"Valentine's Day" Cover [Linkin Park] - Please review

[chezzter155]

Hey guys, 

 

this is my first time ever sharing my singing with someone. 

In this case one of my favourite songs at the moment: Valentine's Day by Linkin Park

Constructive criticism is very welcome, I want to get better

 

 

 

[ronws]

You are flat in some places, especially the high parts. Consistently so, which makes think you are not hearing the music loud enough to you when you sing. That is, you are not off pitch because if an inability but because you are hearing the music wrong, probably a little too much bass in the mix.

 

And you picked a tough singer to cover. Chester is known for that rattle on high notes and it is difficult to not compare.

[chezzter155]

Hello ronws, thanks for your feedback. :-)

 

I know that it is VERY hard to cover songs from Linkin Park, but they are my favourite band and I enjoy singing their stuff. I must say that Chester was always a role model for me, especially since I saw him live in concert a few weeks ago. I think many of LP'S texts are very inspiring and helpful (for me). 

 

Anyways, I thought that Valentine's Day is one of their easier songs to cover. I'm having much more trouble with songs like Numb, Breaking the Habit etc. as they go much higher. 

 

But yeah apart from that I am not satisfied with how I sing the "On a Valentine's Daaaaaa....aaaaay"-part at the end. I sang this song quite a few times and sometimes I think I am much better than on my uploaded version. 

 

Would you (and the other forum members) say I can sing in general? I think my own voice sounds weird and don't really like it. 

 

BTW: Sorry for my bad english, I am from Germany ^^

[KillerKu]

You're in danger of falling a bit into the trap that can kill a singer before they can blossom. The question, "Can I sing?" is misleading and useless. You already are singing. Of course you can. If singing makes you happy you should sing regardless of audience.

 

The other side of the question that might be more relevant, is how much would your singing currently connect with an average audience? What, if anything would you like to do to change this? Nobody is born a singer, Mariah Carey's mother was an opera teacher, so she learned to sing in ways that connect with audiences at the same time in her life as she learned to speak (under 5 years old). Nobody can even speak at birth, much less sing in a way that people want to listen to. 

 

I think right now, Ronws is right to my ears. Currently on this one there is consistent flatness (what that means is the voice is below the intended pitch) which isn't unusual for an untrained or new singer. Hell, it happens to pros from time to time too. It could be technical, it could be technique (maybe your voicei sn't loose and free enough for you to comfortably get there), but training can likely help a lot, both in singing and with the musical training. There are good voice exercises, good voice teachers and there are also good pitch exercises with your voice you can do accompanying an instrument or you can mess around with music composition programs like Fruity loops or Anvil or whatever.

 

You'll probably have to get a bit closer to garner an audience. It's probably too consistent to get an audience. A lot of singers I like will get sharp or flat on occasion. To me it sounds emotional when something is below or above. Music is language, and singing is language. If Mariah Carey was asked the same question the beginning of her journey, can I sing? Thankfully 3 year old are pretty resilient and thoughts like that don't cross their minds until an adult shames them. You sound terrible, just stop!

 

For some reason there is this cult of singer that gets built up in adulthood. Maybe it reflects adult insecurities. "People don't like my voice, so it must be impossible to train a singing voice to connect more with others! Everyone should given up like I did!' It's toxic, useless, and inaccurate. If these goals are important to you, pretty much you can likely achieve them. I don't know if you'll sing like Mariah, if you didn't start when you were three years old. It's a lot like with other instruments. A huge amount of higher tier concert pianists started very young. And they trained like no one's business. Does that stop someone else from using a piano? Paul Mccartney wrote Let it Be on that piano, sold millions of records. People still like it when Paul plays piano, even if he isn't a virtuoso. It can be the same with voice.

 

Keep your chin up, keep singing, train the things you aren't happy with to reach goals. Don't let the toxic cult of the 'born singer' keep you down. Non musicians like to live in a fantasy world. It takes work man.

[KillerKu]

Oh bonus Tip. If you're using head phones, try taking one ear off? I have noise isolating headphones and can't hear my voice very well, and I tend to go flat or sharp when I can't hear my true voice.

[ronws]

Killer raised a good point. I have heard Mick Jagger go flat in the chorus for "Jumpin Jack Flash" when performing it live.

 

Yes, you can sing and you have a good voice that would be good on LP songs. Also, to start out, go lighter on the higher parts and when you get down to the transition point where your voice wants to get heavy again, keep it light, at least for now. Later, as you get used to feeling the placement of the notes, you can let the volume back in.

[chezzter155]

Hey guys, thank you for your kind words and sorry I never got to answer. 

But I was not inactive, I practised singing and think I really got better, I think my Vocal range gets higher with time. I now don't struggle that much anymore to sing LP songs or other Rock songs that go pretty high. 

I mentioned I had problems with singing the "Valentine's daa....aay" part in the previous post, within the last 2 month practising I think I hit the notes way more safe. In my first Upload my voice is trembling in the high parts, now I can get to those notes way better. Not perfect still, but I see progress.. 

By the way, I dont take singing lessons, I only sing when nobodys in the apartment and probably disturb all my neighbours  

 

Hear is a sample of my "Valentine's Day" Cover from today.. Would be very happy about some criticism and feedback! 

Cheers!