Jump to content

What if 'Plan B' met 'N'Sync' with a taste of 'Third Eye Blind'??...

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

... No idea, but separately these ingredients kinda work. In advance, apologies for poor recording quality on all of these.

Plan B - She Said:

This dude is massively popular in the UK at the moment and just won a 'Brit' Award (which is sort of like a watered down Grammy). I wasn't into him at all until I saw his performance on the show and realised he wasn't just a rapper who tried to sing; this guy could sing really well.

I like his high and light configuration. Then when someone told me "Hey, your last name is the same as his real last name... Are you related?" I had to try it. Let me know how you think I did:

http://www.box.net/shared/940ru71m1x

(As far as I'm aware we aren't relatives btw)

Third Eye Blind - Jumper:

Just a good song that I heard in the film 'Yes Man'. "Icing over PE-CRET pain" I dunno why I did that, lol: http://www.box.net/shared/4j5ldc55bx

Bye Bye Bye - N'Sync:

I heard this at a night out at this 90's club recently and thought it'd be fun to try doing just on my guitar. I mess up the guitar a bunch, forgive me:

http://www.box.net/shared/vmf5xv38qx

I'm interested in what you guys think of these recordings. They are all very short samples, around 1 minute and a half each.

No holding back as always.

And hey, if you thought "OMG THAT WAS INCREDIBLE AND THERE IS NO WAY THIS GUY CAN IMPROVE... OMFG HE IS GOING TO NUMBER ONE!!!"

...Then you are dilusional, but I'd love to hear from you anyway :)

Peace,

Nath.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At times, your voice has a light, bell-like quality that reminds me of the guy from Train. Especially on "Jumper."

"Bye, Bye" was good, also, and the guitar playing was even better than "She Said." Even with the botched chord change because you kept the rhythm on track. And this just made me realize something I could do. See, I have the opposite problem. For decades, I have played guitar and sang at the same time. I usually do best in that scenario. I have a more difficult time singing against playback. What I could do to improve my timing is play air guitar when singing against playback. Because my vocal cues in playing live are usually tied to what my hands are doing.

Anyway, I noticed that your low head tones are light-weight. But I wouldn't change that because the notes are in the right place. Trying to put more weight on them now would probably introduce pitch changes by way of tonality.

As for number one, people with voices less stable than yours have had monstrous hits. Listen to the song "Lunatic Fringe."

Not really a centered note in the whole song. It's all slides. Even the chorus slides up to an indeterminate place. Where as your singing is much tighter than that. Nothing against Tom Cochran. Just saying, there's room for everyone, of all voice types.

To me, it sounds like you pretty much have established a vocal type suitable for light R & B, indie folk, even a crooning pop sound. I wouldn't change that. You do it well and trying to get heavy in sound, say like Ronnie James Dio or James Hetfield, for example, would ruin everything. You've got a good sound. I would say, stick with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ronws,

Thank you for the kind words. I agree the light-medium sound suits me better and I think gives me far more versatility. It is definitely where my voice sounds best as I apparently am a tenor. All these years I thought I was a baritone, but apparently not... To be honest, I'm glad to be a tenor instead. Now I just need to make the notes more on pitch and more stable.

'She Said' would have had far better guitar playing if I had had a capo instead of barring with my first finger and using the rest to play chords (which made my hands ache a lot). I purchased a capo today in fact, and may update the clip... maybe. :)

What you said about singing better whilst playing guitar is quite interesting. Are you sure it is because your hands have to be doing something or is it because you feel more in control of the music altogether and have a bit more choice. I find that when it's just me playing guitar and singing I feel like I have more options as opposed to when I'm working with a band. I guess this is because I can control the timing and dynamics far better alone. I'm guessing you've played guitar a lot more than I have though, so maybe it is just the need to keep your hands busy.

I'm actually not sure where the point was that I started playing guitar and singing in unison. There was a time where if I was playing guitar, the second I open my mouth my entire playing would fall apart. I don't think I could ever pull off complex riffs whilst playing. That is a skill I'm truly envious of.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been playing guitar since 1974. So, yeah, it's a habit. But it is a coordination thing, too. For the longest time, I had to coordinate vocals with what my hands are doing so I think it works in the converse, as well. At first, I was mainly playing guitar, though before that, like my mother, I would sing along with the radio. Anyway, after a while, once I had some basic guitar skills, I could sing while playing, which helped timing on both. And yes, it's easier to control aspects of timing and phrasing if it's just you and one instrument.

Your discovery of your own voice reminds of a case I once knew of. A singer had been classed by others and eventually himself as a baritone. But he was having problems with the lower end of his range. And so he went to another teacher. The new teacher had him try some lighter, higher stuff, just on a whim, "let's experiment and see." And he could handle it quite well. Turns out he was a lyric tenor who had been misclassified.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...