Superman (Five for Fighting) Vocal Practice

[Gneetapp]

Hi guys, it's been a long time since a posted a song. So, yesterday I had some free time and recorded this as a warm-up. Even though I listened only once after recording, I already found a few rough or pitchy spots. Anyway, I was wondering if there is anything you guys like about it. Vocal was recorded in one take, then added compressor, EQ, Delay and reverb. Cheers.

 

[aravindmadis]

Hi Buddy. Your voice seems to come a long way from when you started posting(2 years ago if I am correct).  There is way more structural integrity around your singing and less abrupt tonal changes. Your tone now has a professional quality which is a very good thing.  So congrats and keep singing.  

With my limited knowledge.  I see two areas of improvements based on what I have gone through

1.  For a single take, you are mostly on pitch. But in my experience, pitch accuracy is less to do with physiology of singing but it is a mental adjustment that comes with pitch training.  Just spend half an hour a day just listening to notes and try to memorize the aural distances by singing along with the piano(solfege helps).  It is best done with a keyboard.  check out the links below.  See what happens is that with interval training our inner ears become more and more adept with the notes and if you do it regularly with your singing voice, then you will find it more easy to sing on pitch.  Our ears visualize the notes to come and help us shape our vocal chords to sing correctly on pitch.  

https://www.iwasdoingallright.com/tools/ear_training/online/

 

2.  The second area you have to focus on is your descent.  You seem to be quite comfortable in your heady mix, but when you descend, there are places where there are tonal loss and pitch issues.  For e.g. at 1:15 where you sing "even heroes have". Your onset for "Even" seems to be wrong which is why your heroes have sounds off.  You need to keep the compression/configuration that you use for the rest of the song here also.  And when you descend, you have to sing low parts high with support, if that makes sense.  We tend to focus too much on the high notes, but sometimes the descend causes all kind of issues in notes that are quite comfortable.  With little practice and awareness you can easily overcome this issue.  

 

[Gneetapp]

Hi Aravind, thank you so much for the kind words and the tips. Yeah I noticed some changes in tonal quality too. In my defense I wanted to say that some are intentional, as I was  experimenting with subtle changes as I was going along. But also, I noticed that my microphone (Behringher B2 condenser) was making some noises and also suddenly dropping  the sound. Very weird. It could be a problem with the mic or cable. I will definitely pay more attention while singing from now on, to keep the same quality. I know I can do this song so much better, but am lacking the time to practice my voice. This song was my warmup literally, no exercises before recording it. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the result. Well, thanks again my friend! Cheers

[ronws]

I think the pitch wobbles can be fixed by simpler vowels. For example, you sang "toon -a eet" and that was the correct thing to do. And remember, you have a mic and a DAW, so don't push the voice, let it get to where it needs to. And I like what you did. I think this song was made for you and vice versa. Definitely keep this one in your set of "songs I can do and get applause." It is right in your wheel house. You sounded strong and centered all the way through.

Are you recording your own instruments? I have not heard this arrangement. If so, awesome and well done.

[Gneetapp]

17 minutes ago, ronws said:

I think the pitch wobbles can be fixed by simpler vowels. For example, you sang "toon -a eet" and that was the correct thing to do. And remember, you have a mic and a DAW, so don't push the voice, let it get to where it needs to. And I like what you did. I think this song was made for you and vice versa. Definitely keep this one in your set of "songs I can do and get applause." It is right in your wheel house. You sounded strong and centered all the way through.

Are you recording your own instruments? I have not heard this arrangement. If so, awesome and well done.

Hi Ronws, it seems I'm always getting in trouble with my vowels. I think I should really start paying more attention to that. I posted my 1st attempt at this song 1-2 years ago, but the approach was way lighter (IMO). I just wanted to post this again because it has been so long I haven't practiced singing, and I used it as warmup and was surprised with the results. Thank you so much for you kind words. I really like the way my voice sounds with this song. This is a backing/Karaoke track I downloaded from you tube. Cheers

[ronws]

26 minutes ago, Gneetapp said:

 I really like the way my voice sounds with this song. This is a backing/Karaoke track I downloaded from you tube. Cheers

And I really like how your voice sounds on this song, too. Again, you need to keep this in your "ready to sing" set list.

[Xamedhi]

Nice song, man!  It sounds really good. You seem to get the vibe and the feeling of the song very well. I haven't listened to the original, but I like your interpretation enough to not want to listen to the original, haha.  The only one thing is that I hear some consonant inconsistencies somewhere in there, like... a not well coordinated "L", so the word sounded funny, and something like that. And also, a bit of an inconsistency with the highest notes in the song, It doesn't matter that it changes a bit in timbre, its alright. Voices change throughout the range, we have all sorts of colors and spaces, BUT it didn't sound as reliable as it could be, but it could be due to not being that warmed up. In some of those high places it felt a bit shaky, or a bit chaotic, which I don't mind... but I think it was not the intention, right? That's why I'm making the observation. Overal, I like your timbre and the way you¿re using your voice, man. You have made a lot of progress  

Now, I know you don't like doing exercises, you like to get right into singing hahah  but singing this song as a warm up may not be the most efficient way I think. 
If you don't like doing exercses you could just grab the guitar and improvise some atmospheric stuff, guitar and voice, sustaining long AHs and other vowels, in different intensities, until your voice feels pumped up and ready to belt and take the pressure, hahah. 
I do this as a warm up, I don't do scales anymore when training ( unless I want something in particular ), but now I have more of a musical approach. I just do whatever note comes out, in the most comfortable pitch, usually around the B3-C4, in mid-high intensity, and start improvising melodies around that pitch. 

The area of pitches starts expanding, and when I feel very comfortable sustaining long G4-A4 in high intensity then I know I'm ready to sing and my voice can take the load of more chaotic stuff, like the songs I find hard.

I'm just mentioning this to you because I know the feeling of wanting to sing right away, haha, but really really it is always best to sing very warmed up. Because it sounds better and it FEELS so much better. Imagine how it would have sounded if you had warmed up before    So, I hope that doing something like this might make you enjoy warming up a little more.

Letting my voice do whatever it wants to do and whatever feels more comfortable, cranking up the intensity pretty fast. From the middle of the voice first, to the extremes. At least for me is far more interesting than doing scales. And if you improvise along with another instrument it definitely will train your ear too.

[Gneetapp]

7 minutes ago, Xamedhi said:

Nice song, man!  It sounds really good. You seem to get the vibe and the feeling of the song very well. I haven't listened to the original, but I like your interpretation enough to not want to listen to the original, haha.  The only one thing is that I hear some consonant inconsistencies somewhere in there, like... a not well coordinated "L", so the word sounded funny, and something like that. And also, a bit of an inconsistency with the highest notes in the song, It doesn't matter that it changes a bit in timbre, its alright. Voices change throughout the range, we have all sorts of colors and spaces, BUT it didn't sound as reliable as it could be, but it could be due to not being that warmed up. In some of those high places it felt a bit shaky, or a bit chaotic, which I don't mind... but I think it was not the intention, right? That's why I'm making the observation. Overal, I like your timbre and the way you¿re using your voice, man. You have made a lot of progress  

Now, I know you don't like doing exercises, you like to get right into singing hahah  but singing this song as a warm up may not be the most efficient way I think. 
If you don't like doing exercses you could just grab the guitar and improvise some atmospheric stuff, guitar and voice, sustaining long AHs and other vowels, in different intensities, until your voice feels pumped up and ready to belt and take the pressure, hahah. 
I do this as a warm up, I don't do scales anymore when training ( unless I want something in particular ), but now I have more of a musical approach. I just do whatever note comes out, in the most comfortable pitch, usually around the B3-C4, in mid-high intensity, and start improvising melodies around that pitch. 

The area of pitches starts expanding, and when I feel very comfortable sustaining long G4-A4 in high intensity then I know I'm ready to sing and my voice can take the load of more chaotic stuff, like the songs I find hard.

I'm just mentioning this to you because I know the feeling of wanting to sing right away, haha, but really really it is always best to sing very warmed up. Because it sounds better and it FEELS so much better. Imagine how it would have sounded if you had warmed up before    So, I hope that doing something like this might make you enjoy warming up a little more.

Letting my voice do whatever it wants to do and whatever feels more comfortable, cranking up the intensity pretty fast. From the middle of the voice first, to the extremes. At least for me is far more interesting than doing scales. And if you improvise along with another instrument it definitely will train your ear too.

Hi Xamedhi, thank you so much for listening, the review, the kind words, and the tips, man. It really means a lot to me. Dude, I really liked your warmup idea using the guitar and improvising with melodies. I am definitely going to try it, hopefully this weekend. I agree with about the shaky notes. That was not the intention, just the result of lack of warmup, or more precisely, the song being the recording of the warmup itself. I think I am pretty happy with this song and my voice, and will try to record a polished/finished version, and maybe post it here again just trying to get praises. ;-p

Cheers,

[Xamedhi]

Hahahha, definitely, man!  I like the direction your voice is taking.

The thing about this improvising thing is that I personally go very physical and carried away. You can go as intense as you want, not caring about consonants, and just enjoying and memorizing the feelings of the voice in the throat haha  I love this pillowy feeling I get on the C4-G4 area on my pharynx/soft palate. 

Also, the mid range and first bridge must be like iron if one wants to sing around the second bridge, so hammering on the first bridge area on a high intensity, on different vowels ( OOs and EEs are VERY VERY important! I personally work on OOs as much as I do AHs ) is one of the best exercises you can do hahah

[Gneetapp]

5 minutes ago, Xamedhi said:

Hahahha, definitely, man!  I like the direction your voice is taking.

The thing about this improvising thing is that I personally go very physical and carried away. You can go as intense as you want, not caring about consonants, and just enjoying and memorizing the feelings of the voice in the throat haha  I love this pillowy feeling I get on the C4-G4 area on my pharynx/soft palate. 

Also, the mid range and first bridge must be like iron if one wants to sing around the second bridge, so hammering on the first bridge area on a high intensity, on different vowels ( OOs and EEs are VERY VERY important! I personally work on OOs as much as I do AHs ) is one of the best exercises you can do hahah

It really sounds awesome man! I will definitely try it. I noticed that once my voice is warmed up, I can easily vary intensity and add a beefy sound to my singing. However, the E5-F5-G5 barrier is still there mocking me... ;-p 

[Xamedhi]

Hahah.don't worry, man. I can sing up to an E5 and I'm doing fine I think. I've done some occasional F-F#5 but mostly only recordings. The most important thing I think, is to master where the bulk of your singing will be   
 

[Gneetapp]

3 minutes ago, Xamedhi said:

Hahah.don'try, man. I can sing up to an E5 and I'm doing fine I think. I've done some occasional F-F#5 but mostly only recordings. The most important thing I think, is to master where the bulk of your singing will be   
 

I agree on getting a solid tone and being consistent in the most used range, but still, some very popular songs have those E5-F5-G5s, such as Stairway to Heaven ands many others. What to do then? he he  

[Xamedhi]

Hahahah, yeah I know.... Most of the material i like to sing, have choruses that move a lot on the F5-G5 even G#5 lmao   But I'm happy if I can sing the majority of it, up to a D#5- E5.  I can't even go in falsetto that high, hahah.

[Gneetapp]

3 minutes ago, Xamedhi said:

Hahahah, yeah I know.... Most of the material i like to sing, have choruses that move a lot on the F5-G5 even G#5 lmao   But I'm happy if I can sing the majority of it, up to a D#5- E5.  I can't even go in falsetto that high, hahah.

Yeah man, gotcha! Heavy Metal songs... Same here, but my falsetto doesn't go higher than my head voice. So, for now I'm happy just being able to sing up to E5. Do you think it just takes strengthening of the voice to break this E5-G5 barrier or something else, such as changing resonance or vowels? Cheers

[Xamedhi]

I have no idea. I swear I have absolutely no clue, lmao. My voice overall is kind of weak, that's how I feel, and my folds gap makes things a bit harder on the Arytenoids, so... I don't really have a reliable parameter.

What I've been doing to train range is do the same long, high intensity sustains on pure falsetto as I do on Full Voice, but only from C5 and up. I do OOs starting between D-E5 depending on how the voice is, and go down around C-C#5 on EE. Why EE? Because I found that there is a place BETWEEN the C and C#5 where my EE gets a HUGE amplification and I can lean a lot into this pure falsetto configuration. I believe this is helping me a lot with the adduction on that area of the voice in Full Voice, and also, I can go higher in pitch in a quieter volume, which I couldn't before.
I could do an C5-C#5 on a "drop-like" very low volume falsetto, and now I can do D-D#5, probably E5 if I concentrate enough and really stretch the folds out, lol  I try this with a "bwop-bwop" quiet sound.  But I can do a consistent E5 easily on pure falsetto in mid to high intensity, with short slides to F5. After stretching for a bit, I can probably onset on the F5, but its not consistent at all.

What makes the folds be able to stretch so much up to F5 and above? No idea. I think CT strength is the first factor. Then the stretching of the folds, and I think that is trained by going to those notes again and again and sustaining them, stretching the folds just like any other muscle or ligament.

Funny thing I have noticed is that I have an easier time singing ( and actually singing, not just phonating ) in the D#5-F5 range when my chest voice is more tired and I can't sing as low or dark as before.  It's like the "weight" of the chest voice is shed, but the closure of full voice is kept, so I can go high and sing a lot more comfortable in that area.  Does it happen to you Gnee? Or anyone else?

[Gneetapp]

1 hour ago, Xamedhi said:

 

What makes the folds be able to stretch so much up to F5 and above? No idea. I think CT strength is the first factor. Then the stretching of the folds, and I think that is trained by going to those notes again and again and sustaining them, stretching the folds just like any other muscle or ligament.
 

I am not sure if it is only the stretching of the folds or resonance changes because there is another bridge right there between E5-G5.

1 hour ago, Xamedhi said:

Funny thing I have noticed is that I have an easier time singing ( and actually singing, not just phonating ) in the D#5-F5 range when my chest voice is more tired and I can't sing as low or dark as before.  It's like the "weight" of the chest voice is shed, but the closure of full voice is kept, so I can go high and sing a lot more comfortable in that area.  Does it happen to you Gnee? Or anyone else?

I think I know what you mean. Something similar happens to me when I'm tired of singing. The range between C5-E5 is more easily accessible, but with less weight. Interesting...

[Xamedhi]

Yeah! Indeed it is very interesting. In my voice, from D#5 to E5 I feel a bit of thinning, in E5 it feels like its starting to become pure headvoice and the chest voice that was present dissappears making the sound less round and brighter. I have not experienced much from E5 to F5, only some brute full voice I did for a couple recordings and some falsetto fast and short slides having a sustained E5 as base, so I don't really know exactly what I feel, but there may be some kind of bridge idk, lol.

[Gneetapp]

13 minutes ago, Xamedhi said:

Yeah! Indeed it is very interesting. In my voice, from D#5 to E5 I feel a bit of thinning, in E5 it feels like its starting to become pure headvoice and the chest voice that was present dissappears making the sound less round and brighter. I have not experienced much from E5 to F5, only some brute full voice I did for a couple recordings and some falsetto fast and short slides having a sustained E5 as base, so I don't really know exactly what I feel, but there may be some kind of bridge idk, lol.

There is definitely a bridge there, and I think it was confirmed by Daniel in another thread. So, we just may need to "crack the code" and cross that bridge too... 

[Xamedhi]

Oh, damn... lmao. Now I'm so curious I will spend a lot of training time on that area of my voice hahah  If there is a bridge I absolutely want to experience it hahah  It was easier when I cracked on chest voice, now I don't even know what happens in this bridge... Do you crack? Do you lay an egg? Fall asleep? :'(    hahahah

Keep uploading stuff, man