gno

The second experiment shows promise. Your phrasing is on the right track - the way you control dynamics in throughout the phrases is good. The higher notes are well balanced in tone. In a couple spots in the 2nd half of the song it seemed your soft pallet was dropping and you had slightly excessive nasality in the voice. The breath support needs to improve and become more steady. The performance will be better when you are breathing "life" into the song. The current performance lacks energy and excitement.

I edited the video with Adobe Premiere. For the 3d animation I used Cinema4D. The video footage was shot in my room with a Zoomm Q3HD handy cam. For the cut and the color effects I needed a rainy weekend. For the 3D animation I had about a week. I recorded the song with Cubase. For the guitars and the bass, I used a Kemper amp.

Since I never had singing lessons, and after concerts I'm sometimes very hoarse I have turned myself to this forum. I've discovered a lot of what I've done wrong and I'm glad for any tip I can get.

Thanks for the info. Premiere seems to be the pro editor of choice these days. I've converted from Vegas Pro to Final Cut Pro X and am very happy so far.

Well if you're hoarse after a performance that's not a good thing. You use a lot of compression which sounds very cool. And it sounds like you are using a lot of intensity, which also sounds cool, but you may be overdoing it. That may be ok for short periods of time, but for a long intense performance that could be the cause of hoarseness. Or, could be you're forcing some vowels that aren't centered and creating extra stress on the folds. There was one spot in your video which sounded like you may have been straining to reach - it was a higher note.

If you want to preserve your voice you may want to lighten it up a bit. Check out Daniel Formica's videos - he's a regular here, and a pro rock singer for many years. He's got one video on "support" which he talks about avoiding "squeezing" the cords together.

Sounds good - the vocals were very solid. Sound to me that you were mixing, getting a thicker sound up on those Ab4's especially early on.

Excellent production! Very nice. I love Zeppelin. I like the video production. I'm starting to get into video editing at work and would be interested in what you use, and how long that took to put together.

You already have your vocal style happening. You don't have to do anything different. Doesn't sound to me that you're using any adverse vocal technique, but only you would know if something hurts or doesn't feel right. And of course there is no end to improvement. So is there something that you want to improve on with you voice? Or are there things that you feel you might not be doing in a healthy way? (I couldn't tell)

Not bad Karl. One of my DT favs. I like the rasp you're getting on your voice. Nice weight, nice compression, and you've got the phrasing and feel down pretty well. A little pitchy in spots.

It would be nice if you boosted the highs on your vocals to match the mix of the the backing tracks. Try putting a high shelf of about 3db at 5k or so. And bring up the overall vocals a couple db as your vocals are a little back in the mix.

Thank you so so much!!!!!! Im so glad to hear that, I really like Demi alot. So its like such a huge compliment. Thanks alot!!!!

No :/ i wasnt aware of that. I do know I altered purposely the line before the chorus cause I didnt like the way it went kinda like flat, i think it sounds nice with the instrumental but without it I sounded kinda weird.

Ah..I do have trouble with recording with backing tracks I tend to go flat. My old vocal instructor noticed I have a problem with singing high notes with people. I have no idea why. She would show me the key, I would do it without music fine, and then the second I was trying to sing the artist I would fail miserably. :/ I dont know why that is either.

I'm kind of really weak with recognizing what key a song is in, and Im terrible at recognizing if the high note is like a c5 or g5 or whatever. If someone tells me than I can match it, if not I'm lost. But I'm not musically trained and cant read music or play any instruments. So I think that's one of my issues.

Do you have any suggestions? You seem to know alot about musical theory @_@

Thanks again for your time and honesty!

Well, it seems that you stay in the key for the duration of a section - like the verse. You're doing that well. Then when it gets to a transition, you are singing in a different key. And the chorus as well. I think to get this down, you should plunk the starting note of each section on a keyboard to get you started at the beginning of each section. If you don't have a keyboard, download a piano app on your smart phone. That is really handy. They also have Tuner apps which you can download. You can sing into your phone and it tells you what pitch you are singing. This would be another good tool. This would give you instant feedback if you're singing the right note or not.

It's all about pitch awareness. For some people it is harder. If you want to progress as a singer, you're going to need to develop this. It may take some serious work on your part.

Keith - Sounded very nice. A great song from the early Dream Theater that I love. That's a tough song to sing, you're on the right track starting with a lighter weight as a basis. I think the more you sing it the more weight will develop. I think you've got a great handle on the rhythmical phrasing and style. And you're vibrato is just about perfect for Dream Theater.

su_tiff - your voice is beautiful. You've got really nice tone and rhythmical phrasing. You can hear the emotion in your voice. I think you nailed the "feel" and style of Demi Lovato

The only issue is pitch. After listening Demi's version I can tell you are altering the tonal center at times. You are switching, or transposing the key at different parts of the song. Not sure if you are aware of that? You may be fine with backup tracks. Can you record with backing tracks?

Excellent job. Vocals are awesome. You've developed a great head voice and it shows well on this one. Nice recording / mixing / arrangement / production. (And you added some nice guitar candy in too which is like frosting on the cake for us guitarists!)

Sounds really good! Nice job on the melody and lyrics and the vocals are top notch. I think you've made valuable contributions on this song.

Thanks for posting the original. After hearing that I think you really captured the spirit of the song. And that Zoom makes a decent recording.

Astronomica sounds really cool. Especially when it gets heavier and you add distortion. Is that creak or false fold distortion? It sounds like you've got really good control through these heavier sections. It it fatiguing to sing like that? Or are you at the point where you can make it sound heavier while conserving energy?

Nice job on that one Ron. You've got great control over the song - I assume that was one take. Pitch was right on all the way through. Like Thanos said - no strain whatsoever. You're voice covers that range very well. I'm not familiar with that song either.

Nice job Chavie - you can definitely hear a difference, although the first one is good too. Killer guitar work and nice mix. Nice slide up on the ending!

Awesome!!!! Fabulous job Filipe! We're way beyond technique here. You already possess the technique to make a song like this to come to life. This is a workshop on interpretation and performance. You've captured the feeling and emotion in the song. Excellent job - very enjoyable. I wish it was longer...but I imagine you've already recorded the whole thing but wanted to highlight the vocals.?

Very nice - you've got great dynamics on this song. A lot of your phrases end on a lighter mass and you keep great control all the way to the end of all these phrases.

Jonathan - Not sure how familiar you are with CVT but they do a great job explaining Distortion and Creak. To produce both these effects they say that more support is required when singing high. But you've got to be careful not to apply too much support. The trick in both of these is to produce without engaging the constrictors unnecessarily. If you use too much support, you can accidentally do what Daniel calls "squeezing the cords". He explains it really well in this video:

Thank you Geno and Jugulator, for your detailed response. I'm really thinking that compression could be the key to this but it just seems to be hard to get the right balance support wise i always end up tensing up in my stomach. when you do this do you fell any sort of gripping sensation near the soft palette?

No - i don't feel anything like that. Tamplin describes compression well when he says it is a feeling like you are holding your breath. But there is a delicate balance because you can accidentally trade tension for compression, and that is not a good thing.

Jonathan - I think you sound really good here. To me you are really close. It is a little "pitchy" - which will improve with practicing this song. And it just needs slight increase of TA or Chest voice or compression, which should also improve with practice. I wouldn't try to force anything or "lean into the voice" too much. It is really subtle. The general tone is already there. I think just practice over a few weeks will give a stronger performance.

I think it sounds pretty cool. Nice distortion up there. And you are hitting all the notes and adding some stylistic phrasing so you are demonstrating some agility up in that range. That agility is a good sign. I think you are in head. Thing is, that if it feels strained, it is strained and that's not good. If you feel or become hoarse, that is not good. If it tickles at all, that is not good. Those are the main things to watch for - if you experience any of these you should not keep practicing that over and over or it can lead to damage. If I were you I'd check out Tony O'Hora videos - he's got some great introductory videos that will get you into head voice safely. Your voice can definitely do it, but you need to be able to do this song with less strain.

Very nice, emotive singing. Great dynamics especially on the chorus and at the end. Some good licks. This would work well. As a guitarist I was hearing some different guitar comping during the verse - like not so much of the open E string and more of the original moving lines. But this is a singing forum and you do a great job with the vocals.

Nice job Jonathan. You nailed Ian's tone and attitude in the verses. And the high notes are excellent.

Great rhythm and pitch on this. You've got the feel for this song down very well. And good job maintaining the energy at those higher pitches - nice compression. Your accents shows through heavily on this song, which may or may not be your intention. I know some people work to erase the accent, but that stuff doesn't bother me at all.

This one sounds good to. In isolation, a song like this isn't your typical song to show off a voice. The vocals in this genre are kind of a texture that fits in with the driven guitar and over-the-top drums. It would be cool to hear your vocals mixed in with those other instruments.

Fantastic. Everything about it. From those full D3's to the high G5 at the end and everything in-between. And great acting throughout. Awesome.