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Stevie Wonder - Lately (acoustic cover) VIDEO

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Hey fellows, this is my first video... 

 

I recorded the video with an iphone and the audio with garageband, then edited with imovie; one take, though the end is not sync, don`t know why! 

 

I know I pull a lot the high notes, maybe I was too nervous :D. Also the song is really hard for me so far... 

 

Please let me know what do you think and how can improve it!

 

Thank you in advance :)

 

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It's quite good, imo. I like the move towards live stuff. I've been recording more and more often live. Hoping to get my stuff up to snuff, it's just in my situation sometimes live needs to stop, but it's gotten less often on new med combinations.

 

As for the pulling of the high notes, in my experience you have to sing them a bit louder if you want to keep this kind of tone and you need to support more in this area.

 

Now I'm not saying you need to shout with a pure chest, but the way the voice works it pretty much is going to get louder on ascending pitches 'if you don't change coordinations.' One way to get quieter would be to lighten the tone and shade towards headier tones it, but if you want this strong connected cry sound to have some beef like Stevie, there are limitations in volume. Trying to strangle down a full voice in volume has always been more constricting for me than letting a comfortable volume happen. Listen to Stevie on a G#4 and how full this sound is:

 

1:31

 

 

It's still compressed (all pop music is in all circumstances) but if you could be in that room with him, it would be really quite loud. That 'hu' vowel is my easiest vowel to do this on. I can siren easily on it.

 

Anyway, what most singers do is lean off the mic, and/or use compression. You're kind of gobbling the mic the entire performance (my favorite pass time), so leaning back just a bit on those high bridge notes (G4 through C5 or so), supporting more, and let the note ring out fully. If someone has a technique for full quiet, bridge notes, It'd be useful, but I've never found it and it might not physiologically exist. For me it's lighter or louder. Heavier and quieter... Would be very good for any neighbors.

 

Anyway, the performance is very good, d likely better than I can do at this point for a live on camera performance. You look great, passsionate, and into it on camera. I'd say keep it up. We can always go back and edit tracks, but it's not always the best measurement of where we are really at.

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Thank you guys for your responses

 

Killer, thanks for posting this video, very impressive... I also felt so identified.. with grover, of course :D

 

This song is good to practice the first and second bridge, though it has become a karma for me, last year I could not even reach the high notes, now I can but I am very conscious that sounds awful so far...

 

 

 

 

You're kind of gobbling the mic the entire performance (my favorite pass time), so leaning back just a bit on those high bridge notes (G4 through C5 or so), supporting more, and let the note ring out fully. If someone has a technique for full quiet, bridge notes, It'd be useful, but I've never found it and it might not physiologically exist. For me it's lighter or louder. Heavier and quieter... Would be very good for any neighbors.

 

 

LOL.. You are right, I realized it when I saw the video. I will keep this in mind

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Too good.. Not familiar with the song, but you have great control and emotion..  At 3.25, not sure if it is a mixing issue but I thought the loud parts of the song did not gel with the rest of song.. They felt a little jumpy.. Not in terms of pitch, but just in terms of the loudness..   But all in all, fabulous job.. 

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Thank you guys!!! 

 

Thank you Aravind for your kind words. Yes, I have to work on the loud parts to fit with the rest of the song

 

Sexy, yes maybe I should vocalize with a stronger sound in my chest voice. When I started singing I used to squeeze a lot, maybe now I´m placed in the opposite extreme? maybe I´m holding my voice too much? Is this what you mean, guys? Or am I still squeezing?

 

Moreover, I feel a kind of release after uploading this video because though not enough , I'm a little shy, so it took me quite take this step. I see this video with the hands on the eyes on most parts, and with the same weird feeling that I had when listening my voice on my first recordings 

 

Hope this strange feeling also pass ; and perhaps encourage me to have a channel on youtube :)

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You look awesome on video so you don't need to worry about that. I think my basic my impression is you're holding back in a way that makes things harder than they need to be.

 

You don't need to squeeze or push, but if you embrace a bit more hmm... Your first language isn't English, but you know the short u vowel like in 'up?' Try taking that up and chesty a bit. Not really dopey or low larynx, but just a bit of that vowel. I find that vowel works good for engaging some chestiness into this kind of singing (Stevie Wonder kind of thing).

 

You could try this sound:

 

Nyum

 

https://app.box.com/s/egigtwu8ffl8kxvpx7lkj7er8yf5z0vi

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Sexy, yes maybe I should vocalize with a stronger sound in my chest voice. When I started singing I used to squeeze a lot, maybe now I´m placed in the opposite extreme? maybe I´m holding my voice too much? Is this what you mean, guys? Or am I still squeezing?

 

Sometimes people get confused because they think that a stronger sound will result to more squeeze. This is not always the case. I don't teach much... but currently I have a student who tends to not engage enough of his voice (and sing too bright) and when he uses his voice like that it starts to get uncomfortable around D4 and he starts to squeeze a lot.

 

I'm getting him used to a strong/firm sound, you know the kind of voice you would use if you want people to really listen to you and pay attention to what you're saying? A good exercise for him is to say "no" like he means it. It has to be spontaneous/natural/emotional. Anyway with this sound he can vocalize and sing comfortably up to a Bb4. He even hit a C5 in a nice mix yesterday. The hard part for him is to engage his voice properly: if he gets into the proper setup for singing his mid's and high's open up. 

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Sometimes people get confused because they think that a stronger sound will result to more squeeze. This is not always the case. I don't teach much... but currently I have a student who tends to not engage enough of his voice (and sing too bright) and when he uses his voice like that it starts to get uncomfortable around D4 and he starts to squeeze a lot.

 

I'm getting him used to a strong/firm sound, you know the kind of voice you would use if you want people to really listen to you and pay attention to what you're saying? A good exercise for him is to say "no" like he means it. It has to be spontaneous/natural/emotional. Anyway with this sound he can vocalize and sing comfortably up to a Bb4. He even hit a C5 in a nice mix yesterday. The hard part for him is to engage his voice properly: if he gets into the proper setup for singing his mid's and high's open up. 

 

'No' Is very chesty and that is very good advice for Bono. Just be prepared that it will be very loud. If you try to hold back too much of that volume, you'll likely end up squeezing. The way you described that is perfect, spontaneous, natural, and emotional. Like conviction. So yeah, don't be timid on that one.

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'No' Is very chesty and that is very good advice for Bono. Just be prepared that it will be very loud. If you try to hold back too much of that volume, you'll likely end up squeezing. The way you described that is perfect, spontaneous, natural, and emotional. Like conviction. So yeah, don't be timid on that one.

 

Well I was not really giving Bono any advice here... In fact I'm sure he already does a lot of scales on 'no' with his teacher... It's not so much about the consonant/vowel combo nor the volume but more about the intention behind the sound. I use all kinds of consonant/vowel combos with my student as long as he keeps that basic intention behind them. Yes you are right trying to hold back the volume is a bad idea, if you are a little loud that's fine as long as it's free not pushed or yelled... If you do it right you will feel connected to your body. Primal/emotional sounds are good tools for teaching voice.

 

What I find is that you need that kind of sound to experience any stability in your first bridge range and above. With time you can learn how to sing with less volume but from that full voice place.

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Sometimes people get confused because they think that a stronger sound will result to more squeeze. This is not always the case. I don't teach much... but currently I have a student who tends to not engage enough of his voice (and sing too bright) and when he uses his voice like that it starts to get uncomfortable around D4 and he starts to squeeze a lot.

 

I'm getting him used to a strong/firm sound, you know the kind of voice you would use if you want people to really listen to you and pay attention to what you're saying? A good exercise for him is to say "no" like he means it. It has to be spontaneous/natural/emotional. Anyway with this sound he can vocalize and sing comfortably up to a Bb4. He even hit a C5 in a nice mix yesterday. The hard part for him is to engage his voice properly: if he gets into the proper setup for singing his mid's and high's open up. 

 

SexyBeast, I know I am hijacking from pointers given to another singer on another song, But.. 

 

I could so relate to what you have mentioned here.. I am finding that the stronger sound is actually helping my mid high notes around the passagio. I had the same misconception about the "heavy" tone.  I used to lack power, consistency and pitch issues until(very recently), I discovered that I could produce the same notes with a "stronger", "heavier" sound without having to resort to belting.  I always used to have issues with certain notes which have to be belted in certain songs.  There was a clear disconnect between the "lighter/headier" tone and the belt which was more chest heavy and I used to find switching the configuration very very difficult.  Using this approach, I am able to sing songs which I have always had huge difficulty singing(like Bon Jovi's "always") and I am able to get the delicate balance which leads to a more uniform loudness, even when belting certain high notes.. 

 

Also when you say "Yes you are right trying to hold back the volume is a bad idea, if you are a little loud that's fine as long as it's free not pushed or yelled", it is again an issue that I used to have.  Like I said when I had to switch between a headier tone and a belted sound.  I have started singing louder since I am more connected with my chest tone. But the volume is from a "connected" place and it does not feel shouty and when I actually do parts of songs that tend to veer towards "shouty", it gels a lot better.. 

 

 

This along with your comments on some of my other songs are among the most valuable bit of advice I have got in this forum.  

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Yes, it is okay to have some volume in the upper notes without it being screamy or shouting. And I would also say, don't assume because someone could sing really quiet and soft in the upper range that it was always a sign of technique. Sometimes, that was just what he or she could do and it worked for the genre.

 

Or, I could ask what technique, for example, would Lou Reed use to drag himself off pitch? He did that so consistently, it had to be on purpose and a result of training.  :lol:

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