Adolph Namlik

Finally!
I haven't been active for a while, but I'm happy to be back with this song. The challenge last year
(when the song was not chosen), inspired me to do a recording back then.
Since I wanted to practice my passagio, I chose the Version by George Michael. I found it quite challenging.
Tell me what you think.
 

Really?... Mine's done...
 

Simon, I am categorically telling you... the mix sucks and the singing needs a LOT of work. PERIOD.
Now buck up and take these guys advise... Part of becoming a great singer is to be able to humble your pride... over and over and over again. We all have done so. It is part of the lifestyle of being a singer. There is no place to be "stubborn" about your ideas in singing, when others are giving you feedback that is contrary to what you believe. The mind will use the ego to protect its esteem. This happens unknowingly a lot when you are a singer.
You have an opportunity to grow, but you have to listen to what we are telling you and stop fussing.
Tough love coach... 

At first, I was not going to listen to it because I am human and I can only imagine Gnarls' tone. But Killer's post made me listen. And I liked it, precisely because it is a different approach than the original. You made this a cover instead of an attempt at tribute, and that was a wise move. Singing the song as if you wrote it.

This was a contribution to the "Legends Lost" thread.  Glenn Fry passed earlier this year.
I found an old microphone while searching through my things and thought I would try it out. I am not sure how I ended up with it. It turns out that this is an Electrovoice 635A. An interview microphone used by reporters and such. I was using a Shure PE50 super pro(sm57 and sm58 were based on this) and I am not sure if the vocal improvement is from the Microphone or if Lessons are starting to pay off. Anyway I can tell a difference in the sound from this effort and songs recorded a week ago.
  Any comments welcome good or bad......improvement is the goal. I am aware of the harmony being flat in the final verse. It was getting late and time to stop. Still a major improvement from other efforts.
 

I think you are really talking about C4 to C5. Again that is still a typical male voice range F2- C5 and slightly above. What you are hearing as "Flat is the sound of "Falsetto". You are also using a configuration for singing that more resembles your Speaking voice, at least the way you use your speaking voice.
Your F2 is even brighter and more solid than mine and I normally speak around the G2 to A2 area. The way you speak can be considered an Accent. You speak light and in the general area of F3 and G3. A coordination for singing is more along the lines of the coordination of "Hulk Hogan" doing a wrestling interview with Mean Gene Okerlund(look that up if you have to). I am not saying you are going to sound like him, only that the coordination would be similar. Dampened larynx, Cord compression and airflow and intensity. The best way to learn this stuff for singing and training Is with a program like the "Four Pillars" a very good program well worth the money. Authored and Taught by Robert Lunte whose post is above.
Even though I have a Lower set voice I have found that I have to imitate Louie Armstrong just to get the sound out of my nose (we all have our own little setbacks). That is another reason to have a program like Roberts, We cannot hear ourselves the way others hear us and our own perceived adjustments can be off in ways we would never know.
 

... Team, this is now what we are doing here... 
Simon,  BS.... contact me personally at my personal email address or the contact page at 4Pillars... Not acceptable. 
In the meantime, send me the recording... and do it now.
 
No quitters!  Man up! Get on your feet soldier and fight! 
I'll take command here...  see 4:17 - 4:35 ... I absolutely LOVE this moment in this scene. Then 6:56... 
Warning, Its graphic... but perhaps we will inspire... 
https://youtu.be/DdlOTGayF7I
 

Simon, about why it does not sound good, besides the two aspects I told you before, which you could correct working on the verses as I also told you, you just don't have the technique to handle the higher sections. It ends up sounding like a very naive attempt, plain lack of experience.
Now, you say you trained for a year, how did you do that?
With a year of training rhythm articulation should be working fine, no matter if you have affinity with singing or not. Did you get the program like I told you on the Kiske thread? Or are you just trying to use ideas you pick on the internet on your own? The later won't lead you nowhere...
The way I see it is simple, if you like singing, you have two choices, you can train it, and as time goes by you will improve. Or not, and as time goes by you will NOT improve. But time won't stop either way.

Quit singing? Never!   It is true that we do not hear ourselves like others hear us. That is why you post on a place like this. Even when someone here tells you that you sing through your nose or your singing flat, it is not to make you stop. It is to give you directions on how to improve.
I went through the self learning and buying books on how to sing, singing techniques, and have been "Singing" for over 30 years. Even singing in public and getting paid for it ........... Guess what? I have(had) a terrible sound(I am now improving).
Even when you know in your heart you are doing everything right you can still have misguided concepts about your own voice  and what needs to change to make it better. How have you been trying to improve? what type of exercises?  Have you been recording yourself, listening to it and hearing where things sound wonkey and trying with a different type of sound? Using different amounts of Fold closure, Different intensities? Different vowels?   Or just singing the same song again the same way and having it sound the same over and over? There are certain ways to exercise that helps and certain ways that will hinder your progress.
Put the Link back up. Let more of us hear it. Realize that when or If we say something is bad or not working that it is meant to help you NOT discourage you.

you dont have to "quit" something just because it doesnt come easily and you dont have to quit just because you wont be a star overnight. Sometimes you just have to take your time and look into it a little bit
ANYONE can sing to one degree or another and maybe you are just missing something basic like decent breathing or something similar?
 
Many people told me I cant sing or play guitar etc....but I cant quit because I suck at gaming too...so im stuck.

WTF?!?!

How about "New York's on my home quote and "I love you in a song".
 

A demo... classic Jim Croce...   

Reminds me of Steve Martin's bit on how to make a million, tax free.
First, get a million dollars. Second, when the tax man comes around to collect the tax, remember these two words - "I forgot."
Great song choice, MDEW. The best parts were the "fake" part. Though I am going to have to channel Jens a little bit. It was not "fake" unless you entire voice is fake. Why? Because it is a sound that you were able to emit with your voice. What's different, whether you imagine an old man voice or not, is how you resonated and how you did the vowels. Which means you do have control. Which means that creating that sound was not a matter of invasive surgery, it was a matter of disregarding things told to you in the past.
Singing is mental, as mental as is martial arts. One of the few things I have had "official" lessons in is martial arts, assorted combat, armed and unarmed. In 1977, and it sticks with me to this day, my Kenpo Karate instructor (who was also my scoutmaster and a lead person in the church I was attending) pointed out that the kicks, blocks, and punches were ten percent of the art. Mentality was the other 90 percent. He was right, as I would later find from my friend who was a SEAL in Viet Nam. And would see in the Dao of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's viewpoint in the subject.
And I think it holds true for singing. Doing the work of training is a thing we can do. Changing our minds to accept the instructions, AND the results, that is the hard part.
Keep faking.
 

This is just a quick recording, Using what I call "Fake" voice. I am playing with a little rasp. While growing up and singing with relatives they would condemn me for NOT using "MY NATURAL" voice. So I got stuck thinking to "Fake it" was a wrong thing to do. I think that some of this is on the right path to "Singing" rather than what I was doing before and thinking that I was "Singing" using my "Natural" voice.
   So if you would .......... Point out what is "Right" rather than just saying it sucks and I need more lessons.           Thanks.
 

Thanks Gneetapp, This was an experiment, Now that I have the idea to use someone else's voice if you do not like the tone, I have been making a little progress. This is a lighter version of Louie Armstrong.
I have been imitating "Speaking" voices since childhood but with "singing" I had the impression from many sources that it should be natural without manipulation. Most Vocal Technique books and Videos on singing would have you do scales and sirens "Slightly Above" your speaking volume and "Relax" extrinsic and intrinsic muscles.
Imitating voices is the opposite of that. Some people may have a natural tendency to compress the vocal folds, engage the twanger and really fill the lungs before speaking but that is not my tendency with normal speech.  For imitating I purposely manipulate these elements.
Luckily for me Roberts Program has you Compress, Twang and Dampen the larynx with purpose for the sake of "Working out" the vocal mechanism. If it was presented to me like that a long time ago I would not be in the shape I am in Vocal wise.
Other programs would have you Do the Meh, Meh, Meh for resonance, Nae, Nae Nae, for twang, Buh, Buh, Buh for compression and Vocal fry for fold closure but they would have them independently with slightly above speech volume never giving the idea that these things are used purposely together ALWAYS.   Robert puts them together with Work flows and that is why there is such a difference in his program than others. AND he shows the intensity and passion that goes into it. 
 

Gonna work on it. Really smooth it out. I want to have that done in about a month. I think I can pull it off.

As we just about come up on the halfway point of 2016, we've unfortunately lost several big names in music. Prince, David Bowie, and Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire, just to name a few. This is a challenge where we will challenge ourselves by selecting a song from the catalog of one of these great artists and attempting to sing it ourselves.
The only requirement for this challenge is that the song must be by somebody who passed away in 2016.
As far as time limits for this one goes, I was thinking about 45 days but suggestions are welcome.

Probably I would disagree with your mother. Then, again, I am on the highway to Hell. Keep the lofty goals. Read the tag in my posts. "Winners never quit." Notice that it does NOT say that winners never fail. Winners fail all the time. Probably moreso than quitters. Because they don't quit. They keep trying and failing until they succeed and win.
There is no proof that I know of that singing softly will improve your singing. Gaining control and consistency through training will improve singing, whether it is soft or loud. You may not sound polished and professional now but you will. How many times did Mikael Baryshnikov fall before he could dance on air? There was probably a time in his life when someone thought, "man, that guy moves like four flat tires on a muddy road."

Thank You Adolph,
 It's nice to hear from you again, I hope all is well.

Very well done, Sophia ! I enjoyed it very much.   

Hi Everyone,
This is my cover of the Eagles' song - Desperado. Please critique my singing and performance.
 

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Also, one more thing came to mind. Killer had a great idea by making an imitations thread a few months back. That would make a pretty great challenge. An Imitations Challenge, where we choose a song by an artist and try to imitate their technique!

I just had an audition last night and nailed all of the songs better than I've ever done before.  I thought my voice would deteriorate the older I got, but it's better now than it was when I was 20, thanks to Robert's program.  I'm super stoked at the possibilities since I've only begun with the foundation building routine.  I can't wait to get more in depth with the program. It's like I've had blinders on all of my life and was too afraid to admit I could learn a thing or too.