berniemcpeak

You're welcome Potential. If you have an iphone the following link lists several apps to help you with pitch and tone. Even a simple tuning app for guitar can help you. Heck, your guitar (tuned, of course) can be of great help to you simply by plucking notes on the strings and matching them with your voice. And remember to do it "cleanly". Don't worry about vibrato or any extraneous effects. Simple, clean notes. Once you've mastered them yo ucan start working on scales to help increase your range.

Hmmm... where to start. I'm going to give you my honest opinion. And it's not going to be pretty, but I give it to you in hopes that you will take it for what it's worth and look to improve yourself. I mean, that's why we're here right? I'll start with what I thought was positive in your performance. Your "feel" or "passion" or whatever you want to call it. You came across as very passionate in your singing. Now for the bad... Almost everything else. You pitch was both flat AND sharp in areas, but mostly flat and honestly it sounded like you're a bit "tone deaf". And you put WAY too much emphasis on trying to vibrato your voice and make it "gravelly". You need to learn to hold a note before you can carry a tune. You might want to try picking up a tuning app and work on hitting notes and holding them cleanly. Trying to vibrato before learning to hold a clean note is like trying to drive a sports car without ever having had a driving lesson. The result will not be good. I think you can remedy these things with some patience and practice. Basics first. Keep it simple. And work your way up from there. I'm only being honest in my opinion and not trying to be rude or hurtful. Other opinions may be different, but this is mine. Eric

A little "blue eyed soul" cover of Bobby Caldwell's hit "What You Won't Do for Love". I heard this tune in an old movie and I recalled how much I liked it so I went onto iTunes and found, what I think, is an excellent backing track. This recording was done in one take, cold. I used my iPhone to look up the lyrics so please forgive a couple of small timing issues as I basically "sight sang" it (I hadn't sung or listened to this song in years). My pitch is not as high as Mr. Caldwell's is in the original, but I think it works well in this tune. I recorded it using the VocaLive app on my iPad2, with a cheap Shure stage mic. I think the mix turned out well, but I'm always ready to hear suggestions or comments on how I could improve it. On the vocal track I used medium compression, a soft de-esser, a little reverb, and very little delay to blend with the backing track and to give it more of a studio feel. Please have a listen and as always, I appreciate constructive feedback. Thanks, Eric.

I did like the Dream Theater song you posted, but again I have nothing to compare it to since I'm not familiar with the origianl tune. A note about Journey/Steve Perry tunes... I wouldn't really consider them "lighter" fare. On the contrary, they are some of the most challenging tunes to carry properly from a vocalist's point of view. The music itself maybe lighter than what you're used to, but don't mistake that for being "easier" to sing. It's the same with Hall & Oates or even Phil Collins. These are all powerful voices and their range is incredible. I hope I didn't offend with my original critique, as it was not my intention. I believe critisism is good, as long as it's constructive. I'm simply trying to give you an insight into what I am hearing, and hopefully it will help you find your true voice.

I think sometimes a singer has to find the right genre of music to showcase their talents. I think your voice would sound very good singing some lighter stuff.

I think your tone is good, but you seem to lack the power to push the sound in the right direction. I'm not familiar with the original tune so I can't compare, but I'm just going by what I feel the style is. I imagine it's a more operatic type voice with power behind it, like Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford, no?

First the good... Your playing was very good. The only issue I heard was that you seemed to lose time a bit. Sometimes it would slow and other times it would pick up. I'm not talking about the arrangment, but your actual time keeping. Now for the bad... While you have a good tone to your voice, it was very flat all througout the song. And it also lacked a "feel". I liked the arrangment. Keep working on your vocals and timing. You have a good start.

thank you Validar. What are your thoughts on the harmony?

Hey everyone, I've been MIA around here lately, with the holidays and all. I was hoping to do a Christmas cover or two during the holidays, but I never got around to it. Maybe next Christmas... Anyway, I haven't been singing much at all lately but I heard this tune on Pandora and it reminded me of what a great, simple song this is and I though I'd give it a go. I didn't try to re-create Joe Cocker's version, as his voice is so unique, and quite frankly I don't have that "raspiness" he does. So I found a backing track with acoustic guitar and decided to give it my own spin. As always, any constructive input is appreciated. Hope you like it. Eric edited* - After listening to the Sound-cloud link I realized that the harmony track was way too loud and overpowering the main vocal melody. I hope this re-mix sounds better.

And close your eyes. It always helps me for the first song or two.

You're just nervous. It's expected. You sound good. Don't try to "push" too hard and try to relax. Breath. And it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of stiff drinks before hand ;-)

Thanks Gneetapp. I'm still learning this whole mixing thing. My first couple of mixes turned out pretty well, I suppose through dumb luck. As I'm progressing in learning to mix I think I'm trying too hard to find the perfect mix and trying too hard to get it right.

Thanks Ron. After listening to both back to back, I can see what she and you are talking about. It's an interesting effect, that I can let go more with some songs when the original is in my ear and others I have no problem with on my own. Perhaps it's because I've sung that song so many times with the original that I need the "crutch" of having it in my ear. Kind of like a follow-the-leader thing? In my first attempt, which was several takes pieced together, I was constantly nervous on the mic and self-conscious of my voice. The second attempt was one take, one shot. I'm still learning a lot about myself and my voice, and this certainly has made me think about what "my style" is. Eric

First things first.... you rocked the sh*t outta that tune Igor! Secondly, I do agree with Olem and Singingnewbie that the vocals are slightly out of sync in some parts. But that certainly isn't a sing killer. Third, the video kicked a**! I have no other real critique for you. Just keep on rocking! If you're familiar with Skid Row, I'd like to hear your do some of their stuff. I think you can pull off Sebastian Bach's style. Eric

funny, I was about to post up that you have a S&G sound to this tune before I read that S&G did this tune! I really liked this version. I agree with MDEW that maybe easing up on the harmonies would be a good change, but it certainly isn't necessary. My only real critique is in the musical portion, not the vocal. In the music the "horns" sound just a bit off tempo through the middle of the song. That's it. That's all of my critique. Well done sir! :-) Eric

Thank you so much for the input. It is greatly appreciated. Ron, thanks for such an insightful response. So, when I said "I needed to get this one out" it's because I've been wanting to do it for a while and I had planned on doing it back at the end of October and then I strained my voice during Halloween. It's taken until this last week or so for my voice to recover enough to feel comfortable in the "Perry zone". I completely agree with what you stated about one's audience. I guess i was caught off guard by her critique because I can understand when someone points out where I flat or sharp or off tempo, but "passion" was such a subjective term that I didn't know how to process it. So I asked her to clarify her point and she told me that it was just that she feels I have sung it better in the past. In stopping to think about it I realized something. She had only ever heard me sing it in the car or at home, with the song playing loud enough where I felt comfortable really letting the air out of my lungs. With this in mind I came to understand what she was saying. With certain songs, when I listen to a voice like Perry's, I can "let go" and really sing in my power range when I have the tune turned up a ways. It just feels like it flows from me easier. So this time I tried it again, only with the original turned up on my headphones, while singing along into the mic. You can pick up Perry's voice faintly bleeding through my headphones in the background of my vocal recording. Then I took the original song, removed the vocals, and recorded it on one of the tracks. She felt this one was more indicative of how I usually sing it, but I'm not sure about that. Have a listen and tell me what you think. Ed and Joseph, thank for pointing out where you felt I was flat or sharp. I think I was able to heed your advice in the second take. MDEW and Geno, thank you for the encouraging words. Yes Geno, it is a much tougher song than most people realize. I really enjoyed your cover of it.

I haven't put anything up in a little while because, well life's been busy and I just haven't been "feeling" it lately. But the last couple of days I started feeling the need to get this one out of me. This song is more difficult than it seems, but I felt like I was in good voice and ready to give it a go. Unfortunately I was given a less than satisfactory review by someone close to me. Her comment was "well, it was okay but it lacked passion". This comment really caught me off guard, because if I don't "feel it" I won't sing it. I thought I carried this one pretty well, so I'm trying to hear what she heard, or didn't, as it were. I'd appreciate any feed back you guys could give me on this on. Am I "lacking passion" on this one?

I think your pitch is pretty good. Nice tone, too. I don't hear much nasal sound. My critique is mostly about your pronunciation and tempo. You pronounce "this" as "dis" several times and your accent is quite heavy. You also seem to lose the tempo in the chorus when it picks up the pace. When those things improve I think you'll be nailing it. :-) Eric

O contraire mon frere! A cover of a cover...THAT is the beauty of it. The "hillbilly" twang was just the icing on the cake my good man! I wholeheartedly agree with Ron. Most excellent work! :-) Eric

Not bad. My critiques would be; A. Back away from the mic a bit. Your breathing was a bit distracting. B. You need to bring up the guitar a bit. It was lost behind your voice. C. You sounded a bit tense and nervous. I can relate to this. Get comfortable and let it flow naturally. D. I like what you did around 1:10 or so. You gave it a kind of "rock-a-billy" feel and it sounded like you were starting to channel a little Elvis Presley there towards the end. Keep it at it and post some more stuff. I think you have a good start. :-) Btw, I'm no professional and I really don't know much, technically. These are just my opinions and what I'm hearing. Eric

I think Ron has a point, but I also think with a little more practice and polish you can pull off this one nicely.

http://youtu.be/fFwbZQBDQFU Click the link and listen to one of the best covers of Lionel Ritche's "Hello".

MDEW is correct. If you're ursine IE8 or older you'll get funky errors with SC. Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari don't seem to have any issues.

Validar, thank you for your kind words. I've always listened to a wide range of music so I suppose it's been ingrained in me over the years. Having no technical vocal background I can't say how I do it. It just comes out. I'm trying to understand it more and the community here has been very helpful in that regard. I always seem to gravitate towards unique, raspy voices amd those seem the farthest out of reach for me. I'm going to try to cover either Alice In Chains cover or Pearl Jam in my next cover to try my hand at that type of voice. Ron, thank you my friend. I always enjoy your music (and your posts). :-) Jaka, thank you. I posted on your thread as well :-) Jug, thanks man. I'm venturing into a style I've always enjoyed, but never performed. Listening to your stuff makes your comment more meaningful. Your stuff rocks! Manolito, thanks so much for the backing track. Yes, you're right that there is too much reverb. The app I'm using was picking up the main track on my vocal tracksso it ends up sounding like reverb. I was prettty bummed, but I think I've figured it out. I think my mkc gain is up too high. It's something I'll work on with the next track. And thank you for your kind words. :-) I I

Although I'm not familiar with these songs, and I do not understand the language, the melodies are beautiful and your friends voice is wonderful. Great tone and pitch control. As for the mixing, my only criticism is maybe bring the piano up a LITTLE bit and if you can, "de-ess" the vocal track a bit. It just a little bit "hissy". It's not the singing, rather the quality of the mic or the gain is up a bit too much. As always, keep in mind I am NOT a professional and these are simply my opinions/observations. I hope you find them helpful. Eric