The Killers- Smile like you mean it

[Collin571]

Did this recording today, I think it could use some deeper undertones and more expression throughout.  While recording I was mostly focused on keeping the tone as clear as possible.

 

[Jarom]

work on floating on top of the pitch. I love the killers they are one of my favorites. 

[Collin571]

18 minutes ago, Jarom said:

work on floating on top of the pitch. I love the killers they are one of my favorites. 

The killers are freaking great.  Hot Fuss is one of the best albums ever.  Also yeah I'm trying to hold those pitches but without getting too airy so I've got a lot of crackly distortion or turbulence or whatever you want to call it.  Good advice though thank you!

[ronws]

Quit speaking the words and sing them, You hung way to long on the r sound in "girl," for example. Listen to Brandon. He is not reciting, he is a musical instrument.

[Collin571]

23 minutes ago, ronws said:

Quit speaking the words and sing them, You hung way to long on the r sound in "girl," for example. Listen to Brandon. He is not reciting, he is a musical instrument.

I'm gonna try, what I think you mean is hold more breath back and use a more steady stream of air.

[Collin571]

I'm going to try applying your advice to a short excerpt from another song.  Please tell me if this is what you meant!  http://vocaroo.com/i/s0GMT3GWXWaL

It starts at 0:25 and 1:10-1:15 is very screechy on that high note I need to lighten up somehow

[KillerKu]

There are a few technical issues. It's kind of droney and drifts flat. The droney thing has a lot to do with phrasing. You can try to treat each syllable as something special. Like you're tossing out syllables to the listener at different speeds and intensities.

For the flat thing, if you have an instrument like a keyboard, play the melody on there and sing along. Try sweeping abovee and below the notes and right on the dot. It's more of a feeling and an inner ear thing that gets developed over time. 

At the end the high note sounded a bit strained, it sounds like the speaking voice is getting squeezed. Bridging into a lighter phonation or supporting the note with a clearer vowel would both work, but it's not an easy fix there. Toy with vowels and with sliding a falsetto around at different volumes. Don't be afraid to try different things than the speaking voice. 

The more recent clip is going to be more difficult for people to hear pitch without a reference (backing). But I think the pitch is overall less flat at least compared to itself, and the phrasing has more emphasis and variety. The high notes are still going into a strained territory and sound flat due to tension. 

If you keep training, and especially training smart you'll be able to address all of these things. It will take a lot of time and diligence. Targeted lessons could address these things faster, but at the same time, a willingness to experiment can go a long way. Things to toy with would be try making sobbing sounds, yawning sounds, operatic sounds (think an open throat), quacking sounds (twang, middle back of tongue arched upward), hootie sounds (falsetto like an owl), piercing sounds (lean into bright resonance), quiet sounds (murmuring), and loud sounds with open vowels. But try to make any given sound with the least strain.

A big part of it is coordination and flexibility. Right now it sounds like speaking voice is getting slammed upward and hitting limits. Your coordination will likely need to be a little different up there. Most of us are the same. Whether we were taught with lessons, trial an error, or books or whatever. When dealing with pitch range we've all had to be flexible to some degree.

[Collin571]

That certainly gives me alot of stuff to work on,  I know it sounds like I'm speaking the song but I was trying to keep my timbre the same throughout my range, I didn't strain at all during making this I belted some but I supported and made sure that I let go of whatever strain when I felt it come on.

[Collin571]

Also I'm pretty sure I was using alot of glottal compression.

[KillerKu]

6 minutes ago, Collin571 said:

That certainly gives me alot of stuff to work on,  I know it sounds like I'm speaking the song but I was trying to keep my timbre the same throughout my range, I didn't strain at all during making this I belted some but I supported and made sure that I let go of whatever strain when I felt it come on.

 

You'd know your own strain better than I would. So I'd trust yourself. And to be honest, straining a little here and there isn't something to be that worried about. Everyone I know here has strained and lived to tell the tale.  

There is a shift in timbre up there so unless it's artistic choice it may not be optimized for you yet. It's practice man. I wouldn't be surprised to see you more technically skilled than a lot of folks here one day. If you've got the passion, you've got the drive, and are moving forward. There are certain coordination that will be more flexible and easier to use to navigate certain pitches. 

So there's like talk singers. I can love that. I'm the big Lou Reed fan here. But most everyone else had to have an open mind at some point and likely either consciously or subconsciously had to make adjustments.

[KillerKu]

2 minutes ago, Collin571 said:

Also I'm pretty sure I was using alot of glottal compression.

That can cause a bit of pressing on the vocals folds, depending on the nature of it. But if you aren't going hoarse. Just do your thing. Keep training. 

Chase the meaningful sound in your head, try to get there. Dial things where you want them over time.

[Collin571]

7 minutes ago, KillerKu said:

 

You'd know your own strain better than I would. So I'd trust yourself. And to be honest, straining a little here and there isn't something to be that worried about. Everyone I know here has strained and lived to tell the tale.  

There is a shift in timbre up there so unless it's artistic choice it may not be optimized for you yet. It's practice man. I wouldn't be surprised to see you more technically skilled than a lot of folks here one day. If you've got the passion, you've got the drive, and are moving forward. There are certain coordination that will be more flexible and easier to use to navigate certain pitches. 

So there's like talk singers. I can love that. I'm the big Lou Reed fan here. But most everyone else had to have an open mind at some point and likely either consciously or subconsciously had to make adjustments.

Right, I really want to sound a certain way I think lately especially I've been compressing my sound a ton rather than using various resonances and different coordinations.  I want it to sound good to me but I don't want to be falling flat.  Also I notice this song that I could use a brighter configuration and perhaps a darker resonance or a more edgey/steely resonance to make it sound good and possibly fix pitch issues.

[Collin571]

Also that syllable advice seems like something I should really hone in on.

[ronws]

23 hours ago, Collin571 said:

I'm gonna try, what I think you mean is hold more breath back and use a more steady stream of air.

And think of the words as vowels to sing, not words to speak. Breath management is necessary, yes. But singing is different than speaking in use of vowels and articulation. Quit speaking and sing.

[ronws]

23 hours ago, Collin571 said:

I'm going to try applying your advice to a short excerpt from another song.  Please tell me if this is what you meant!  http://vocaroo.com/i/s0GMT3GWXWaL

It starts at 0:25 and 1:10-1:15 is very screechy on that high note I need to lighten up somehow

You are still speaking instead of singing. The p's are too hard. Consonants should be softer when singing.

[Collin571]

3 hours ago, ronws said:

You are still speaking instead of singing. The p's are too hard. Consonants should be softer when singing.

okay but why?  Why should they be softer?

[KillerKu]

9 minutes ago, Collin571 said:

okay but why?  Why should they be softer?

It's partly how the mic reacts to plosives. Get real close to a mic and just say like B or P real hard and it wil pop the mic. There are mic shields, but a real good one can get through.

There are a few other factors. When you sing a vowel there would be less compression than some of these plosives that block off the airflow. So if you have a higher compression and then kind of 'explode' the voice it can be more fatiguing.

Beyond that, it can be stylistic. But sometimes a hard consonant is great for effect. Think of them as percussive elements of the voice. If the rhythm makes sense, sometimes it can form a bit of snare/kick/hi hat drum effect. But if it doesn't make sense, sometimes it sounds like there is a guy pounding on the snare drum completely randomly, because unless the words are written very carefully it might not sync very well to the music. 

As a general rule it usually sounds better to go easy on them if in doubt.

[Collin571]

3 hours ago, ronws said:

And think of the words as vowels to sing, not words to speak. Breath management is necessary, yes. But singing is different than speaking in use of vowels and articulation. Quit speaking and sing.

Could you give me a specific thing or concept to help develop the vowel articulation?

[ronws]

11 hours ago, Collin571 said:

Could you give me a specific thing or concept to help develop the vowel articulation?

Listen to an opera singer and hear how they do ah, eh, oh, ee, and oo. Then, do that.