Stairway to Heaven : an attempt

[forest_gimp]

One year ago, I posted an attempt at singing this song to get some advices.

I have kept on practising it until i think it would be interesting to post it here again.

https://www.box.com/s/rss54epukb5f1tmwnqoy

Some passages aren't perfectly adjusted and I have experienced latency issues with audacity, i am reaching for a better sound card.

Tell me honestly if it starts to sound convincing on the high notes. I have tried to follow Rob's advice (on Child in time) about biting more on the twanger.

Any tip and comment to make me improve this song will be much appreciated!

[ronws]

I liked the high notes. You did well on the really high grace notes in the end.

On words ending in the letters "ER" try it as uh sound, with a slight r on the end, or no r. Such as "wonder" and "laughter."

But I think you did really well and I am a big fan of the song and the band, in case anyone didn't know.

Cool backing track. Did you do it yourself, especially the lead guitar parts? If you did, it was awesome.

And good for you and Robert for developing this ability you now have to sing one of the most popular and iconic songs in rock history. It is the song, I think, to which all others are compared. At least in my book.

[forest_gimp]

Thanks Ron!

When i posted my first attempt one year ago, you were the first to comment it, and it was way more flawed than this one. Back then, you gave me a couple of advices which were useful too, because my head tones were a bit squishy.

For the "er" sound, i guess it has to do with my French accent. Gonna correct this.

Also, I think I have still trouble to maintain consistency on low head tones, like A4, and i have to get closer to the mic when i sing them. But if I stay at the same distance when i ascend up to E5, the mic gets overloaded.

And for the guitar job, I picked a Youtube guitar cover, which sounded better than most karaoke tracks.

[ronws]

Well, you have done well.

And, I guess I am the first to comment both times. I am the resident Led Zeppelin fan, after all.

:)

[OldPainless]

Hey forest gimp, I'm gonna try my best to write a fair review with tips. I don't know how experienced you are and I'm not a pro, I can't even read notes so I don't know which ones you're talking about in your post. Take this as a (hopefully)helpful guide.

Let's start with things that I think you should try to improve. Remember, my sub-consciousness is comparing you to Robert Plant, one of the greatest singers ever to walk this earth(in my opinion):

1. Microphone positioning: You need to practice leaning towards or away from the microphone during the song to keep the volume more balanced throughout the whole song. I recommend setting the microphone gain pretty high, so that when you lean in for the low notes, you get that sweet deep sound. Then when you lean out you can add more volume to your voice without messing up the recording.

2. Nasal sound: Yes, I think you sound a bit nasal. How would I fix it?

a) Now, I can't see you what you look like while you're singing, but I'm guessing your mouth isn't open enough. Try opening your mouth A LOT more when singing. It may feel and look silly but it helped me a lot.

Posture is very important and you should try to stand relaxed and do a thorough warmup before recording. Write "vocal warmup" into the youtube searchbar if you don't know any good ones.

c) Always try to sing through your diaphragm. You should feel the sound coming from your lower chest/stomach area, not the throat or head. You can search for that on youtube as well

d) I find it difficult to tell, but I'm not sure if you're singing like you don't want to be heard. Remember, when it comes to singing, don't think about the people living with you and around you. You're always going to annoy someone when you practice, it's inevitable unless you're a hermit.

3. Note longevity: I think you should sometimes let your notes live a little bit longer(maybe just personal preference).

4. The low part of the high notes in the end: I think the low falsetto notes didn't quite work out. Why? I'm not entirely sure. I'd have you work on what I stated before and then try again. Maybe I'm just too used to Robert Plant flawlessly belting it out in the end.

Are you still with me? I'm going to talk about what I liked now:

1. Your natural vibratto. Damn dude, I love it. You need to show more of that

2. Your timing, it was pretty good.

3. The highest parts of the high notes. When you let them live a bit and let that sweet vibratto show.. good stuff.

I hope you don't take my criticism badly and hopefully I'll see your post when you post next time ;)

[forest_gimp]

OldPainless,

This is the reason why i registered in a technical forum, to get advices and go forward!

I have been training for two years, so I can be considered as a beginner, compared to many members of this forum.

Woking on posture and support, good idea. Reagrding my fear of not being heard, I can tell you that i don't give a damn, and I prevented my neighboor :-). But if it SOUNDS like i am holding something, then this is bad. I thought my singing had gained enough confidence to avoid this kind of thing.

For the low part of the high notes, I agree with you, although i don't know yet if i have to belt them in chest voice or if i have to strenghten my head voice to make them sound better. I also think i have neglected them because I anticipated the high notes.

I do not take your criticism badly, the contrary. And I hope other people in this forum are not holding themselves.

[OldPainless]

OldPainless,

Reagrding my fear of not being heard, I can tell you that i don't give a damn, and I prevented my neighboor :-). But if it SOUNDS like i am holding something, then this is bad. I thought my singing had gained enough confidence to avoid this kind of thing.

That's good to hear, Like I said I wasn't quite sure about that one. I think that might have been due to the microphone not being positioned properly (i.e you were too far away sometimes so I couldn't hear you properly).