breakin

Hi,

Thanks both for your replies

For this song I wouldn't do it much differently even if I could; for Muse I prefer this type of falsetto! But it sure is harder to do while nervous than "regular" non-falsetto singing. At least for me! But loosing key never happens for me so that was new and probably due to the liveness; will need to work on that! I think killer is right that I need more experience singing live; it is harder for different reasons. Breath support breaks down from time to time I took this song for being more safe since I could't reach all the high tones I wanted in the other songs I was considering.

If I ever record something at home that I'm happy with I'll post it here and then we can take the live-stuff out of the equation!

Thanks for listening!

Cheers!

Here is me singing the song Falling Down / Muse from the record Showbiz.

The occasion was end-of-term concert with my singing "class" (or whatever). It was filmed from the side by another student.

There was maybe 60 people in the audience.

I messed up at some point (lost the key!) but I managed to keep calm and I found my way back. I'm quite proud!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tlo9qpcoz3e4h17/anders-framtr%C3%A4dande.mp4?dl=0

There are some effects being applied (reverb? compressor? not sure!). 

What do you think? What do I need to work on?

You honestly "cover" songs. You make them your own, do them your way, which will lead to success. For example, Sheryl Crow did a cover of "Sweet Child of Mine" that became iconic, in it's own right. Check out youtube and see all the young ladies doing the Crow version, that's how inspiring it was.

I think you have a dramatic voice. Which made it a good fit for "Butterflies and Hurricanes." It's a dramatic song. And I could easily see this being synchro licensed for a movie. First off, get it recorded and edited well. Get a lawyer. Pay the copyright lease, then market it to music coordinators at movie studios and companies. You will get performance rights from the synchro license and if you release this on an album of yours, you will get mechanical rights from duplication and distribution.

Artistically, I like what you did with "Your Song." And, in following the advice to make the song your own, you did and bravo. I don't know how a general audience may receive this. 50/50, I suppose. So, I might say, choose the right tone for the song, whichever song that it is. The tone worked on "Hurricanes" but was a little distracting, to me, on "Your Song." Not technically wrong, just different than what I expected. But I liked it, artistically. But then, I am an odd guy. Other people may have different views.

"Cannon Ball." I liked that one best, in all dimensions. Good tone, pitch, relevant volume, excellent recording and sound value editing. This one is ready for release and you could also synchro license this one, as well. Same legal advice applies. I am not saying you need to do more soft, balladic covers but you could make a career out of this, and others have.

Thanks for the comments! With tone on your song, do you mean during the second half or through the entire song!? I'm guessing the latter!

Would your statement about synchro licensing stand even if I don't do the music backdrops? I just sing here

I'm currentlynin a process where I try to figure out if my sound is pleasing or annoying. Hard to judge oneself... Someone described my voice as having an uniqur piercing quality. Still not sure if that is a complemnt or not

Thanks again for listening!

I'm curious if anyone has any comments on my tone. I'm not 100% pleased with it, somehow sounds a bit annoying. Anyone disagrees or knows why it sounds that way?

I have a tendency to tense jaw/cheeks.

I haven't really worked much on shaping the sound, apart from twang to make higher tones possible...

I loved what you did with YOUR SONG. I am not familier with the other songs but I liked them.

The pitch and feeling were much better this time. You seemed to start doubting yourself at the end got a little shakey and week.

The only real advice that I can give is be confident in your voice and keep singing.

Note that I did not do "your song" here before, but i was inspired to do it because of the other version. I liked his tone better than mine!

Thanks for the feedback!

Hi!

I recorded two songs today. I'm no recording engineer so I just made sure that the vocals were very audible.

I'm quite happy with them apart from timing where I failed a lot. Also see additional comments.

Elton John - Your Song

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19750082/recordings/Anders%20-%20Elton%20John%20-%20Your%20Song.mp3

I got bored after half the song, MDEW was right... it should be higher! So it really is recoreded in two "styles".

Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19750082/recordings/Anders%20-%20Muse%20-%20Butterflies%20and%20hurricanes%20%28partial%29.mp3

I failed after/during the first chorus. I will come back to this song later when my technique is more solid!

And a song I recoreded some time ago:

Damien Rice - Cannonball:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19750082/recordings/Anders-Cannonball.mp3

Damien Rice sings everything beautifully. I just did my best!

Would love some comments and harsh critique! Perhaps don't get hung up on timing; that is something I will work on a lot if/when I come back to them...!

People think that "YOUR SONG" would be an easy song to sing because most of the notes fall in the speaking range. Actually it falls just below the speaking range and most of the intervals are small making the song more difficult to sing. When the song calls for more intensity people will often raise the pitch instead of raising the volume.

Do you know how high ewan mcgregor sings it? Quite a few changes in that version but still...

When i said promising i was mostly talking about your "tone". If you nail pitch/timing it will sound great. I'd start working on pitch, but that's just me!

So here's a small clip of me singing Elton John's Your Song. I haven't practiced it much and I'm off pitch in quite a few areas, I also messed up the lyrics :| I going to record the whole song soon with better audio quality, I just wanted to know what you guys thought of it in the mean time. I've been singing for about a year now and I'm still really not happy with how my voice sounds. I would really appreciate any advice.

Thanks!!

Promising, but make sure you nail the pitch! Some timing issues as well but mostly pitch issues. Listen to the original so you know the melody perfectly!

Going for the elton john (original) version, right?

ronws: I really like your low singing here. Relaxed, interesting. Vunerable somehow. The higher part lacks something!

So I just now realized that the post showed who posted it next to the title so I won't by Codyknight22 this time. So this is me rapping Otherside by Mackelmore ft: Fences. A little bit of singing so some feedback on that as well please. But I'm open to criticism as always.

Thanks,

Codyknight22

Did you decide to do it all text?

For some reasons you always post broken youtube links, at least I've never been able to open them without changing them! This one worked better for me:

Thank you so much rowns and Jugulator. A friend of mine remix the song, he use an effect like big hall as reverb, I know thar it sound like Enya , but I like it

It looks as if video/audio are totally out of sync, which makes it unwatchable. Perhaps the reverb thing would have been less objectionable if it felt like it was more in sync? I'll give this one more try without video, perhaps I can then appreciate the singing!

Hey guys, I just got done with a choir tour and my voice is absolutely dead, and thus I'm falling into some bad habits (I used to be a rock singer) and having a couple pitch issues with this (and pretty hilariously cracking a few notes that are usually pretty easy for me), but it was a one take kinda thing..let me know what you think!

sorry for the quality, laptop mic..don't have anything better with me currently.

I love that song. It was a little bit too shouty for me, sorry And maybe a little too brittish. Like you said, a lot of pitch issues as well!

I would love for someone to make an analysis of how it is sung by Damien Rice as he 100% managed to never sound shouty. I absolutely love his voice.

SOMEBODY CALL ME DUMB. I had the video made the entire time and I kept trying to re-upload it because I was so sure that I had not uploaded it so that was the problem. Sorry about that but the videos up for real.

Kudos for posting; brave!

I really suggest that you get an instrumental only ("karaokeo") version of this song somehow and sing over that. That forces you to keep the key through the entire song. I also recommend transposing it down by quite a bit so that it works for you. This song is a real bitch. You can transpose in audacity without changing the speed of the song.

You could play the song using speakers so that you don't have anything in your ears. That way you can hear youself the entire time. Headphones are ok as well, as long as it is instrumental only. I really hate singing to the original version; my singing ability diminishes if someone else sing the same song slightly different in my ear. I get rushed by the original timing etc. I'd stay away from that.

Keep it up!

I decided to do this song again so I'd have other songs that I could look back on and have a good comparison. Yes I used a backing track, yes you guys can't hear, and yes it's late but I don't care and I think I sung loud enough. But let me know if I did, if I improved, if I did enough. I really just want more feedback. Please tell me what I need to do and give me more tips. Thank you guys for tolerating me throughout my 5 videos here .

Video: http://youtu.be/KGVo9J8dlcs

Ironically youtube says that it is a duplicate. But you already made that clear!

Thanks for the comment Adon. I'll try and explain what I'm doing, but I don't know the technical terms so it might not make any sense.

Basically I'm singing in full head voice, supporting all the time. I'm keeping my throat open and pushing the sound into the front of part of the roof of my mouth, and from there I push and pull it back and forth for distortion and edge etc. At the end of phrases I flip my voice into a little breathy pop by letting out some air, sort of releasing the support. Really though I'm just going for it and not thinking about, just being in the moment and singing. I know that's not very helpful but I basically learned to do everything I can do by just making noises and singing songs.

Max

Really cool, thanks for the explanation! Could you elaborate a little on the amount of energy/volume you used? Do you hold anything back, or is it 100% full volume?

Sounds very good to me! Keep it up and good luck!

Maybe over time you could make your inhale less audible, but this is just nitpicking (and if it sounds cool to you then keep it!).

Awesome, Randy.

For Breakin, it sounded like medium mass to me, as Randy has a heavier voice. In fact, normally, he sounds like a twin of Geoff Tate. However, here, it sounds like he is using medium mass and narrower vowels.

* Do you mean that, since Randy sounds heavier here than Steve Perry in the same song, he uses medium mass? (Implying Steve Perry uses light mass)

* Or because he has a heavier voice he needs to use medium mass to sound similar to Steve Perry using light mass (Steve being a tenor)?

* Something else.

The second statement seems weird, just double-checking so I haven't misunderstood something! I think the true answer is in what you said; Medium mass with narrow vowels.

Hey TMV World Forum Athletes... here is my best friend, student and TVS Certified Instructor, Randy Loran singing "Lights" from Journey... This is in fact, 1 live take, no over-dubs... straight into the DAW last night in my studio in Seattle. Also, I might ad, he had a cold and his headphones were only playing in the left ear... ?!

This is so good its sick... wow.

https://thevocaliststudio.box.com/shared/static/rc1vsn5870xbqjwj9v2w.mp3

If you guys have any questions about this, let me know, or feel free to contact Randy on FB.

Very nice singing!

I remember some people talking about if Steve Perry uses "light mass" or "medium mass" onset/phonation. Ignoring Steve Perry, what is used here? (primarily). What kind of volume is generated while singing this?

Cool!

Ok now....

Just tried it. The end kills me.. Wow, he goes high there....

Ill keep on working before posting this one

Exactly what I should have done, but I've gotten some good tips! Good luck! I'll try it in your key next time I have a chance to record!

Interesting, it sounded like more than 5 semitones down. But it is not the same and much slower. It feels MUCH darker, especially in your version! I have almost no problem singing G#4 without any tricks, the problem starts right after G#4. I should try to it in that tuning as well (since someone wanted to hear more of my chest voice as well up there).

I do care about the sound and I can hear from my own recording that anything that happens after I "break" is not what I want

In your case I guess it is not an on/off thing; it is about shading of sound etc. In your new clip perhaps it is head voice but it seems kinda "pressed" if that is what it is. Or it is falsetto. Seems like there are so many words/opinions!

ps. I could watch the temptations version of youtube, but not using your link. Might help other people who try! I really liked it!

This is a really challenging song in Stevie Wonder's range. I've sung it in Paul William's (Temptations) range:

http://soundcloud.com/killerku/foronceinmylifebest

And there is no way I could comfortably be in Stevie's range without utilizing a real heady/falsetto sish tone. It wouldn't sound 'Stevie,"

Wow your version was very different from mine! Interesting, more operatic! Do you know how much it was lowered? Did you play around a little with the tones/melody as well in some parts? I usually listen to a song (the original) for many times and then that is what the melody should be like. Sometimes I get it wrong though!

I really like to sing with the instruments so I've only tried it like mine and one octave down (which sounds weird when I do it at least, but it seems mostly possible). I should try to lower it by maybe 4-6 semitones when I/if decide to redo it. Sure I can find some program that keeps speed while altering pitch.

You utilized a rather nasally piercing kind of tone, which is unique and your pitch was pretty good.

Thanks, I think Would you say that I did what you said you had to do, having a more heady/falsettoish tone so I don't sound at all like Stevie? I've listened to him and he manages to have a very dark shade to his voice somehow. I noticed being off pitch, especially when I went into falsetto. I use to have an ok sense off pitch but it is harder when being up there!

I think you could benefit from connecting into the voice a bit more and focusing on your chest voice too without having to flip into the falsetto so much. You might even try transposing down. If you could mix more richness into the nasal kind of tone without completely removing the playful/piercing personality I think you'd reach closer.

Thanks for the tip. I've come to the conclusion that what I need is bridging from mix into head voice. Problem is that I'm not at all strong enough in my head voice so I need to strengthen it a lot. I have a hard time do a do B4 in head voice with any power. I've tried to do the entire song in head voice and I have to push for the B4 so no wonder I have to do the same when I try to bridge. I find it hard with even falsetto above A4, although I can get up to around G5 if I push. I have a lot of work to do here before I can bridge!

Once I can bridge I can try to make chest more chesty I guess, but right now I think I need to keep it light so it doesn't overpower the head voice during bridging

I'm not even sure if you could call what I have head voice, might just be falsetto with no air or something. Either way I need more power!

Is it just me, or does he have a Michael Jackson kinda tone? I want to try this song too sometime

Nice!

The song is hard! Stevie makes it sound so easy! I've been giving it more love but i need to work on my voice. Baby steps!

Whatever Michael there is in there is probably due to the high placement. I'm somewhere between baryton and tenor (although more on the tenor side i think), but not as light/high as MJ. He has very good technique though so hard to compare!

Hey, thanks for the feedback. I understand, the amplification could seem to make it sound bigger then it actually is... is that what you mean? If I could be completely honest with you? The amplification really doesn't do anything but amplify and already existing, powerful head voice phonation. If I were to remove the microphone, it actually wouldn't seem much different, maybe a little less reverb or something, but it would sound pretty much the same. I can just as easily do these without amplification and have no problem with that, maybe Ill do a few that way. I just choose not to simply because its just not as fun... I don't like a flat signal, it snuffs all the fun out of singing for me. The only effects on this is just a pinch of reverb, there is no doubling, pitch correction or things you would expect to not be there for a vocal technique demonstration.

Also note, in this video, because I am demonstrating these onsets, I want to sound full and boomy ... if you watch the 'lift up / pull back' video I posted on youtube and here about a week ago, you will see a whole different volume level because Im demonstrating a different concept.

Hope you can become a client one day... I will help you to sing amazing... give it a shot... Gab is a teacher of TVS and is a student of mine, didn't seem to hurt him any...

I don't have a problem with amplification in itself, it is just that i cant take two videos and say that someone used more volume/power in video A thanin video B, due to microphone levels, PA etc. Not even with the same singer such as you! I haven't sung much with amplification myself so i am not used to the sound. That said it does make sense to overpower inner hearing a bit so you hear what other people hear. CVT talks a lot about volume for each mode, guess that something I miss in video lessons. Love to take lessons! I'm still working om finding affordable practice space for training/lessons (in gothenburg Sweden, shout if you have one!).