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  • TMV World Legacy Member

Ronws Double dog dared me to do this. So here it is.

Let me know what you think. I do know I was off pitch during the chorus. If there is anything obvious that I am doing wrong let me know.

http://soundcloud.com/mdew/comin-home-practice

I will be taking this and the other songs off soundcloud soon. So give the others a listen and let me have it. I can take constructive criticism. Thank you.

"You need a strong foundation to reach the heights."

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  • TMV World Legacy Member

Well done, M. Halfway through the guitar solo, I expected you to holler out in a midlands accent "show me your cigarette lighters!"

I just knew you had the right voice for this song.

I did hear some pitchiness in the chorus. And I think it is from two things. First, vowel form. You are trying to sing the words the same way that you would speak them. Steer away from that. Stay on the open ah sound more often. But the articulation and the dipthongs in speach that you grew up with are what's also holding you back. For example, you did great on "sunshine." Remember that feeling and do it some more. You are having an easier time on the words that have fairly open vowels, so the idea is to have an open vowel form all over, even if it feels "funny" to pronounce the words that way.

Second, give just a little more air push in the higher parts. Breath management is mobile. And smile just a smidge. Not because I want to see you smile but it will brighten and tune the notes a little more crisply.

You are not tone-deaf and just need a little tuning.

Another mechanical thing, sort of. How did you hear the music to sing along with? In headphones? The reason I ask is that headphones are closer than near monitors used in studios. And the sound, being bassy, will sound flatter than it really is. And you, doing what the body does automatically, are following what you hear. So, when you have playback to sing with, put that playback in one ear and make it a little more treble or less bass. That is, sweeten the mix of the playback. This will keep the near-field effect of headphones from pulling you down.

In fact, the last thing might be more important right now, than the other things.

We all sing what we hear.

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  • TMV World Legacy Member

Thanks Ron. I was using headphones.

I never heard that using headphones could cause a person to sing flat.

I sang a bunch of different takes messing with the mike settings and I noticed that with each take I would go flat in different places.

I had been messing with this song for a while but that was the first time I actually tried to record it.

I know the mechanics of support and breath management but I have major problems with it.

While I had my recorder out I thought I would try to contribute to the Queensryche thread. I can understand why you all like Geoff Tate. Being a deep baritone you can almost feel what he does to sing the higher notes.

"You need a strong foundation to reach the heights."

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  • TMV World Legacy Member

Good point, M. I am not a baritone, so when I do a song, it certainly sounds different than Geoff Tate. I can't help that. But I admire the other baritones that can do it.

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  • TMV World Legacy Member

Mdew - That was pretty cool! I would watch the pitch of every phrase. Most was right on and there were a few spots where the pitch was getting away from you. Also - watch the input levels of the backing tracks - they are distoring pretty bad in spots and a little squashed. The vocal recording and production was good - alot better than the backing tracks.

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  • TMV World Legacy Member

I had to send the backing track from my computer headphone jack to my 12 track recorder. Then I had to send the completed recording from the headphone jack of recorder to microphone input of my laptop. I used Audacity to record the signal to my computer. I could not hear any playback while recording to Audacity. I had to record it 3 times before I got a passable recording. It sucks being poor.

"You need a strong foundation to reach the heights."

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  • TMV World Legacy Member

I first tried Adobe Audition a Paid for Program. Looks really cool Has all kinds of effects. When I recorded with that eveything came out all muffled. I used Audacity a free shareware program. It souded just as clear as with my 12 track except for the clipping that was due to not being able to hear playback while I was recording to laptop.

"You need a strong foundation to reach the heights."

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  • TMV World Legacy Member

Point taken. I thought I had it bad because I had no shoes until a met a man who had no feet.

"You need a strong foundation to reach the heights."

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  • TMV World Legacy Member

Point taken. I thought I had it bad because I had no shoes until a met a man who had no feet.

And the, I asked him, "I don't suppose you got a pair of shoes laying around that you are not using?"

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