KillerKu

Thanks Killer, With my speaking voice I can imitate all kinds of characters. Finding which elements to add to a singing voice is not as instinctive as you would expect.
I haven't really had time to explore your suggestions to any extent yet. I hope to have time today to record a little and maybe provide a few samples of "Voices" that I have available.

Well im singing for a year now and i can divide my proggress in 2 stages.

1. Until 2 months ago i ONLY sang. No youtube no nothing. Huge proggress. So first advice is just SING.

2. 2 months ago i started watching youtube coaches and using this forum. During that time i improved almost as much as 10months of singing before.

So general advice (this is what im doing andbit works for now). Sing, ask help on this forum, watch videos, and save money for a good vocal proggram

Sometimes people get confused because they think that a stronger sound will result to more squeeze. This is not always the case. I don't teach much... but currently I have a student who tends to not engage enough of his voice (and sing too bright) and when he uses his voice like that it starts to get uncomfortable around D4 and he starts to squeeze a lot.
 
I'm getting him used to a strong/firm sound, you know the kind of voice you would use if you want people to really listen to you and pay attention to what you're saying? A good exercise for him is to say "no" like he means it. It has to be spontaneous/natural/emotional. Anyway with this sound he can vocalize and sing comfortably up to a Bb4. He even hit a C5 in a nice mix yesterday. The hard part for him is to engage his voice properly: if he gets into the proper setup for singing his mid's and high's open up. 

You look awesome on video so you don't need to worry about that. I think my basic my impression is you're holding back in a way that makes things harder than they need to be.
 
You don't need to squeeze or push, but if you embrace a bit more hmm... Your first language isn't English, but you know the short u vowel like in 'up?' Try taking that up and chesty a bit. Not really dopey or low larynx, but just a bit of that vowel. I find that vowel works good for engaging some chestiness into this kind of singing (Stevie Wonder kind of thing).
 
You could try this sound:
 
Nyum
 
https://app.box.com/s/egigtwu8ffl8kxvpx7lkj7er8yf5z0vi

Hey fellows, this is my first video... 
 
I recorded the video with an iphone and the audio with garageband, then edited with imovie; one take, though the end is not sync, don`t know why! 
 
I know I pull a lot the high notes, maybe I was too nervous . Also the song is really hard for me so far... 
 
Please let me know what do you think and how can improve it!
 
Thank you in advance
 

Thank you guys!!! 
 
Thank you Aravind for your kind words. Yes, I have to work on the loud parts to fit with the rest of the song
 
Sexy, yes maybe I should vocalize with a stronger sound in my chest voice. When I started singing I used to squeeze a lot, maybe now I´m placed in the opposite extreme? maybe I´m holding my voice too much? Is this what you mean, guys? Or am I still squeezing?
 
Moreover, I feel a kind of release after uploading this video because though not enough , I'm a little shy, so it took me quite take this step. I see this video with the hands on the eyes on most parts, and with the same weird feeling that I had when listening my voice on my first recordings 
 
Hope this strange feeling also pass ; and perhaps encourage me to have a channel on youtube

Of the two, I have a preference for the Clash. I also think you sang better on it. The Lou Reed, you can get away with pitchiness because so did Lou. That might be part of that performance style, IDK. I've heard you with good pitch on other stuff, so I just assume it was part of the performance. Just like when people want to mimick Yoko Ono, they concentrate on being flat and whiny.

 
I like the sound of your drums and it wasn't bad. The guitar on the Lou Reed song sounded out of synch, which would be a track alignment thing, I think.

I like the song, It kind of gets too you after awhile. Lou started screwing up towards the end and started singing on pitch(almost).
I new someone who wrote songs like that. I never new if he was actually tone deaf or if he did it on purpose as part of his "Art". I would get kind of sea sick listening to him. He definitely got an emotional response from me. Maybe not what he was after. Then again maybe that was what he wanted.

This is definitely a smoother ride than the first time around. It's less eccentric, but that's been part of the goal. The less pulled chest does sound better too and the verses are more consistent. It's more cohesive without being characterless.
 
You've improved a lot in proficiency at singing in a short time. Nice job.

Hey everyone!  I just released my newest collaboration video, this time it's Bat Country by Avenged Sevenfold.
 
All vocals are performed, recorded and mixed by me, including harmonies and backgrounds.
 
Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) - Bat Country - Full Band Collaboration Cover 
>
 
I have about 45 more songs on my YouTube channel too, so feel free to check them out and let me know what you think.
 
 
Rock on my friends, and keep singin'!
-- Dave
https://www.facebook.com/DavidLyonOfficial

David , the singing is great, which is what I expected... but I have to admit, Im more taken by the visuals on this one... which are also really cool. Video editing has become something Im working more with these days... 
 
Questions:
 
1). Where do you meet your "band"... collaborators... its clear this is a virtual project. Are you using some kind of special collaboration platform or service for this?  Would be curious to know.
 
2). What kind of video editing software are you using?
 
3). Also... duck into the recording forum and share with the community your technology chain... DAW, Interface, pre-amp, microphones, etc... that would be interesting for people I think...
 
Bro

So my bass should get fixed soon and I want to start recording one man band cover songs so I can get more experience with mixing before putting together my album. 
 
I threw this together today in a couple hours.  Pretty much everything was first take and I haven't drummed in maybe half a year.
 
Bass isn't in there yet, but if anyone has any advice, I'm curious. It's Lou Reed so how does the pitch sound?
 
Edit Weird: track wasn't here
 
https://soundcloud.com/killerku/lou-reed-crazy-feeling-cover-beginnings
 
Here's bonus Clash
 

That song has a really natural flow to the melody and a nice progression. You sang it really well too. I agree, ultimately we have to sing with our own voices. We might as well sing with our own personalities. Whoever it is we admire already exists or at least existed, in the case of people like myself who tend to admire older music.
 
Wanting to duplicate other people is less valuable than wanting to offer something unique to the table. Nice job on the remaster as well. Professional radio musicians have remasters of music all of the time (sometimes in excess), but I think it is even more important for those of us who weren't working with million dollar studio contracts to try to keep our content as timeless as possible.
 
Keep training Rob and I hope you find a good balance of working on your program and students with channeling the inner artist and singing. Sing in the shower, in the car, take time to sing just for you. That's really important too, no matter how much you train others.

You are choosing the genre by the songs that you post. And how does a singer choose a genre? Because they want that genre.
 
For example, some of have suggested that you can only sing rock if you sound raspy and strained. But the abilities of Rick Emmett and Geoff Tate would say that the clean voice can do rock, also.
 
Pat Benatar and Dee Snider were classically trained singers who chose rock and roll.
 
Ronnie Milsap started out in classical, went to rock, then made a career in country music.
 
So, only you can answer the question of what genre you are to sing.

That song has a really natural flow to the melody and a nice progression. You sang it really well too. I agree, ultimately we have to sing with our own voices. We might as well sing with our own personalities. Whoever it is we admire already exists or at least existed, in the case of people like myself who tend to admire older music.
 
Wanting to duplicate other people is less valuable than wanting to offer something unique to the table. Nice job on the remaster as well. Professional radio musicians have remasters of music all of the time (sometimes in excess), but I think it is even more important for those of us who weren't working with million dollar studio contracts to try to keep our content as timeless as possible.
 
Keep training Rob and I hope you find a good balance of working on your program and students with channeling the inner artist and singing. Sing in the shower, in the car, take time to sing just for you. That's really important too, no matter how much you train others.

There seems to be a lot of "How to sing like..." videos these days. Is the pursuit of "how to sing like" someone else really the main goal you should be focused on in your singing?  Every voice is unique and every voice has the ability to demonstrate its unique areas of power, tone, range and embellishments. To be inspired by other singers is inevitable and to learn from other singers is a worthy endeavor, up to a point. But if you are going to become a legitimate vocal artist, you have to present YOUR voice to the audience, not trying to sing like someone else. As a voice coach, I am interested in helping you to learn about training techniques, to enable you to find your voice and grow as an singing artist.    
Having made that point, here is a song I wrote years ago that has been played in many different ways through the years. A lot of people have enjoyed this song through the years. If it is new to you, I hope you enjoy it as well. It is one of those tunes that just comes together in about 5 minutes that song writers experience from time to time... Some songs just "flow" out... others have to be "built" and take more work.   
The less "romantic" explanation is... this is the result of new audio mastering skills for video production. I remastered the audio on this and then rendered a new, "fresh" file... repurposing old, but good content... Enjoy! 
 
"Blue Rain" - Robert Lunte

Wow, no one responded at all? The singing is great, imo. One thing I noticed is the has a lot of cut in higher mid up to presence range frequencies which makes all of the instruments pretty clear, but is a bit cutting and feels maybe a bit crowded and 'pointy' on my ears. Like presence heavy.
 
The song composition is good in the style that it is written, but I tend to prefer more melodicly driven songs like the last one you showed, than more chanting kinds of choruses.
 
If you listen to a lot of modern pop music, there is a lot of room for chanting style choruses. So it's just a taste thing, and I'm glad you're creating music. You should keep going. I don't know why no one responded. It's good singing, it's a singing critique forum.

Hello. I did a cover of Ain't Behavin by Fats Waller, an old jazz piece. Any feedbacks or comments are welcome. Thanks
 

 
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This sounds good. To me it sounds like it is in your range, you got the right timbre, pitch is good, and it is working for you. It's hard to tell you how to improve it in any way to be honest.
 
The only thing might be to make it a bit different from the original and put a bit more of your unique stamp on it as you finish it. You can sing this song well in the style of Kurt, but what if you were to do something slightly different with it?
 
If you sing a song that is 'outside your zone' I think we'd have more tech help. You've got this area covered and it's good.

Very nice singing overall. Some parts were quite impressive, esp the gritty singing and the more full-voiced passages after.
 
I can't talk much in technical terms but it sounds to me also like the transition from a fuller sounding tone to the breathy, falsetto type sound or vice-versa could stand to be more seamless. I find that learning some Jeff Buckley tunes really helps a lot with dynamics, especially specific to songs of this type.
 
Btw I love Radiohead, esp this album (OK Computer).

I really like this and it is totally in your "wheelhouse." So, I give to you a compliment I don't give as often as some might think I do. If you decide to record an album and do a cover song (most artists do. Led Zep did a cover on their first album.), do this one. Pay the copyright fee to get legal use and then record it, pretty much like this. I am a member of the "less is more" club. And the effects and values you chose here are subtle. So, I may differ from others on what I would choose as mixing values but I am not the engineer on this project and certainly not a recording engineer in real life. (Funny sidenote, because of my master license, Texas acknowledges that I am an electrical designer, basic electrical engineering for buildings and structures. And often, I have to create circuit diagrams and symbols for plans to be approved by cities to build arbors, cabanas, pergolas, outdoor kitchens like you see bobby Flay using. lol )
 
Sorry for the digression. Keep doing this type of thing.

I don't know if strained is the right word. But it sounds a bit more tensed when you say 'same' mistakes. It's a pretty loud vowel and you're on a G4 there, it sounds pretty held back. if I let that vowel go all the way, it can go pretty crazy in volume. I think there as a G#4 on 'pain' in a recent cover I did, where I didn't hold back volume.
 
It still sounds good to me, so if you're comfortable with it in your throat I wouldn't worry about. At best as I can describe it, it sounds like you cry a lot harder to hold back the volume.
 
Which is cool, but if it feels tight or uncomfortable you can keep working on it. Something you could try is experiment with modifying towards other vowels. CVT recommends uh (up), ih (in), and the weird one in 'woman' if you're plaintive/restrained which you are. I like the vowel in 'book, took, cook' too. Anyway if I try to make a pure 'ay' sound plaintive and high, it can feel a bit weird. The vowels don't all work the same. Finding the most comfortable positions that achieve a desired sound can help.
 
I think it's more about you than any methodology.

Neither can I or 98 percent of singers. You're good enough for parties dude. Go for it. I was just thinking of unleashing the Sexy Beast on the general public at large. You've got potential. Might even keep the moniker.

woah ty guys! Yeah I defo wanna cover more Ailee! I have a ballad and another uptempo in the works

Fantastic. It's near spotless, but with loads of energy. The best part? It doesn't feel clinical at all. It just rocks. You guys have serious chops all around. I really enjoyed that one.