The "Child In Time" Challenge by Deep Purple

[forest_gimp]

Yeah, all these versions are quite intimidating, I especially liked Felipe version, very bright and always on pitch.

I post here my own version, but I must warn you I do not have the technical level of most singers there. I have seriously practised singing two years ago, so I am trying to sing the song correctly before trying to interprete it my own way.

Hope you guys can tell me how i could improve it!

Maybe this will encourage other people to post their own!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiShiUvwM3A

[Robert Lunte]

Hey, thanks guys... I try hard, I do my best... its NOT 100% amazing I suppose, but its probably up there by most standards. I was in the studio yesterday singing a ballad that doesn't have any screams like this and I got my ass handed to me... was very frustrating... but this is the 'sport' of singing... you just have to keep going, keep practicing, keep getting stronger and everyone can improve.

Owen, I don't know if my F1 or F2 is amplified? Would be interesting to know...

In regards to the distortion... this is a very good case study of what I have said before about distortion. More then any kind phonation, distortion is very personal. Some people can easily, others have to work at it more (me).. and everyone's distortion sounds a bit different... they are like finger prints... all cool, but all different... that is to say... good proper NOISE IN THE VOCAL TRACT distortions like this is... not tissue grinding. This may sound like tissue grinding, but its not... when I make this distortion sound, it feels very windy... it feels more like spit blowing in the vocal tract... its 'wet', 'open' and I believe my glottis is open just a little bit too, so its a bit windy... which is the way you want to do distortion... its not tissue grinding. For some reason, my distortion sounds 'evil'. LOL!!! I don't know why. It wasn't my intent necessarily, I'm not trying to do it that way... its just has this, wicked, evil sound to it... ok, fine... thats what God gave me for distortion, "... Rob gets the "evil" sound".. next!

So as an artist, you have to kind of be aware of that. Be aware of the aesthetic of your distortion and then try to place it where it works best.

Anyways, thanks for listening... I haven't heard Filepes? Would like to hear it?

[Robert Lunte]

Forest you version of 'child of time' , good effort... on the 2nd scream sequence... bite down on the twanger.. you need more compression... squeeze more... on the 3rd scream sequence... you just have give it hell... use glottal attacks.

[forest_gimp]

Forest you version of 'child of time' , good effort... on the 2nd scream sequence... bite down on the twanger.. you need more compression... squeeze more... on the 3rd scream sequence... you just have give it hell... use glottal attacks.

Thank you for the imput Robert. I will work up on it. I have already made great progress thanks to TVS teacher Olivier Tronquet with who I have taken several classes aimed at developing head resonance.

Regarding your version, I was quite impressed by the overtones you get on your screams. I have heard a lot of distorsions as i like to listen to hard rock and heavy metal, but it seems you achieve to produce overtones one octave higher from the pitch. Usually, false vocal fold distorsion produces a second tonality one octave lower.

I was about to think that you overloaded your mic to produce this sound, but if this is all produced in your vocal tract, then yeah, I have no idea about how you have achieved it.

[Robert Lunte]

I am pleased to hear that you like my CIT tribute... Owen said Im getting an extra harmonic in there... honestly I didn't really notice, but it clearly is 'whistle' register and things get a bit freaky up there. This are are real screams, there is not processing or trickery on them. You can hear that they are all a bit different. Of course there is some reverb and light delay, but its the real thing... I can get 'whistles' like that to work after I have worked the TVS "Extreme Scream Pitch" workout... some of you guys are familiar with it. Its all vocal tract, its real blood and guts...

That is so cool you are training with my Master Certified Instructor in Montpellier, France! Yes, Olivier is the first European teacher that ever worked with me for a Masterclass like 7 years ago, today we are great friends. So cool dude... are you a student of IEFAR? You in Montpellier or do you do skype lessons with Olivier?

Those of you that may be interested, here is TVS Master Certified Instructor Oliver TRONQUET from Montpellier, France singing in his kick butt Led Zepplin Tribute band. I actually filmed this video... I remember, I had been up for about 15 hours and just got off a train from Paris that was like 6 hours and got there just in time to see Olivier's outdoor concert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49y9OicM6bY

[forest_gimp]

I was actually by chance studying in Montpellier one year ago and i discovered I was living just near the place where Olivier is giving his singing courses. This was a total coincidence as I wanted at this time to extend and reinforce my head voice and there was a guy two blocks from house who basically was THE man who could teach me how to proceed :cool:.

It took me only a few sessions with him to hit really high notes and starting to hit them consistently. I remember one day another teacher from iefar rushed in and told Olivier that he was doubting he could hit a high C in chest voice. He actually did it, and very comfortably. Then, he did the same note, in head voice. Honestly, both sounded really great, and quite close.

And yeah, his Led Zepplin tributes are totally awesome!

[Robert Lunte]

I have two strong teachers in France, Olivier TRONQUET and Stephanie DUMOUCH.

www.TheVocalistStudio.fr

www.olivieertronquet.com

R

[Robert Lunte]

It is just a big open embouchure... nothing special there... and a hard hitting "attack & release" onset to produce flageolet. If you watch Ian Gillan , he does the same thing... you have to attack that top note pretty heavily... and it whistles... whistles do freaky things.

[Gina Ellen Vocalist]

coool. This is super sweet Rob. Vocally amazing and glad I have a fab coach like you

If i'm going to be super critical ....... (just some theory things) There are a couple little runs you do at 2:28 and 2:40 that I think you sing E5,Eb,C,B. Personally I think the run would be better E,D,C,B as this fits in the key Am. The Eb sort of popped out to me. Hope you don't mind me saying!

Better carry on working on those F5's for that Aretha Franklin song!

[Robert Lunte]

coool. This is super sweet Rob. Vocally amazing and glad I have a fab coach like you

If i'm going to be super critical ....... (just some theory things) There are a couple little runs you do at 2:28 and 2:40 that I think you sing E5,Eb,C,B. Personally I think the run would be better E,D,C,B as this fits in the key Am. The Eb sort of popped out to me. Hope you don't mind me saying!

Better carry on working on those F5's for that Aretha Franklin song!

Well, seems I missed one... Ill try more harder next time.

[MDEW]

I chopped on a new live version of "CHILD IN TIME"... THIS IS VERSION 3.

I THINK YOU WILL LIKE THE WHISTLE SCREAMS HERE.

https://thevocaliststudio.box.com/s/ebf8ef7460f93ccbeca8

THOUGHT I Would step up and share.

Let me know if you have any questions about techniques related to singing this tune.

Hope this helps...

:| You sure that didn't hurt? Sounded pretty awesome.

If I can get my Mother-in-law to go away for a few days I may give it a shot. I'll try that swingin cat technique that Ron keeps pushing. I have a cat. You can use it as a HOW NOT TO SING example.

[ronws]

:| You sure that didn't hurt? Sounded pretty awesome.

If I can get my Mother-in-law to go away for a few days I may give it a shot. I'll try that swingin cat technique that Ron keeps pushing. I have a cat. You can use it as a HOW NOT TO SING example.

Just remember, you've got to swing the cat faster than he/she can swing you.

[limelite]

I know it's an older thread, but was scrolling down and saw the title, and had to say you did Deep Purple properly!! Great job Robert. Very impressive.

[Robert Lunte]

Thanks Limelite.

[Codyknight22]

Ron you are really good. And trust me, when a 13 year old kid with no expirence and who think they know everything think you're good, you're good.

[Robert Lunte]

Did Ron upload a version of this? Do you mean Rob or Ron?

[Guest]

Did Ron upload a version of this? Do you mean Rob or Ron?

Say what? This is Ron's thread. Check the Title and first post :D

[Robert Lunte]

Oh shit, I'm sorry Ron... I didn't notice this was your CIT thread... guess I need to pull my head out... I think its great that different people are trying this tune, it shows balls.

Ron nice work, I think it sounds pretty good... watch the cues a bit... that means, when you start/stop on the phrases... just a simple little rhythmic thing to pay attention too...

Like the falsettos,,, they work.

Your 2nd scream sequence sounds good.

Pretty good whistles...

Ron, sorry I didn't comment on your effort earlier... :/

[ronws]

Thanks to both of you, Robert and Cody.

Robert, for your vast experience and well-tuned ear. Someone who has been there, done that. And for you to comment at all. For the vocal coaches, such as yourself and the other voice professionals usually stay out of this critique thing, I think, for 2 reasons. A) review involves your professional time, which is usually better spent working with the active students. People can often get their feelings hurt if you have items you point out that need fixing. And trust me, I wish I could back and fix the timing issue. But I wanted to record it "live" and must now live with my "sin," forever.

Cody. precisely for your lack of experience. Even though you are new here and possibly new to the world of voice training, you also represent the next generation of the music-buying public. That great, unwashed horde who might think an A5 is a model of Audi (motorcars.) The people who don't know all the tech stuff we do. They just know if it's good, or not. That is just as valid and important as the most detailed review from a teacher with years of experience and dissecting student performances. And I would still value your input if you had thought it was not good.

And I feel, the CIT threads are not a competition but an invitation for each person to create their own take, using whatever their voice can do. If you can do it like Ian, great. If not, great. But do the song and let the inspiration take you.

And, in general, I'm not kidding. I think it would be neat to hear a true baritone or bass do the song. That would bring in such a different color of sound as to be unique and totally enjoyable. Even though I can't do baritone or bass, I appreciate those who can.

Robert, you have a larger range than I have and you some wonderful lows that are just awesome and really do expand the sound, as well.

[Robert Lunte]

.... Well Ron... I do this 20 hours a week ... its not a competition... you did great... I particularly like the little falsetto embellishments you put in between the screams... something about them, caught my attention.

[ronws]

.... Well Ron... I do this 20 hours a week ... its not a competition... you did great... I particularly like the little falsetto embellishments you put in between the screams... something about them, caught my attention.

Thanks, again, Robert. I was just going by feel and those were actually ad-libbed. Most of my prep work was on the verses. I wanted to make sure I sang "you'll see the line" instead of "you'll see the light." Basic stuff like that. Basic stuff can trip me up, so better to rehearse so that the "live" take comes out better. Like Felipe said in his thread about recording, if you get the performance right, recording is secondary.

A little trivia. At the time I recorded this, I had just finished reading the history of Deep Purple. When Rice and Weber were writing and casting for "Jesus Christ, Superstar," they were invited to hear an advanced release of "Child in Time" and were so awed by the performance and had decided they wanted to cast Ian in the movie role. But his obligations with Deep Purple stuff were already set and filming and recording for the movie would have conflicted with that. So, they went with their second choice, Ted Neely, a drummer from west Texas who had decided to try acting.

And I had an album of the JC Superstar soundtrack where Ian sang the title role.

Anyway, near the end of the song, I was inspired by that and came up, with some more ad lib. "Pray for yourselves .....pray for yourselves .... save yourselves!"

Anyway, I was going totally by feel and was truly inspired by your performance and your freedom to express your own style, in order to express my own style.

[Robert Lunte]

Ron, your track had a lot of style and I can hear mechanics of your registrations, head voice work, twang, tone all in there. Your phonation package has all the right core elements to get through this tune.

If you try another take at it... tighten up the cues on the verses. Keep the cool little falsetto embellishment and develop that. I think you might explore getting more aggressive in your M2's Ron. Not so much about twang, like most experienced students of singing technique, I think your compression is ok... but working on your larynx dampening so you can tune your formant better, modify your vowels a little bit to your advantage and ... get your appoggio game on Ron...

There are two major sources of energy that support the phonation package;

1). the vibratory mechanism and

2). the respiratory system.

We tend to neglect #2 in singing most often. What happens is students become to reliant on compression to carry them through the singing. It kinda works, but it makes you sound more like a duck. Ironically, Ian Gillan was actually a fairly quacky singer, and so a pinch more compression in this song makes it sound "Gillan-esque" which is ok... anyways... Get your respiration going and work on closing the vocal folds with more Bernoulli effect and TA in your efforts and you'll leap forward in your progress.

... I just added a big "Appoggio" section to 'The Four Pillars of Singing" with what I think are the four components to think about when training Appoggio": www.TheVocalistStudioStore.com

1). extrinsic anchoring

2). open throat tongue position

3). engagement of the intercostals and core

4). wind & release onsets inside of M2 are most favorable

Hope this helps Ron... your doing great.. take another stab at it.. !

[ronws]

Thanks, Robert. It's funny you should mention laryngeal dampening.

I still, to this day, remember the physical experience of that recording. My jaw was dropped in the highest notes and would only ascend as I lowered through the vocal fill.

And I can reveal some secrets about the recording, which shall surely invite criticism and I am okay with that.

The vocal track is one single track, no patches or dubs. From start to finish, one track. Absolutely the first and only take. No false starts or start-overs. It was the end of the day. Literally, I opened Audacity, imported the backing track you graciously provided. Clicked on "record." And let fly. As in, no warm-up, no half-volume rehearsal, no rehearsal on the day of recording.

Literally, as live as I could make it. As if I was in a club where DP was playing and Ian, for whatever imagined reason, could not get on stage and sing the song and they needed someone to fill in. Just go for it.

Doubtless, others will say, ah, then, that is why this is this and that is that and if you did this or that it would be "better." I was inspired by your live performance, though I don't know what prep you may have done.

So, given time and a more professional recording procedure, I could produce a more "album" ready performance, and I might just do that, just to see what it would be like to record for a commercial album release.

Thank you so much for your help, advice, and support. You are a prince among men.

[napoleonboot]

I think I need to get my dictionary out to understand all the termninology here. My understanding of singing technique is gained from recording myself and listening back, and correcting based on what I hear, together with some reading (mostly on this site).

Maybe if I did understand all the terminology better, I could improve?

I'll give this song a go over the next couple of weeks, and perhaps you guys can give a technical appraisal, and I'll look it all up to see what you mean, and that's help me decide whether to take some lessons with Robert?.

I have had an interesting email discussion asking Ron about this, but I am still undecided. Since I started singing seriously a couple of years ago, my singing has developed farily well, and continues to do so. So, I am torn, I'd like to be really good, but I am continually improving anyway, and so may get there on my own.... or would lessons give me a step up?

[ronws]

The main point of our email discussion is that George already sings well, has great tone, etc. But that getting 4 Pillars, for example, and the lessons and techniques that go with it, would increase his range, which is, in my opinion, is the main thing he could change, if he wanted to.