Gneetapp

​Hey GSoul, I could not even see the attached file. It shows an empty window in my screen. What am I doing wrong?

Here is my attempt, also at trying to mix for a good balance of music with voice.
https://app.box.com/s/em0tqq2maxoxp5kllc7wwz89a986oci7
 

Hey Wakawaka, I liked your timbre man. You know you are singing 1 octave below the original, right?! I also liked how you changed the melody just a bit in a few parts. May I ask you how you recorded this song? Because the volume of your voice seems to fluctuate throughout the song. I think that maybe because you sang this song so softly you didn't support accordingly, and that might be one of the reasons of the fluctuations in the volume, and sometimes on the pitch. So, by your description on the top, and the way you chose to sing this song, I assume you struggle to sing the high notes of the songs you like. It that is true, and you are passionate about singing, even with no professional intention, I think you should invest in learning and training vocal techniques. You already have a good voice, you just need to learn the right techniques and practice. Cheers

​Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Support can be hard to get going if you didn't learn it properly. I won't try to teach you how to support, as I am no vocal teacher or an advanced vocal student. But if I may offer you a piece of advice, you should try to: 1) get lessons with a good coach, and there are several really good coaches here in the forum. And if you are into Rock and Hard Rock, is even better, because almost all of the coaches here are also fans of this style. 2) get a good singing program/method. Also here, there are a few very good choices, and Robert Lunte, the owner of this forum has written one of the most (if not the most) complete and comprehensive singing methods The Four Pillars of Singing. You should do one or the other, but if you can do both, your progress will be even faster. I'm telling you this as a friendly advice from someone who took a few lessons, but is working really hard by himself to learn and train the correct techniques to improve singing. I tell you this, it takes forever to do it by yourself, and very few people succeed, because you can fall into so many traps that you need someone with experience to guide you through this maze of information in a journey of self discovery (your singing voice). Cheers 

Hey Wakawaka, I liked your timbre man. You know you are singing 1 octave below the original, right?! I also liked how you changed the melody just a bit in a few parts. May I ask you how you recorded this song? Because the volume of your voice seems to fluctuate throughout the song. I think that maybe because you sang this song so softly you didn't support accordingly, and that might be one of the reasons of the fluctuations in the volume, and sometimes on the pitch. So, by your description on the top, and the way you chose to sing this song, I assume you struggle to sing the high notes of the songs you like. It that is true, and you are passionate about singing, even with no professional intention, I think you should invest in learning and training vocal techniques. You already have a good voice, you just need to learn the right techniques and practice. Cheers

​Hi Wakawaka, does your interface have a gain or trim knob? You may have to adjust that so your signal doesn't have to be amplified too much in the software. But be careful not to overload the signal either, or else you will have the signal clipping. I think that for basic recordings any dynamic mic should be ok. Oh, also, make sure you don't have Phantom power on, in your interface. If your microphone is a dynamic it won't need it. Cheers

​Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Support can be hard to get going if you didn't learn it properly. I won't try to teach you how to support, as I am no vocal teacher or an advanced vocal student. But if I may offer you a piece of advice, you should try to: 1) get lessons with a good coach, and there are several really good coaches here in the forum. And if you are into Rock and Hard Rock, is even better, because almost all of the coaches here are also fans of this style. 2) get a good singing program/method. Also here, there are a few very good choices, and Robert Lunte, the owner of this forum has written one of the most (if not the most) complete and comprehensive singing methods The Four Pillars of Singing. You should do one or the other, but if you can do both, your progress will be even faster. I'm telling you this as a friendly advice from someone who took a few lessons, but is working really hard by himself to learn and train the correct techniques to improve singing. I tell you this, it takes forever to do it by yourself, and very few people succeed, because you can fall into so many traps that you need someone with experience to guide you through this maze of information in a journey of self discovery (your singing voice). Cheers 

Jugulator,,, I am as impressed by your singing as I am by your prolific amount of work. You have been busy.  Great work brother, truly, it sounds pretty good... and your recordings are good too. 
I would suggest that you go over to the Home Recording forum and make a post that lays out what your technology chain is, DAW and plugins so people can also lear from your recording chops. What kind of mic is that?
Nice work man, its cool having you here... 
Why don't you tell us your story?  How did you get into singing? How did you get into working on all these covers? what lessons have you learned in your journey?  What tips would you share with the community that are inspired by your work?
Where are you from Russia?  

Thank you very much, Robert!
I am from Kursk, an ancient russian city. It's approx. 500 km to the south from Moscow.
I've been singing for 25 years. Never taken any voice lessons, but I used to take piano lessons when I was a schoolboy.
I started to record cover songs about 5 years ago. It was my wife who first asked me if I could try to record something. Then I bought a Shure SM-58 mic and now he I am
To be continued...

​    I looked up the chords on the internet and what most people had written was wrong. My chords are wrong also   I had to use poetic license and create my own for the most part'
It is hard to transfer piano chords to one guitar.....My fingers do not stretch far enough to get a bass line in there.

Great cover! I liked your tone, but I have to agree with some of the guys. If you want to sound soul/RnB you need a different backing track, and if you want to sound rock, you need to add more edge and atitude. Very nice singing though!

Songs like this fit right in your voice and style.

​  OK.  I will accept that for now. But next time, if I don't sing at least a G#4, you have to slap me down a few notches.

I got some problem to start a new topic and Adolph is kind enough to try a solve that issue. So is it ok to post my Highway star- training clip here?
It was a rainy morning today here in Finland and i had some time so i tryed this month challenge. I´m not too happy with the result, it´s a very hard song for me but here it is anyway
 

Nice Marcus ... When you go live with the band you're going to need to belt more, but it's pretty good.
Watch your tempo. I'm being a bit of a picniker here, but your tempo accelerated as it progressed. Try it again with a metronome ... 

​That's a good thing to clarify there.  The original idea Elvis was proposing seemed vaguely in between a contest and a challenge.
I'm definitely the collaborative type. If I can help with singing or recording, I'll be happy to. Singing at and above D5 with thick rasp is definitely not my strong point as a singer so it may be I can learn some things here as well.
As for how I approached mine, I warmed up by dialing in resonance (buzz at top row of teeth while humming). And leaned more towards narrower 'a' and 'er' on the higher notes than I normally do in my regular singing. The style of singing I generally use taps out into something closer to falsetto earlier than the screams in this song so I modified vowels and went a lot more 'pingy' and metallic. I used my normal rasp on the mid range notes which feels like a twangy vowel shift with an alteration of air flow.

Folks... I don't think this is a competition. If its a competition, it won't succeed. People won't "compete"... this is not about competing... it about learning and getting a review on your singing, ... but at the same time, comparing your version to others, learning from others how they got through it, learning how to make home recordings and to "challenge" yourself, not each other... 

i have an awesome Highway Star karaoke track laying somewhere around. Gonna upload it soon.

Well I figure I should get the ball moving. I had to warm up today so I took a shot at this song. Failed at properly sirening up to the G#5 but took a sing at the rest of the song:
 
https://app.box.com/s/jywkmpdpvv6tcwecd3mcwxgg5vc1cuin
 
I don't think I'll count this towards the challenge because I rested twice due to nerve pain and it's not fair if it isn't completely live but hopefully it will get the ball rolling.

​So be it. Quarterpounders with cheese all around

​GSoul82 is now a member of our Moderator team and is the "Manager of Challenges"... Congratulations GSoul82... There are people all over the world that will be counting on you and will appreciate your help in doing this. I don't suspect that it has to be a big time sucking endeavor... its just a couple polls a month, choose a song and encourage people to participate. Again, lets try to make this not only about singing, but also about production / making recordings since that is half the battle... And frankly, a singer that can't make a decent home recording or doesn't know much about that is missing an important skill set required to audition, make demos, learn songs, know what the **** your doing when you go to a real studio with your band and no embarrassing yourself, learning about effects, compression, comping, DAWs, etc... I think this is a really cool aspect of this project.
Singers need to have the basics of recordings and production learned and understood as well as singing!
Without production, you got... your bathroom. Last time I checked, its kinda hard for people to hear you in there, other then your mother... recordings is half the art form.

In order to facilitate members needs to find a bed/backing/karaoke track to participate in "The Singing Challenges", use these services below if you do not already have a bed track for the song. In order to keep us on the bright side of copyrights, please do your best to just purchase the track. They typically are $1-$2 a piece, so its no big deal.
Karaoke-version.com offers a nice feature that allows you to get the bed tracks in different keys if you so desire.
Karaoke Version
CLICK HERE >>>
Or
Amazon.com
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UPDATE: Please check the current month's challenge topics for the most current information and dates pertaining to challenge start and end dates. The dates in this topic that pertain to selection of the next month's genres and songs still do stand.
For example, we will begin voting for the next months challenges on the 25th.
Then song suggestion starts on the 29th.
Then challenge song voting will start on the 2nd.
However, for the date that the next month's challenges will start, please check the current challenge topics.
 
Hey all,
This thread will contain all the rules and guidelines that make up the structure of the monthly challenges that we will be doing. There will be a new topic every month for each actual challenge, so it's important to have a topic where everything regarding how it will work is posted. This way, anybody interested in taking part in this can simply come in here and read how things will work, then go into the latest monthly challenge topic to discuss everything about that particular challenge.
What is the monthly challenge? What is the point of it all? What will I get out of it?
A few weeks ago, I proposed a monthly challenge. Each month, we will vote on a different genre to approach, then select a song from the genre. For the duration of the challenge, everybody involved in the challenge will attempt to sing that song. It's important to note that this is NOT a contest where someone will lose. The point of this challenge is for everyone to gain something from approaching things they would not normally attempt. For example, I identify as more of an R&B guy. The current challenge for May is Highway Star by Deep Purple. I have an appreciation for Rock, but I rarely sing it. This month, I'm going to sing that song and I'm going to post it. And this next part is also noteworthy. You do NOT have to sing it the way the original artist does and use the same vocal effects (rasp, twang, etc.). You can also choose to take the song and arrange it so you're at home with the way you're singing it. For example, I could attempt to take Highway Star and sing it with an R&B vibe as well. At the moment, I actually don't know how I would do that, lol, but that's exactly why it's a challenge. So, I have to decide whether I'm going to approach it and try to attain that Rock sound or re-arrange it R&B style.
The whole point of this is that, if you can approach a song that you wouldn't normally sing, and then sing it in that style or re-arrange it so that you can sing it in a way that's natural for you, you can truly sing anything. And, once you are left to your own devices and you are faced with a challenge that's completely out of your element, that's when your inner artist is really going to come out.
Even if you're at home with the current genre that's being chosen, and the song that's chosen happens to be relatively easy for you, it is greatly encouraged that you participate so that you can help others with the stylistic aspect of the challenge.
In addition to approaching new things musically, many of us will be undertaking the task of learning our way around audio production software. Some of the programs that people are learning while undertaking the challenge are Cubase, Reaper and Logic Pro X. Production is an extremely valuable skill to learn, especially if you are considering pursuing music as a career. This skill will allow you to create your own demos to send out and get singing gigs and you may even end up producing your own album.
Summary
So, to sum up. We vote for a genre, select a song, and everybody spends about a month attempting to sing that song while either maintaining the style of the genre or trying or re-arranging it so that you can sing it in a way that is natural for you. You may post as many versions of you singing the song as you desire, as long as you make it clear when your final version is posted. Rough drafts are greatly encouraged. All versions should be posted in the current monthly challenge topic. We will all discuss our difficulties and accomplishments regarding style and production for the current monthly challenge inside of the current monthly challenge topic. At the end,  there may be some anonymous voting to decide which version is liked the best, but it's important to note this is not a challenge between us. This is a challenge against yourself. Everybody has something to gain from getting involved here.
Genres:

R&B
 
Country
 
Blues
 
Rock
 
Pop
 
Folk
 
Jazz
 
Gospel
 
Important Dates
Let's open voting on the 25th of the month from now on. This will be for genre selection. We'll be doing two genres again. Voting will be open for 4 days. 
Voting will open for song selection on the 29th. It will be open for 3 days. This won't be a poll. Everybody can suggest two songs for each genre, just like before.
 
Voting for the challenge songs will open on the 2nd, and it will run for 4 days.
 
The challenge will begin on the 6th.
By the end of the 6th of the following month, all final recordings should be in. I'm going by Pacific Standard Time, so if you live somewhere else where time is somewhat behind, just send me a message so I know. Anonymous voting will then go on for about 3 days (69 hours).
By the end of the 5th of the following month, whoever received the most votes will be clear.
This month's contest will officially end on the 6th of the following month, meaning everything to do with it will be done by that time. 
 
 
Where do I get the necessary bed tracks to sing over?
When dealing with producing your own track, you need an instrumental version of the song so that you can sing over it. Also, we want to remain on the right side of copyright protection. Please no sharing of bed track / karaoke files. To purchase your own file, is only $1-$2, so please honor the original creator's (the bed track / karaoke company), property rights. 
In order to make things easier for participants, here's one place where many tracks can be found
Karaoke Version
CLICK HERE >>>
If anybody has any suggestions about any of this, go ahead and speak your mind. I may be managing this topic, but this is about the way everyone wants to do this. I'm just putting things into motion.
 
 

I'm not sure the low notes are the problem. Personally I've never discovered a technique of forcing low notes without resorting to some element of vocal fry or 'croaking' at notes. It is not mechanically easy to force low notes compared to high notes. 
 
I think it'd be a much clearer picture after work was done with adding upper resonance into the sound. I did a little example here, of what my voice sounds like at the bottom of my range, depending on how I apply resonance:
 
https://app.box.com/s/covyx7e37mvm7vc4ha6g9zoyahdyjvir
 
The same notes, will sound different to a listener depending on how resonance is applied. If there isn't brighter resonance to counteract a low note, in general the voice is more likely to sound forced or to faked listener. Neither voice I did here was forced and my larynx wasn't even depressed very far. I recentered the resonance to a place the average listener might find more conversational. Generally speaking the 'woofier' you are the more difficult your upper range will be. So singing in this style may be a component of having difficulty reaching high notes.
 
 
Anyway, I wouldn't worry much about fach, but I wouldn't exclude the possibility you are an untrained contralto nor be quick to exclude the notes you're already singing even if others think they sound forced or fake. From what I've read, real contraltos often have difficulty finding brighter resonance. Sounding muffled is not unheard of even amongst famous singers:
 
 
 
I'd keep working on your voice and if notes don't cause strain or hoarseness, I'd keep singing them and wouldn't rely on untrained (including myself) people to fach you or decide what is forced or not forced for you either way.

​Killer, I would love to do a skype session with you sometime.  If not, it will help us both exchange some notes, since we are both excited by the idea of doing this very song
I think I have narrowed down my issue to an extent that I know what the problem is.  If I forget about really making a powerful sound and just sing like I do normally, the notes are absolutely in my range.  I have a problem only when I try to sing songs in this range around the passagio powerfully.  Maybe I am using too much twang perhaps longer than what is necessary.  Strangely for me, this causes issues in my ah(as in cat) sound and I think this is what spills into the specific words.  I think Rob addresses this in his videos, where he says that twang helps in getting the high notes and the listener cannot make out the difference since the nasality is only for a fraction of a second(or something to that effect).  
To me, I think the solution lies in building the muscle memory to build the onset using twang, but releasing twang without losing the compression.  I think I have a much better version of this song in me in the months to come.. And I can carry over this lesson to other similar songs..