Anthony

Nice atmosphere. Reminded me of something Maynard James Keenan would do.

ROCK RnB

Very nice. Although I can't help being reminded of the song Peace by Extreme every time I hear this song. (Perhaps the fact that Nuno Bettencourt is in both bands has something to do with it!)

Hi donduck12. This is a really good job of probably the most emotional rock song of all time. I did miss the high head voice "oooooh"s at the beginning and end though.

This is a massive song in the UK at the minute and you do it well! I was just getting into it when it ended so suddenly. Do you have a full version?

Thanks everyone! I'm eager to hear other takes on this. I'd never really heard a country song all the way through before this one, let alone attempt to learn one. It's not a genre that does much for me usually but the more I worked on this song the more I got into it. But then I suppose that's what this competition is all about!

Some brilliant entries so far!! MDEW - Very nice arrangement, it creates a unique angle to the lyrics. Will the finished version have percussion? I can definitely hear space for shakers and light drumming (maybe bongos). Magika - That a really professional sounding recording! Love your voice and the original french lyrics. Did you record this at a studio? Ugonna - Brilliant work. I like the variations you add 1:20 onwards. The melody you sing at "my darling" at 2:00 is so good!

The day I can sing this song even half as good as this is the day I'll be happy with my voice! Are you using twang in your head voice for those high notes in the chorus? It sounds so full and clear.

Simply beautiful. You should be immensely proud of this song.

What can I say? I suppose I gave a certain first impression with my "Review my Singing" post because I was asking about something I'm not confident with. I see that I could have come across as meek. But now you know the REAL me!!! *Evil Laugh* Elvis, I will get around to uploading the backing track! Promise!

I played in the piano through my MIDI keyboard and programmed the bass and drum parts. The arrangement I did was in Gmin.

Of course Elvis! How would I go about sending it to you? Country metal - I like it! Maybe it will take off MDEW?!

Here's my submission! This was loads of fun!! I thought I'd been pretty faithful to the original with my Autumn Leaves attempt so this one is WAY out there!! I'm not sure what the rules are on over dubbed vocal harmonies. There are a few in this song, but the main vocal track is all one live take.

Thanks to everyone for your comments!! I had a lot of fun arranging it!

No problem, I missed what you were specifically asking the first time round! I just play the sound back in the room and sing through the mic. If I played just the vocal track you would be able to hear the other instruments bleeding through the mic. It's not the best way to do things but I don't currently own a decent set of studio headphones. I just keep the mic far away from the speakers and play the track quietly as I sing. Since the vocals get played over the same track in the final mix I don't see the harm in doing it this way for now.

My entry is coming later today!

Here's my attempt, hope you like it! It was a lot of fun to record!

Great job KillerKu! I should get around to doing mine tomorrow.

I've had a bit more time to read through these amazing responses. Enander, I will give your suggestion a go. Warming up and singing songs that are well within my range before closing my session with some chesty versions of this song as far as I'm able. I won't push it too much. The part you mentioned about differing percentages of head and chest voice is what excites me the most! I can't wait until I have that level of control. Felipe, the impression I get from your post is that I should work to my strengths and change the arrangement of the song to suit the voice I have. Regarding the areas that you say I need to work on, is this something that 4 pillars and hard work from me will improve? Forward placement is something else I hear about that somehow eludes me. I feel it's an important idea I need to develop to stop my sound falling back into weak falsetto, but don't really know what to be listening for as I sing. Ronws, that's a good ear for accents - I'm from a place a few miles away from Manchester! :-) Vowel sounds are something I've known needs work. From what I gather, this is included in 4 pillars so hopefully will become clear to me as I work through it. I put my hand on my stomach for high notes because I'm scared of hurting my throat so I just think "diaphragm diaphragm diaphragm!" But evidently it doesn't help the sound any! ;-) Gneetapp, thanks for the encouragement. I don't think singers can afford to be too self conscious with all the strange noises and crazy faces we need to pull during practice! :-) As for recording I record the video and audio separately and sync it up in Windows movie maker. The camera audio alone isn't very good. Juggulator, as soon as I understand mixed voice I intend to practise the hell out of it!! :-)

The amount of information in this thread alone is mind boggling! Thank you so much yet again. I am going to need to take some time to take all this in. I won't get a chance to record anything over the weekend, but I think that's good due to all the things I need to consider!

Ah, so THIS is how it's meant to be done!? Brilliant work. Are you singing the second half of this in chest voice?

I wish I had the guts and talent to even attempt Innuendo. It's such a massive song and you did a great job!

I look forward to giving this a go! Although I'm not quite sure how the lyrics will sound sung by a Brit!

My choice! Must be beginner's luck...

Elvis, I will no doubt be taking you up on that offer when I receive my 4PoS! Enander, I agree it does sound better (to begin with - until I fell into the falsetto trap!) As for the "Come the dawn", I prefer to end the clip before I reach those! ;-) If you say I'll be ready to reach the other notes in chest at a later time, would you recommend me practising those yell type notes a lot? I am scared of straining my voice, especially when a lot of coaches talk about "effortless" belting. Since I'm still getting lots of kind help from the people in this thread, I have uploaded another video more specific to my problem. I am aware that this runs the risk of becoming less of a "review my voice" thread and more of a vocal lesson, so will happily move the thread elsewhere If need be. Again, thanks a lot!