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Delicate - Damien Rice


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Edit: Oops, I just realized that I used the wrong title. It's actually The Blower's Daughter. Sorry! If a mod can change my title, that would be great, but it's not necessary

Although I just recorded this while my parents were asleep and was trying to be quiet (which is why most of it is breathy), it turned out decent enough. I'm planning to re-record this later, singing most of the parts that I did in falsetto in full voice. Feel free to tear my voice to shreds, I want to know how I can improve :). I've always been curious whether I use falsetto or head voice. If any of you can tell me which, that would be great too.

http://www.box.com/shared/em2un3rk3e

Here's my second version, where I didn't have to be quiet

http://www.box.com/s/7fqy3j7g6x1z1vrgd7po

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That would be "The Blower's Daughter"?

It sounds pleasant all the way through. Some may find it boring, but there's lots of great music done in this style and an audience for it. The song works great for it as well (adding a little bit of originality to the cover by not bursting into flames like Rice). I tried to think of some advice, but there were only a few spots in the first verse where I would have liked a bit more fluent phrasing.

To me every note above E4 sounds like pure falsetto (and on E4, you're doing a little of everything at different points in the song). I can understand your desire to sing full voiced (I've tried the same on this song), but my honest opinion is that to pull it off you need to exercise som restraint. If you just belt it could tear the song apart (Rice gets away with it but to my ears that has to do with his tone).

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Sorry again for the misnamed post and file, again, I don't know what I was thinking. It's kind of hard for me to make the phrasing of the first verse more fluent, mostly because my vocal range is limited. The G2's that I sing are the lowest notes I can sing (without sounding like utter crap), so they feel pretty uncomfortable. I'm not sure if you could tell by listening. I'm interested by how you think that only Rice can get away with belting in his songs though. I've never thought about it, and it's never really mattered to me. For me, the belting just represents a greater expression of emotion. Also, it would be great if you could listen to my new recording.

On a side note, besides Damien Rice having a great voice, I'm fascinated by something that rice does. I wonder how he does the transition from (what I think is) chest voice to head voice or falsetto at 2:30 to 2:39 in this video. "The pupil in DENIAL"

And thanks for taking the time out of your day to give me feedback.

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Hi

I have recorded "the blower's daughter" lately (You may find it somewhere in this review branch), so I am happy to hear I'm not the only one. This is really good song.

Focus on keeping rhythm and correct intonation. Your voice is very good for this song though. I prefer first version, more subtle and pleasant. In the second on you are trying push to hard.

Great Job!

dev

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Sorry again for the misnamed post and file, again, I don't know what I was thinking. It's kind of hard for me to make the phrasing of the first verse more fluent, mostly because my vocal range is limited. The G2's that I sing are the lowest notes I can sing (without sounding like utter crap), so they feel pretty uncomfortable. I'm not sure if you could tell by listening. I'm interested by how you think that only Rice can get away with belting in his songs though. I've never thought about it, and it's never really mattered to me. For me, the belting just represents a greater expression of emotion. Also, it would be great if you could listen to my new recording.

On a side note, besides Damien Rice having a great voice, I'm fascinated by something that rice does. I wonder how he does the transition from (what I think is) chest voice to head voice or falsetto at 2:30 to 2:39 in this video. "The pupil in DENIAL"

And thanks for taking the time out of your day to give me feedback.

The G2's do sound like a struggle, so I can understand that it's hard to get subtle dynamics working - and it does sound good as is. But of course I have to poke at you to raise the key and get it up to a comfortable range :P (I do think it would be a good challenge to do it in E even if you can't get the high notes to sound like you want them to).

My point about belting isn't so much that Rice is the only one who can do it, but that trying to do what he does doesn't always do the trick. Personally I don't have great technique in the passagio area, so even though it feels great to belt a G#4 (in the original key) it sounds forced, overly heavy and has some displeasing overtones (bordering on amusical). In a loud rock setting that might be ok, but in a folk song it's a mood-kill (to me anyway).

Now the second take suffers from the curse of the lap top mic (It might not be a lap top mic, but reminds me of the sound quality issues I have with my lap top - which is essentially why I don't have any clips up). But you do sound like your having fun, which is an end in itself :)

The overdrive in the recording makes it difficult to tell whether it's really balanced, but it does sound forced to me. It would probably sound better in the same room instead of through the mic, but I still have my doubts about the dynamics. A bit of "hold" on the E4's would thin them out, ease them into head voice and get nicer overtones/formant tuning (using the terms as a layman based on an intuitive understanding moreso than a scientific). Also try taking it easy through the entire first verse to build it up slowly.

The belting might mean that you are expressing yourself more clearly, but there's also an audience at the other end. Ultimately I prefer the quiet version - it's simply prettier. The little wobbles and cracks become charming because they fit the mood of the recording with the gentle guitar brushes.

I also do like Damien Rices voice in all its modern Irish tenor glory. If I had to take a guess the approach for the shift from chest to head it, I'd say he's pretty much staying in the same register throughout. His belts are intensified headvoice (with the twang and the support and the what have you not) and when he backs off the intensity it simply ends up a thin head voice sounding pretty much like falsetto. I can't do what he does but I get that falsetto sounding head voice (even when I want the chestier sounds :rolleyes:) and on the right notes (and vowels) it can transition into a chesty sound by adding the right amount of twang and increasing intensity (I don't know exactly what muscles I'm tweaking like that).

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I wish I could sing this song in its original key. I'm not sure I would want to because I would use falsetto a lot for the higher notes. Unfortunately I don't know how to access head voice, so my options are either belting or falsetto. The highest note I can hit in chest voice consistently at the moment is an F4 (regardless of whether it sounds forced or not). I'm guessing head voice doesn't feel like falsetto? It would be great if you could give me some tips. And again, thanks for all of the feedback :)

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I wish I could sing this song in its original key. I'm not sure I would want to because I would use falsetto a lot for the higher notes. Unfortunately I don't know how to access head voice, so my options are either belting or falsetto. The highest note I can hit in chest voice consistently at the moment is an F4 (regardless of whether it sounds forced or not). I'm guessing head voice doesn't feel like falsetto? It would be great if you could give me some tips. And again, thanks for all of the feedback :)

I suggest a training program to fix your head voice issue. I recently purchaced pillars from Robert, and I find that his methods are strong - I'm getting clean head tones at c5 iwth ease - E5 still eludes me, but I've only been working on it for about a week. It's worth every penny.

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