Gneetapp

On February 27, 2016 at 6:51 PM, Robert Lunte said:

I think some "life experience" in this regard, really helps someone sing this song better... most people have felt like this before. You love someone, but they are not reciprocating. I tried to dial into that feeling on my interpretation. 

Not to steal your spotlight Gneetapp... just so people can get a chance to do some "A/B" testing... and hear the two versions at different octaves, etc... not for my ego, but for educational purposes... 

 

Hey Rob, last night I had some spare time, and just for kicks tried this song 1 octave below, like you did. Oh man I took such a beating! It was so hard to sing the lowest notes, and the ones I managed to sing didn't sound natural to my ears. I might actually record it just to amuse you guys with my pathetic attempt to sound manly with a thundering voice...

14 hours ago, KillerKu said:

This could become a thing. Onto the review.

I can start with some of what interests me about it. I like the rough, harsh quality of the vocal, it has a defiantly independent quality to it and for me that quality sits very well with the subject matter. Everyone has flaws, rough qualities, or harsh qualities, and often times we are rejected for those reasons. Perfection is easier to love. Most people aren't rejected because they are too perfected. 

However, while I think that quality is important, I do think the backing track has this polished quality that is a bit at odds with it so it creates a bit of dissonance. I think keeping some of the tonal roughness, while ironing out a bit of the pitch and timing might mesh better. Maybe even a slightly more polished production on the vocal with a bit more reverb and perhaps delay. In my head I hear a middle ground, a slightly rougher, dirtier (imperfect) backing track, and a slightly more polished (still imperfect) voice might find a middle ground where the two could meet and agree on the expression.

That said, I can feel the heartfelt qualities in the performance and there are times when it works completely for me musically, but other times feels a bit in congruent. If you keep training you'll likely get the expression congruent cause I can already hear it in there, it's just not quiet held together all the time for me yet.

Hi Killer, many thanks for your review my friend. Yeah, I agree with you, and I think Rob must be onto something interesting to try. I think the harsh quality of the vocals could be part because I was pushing a bit harder than I needed and part because as a rocker that is my style. And I agree with you that it sounds a bit odd sometimes because of the polished quality (jazz feel) of the backing track. Which makes me think that turning this song into a power ballad might benefit my voice. I recorded the vocals dry and then added compressor, EQ, delay and reverb. As I was afraid to overdo with the delay and reverb, maybe it was not enough? Regarding the expression, to be honest, I wasn't completely sure of how I was going to sing all the different parts, placement wise. So, I did change things a bit, specially in the choruses ("here in the dark, in these final hours, I will lay down my heart, and I'll feel the power, but you won't..."). I'll try to make some improvements and re-post it. Thanks again for your comments, I'm glad you liked it. Cheers

17 hours ago, Robert Lunte said:

I think some "life experience" in this regard, really helps someone sing this song better... most people have felt like this before. You love someone, but they are not reciprocating. I tried to dial into that feeling on my interpretation. 

Not to steal your spotlight Gneetapp... just so people can get a chance to do some "A/B" testing... and hear the two versions at different octaves, etc... not for my ego, but for educational purposes... 

 

That is a great idea Rob! And BTW, I don't think you are trying to steal my spotlight, specially because I didn't post a video ;-p 

But now You put a pressure on me to work harder to improve my version to clean the rough spots, and make it worthy to compare with. I'll try to do my best on my time. Cheers

On February 27, 2016 at 10:06 PM, MDEW said:

I do not have anything to add except to say I listened and I like it. I also agree with Ronws and Robert dipthongs are a killer.

Other than that awesome job.

Many thanks for your kind words MDEW. I agree with you regarding this diphthongs...

20 hours ago, Robert Lunte said:

Gneetapp, 

Ya, a fun and lovely song to sing...

Ah, you chose to try it an octave higher then I did. I tried it like this as well, just felt I had more control and mojo at the lower octave.. but your voice is pretty... I like the color.

- Be careful not to sing the diphthongs ... "... you can't make m-ee...". Always better to sing through on the open vowel that is presented to you, and let the diphthong be a diphthong. NOT to sustain the "ee".

- 2:00 - 2:08 - tastey.

- I like the little sob/weep onsets your putting into this... well done and very appropriate.

- 3:01 "ma-eek"... theres that diphthong that is being sustained again... careful.

- The rhythmic cues could stand to be tightened up it seems... or maybe you wanted to interpret it loose like this?  There are some onsets and offsets and timing points that are a bit squirrely... tighten up the cues.

- Nice work... Again, I really like the "weepy"/sob vibe you are getting and the color of your voice on that higher octave is really pretty, very tenor'esque.

Glad that my effort inspired you to give it a go... its fun to sing.

Hi Robert, thank you so much for your review and specially for your kind words. I really got to pay attention on the vowels and diphthongs, they are always throwing me off. I think this is the original key, or very close. I don't think I could do this song justice if I did it 1 octave lower than the original. So I had to work on the original key. I started flirting with this song right before one of the vocal challenges we had. But back then I still could not touch this the way I did now, although I still have trouble with a few spots (e.g. "and I will give up this fight...") where I still strain a bit. I thought that a little sadness would be appropriate as it is a break-up song, but I was concerned that it would sound too much whiny. I got to work also on the rhythmic cues too, especially on the chorus, although I think I did better  on the 2nd chorus. I will keep on working in this song trying to get stronger, improve the rhythmic cues, and narrowing the vowels. Thanks again for your review, it means a lot to me. Cheers

21 hours ago, Elvis said:

So after a long long while i returned to singing and even tough i sang this last year, i wasnt really practicing in a strickt sense of that word.

But some good things happened to my voice.

I will return to forum in pursuit of more vocal improvement.

 

I wanted to share a small clip of some sirens up to C#5 for your reviewing. I understand this is far from perfect but this is something i havent been able to do before.

 

https://app.box.com/s/xprqtqixm5zym91l4dxxenyr58ddi07d

 

I just wanted to know if im on the right track to gaining vocal range or am i just shooting in the dark.

 

Thanks!

Hi Elvis, good to see you back here man. I have to agree with Rob, you are doing this to fast. I liked the timbre for rock and hard rock songs. You have to pay attention when you descend, because it sounds you are flipping to falsetto, you can hear a click in all three attempts. The 2nd one is my favorite BTW. Keep on rocking!

1 minute ago, ronws said:

I think the timbre totally works. Just use one vowel instead of two in a long note. That makes it more consistent.

Thanks man, I'll try to work at that when I sing from now on.

17 minutes ago, ronws said:

I think the pitch wobbles can be fixed by simpler vowels. For example, you sang "toon -a eet" and that was the correct thing to do. And remember, you have a mic and a DAW, so don't push the voice, let it get to where it needs to. And I like what you did. I think this song was made for you and vice versa. Definitely keep this one in your set of "songs I can do and get applause." It is right in your wheel house. You sounded strong and centered all the way through.

Are you recording your own instruments? I have not heard this arrangement. If so, awesome and well done.

Hi Ronws, it seems I'm always getting in trouble with my vowels. I think I should really start paying more attention to that. I posted my 1st attempt at this song 1-2 years ago, but the approach was way lighter (IMO). I just wanted to post this again because it has been so long I haven't practiced singing, and I used it as warmup and was surprised with the results. Thank you so much for you kind words. I really like the way my voice sounds with this song. This is a backing/Karaoke track I downloaded from you tube. Cheers

4 minutes ago, ronws said:

I like the rough edge to your voice, If I could suggest, however, keep the vowels simple. Earlier, with "eyes", you sang ah-ees and that dipthong made a wobble. Later with "fight," you held the ah and that is what gave that line such mobility and you could take it wherever you wanted. When singing, you cannot pronounce the same way as when you speak. Later in the song, you simplified your vowels and it was the stronger section. If you do the first half like the second half, it will be consistent.

And that's just a suggestion, because I like what you did with this, including singing in or near the original key.

Thank you so much for your kind words, review and tips Ronws. I always learn something from your tips. You are right about the 2nd half being stronger than the 1st. I just don't know what happened, but I had work really hard to make the levels more similar. At first I thought it was just the mic distance or the way I placed my voice, but it could have been the narrowing of the vowels. I also listened several pitchy spots I can fix, but am more concerned with the overall timbre, as I wasn't sure how I was going to approach the song. I'm glad you liked man. I'll keep working on it on my schedule. Thanks again

I finally had the time to practice and recorded this lovely song. The effects were compressor, EQ, Delay and Reverb. I would like to thank Rob Lunte for inspiring me to work in this song. I know it is still rough in several patches but I hope with time and work it will become a worthy cover. 

Hi Aravind, thank you so much for the kind words and the tips. Yeah I noticed some changes in tonal quality too. In my defense I wanted to say that some are intentional, as I was  experimenting with subtle changes as I was going along. But also, I noticed that my microphone (Behringher B2 condenser) was making some noises and also suddenly dropping  the sound. Very weird. It could be a problem with the mic or cable. I will definitely pay more attention while singing from now on, to keep the same quality. I know I can do this song so much better, but am lacking the time to practice my voice. This song was my warmup literally, no exercises before recording it. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the result. Well, thanks again my friend! Cheers

Hi guys, it's been a long time since a posted a song. So, yesterday I had some free time and recorded this as a warm-up. Even though I listened only once after recording, I already found a few rough or pitchy spots. Anyway, I was wondering if there is anything you guys like about it. Vocal was recorded in one take, then added compressor, EQ, Delay and reverb. Cheers.

43 minutes ago, MDEW said:

   I am pretty much wondering if it is a song I should pursue or drop. I recorded this at night and did not go all out on the volume as the song calls for. That may help with keeping the timbre a little closer between The verses and choruses. When singing this for fun I usually go for the over modified vowels like the original singer "Oh, How Ah L-ah-ve Y-oh- " but on this I kept it closer to my own speach.

   I had not considered putting this in my song/set list before but if it is worthy I will put more effort into it.

I liked it man! And now that I know you had to sing soft/light because it was late, I'm more convinced that you should pursue this song and work on it a bit more. Cheers

MDEW, I've never heard this song before, so after listening to your version I went to Youtube to search for the original, so I could have a better idea. Before I listened to the original I thought you did really well, and I liked your timbre and emotion. There are a few spots to improve pitch, mainly in the choruses, although you improved a lot in the 2nd and 3rd choruses (IMO). My opinion didn't changed after listening the original (by Moody Blues), I still think you did well, and the song and your voice are very good match. Have you noticed how the singer is doing the "oh how I love you..." part in the chorus? It is not a discreet change in registers (or resonances). Is this what you are struggling with? Because that is the only thing I could notice that needs a bit more work. Congrats man, keep'em coming!

Hi Aravind, first of all congrats for trying something so out of your comfort zone, and doing it so well. I have to agree with Ronws about the perfect match between your voice and the song. I liked the way you did both the verses and chorus. I think that with more practice you will feel more comfortable with the song and it will sound even better, especially in the chorus. Also, for my taste, I would like the chorus even more if you increased the "aduction of the folds / twang" (sorry I'm not sure which one). Cheers and keep them coming. 

I think it is because you are singing in falsetto (airy light head sound/voice).

Very nice timbre Gsoul! I agree with the sound engineering/recording/producing tips people gave you. I think it will make your vocals sit better in the mix. Also, if you recorded this with a headset mic, as ronws mentioned, you would benefit immensely from a condenser mic. Cheers

Hey Aravind, Congrats for taking on such hard song. I thought you sounded really good on the chorus man! What are you trying to change in this song? I think you just need to keep on singing it to make it your own. Very good! 

Elvis, I thought it was really good, I have no idea of how to improve it, unless by practice. There was one moment I can remember that you sounded a bit strained on a high note belt. I would have to go back and listen the song again to check the time. Cheers

Really really good Aravind! Nice timbre and heartfelt performance. I think I told you once that you usually kick some serious arse in this Metal genre. I thought there were only a couple of spots a bit off pitch (steel), but not the highest ones. Maybe it is just my ears or the fact that I don't know the song. But overall it was really good to listen to your cover. Congrats!

A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Tone and timbre Elvis!! Your voice sounds so pro that I wish I could sound like that when I grow up! ;-)

Hi Simpan24, are these notes in your break area, or higher? I think you might be carrying to much weight or slamming your vocal folds together with to much compression because it sounds strained with little resonance. Additionally, you sound off-pitch between the 1st and final notes of the scale. You may find it easier practicing focusing on the resonance or buzz in your head. I am not a vocal coach, so I may be completely wrong. Cheers mate

Great job Anthony! Oh, how I miss performing, now that I broke up with my band. You are in a good path, but try not to neglect training or else you won't be able to raise the pitch of the songs back to the original. Cheers!

Holy Shitzhe! Awesome MDEW! Really good timbre and emotion man! This song is ready to be recorded. Just record guitars first, so you don't get distracted by either playing or singing. I had the impression the guitar might need a slight tuning or new strings. But it could be just my hearing. Keep'em coming man!

Hey Mivke, I think you are doing a great job and are on the right track man! Nice timbre too.