The amateur Song Covers
Rick_amateur
2.0 PRO Posts: 708
Hey everyone! I decided start a different thread where I do cover for English songs. Now, I know people wonder how I can find the time. I find that, if I can remove the time I spent on sites like social media and YouTube, it's pretty crazy how much more time I have in a week. That week will hopefully be enough for me to do covers of songs I enjoy. Note that none of these covers are perfect by any means, especially when I still have a lot to work on as a singer. I post these songs, hopefully weekly, as a way to test out things I've learned in addition to the assignments I do on this site. Now, without further ado...
My first cover is Someone I Used to Know by Zac Brown Band. This song is about how, even if we hit rock bottom due to things like depression addictions, we don't have to go through it alone. Let's just say I have been dealing with what I see as my rock bottom in life and music is my main way of coping with those problems while getting through them. I hope this cover can give hope to those also struggling and tell them that they aren't alone in their struggles. I want to say that even the worst storms will end with a rainbow taking its place. I hope I won't have to stay with this theme for other covers. I will post whatever happens to match my mood best and this happened to make this spot.
https://youtu.be/6NoYcamAlbc
My first cover is Someone I Used to Know by Zac Brown Band. This song is about how, even if we hit rock bottom due to things like depression addictions, we don't have to go through it alone. Let's just say I have been dealing with what I see as my rock bottom in life and music is my main way of coping with those problems while getting through them. I hope this cover can give hope to those also struggling and tell them that they aren't alone in their struggles. I want to say that even the worst storms will end with a rainbow taking its place. I hope I won't have to stay with this theme for other covers. I will post whatever happens to match my mood best and this happened to make this spot.
https://youtu.be/6NoYcamAlbc
Comments
My seventh cover is Let Her Go by Passenger. The song speaks of us not appreciating things until they're gone and that touches me in many ways.
you chose a very hard song. But yes, it is really beautiful.
You managed the air pretty good. Overall your resonance got much better and you don't use so much air anymore. I also can hear that you are supporting very good. I think you now own a lot of the cornerstones. Now it is time to address the next steps:
PITCH - watch your pitch. You go flat very often, especially on the sustained higher notes. Add more support on these notes. Also check your vowels. I am not a native speaker but some of the vowels (i.e. surrendEr) sound a little bit strange to my ear.
My 2 cents,
Doc
Thanks for the feedback! I guess that, with my focus on breath control, resonance and support, I kinda neglected my pitch. I will need to revisit volume 1 to get that back on track. again. As for vowels, it will be awhile before I know how to sing those properly. I might have been trying to hard to imitate the style and pronunciation suffered.
Thanks,
Rick
First up is Bad Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce which is my thirteenth cover.
Again good improvement. Nice brightness. Rick, could you please make your recordings louder in general? - They are very, very quite. You should normalize the recordings to adapt to the levels of the other recordings here.
Your timing is much better but still needs improvement.
Doc
Thanks for the feedback! I now realize that my current setup for recordings isn't very good for controlling volumes. Maybe you can share with me what you use for recordings so I can improve the quality of my recordings. Thanks!
Rick (the bulldozer?)
good to hear. Looking forward to listen to your new and louder demos.
Make 'em loud.
Marco
How's my volume sound now, @doc_ramadani ? I made some adjustments but feedback is always welcomed.
@Wigs I need your honest critique on this. I know you were fairly critical of my last rendition of this song so your feedback is important this time. I can take any criticism.
Since we have been on the course together for so long now I sometimes focus too much on where improvements need to happen for you because we meet regularly for the assignments. Aside form the issue above your tonal quality has become a lot smoother from 6 months ago. You can hear that you have been using your voice this whole time and the training is making it very apparent. I know you like to mix it up with plenty of different song to help your learning, I would still suggest keeping a fairly easy song in your regular singing rotation and perfecting it the same way we try to do in our scales. Totally overuse the vowels at first so that it sound ridiculous then dial it back until it sounds right with the consonants.
Good singing mate!
My low notes definitely need a lot more work since I don't work on them as often. I should probably change that. As for what you claim to be something odd where I sound good and then sound bad, I think it's just me struggling to achieve a certain effect. The example you mentioned was probably me trying to get fancy and throw away everything I learned. I personally think I sometimes overdo effects and suffer as a result of them. Though, I doubt I can learn if I don't do them. Guess it will be a long road before I can do them properly.
I actually don't getting critique because I need to improve. I can take criticism well if they can help me improve. Regarding vowels and consonants, I might start working on them soon. I just don't quite know where to start since I'm so focused on support, breath control and other foundation the last year or so. Maybe you can point me in the right direction so I can work on it.
Thanks for all the help! I doubt I could improve without all the feedback from everyone!
This worked for me. At least with beginning to understand how to keep the throat open and actually SING the words. Im starting to read lyrics in terms of the sounds we sing instead of words we say, kinda like what I put in the Delilah video.
Doc
@doc_ramadani Thanks! I'm still adjusting the volume but hopefully I'll find a sweet spot soon.
Also I'm not sure what you use to record and edit but if it has a db meter, when you look at the final mix, the bulk of the sound should be between -6 to -3 with no peaks above 0.
Hey your "All of you" is beautyful... and the "Your song" is good!
But your "Power of Love" and "Beyond the sea" are the best I heard of you yet! Good job!
Thanks for listening! Just working on revisiting songs and improving my techniques through them. I hope one day all of them will sound the best. xD
due to this damn pandemic "C" I wasn't able to listen to your demos for a long time. So I was very curious how your voice will sound after this period of time. I want to congratulate you because you made impressive progress. Your voice sounds much more open now. A lot of the nasality and frogginess is gone. Very good work, mate. Hard work is paying off now.
Doc
Thank you for the kind words! I have been fortunate to still have time to work on my singing while dealing with other life's stuff. I know you have been busy due to your profession and just hope that you are staying safe. Hope everything goes well for you so you can soon return to us here on the forum.
Rick
I'm also a amateur singer and I really respect your thoughts and passion about singing
I watched this both cover I like it
You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse.
Never Too Much by Luther Vandross.
I think you need more breathing practice and take more quick breaths
You have an amazing cool voice especially your lows are great
Keep singing
Thanks for listening! You are fight about breath control as it is something I've noticed. Still working on it but my progress feels like a tortoise in a race.
Thanks @Kevin123 for listening! I don't intend on stopping. Just gotta keep working at it!
Don't be a rabbit as it will lose the race
I think being a tortoise is much better
Do you wanna chat or meet in zoom I would love to help see your passion
My FB https://www.facebook.com/sky.ston.773