srs7593

For me, this is pretty good. So I'm mostly pleased with it. I got lazy with my thirds in the beginning and they ended up being flat. I'm glad I recorded this because I actually didn't notice it as I was doing it. I was pulling a bit too much chest on those. When they were in tune, they were being sung in a lighter voice every time. Singing begins around 1:15 Edit: Here's an a capella one for those who think they can handle it.

I'm up for it, Jens. I find I can sound more connected if I sing with a more covered sound. The diction just gets muddy. But I think it will be better in the long run.

The visual plays a role in how the sound is perceived. Do I sound like I'm having trouble more than I look like I'm having trouble? :| ................... I kid, I kid. But how do you know the difference? I can sing it in a completely ridiculous, airy, cartoony headvoicetto, and expend less effort doing it. I often warm up this way. But is that how I should perform it? Just because it's easier and less strain on the voice? I can't express anything that way, so I vote no.

I mean I want help with technique for sure, but with my range and skill level (both of them are fairly low) singing more connected will have to either wait, or just be considered less important. I can sing this song better, but not yet. I tried it because it was very difficult. I posted it live in one take in a video format because I want you to see me for what I really am. A lot of people never do that. I will probably get four pillars eventually. I will probably do a skype lesson with Rob if I do decide to.

This song is about recovering from domestic violence and returning to reality after long term power imbalance within a relationship. It needs to reflect that idea and it needs to get people's attention. This is my approach. I could have sung the whole thing down an octave nice and pretty. But it wouldn't have, imo, served the song. Don't think of Freddie Mercury. Think of the song. I wouldn't have tried a totally different song like "We Are the Champions."

Axl Rose pretty much indisputably is a low baritone and in my opinion, a pretty good singer. I sthpeak with a listhp.

I don't think people get that I sang this in a voice that I thought would pi$$ people off.

Thanks for the useful advice.

UPDATE. I'm currently as I type singing "Legs" by ZZ top. This is the best idea I've had all week.

...It's like a saxophone... the grit... that is. In a way...

I'm not trying to add grit and I was actually going for light and clean. When I get louder it gets gritty. The grit feels like it comes from some kind of resonance pocket. It's present in my comfortable range as well. I don't think I can have "mixed" voice without strain. My chest voice doesn't reach up to meet my passaggio very well at all. My F4s are really clumsy. I'd go for the head voice option every time though. :/ I find that my voice is uniquely tense. I've never met another singer who has tension issues of the same magnitude as me. Maybe it's because I bite off more than I can chew, maybe it's partially stress related, maybe it's because I'm a bass 2 with usable C2s 95% of the time and a G1 on a good day who is trying to sing Queen songs and has only been singing for about 4 years (going back to the first thing...) I just don't really know where to go with it at this point. I might try the Axl thing, but I don't want to come off as an imitator and I don't want to feel like I'm selling myself short by not singing with a decently "full" sound. For the most part, I feel more strain on the Gs and Ab4s than the Bbs and Cs, or perhaps the same exact amount on all of them. Is it important to add that I had been singing this way for 45+ minutes before hand? Tension and all? I certainly don't feel any pain when or after I do it, but of course I still want to sing less tense because it will only open doors. It sounds better and I will be able to hold notes longer. I also don't know what the long term effects will be of straining and I don't want to find out. I just don't want to give up on singing with a rock voice. If I put it away for awhile, it will probably just be worse when I try to start again. I could try easier songs for a while and work my way up, but because the hardest notes are F4-A4, there aren't too many "easier" songs for me to work on that I can think of. I guess my next video can be a Gn'R song. That might be a good game plan.

I dig it! I agree about the vowel modification. It's not that the vowels are wrong or bad, but If your vowels are more fluid, your air is more fluid and your sound doesn't break. Also, it seems like Layne depending on the day, often used just a little extra air to cushion himself when he sang. It can be hard to hear because his voice was really resonant. I hear you doing this, but you don't always seem to maintain it when and where you need it. Both these things can help it flow more. Those are just suggestions. Really, there isn't a whole lot I can think of that could make this better.

...Which is very Bowie, also.

You know who I hear? Damon Albarn from Blur and the Gorillaz. I hear it in the voice and the composition itself. He's not metal and he doesn't seem to have the super low notes, but this is what I thought of. (Embedding seems disabled)

This song is an absolute blast to sing. I noticed that Freddie Mercury skips out on a lot of the high notes in live performances... Can we talk about tension/fatigue? And support? Also, what I'm doing right and where I do it right? Telling me all the things that are wrong just plain isn't very helpful. I'm aware that a good chunk of resolving tension is breath support, which I still really just have a limited understanding of. I learned to sing high in a hurry. Before I was ready, for sure. I'm very tense in general. Not just in singing, but in general. I'm kind of at a weird point in my singing where I don't know what is a good idea and what isn't. I still can't tell whether I'm improving or not. I don't trust my own judgement lately. Overall however, I guess I like the way this sounds. Like Axl, but a little cleaner, probably a little weaker/less intense which is ok for Queen, and less pharyngial; maybe more open. Could almost pass as a tenor. I was trying to stay super light but loud. The right hand on my chest is just the nervous tick of the month. I only learned about it thanks to this video. What I need is a microphone to occupy that hand. :| For people who have critiqued me before, am I making progress? I think it's possible for me to sing that high with a good sound, and nothing anyone says is likely to stop me from trying.

Nice work! My only concern is that I hear some constriction and "chest pulling" in the choruses. To avoid this personally, I try to 'lean' but not 'push' while using more of a head voice configuration. The hard glottal onsets and the scooping kind of suggest that you might be pushing some. This might just be your style, but I noticed it because Steven Tyler never does it. Constriction is going to happen at certain points with rock singing and it's best to avoid it as much as possible. When it does happen, and it will, you don't want to push it. It'll wear you down. If you can learn to use a thick column of air you can play your voice more like a flute and less like a clarinet. Head voice, really. Steven Tyler does this throughout the original recording, even during the chorus. Moderate volume, very legato phrases, some extra air. It gives lots of wiggle room. Steven Tyler doesn't need to punch or scoop to touch any of these notes. Not even the Ab5! You may have heard something like this somewhere already, but practice focusing the sound of the head voice into something resembling chest voice. Use your resonance pockets and maybe think of riding on top of it like a wave. Some people call on here it twang. The right airflow will turn the lightest vocal fold engagement into something that will blow doors down, not just in the highest parts of the voice, but throughout the passaggio and mid range as well.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43014170/ZOOM0016.WAV Here's an earlier take that I initially didn't think you guys would go for because it's screamy and out of control. But it's got some of that middle ground, and some of that emotion.

Admittedly, the second is probably more natural in the sense that it takes less effort. But the first has a certain direction that I want to aim myself into if I can. I can't really explain it... I like Roy Khan from Kamelot and Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian. I'm trying to channel just a wee bit of that whiny/goofy, hollow, quasi-falsetto, countertenor sound they've got. But they sound very different from each other.

Thanks all. Man, I just wish I could belt the whole thing out like a monster. But there are a few different reasons classical/opera tenors don't spend entire songs shouting high Cs and several more reasons bass baritones almost never do them in traditional music. I personally actually maybe kinda sorta honestly still prefer the first one a little bit. But that's just my weird self... :| and I mean there's middle ground to explore, and certainly plenty of places I haven't been yet. Happy New Year TMV!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43014170/ZOOM0020.WAV Well I tried to sing it airy-er like Ron suggested. I also attempted to move it forward as far as I could. As a result, I let it spread and splat a bit more. Played it straighter too. Other than that, I'm out of ideas for now.

I felt the same way about imitation for a while, but now I'm not so sure. I mean, I'm singing music that isn't meant for me. I don't have Robert Plant's voice. Trying to sound more like him might open a can of worms. In my applied voice lessons at my university, I don't try to sound like Kurt Moll. I try to sound like myself. I'm trying to sing Stairway to Heaven like myself. I don't know how to sing like Robert Plant. I might give this one a few more takes tomorrow or some time. This was literally done in one shot. Again, that's an honesty thing. I've got the backing track, maybe I'll do the whole thing.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43014170/stairway%20outro.mp3 I put it with a backing track for some additional perspective. I put it there acapella just to make it honest. I end up sounding swallowed when I try to modify vowels in that range, but I can't get away with spreading my tone the way Robert Plant and other high singers do. It's far too abrasive sounding with my voice. I know singing it with more support will allow me to place it further forward and in turn give me more control. The deal with that is that there is a good deal of physical exertion involved in attaining that, but it has to come from the right place. If I just think of physical exertion and go at it, that won't do anything good. That's what I'm working on lately, but I can't practice it very much or for as long before I'm physically just wiped out in the sense that my support itself drops out. That makes it hard to ensure that the practice I am doing is good practice. Lately, I can do short, chesty, pretty well connected high notes up to C# and D5, but high songs or sections of songs are what I like to practice to get better. I want to find a balance between a supported, gutsy, sound and conservation of my support. Hey man, Geddy Lee and Axl Rose sound funny. Keeps folks listening.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43014170/ZOOM0014.WAV If that doesn't work I'm selling my computer.

Opps. Got it.

Been a while, thought I'd drop by. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43014170/ZOOM0014.WAV This is something I banged out in one take last night without really warming up too much. Other than a bit of a false start, I think as far as my ability goes, it's a respectable take. Any thoughts? Edit: Thanks Ron.