Manolito Mystiq

Yes, I use the FireStudio Mobile by PreSonus. When listening to demos of both by the same singers off the Thomann site: Audio Technica Shure I do hear differences. More low response with the AT and a clearer sound, but not so much that I think I could benefit from it, now. I mean the soul singer examples sounds as great using either.

Well, I lowered Mary’s lines. What I Used: My voice; A Shure SM58 microphone; An Ibanez RG1451 Prestige White Plaster guitar (for both the guitar as well as the bass recordings); Kuassa Crème VST, for guitar cleans, overdrive, and distortion; EastWest’s Hollywood Strings for the strings sound; A police siren recording off YouTube; A more isolated track of the choir at the start from ‘Mindcrime at the Moore’; Some parts of the original recording; Some on-board VST effects for flanger, compressor, EQ, etc.; All done using Presonus Studio One 2 Producer.

So here I am. SUITE SISTER MARY Yesterday I tried to make my own backing track of the song (karaoke version), simply because there isn’t one. I’m really a beginner when it comes to mixing, so please don’t mind a beginner’s mixing. Today, I did the vocals. Strangely enough, the main verses towards Mary [Tate] are easier to do than Mary’s lines [Pamela] or even the chorus [either]. I still am doing something odd with my vowels. I think I’m spreading them way too much. Oh, and Mary’s lines have quite some reverb going, because I wanted them to sound angelic and contrasting to the main lines (hey, I’m acting a girl there whose symbolic for light/love to Nikki). There seems to missing some body, some mass. It’s pretty much twang, probably high larynx (didn’t check), but I might be holding back ever so (slighlty) for it: not being belting, but the Oral Twang setup (EVT) or not being Overdrive (CVT, and I guess Tate is a clear example of using Edge; sooo sharp!) or for it being bringing up chest so it sounds everything but chest (SLS/SS). Please comment. Oh, and don’t worry. I can take some critique. I’ve had them.

Yeah, I’m practicing ‘Jet City Woman’ and ‘Suite Sister Mary’.

Silent Lucidity is pretty tough for me, because I can only get so low as F#2. I’ll see what I can do.

I meant that younger could be a bit frustrating because of the voice cracking for men. At least I had a lot of trouble when I was 13-14.

Seventeen is a great age to start. I suggest to get lessons or develop a very sensitive ear for sounds, singing sounds, vowel sounds, etc. Experiment with your voice. It can take some. If it hurts, yes surely, you must stop.

Yes, I got to learn how to efficiently use my microphone setup. This is just being lazy. Also, yes. I pinch here and there quite some. Will do a redo.

Fair point. I discovered DT after Queensrÿche, so obviously I noticed how extreme he does his vowel modification. Geoff Tate was a master in being understandable all throughout his range. LaBrie is quite the opposite.

Change your attitude, man. Questioning if there is any hope for you is so negative. Of course there is hope for you. You’re just starting. What’s your age? You’ve got a nice tone, and you have sense of both pitch and rhythm. Both need work, but you’re just starting, so it’s only natural that you’re far from where you want to be as a singer. I just listened to the original. Okay so there the singer raises his pitch an octave. And then back even lower than before (not really singing, more a sort of rap). Try to sing the high parts like you do now, but try to raise the whole line higher, gradually. If possible you could go as high as the original. Just experiment.

Thanks, I’ll try that. Yes, now listening it back after a while, it’s kinda neat, but compared to all the rest of my singing, the high D sticks out tonewise. I’ll experiment some more. Thanks, again.

I’m 28. Yeah, I found my old pic to be funny. Thanks, anyway.

Hey, Hey, H E R E you go!!! This is a song by Harv Harbinson who is now a member of the band Stormzone if I’m not mistaken. Anyway, I really like the first bit of this song. It’s very lyric with all the long notes, but it’s really fun to do. I have both a Shure SM58 microphone and a LS-10 voice recorder. I used the latter, because I can’t make my voice sound like anything using the mic. If that is due to bad projection, I should work on that, I guess. I’m classicaly trained and I did a lot of musical theater stuff, too, where microphone usage is pretty different. I record using the FireStudio Mobile and Studio One 2. So, it sounds funny because the recording is quite dry, while my recording is super wet. Up to B♭4 I seem to be fine, because I constrict a bit with the D5, which may sound nice to some, but I’d like to have it cleaner. My tone seems quite balanced, but I think I can open up more. Lyrics (I messed up here and there): CONFUSION by Harv Harbinson I thought we could make it. My thoughts were misgiven, not knowing you took me for a fool. What could I do as you stood before me? I was amazed by your charm. Twisting me round your little finger, requesting love was what I sought. As I went to touch you, I could’ve settled on you. You seem to mark me with your eyes. Cheers, Mano

In the second part you sound a bit constricted and in the third even more. It probably is tiredom, yes. But, nicely done. Very Halfordish. Way too much presence of reverb/delay, though.

Sing the chorus, but as if you are crying at the same time. It won’t sound great, but it is an exercise. You could also try to do it yawning, again, just as an exercise. I hope you will notice a certain ease and a certain quality of your voice when you sing it while yawning or while crying and recognize when other singers are doing it. Right now, you are hardly doing it, which makes your tone sound flat. I’ll give you an example when I have the time. In the meantime, just try it out.

Fantastic voice. Nice backing track, too!

Do you mean the first verse? Because after that, you could say I’m only in a high range (E4-B4 and in the end E5 (up to E6)). My last verse (bridge?) is pretty weak. The interjections after the solo were tougher than I expected. I was left with few energy for the last verse.

What method do you use? Because in the methods and system I use, that would only work counterproductive. CVT: I could open up more, I have too much ‘hold’ [Curbing], while I could project more straightforward [Overdrive]. SLS/SS: My larynx position is too high, I need to lower it [this seems counterproductive according to other systems, though; namely EVT and CVT]. I spread my vowels way too much. I’m pulling up chest, need to find another approach. EVT: I could use some neck anchoring for a more balanced sound. My AES is too much at work, causing constriction. High larynx is good, but I could retract more, and balance the usage of my CT and TA muscles better. I have control over my tilt (TA) because of the well done vibrato, but I might tilt my CT more. I could work on experimenting with a thin and thick vocal folds configuration.

You definitely have sense of pitch. And wow, the song is quite demanding singing it an octave lower. When you go up in the higher range, you lose sense of key here and there. And your ad-libs are pretty sloppy. Either avoid them for the time being or work on them slowly (slowing down the main recording, or get the sheet music; I'm not sure if the phrasing is written down there as precise, though). 2.14 is really off pitch. And from there on you keep having trouble staying in key. There is hardly any presence of tilt in your voice. It's a technicality, but you are pretty flat. Try to make sound when you yawn and keep that sound when you first speak out the lyrics and then sing them. It will sound as if you are crying. Remember how you can configure your voice to be in this ‘cry mode’. Obviously it won’t sound all that good in this new mode, but this is for training purposes. After some trying, you can let go a bit of cry.

Long live the Rÿche!!!

Hey there, So here you go. A full recording of the song. Interestingly, there are spots where I easily hit the high B’s, but there are places with constriction. At times it sounds cool because of the creaky presence, but obviously I could need some correcting on that. Also, I sometimes sound a little, muffled, like I hold back, along with some off-pitch moments. The final time I sing ‘Children of the Damned’ is actually pretty relaxed, powerful and well pronounced (with the E6 and added vocal fry, me experimenting my whistle voice). There are timing issues too, but the band wasn’t so steady at places to begin with. On to take 2, but maybe you hear other stuff I could work on. :cool: Sincerely, Manolito

Great job! I like your growls here and there. I think there reason it sounds so samey when it comes to dynamics has more to do with the recording (the microphone quality). However, you could indeed try to be a bit more dynamic. But it’s hard in such a song. It’s a bit Christina Aguilera like; by that I mean the constant level belt.But, power, ease, and attitude. Good stuff.

Woaw, a Queensrÿche Cover thread!!! So many songs I’d like to do!!! I did a short bit of Jet City Woman as an exercise (so it’s pretty raw): HERE. I’m going to record a full version. I’ve been working on I Dream in Infrared, but it’s just so godly Tately done, that I think it’s something I would aim for later. Suite Sister Mary is as rock opera / musical it can get. It won’t be easy to make a good backing track for it, though. My voice is quite broadway like. Most probably because I’ve mainly had classical singing lessons (I’ve tried to work with rock/pop teachers, but really, it didn’t work out, until a recent one I’ve found).