Everlong by Foo Fighters

kishor

Hi,

I need some help with the F#4 in the part of the shown below. I can sing it fine as "Lah" but I am not able to sing the words of the song without closing the back of the throat. Also, when I do succeed I am "belting away" too loud.

Question:
1) Please suggest a modification to the words below so that it is easier to keep the back of the throat open.
2) How do I sing this in low/medium volume without belting out the F#4?

LYRICS
And I wonder
D4 E4 D4 A4
When I sing along with you
F#4....................E4D4 D4 D4E4
If everything could ever feel this real forever
F#4………………………………E4 D4 E4D4A4
If anything could ever be this good again
F#4…………………………...E4 D4 E4 D4
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
F#4……………………………E4 D4
You gotta promise not to stop when I say when
D4…………………………….E4 D4 C#4 D4 B4


Kishor

highmtn

Wen Ah Sehg Ah Lah-ngweth yah-oo

ehf eh-vr-ah th-eh-ng c-eh-d eh-vah f-ehl th-ehs r-ehl f-ah-eh-vah


ehf eh-neh th-eh-ng c-eh-d eh-vah b-eh th-ehs g-ahd ah-g-ehn

theh-ahn leh theh-ngahll evah AAs-kahv yah-oo

yah gah tah pr-ah mahs naht tah stahp w-eh n-ah s-eh w-ehn


In this you are pivoting between Ah and eh, with the occasional AA. Ah/Eh is a way to keep the vowel transitions nearly static.

You will often pivot on AH/AA or Ah/Eh to avoid closing down the throat. EE/A (like Eight) is also a combination that keeps the vocal tract open.

"You" works out better up high starting out on Ya and rolling it into "oo" rather than hitting that OO head-on after a Y consonant.

The original recording of this hits those notes pretty hard. You can just sing it in a lighter voice without as much breath pressure, but it may not have the same edge as the foo fighters version. Try just singing it lightly and slowly bringing up the volume until you have the amount of compression that you want to use on that part of the song. It's kind of in the call register there, so you don't want to yell it out, but you do want to be a bit emphatic. That will help you get to those notes without screaming or belting, but there is a fine line between being too forceful and using enough compression to avoid going into head voice.

Take those modified words and kind of split the difference with the real words. In other words, you will sing with a kind of a blend or bias from the modifications to smooth out the original, unmodified lyrics.

Cut back the air and see what you can do with it.

Bob

streeter

@highmtn summed it up perfectly. Dave belts it pretty hard in the original recording though. It's also double tracked. He has another version which is pretty famous that he performed acoustic on the Howard Stern show. It's real mellow and the chorus is bought down an 8ve.

When I do it acoustic, I split the difference and sing it in a 'controlled call register'. Same notes as the original, just not distorted and by mitigating the airflow, the volume doesn't get out of hand. Kind of like the Chorus to 'Drive' by incubus... What I've described sounds like what you're aiming for anyhow.

kishor

Yes, I am looking for a style that is in between the loud distortion guitar version and the acoustic version.

I have pasted a link below to my goal, however they are doing it in German.

Thank you Bob @highmtn and "streeter" for your suggestions. Really appreciate your support and having someplace to go to with questions.

-Kishor

LINK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM8hz4Gtszs&list=LLh_5TtopFT_iLvBS2JraY6Q&index=5

highmtn

You can see by the veins popping up in his neck that he is putting some effort into those notes and you can hear that he is "calling out" in emphasis in those parts. He is in Call Voice, although not fully belting or distorting. He just has the gas pedal down "so" much, not floorboarding it as hard as he can. On the other hand, he is putting some compression behind it in order to stay out of head voice.

It takes a lot of support, plus the part of glottal distortion that is used in safe, clean singing that Ken talks about in Volume 3. He is using emphasis, but not at a huge, loud volume. Instead it is at a moderate, emphatic level. That emphasis helps to convey emotion and urgency, without being at your full throttle.

kishor

Hi Bob @highmtn and @streeter,

Here is a link to a practice track to give you an idea of where I am with this song.

Link:



Kishor

highmtn

You are singing this much more laid-back than the example of Finder doing the song. You are using more air in your tone and less support. To get his tone you would need more cord closure and more compression and support. He's also using a bit brighter tone, part of which comes from the cord closure, and part from his placement.

A brighter tone will help you to hear the pitch better on those lowest notes, which need to be spot-on. Your F# sounds like head voice, finders sounds like chest voice. An airier sound will tend to sound headier.

You have a good start on the song. I would keep working on stretching chest voice and trying to get a brighter, more focused sound and bring those elements into this song. Don't forget to get that support working for you.

Good job.

Bob

streeter

Yours is super close to the Howard Stern version of the song. Dave brings the chorus an 8ve down to suit the rest of the arrangement. You keep it in the same 8ve as the original but have a really light airy heady timbre. Finder is a lot brighter and wider on the sound. Bigger vowel sounds, more compression and louder which allows him to keep it in chest. You'll need the grow this register in order to gain control of it.

kishor

Hi Bob @highmtn and @streeter,

Thank you for the feedback. I work on your comments and post an updated practice track soon. I also took a lesson with Ken and have a lot to work on. I now understand "mitigating the airflow" and how to do it.

Kishor

highmtn

Awesome, @kishor!

Rock on!