Radiohead - Creep cover

[Sethis21]

Hey there! This is a song that I wanted to cover for quite some time. I love it's vibe even though it doesn't have too many vocal acrobatics... I am mainly trying to find my "identity" as a singer so I am still experimenting, I want to find singers whose voice I can relate to or something... Feel free to offer any advice!

[ElWin]

Hey Sethis - Creep is one of my all time favourite songs and I think you did a decent job. You say this doesn't have too many vocal acrobatics which is true of the verses but the section "She's running out again...." is pretty tough.

I think you were fractionally flat in a couple of places but I mean fractionally and its only because I know the song so well that I spotted this - you could probably perform this live and nobody would either care or notice. Despite you being from Greece I didn't think you had a strong accent coming through which is a sign of good diction so well done there as well.

Overall a good job - I'm going through the same process myself of trying to find a niche vocally and the more and more I try the more I think - forget it - just sing the songs that you enjoy singing. I listened to some of the other work you have on soundcloud and I thought the Deep Purple cover was excellent so although it is totally different to Creep there's no reason you can't be suited to both styles. I didn't enjoy the Judas Priest number - it feels like at that end of your range you lack a bit of pitch control but all of the lower register stuff sounds very good. Even where you use a bit of softer head voice/falsetto like Join Me In Death sounds good so maybe you just need to work on your higher volume head stuff to have a complete package.

Also more importantly you sounded like you were doing your own versions not imitating the original singers on the good ones so you probably already have your "identity", you just don't realise it :D

[ronws]

I, too, liked your version of this song. And though I often had philosophical problems with the lyrics, I too, fight my own demons and that is what this song is about. And it is a great example of good songwriting and arrangement. I am easily pleased, so, I love the guitar crunches in the pre-chorus, for example. You have this soft, almost acoustic lilting solilioquy. Which is then spiced with "zhh" "Zhh-zhh" of the guitar. Most piquant, I must say.

And good luck to you. I am still on a journey to find my niche.

As others have helped me with guidance, I must learn to follow a rule I often state and rarely follow. Which is to find music that fits one voice and, as so eloquently stated by french composer Reynaldo Hahn, whom I am recently reading, one's personality.

What music gets the greatest comments from the great, unwashed, music-buying public? The hard rock stuff that I do, especially the high-end supersonic stuff. Allow me to momentarily commandeer your thread to illustrate the thing you are a seeking.

I am operations manager for an electrical sub-contractor. Part of my job is to order supplies and receive deliveries of those supplies. One of our suppliers uses independent drivers. And one of those guys is a fan of mine. I swear, on a stack of bibles, after sharing with him the file links I have, his favorite is "Highway to Hell."

He said, and I quote, "If you are ever singing in a club somewhere, and you are going to do this song, tell me, and I will pay cover charge to get in."

So, as I have learned that I need to pay attention to the audience, I should pay attention to the audience. I am guilty of singing whatever suits my fancy, with mixed results.

The words of Hahn ring in my ears. Music that fits one's personality. One of my greatest failures was my cover of "Full Moon" by Sonata Arctica. A song, a style, a band that I just did not have much energy or attention invested in. In fact, I had never heard of the song before it was suggested to me by a friend, merely because I have the right range for the song.

But I did not have the sound of the original singer, I did not have the "heart" for the song and pretty much sight-sang it, reading from a lyric sheet, first and only take. About like a karaoke dare. And ticked a few people off.

So, yes, it really helps to define what your style is. You seem to do really well on this song. And maybe your strength will be alt rock with a strong philosophical bent.

[Sethis21]

@Elwin: Thanks for your comments! First of all, diction is something I worked on quite a bit so I'm happy to hear that you like it. I think it's a pity when you make an effort to write some nice lyrics and then the listener struggles to hear the lyrics or has to look them up just because the singer isn't singing clearly. It's true that sometimes you might have to cramp a few words so they fit or skip some consonants for artistic purposes but I'm trying to keep this to a minimum without sacrifing expressiveness. I also tried not listening to the original song soon before recording this one and just sing this from memory. I thought this could help in not completely copying Thom Yorke's style.

As for the other covers I've got, these were probably a bit older. I didn't have access to my full head voice back then and that's part of the reason why I sung lower songs. Especially that Judas Priest cover was probably the least serious cover I've made. Just fooling around with some distortion...if I took that out it would probably not sound much more powerful than the falsetto in Creep. I get the feeling though that my voice feels better in the Creep range than in the HIM range.

Good luck with your singing adventure!

@rowns: Thank you too! Inspiring story.

I am guilty of singing whatever suits my fancy as well. haha The way I see it, singing is a means of expression. I do appreciate it aesthetically as well, as an art, but putting my thoughts out there (in a pretty/attractive form ) is the main reason I want to sing. There is something about controlling the voice I haven't found in other instruments. Probably one of the hardest too as it's so deeply connected to your psychology.

It was definitely positive that you tried singing something else than what you're accustomed to even if you didn't succeed. It's useful to get out of your comfort zone once in a while to explore and gather new things, you just need to take care and not get lost.

And coincidentally, the genre you mentioned is what I mostly listen to/ want to sing. It's nice to hear that.

Cheers!

[ronws]

And coincidentally, the genre you mentioned is what I mostly listen to/ want to sing. It's nice to hear that.

Cheers!

Indeed, you could be the next generation's U2. Or Midnight Oil (though they were a one-hit wonder and the singer is now an activist and politician in Australia.)

You could be the 21st century Neil Young. It has nothing to do with range or timbre and everything to do with heart, though the study of technique gives you longetivity and a reliable singing instrument, of course.

[Owen Korzec]

It sounds good. I agree with Elwin's comments about the ever so slightly flat pitch here and there. It was most noticeable on the very highest falsetto note and even that was arguably acceptably flat.

As for not copying the original, you probably imitated Thom more than the average singer would in a cover, but I don't see anything wrong with that. You don't sound like you are impersonating him so I think you are on the right track. If you are really adamant about not wanting to imitate the original singer in any way, I would suggest you work more on it, but if I were you, I would personally be satisfied with the current mix of uniqueness and pulling qualities from the original that you did here.

Anyways, great job overall. Not really the easiest song to sing. Belting that A4 on "run" is tough, I would consider that a vocal acrobatic. You did well on that.