Honest Critique Please - Acoustic - Like a Stone - Chris Cornell

TonyMo

Hi Friends,

I'm new here and new to singing. I am having a hard time affording lessons so I've been working hard off of Ken's free snippets on Youtube and elsewhere. I've been at it for 2 years. I'm not sure if I'm making good progress honestly because I'm suffering from tone exhausting just listening to myself. I would appreciate really honest feedback and advice on things I can work on to get better please. God Bless! Peace!

You can stream from my Google Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QLsVW7NVQxeL8ikk7

Cheers,
Tony.

TonyMo

Judging by the talent I've seen around here so far, I suspect I'm out of my league here... still a super noob singer. But I can't believe how many technically proficient singers there are around here. It's amazing to see, I must be able to learn something from some one.

sjonrokz4u

Are you in the course too?

TonyMo

Not yet, I'm working on saving some cash first. I can't wait to dive in though. It's very inspiring here.

sjonrokz4u

If you look up klaus_t he has a collection of kens videos he’s used before he signed up. I’ve been working a lot so I haven’t had a chance to listen to your song yet but I’ll try to

TonyMo

I appreciate the advice. I'll definitely look that up and work through it. No rush at looking at my video.. at this point I'm a bit embarrassed I even posted it.

esequibo

i listened. Your tone is good. I mean, usually middle placed baritones sound good by default in regards to tone because they have more roundness.
You had some pitch issues which I'm sure you are aware of.

If you get a mic man that will help u tons in finding where u wanna be at singing. Whereas it is a more discreet style or a more extravagant thing. Listen to yourself through a mic in real time and see what you wanna hide and what u wanna show. Play around with what u hear.
Also, it's difficult to get a full picture of a baritone voice from a phone recording. That's what i think.

Wigs

People are a bit busy this time of year, so don't feel like you are being ignored or be embarrassed about what you posted. I'll let you know my thoughts when I get a chance 🙂

TonyMo

esequibo said:

i listened. Your tone is good. I mean, usually middle placed baritones sound good by default in regards to tone because they have more roundness.
You had some pitch issues which I'm sure you are aware of.

If you get a mic man that will help u tons in finding where u wanna be at singing. Whereas it is a more discreet style or a more extravagant thing. Listen to yourself through a mic in real time and see what you wanna hide and what u wanna show. Play around with what u hear.
Also, it's difficult to get a full picture of a baritone voice from a phone recording. That's what i think.

I appreciate that. I'll try with a mic. Yes pitchy for sure. Thank you for your honesty.

TonyMo

Wigs said:

People are a bit busy this time of year, so don't feel like you are being ignored or be embarrassed about what you posted. I'll let you know my thoughts when I get a chance 🙂

Thank you! Yes, we have lives to live for sure. Cheers. ✌️

sjonrokz4u

Ok. So honest critique.... it’s pitchy but not embarrassingly so. It’s hard like he said earlier from a phone recording but the sound of your voice appears to be pretty good. I agree with singing through a mic. Get a little recording set up and listen back and listen for the parts that don’t sound good and work them out eventually you’ll have the pitchy parts worked out. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Just needs some work. You’ll get it. When I practice like you are I use a mic in to a daw but I have a cheap living room sized monitor I use made by kustom

TonyMo

sjonrokz4u said:

Ok. So honest critique.... it’s pitchy but not embarrassingly so. It’s hard like he said earlier from a phone recording but the sound of your voice appears to be pretty good. I agree with singing through a mic. Get a little recording set up and listen back and listen for the parts that don’t sound good and work them out eventually you’ll have the pitchy parts worked out. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Just needs some work. You’ll get it. When I practice like you are I use a mic in to a daw but I have a cheap living room sized monitor I use made by kustom

Thanks so much. My biggest take away from this so far is to use a mic. I'll keep at it. Thank you again. Cheers!

Wigs

If I heard you on the street singing this I would stop to listen. I like how you presented the song, Im quite a copycat when I sing covers so I appreciate the talent of changing something up while still staying true.

A mic is good, if you have never sung into a mic with head phones keep in mind that what you will hear will be your voice throughout the mic plus your voice through your inner ear, when you listen to the play back it usually sounds alot less rich and full. You will get used to this.

Technique wise as you started out, there was not that much support and you sang alot through your throat with a softer tone. Towards the chorus where you opened up your tone and strength sounded much better. Especially on the big "In your house" there was good shaping of the vocal tract to stay safe on the sound and use a more open ah sound instead of being really pointed on the I. Support should always be there, that doesn't mean we need everything to sound the same, there are dynamics in a song, but its possible to stay supported and sing softly as well.

Lastly is air management, this kind of went hand in hand with how much support you used, as you supported more you cut back your air to get a good bright tone, but the beginning was more airy. As long as you are aware of what you are doing and understand that constant overuse of air will eventually dry you out during a set and possibly lead to damage down the track, I think you are doing well. Keep saving those pennies, the course is worth it and access to the student area is worth the price all over again.

Good job mate