Whitney Houston and Michael McDonald Walk Into A Bar...

TommyM

It does sound like the start of a terrible joke, doesn't it?

I decided to film two acoustic covers today and upload them to YouTube as part of my "Tommy Sings..." project, both of which I'd posted previously as demos on here. I figured I'd post them in the vocal demonstrations section as I think they both show how much KTVA has helped me develop my voice already, especially when it comes to developing a softer voice rather than belting. As my voice recovers from having been blown out through oversinging, I'm focusing on this gentler delivery and working on some different cover versions from diverse sources; largely to push myself creatively, but also to explore my voice and different ways to use it.

The first video is my reworking of Whitney Houston's "All The Man I Need" - Excuse the dodgy tuning on the guitar, the intonation is screwed and it never stays in tune, plus I generally suck at guitar...hahahaha!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf1ckh04luc

Next is my take on Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgetting"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scL0cmIfWsk

Any and all feedback welcomed as there's definitely areas for improvement, especially around onsets, pitch and vowel/consonant modifications.

Cheers!

KaiEllis

Man I love these covers you do. You're kind of channeling Chris Cornell's way of doing these simple acoustic covers. The Whitney Houston cover especially reminds me of when Chris covered "Nothing Compares 2 U".

On the Whitney cover, I'd just love if the word "girl" was a little more AHHH and open. Right now it sounds like gulp instead of girl.

On the Michael McDonald cover, there's a couple of pitchy spots I'm sure you heard too. The only moment of delivery I'd adjust was at 2:18, the line "tell me how come I keep forgetting...", I wanted the word "how" to open up and feel more contiguous with the rest of the phrase.

But man the feedback on these renditions are all tweaks and polishes. They're already beyond worthy.

TommyM

Thanks for the feedback, that's really helpful and actually lines up with my own self-criticisms 'cause I do feel I'm still closing a lot of stuff up, e.g. the "all I've got in this world" line in the Whitney one needs more of a "gaahhtt" than the "got" I'm doing here. I did change it up at one point and it felt better and more free, but I'm also trying to keep elements of my Scottish accent in it too so it's a case of finding more balance between natural delivery and proper technique. Still working on it though, but I really do appreciate that feedback mate, it's great to get another perspective on it.