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Kings and Queens - 30 Seconds to Mars

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Hi again everybody! :) As I told, I'm a new user and for this I have a huge luck: for the most of you I'm a 'first impression listening'. That has a very big importance for me: I really wish to have 'first impression feedbacks' from you, about my voice, how it sounds, its tune, the overall impact, and everything comes into your mind. Please feel free to really give me a true feedback: I'm here to learn!!!! So be honest, don't be afraid to hurt me!!!! :)

Here it is! Hope you'll enjoy.

https://soundcloud.com/neko-tcb/kings-and-queens-30stm-cover

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Cool singing here! Doesnt sound strained to me. Or is it?

Nice tone, you caputred the spirit of the original while also giving it your own mark.

Try to work a bit on the pronunciation of the words. Sometimes it is not possible for me to unserstand what you are singing.

Also, I know that in the original there is the same level of effects but purly for feedback purposes it would be nice to hear your voice a capella.

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Also, I know that in the original there is the same level of effects but purly for feedback purposes it would be nice to hear your voice a capella.

thankx a lot, dear Lucca. Well, could you tell me the exact words that you can't understand? I'm not mother tongue, I'm Italian and of course it's not easy for me to understand if my pronunciation is 'believable' , too scolastic or too little understandable. It's a quite big issue for me and you can help me a lot in this matter. (by the way, I hope I'm explaining myself in the right way... but I'm definitely not sure :rolleyes: )

I just uploaded the vocals-only track: no delays, no reverb, only compression and eq: hope it's what you meant. Thnx a lot!!!!!!! :)

https://soundcloud.com/neko-tcb/kings-and-queens-vocals-only

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Hi again everybody! :) As I told, I'm a new user and for this I have a huge luck: for the most of you I'm a 'first impression listening'. That has a very big importance for me: I really wish to have 'first impression feedbacks' from you, about my voice, how it sounds, its tune, the overall impact, and everything comes into your mind. Please feel free to really give me a true feedback: I'm here to learn!!!! So be honest, don't be afraid to hurt me!!!! :)

Here it is! Hope you'll enjoy.

https://soundcloud.com/neko-tcb/kings-and-queens-30stm-cover

SWEET !!!

HA HA ---- I just checked out your "Kings and Queens" cover on your Facebook page and left you a message on your profile page. Check it out !!! :cool:

Adolph

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Dont worry Neko your english is fine. :D I mean, it also just my second language so who am I to judge?

But, yeah, I can understand everything you wrote ( I think the thing that is the hardest about this language is the tenses, all this stuff with going to, will, and so on. I try to stay away from that even though I understand it).

So back to topic.

Now I can give you a bit more detail about your performance. It sounds really cool.

So on "Kings and Queens" you are straining and that is also were I have a problem with the pronunciation.

You are singing "We are the kIngs and QueIns". The "I" is killing you there a bit. It closes of the sound and gives you also that unhealthy distortion that comes from the throat. In the original Jared sings more of "We are the kAngs and QueAns". My advice is to listen to this part in the original and to exagerated this pronunciation becouse if you close the sound so hard it will damage your voice in the long run and fatigue it in the short run. Try to sing more on an really open "Ah".

Also I would help you to throw a short "h" in before you start with the "we". Take the background chorus (the hohos). Listen when you start those. You start with what is called an wind and release onset. You first let a litte bit air trough (that is what you will use the "h" for) and then "release" the sound. Try that. It will give you more freedom. (More such techniques you will find in the Four Pillars of Singing, which is a great product by the way)

The other thing i didnt understand was "we are the phantoms of ourselves". I didnt understand that right because what I hear in the original lyrics is "we are the victims of ourselves".

Next thing is "Maybe the children of a lesser god." You kind of swallow the "d" in "god". Try to make a very short but audible "d" at the end there so that it doesnt sound like you would sing "gou". The short d will create the illusion to the listener that you are indeed singing a real word.

I heard also a few more lyric mistakes ("Into your lies" instead of "Into your eyes").

Take a look at this: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/30secondstomars/kingsandqueens.html

At 2:17 you are swallowing the last "se" from "defense". You are singing "defe".

At 3:14 you are swallowing the "s" from "the darkness comeS at dawn".

At 3:22 you are swallowing the "s" from "lessons". You are singing "lesson".

At 3:24 the lyrics are "we´ve learned here" and not "we learned here". Also on "here" make sure not to only sing "heaaaaaaare" but also throw a very short "hieaaaar" in so that it sounds more like the actual word. Make the "i" really really short so that you dont close up your cords but it should be there so that we can understand the word better.

So all in all a great performance but try to open the sound more and avoid to sing long "ihs". Make them very short. In "maybe" when you would sing "maybiiiie" sing more like "maaaaaaaaybie". Try that out.

If you work on the ending of the english words it will sound more natural and your accent will not become so apparent in the singing. The endings can be short. Escpecially if they are something like an "ih". But the endings have to be there. Otherwise your accent will shine through.

You will gain a kind of "singers" accent if you train that.

For example when I talk you know that english is not my first language but when I sing - not so much.

Also a word of warning: Dont imitate Jared Leto on the way he belts. If you listen closly he is slamming his vocal cords together really hard on some notes and he is using an "ih" sound often.

His voice is really crackly fryish in high notes now which to me seems like vocal damage.

So work that open sound so you can really continue to sing amazing.

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So on "Kings and Queens" you are straining and that is also were I have a problem with the pronunciation.

You are singing "We are the kIngs and QueIns". The "I" is killing you there a bit. It closes of the sound and gives you also that unhealthy distortion that comes from the throat. In the original Jared sings more of "We are the kAngs and QueAns". My advice is to listen to this part in the original and to exagerated this pronunciation becouse if you close the sound so hard it will damage your voice in the long run and fatigue it in the short run. Try to sing more on an really open "Ah".

I agree. In general when reaching a high note in your chest voice, "ee" or "i" sounds like in "king," have the chance of hurting your vocals. Hence why you see some untrained singers at baseball games strain the "free" part the US national anthem, because that "ee" sound closes the throat. For example, I always make sure to sing, "freh" or "fray" so it doesn't um, hurt. Great job with the song nonetheless :)

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I thought everything was great, pronunciation could use some work as Lucca described, but all in all there was much emotion. My biggest thing to work on would be the timing/pacing. I don't know if you meant it that way but you were quite off the pace of the original.

Now when I went to listen to your no-effects recording, how loud would you say you were singing? It sounds to me like you're kind of quiet/yet full through the whole thing. I want to know how you did that. What mic do you use/were you using high gain?

I'm also going to add to the "don't try to belt like Leto" advice above that when I had a teacher, Jared Leto was one of the examples of singers he gave me that ruined their voices, not to follow. He showed a live recording where he could barely speak

Also also I was curious, so I ran your no-effects vocals through a tuner and you had damn solid pitch. So much that I suspect you used some sort of pitch-corrector. But you didn't? How did you? Did you have a guide track?

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Now I can give you a bit more detail about your performance. It sounds really cool.

....

Well Lucca, I really appreciated your suggestions. That was just the kind of feedback I was searching for and you focused on things that I usually pay too little attention. Thankx a lot, again, for the time you spent analizing my tracks. I'll try to follow your hints next time. :)

Note: honestly I didn't try to imitate Leto in belting, I just sang my own may... :)

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...My biggest thing to work on would be the timing/pacing. I don't know if you meant it that way but you were quite off the pace of the original.

thankx a lot sleeper!!!! well, honestly I didn't know very well this song. I just learned it the day I recorded: I was reading the lyrics while singing.... (and I could miss some words ahahahhaha I know, I know, seems creepy). For the pace, you're absolutely right. On one hand this is a characteristic of mine that I like, but on the other hand I sometimes exagerate it (as in this song). This was an issue that I noticed when I posted this song, too.

Now when I went to listen to your no-effects recording, how loud would you say you were singing? It sounds to me like you're kind of quiet/yet full through the whole thing. I want to know how you did that. What mic do you use/were you using high gain?

I recorded using Shure SM58 beta into TC Helicon Voicelive 2 (compression 60%) than into Tascam 800 and then into Cubase 5 L.E. In cubase i compressed again the signal. On lower parts I was singing quietly, with my lips in contact with mic, on the high parts I was singing quite loud (not my loudest) and about 25cm from the mic.

Also also I was curious, so I ran your no-effects vocals through a tuner and you had damn solid pitch. So much that I suspect you used some sort of pitch-corrector. But you didn't? How did you? Did you have a guide track?

Pich was an issue I hardly worked a lot on. I found the best way recording with ear-in monitors with a very very harsh equalization (almost no basses, only highs and mids) and that gives me an huge perception of pitch. Moreover, I recorded the parts several times to get closer to right pitch. Then in the end, yes, I cleaned all the parts with a really slight tune correction to get the best overall result. Here you can here a song singed in live-studio (one take without corrections):

thankx a lot for your comment!!! :)

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