What Hurts the Most - Rascal Flatts (Rock Cover)

RLV

A cover of Rascal Flatts 'What Hurts the Most'. I think Gary Levox (awesome name by the way lol) is an awesome singer, but I don't really like country that much so I wanted to see how this song would sound as a rock song, what do you guys think?

https://instagram.com/p/CZbeBFvM1Xg/embed/

NicolasGralewicz

Okay, I usually hate this song but I was optimistic. Ima assume you rearranged it for the more rock instrumentation and before getting into anything else...the instruments sound great!

Now onto your vocals however...they're fucking awesome! You have a really healthy and strong rock baritone voice reminiscent of Corey Taylor and you're very expressive, which is honestly the most important thing (in my opinion). As far as areas for improvement, a couple of the lil vocal runs weren't necessarily sloppy, but could have been better and I feel like you sang on a lot of flowy consonants (consonant sounds you can sing clear notes on like TH, L, or V). But both of these suit the context of the song and are pretty regular stylistic choices in rock singing, and not to keep comparing you to Corey Taylor, but are pretty common creative choices of Corey Taylor. Just adds a bit of a slurred sound to some phrases, which can be cool for lower stuff and make it sound more smooth without losing "edge" and sounding like a jazz or broadway singer. I'd like to hear more attack or staccato on the high notes, but that's really personal preference. Yours vowels however, are VERY well placed and open and this overall an awesome performance!

I really wanted to give some kind of value to my comment other than "sounds sick bro!" so I listened three times until I had something that I could critique, and this was the best I could come up with and it's more than likely a creative choice/strength and not a habit/weakness. So take it with a grain of salt and keep being better at singing than me.

RLV

Thanks a lot man!! Means a lot to hear such encouraging words! Yeah I recorded the guitar and programmed the drums and bass and mixed everything, it's a lot of work thanks for the compliment. Corey Taylor is actually a big influence of mine so that would make perfect sense. I do need to work my runs, it's not something I spend a lot of time practicing but I do like doing them. But again, thanks a lot dude feedback is so vital for getting better and is much appreciated. Learning to sing over the past 2/3 years has been a rollercoaster ride and continues to be to be honest.

If you have any music of your own posted on the forums I'll check it out and give you the best feedback as I can.

crabola

Here's some points from a Hobbyist singer.....

You got some really good resonant distortion going on there. What a cool idea to take this approach with this song.
Good job. I think overall your pitch is strong. You've got a good belt going on also. I think you should drill down into working on Riffs Rolls and Runs.... any stuff you can get your hands on. Pound those riff and run exercises into your voice. Blues, Soul... pentatonic type runs. Make them as accurate as you can. Once you have generic riffs and runs down.... don't oversing with them. Wow people with them in well placed creative situations. That will really help IMO with completing your voice.

RLV

@crabola

Thanks a lot for the feedback, I totally agree with your advice, and I will definitely implement it into my future projects. Thanks again!!

michaelmusic

Killer backing track. Good song selection. This fits your voice. Work on V2 with getting the AH vowel bright and opening the pharynx (mouth). Larynx sounds fine. Now we want to work on getting consistent energy and tone from low notes to high notes. Also use a pitch correction app like TE Tuner when practicing singing. Hold the note and make sure the sound is correct.
Getting these fundamentals down is the basis for what will exponentially improve your singing. Keep up the great work.