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Me trying "Wonderful world" by Sam Cooke à la Terence Trent D'Arby

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Hi there,

It's me trying wonderfull world by Sam Cooke à la Terence trent d'arby.

I try to get this bite Terence have and the dynamics too. But i think i really need help, i think i'm too chesty don't know how to get a lighter sound whithout loosing the bite/power

My biggest problem is really losing the weigth of the voice, maybe i'm supporting too much and not isolate twang the right way.

Hmmmm not sure if i twang on this one ( completly lost on this term).

Another thing, i think i've really have to work on the open throat, but really don't know how...

Please help me in my quest!

http://www.box.net/shared/cd4rl3e0bx

Thanxs in advance

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You are a very good singer and are soooo close to really NAILING this song. I don't claim to be an expert at this but in my opinion, the reason one can hear strain on SOME (not all) of the high notes, is because you're using the wrong vowels for them. All of those highest notes should be slightly altered to one of these three vowels, if you want to sing it similar to Sam and Terence:

Ih as in "sit", Uh as in "hungry" and O as in "woman". If you have the CVT book, check out the section on "curbing" and read it over and over until you know it by heart. I'm sure that similar things can be found in many, many other books. It's basically the infamous "mix" sound that we all love to hate - or vice versa.

F.ex. for the first few high notes, you sing the word "much". Here you do great because you're using a perfect vowel and doing it spot on - Uh as in "hungry". It's debatable whether or not you should give QUITE as much volume in those words as you do - but that's a matter of taste. You could also lower the volume SLIGHTLY and keep that "cry" or "hold" in the tone and it's sound just a good, if not better.

Now, on to when you sing the phrase "but I DO know.." - Here I think I here the vowel Oo as in "use" a bit too much so you strain ever so slightly and get off pitch slightly and probably have a hard time sustaining that word on that pitch. Try modifying that vowel to O as in "woman" and it should surprise you how much easier it is.

It's the same thing with the phrase "and I KNOW that if you want me to" - you're using the vowel Oh as in "so" for the word KNOW and I think it would sound better to direct it more towards the vowel Uh as in "hungry" (it sounds strange to do that, I know, but try it and don't go ALL the way to Uh, but somewhere between Oh and Uh until you feel you stop straining). You CAN use the Oh vowel here but it will always sound shouty and in this song I don't think you want that. It might sound a bit too much like a Broadway singer covering the song.

I hope you don't mind me writing down what I think about this. But IMO, you only really need to fix those minor little details (although they might take you a while to really master) and then the strain will be much less. I repeat, it already sounds VERY good - you're very good singer with excellent pitch and feel and a LOT of people will never hear any strain in that take you just did.

Peace!

jonpall.

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OMG Jonpall!!! You rock!!!!!

Thanxs a lot for a so detailled answer. I've never really work on the vowel modification, i will do that tomorrow, you must be right!

Your answer is really awsome, gonna have to read it again and again ;-).

The french Version on CVT is coming soon, i will get it asap. The curbing mode seems to be the one for singing soul/rock ;-)

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joshual,

great to hear you sing man! I think you've done an excellent job capturing the attitude of his version.

It really helps hearing the version you were working from:

Jonpall had some excellent suggestions with vowel work.

I try to get this bite Terence have and the dynamics too. But i think i really need help, i think i'm too chesty don't know how to get a lighter sound whithout loosing the bite/power

I think what you are referring to as "bite" is quite simply twang and some light distortion. I don't think you are too chesty...but I feel like you may be trying to generate the bite by pushing just a bit up top. Jonpall and Jens have done some excellent recordings w/ twang in the high range(distortion too.) That's really what you're looking for. It's light but definitely has bite.

Have you worked witches cackle/duck quacking/diving aeroplane/cat meeeeowing(without oo)/etc.?

I really feel like you are at least 90% there and just need a couple of tweaks to get the sound you want. {Don't forget that "distortion" will mask some really light sounds and make them sound way bigger and badder.}

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I was experimenting earlier with different vowels at a certain pitch. Some vowels resonate in some spaces better and so have a different timbre. In the video that was linked, that singer is shifting between a fairly driven twang, with some distortion and outright falsetto.

Not that you have to do that, exactly. But, for example, if you are feeling too heavy on 'ee' sounds, try to shorten length of those and resonate on other ones.

You got quite an attack on the consonants, too. I liked your version.

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Hi,

Fantastic sound! Great pitch.....want to hear more more more....where's the rest of the song? My 2 cents worth would be to relax on the phrasing a bit. Let the words connect with each other a bit more. That way, the song would 'flow' a bit easier which would be more pleasing to the listener. Listen to the music and the way it's being played. There's a flavour to every song in the music...a feeling...our job is the capture that and the feeling of the words and what they mean to you.

Great singing!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Joshual...every one gave all the advice you needed to work on the areas that you think are needed...may I just add that to my ears, the clip sounded truly, really, really beautiful. I was really pleasantly surprised and I loved your take. I have no 'improvement' suggestions because I heard nothing wrong.

Kudos for such beautiful control on your pitch, tone and phrasing.

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