Tequila Sunrise

[978699]

Singers, 

 

Here's a baritone treatment of tequila sunrise. I would appreciate any feedback anybody might have. 

 

Rock on,

Craig 

 

[ronws]

That was pretty cool, Not just because you lowered about a stepr or so. But you had a different lead line, which still worked. And you have the right melancholy in your voice to bring in the feeling of regret.

 

And always run the song in the key that works for you.

[ronws]

Moving keys works wonders. There are some cases you you can raise the key of the song and sing a lower vocal melody because of the new note value, etc.

 

As far as resonance, you already have a richness of tone that shines through here and there. It's a matter of your speaking accent and singing habits. Use ng sound only for training and warm-ups, don't spend a lot of time singing the n sound. The only reason for you to do the n or ng sound is a calibration, to make sure you sympathetic vibrations in the right places.

 

Your location and sound mean you are american. Watch your vowels, unless you were born italian or a polynesian from Hawaii. Otherwise, you butcher vowels as we all do. Stay away from the uh sound in love. Say loove or lahve. Also, a big problem in american english, especially southern dialects is the short a sound, like in cat. It involves a tongue too high and a horrendous nasal bleat, unless that is the sound you going for, and it could be useful some cases. Ronnie James Dio would use it to create distorted sounds.

[KillerKu]

I had to listen to the original song, as Ronws was saying it was altered in your rendition. I wasn't familiar with the original, so I had listened to your version and it sounded like a cohesive song as is. Then I listened to the original and was almost disappointed as the melody line you chose was maybe a little closer to what I wanted.

 

Some things I noticed about your voice: for a baritone range song, your voice has abnormal clarity which is cool. I think it comes partly from twang, nasal resonance, and you also sound a bit mixed forward which works. Your resonance is actually pretty strong as is in quite a few places. As mentioned, nasal  resonance is already pretty strong. If you wanted to experiment with a little more 'booming' sound you might be able to open up the area near the back of your throat a little more? It's a bit difficult to explain accurately, but for me the sensation feels almost like the beginning of a smiling yawn that 'expands not just downward but a bit sideways comfortably.' Another way people have described it is like 'minature egg sized opening in back of throat.' You sound like you already have a comfortable amount of openness, and anymore would be to tastes, but when I'm singing with more resonance that way that's one way I do it.

 

Another thing I noticed which might be interesting is the onsets of the vowels can sometimes have a lot of glottal attack. This is cool, can work well and is used a lot in various styles, but you might find it interesting to try an invisible H. When I say invisible, I mean very small, not breathy, it's almost like a tiny cushion. This can help you ease into a note. You could compare the sounds and sensations versus initiating the vowel 'suddenly.' Just know that some sounds require more or less airflow, so focus on the sensation in your body to steer you. Right now it sounds like you're making pretty big sound without loads of excess air which is pretty effective.

 

Another thing, is I noticed you are a fellow Ronettes fan. I was stoked when I found you singing Baby, I Love You. Ronnie Spector is one of my favorites. I cover her stuff sometimes and I enjoyed your rendition that segged into Brian Wilson/Beach Boyss Don't Worry Baby.

 

Anyway, basically you've got a pretty cool rootsy, laidback sound. You can keep training it as is and imo It will improve naturally to some degree as your foundations sound solid enough. You can increase agility and precision more quickly with some isolated vowel work (scales, intervals moving smoothly between both the same and different vowels). Loads of ways to increase range, which get covered a lot here (people write whole books on that, heh), but you're already sounding pretty good down there in the baritone range.

[978699]

KillerKu,

 

It is great to find another Ronettes fan. I regularly play “Be My Baby” and “Baby I love You,” plus a handful of other girl group songs. It might be my favorite sub-genre of pop music. Have you ever tried singing “He’s a Rebel” by the Crystals? It’s my all-time favorite. One day I’ll get it down, but it changes keys and does some other strange things that I can’t quite manage. The Zippers definitely managed it, though, and turned it into a power pop gem:

 

I’ve spent most of today practicing singing while employing your suggestions. They’ve been very helpful. Thanks for all your guidance and for your kind encouragement. One thing I noticed about the “invisible H” is that it tends to open up my mouth wider (vertically). This seems to improve my tone, while also raising my palette a bit. It is an excellent technique.

 

I gave Tequila another listen and realize that my pitch got slightly crazy on the bridge (“Take another shot of courage…”). Getting that transition smoother will take some agility practice, which you suggested. I’ll start working on some exercises.

 

Does your handle have any connection to The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis? I had to ask, especially since you have a deep knowledge of early rock.

 

Rock on,

Craig 

[ronws]

Ronws, 

 

Your guidance on consonants and vowels has been very helpful, though it's almost like re-training yourself how to speak. Thanks for your assistance. 

Yes, and I do find myself sometimes speaking differently than I used to, as if the singing were affecting my speaking. Which I think is good. The more we get in the right habits of singing, the more we get in the right habits of singing. So that all day is some kind of training.

[KillerKu]

KillerKu,

 

It is great to find another Ronettes fan. I regularly play “Be My Baby” and “Baby I love You,” plus a handful of other girl group songs. It might be my favorite sub-genre of pop music. Have you ever tried singing “He’s a Rebel” by the Crystals? It’s my all-time favorite. One day I’ll get it down, but it changes keys and does some other strange things that I can’t quite manage. The Zippers definitely managed it, though, and turned it into a power pop gem:

 

I’ve spent most of today practicing singing while employing your suggestions. They’ve been very helpful. Thanks for all your guidance and for your kind encouragement. One thing I noticed about the “invisible H” is that it tends to open up my mouth wider (vertically). This seems to improve my tone, while also raising my palette a bit. It is an excellent technique.

 

I gave Tequila another listen and realize that my pitch got slightly crazy on the bridge (“Take another shot of courage…”). Getting that transition smoother will take some agility practice, which you suggested. I’ll start working on some exercises.

 

Does your handle have any connection to The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis? I had to ask, especially since you have a deep knowledge of early rock.

 

Rock on,

Craig 

 

Nah, I've never tried that song. I'll be sure to check it out. I've got a friend who is learning to sing, but she didn't  have any female idols so she would lose inspiration. So I have this strategy of getting her hooked on girl groups. I've got quite the little catalog of female singers now to get her hooked. I've found singing along to women really helps me train my falsetto/head voice a lot too. It isn't a 60s girl group, but recently I was training to to my favorite Fleetwood Mac tune: 

 

 

 

So yeah, you can sing girl group stuff in baritone/tenor/whatever or in a falsetto/head voice kind of setup. Don't be afraid to try mixing things up and even if it isn't a final sound you're looking for on your first try, it can be really helpful. I find it helps my chest voice.

 

Yeah, I was curious if some of those ideas would help. My voice feels most comfortable with a slight cushion in it. A lot of singers here sing with like a metallic tight closed phonation. I find that little cushion in my voice is most comfortable for me, but I think it depends on the singer and the style. My bridge is a little lower I think when I put that little extra cushion, but it feels more right.

 

I can hear pitch drift now and then on your performance, but pitch is a weird one. A lot of times it does no good to simply point at a pitch drift. I'm a drifter, both intentionally with bluesy rebellious pitching, look here:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_note 

 

But other times it's unintentional and a genuine flub. I know Ronws would drift too. People would tell him. "Yo dude, entire song ain't pitch perfect!" But that doesn't really help." Cause it's like, well, what should I do differently? Which note? Where? Practice ideas?

 

I can help with some of the stuff I've discovered in training. For example. Step one, might be to take your guitar and simply sing as perfectly to the pitch as is possible. Use scales, melodies, different vowels.  Step two might be to try to sing the next note you're going to play before you play it. Visualize it in your head, then try to sing it correctly, and confirm it with a guitar. Step 3 might be to try to learn to sing any interval on top in perfect harmony? I've been working on step 3 lately, so I can get my harmonies spot on every time out of my head with no reference. I'm not there yet but am improving. It really helps to use an instrument for comparison.

 

Anyway, that kind of thing seems to be best solved with some extra training and self discovery. Good exercises, good musicianship. Ears, listening, all that stuff. You already got ears.

 

Nah it wasn't a conscious choice on picking Jerry Lee Lewis. I haven't actually taken on the Killer yet, I'll have to do that. But actually, now that I'm thinking of it, as little epitaph for this post. It ties in well with the pitch subject and roots rock and roll. I didn't take on the Killer, but did take on the architect himself:

 

 

Lots of blue notes in there. But you know, what? Sometimes that's just rock n roll folks. To quote Jagger, "I like it."

[ronws]

 

But other times it's unintentional and a genuine flub. I know Ronws would drift too. People would tell him. "Yo dude, entire song ain't pitch perfect!" But that doesn't really help." Cause it's like, well, what should I do differently? Which note? Where? Practice ideas?

 

Actually, too, there have been a few times I posted a song and where people thought I was pitchy, I was not and where I was pitchy totally got missed.

 

Another time, I sang a song with true pitch, more pitch accurate than the original singer, in spite of the guitar going out of tune and other environmental issues and was round critiqued in negative direction for that, as well. I am not complaining, just saying that perceptions can sometimes differ.

[KillerKu]

Actually, too, there have been a few times I posted a song and where people thought I was pitchy, I was not and where I was pitchy totally got missed.

 

Another time, I sang a song with true pitch, more pitch accurate than the original singer, in spite of the guitar going out of tune and other environmental issues and was round critiqued in negative direction for that, as well. I am not complaining, just saying that perceptions can sometimes differ.

 

I agree. I don't have absolute pitch. Mine is better than most non musicians. But there is definitely a subjective element in pitch detection.

 

Just look at the new overtone thread (which I'm thrilled to see). People singing two pitches at the same time. One might be right on the dot, one might something else. I've called it very early on with your voice, that you have an unusual timbre. Even though I've decent pitch, I have more trouble dissecting your voice than I would another singer as I have to wrap my head around an unusual timbre to grab the fundamental. The timbre is foreign. It's cool though.

 

I've heard violin players can have good pitch 'on their instrument' but poor pitches on others.They are familiar with the timbre, and all of the overtones, but when exposed to something foreign, their pitch detecting accuracy can decrease.

 

I don't have absolute pitch with fundamentals and I can't dissect the overtones either. Maybe if you tuned a formant differently people would say you were in tune more often? Who knows?

 

Regardless, people drift. Sometimes intentionally even. Sometimes it's helpful to point out, other times (and imo more often) it's more helpful to try to give them mastery over their instrument so they can choose the note they want, whether we like it not.