June 2015 Monthly Jazz Challenge: Autumn Leaves

[Magika Singer]

I've been away (in the process of moving and non online related issues), but decided to catch up a bit on this stuff.

 

MDEW - This is actually a quite nice arrangement and you interpreted it well. I feel like I'm hearing some progress in your vocal development too, a bit more confidence and depth to the timbre, while still very identifiably you. 

Ugonna - That was adventuresome and spontaneous. Melodically things got pretty twisty. I like how you kept the melody fresh by including a lot more improvisational things. You weren't close miced, so you wouldn't have the 'studio' sound of some of the other singers. At some point it might be worth trying that if you have not as some of the richness of your timbre may be lost in that setup there.  

Magika - You sound pretty much flawless to me on a technical level and I could likely hear this recording and not have anything noticeably off in a radio kind of setting, but at the same time, it sounds 'lived in.' That's one of my favorite qualities of your singing. Even on a studio sounding recording it's hard to take some of the 'human' feeling warmth out  of your performances. I can't imagine you sounding sterile.

Bono - Never heard you take on jazz but your voice is wonderful for it. You have that round timbre with a very identifiable texture. It's silky and stirs the song up nice. I think singing jazz could be great for your development as the meter and phrasing add another dimension that isn't often there in pop/rock.  

Wow....you definitely flatter me!! Thank you VERY much...this feedback made my day!!

[Bono]

Bono - Never heard you take on jazz but your voice is wonderful for it. You have that round timbre with a very identifiable texture. It's silky and stirs the song up nice.  

Thank you very much Killer!!! I really appreciate your words.. thanks a lot

 I think singing jazz could be great for your development as the meter and phrasing add another dimension that isn't often there in pop/rock.  

Totally agree! the biggest challenge for me with this song is to not miss the meter. I'll work on it and then upload a new version

Hope the moving go well with you!!

[Gsoul82]

Just a few acapella attempts. I intend to record this to music.

Did two with an R&B style and one with a theater/operatic vibe.

 

 

 

 

[MDEW]

First things first......What have you done with GSoul?   Second.....I like the 2nd attempt on the RnB Style.......You really need to get a backing track to keep you in key.....The sound is awesome though..........

[KillerKu]

@GSoul, err, Legato, the operatic take is a bit robotic on the vibrato and not quite dialed in. It might help if you steer a bit of the straight tone into the vibrato and let it kind of emerge.  You're also lowering your larynx more than widening the pharynx (beginning of a yawn), which is a common thing people tend to do when imitating operatic 'open throat', but this tends to to muffle and mute the harmonic spectrum.

The soul takes have some good runs, and the timbre and vibrato are flowing more naturally. It's a great sound, but I do agree with MDEW that you are cycling through keys frequently and could use a reference tone. I'm a musician in addition to a singer, and there are chromatic/accidental/atonal sections in this song, which is probably extra confusing for a lot of singers in holding the key in memory acappella. When I sang acapella earlier in the thread, I held the tonic note in my head the entire song so the chromatic sections wouldn't throw me off as much. Jazz in particular is very tricky with these kinds of intervals in getting lost.

[KillerKu]

Speaking of backing tracks, I wanted one myself, but I couldn't find any that didn't sound like 10 dollar Casio stuff and don't have the equipment to make my own right now. I did find this track though:

 

I sang to it and liked the results. If anyone finds this track for sale on a karaoke site or otherwise, I'd like to buy it so I can post it here.

[Gsoul82]

Good feedback. I wanted to throw something up, so I did this all in 10 minutes. I'm not done with it.

[Adolph Namlik]

First things first......What have you done with GSoul?   Second.....I like the 2nd attempt on the RnB Style.......You really need to get a backing track to keep you in key.....The sound is awesome though..........

Hmmmm........ Yes, what happened to GSoul ?

[hobbit rock]

 

The way I read this song, it seemed to me that the woman was gone forever....either she's left the narrator for good or she's left this world entirely. So that's the way I went with things. These are live takes with no editing, comping or tuning. Honest feedback is welcome ........

[MDEW]

Very nice Hobbit Rock,   I like the haunting guitar sound and the slow and mellow way you sang this. I was thinking it was more like a summer romance that ended when Summer Vacations were over..... But it could be that she went away for good through Illness or accident.