napoleonboot

Please don't start a topic post by lining up the excuses first - just give it your best shot and let us hear what you've got As for the singing, I think you are holding back, as if you didnt want the person in the next room to hear you. Sing out! George

Good tuning and articulation. The sound overall is a little thin, like you need more support. Others are better qualified than me on this. Pronunciation of "gone" in the phrase "when he's GONE" sounds like "gawwn", need to work on dipthongs. Similar issues throughout.

Damn, that Pet Shop post was the most interesting thing I had read on this thread for while, and it turns out it was SPAM. :D

Ron I am very much an amatuer too, I have only been taking singing seriously since September 2010. Up to then I was serious about guitar - 30 years time served, including a short period in 1980's touring with a (not famous) pro Heavy Metal band (hair rock). In late 2010 I was writing a song with a friend of mine, and he pursuaded me the demo vocals I had done were good enough to run with. George

I spent 25 years learning, and teaching, Aikido. There are different schools there as well. And a lot of bull. Somewhere in there is the good stuff, but lots of it is really poor. Part of maturing is knowing when its the good stuff and when it's bull AND don't allow yourself to be convinced that the bull is real thing, but if you start out with the wrong coach you may waste a lot of time (and money) going the wrong way. The top teachers dont teach the way they were taught, which is what made them good, but teach in some new fangled ways. Thus there students aren't as good as they are. The few teachers who do teach in the old ways are seen as hard and humourless. There are whole schools of Aikido up to the top levels that are nonsense. I got fed up with it in the end. The guy I learnt from trained full-time in a hard school in Japan for a while after he left the army, and he also got fed up in the end with the bull, and also gave up. He was the 2nd best non-Japanese I have ever seen. He scared the s**t out of me regularly, and I was his top student and had been with him for years! Ho hum. LETS ROCK N' ROLL!

Max, thanks for your advice. I practised a load more times, memorised the words, and delivered it better altogether. That's the last time I read the lyrics from a print-out while singing! I updated the mix on the same link as before (in OP and repeated here), so anyone listening from now will get the updated version. https://soundcloud.com/george-williams-8/burning-ambition George

wow - that auto edit is cool!

LOL! you are correct - I was reading the words from a print-out. I hadn't heard the song before this week. It's effecting my delivery in places. I'll practise a few more times and give it another shot. My vibrato is piss poor.

As usual, constructive criticism is welcome. https://soundcloud.com/george-williams-8/burning-ambition "Burning Ambition" was the B-side of Iron Maiden's debut single "Running Free" from 1980. Unlike much of their more well-known material, it doesn't use the famous galloping rhythm. Also, I don't think anyone has ever covered it before! All the instruments on this were played (or programmed in the case of drums) by my friend Tony Rhodes. I did mix & master. George [EDIT - MIX ABOVE UPDATED AT 19.20 GMT ON 12 DEC]

I think maybe people should sign up for for the type of reviews they want, choose from the following types: A. "Good Job" only B. honest comments on problems, only allowed if specifics/guidance is given by the reviewer C. Erronious nonsense. I think I generally receive about 90% type A, 8% type B and 2% type C. Mind you perhaps some of my stuff genuinely warrants only type A comments, or maybe you are all just being kind. Type A makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Type B helps me get better (which is why I visit this site), and type C wastes my time and annoys me. Don't be kind to me, I want the type B comments Over the 18 months I've been here, I got a couple of type C comments, whch made me go away and think for a bit, mostly quizically head scratching stuff (timing errors, weak delivery - JEEZ!). Then shortly afterwards, in both cases, ronws ron posted and corrected the reviewer, saying they were talking nonsense. Thanks Ron! Kudos :cool:

Many thanks everyone. Tommy - my main tool for improving is to record a lot of stuff, liten back to it hyper-critically and then try to do it again a bit better. Of course, without a teacher/coach to help I have to figure out myself how to improve on each iteration, but I htink I'm getting there with some of it.

Max The link is working now. Where did you get the backing from? it's a bit thinner and slower than the version I did Your voice is a lot cleaner than mine (just different - not better or worse), and your vibrato is better. I think you are going sharp in the chorus on 'hills'. Good job George

I can't wait to hear it - when you fix the link!

Aaron - I did do the backing vocals, but they were too low in the mix to hear properly. I've bumped their levels up and refreshed the mix on the same link as in the OP, so anyone listening from now on will get the adjusted mix. Thanks for your feedback.

Nice songwriting. Singing is great also Ron, no criticism except I can hear little stumbles in places where I think you are probably distracted by also having a more difficult guitar chord change, such as at the start of the the "Thank your for.." line. The recording/mix is a bit over-compressed in places, which is apparent from the level of background hiss going up and down which is a bit nasty. If you a have a version with a gap where a guitar solo should go then throw it my way, and I'll see what I can do. For my first 30 years in music I played lead guitar, right up to when I discovered I could sing (LOL!)

I posted an earlier take of this and got some useful feedback - thanks guys. So, I attended to the feedback and had another go. I'm considering it finished now, anyway, as good as I can get it: https://soundcloud.com/george-williams-8/rtth-final I hope it shows some improvement! I know need to work on my vibrato If you didn't listen to the earlier version, note that this is a cover (not a Karaoke backing track) but with all the instruments on played (or programmed in the case of drums) by my friend Tony Rhodes. I did the mix and master. George

Ron I used to post music to reverbnation, but I moved to soundcloud because you said your browser wouldn't work on reverbnation. Since then I have posted a few songs on soundcloud which you have reviewed. I think soundcloud have just updated their site in the last few days and maybe that's why you can't see it. Which site would you recommend which you can access? I assume you have tried browser upgrades. Opera is a fairly skinny borowser and runs on all sort sof OS's, but I would guess that if you are on old kit then plug-ins such as flash are just as much an issiue as the browser itself, and you hay have worked through all that stuff already. There are all sorts of exotic browsers on offer: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-web-browser-other.htm

https://soundcloud.com/george-williams-8/rtth-v4 I usually post stuff when I've pretty much completed it.... but I won't be able to put any more time into this for a few days, so I thought I'd post where I got to so far, get some feedback, and maybe that'll help me know where to concentrate on for finishing it (retracking). As with my earlier "Prowler" cover, all instruments are played by my friend Tony Rhodes. I think some of it's OK. The main bits I am unhappy with myself is the rising 'ooh aah' sequence after the instrumental section (2'45). If it's not obvious - I pitch shifted the end scream in that sequence, as it was out of my range. I suspect Bruce cheats on the record also, on careful listening. Some of the chorus (run to the hills, run for your lives) isn't up to scratch either. Comment on whatever needs it though! George

Ther are I think three areas for review: 1. The end prouct, relatively objective comments such as: pitch, pronunciation, articulation. 2. Aesthetics, more subjective comments on such as the approach, tone , delivery. 3. Technique, comments on how falsetto, support etc. were used. Mostly I think for those of us who know about these things. I comment almost entirely in category 1.

Nice vocals in general. In tune, and you are not straining. There are a few places where you are drifting off at the end of words, and not pronouncing the final consonant clearly, which makes it less clear than it might be, such as "best friend" at 0'52.

I haven't spent years drinking, or smoking, and I have a natural raspiness. I find it hard to sing clean.

Ron - don't worry, I often understand you. At least, I think I do.

:D Ron - LOL! I didn't know what any of that was about. Man! I need to read up more theory: ... Lift up, pull back, hourglass voice, carry chest high, bring head voice down, balance of emission, balance of air below and above the glottis. Engaging the core, breathe with the belly, activate the diaphragm. Sing from the diaphragm.. . I can hear clear diction, power, tuning, accent, passion, delivery, timing, dynamics. I don't know how they get there though!

Adon I wasn't getting at you. Just explaining some of the reasons why I don't always post reviews, and also why I sometimes find it difficult to know what to say. Although, I do listen to pretty much everything that's posted. I've done my share of silly songs in my time My earlier post made me sound really miserable. Actually I love singing and music. I blame Felipe for getting all serious at the start of the topic. George

I find it hard to give feedback on many of the things people post, often for the following reasons: 1. the opening post is loaded with excuses. I don't want to waste my time listening to stuff that even the poster says isn't their best effort. NO EXCUSES! 2. the poster doesn't sing out, but quietly like they are ashamed to be heard, or maybe don't want their mum in the next room to hear them. LET'S HEAR YOU! 3. the poster uses a funny affected voice. There are some people who are professionals who do this, but I don't like it at all. Most of the regulars here don't though - thanks guys. Let's hear what the poster really sounds like that hiding behind some strange artifical facade. For example, that guy singing in a artifical British accent recently (not me - my British accent is authentic!). Once singers have mastered singing in their own voice, then maybe they can get clever. JUST SING DAMMIT! Maybe I should put these comments in a standard text file and wheel it out when necessary, which I think is several postings a week, especially newbies. Adon - I often dont critique newbies because they often do the things above, which winds me up, and also because I don't want them to run away thinking we are all nasty. I am nasty of course, but I like people to get to know me first before they find that out.