MDEW

I love "Come to my Window". It is one of my Goals to be able to sing that and really sell it.
   You did an awesome job. I loved every minute of it.
    Bonnie Raitt Has some Killer songs also...... 

I love "Come to my Window". It is one of my Goals to be able to sing that and really sell it.
   You did an awesome job. I loved every minute of it.
    Bonnie Raitt Has some Killer songs also...... 

Good Points, but that is not the same "Fake" that I am meaning, That is part of the Magic of recording. Also as Jens has pointed out all "Singing Voices" are fake until they become infused into our own  natural expression.
   My attempts at the Johnny Cash sound were unbalanced and highly noticable that I was "Trying" for a Johnny Cash sound.
   "Fake it till you make it" is still a good point of view. With time I may have been able to improve that sound.
   The whole recording process and production is fake in a sense.....Cutting unwanted frequencies....Boosting others...... compressing, limiting, over dubbing.....whatever is needed to enhance the product...... And now they have that blasted autotune, the bane of a good singers exsistence......... .
   Not only that but you also have distortion and octave doubling effects for the voice now.....There are many people who are trying to copy the sounds of their favorite singer and not realising that the sound is from a box not from his/her voice.

Good Points, but that is not the same "Fake" that I am meaning, That is part of the Magic of recording. Also as Jens has pointed out all "Singing Voices" are fake until they become infused into our own  natural expression.
   My attempts at the Johnny Cash sound were unbalanced and highly noticable that I was "Trying" for a Johnny Cash sound.
   "Fake it till you make it" is still a good point of view. With time I may have been able to improve that sound.
   The whole recording process and production is fake in a sense.....Cutting unwanted frequencies....Boosting others...... compressing, limiting, over dubbing.....whatever is needed to enhance the product...... And now they have that blasted autotune, the bane of a good singers exsistence......... .
   Not only that but you also have distortion and octave doubling effects for the voice now.....There are many people who are trying to copy the sounds of their favorite singer and not realising that the sound is from a box not from his/her voice.

Thanks,   It really helps when you do wake up Sunday morning with no way to hold your head that doesn't hurt.
   One of my biggest problems with singing is applying some technique and still making it sound natural. I could do things with my voice to make more of a Johnny Cash sound but it comes out sounding fake, but those are some of the things you are supposed to do. Like opening the throat more, applying more compression, Twang, Vowel mods and such........
   This is very close to my speaking sound and range. I did darken a little and add a little more pressure just to be a louder but that is about it.

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.

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.

Robert makes some good points. This is sung by a female and you are singing an octave lower than she is which brings the song too low for you. You are basically speaking this. Find a song that you can match the range and timber of the original singer. It will be easier for you to check your pitch against theirs.  I find it easier to access a singing voice when not in speaking range. It takes more energy and gets you out of speaking habits. After getting control of some basics then you will be able to start singing in speaking or below speaking range with more energy and control.

Robert makes some good points. This is sung by a female and you are singing an octave lower than she is which brings the song too low for you. You are basically speaking this. Find a song that you can match the range and timber of the original singer. It will be easier for you to check your pitch against theirs.  I find it easier to access a singing voice when not in speaking range. It takes more energy and gets you out of speaking habits. After getting control of some basics then you will be able to start singing in speaking or below speaking range with more energy and control.

Thanks for listening guys,
     Thanks Killer, I will give that a shot. I have always been aware that I lack mid range(EQ wise) and have tried to boost it by several means.
     When you say open and round are you suggesting at the root of the tongue and back wall of throat or wide at the cheeks and back of mouth.
     It is something to play with. I imitate several Cartoon characters that are in that low range "Bulwinkle,Yogi Bear, Yosemite Sam, Fat albert.... But even those chacters do not have a full mid range sound.....Fat Albert even though he is low and loud makes use of high larynx and low soft palate to amplify the mid range and Yosemite is more of a false fold distortion thing. Most of my sound references and voice work come from imitating characters. Singing voices always gave me trouble when trying to match them.
   Ronws, You always give me good advice even if you have to give me bad news like I sucked or something. So thank you for that.
   I have managed an A2 by frying an A3 and slowing the closed phase until they synchronize. At some point the voice will drop and A2 will become the fundamental. Pretty cool when it happens.

Loved your voice on this..... I always try to sing this like Leon Redbone....Low sleepy and mellow......
    I like the upbeat and happy feel of this with your voice.

I am also one who may give out a good job to a somewhat less than stellar performance. I also try to take into account  what problems the poster has had in the past and where he/she is now. Sometimes an awesome tone or delivery will make up for a few bum notes. These are usually for the ones who do not have a polished sound and backing track. 
    And, I would be more critical of one who does have a polished sound and backing track. Why? because the stakes are higher. They are entering the professional stage.
    I cannot say that I am qualified to give advice or critique a sound, performance or song style because I would give a bad review for most of the things I hear on the radio today.....From all genres.  Then again that does not mean that my opinion is not valid because a lot of people that I know feel the same way.
   To answer the question of why do people post here? For myself I know I have problems. If knew how to spot them myself or how to correct them I wouldn't feel the need to be here. But there are others who feel the need to validate their progress. Which also leads back to why I would give a good job to a less than stellar performance......Validating progress. Going from having 50 bum notes to 10 bum notes is progress which in some cases truly deserves a good job.

You wouldn't even have to change the way you sang this, just a change in perspective would be enough. The voices sound different enough from each other that they sound imitated(not the best word and not bad imitations either).
    Just like you mapped out in the above post, the different sections are different aspects of your personality. Instead of taking on the voice of the other singer let that aspect of your personality take over. It just seems to me that it would make the song more fluid and it would work with one singer singing the whole song. Like I said earlier it is a mental change not a physical change(the mental change will manifest in the physical sound).
   None of this takes away from your original performace. It was pretty freakin' good.  

I like this. Can I make a suggestion?(I'm going to anyway ) I know this song is performed by the whole band, each singing their part, My suggestion is for you to sing it not trying to sound like different people singing those different parts. It seems to me the the song would work that way. Different aspects of the same personality. Keep all the highs and lows just do not try to change timbre to sound like a different person.

About the Young man in an Old mans body.... I feel your pain. Just had a birthday and now I have been on this earth more than half a century.  One of my vocal challenges is trying to make my voice not sound like a teenager when singing. People talk about rockers blowing out their voice before 30. I am still working on getting my voice strong enough to sing Aerosmith and Foreigner. Maybe by the time I am 60 I will have my voice sounding like Steven Tyler when he was 18.

I hate to break it to you but you did not sound like Willy on "My heroes have always been Cowboys".    You still sounded awesome.  I guess Queensryche and Country can mix. Great job.

Sounded real good guys, Robert, I really liked the sound of your voice in this. It had a nice flow to it. (Vocal Fluidity, for Silent Lucidity).
 Pretty cool MrLoud.
   Ronws, Your low notes are actually more solid than mine. Even though I speak around G2 I cannot sing it solid(I should be speaking around C3, old habits).

Thanks Killer, I understand what you are saying here. I have always felt that Elton was singing Yellow Brick Road with a lighter coordination. It seems conversational to me and Levon is a more Emotion driven, at least the chorus. "He Shall be LEVON" is a declaration. Like he is something more than just a man. Kind of like when someone's' favorite sports star gets the winning goal or scores the winning point "He's THE MAN! WHOO Yeah MY MAN".  At least that is the way that I perceive it. That may even be why I attempt to sing it with a heavier weight.
   Having said that, I have never been the type of person to get carried away over anything so I would not know how to express that type of feeling in that way.

I do not think "being timid" or "holding anything back" is at the heart of the volume issue with Ronws voice or recording. There is so much accoustical energy in his top end that the lower end suffers from dealing with the clipping from the higher notes. Levels need to be set too low to begin with to avoid the clipping during the high notes.
    I am no expert and only voicing an opinion, From what I have heard, Ronws, you have already been down the road of "Trying to deepen" your voice. I do not think that is the way to go. Brightening up the lower voice may be a better approach,at least for songs that cross the registers and have a heavy background to deal with. Take advantage of the higher frequencies that are there in the lower register also, instead of trying to suppress them and sound more like a baritone.( I am not saying that you are trying to make a more baritone sound).
   What we hear in any professional recording is mixing from someone who knows how to isolate the voice from the other instruments. Even a soft voice will come through and seem seperated from the background. Sometimes they will even record the low parts seperate from the highs so they can be mixed according to the different requirements.

Hey Bluesguy, good to hear you are still at it. You have the passion for playing guitar and singing but you are holding yourself back from showing it.
 You are a little too laidback even if that is the feel you are going for.
     If you want laid back, Try LEON REDBONE.  Even Redbone puts a little more kick into it.
 
  If you want to experiment with getting a little more passion sing along to Elvis's Hound dog (With Elvis and Like Elvis) for a few days.
  I am not being sarcastic or messing with you in any way. I am serious and trying to help.

Very Good. Believable, Honest......

My original post didn't make it to the new forum. Thanks for your input. I rerecorded this with some of your suggestions.
I think the first recording was a little better. (because of my performance Not your suggestions).
   Any comments welcome.