Bon Jovi - It's My Life

[derekreno]

Haven't posted any tunes on here before, have a listen if you want. Feel free to critique! Oh...and hello forum

http://picosong.com/R9DZ/

-Derek

[ElWin]

Now was this 1987, 1995 or 2013 Bon Jovi?

Sorry - there has just been a big debate on the technique thread about Jon Bon Jovi over the years!

You've got an interesting tone to your voice. At first I thought you were just trying to imitate Jon Bon Jovi and I think in parts you did but in others it sounded like your own voice.

There were a lot of very minor pitch issues i.e. slightly flat on a few notes but there were other parts where you didn't hit the same notes as the original and seemed to substitute rising riffs e.g. Like Frankie Said I Did It My Way and I Just Want to Live Forever - your starting notes on those are much lower than the original but you obviously can sing the notes - the Did and Live were at the right place.

Maybe that was a stylistic thing/your interpretation - only you could say - but just stood out for me because I think the original has more energy from staying up higher in those parts.

Good job though overall.

[ronws]

I liked it. I think you transitioned some notes different than the original, as far as timing goes, which might sound like pitchiness. However, you've got the sound and feel of the song.

My only suggestion is stylistic. I would prefer a less echo.

I think Liam is right, the original has a little more time on the high notes but stylistically, this is your choice and I liked what you did.

[gno]

Sounds good. You're doing a nice job bridging into your head voice on the chorus.

[derekreno]

Thanks guys.

@elWin - I believe early 2000 Bon Jovi, haha. Yeah I was trying to imitate him to the best of my ability. I'll have to search for this Bon Jovi thread you speak of. I think the chorus section, the rising riff part...I guess I just liked the way it sounded.

@ronws - I agree with the echo. When I listened back on my stereo it was a bit much...too lazy to remix the effect though...lol

[ElWin]

Derek - that's cool I think people should feel free to mix it up a bit if it works better for them. That thread is in the vocal technique section near the top. You may have inadvertently been the first to do the Jon Bon Jovi challenge but I think there will be many more.

[derekreno]

Derek - that's cool I think people should feel free to mix it up a bit if it works better for them. That thread is in the vocal technique section near the top. You may have inadvertently been the first to do the Jon Bon Jovi challenge but I think there will be many more.

Right on, I just got through reading through the whole debate...this is a funny coincidence :D

[Owen Korzec]

Very nice. Geno is right. Great head voice, great bridging.

[derekreno]

Thanks man :)

[ronws]

Believe it or not, Derek, I too noticed the serendipity of your post and that of the aforementioned thread. But I treated it as separate and comment only on my enjoyment of the piece, other discussions about JBJ aside. In fact, I have been pretty much the only one standing up for him and he's not even my favorite singer.

[derekreno]

He's not really one of mine either, I figured I'd try something new...I mainly do 90s alt rock stuff, lol. This prob belongs in the other thread, but the dude's still got it as far as I'm concerned. It may not be 80s JBJ, but he's earned the right to bail on the chorus of Livin on a Prayer...he could prob nail the key change if he wanted to ;)

[ronws]

Well. Derek, we've had other threads before dissing famous singers and delineating their poor technique. It doesn't seem to get anywhere and I don't see how it helps us. There was a thread a while ago about the problems with Steve Perry's technique. And nearly every person here jumped to his defense in spite of a number of videos one can now find on you tube where he sounded less than stellar. But it is evidently sacreligious to question Saint Perry. But JBJ has not received sainthood yet and so he is fair game, evidently.

Me, I am stupid. For I have yet to figure out why one is a saint and the other is not. Steve Perry walked away from the band. And has not returned to public singing since his solo albums didn't do so well. But he's the greatest? And JBJ is crap, even though he is still singing?

I don't know how to explain this phenomenon or what good it is supposed to do. I guess it beats practicing singing and finding one's own sound and getting out there in front so others can pick oneself, for a change.

[Olem]

You've got an interesting tone to your voice. At first I thought you were just trying to imitate Jon Bon Jovi and I think in parts you did but in others it sounded like your own voice.

There were a lot of very minor pitch issues i.e. slightly flat on a few notes but there were other parts where you didn't hit the same notes as the original and seemed to substitute rising riffs e.g. Like Frankie Said I Did It My Way and I Just Want to Live Forever - your starting notes on those are much lower than the original but you obviously can sing the notes - the Did and Live were at the right place.

Maybe that was a stylistic thing/your interpretation - only you could say - but just stood out for me because I think the original has more energy from staying up higher in those parts.

Good job though overall.

I agree, it was a joy to listen to. Keep up the good work.

[Gneetapp]

Nice job! I agree about the "to much echo" going on, but I liked it overall. So, this was the start of the Bon Jovi challenge?! :D

[derekreno]

Thanks guys! And yes...I've inadvertently started the Bon Jovi challenge :D

[Felipe Carvalho]

Hey derek I think its sounding ok man, but you could easily fix some spots and nail it...

I would pay some attention to a few points on the lower area, where the open vowels get a bit strange (honky) and on the chorus and other similar parts with L such as "aLive", do you notice what happens in there?

Hope it helps, as a study I think its comming together fine, this song is much trickier than it seems, as pretty much everything from Bon Jovi .

[derekreno]

Thanks Felipe. I'm pretty sure the "honkey" thing you're talking about was me trying to "imitate" jbj

As far as the chorus, is it the phrasing...like instead of "I ain't gonna live", it sounds more like "I ain't gon aLive"...slurry I guess?

But yeah, this tune sounded decievingly easy...until I tried it, lol

[Felipe Carvalho]

Oh then just dont do it, its sounding very nice on your own voice. On the "while Im aLive" you have: oo ah ee l ah m ah lah ee v. you are doing a scoop before each ah, you let the pitch drop to bring it back up, this small pitch valley breaks the phrase, as a result it sounds "uglier",.

Try to eliminate the closed vowels first, sing oo Ah Lah Mah Lah V. And after its comfortable, gradually add back the articulation until its clearly pronounced but without heaviness or the scoop.

[derekreno]

Oh then just dont do it, its sounding very nice on your own voice. On the "while Im aLive" you have: oo ah ee l ah m ah lah ee v. you are doing a scoop before each ah, you let the pitch drop to bring it back up, this small pitch valley breaks the phrase, as a result it sounds "uglier",.

Try to eliminate the closed vowels first, sing oo Ah Lah Mah Lah V. And after its comfortable, gradually add back the articulation until its clearly pronounced but without heaviness or the scoop.

Ah, gotcha! Thanks man, I'll work with it. These tunes are actually quite fun, think I may end up trying a few more as well :D

[MDEW]

Sounded very nice Derek, I enjoyed that. :cool:

[derekreno]

Thanks MDEW. With this Bon Jovi challenge goin on I may try a different one now :)

[guitarersingist]

wow, I haven't heard the original song, and I would have thought THIS was the original if I hadn't seen this thread! great job.

[ronws]

Here you go, Guitar. This is the original song and group.

[Hanalei]

Sounds pretty good! I actually think it might help you if you relax a bit. I could be wrong, but to me, you sound very controlled - which is good - but maybe just loosening up a bit when you sing would make a difference? Not sure, but I do know that it helps me, especially with Bon Jovi songs. For me, the more I try to sound good, the less good it sounds. I also do agree with the echo thing, but other than that, it sounds pretty good. :)

[derekreno]

Thanks! Yeah, in my head I'm always thinking "oh (auto-edit) here comes the chorus"...haha