Run to the hills take 2 - Give me feedback please

[aravindmadis]

Hi Folks.. I have done a second take of Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden.. I wasn't happy with how the first one turned out.. I did a few things differently here

1. Used a lighter voice throughout that suits my voice.. I realized that Bruce's voice is a higher voice so he is able to sing the high notes with more chest in the mix.. I was unable to hit the notes with more chest in the mix without belting and it caused an impression of strain..

2. Someone told me that I tend to crash on towards the end of sentences.. I have corrected that mistake..

3. I approached the whole song from the head downwards and added chest instead of building the verse from the chest.. I found out that it is a lot easier to sing this way..

https://soundcloud.com/aravind-madhavan/run-to-the-hills-take-2

Please do listen and give me your feedback..

[AmirMaor]

Very nice, I think you can improve the final mix, great work!

[ronws]

I like this version way better. So much better, I was imagining being Nicko and what an endurance test this song must be on the drums. Which is a good sign. It means the singing fit this song and didn't demanding attention to "fix" something, at least in my humble opinion.

I think it was a wise decision to use the lighter part of your voice than trying to match exactly the sound of Bruce. I am of the opinion, shared by a number of people, most especially voice teachers that are even worth a dime, that as inspiring as another singer can be, to try and copy exactly that singer with your different voice is ill-advised and often leads to damage. That it is more important to find the unique strengths in your voice and use those.

I have sang this song around the house but my voice is even lighter than yours. I could sing it pitch-perfect, no note crashes. And get filleted alive in review because I simply do not sound like Bruce Dickinson and some who would criticize me expect that each and every voice is able to make the exact same pitch and sound as any other voice in the world and that I am too lazy to accomplish that.

But I like what you did, here.

[slstone]

I like this version way better. So much better, I was imagining being Nicko and what an endurance test this song must be on the drums. Which is a good sign. It means the singing fit this song and didn't demanding attention to "fix" something, at least in my humble opinion.

As a note of interest, Nicko was once considered the fastest feet in drumming. Because many of those fast galloping rhythms, he does with one foot. He very rarely actually uses both for a double bass effect....

[ronws]

And he does it barefoot.

[aravindmadis]

Very nice, I think you can improve the final mix, great work!

Any tips on how I can do this? I use a AT2020 microphone, Scarlett 2i2 and Ableton Live for my recordings.. I use basic Gate, Compression and Reverb that my limited knowledge allows.. I do these recordings at home with no proper soundproofing, so any help on how I can improve the mix quality would be great..

[aravindmadis]

I like this version way better. So much better, I was imagining being Nicko and what an endurance test this song must be on the drums. Which is a good sign. It means the singing fit this song and didn't demanding attention to "fix" something, at least in my humble opinion.

I think it was a wise decision to use the lighter part of your voice than trying to match exactly the sound of Bruce. I am of the opinion, shared by a number of people, most especially voice teachers that are even worth a dime, that as inspiring as another singer can be, to try and copy exactly that singer with your different voice is ill-advised and often leads to damage. That it is more important to find the unique strengths in your voice and use those.

I have sang this song around the house but my voice is even lighter than yours. I could sing it pitch-perfect, no note crashes. And get filleted alive in review because I simply do not sound like Bruce Dickinson and some who would criticize me expect that each and every voice is able to make the exact same pitch and sound as any other voice in the world and that I am too lazy to accomplish that.

But I like what you did, here.

Thanks Ron.. I am humbled I guess most casual listeners do not know/understand how difficult it is to sing Bruce's songs, let alone sing it in a way like he does & sound as good as Bruce does :-) I am an agnostic by nature, but when I listen to Bruce at his pomp, I cannot help but feel it is a voice that has been touched by a higher power.. Mere mortals like me can only aspire to improve to sing the best version of themselves..

[Adoney]

Hey not bad Though to get the Dickinson sound you want to make sure you stay away from the quacky sound. Think more belty But you are getting the whole 'head/mix' technique down, which is great! People say that it's a process of strengthening the voice, and head voice etc. so stick with it! If I get the time, I might record a video cover of this one too, you reminded me of how fun these tunes are.

[aravindmadis]

Hey not bad Though to get the Dickinson sound you want to make sure you stay away from the quacky sound. Think more belty But you are getting the whole 'head/mix' technique down, which is great! People say that it's a process of strengthening the voice, and head voice etc. so stick with it! If I get the time, I might record a video cover of this one too, you reminded me of how fun these tunes are.

I am sorry, what is a "quacky sound"? I did not want to create the Dickinson sound, and frankly with my voice, I am not even sure it is possible! While I have a relatively light voice, it is still much lower than Bruce! If I do try to belt, I simply do not have control at the stress points..

On a related note, does the voice get stronger over time? This 'head/mix' technique is something that I have been learning only for the last few months and while I can see improvement in the power, I am wondering if it can be made stronger!

[Gneetapp]

Hi Aravindmadis, I did not listen the 1st version, but I liked this one for sure. Lots of power in the vocals. You just need to keep working on the chorus (the highest part of the song) to strengthen the vocals a bit more, so you don't strain and keep the pitch easier. Also, keep working on the ending of the sentences of the chorus, I think you are stretching the ending part of the words. Great cover! :cool:

[Adoney]

I am sorry, what is a "quacky sound"? I did not want to create the Dickinson sound, and frankly with my voice, I am not even sure it is possible! While I have a relatively light voice, it is still much lower than Bruce! If I do try to belt, I simply do not have control at the stress points..

On a related note, does the voice get stronger over time? This 'head/mix' technique is something that I have been learning only for the last few months and while I can see improvement in the power, I am wondering if it can be made stronger!

Well it's possible to do with a lower voice, too. Don't worry. I myself am a 'low' baritone.. Dickinson was one of the first singers I started emulating, at about age 15 or so. I speak from experience because this song was one of the first songs I covered, and I did the whole thing in falsetto pretty much. It sounded very strange, like a woman singing it lazily. Eventually I learned the technique is very, very different from that, but that doesn't matter.

There are people who use head voice/mix voice kind of technique and get a similar sound. From what I understand about the technique you are using, it is a process of strengthening. And that will happen over time. Just keep at it. Your cover is not bad at all.

[aravindmadis]

Hi Aravindmadis, I did not listen the 1st version, but I liked this one for sure. Lots of power in the vocals. You just need to keep working on the chorus (the highest part of the song) to strengthen the vocals a bit more, so you don't strain and keep the pitch easier. Also, keep working on the ending of the sentences of the chorus, I think you are stretching the ending part of the words. Great cover! :cool:

Thanks.. Last time someone mentioned that I tended to crash on the ending of the lines and this time looks like I tried to be too conscious to avoid that and ended up stretching the sentences a wee bit in the chorus! I wasn't too keen to do an exact replica of Bruce, and it is simply impossible with my voice to do it anyway..

Just one question.. Is this technique damaging to the vocals? I do not feel stress of any sort even if I sing for an hour or even longer.. When I do a more chest heavy belty type of voice, I tend to run out of steam towards the end of the hour..

[Gneetapp]

Hi Aravindmadis, I am not a vocal teacher nor an advanced student. I took a few months worth of lessons with 2 different teachers, from whom I learned the very basics of respiration, raise the palate, etc, and I've been training on my own for the past year, but only now I was able to mix my higher and lower ranges.

I don't think your technique is wrong or damaging to your voice (although I'm not a teacher), I just meant that you have to keep practicing the good way, so to create muscle memory and strengthen your higher voice and make it more consistent. Very good job so far. Keep rocking. :cool: