Demo Area for Newbies - Feedback for those starting out
highmtn
Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,384
This thread is reserved for folks that would like to dip their toe in the waters of singing demonstrations. Maybe you're new to singing, or just new to KTVA, but you would be more comfortable having your demo seen alongside other new singers, rather than amongst some of our heavy-hitters.
Well, here it is. Just for you and fellow Dudes and Divas that want to have a few pointers in the early stages of your vocal journey!
This is a safe place. You can be off-pitch. You can have bad rhythm. You can be nervous.
We will help you.
We won't be mean.
We WILL coach you, and sometimes that will mean that we will point out the things you need to work on.
Don't worry if you HATE the sound of your own voice. That is a very common thing. This will help you to get over that hump.
We are here to Cheer you on!
Come on. Give it a try. This is YOUR PLACE!
: ^ )
Bob
Comments
Let's start with this one. I'll transplant it here:
Yes, there is something there. I hear your voice inside there, but it's really raw and untrained. You need a good program to set you on a clear path and develop your voice along a healthy track.
As Cinema said, if you keep on doing what you are doing in your demo, you will lose your voice.
Much of what has to be learned in singing is when to allow, rather than push, when to ease off rather than strain.
You have a voice that can be developed, or, left untrained, could end up being bound up by vocal problems.
Good Singing to You!
Bob
@gabelarock
I didn't get a chance to hear your demo before you removed it. I've had a crazy-busy week or two.
I suggest you take cinema's suggestions and repost a new video. Standard Lah scales would be a good place to start, and then move on up to more difficult things. Let's see what your basics sound like and go from there.
Don't get discouraged. Try again.
Bob
Well, your pitch was in left field until you got going, but after that it was fine.
I would suggest you lower the volume of the mic or just move away from it a little more. The sound is a bit distorted, and that makes it a little painful to listen to, sonically. You want a little headroom to guard against the digital overshoots when the sound does peak to the top of the waveform. Make sure your guitar is well in-tune.
You are singing fairly high-range scales and for the most part, you are tracking the pitch well.
Better support would help to give you a more substantial tone. You have the bright portion of tone down, but you could use a little more girth, especially when you begin the low part of the scale.
Keep practicing. You will improve. No glaring deficiencies to worry about. B4 is a reasonably high note. Many people struggle to not even get that high.
Good first demo!
Bob
@blondiewales
Generally, I think you should sing more with your entire body, rather than from your throat.
Yes, you should push down more on the higher notes, and stay grounded to the earth as you sing.
Also, make sure your larynx is not rising above the central, neutral position.
You stretch chest up to B4, which is a respectable high note. You can take chest higher if you care to keep working at it, or still feel that you have room to go. You can probably make it to D5, maybe D# or E, in time.
You can work on the suggestions and repost the same scale. That's the standard, basic evaluation scale. Later you can do the AA, and the EE.
Just stay within your comfort zone and don't push too hard when you hit your limits. We all have limits. It's how we deal with them that makes a big difference sometimes. Respect where you are and take time and proper care to expand your horizons.
Bob
@brad1983,
Your pitch is good. You do a good job for self-taught.
Your distortion, however, sounds like it could wear on your cords over a period of time.
Are you able to sing clean, without the distortion?
Bob
No doubt, @brad1983!
You will find that having a real vocal technique will change the way you sound in ways you've never imagined!
Pay close attention to everything Ken instructs you to do in the videos and workouts.
You will have to leave some old, unhelpful habits behind and move forward into healthier, more productive vocalizing.
You will be very pleased with the results!
Bob
@brad1983,
Still a little airy, but I can hear improvement.
Watch your record levels. Your voice goes into digital overshoots a couple of times.
Some of this is sounding really good! I'm looking forward to hearing more from you as you continue to improve! Lots of emotion in your voice.
: ^ )
Bob
Here is my new video, Can you guys please check it for me. Thank you!
Hi, @jelly!
Sounds like you've been practicing a lot. We really need to hear just a little of the backing tracks so we can see if you're singing on pitch and in key.
You should try to brighten the tone up just a bit.
Looks like you might have had the camera upside-down when you shot this video. : ^ )
Bob
I've been practicing a lot. I will post another demo with backing soundtracks.
I will try to smile on the sound a bit,
Thanks. Remember, if there is already a vocal on the backing tracks to keep them low so we can still hear your voice clearly. If they are karoke tracks, then that won't be a problem.
Looking forward to your demo.
Bob
Just to remind everybody, this is the newbies thread.
While it is true that learning to sing is a lifelong task, and this world is rough and you gotta be tough, this thread is intended to be a safe place for new singers to be able to put up some of their first postings without fear of a lot of criticism.
So for the most part, any "let me be blunt with you" type responses are actually out-of-place here.
I repeat the opening post of this thread:
This thread is reserved for folks that would like to dip their toe in the waters of singing demonstrations. Maybe you're new to singing, or just new to KTVA, but you would be more comfortable having your demo seen alongside other new singers, rather than amongst some of our heavy-hitters.
Well, here it is. Just for you and fellow Dudes and Divas that want to have a few pointers in the early stages of your vocal journey!
This is a safe place. You can be off-pitch. You can have bad rhythm. You can be nervous.
We will help you.
We won't be mean.
We WILL coach you, and sometimes that will mean that we will point out the things you need to work on.
Don't worry if you HATE the sound of your own voice. That is a very common thing. This will help you to get over that hump.
We are here to Cheer you on!
Come on. Give it a try. This is YOUR PLACE!
: ^ )
Bob
SO, PLEASE be respectful of those parameters in this thread. Feel free to be more frank with your opinions in the other demos postings.
One thing that separates this vocal forum from most of the others I've seen is the relative absence of know-it-alls that seem to look down their noses at other vocalists that might not be as far along their journey.
I know everybody here means well and wants to help others, but in this thread I am asking you to put the brakes on criticism for the sake of those who might otherwise be reluctant to post their demos... and PLEASE don't criticize them for that, either.
This is the ENCOURAGEMENT ZONE for those who may still have their training wheels on. Many of these people have never sung on stage before...
Hopefully, I'm not being too critical of the criticism here.
: ^ )
Bob
I am very new to singing and have a lot of determination but zero natural talent. I have purchased the 3 volumes and am practicing frequently with vol 1. It is very helpful and if nothing else i feel it is a lot easier to sing than it used to be.
I am still struggling with pitch and that is something i am actively working very hard on - i say that so you'll know that i am aware of pitch issues in general.
separate from pitch - i really dislike my tone and am looking help / suggestions regarding my technique and how to improve my sound even when on pitch. I feel like even when i manage to hit pitch I sound sort of "honky" for lack of a better description.
I have two links for you, one of me singing and one of someone more professional. I got this from karaoke-version, basically they include a vocal example which i find very helpful when i am trying to learn a song because i can hear an example of someone else singing on pitch to compare against.
ok here is the pro I wish i sounded like:
and here is me:
Any criticism / suggestions is welcome thanks....
Hey, Fred!
Good examples of where you want to be vs where you presently are. I appreciate you making it simple.
Here's what you need:
Brighten up the tone. Your tone is more rounded. It's what is called a "covered" sound. Make it really bright, like in the "It's the LAH!!! AH!!! AH!!!!" example Ken has in his videos. That requires you to really OPEN UP. Open up the Jaw, the mouth (lips), the back of your throat, the entire vocal tract, and let the sound reflect off your hard palate, your front teeth, into your mask... any and everything that brightens it up. Shift your AH a little more to AA and that may help you to hear brighter resonances.
SUPPORT. Your support is weak and you need to turn that weakness into one of your greatest strengths! This alone will make a HUGE difference. Watch every one of Ken's videos here on the forums on support. Watch all of his Webinars on support and glottal compression (glottal compression discusses support in depth), Read everything you can here in the forums on support. Practice the ha-ha exercise (The last track on Volume 3 workouts is a great Haha exercise for building support muscles. This will take much stamina, but will help you build your stamina.) You will find that solid support, along with a brighter tone, will help you to find hear and to maintain better pitch.
MOVING TARGETS: Make sure you have your tongue properly positioned, your larynx in a neutral position, your posture correct, etc...
PRACTICE. Whichever KTVA Volume you are doing now, practice a MINIMUM of an hour a day, five or six days per week. That is a requirement if you want to get past the hurdles that will show up in your path.
RECORD YOURSELF ALL THE TIME, every chance you get. It will help you to fast-track your progress. Use your computer or get a cheap cassette recorder at a thrift shop and always be recording when you practice, even if you never listen to it. But DO listen to it. A LOT. Listen to the playback again and again and start figuring out everything that you can do to make your voice just a little better, then just a little better than that. This will help you to get over the problem of being self-conscious about the sound of your own voice on recordings. Recording all the time makes you much more casual about having the recorder going while you sing. Then when you submit demos, you won't be as nervous about recording them and you will be more experienced with your voice in general.
IF you haven't already done so, go to the Student Videos section of the forums here and watch and practice to all of the exercises in Ken's BASIC PITCH Program. Spend some serious time practicing these exercises. You are singing on key for the most part. This program will help you to see what's up and what's down with your pitch and help you to get that sorted out. Good Pitch is essential to good singing. Don't leave home without it!
If you employ these suggestions successfully you will find many improvements in your voice. That will be a good, solid place for you to work from! You have potential. Don't sell yourself short. Go for it!
Good Singing to You, @fred!
Bob
I see you post a lot about support, and I think i understand the idea but obviously I am not executing on my understanding.
I would like to ask - is there something I can listen for in my recordings to help me know when my support is better vs. worse? Maybe you could point me at an example of song phrase sung with good vs poor support so i could hear for myself?
I will work on the things you mentioned above and hopefully post an example for comparison in a few weeks - hopefully improved
@fred,
Yes. Ken gives a demonstration of this. When you hear it, you will immediately hear the difference.
Go to the category in the Forums titled Videos - For All KTVA Students.
From there select the Webinars, and select the Webinar on HOW TO SING WITH ULTIMATE POWER. Go to nearly the end of the webinar. I ask Ken to do an A/B comparison of singing supported vs unsupported. It's at about 40:45.
One sound sounds as if it's coming from the throat. The supported sound is coming from the abdominal core.
And You're Welcome!
: ^ )
Bob
Bob - that was a perfect example thanks... the part where he gave a lower volume but still supported example was very helpful.
Can you please check it for me. Thank you!
Hi, @Jelly!
You can still brighten up the tone. Your voice has a natural dark sound to it, so you need to concentrate a bit more on opening up and brightening up the tone. Also, you could let some more of your air flow through the nasal pharynx and sinuses to use mask to help brighten. Although we don't want too much air through the nose when we sing out, if we have too little it sounds congested. So give it a little more air upstairs.
You are really improving over some of your previous demos, but you are still needing to get grounded better regarding pitch. You may need to do songs line-by-line and make sure you are staying on key and on pitch as you move from one line in the song to another.
I want to encourage you that you are really making some good improvements. With that said, you may need some help getting zeroed-in on staying with the pitch of songs. I can hear that you are ready to pour your heart into your singing. If we can get your ears locking in on the pitch of the song and the pitch of your voice, you will be ready to soar.
Good work so far with your improvements.
Have you been working the exercises in the Basic Pitch Program?
All the Best!
Bob
Thank you for your encouragement! I didn't focus and relax when I recorded these two demos. I know my pitch and placement went wrong and these are not my good demos. I will try to relax and focus next time, line-by-line and send you other demos.
I've been doing exercises: burble, diaphragm, etc... but not with Basic Pitch. I will come back and do it.
Jelly,
You sound like you've been practicing a lot. I can hear a lot of improvements.
We need to hear some of the backing tracks in the recording so we can reference your pitch.
Keep working at it. You are beginning to jell, jelly!
Bob
@gabenlarock,
I tried to listen to your track, but got this message:
Sorry! We can't find that track.
Did you try to access a private track, but were not logged in?
Maybe the track has been removed.
@gabenlarock,
Thanks for fixing the problem with the file not playing.
As you said in an earlier post, you are new to singing. A lot of the things I am about to say are for your benefit, because you may not be aware of them. Please don't take them as negative criticism, but rather as being told some things that you need to know so that you can fix them. The first step in solving problems is to identify the problems. Then you set about correcting each problem one at a time. Be encouraged that these things can be fixed, but you need to fix them to get your voice where you want it to be.
These are some things you can to improve what I am hearing in your demo.
Most notably, you need to get a better handle on pitch. Sometimes you're right on the money, but at other times you are considerably off the mark.
It's almost like you are not actively listening to yourself as you sing. Active listening is an important habit to build. Pitch discernment is something that you MUST master if you want to sing and sound good.
First of all, you need to brighten the tone. I think you need to brighten the tone a LOT. You probably think you're singing bright, so now I'm going to ask you to make it REALLY bright. If it sounds too bright (to you) it's probably just about right. A bright sound is much easier to differentiate proper pitch.
Again regarding pitch, almost Every scale in the KTVA exercises (with a few exceptions) starts on a pitch and ends on the SAME pitch as the beginning pitch. That is true of all of the scales on your demo.
Most of your scales start on one pitch and end up on another pitch at the end. You're getting off-track during the scale. In some scales you don't start on the right pitch. In many of the scales you don't make it up to the top note. The top note will come with time.
Listen to the note Kens starts on. Make sure you are singing that same first note Ken is singing. If you're not, there's not much point in singing the rest of that scale until you can sing the right first note. Stop the CD and get the first note right. Take all the time in the world until you properly find that first note. Keep that first note in your mind, because you need to sing it again at the end of the scale.
You need to sing the proper note at the beginning of the scale, because if you start off on the wrong note, chances are you're going to have a hard time getting on the right track.
Do you LISTEN to yourself AS you sing? I've met a lot of singers that can't possibly be listening to themselves (actively) as they sing, and all of those singers have pitch problems. When we sing, we kind of need to have a very good idea of what each pitch sounds like in our head (before we sing it), and be planning to sing the right note when you get to it. We are thinking about this, getting ready, and executing the proper note all of the time, as well as getting ready for the next note. Your vocal muscles prepare for the pitch, and because we are practicing and listening very actively and matching the actual note with the note we are hearing in our mind and also with what we are hearing coming out of our voice as we sing, we actually sing the note dead on-the-money when we get to it. If we are flat (too low) we bring the pitch up to the proper note and if we are sharp (too high) we lower the note until it is "SPOT-ON" the right pitch. If we don't know how to do this, we have to train our ear, our mind, and our voice to be disciplined about this skill. Without it, we simply can't sing properly. You are better off with a poor tone than with poor pitch.
Actively Listen to yourself at all times when you sing.
When you record, Actively Listen to yourself as you record, then Actively Listen to the recording playing back. Listen to the pitch Ken is singing and ask yourself if you are on the same note. Likewise use Ken's voice in your recording to compare your tone. When you hear Ken say "Nice and Open. AHH!!! AHH!!!" you should be able to compare your voice to his and be able to tell that your voice is not as bright as Ken's voice. Do what you need to do to copy his tone more, by comparing your own tone to his. Like he's saying Nice and OPEN. AHH!! AHH!! You need to match his tone by opening up your throat, your mouth, and your lips more and make the tone PING.
You should spend some time working through the exercises on Ken's Basic Pitch Program. It's free for KTVA students. Don't just watch it and move on. Spend some quality time learning to discern pitch and building your pitch skills. Practice the exercises Ken shows you in that program, over and over, until it makes perfect sense and you are listening to yourself and hearing improvement.
I'm saying these things because I want you to learn this skill. It will make a HUGE difference in your singing if you will turn this weakness into a STRENGTH!!!
Tackle this and we will move on to other things. There are some more things that you need to work on, but you need to get a fix on pitch first. This is important, and you owe it to yourself to learn this skill. You want people to appreciate your voice. This is the most important thing you can do for yourself at this stage of your development.
I want to see and hear you succeed, because I know you can do it.
Go to the section in the KTVA forums called VIDEOS - For ALL KTVA Students!
Type in the password that is in the posting there, and start working on the Basic Pitch program. Give it all you've got!
This is a really important step for you!
Bob
@blondiewales,
Pitch, Support, Cord Closure. This would be the basic big 3 you would need to keep building.
Your pitch wanders here and there. A lot of this is airy and improved cord closure would help this.
Support is the common denominator that would help to strengthen overall.
Yes, sit-ups would help to strengthen your core, which is where your support resides. Long sessions of the Ha-ha exercise would be beneficial for you.
Have you worked through Ken's Basic Pitch program? That would be a real benefit as well. There are exercises in that module that would help you strengthen your pitch.
Additionally, your overall tone should be brightened up.
Keep up the good work, and keep those workouts going!
Bob
@blondiewales,
The Ha-ha exercises build strength in the muscles that are needed to provide support. The Ha-ha exercises are not support itself, just a means to help provide more strength for your support.
I'm not hearing support in your demo, so possibly your support IS wrong.
There is a lot of airy "breath" sound in your voice, so that indicates a need for more cord closure.
Pitch, Support, and Cord Closure will all help to improve the sound of your voice. These are interrelated factors that will all provide better results from your voice. Support helps to maintain steady pitch. Cord closure reduces airy sound and provides more tone. Accurate pitch is vital and non-negotiable.
Continued Workouts will definitely help to improve your voice. I suggest you record yourself as often as possible and listen with a critical but forgiving ear to your pitch. Train your ear to hear what you are singing on the fly, so that you can gain finer control over it as you go.
All the Best to You!
Bob
This is a brave demo. You picked a very hard song to sing.
The introductory line is a bit wobbly, pitch-wise. That can be stabilized by improving your support.
You go pretty high in your head voice, I heard a C#5, not bad...
You'll want to work on fusing your chest and head voices into one long, continuous sound. Your head voice is a little disconnected (tonally speaking) from your chest sound. You've got a good range, however, and once you get a little more adept at matching chest and head, especially through the passagio region, you will start to pull off songs like this with more success.
At 1:33 where you go from C#5 in head to Chest F4 and G4 (on AH), you should try to sing the F4 and G4 in head voice, so they will more closely match the timbre you have on the head C#5 (because they are part of a contiguous line). You go down to F4 and G4 in chest and you are clamping down to try to "hit" the notes. They seem to be at the top of your chest range, and not in your comfort zone. Try smoothing that line out by doing it all in head. When you are able to do the C#5 in chest with ease, then doing the F4 and G4 in chest with ease would be an option.
Thanks for the explanation/disclaimer at the beginning. I'm not going to nitpick at funky notes, you know they're there.
All the best!
Bob
Hello, @inmydreams.
It would be helpful if you can include the audio of Ken in your demo. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on with pitch when only your voice is there without any reference tones from Ken or his guitar.
This starts out a little bit random, probably because the scales are a little too low for your voice at the beginning.
At about 0:33 you start to get into a range that is working for your voice. At that point, I can tell what pitch is going on in the workout, even though I still can't hear Ken or his guitar.
You should brighten your tone more, and try to get a little more cord closure. Your voice is more breathy than it should be. Mimic Ken's tone when he demonstrates "It's the Lah!!! AHH!!! AHH!!!" Really make it bright and pingy. Right at the end of the recording, you start sounding good in this regard. It gets brighter all of a sudden, just before it gets too low for you again. That brightness is what you want in your tone.
From about 0:33 your pitch starts to be more consistent. At 2:00 and after to 2:20, your high note in each of the scales is a bit flat, not quite high enough. From 2:56 the high note sound good for a few more scales. At 3:15 is where your tone gets more like you should be doing the whole time. That is the tone you want to develop. From about 3:20 on, the scales are getting too low for you, and the low notes start to be off.
Work on getting your tone nice and bright, strengthen your support, and improve your cord closure.
Those items will also help you to better hear your pitch.
If you can find a way to have Ken's voice from the recording be heard by your microphone, that would help us to hear what's going on better, too.
Good job. This is a good start. Keep doing your workouts.
Bob
@opgalliano
Your voice is sounding pretty good for coming from no experience whatsoever.
This demo without any backing music is hard for me to judge your pitch and really get the context of the song. When you go to the high part it does sound like the pitch may be incorrect, but I have no basis to compare without the music.
I did listen to your U2 cover of New Year's Day, and I thought you sounded pretty good on that one. It's easier to tell what's up with the backing music as long as it's not covering up your voice.
In the higher parts of that song it did sound like you need to increase your support when going up top. More support will beef that up without adding too much weight.
I think you're doing well. For someone who just picked up a singing lesson program and started from scratch, you've really come a long way!
Keep at it and you will continue to improve.
All the Best!
Bob
You'll get that AHA moment. It sounds to me like you've had a few already!
: ^ )
Bob
@jelly and @streeter
If you had links in your messages, they did not appear in your postings.
If that's what happened, please post again, and paste in your link two times.
For some reason, many things pasted into these posts have to be duplicated like this.
For some reason, many things pasted into these posts have to be duplicated like this.
And it will work with only one instance of the copied link appearing.
Bob
This is sounding pretty good, @opgalliano. Something isn't quite right on the Law portion of the "breaking the law" chorus. It's odd, because it's kind of a spoken part, so it's hard to say if it's sharp or flat, but it isn't quite right. The rest of the song sounds really good.
You are on a good track.
Keep up the good work.
Bob
Not bad on the A4, @Streeter.
You're coming along nicely.
Keep on pluggin'.
Bob
One step at a time... And then another....
Steady as she goes...
Bob
I'm currently doing Vol. 2. Here ist my first demo (Staring at the Sun by U2 based on the live version).
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23228938/StaringAtTheSun.mp3
Please tell me what you think about it.
Marko
Good recording.
Your vocal tone is interesting, pleasant. Intonation is good, wavers a little at times. Some of the higher notes are just a skoshe flat. Be sure to support more for the higher notes.
You're on a good track.
Keep up the good work.
Bob
Iam very nervious for how the course is gonna help my singing,
I know the english languaje is gonna be a big problem for me, for the singing and understand concept, but iam here now to give the fight!
if u can check here and critics, iam pretty sure gonna be a very good starting point advice.
https://soundcloud.com/chevchile/sets/starting-point
Chev
.
What can I do to improve my intonation?
Would it be a good idea to make a keyboard track with the vocal line as a reference and then sing over it?
Marko
@chev,
It's nice to hear your voice. It will be fun to hear how your voice improves as you continue to learn more about your voice. You have a lot to learn, but you have a very nice-sounding voice to begin with. We will work with you to improve it and enjoy the process.
I'm excited to hear how much you will improve.
Let's just use this as a reference and know that this is where you were at the beginning of your KTVA journey.
I would like for your next demos to be of Ken's exercises. We will gauge your progress initially by how you are doing on your Lah Scales, and all of the things you need to learn to get the basics working in your favor.
We will save the songs for after we have built the foundation for your new voice. You will grow your voice a lot.
Looking forward to hearing more from you, Chevy!
Bob
@okram,
Your intonation isn't that bad, but to improve it, a brighter tone is easier for both the singer and the listener to discern spot-on pitch.
You have a very slight nasal (almost congested sound) quality, that makes distinction of the notes just a bit out-of-focus. Again, I think a brighter delivery would help to "turn up the highs, and reduce the lower mids" just a bit, and make your pitch more of an exact science.
Part of that is about where you are directing the sound as it projects, and what surfaces in your head it reflects from. You want a nice pingy tone from your cords, and to bounce that tone off of the hard palate, the teeth, and to have a big, open, toothy smile with raised cheeks to help get the right ring from your voice.
I don't want to sound like I'm being overly-critical of your sound, because, again, it's pretty good. I'm just listening and making suggestions that I think would be helpful, and that you would probably like to add to your existing tone.
Are you aware of the Basic Pitch program? You're pretty good with your pitch, but I am too, and I learned a bit by going through that. It can help with your pitch awareness. It's free for KTVA students. You can find it in the Forum category "Videos for All KTVA Students".
I use a keyboard often to check notes in melodies, to keep track of where I am on scales, to run through drills in my midrange...
I also use the keyboard to accompany myself when I work on songs. It's just really convenient. I bought my keyboard specifically to help me with my vocal quest. I'm a drummer, not a keyboard player, but I really like my keyboard. I like using my guitars, too, when going through my KTVA scales.
You are on a good track. Being open to helpful comments is a good trait, and will help you to get to where you want to go much sooner.
All the Best!
Bob
I think you've found your calling...
; ^ )
Bob
That might be a lot of work for a "Scooby Doo where are you" spoof.
(Just for fun)
Maybe this will be helpful for another novice. If expert can evaluate it, of course.
Thanks for your detailed comment!
I did a new take and tried to focus on pitch, support and a slightly brighter tone.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23228938/StaringAtTheSunV2.mp3
What is your opinion?
Marko
@ceanseer,
We need your vocal track to be much louder in comparison to the music backing tracks. Your voice is buried in the mix.
That said, you need to increase your support a lot, even in light singing and head voice like this. That will help you with consistency and also help you to nail the notes.
Keep doing your workouts. I'm sure we'll see a lot of growth between now and a year from now.
Good Singing to You!
Bob
@okram,
Marko,
This is improved considerably. Thanks for incorporating the suggestions. Support is improved. Tone is brighter.
There is still a hint of a congested sound, I hear it in the "n" for example "sun" "one" sound s little like sudn and oned. It's very slight, but if you can zero in on that part of your singing diction to where your N's ring and taper instead of sounding like we do when we have a bad code (cold).
On the long "I" in Blind you should sing that more like Bl-ah-nd. The AH will be a more appropriate vowel to sustain than "I". "I" is a dipthong of Ah-EE anyway.
I'm not trying to pick your demo apart, I'm just offering suggestions that I hope will be helpful to you.
Bob
Also another suggestion on the sustained
@ceanseer
Thank you very much for redoing your demo with the vocal prominent. This is exactly what we need.
What I thought I heard below the mix is much the same.
Much stronger Support will benefit you a lot. Even though this song is done with a very light sound, it is quite high and upper middy, so it requires a lot of abdominal strength to hold the notes steady and even, and to not sound strained. You didn't make it all the way up to some of the higher notes. You are a little out of breath.
This is a really tough song to use for your first demo, but good for you. It shows where you want to go with your voice.
So really work on your diaphragmatic breath, increasing your support, and do your workouts faithfully.
You will see significant improvement.
All the Best!
Bob
@wabba_treads
Wow! It's been a long time since I heard this song...
Nice job. Yes, you missed a couple of notes in the verse, but you already know that.
It's kind of odd to hear a baritone song sang in little boy voice, but other than the couple of off notes that you mentioned, your intonation and your tone are pleasant. In your Crystal Ship (Revisited) version you sing it in more of your natural voice. You actually got more comments on that one (maybe it's older). I like both versions, though.
Pretty good for a phone recording. You need a stand for your phone though, because the handling noise is a little annoying.
; ^ )
You're sounding good!
Bob
On a lower-range song you should do your warmups first. If you work out, you should probably just to lower range stretches that take you down the scale instead of up the scale.
Bob
Do I even hit proper notes on begining or at least close to?
Your notes are on pitch, but you need to build more support. There is a little wobble in your voice that will go away when you are supporting more consistently and properly.
You are close, but need to train more. Like I said, this is a hard song to try as a first demo.
Honestly, instead of trying to figure out your voice from a tune like this, we would be better off working on basic Lah scales. We need to get the nuts and bolts of support, pitch, vowels and mods, etc worked out first. As a demo to compare a year from now, this is fine.
You have potential. You need to train that potential and put it to work for you!
@BeginnerJon,
Not bad for someone starting out from scratch. This is a good one to use for comparison later on.
Don't get too worried if it's confusing to keep all of the balls in the air at once. Learn each moving target individually, and practice them as you are able. Eventually you will be able to get them all in the air at once, and keep them there.
Celebrate little victories when they come.
You should send a demo of you doing the LAH scales so we can compare apples to apples and let you know how you're doing on the basic nuts and bolts of singing. Everything will eventually stem from those basic building blocks.
Your pitch is good, your tone consistent, and you will probably gain a lot of vocal growth as you continue your studies and workouts.
Bob
@Will_Is_Well
Nice and bright. Support is there. Pitch is good.
Mrs. San Felipo would be shocked! Harmonies and all...
: ^ )
Good job!
Bob
Week 2 video: You needed to back off on the air. Speed bumps each time you crossed the passagio. Lots of air in the tone. Pitch is OK.
Week 4 video: Much better, crossing the passagio and only a few speed bumps.
Still too much air in the sound. You need to find better cord closure to make it less airy. Nice open throat.
Try to make the notes string together a little more. You are doing each note separately, which is good, because some students slur all the notes together, which is not good. You could make the separate notes more legato and smooth each separate note closer together, where there is no little gap in-between each separate note. You could make the tone brighter. Copy Ken when he demonstrates "It's the LAH!!! AHH!!!" That will help with your cord closure.
I think you probably need to keep doing the Volume One workouts every day for about another month. There is no shame in that. Volume One is crucial to setting the foundation for your voice, and you will be a much stronger singer if you build a foundation on solid rock. Right now your foundation is still a little bit of shifting sand. Take a little more time, and take heart that you are on a good trajectory. It may seem to you like you are stuck on a plateau, but I can see your progress, and to me it looks like a month down the road of really giving it your all will put you in a better place to move on to Volume 2. Let's take a look at this dual video next month, alongside of a new video, maybe another 2-part one, and see if you're really on a plateau or just can't see the forest for the trees regarding your progress... It's not uncommon for students to spend 12 weeks or more on Volume One.
Work on your bridging and back off on the air until all of those speed bumps go away.
ALSO, in separate workouts from the bridging, work on stretching that chest voice.
Work on your cord closure. That will brighten your tone.
You're making good progress. Don't stop now.
: ^ )
Bob
Hi!
I'm new to this forum and new to singing. Well, i've been singing for a long time without any intention. I think it's just my natural day-today compulsion to sing, but i've never done anything with it outside of elementary school choir. The piano man in this video finally persuades me to record something just to get an idea of what my voice sounds like. I know i have a lot of work to do, starting with gaining more confidence, so i figured what better way than to let people hear me sing, and learn to accept criticism. I got one take and i was super nervous, which i know comes across, but i've been working on singing since this and am excited to learn/do more stuff.
http://youtu.be/T4TzbzfC-Cc
Thanks for your time,
Dior
@blackiejane,
You have a gift. Your voice is like velvet, smooth and silky. Your piano man was wise to hit the "record" button. You need to use your gift and keep on giving.
No, your nervousness does not come across. You did well. You have a very nice voice that is pleasing to hear. You are using an airy tone, but that is the style of this song. Too much air can dry the vocal cords out, so be careful with that sound. It's a beautiful sound, but too much of a good thing can have issues, so you may want to work with some vocals that use more cord closure. Maybe you already do, this is the only time I've heard you. Depending on how much you use your voice, you may need to mix that up a bit between breathy tones and more closure.
Good job.
Bob
@djeans.
Your response about struggling with the light exercises and not using too much air, along with volume when using cord closure all says to me: SUPPORT.
You know that Support is holding back the escape of too much air, regulating the air pressure to a lower, more controlled flow, right?
When support is not right, you will overblow your vocal cords, singing light will be very off-balance, register breaks are hard to manage, and hoarseness has its way.
Take it super-easy, until you are past the hoarseness. Then start tackling the support issues. That is the element that is common to all of these issues.
All the Best!
Bob
This is my version, sorry to humiliate you Richie! I would really like to know what I did well, If I did and what I did bad? If you can say that I can really improve my voice and later down the line have lots of "Ornamentation" like Richie! I will definitely give it a shot. I will complete any task to the best of my ability! I PROMISE YOU!
http://yourlisten.com/Marvin123/test-sitd-sambora
OK, @OfficialJamesLight,
Nice to hear your voice.
Yes. You are lacking training, but you do have a sense of pitch. You aren't able to follow all of Richie's melody lines, because they are very complex and you don't yet have the power and support in your voice to be able to sustain those more intricate notes and riffs.
Your tone at this time is breathy, but that will change, and you will learn how to grow your voice in the direction you want to take it. You just need the path and the tools. You will supply the determination and drive to get there.
Save this demo. Use it for comparison later, after you've been doing Ken's program for a while.
You will be amazed.
All the Best!
Bob
@OfficialJamesLight,
That's up to you.
You will need the course in order to start making corrections. Your voice will be rebuilt from the ground up.
Bob