soft like in an intimate conversation yet loud enough to be heard. It seems that DStarr has a firm closure and more compression and support. You can even hear the breath escape in a little gasp between phrases, sort of like Michael Jackson in "Billy Jean". Just curious.

[Gsoul82]

 

   Having an RnB background do you believe the RnB sound is from a firmer closure on the vocal folds? My description above was not quite accurate, I am singing soft like in an intimate conversation yet loud enough to be heard. It seems that DStarr has a firm closure and compression and support. You can even hear the breath escape in a little gasp between phrases, sort of like Michael Jackson in "Billy Jean". Just curious.

 

Oh wow. I'm a Jersey boy myself (Jersey, not "Joisey". No one from here says that). I'm not even necessarily speaking about the word structure, but the way you round out the bars is a cool touch. Like how you said "kicking me out".

 

I don't get into physiology that much because I find things easier to explain differently. I will say yes to the support part, because vibrato is used a lot. It's often as if you engage your diaphragm so you can cut it on and off at any time. Lots of movement around your entire range as well. There are very few R&B guys I can think of that I haven't heard use falsetto. I'm not going to link my version in your topic, but you can hear mine in the original challenge topic, and what I said above is pretty much my mindset while singing this song.

 

You've got a good ear, because he told me Michael Jackson is his biggest influence.

[MDEW]

   When I sing I usually have the scene running through my head like it is happening to me. So a line like "you drawing me in and Kicking me out" gives a gut reaction to me. I feel like I have been tricked or sucker punched so I try to sing it that way.

   I also sing songs that I have a personal connection to, "All of Me".....Been there...Done that.....

[ronws]

I liked your phrasing on this version, MDEW. It sounds more like how you would tell the story. This would be, in my opinion, a country version.

[Gsoul82]

That's probably the best way to go about things. It took me a long time before I felt an emotional connection to a song. I was never able to just bring it out. Would you be down for that monthly thing I sent you a PM about?

[MDEW]

   Sounds like a good idea. It has been fun hearing all these different people sing the same song. It would be interesting to see how others would approach songs from outside of their preferred genre. 

[hobbit rock]

   Thanks GSoul, Pronunciation is something I have trouble with really, especially in singing. For plain speaking I am right in the middle of Baltimore and pennsylvania Dutch country add to that North carolina and virginia influences......quite a mixture. Americans have it bad enough with dipthongs, Try tripthongs and quadrathongs on words like "This" Looks simple but comes out like "The-ih-us". It comes in handy some times when a little run or embelishment is called for like with Elton John's "Daniel"....."Headin' for Speh-ih-ah -ehn" All I have to do is pronounce Spain like I normally do and that run is there.

   Having an RnB background do you believe the RnB sound is from a firmer closure on the vocal folds? My description above was not quite accurate, I am singing soft like in an intimate conversation yet loud enough to be heard. It seems that DStarr has a firm closure and more compression and support. You can even hear the breath escape in a little gasp between phrases, sort of like Michael Jackson in "Billy Jean". Just curious.

Just curious....what parts of Va and NC? That's where I'm from. Deep family roots in Eastern NC

[MDEW]

Just curious....what parts of Va and NC? That's where I'm from. Deep family roots in Eastern NC

   My Fathers family have been in Grayson Co, Virginia from 1780s to1930s, A few times in my life close cousins have move back and forth from there.

   I have close cousins on my mothers side in Ash Co. North Carolina. I spent summers there from ages 7 - 20 It has been a while since I visited.

[ronws]

And I live in Grayson County, Texas.

[MDEW]

  I just looked up Grayson co,Texas. There is a community called Collinsville. I also lived in Collinsville for a while in Pennsylvania.

[ronws]

  I just looked up Grayson co,Texas. There is a community called Collinsville. I also lived in Collinsville for a while in Pennsylvania.

Yeah, it's west of me on fm 902 at hwy 377. Between me and and Collinsville is Tioga, birthplace of Gene Autry and also in Tioga is the ranch where Randy Travis lives.

[hobbit rock]

   My Fathers family have been in Grayson Co, Virginia from 1780s to1930s, A few times in my life close cousins have move back and forth from there.

   I have close cousins on my mothers side in Ash Co. North Carolina. I spent summers there from ages 7 - 20 It has been a while since I visited.

Nice. So that's where the bluegrass slant comes from. It's in the DNA. Have you ever heard of the Easter Brothers? They're from that neck of the woods I believe. They're pretty great.

 

 

"All of me" is a tough song. I messed around with it today for the first time. It only felt good if I sang it from a real restrained heady kind of place. My only criticism of your version would have to do with the pre choruses. "My head's under water" etc. The high note on each of those passages sounds like it's being reached for. Regardless of the word being sung because I believe it's a different word each time.

   Now let me just pause to say.....I AM NOT AN EXPERT AND CANNOT DO IT ANY BETTER .......that's a fact. And it's the reason that I zeroed in on the reached/pulled tendency. It's exactly what I do in a lot of songs and what I'm trying to fix. I'm trying all kinds of things.....leaving my mouth narrow and loose. Slightly modifying vowels in that area (E4 etc) to possibly headier shadings instead of more open shadings. And not doing a big applebite emboucher to grab at the high note. Holding the sound in a restrained position which for me often improves the tone. That has nothing to do with holding back air.

  I try to think about the sound instead of the air. The sound travels on the air so if I focus on the sound not exploding out of my mouth then the air probably won't either. That's something I noticed that I do when I record myself....I spill out tons of air at the end of phrases. I had a teacher once who called it "gushing". I'm trying to get the whole thing to live in a more "back" kind of position. Maybe this is the inhale sensation people talk about though I wouldn't describe it that way. Or maybe the "yawn"...?

    Anyway...good job man. I always like hearing your covers.

[MDEW]

   My Parents, uncles, Aunts...would get together on Saturday nights, play and sing Bluegrass Gospel when I was young.  I cannot handle too much of it now.....

My uncle Jimmy would sing the high tenor.....He would sing notes that no one else could reach....Full voice clear and true. It would not translate to rock but it was awesome to hear. Ask him how he does it and he just says I don't know I just sing.

   I knew about those notes being flat. I was sliding up to the top note for effect but stopped the notes too early. I left the track alone because the parts that I was really worried about sounded good to me.  I would go flat on almost every "All" in the song. I tried to round them out a little more my singing " Awl" with a little Oh added in there. I have no other way to explain the vowel I was singing. But it sounded better than what I was doing before.

   I think you are correct though, I was also trying to sing those lines in the pre chorus a little too open and that is why the sound cut out before reaching the note.

   Thanks for the tip.

[hobbit rock]

I also meant to say....the high falsetto part in the post chorus had a really nice tone. That sort of finesse is worth cultivating......