Winger-Miles Away vocal practice

[Gneetapp]

Hey Guys, this is my vocal cover of Winger, Miles Away. I know it is still far from professional level, but I cannot describe how happy I am of learning at this time in my life that I could sing this type of songs (that I really love) just learning the right vocal techniques and practicing. I always thought, and always been told that one had to be born with this gift. Thank you so much Felipe for sending me the backing track. Please let me know what you guys think, good and bad, but no need to tell me I don't sound like Kip Winger...

[Olem]

Congratulations, Gneetap, you are definately on the right track! In some places it sounds very good and in some places a little pitchy. With more practise you will nail this song soon.

[Gneetapp]

Hey Olem, thanks for listening and the comments! Yeah, I noticed some of the pitchy parts. And I think you are right regarding the improvement with practice. I've been practicing/recording this song for last than a week. Although I've been practicing it while playing the acoustic guitar for a little longer. The nicest thing is that in the last practice/recording attempt I could notice that on the final choruses I was sounding so much better and much more in control than in the first two choruses. Anyways, I am so happy that I'm being able to achieve this results with this type of songs in so little time, just because I figure it out how to use my full range. Thanks again! :)

[ronws]

The pitchy parts are from dipthongs. "Step away from the dipthongs." You get some clean vowels in the chorus, so do that same thing in the chorus.

And it is tougher than a lot of people think to do a ballad, which this is. Because a ballad is essentially quiet on the instruments and the voice is so much more prominent as not just an instrument but the lead instrument.

So, bravo for taking this on. It is a challenging song to do and you are following in the footsteps of someone (Kip) who has had opera training and you did a really good job for a first stab at it.

[Gneetapp]

Hey Ronws, so glad you did stop by and listened to the song, as we were talking about this earlier on another thread. Yeah, I definitely felt something different when I sang the last 2 choruses. Man, I can't tell you how pumped I am with these results I'm getting with my singing. Although I'm still getting used to my new range, I found out that this is not the hardest part of the job anymore, as now I am becoming more aware of the nuances of the songs, and how much more in control I need to Be throughout the song. Thanks again for the kind words man, and keep on rocking! :cool:

[ronws]

Awesome, Gnee. I think you did a good job on a song that is tougher than it sounds. Simplifying the vowels will make it simpler. Ain't no one else here trying that song. It can be re-assuring to do a hard rock song and let one's voice get buried in the mix. Doing a ballad, that takes some huevos grande. Which you have. And I like your voice on this song. I would definitely keep this one, if I were you.

[Gneetapp]

Thanks again for the kind words Ronws. I will definitely keep on working on this song, as I intend to include it in my band's set list, as soon as I get more comfortable with my new voice, and reshape our song list. I agree with you regarding ballads being tougher than hard rock songs. Cheers man!

[aravindmadis]

Gneetapp... I am not familiar with this song, but sounds like you are able to sing in both registers, which is a great start. The issues you have seem to be when you shift from chest to your head. Especially the part where it goes "Nothing left of what we had".. The "Nothing" is a lower note and the "left" is a quick jump.. Try to see if you can go more BAMM on the NN in the "Nothin".. You can use this as a base to sing the next note.. And when you have this kind of issue, for the note that causes issue, try to see if you can go deeper to fetch the lower note.. Not sure if it makes sense.. But it works for me!! try it out..

Keep on the good work and keep working.. This song for example was recorded by me last year.. just listen how stressed out I sound for a relatively easier song.. Compare this work with some of my later songs..

It has taken me a while to learn and improve, but trust me, if you put the efforts, the improvement will come...

You sound like you have the right ingredients.. It is a matter of experimenting to find what works for you!

[Gneetapp]

Gneetapp... I am not familiar with this song, but sounds like you are able to sing in both registers, which is a great start. The issues you have seem to be when you shift from chest to your head. Especially the part where it goes "Nothing left of what we had".. The "Nothing" is a lower note and the "left" is a quick jump.. Try to see if you can go more BAMM on the NN in the "Nothin".. You can use this as a base to sing the next note.. And when you have this kind of issue, for the note that causes issue, try to see if you can go deeper to fetch the lower note.. Not sure if it makes sense.. But it works for me!! try it out..

Keep on the good work and keep working.. This song for example was recorded by me last year.. just listen how stressed out I sound for a relatively easier song.. Compare this work with some of my later songs..

It has taken me a while to learn and improve, but trust me, if you put the efforts, the improvement will come...

You sound like you have the right ingredients.. It is a matter of experimenting to find what works for you!

Thanks for listening and commenting Aravind! You are absolutely right about the "nothing left...", and I found out only after I recorded the song. I got only a few right. But in the first times I tried this song, I would not get any one right. So, that is an improvement! eh eh!

Cheers!

[The Aspiring Singer]

I posted this message in the other post that we've been conversing in. Just in case you didn't get it:

I hear some of the same issues in your stronger vocals that I heard in the lighter vocals, which means that breath support is a consistent issue. That's no surprise because breath support is the nemesis of every singer. It's what all of us are always working on.

It's interesting that when you sing the first part of the chorus "Miles away," you are slightly under pitch. But then you sing "Miles away" again with the big jump on "A - way" and you sing the high note on the big jump beautifully. Your sound on the highest note is free, much more open, much better in tune and a much better sound. It's probably because you have a different approach to that high note. You know it's high and so you give it more effort. Your breath support is stronger and your vowel is more open.

The intonation issues on the first part of the chorus sounds like it's partially an issue with the diphthong on the vowel of "way," just like ronws was talking about before. When you sing "way" of "away," the diphthong occurs on the 2nd syllable. The diphthong of "way" is made up of the vowels "eh" and "ee." I suggest that you open up the "eh" vowel more. Put more space between your top and bottom molars. And make sure to sustain the "eh" vowel. Give the "way" an overall better energy boost. Give it stronger and lower support and give it more energy inside your mouth. Just like I talked about before, hold the energy to the end of the note. It's a longer note, so make sure that you're sustaining both the vowel and the tone with energy.

Thanks for sharing!

[Gneetapp]

Hey Aspiring Singer, thank you so much for taking the time to listen this other vocal practice/cover, and specially for the vocal analysis. When I first listened to the recording, I noticed that I was always going flat on the chorus, right after "away", which was probably what Aravind was talking about. I think it was lack of attention, and now I'm practicing with the correct notes.

I will definitely work harder on my support to fix these issues. Perhaps I should start practicing phrase by phrase without playing the guitar at the same time, just keeping the energy, support, and pitch. And then, play/sing the whole song. I will also pay close attention to those diphthongs so I don't get trapped in a different coordination.

Many many thanks again for all your tips.

Cheers