Sexy Beast

Thanks for the  feedback Sexy Beast. I noticed after practicing a bit more in the  car that I can definitely sing this with lighter mass. This rendition was too heavy giving it the shouting quality you described. I think it can still be medium mass and belty, but not sound like shouting. Thanks again! 

Could you record that and post it?

Well I was pleasantly surprised with this! You're still singing too forward but this is in a better direction. Listen to how you are singing: "Too many bitter tears are raining down on me" @ 0:22. This is the correct approach for this range. I have never heard you do that before. Can you sing the chorus like this?

You also need way more legato under your voice. For that you can sing the melodi on any semi-occluded exercise like the straw, lip rolls, v, z, you name it... and keep the same feeling when you are singing the words.

Hey Jabroni, this is what I hear:

You don't know how to sing in your mid/upper range. Basically you're just yelling and that's why you sing flat most of the time. You're in tune in your lower range so you don't have any pitch problems per se. Work on registration/bridging, whatever you wanna call it...

That's hot, huh?

Hey GSoul I think you should work on keeping a steady airflow when you are singing. For this you can use a straw + glass of water, just the straw, lip rolls, tongue trills, any kind of semi occluded really: "v", "z", etc... So for instance: sing the melody first with the straw, then put the words in.

I'm saying this because your voice is very shaky.

Also you should practice the song more because you are changing keys for the chorus. I don't mean going a little flat like most people are when singing acapella, I mean you are modulating to a different key.

And I agree with Denis, you should do some Barry White, you know, for the ladies

Also I recommend learning music from records, phrase by phrase. Listen to the phrase, repeat the phrase. This will improve your ear, pitch, phrasing the list goes on...

i think you are right that Bolton hold back the air to get his great voice

You don't want to hold back the air. What you need is a proper balance between airflow and cord closure.

Hey Pekka, you are overdarkening your voice in places. Don't try to sing it like Michael Bolton, sing it with your voice. Also your tone and pitch are very inconsistent. That said, I think you will be able to do that song with some practice

Hey 8tor,

Good voice but those higher notes need more work. Basically you are trying to bring your speech vowels up into the higher range which simply doesn't work very well. I hear a lot of splatty "ah" vowels and your ee's and oo's are very tight. A good teacher could help you clean that up. Or you could listen to recordings of good singers and copy their vowels.

 

But I'm looking to improve my singing so I can front my own band.

Your singing is good enough.

I liked your cover and you've got a nice voice but...

You need to work on your rythm/timing. It is very unstable and that's pretty much the only thing prevent this from sounding very good. Practice your guitar part with a metronome, then add your voice . If you can't keep a stable rythm you will sound unprofessional. Don't be afraid to simplify your comping: try to keep a steady reggae rythm first before adding the little emeblishments that you do. Rythm is probably the most important skill in music not playing fast and flashy, it's even more important than pitch.

Your guitar playing could also benefit from a greater use of dynamics: soft, med, loud...

Ron I am well aware of that but if you're singing the word "nice" only the 'n' should be nasal, not the "ice" part. Let's say you can sing the word "dice" just fine but when you're singing "nice" you are singing through your nose then you're doing something wrong because those 2 words should basically sound the same.

Aravind, you're doing a much better job on keeping the depth of your voice! Especially during the chorus (1:35 and 2:31). You are engaging more of your voice (stronger sound) during the chorus, however on all those lighter passages you have a tendency to go nasal and loose that depth.

Also consonants like 'm', 'n' and 'ng' tend to give you problems (especially the latter 2). Listen to the last phrase of the song.

It is nasal most of the time but you are right as you go up into the E4-G4 range it gets even more nasal. I never heard you speak so I don't know if there's anything wrong with your speaking voice. Your singing voice needs to be deeper from what I just heard. Once you found your natural singing voice/sound you need to be able to keep the placement consistent. That means you don't let consonants, vowels, words, volume/intensity, range change the basic sound of your voice... well unless you want to for interpretation and artistic reasons. There's nothing wrong with coloring your voice as long as it is a deliberate choice.

Hey MDEW! I would work on getting a natural sound in your lower and medium range. You are very nasal.

 

That would depend on your definition of loud and also, what is one's ultimate loudness at a spot and is it truly a weakness. And if it is, who says so?

 

Sometimes, we talk about finer and finer gradations of value until lost in a sea of minutae and I was just wondering how the definitions are holding up.

I think it's pretty clear Ron...

 

Killer, I believe that the analysis and returns on the emotional aspect is just as important as technical analysis, because ultimately you sing to convey something to your audience not only to impress; at least that's my view. In that sense I am very pleased that, beyond my technical difficulties, you guys consider nice my singing

I agree with Bono! Let's say you can sing with low or medium low volume/intensity but you have trouble singing louder and more intense doesn't that limit you in your interpretation? Or at least in the songs that you can sing?

Hey Bono it sounds good  

You are right about the vowels you do narrow them too much but not just in your mid and higher range also in your low range. Have you ever tried copying other singers? I mean really studying how they sing, form their vowels, phrasing, etc... pick a song and copy everything the singer is doing, do it phrase by phrase.

Your voice needs more "oomph" especially for the more intense parts of the song. You have a tendency to back off of your voice too much and disconnect a little bit around D4 or so: 0:35 "back", 0:48 "just" are examples of you disconnecting from your full voice. That being said you have a good lighter mix (much better than mine haha) 1:10 "can we find a way to finally make it right?" that was beautifull but maybe more appropriate for something like "Never Felt This Way" by Brian McKnight. For this song I would like to hear a more ballsy sound.

Also, if you are used to disconnecting from your full voice just below your 1st bridge, even just a little bit, you will most likely have a tendency to grab/squeeze as well because you don't have something stable that you can lean into.

@0:51 "out" - that vowels need to be more open

 

So basically, I don't know which one is right for me

I would say the one you did @ 0:22 is best.

tmacuf, on "stay" try to narrow that vowel a bit so instead of "eh" more of an "ih".

 

And yea i can sing up to A4 preety easily and with quite strenght.

Elvis, can you post a clip where you're singing in the C4-A4 range?

Burning_Rand, just curious are you studying with David Jones?

 

The thing is i can easily sing up to A4

Then you don't have a problem with bridging!

Elvis,

Have you tried the same scale on semi occluded exercices like lip bubbles, tongue trills, 'v', 'z','ng', straw etc...? Those will be easier for you at first than open vowels like "ah". Also you don't need to go so high with this. A lot of people want powerfull high notes like C5+ and are unaware that they have problems in the C4-G4 area... They can hit the note but it doesn't mean they're doing it right.

Alberto you can transpose the track up or down depending on what sounds best. I would say somewhere in the neighborhood of a 4th up / 5th down.

Here's a little something I'm working on

https://app.box.com/s/j5w6v3r4vpm1t5dif0zl1kwm13hc4k1v