Waiting For A Girl Like You cover - 8 months with the course & 4 lessons with Ken

colincayvz

Hey guys! So I picked a challenging song here. I feel I'm a bit pitchy in areas but definitely more open in the throat than I used to be. I've had 4 lessons with Ken which helped me open from the bottom up, immensely.

Genuine, hardcore truthful feedback here is what I want here. No sugar - Just black coffee.

Total professionalism is my goal, nothing less.

Thank you!!!

https://youtu.be/S1cS_-ZxUTE

kenmack

Respectable. I hesitate to criticize this performance as I would be hard pressed to do any better. The only thing, other than those you mentioned yourself, that I would suggest you pay attention to is your vowel sounds and modifications. What makes me say this is that your strong support and open pipes sound really good, but some harsh vowel sounds stab at your otherwise more smooth sound performance.

colincayvz

kenmack said:

Respectable. I hesitate to criticize this performance as I would be hard pressed to do any better. The only thing, other than those you mentioned yourself, that I would suggest you pay attention to is your vowel sounds and modifications. What makes me say this is that your strong support and open pipes sound really good, but some harsh vowel sounds stab at your otherwise more smooth sound performance.

Thanks Ken! Duly noted. I feel like the misplaced vowels are what's causing excess tension and lack of fluent smoothness.

Wigs

Really good performance. Id say its about 80% from a full rocking vocal take. Your highest parts still need much more support to sound effortless, you get there, but I can hear the struggle. Was this recorded in a single take? Most of the other little things I can hear I think you already know because you were shifting your vocal tract on the fly to get the right placement.

colincayvz

Wigs said:

Really good performance. Id say its about 80% from a full rocking vocal take. Your highest parts still need much more support to sound effortless, you get there, but I can hear the struggle. Was this recorded in a single take? Most of the other little things I can hear I think you already know because you were shifting your vocal tract on the fly to get the right placement.

Thanks Wigs! Yeah it's a single take. I feel I need to master glottal compression which at the time of this recording I had not. I'm just now focusing on that. Which should take care of the struggle, I feel like. As I practice the GC I can feel an immediate difference as I "hold my breath" while holding on to an Ah vowel. Which should help with support if I'm not mistaken?

In the video I'm squeezing the hell outta my abdomen on the higher stuff but I thnk because too much air is passing out it's a struggle.
Does that sound accurate?

Seven2080

Very nice tone Colin - I bet more tries you have done that, the better the pitch would have gone.
I do not hear any special amount of strain in the sound....I think it is important for your that you do not feel excess strain but it is not audible in sound in a very certain way....I feel you have to grow more you upper register to be fuller in upper middle region - but man, Foreigner is super tough

michaelmusic

First of all, I love the lights and design in your room! Been a student for less than 6mo. Sounds like pitch could be improved by focusing on each note and using a tuner app. When getting to the higher notes I would've liked to hear a bit more chest mixed in because the tone starts to change too much (too breathy) from the tone in your lower notes.

Your phrases after "I'm Waiting" have lots of mask and nasaly. Ex: "To come into your life..." lots of nasal tone.

Nice relaxed vibrato. I'd like to hear more of the natural resonance you have in the mouth on this song. just be mindful not to close down too much.

After the final chorus it sounds your voice may be a bit fatigued from pushing too hard in some areas. Possibly going over some fundamentals of support and being mindful of removing tension and nailing down each note in the AH scales will help.

Hope this is helpful.

Overall, sounds good keep it up!