napoleonboot

Thanks MDEW! There was a lot of change from the earlier post: I redid all the vocals. Including adding harmony in the chorus to make it jump out more. Spoken section was reworked (many many times). A lot of instrumental changes were made: much more work on strings, odd little sounds sprinkled everywhere, new high-pitched haunting ghosty siren sound at the start and periodically throughout. Mix also done properly, including EQ on the vocals, and telephone effect on the spoken section near the end. I'm very proud of the end product. Maybe my best to date. George

Robert posted the challenge here: http://thevocaliststudio.com/vocal-forums/#/20120114/the-souls-of-silence-challenge-1180535/ including the participation rules.

"You Haven't Been Yourself". I just finished this original, and fairly dramatic, song. I previously posted an early work-in-progress version. I am very happy with the finished product (despite the song being a litttle on the miserable side). Since the earlier version I retracked the vocals, and added some harmony. Also some instrumentation changes. This track felt a landmark in my vocal development; discovering that I can be expressive, not just sing in tune. There was a strong element of acting required, especially the spoken part near the end. Vocals by me, George Williams. Composition and music by Billy Playle. Lyrics by Donna Devine. As usual, constructive criticism (or even "good job") is welcome. George

Thanks. I used to try to copy others, but now I just try to make the most if what I can do myself.

Nice work. No negatives from me I might give it a whirl myslef.

MDEW - thanks. I think. :D

THanks very much Ron. We had a good line-up on this, including a pro drummer.

Wear Black to the Party V1 Baby, wear your darkest thong I’ll wear my leather gloves Add your bit of midnight lace We’ll set the stage for love Vinyl skirt of shiny black To flaunt your derriere My gladiator vest unzipped You’ll try hard not to stare Chorus 1 Wear black to the party We’ll pretend we’re in L.A. Wear black to the party Got no key to heaven Gonna get there anyway V2 My skin-tight leather pants Have got you hummin’ like a bee And your shiny studded choker’s Bringin’ out the stud in me You’ve got Black Onyx polish On every fingernail I’ll darken underneath my eyes To make my skin look pale Chorus 2 Wear black to the party We’ll pretend we’re in L.A. Wear black to the party Don’t need no gold lamé Five-inch heels and fishnets Lead this willing guy astray Bridge Passion’s in fashion Yeah, never outta date Dirty talkin’s got me rockin’ Gonna make the earth quake Chorus 3 Wear black to the party We’ll pretend we’re in L.A. Wear black to the party Got no key to heaven Gonna get there anyway

Me on lead vocal. The song was written by a couple of people with loose connections to KISS, for potential inclusion on their "Monster" album, which came out late in 2012. KISS didn't use it, so me and some of my friends recorded it for the folk who wrote the song, a sort of consolation prize. I guess KISS might have recorded it if they'd know what a success "50 Shades Of Grey" was going to be. George

Thanks Vladivar.

Ron thanks very much for listening and commenting. I think I'll get Ozzy's memoir, it sounds like a good read. I read Ian Gillan's (Child In Time), and it was great. He's wasted so much money over the years on schemes that never went anywhere (hotels restaurants, etc.). George

A cover of the Ozzy Osbourne classic. My singing, everything else by my friend Justin. I never tried an Ozzy song before. I knew him a bit back in the day, in his career gap between Sabbath and his solo stuff, before the Sharon era. He's not as daft as he's made out to be. Mind you, a lot of years and drugs and passed since then. It seems Ozzy's yet another famous rock singer that I don't sound like. LOL!

Ron, MDEM - thanks. It isn't finished yet. It's hardly commercial material, so I'm not sure what we'd do with it.

Many thanks Ron. Yes, I agree it is definitely prog. You can tell because it starts with cello solo which always a give-away. Please listen again... I just updated the mix and chanegd the earlier link, I've now done the whole length of the song. Link repeated here: I have a few more things to do before it's finished, such as adding harmony to the choruses ("it's ringing in my brain now..."). George

You Haven't Been Yourself As usual, constructive criticism is welcome. My delivery on this was inspired by some of Robert Lunte's more dramatic sounding work which he posts here, and also recently I have been listening to Ramin Karimloo and some other good musical theatre singers. George

Paul you are singing over the original, and so I can hear both you and Rihanna whch makes it hard to tell what's happening. Try looking on youtube, there are a couple of versions on there with no vocals, or with the original vocals removed. From what I can hear, your singing is a more like talking. Your notes are all short, there is no vibrato. No projection. Maybe get some professional lessons? George

I like this, well done. The mix for the guitars a bit 'soft' souding for me though on most of the clips. Ron keeps telling me to do an album. I'll listen one day Ron, but actually I think some of my work will appear on someone elses's later this year.

You are trying to overdo the amount of "character" with the breathy effect without having the basics in place first to have the right amount of control. Start singing simpler stuff first. You are in tune, which is good. The desk or amp is overloading, and so the sound turns to mush quit a lot. Maybe need better amplification, and also some compression and some EQ.

I am hoping he will become rich and famous and keep me in my old age.

Yes he is 13, although he's big for his age. For example, his shoes are UK size 13 (USA size 14, Europe size 48.5)!

He made a short photo video of stars, same sound as above.

My son Andrew is aged 13. Here he is singing "Stars" from Les Miserables. His school just did Les Miserables as a musical. http://www.scarboroughcollege.co.uk/2013/02/what-theyre-saying-about-les-miserables Andrew was the Javert understudy, and sang the part in 1 of the 3 performances, to much acclaim! Here's one he's only recently started working on, and so is still very much a work-in-progress, from Phantom Of The Opera, "Wishing You Were Were Somehow Here" His voice is deeper than mine, and he can do better vibrato. These were both recorded in one take. He makes me proud George

Adon, I don't think I've hit my ceiling yet, I've just started on the next track with the same musos, and it's truly cooking up something special. George

Ron: I think it's a test to check you don't automatically say "Good Job" to everyone. You passed. ashiels1983: Honestly listen to yourself on these recordings. If you cant tell yourself that you are out of tune pretty much all the time then you are a lost cause. If you can hear that then you've got starting place. Gina had some good suggestions. Record yourself, listen back, and don't let your self get away with anything that is less than good.

I agree that mapping the melody onto an instrument helps to get it clear. If you don't play an instrument then I suspect that trying to find a melody on a real KB is probably quicker than using a computer, I would suggest that a cheap keyboard would be a good investment, such as this: http://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/Korg-microKEY-25-Key-USB-MIDI-Keyboard/JD0 Or, just ask a friend who plays KB or guitar to do it for you! George