Me singing some Dio

[Chavie]

Heaven & hell

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10433504

This needs a lot of work.....

I hate the way i end certain sentences for example on "Singer" or "Maker" that syllable is driving me nuts lol

Any advice or ideas what i should be working on would be appreciated.

My breath control (while a far cry from perfect) has improved a lot, and with it my range has as well

.....2 weeks ago i could not hit the first note of this song lol

[DJDeth]

To me it sounds great, it's a difficult song this one. The only thing is those two words you've mentioned, but I can't really tell what is wrong with them:)

[akarawd]

That sounded really good, well done.

Those 2 particular endings (the Ah) sound a bit less "meaty" than the rest, but overall I think you did the song justice - to say the least.

Keep it up!

Thanos

[jonpall]

I thought it sounded awesome, too! I would have loved to hear more of that song. I think that if you just play around with that type of sound in a carefree manner every day a lot, you'll start to be more and more at ease with it and start to be able to colour it in this and that direction at will. F.ex. you had a slight rasp on one or two places that sounded cool, even though you sang it cleaner than the original. But because of the attitude you put in the song, you made it work.

Your tone was good and very consistantly so. You also got good pitch, good chord compression/hold for the most part, good sense of the feelings behind that song, etc. I don't really think you should change a thing. Not even those endings in "singer" and "maker". You may feel the way you feel about those two words because the endings of those words tend to tempt people from curbing into overdrive - in other words they tend to tempt people into TOO big and open vowels, so they might loose the hold/chord compression from curbing/mixed voice and go into shouting mode that they sometimes can't recover from. But in your case it sounded GREAT and you "recovered" perfectly into curbing/mixed voice right after those words, which isn't the easiest thing in the world. I think I even heard some neutral and overdrive in spots here and there, which is cool because then you don't have a monotone sound. Basically, I fear that it might actually ruin your voice if you start to change it TOO much.

[Chavie]

Thanks for listening guys, I've got the CTV book,but not grasping the vocal modes yet.

i dont fully understand curbing or overdrive ect ect

i might try changing the ah to a more Eh sound and see if i can get away with it lol

i think im just going to keep singing this one, make it part of my exercise regiment.

thanks again guys :)

[ronws]

Hey, Chavie, I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of making a recording of what I think you are getting at. Also, in my clip for you, I should mention that I keep the larynx stable. You can do this by practicing a yawn until you feel the muscles that lower the larynx engage. Anyway, lower the jaw helps with that. And the main reason for keeping the larynx low or stable is to allow the darker overtones to be produced. It also keeps the throat open, which lends itself easier to produce some edge or bite to the note.

I apologize for being too close to the mic, causing some mic distortion. Also, I do this in the key of Em, regardless of what karoake tracks might be pitched at. It's the closest, in my ear, to the original.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8750209/Chavie.mp3

Anyway, as I mention in the clip, I think you have a great voice and I could hear some Dio-like inflection. At the same time, rejoice in the voice that you have. It is beautiful and unique.

[Chavie]

Wow man i appreciate you doing this......And your compliments seriously made my day lol

What you say makes a lot of sense.

i appreciate your tips and advice man!!

especially about the Breath support, i do tend to just let go and not hold on... gonna try and work on that

Another thing my girlfriend pointed out, is when you sing the words singer or maker

there is a slight "R" sound im not embellishing, kinda like "Sing-ahhrgh" or a growl

That seems to work for me a lot better.

Thanks man you really helped a lot!!!

ill post another version one day when I'm a little more satisfied.

[devaitis]

I liked it so much.

[Olem]

Excellent tone and if you had added a little more grit it would have been very similair to Dio´s. A little more grit would have been my preference but it works as it is and you have a very powerful voice that is almost perfect.

[Chavie]

'Grit" where i have a lot of problems.

ive read multiple books and course's and i'm just not getting it.

whenever i try to add dirt to my voice it gets dry,scratchy and wears out really quick :(

[ronws]

'Grit" where i have a lot of problems.

ive read multiple books and course's and i'm just not getting it.

whenever i try to add dirt to my voice it gets dry,scratchy and wears out really quick

Which means a few things. Either your getting tense somewhere. Or you need to be closer to the mic for it ot record any grit that you do have. And my pet theory, some voices just won't have much grit.

[ronws]

And more on grit. I have an easier time producing grit now, by keeping the larynx stable. Doing so keeps the throat open and relaxed. Which can allow you to rattle or growl a bit, at will, mainly by relaxing. Also, most singers are not doing growl at their highest notes. Even Dio. His highest notes are in clean head voice. Same with Bruce Dickinson. They only produce growl up to about 3 kHz, mid tenor. Anything higher than that will be a light distortion that sounds meaty because it is with a hgh tone.

[ronws]

And, for the end of syllable I may be adding a slight r or even growl that shapes an 'r'. I'm not sure at this time if that's because I am american or if it's because I am a huge Dio fan, or both. If I am, it is very slight. But I think most of your question will be answered by solid support on the ending syllable. Anything after that is a minor brush stroke on the canvas, so to speak.

[johnnyD]

Wow great voices, both Chav and ronws!

Ronws, are you using head or chest voice for those high notes. They sound amazing.

[ronws]

Hey, Johnny, I approach that song a little differently, now. More from a headvoice perspective, while keeping the breath in motion and allowing resonance to drive and dictate what I do.

This is a more recent version, about a month or so old. This song is all headvoice, even the low notes. As in the notes are buzzing my soft palate.

And, breaking my own rule about apologies, I apologize for overloading the mic, even though I was a few feet away. Nor am I trying to hijack Chavie's thread. I just wanted to give you an update, in response to your question of whether it was chest or head voice. It is head voice.

http://dl2.dropbox.com/u/8750209/heaven%20and%20hell%20-%20bare.mp3

This track was called "Heaven and Hell - bare" because I used no effects, not even compressor, which would normally limit highs. But I wanted to show dynamics, which compressor can sometimes hide. Ergo, this track is about as "naked" as I can make it. No effects, no eq, no delay or echo. Just the sound of the room I am in and I'm approximately 2 feet away from the mic. Except for the low part at the end. I move in closer, about a foot away from the mic. Closer proximity picks up lower volume and lower overtones. And that chant type of ending was an accident. I recorded it that way, one day and it gave me chills down my spine. So, I decided to keep it, though it is not part of the original recording.

[johnnyD]

Hi Ronws, i like both versions but prefer the first one as its more "Dio" sounding. The second one sounds a bit more Led zepplin. Im trying to get a ballsy sound in what i think is "curb", which uses more thick folds, i believe. However, anatomically, im not sure if I am approaching it correctly. The question is how do you achieve tge darker ballsy sound (like Ken Tamplin does) with head voice?

[ronws]

You might have to ask Kevin Tamplin. Though our own member Geno, follows Tamplin, as does, to some extent, Bob (videohere.)

And thanks for the Led Zep compliment. It is probably a side effect of listening to that band all of my life, even to the point of still having a music book of the first five albums, in standard music notation. I was about 9 when "Stairway to Heaven" published and close to ten when it was released, along with Led Zeppelin IV (the Ruination Album).

Ah, the good old days.

[Jugulator]

Chavie, very good voice. I'm impressed :)

[ronws]

I agree, Jugulator. Chavie has a very good voice. If I could just force him to see that ...

"To dream the impossible dream. To fight the unbeatable foe ..."

And truly, Chavie, I would like to hear you do a full length version of this song. You have a decent backing track. Your demanding audience awaits you.

Chavie, Chavie, Chavie...

(You better get on stage ... the natives are restless ...)