ElWin

You have an exceptional voice - the quality sounds studio quality and your performance of both songs is flawless. Well done.

Hey Eliza. I think I mentioned on a previous post a similarity with Florence Welch and that is what I hear again hear -particularly in the "shaky" affectation that Owen mentions. So I can see why stylistically this might be an option but I think it wouldn't suit all styles of song and Owen's right that it is important to be able to choose when and when not to use that where it suits. I liked this though - good arrangement.

A beautiful song and a very good performance. The opening lyrical motif reminds me of the theme from the Godfather. The video lacked any running across lakes or treetops but I think we'll let you off with that :D

Was it me or wasn't that just you on all instruments? The bass player disappeared at one point So if it was you on everything then: Man can I have your voice, your guitar skills and your hair (mines kind of fallen out with me)? If not then I'll have your voice and hair and the guitarists skills. I'll probably need the hairbrush too either way. The superlative has already been used but it was awesome. Well done.

Derek - that's cool I think people should feel free to mix it up a bit if it works better for them. That thread is in the vocal technique section near the top. You may have inadvertently been the first to do the Jon Bon Jovi challenge but I think there will be many more.

Now was this 1987, 1995 or 2013 Bon Jovi? Sorry - there has just been a big debate on the technique thread about Jon Bon Jovi over the years! You've got an interesting tone to your voice. At first I thought you were just trying to imitate Jon Bon Jovi and I think in parts you did but in others it sounded like your own voice. There were a lot of very minor pitch issues i.e. slightly flat on a few notes but there were other parts where you didn't hit the same notes as the original and seemed to substitute rising riffs e.g. Like Frankie Said I Did It My Way and I Just Want to Live Forever - your starting notes on those are much lower than the original but you obviously can sing the notes - the Did and Live were at the right place. Maybe that was a stylistic thing/your interpretation - only you could say - but just stood out for me because I think the original has more energy from staying up higher in those parts. Good job though overall.

Hi. I don't want to sound too critical as the melody was largely right in terms of pitch. There are people on here who will be able to put into technical terms what is open for improvement but two things that stand out for me: 1. Parts of the verse are too low for your voice. You can work on your low end but for now I'd recommend trying this in a different key. 2. There is a lack of resonance. The resonance is possibly partly attributable to the recording space and recording device - the sound just seems a bit dead. You would normally have a bit of reverb from the environment. What was it recorded on and where? On the technical side I think I can hear other issues but I don't want to give you unhelpful advice. Obviously some absolute basics to work on are breathing from the diaphragm to control the projection and power of notes, avoid any tension in the upper body, relax the throat and jaw, maintain a good posture and practice, practice, practice. All that said I think you have a ready made voice for a less classic pop delivery. A few parts reminded me of Kirsty McColl although I couldn't quite put my finger on why.

Very nice Sergio. Did you do the arrangement?

I think you guys are on to something here - I've been thinking for years if I could record studio quality while driving and cut out the road noise then I'd get some of my best performances. Just something about driving along belting out tunes that feels right. Dave - good job. Definitely worth you figuring out a few acoustic version of these songs rather than singing over the original. Plus probably safer too. You'd never get away with driving along holding a camera here in the UK - they pull you over for eating a sandwich while driving if you are unlucky enough to be seen. Also on the acoustic point - just check out all the great acoustic covers by Corey Taylor on YouTube. Really gifted guy vocally but he knows how to really get the feel of songs right which is more important.

Geno - excellent. I'd skipped this because I didn't think I knew the song well enough to comment - actually maybe that's better because I have no preconceptions about how it should sound. Just came back to it and I'm glad I did. Really good performance.

I'd wear one of those jumper suits if it meant I could sing like that :lol:

Thanks Ron I'll look it up.

It's about 27 Celsius / 80 Fahrenheit where I am which isn't record breaking but that's hot for here. Just nice to see a bit of sun regardless of the temperature!

Nice job George. The heatwave continues over in Manchester and this makes a nice back drop to a lazy day in the sun (or busy as mine seems to be). Liam

John - I don't think I've heard anything by you that I didn't think was excellent. You've done it again here so very well done sir. Nice to hear a bit of soul on here too. I'm thinking of having a stab at A Change Is Gonna Come or a different soul number so this is a nice bit of inspiration I need. Liam

MDEW - would love to hear a clean recording from you after this. Ron is right you do have a folk / country voice although I've not heard you do anything else - you may also have a killer death metal growl At first I thought it was a bit nasal but after another listen that is probably just due to the recording quality. I didn't know either of those songs but I enjoyed them. Dan Fogelberg isn't someone I've heard before although Same Old Lang Syne is one of those songs in my guitar books that I meant to check out some time.

Hey Sethis - Creep is one of my all time favourite songs and I think you did a decent job. You say this doesn't have too many vocal acrobatics which is true of the verses but the section "She's running out again...." is pretty tough. I think you were fractionally flat in a couple of places but I mean fractionally and its only because I know the song so well that I spotted this - you could probably perform this live and nobody would either care or notice. Despite you being from Greece I didn't think you had a strong accent coming through which is a sign of good diction so well done there as well. Overall a good job - I'm going through the same process myself of trying to find a niche vocally and the more and more I try the more I think - forget it - just sing the songs that you enjoy singing. I listened to some of the other work you have on soundcloud and I thought the Deep Purple cover was excellent so although it is totally different to Creep there's no reason you can't be suited to both styles. I didn't enjoy the Judas Priest number - it feels like at that end of your range you lack a bit of pitch control but all of the lower register stuff sounds very good. Even where you use a bit of softer head voice/falsetto like Join Me In Death sounds good so maybe you just need to work on your higher volume head stuff to have a complete package. Also more importantly you sounded like you were doing your own versions not imitating the original singers on the good ones so you probably already have your "identity", you just don't realise it :D

Ron - I think you have touched on something here in terms of just picking up the guitar and bashing out a tune. I love to do this but if you haven't got the playing totally sussed then it can be a distraction from the vocal performance. I'm posting this from my phone so can't highlight examples where I thought it was pitchy but will happily do so later but in addition to the guitar tuning issues the rhythm got a bit jumbled up in places so may have pulled focus off the vocals. I actually listened again this morning and I think for the last minute or so of this you really found the right performance (sounded very relaxed and nice phrasing) versus the first verse and chorus. Not sure if that is helpful but sometimes focussing on what does work is better than trying to identify what didn't. EDIT - Actually Owen has pointed out the main parts I noticed. Basically that first "whisper" and parts of the following chorus sounded flat. All of the other parts where Owen says you were sharp didn't sound as obvious - he may be right - I just didn't hear it. I did hear you singing a higher note than the original in some places but the higher note still seemed to be in the correct scale so for me that's just interpretation whereas a truly sharp or flat note will sound discordant.

Ron - the mix is dominated by the acoustic so your vocals are drowned out a bit in places. Can you tweak this or are they both recorded to the same track? I had to look this song up on YouTube as not heard before - would say difficult to offer much useful feedback due to the volume issues but could hear that you had a problem in a couple of places with the slides he does being slightly flat although that seemed to be less of an issue further into it. You got the energy of the performance right - had I heard the original first I would have thought it wouldn't work acoustically but you pulled it off.

If that's what a sinus infection and strep throat make you sound like where can I get them? Seriously though that was good. Not too familiar with Journey or the original of this so can't assess accuracy but it all sounded good technique wise.

Kendroid - if you read through these threads you will find a lot of very technical talk both on the critique and the technique pages. The reason nothing has been forthcoming for you is because you sound great! As MDEW says you should post something that really highlights the problems you want to fix i.e. the break between registers and you will get more useful feedback. Your post wasn't that self deprecating so don't worry about it but I'm guilty of the same so I guess the moral is just post it and let everyone else make their own opinion. Please don't be put off posting further because I'd like to hear more from you.

Ron - you've just made me start drooling with all that guitar talk :P

Ron - I disagree there. Not everyone who it turns out can sing a bit actually thinks this themselves particularly if you hear yourself differently to how your recorded voice sounds. I know for me it isn't false modesty it is genuine self doubt so I wouldn't like to guess the inner workings of the mind of others. (Well ok sometimes I do but I'm not always right ). I do know where you are coming from of course - I think back to school when the person next to you in art would utter the famous "my picture's rubbish" hoping you would say it wasn't but I think because singing is such a personal thing that for a lot of people it is a big step to expose yourself to criticism and there is almost a feeling of compulsion to point out the flaws that you have identified yourself before everyone else does. Maybe that is what people see as false modesty but I wouldn't call it that. Also if you came straight in saying "I am a singing God" it probably wouldn't be well received - unless of course you were. And it's Liam by the way not Chris. Cheers. Kendroid - equally sorry to hijack your post!

Wow. Flow My Tears was outstanding - very haunting vocals. Was it all in English - I couldn't make out some of the lyrics towards the end? EDIT - just looked up the lyrics and it is quite archaic English so that explains it. Did they make sense to a non native English speaker at first? Rainbow... While I envy your ability to get so much grit in your vocals I thought it was a bit too much here. You seemed to be on the money in terms of the delivery otherwise but maybe just a slightly cleaner vocal would sound better for me. Still infinitely better than I could manage on a Dio song though!

I thought that was really nice. You've got a very natural vibrato and there was a hint of a more classical voice behind that. Have you had classical coaching? On the breath support point - maybe that is an issue if you are aware of it - I'm not really an expert on that but it actually sounded like you just lacked a bit of confidence on the highest notes so went deliberately softer? Nice cover though.