TMV World Legacy Member catladysings Posted March 3, 2012 TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hi all, Glad I found this forum! I'd really like to get some feedback and advice for a cover I'll be performing for a recital next month. I want to make my voice sound "meatier" during the bridge...I've been taking lessons for about 7-8 months now and I'm not sure if I have this right...thanks much!! Cat http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2862164/myImmortal_acapella.mp3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member David Posted March 3, 2012 TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hi Catladysings, The only thing that I can hear, is a lack of power to drive the bridge home. You sound great doing it all, but the dynamics are missing (or 'meat' as you state ) because of it... If you do not want to introduce additional power to the bridge, so that it can remain the same volume but still want the dynamics, I think you need to open your throat more, and don't slam the constants as hard, let them "roll" off at the end of the words, and allow the brightness to come threw (literally put a small smile on your face, to brighten the sound).. (if you listen to how she does it, she rolls each word to the next without closing down her throat).... just my 2 cents... I enjoyed it regardless, and I would be proud to perform that version at the recital (without any changes)... Cheers, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member catladysings Posted March 3, 2012 Author TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hi David, Thanks for the feedback! This is just what I was looking for! I do want to put more power behind it, more volume - when I do, I feel like I'm pulling chest...could you elaborate a lil more on slamming on constants? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member ronws Posted March 4, 2012 TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 4, 2012 The "harsh" consonants might be a matter of mic choice and placement. And trust me, I know how to place a mic wrongly and record wrongly. I might just be king of that! Another way of changing dynamics (variation in tone and volume) is to keep the volume you already have for what should be the loud parts. And go a little softer on the verses and parts that are not meant to be full volume. Though I stink at eq, as well, I do know that often a good mix is about reducing unwanted things, rather than boosting desired things. For example, in a standard mix, the backing track will be "notched" or lowered in eq around the area of where the singer is and this drops the voice "into" the mix. Not so easy with a capella, such as this. By reducing volume in the "soft" parts of the song, you will possibly get away from that "straining" chest feeling. Also, and this is the hardest part, you will not sound like the original by any effort. And that is a good thing. Always do this or any song as if you wrote. Trust me, I have made mistakes trying to sing a song like the original singer. It was hard to detect a rhythm. Firstly, this being an a capella performance. Secondly, you have a very strong legato. A flow from note to note, which is highly sought after in bel canto. You sang it similar to opera and something like an aria, but without the covered sound ideal of opera singing. You did a really good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member catladysings Posted March 4, 2012 Author TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hey thanks ronws!! It's a little weird hearing compliments, I'm still a little uncomfortable with my voice and letting people hear it...I'll be performing the song to actual music but I did it without it just so my voice could really be heard if I was doing anything wrong...I swear, I really thought my teacher was telling me it sounded fine because I'm paying her! She has to tell me...lol But a lot of those terms you used I had to look up...so it's opera-ish? That's good to know because I've been trying to figure out what style of music is best for my voice because I really really really REALLY love to rock but my teacher keeps telling me jazz, jazz, jazz...lol...maybe I'll look more into goth/opera rock for the future... Back to this though, I'll try it again with a lower volume verse and see if I can make it sound louder that way...I listened to the live version like a million times yesterday and her voice is so damn connected and strong, I can't figure out what's chest or mix... I'll try and post another version today using dynamics and see if I can add some meat to it! Thanks again!!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member ronws Posted March 4, 2012 TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 4, 2012 Well, I'm not a voice professional. Just an electrician who reads too much. But, from what I understand, a voice teacher has an important duty to applaud good efforts just as much as she must correct inefficient efforts. And you can sing jazzy in a number of genres. Robert Plant would describe himself as a jazz singer and John Paul Jones described Plant as a soul singer. He was initially discovered by Jones singing pop music standards with that slinky jazz vibe of his. Lyle Lovett writes "country" and sings with a jazz feel. One of my favorites of his is "That's right, you're not from Texas." Willie Nelson's "Blue Skies." Someone, go ahead and tell me that's not jazz. It's a torch song on his old beat-up acoustic that never leaves his side. I could see you doing any one of those. I could also see you doing "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. Do you sound like Amy Lee? Not specifically. But you do have that clean and steady voice. And then, there is the matter of genre and sound ideal. There are some songs that I like that my voice does not match. Some of those, I leave alone. Others I will do, anyway. And so, is it possible to also define a new sound ideal within a genre? I think so. For the longest time, rock and heavy metal seemed to favor the high piercing tenor. Now, they favor the growly baritone. Same genre, different sound ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member David Posted March 4, 2012 TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 4, 2012 my concern is how low do you go volume wise to stimulate or emphasize a phrase? Your volume already sounded pretty low throughout the verses (maybe nerves because you haven't shown people your voice before - or lack of confidence) I heard more of a folk rock tone in your voice actually and didn't lean towards a opera or jazz format. But that's just subjective to the listener as to what they relate as a "tonal" structure to genre types. It's all phrasing anyway.. Cheers, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member Guest Posted March 4, 2012 TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hey catladysings, Good critique from both these guys. far be it for me to question either one of them. I, on the other hand, am not schooled or book read on singing etc but I do have the same hearing as most Overall I thought it was very good. You definitely can sing girl!! I liked it. If I, as a listener, had to comment. I would say that there was a bit of "nasal" sound there. More than at least my ears prefer. It seems (to me) that on words that contain an AY sound you are getting an added N sound to it (nasal). But that may be nitpicking. There isn't any question for me that you can sing Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member catladysings Posted March 4, 2012 Author TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 4, 2012 Wow! I can't believe how fun this is!! Is it obvious I'm new? lol Okay, so I recorded again it to some music - and tried some dynamics, playing with the volume and I tried not too sound nasal-ish - it feels better to me already! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2862164/myImm_acoustic.mp3 :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member Keith Posted March 4, 2012 TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 4, 2012 Sounds great to me. Try (in the bridge or any high part) to not sing vowels like you would just say them while talking. Open them up a little more, and you might get some more "meat" that way. www.drop-head.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member David Posted March 4, 2012 TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 4, 2012 There you go! you brought the dynamics --- great job! Cheers, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMV World Legacy Member catladysings Posted March 5, 2012 Author TMV World Legacy Member Share Posted March 5, 2012 Yaaay! Awesome! I feel better about this recital now...lol - how fun! Thanks for the feedback guys, I really really appreciate it!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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