Overdrive

Very much appreciated guys! I always enjoy reading your comments ronws. This is a great community here.

@Chavie I use Sony Vegas Pro for all my video editing. They have a free 30-day trial you can check out to see if you like it!

Thanks guys! haha Ron, sometimes when I wake up my hair is sticking up in all directions too. Maybe I should make a video with just that look. Heck, maybe that should be my new hairstyle for life in general!

And thanks guitarer, a lot of it was vocal doubling. Basically recording the same part twice and putting them over each other. The original song does this too but probably more discreetly.

I also used "WavesTune" which is like Melodyne and AutoTune. I try not to overdo it though. All I do is 'scan' the vocal once and let it do its thing. I don't go in and fix specific pitches, and if the performance is off, then it shows.

This is basically me at my best. I comped from multiple takes and there's some vocal tuning. It's a challenging song for me as I naturally don't really have this range.

An acoustic/vocal cover of Of Monsters And Men's "Little Talks"

Let me know what you think!

Thanks Ron and Jeff! Haha Ron that looks like a good pic, much better than my "school picture face" :P

Let me know what you think

"Truth" was the better of the two cuts, as far as pitch control goes. Of course, it was lower.

Because that is the problem with "Savior." It sits higher in your range, and calls for more stability than you have needed before. For example, you could probably knock the crap out of covering anything by Foo Fighters. Because his high parts are all screamy and the rest is in the lower range.

However, you can do "Savior." It's just going to take more work because you are going to have to manage your breath a little more carefully up there.

Also, and this is a challenge for me, as well. I can do one song by an artist and do it well. Another song by the same artist, not always so. Melody, lyrics, consonants, places for breath takes. These are things to consider and they are outside of scales and breathing exercises.

Essentially, you have to work the song into your voice.

As you said, rough beginnings.

I think you will master "Truth" quicker than "Savior" but you already have most of "Truth" figured out.

Thanks a lot Ron! Would you recommend that I practice Savior a lot, maybe going through each line and making sure it's in pitch and trying to use more support, or would you suggest I keep doing songs like Truth and work up to Savior?

https://soundcloud.com/tmusician/sets/vocals-beginning

Savior shows high-pitch

Truth shows some distortion

I kind of look at these as rough beginnings that I really want to improve, feedback is greatly appreciated

Let me know what you think!

Lately I've been trying to find ways to increase my support which I think is lacking. One thing I thought of is doing lip bubble sirens and trying to keep doing them for as long as possible until I am totally out of breath. Does this sound like a good exercise? What exercises do you do?

Edit: Oh shoot, wrong forum sorry

Let me know what you think and where to improve

Let me know what you think! It's an original acoustic song

I like your videos, goofy and serious. And yes, the song could stand on its own, with or without a video. It's just music these days is often presented in a video or visual format. Us old guys, we can listen to sound files all day because it's like listening to radio. Which is how I first heard music. Either on the radio. Or with a phonograph. And phonographs lasted such a long time as a popular medium. So, you could look at the sleeve.

You're doing good to get applause from guys for whom this type of rock music is not their normal genre of interest. That's a good thing. So, even if it starts with "not my cup of tea" it rated their attention.

I was looking back through my list of cover songs and I had posted my cover of "Down Under" by Men at Work. And received exactly one comment. From Jonpall, no less. Pretty much amounted to a "good job" from Jonpall to me, ronws. And then gone, like a thief in the night. No other comments ever again.

I once did a cover of "Angel in Blue" by the J Geils Band. Not one comment, ever.

My cover of "Live Like you were Dying" by Tim McGraw. Received one favorable comment when I posted it for review. I have made more mileage out of that song as an example of a ridiculously long note than as song for review.

This is when we have to be honest with ourselves. We are in a forum of people who like prog and opera like metal. Interspersed with one or two other singers. For example, if this were a cover of "Don't Stop Believin", you would have all kinds of traffic in this thread.

Or the seemingly obligatory cover of "Hallelujah."

But you bring something fresh and original when you post and I think that is great and you should keep doing it and you should seriously see about making real releases of your stuff. Get a music biz lawyer. Start your own label.

That's a great post Ron, I really appreciate it. I think a lot of people can relate to not getting comments on their work (which is a shame) but we just gotta remember to keep doing it because we love it. Thanks so much for the support! Maybe I can make an album by July if I work at it. :)

Thanks guys! And ronws, that's my favorite part too

Some people say that the 'music video' takes away from the song, which I can understand because it's pretty goofy and unprofessional, but I figure you can still listen to the song without the music video and at least the music video is 'unique' :P

Let me know what you guys think

Let me know what you think! :)

I've been working on this for a while, and I think it turned out great! Let me know what you think. :D

I was expecting to see the guy in the picture

Sounds pretty good. You do all the instuments? Are taking lessons from anyone or self taught?

Any CD's out yet?

Yep I did everything myself! And I did take guitar lessons for 3 years when I started, but now I do everything on my own. Teachers are excellent for keeping you on the right track, but if you have the right motivation you don't need a teacher.

And no CD's out yet, I'm a little intimidated to do that because I'm not sure if my production quality is good enough to make a legit CD. Maybe I should just do it though because it would probably be an amazing learning experience...

Thanks guys! And my avatar is actually Tim McIlrath (the singer of Rise Against). I know I should put a picture of myself, but Tim McIlrath is my biggest inspiration so I like seeing him

And I do have originals!

I'd love to get some feedback so that I can improve! I think my tone might be a little strange

Whoops! You're right MDEW, it was messed up for some reason. I fixed it now. :P

I tried recording everything all at once! How'd I do?