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My distortion after nearly 3 years of KTVA. Heart shaped box by Nirvana.

WigsWigs Moderator, 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 5,042
Its almost 3 years now since I started Kens course. The past year I have still kept up my weekly practice, haven't been singing as much for some time but I have still felt my voice grow. I started to get a bit of a distorted tone after 12 - 18 months on the course and have been slowly leaning in more and practicing heavier songs when I do sing.

This is a cover of Heart shaped box by Nirvana, I listened to them alot when I was in high school and this was one of the first songs I learnt to play on the guitar. Ive only recently been able to hit those high "hey's" in the chorus in full voice, it was a few months ago I would default to head voice. I do a quick slider scale at the end, I left it in to show that I try to still have good cord closure and my voice isnt drying out.

@highmtn @doc_ramadani @Elara @bentk @Klaus_T @sjonrokz4u @Vocality @Rick_amateur @RandyB @DannyOc3an

Comments and critiques welcome. Hope you enjoy :smile:

https://youtu.be/6NTZqiObeOs

Comments

  • WigsWigs Moderator, 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 5,042
  • ElaraElara Moderator, 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 327
    edited July 2021
    Holy moly, Wigs! The distortion is great, but what I particularly noticed is that your voice has lost a kind of mask/nasal sound that it used to have, and now sounds rounder and really professional. I hope that doesn't sound insulting, as it's not meant that way regarding your earlier sound. I just think that you've really made a huge leap forward. I'm really impressed, and happy for you.
  • DannyOc3anDannyOc3an 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 668
    \m/ \m/
    Rock on Chris! Sounds exactly as I remember it, niceeeee B)

    Kurt's ways are present

    Transported me to those teen years \m/

    Nice touch with the dual camera

    Good audio recording too

    You did it much like the original, I enjoyed it

    B)
  • RandyBRandyB 2.0 PRO Posts: 450
    Chris, sounds great! Definitely the best performance I’ve heard from you. I want to echo @Elara’s sentiments about nasality because I’ve mentioned it to you before on assignment critiques. And I’ve been working with @jaclynser and she pointed this out to me on scales recently because Ken points it out when she’s doing her’s. 🤣While Ken does demonstrate the scales with lots of nasal resonance, once you achieve that level of brightness, bringing the resonance lower produces a warmer, rounder tone—it makes things less shrill. Really nice work!
  • Klaus_TKlaus_T Moderator, 2.0 PRO Posts: 2,406
    hey man, great job! the only thing that wasn't authentic Kurt was the slider at the end ;)
  • aniramaniram 2.0 PRO Posts: 52
    What a nice juicy distorted voice you have!!! Congratulations! Practicing really payed off for you. Thamk you for sharing and inspiring
  • DannyOc3anDannyOc3an 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 668
    Klaus_T said:

    hey man, great job! the only thing that wasn't authentic Kurt was the slider at the end ;)

    @Klaus_T
    The slider may become Chris' authentic thing who knows... In every gig he may start doing it and people would then wait for it and give him the standing ovation afterwards :smiley:
  • HumanRobotHumanRobot Member Posts: 246
    Wigs said:

    Its almost 3 years now since I started Kens course. The past year I have still kept up my weekly practice, haven't been singing as much for some time but I have still felt my voice grow. I started to get a bit of a distorted tone after 12 - 18 months on the course and have been slowly leaning in more and practicing heavier songs when I do sing.

    This is a cover of Heart shaped box by Nirvana, I listened to them alot when I was in high school and this was one of the first songs I learnt to play on the guitar. Ive only recently been able to hit those high "hey's" in the chorus in full voice, it was a few months ago I would default to head voice. I do a quick slider scale at the end, I left it in to show that I try to still have good cord closure and my voice isnt drying out.

    @highmtn @doc_ramadani @Elara @bentk @Klaus_T @sjonrokz4u @Vocality @Rick_amateur @RandyB @DannyOc3an

    Comments and critiques welcome. Hope you enjoy :smile:

    https://youtu.be/6NTZqiObeOs

    HI

    That sounded great x You did a good job there x

    well done x

    Human Robot x
  • VocalityVocality 2.0 PRO Posts: 1,601
    @wigs

    Chris super job mate really hear alot of improvements in your singing, plenty of grit in that performance sounded great and suited the song really well. Agree it's a pro sounding performance and like the vocal sweep there at the end could'nt hear the yodel great.

    Rock on

    George B)

  • sjonrokz4usjonrokz4u 2.0 PRO Posts: 1,287
    Sounded great dude and a really nice presentation for just a two cam shot!!
  • WigsWigs Moderator, 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 5,042
    Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Its been a long and patient journey to this point and Im looking forward to what I can do in the next year. @RandyB @Elara I never take offence to constructive criticism, everyones comments throughout my time in the forum I have taken on board to some extent, and its got me here today. :smile:
  • NinaSTNinaST 2.0 PRO Posts: 91
    Damn.... that was really great! I really like your distortion and your tone. :)
    It's very encouraging to hear your progression like that! My distortion is also kicking in after the 1 year KTVA mark. :) I'm curious about what the future will bring. :)
  • sboggssboggs 2.0 PRO Posts: 8
    @Wigs (sorry for the delay in responding - I wanted to listen to the original again before responding) Overall, very good in many ways, no complaints. However, I know you are looking for constructive criticism, or one little thing to tweak. So, with that thought, my only tentative suggestion would be, in the verses, to play with lowering your resonance into your lower breastplate/breastbone area, particularly on the lower register lines (not sure I would change anything in the chorus). But do not sacrifice head resonance when doing this. But please beware (**I am not a vocal trainer**), as it is also easy to push way to hard when doing this, which would swell/tire the cords and make the higher parts harder to sing, leading to other problems like tension/pushing harder, difficult to thin the cords afterwards, etc. When I do this, it is as if my lower breastbone is vibrating (along with the sinuses), and "feels" like the source. It might eliminate any nasal sound - though I am just now thinking about that.
    I haven't read about this, or ever heard anyone describe what I am trying to suggest, and I don't want to suggest a bad technique. This "feeling of vibrating in the chest" is something that I discovered through trial and error years ago when practicing Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Nirvana, before I'd had any training whatsoever.
    I am very hesitant to say these things, as I said, what you have really sounds good :) , plus I don't want to steer anyone wrong with bad technique that is hard to describe, or sound like a know-it-all. :#
  • StevenochoasmusicStevenochoasmusic 2.0 PRO Posts: 175
    @Wigs Dude that was awesome! From the last time I watched one of your other song covers, I can definitely hear a lot more strength in your voice. I believe Kurt Cobain would absolutely be very proud of your tribute to this song. Great distortion as well. I have no idea what good distortion is supposed to feel or sound like yet, but I enjoyed how that texture sounded from how you vocalized it in this cover. I also thought you did a great job of combining your emotional connection with the song as well as a great vocal technique you've been working endlessly at (obviously cause you always give me great advice on my workouts lol). Nice little slider at the end too B)
  • WigsWigs Moderator, 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 5,042
    @sboggs Thanks for the feedback mate. I'm glad you noticed this because while I was EQing the track I was needing to bump the gain a bit for the verses. You can see me move back and forth to the mic trying to keep my input volume even.

    I'm still trying to get an almost flawless single take but it's elusive even after 3 years. In this song go from a very compressed sound that is near the limit of my chest register to a lower compressed sound that doesn't have as much air pressure and that change is difficult to manage while maintaining my resonance. I agree and understand what you are saying about it, my trade off was to concentrate on the chorus, and not potentially blow a good take by pushing too hard down bottom.

    I like when people pick up on these little things, it gives me reassurance that I'm hearing my self more objectively as well as a focus to continually improve 🙂
  • sboggssboggs 2.0 PRO Posts: 8
    @Wigs Wise - that all makes good sense. Good work!
  • RLVRLV Member Posts: 168
    @Wigs sounds really good man! I can definitely see the improvement in your use of distortion! especially there at the end, that was really nice. Nice song selection for displaying this too, awesome. I just posted a song I did yesterday using a little bit of distortion too as I try to improve on that, would love to know what you think man https://forum.kentamplinvocalacademy.com/discussion/16204/getaway-car-chris-cornell-cover# ... Keep at it!
  • highmtnhighmtn Administrator, Moderator, Enrolled, Pro, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 15,354
    This sounds really good, @Wigs !

    One thing I notice that you might want to work on is when you do the high notes (that you back off the mic for) you might want to stay put and lighten up the amount of force you are using. Your distortion sounds fine on all of the quieter and lower parts, and I don't think you need to do a hard belt to get to those notes on the Hey parts. A relaxed distortion, well-supported to prevent pegging the meters at an even volume would make this track shine even more. The other giveaway on that is the increase in neck tension in those parts of the song. Sing that part more from down low in your gut than from your throat.

    Find that magic spot where you just let those notes come out, nice and furry, smooth and even. Effortlessly. Then it's OK to "act like" the notes are tough to hit, but actually do them with ease and finesse.

    Very nice progress.

    Bob
  • MayaJayMayaJay 2.0 PRO Posts: 17
    Wigs said:

    Its almost 3 years now since I started Kens course. The past year I have still kept up my weekly practice, haven't been singing as much for some time but I have still felt my voice grow. I started to get a bit of a distorted tone after 12 - 18 months on the course and have been slowly leaning in more and practicing heavier songs when I do sing.

    This is a cover of Heart shaped box by Nirvana, I listened to them alot when I was in high school and this was one of the first songs I learnt to play on the guitar. Ive only recently been able to hit those high "hey's" in the chorus in full voice, it was a few months ago I would default to head voice. I do a quick slider scale at the end, I left it in to show that I try to still have good cord closure and my voice isnt drying out.

    @highmtn @doc_ramadani @Elara @bentk @Klaus_T @sjonrokz4u @Vocality @Rick_amateur @RandyB @DannyOc3an

    Comments and critiques welcome. Hope you enjoy :smile:

    https://youtu.be/6NTZqiObeOs

    Nice!
  • SteveStanSteveStan 2.0 PRO Posts: 81
    Hey, that's awesome! Thanks for posting.
  • Marty7WizardMarty7Wizard 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 6
    Wow! Really a great job! LIke all are saying, great tone and distortion. I dig it!
  • MasharaMashara 3.0 Streaming Posts: 14
    This is fantastic! As a newbie, 10 days in, I’d love to see an example of what you sounded like when you first enrolled in Ken’s course.
  • MasharaMashara 3.0 Streaming Posts: 14
    @Klaus_T thanks, and holy crap! This is very motivating to me. Seeing peoples improvement is extremely helpful to keep me believing that with a TON of work this IS possible. 🙂
  • Klaus_TKlaus_T Moderator, 2.0 PRO Posts: 2,406
    @Mashara great to hear it is motivating for you, yes it is indeed possible. you just keep doing the exercises and make sure you use this forum as a really great help for your training, and you will get there, slowly but surely. 3 years seems like a long time but then again if you take it seriously you will be more or less guaranteed to get there yourself . also, i don't know any quicker way to get to that point :)
  • DonaldWinstonDonaldWinston 2.0 PRO Posts: 5
    Nice job! I'm a beginner so I'm not in a position to give advice on vocal techniques. But as a mere music lover, I would say to put in an extra dash of craziness. I'm not saying this to make you sound like Kurt. Music... or art in general, for me, is a balance of madness, passion and spontaneity with control, mastery and quality. When it comes to Nirvana, I definitely think the scales tip more towards madness. :)
  • TerenceTerence 3.0 Streaming Posts: 346
    edited March 2022
    Wigs said:

    I do a quick slider scale at the end, I left it in to show that I try to still have good cord closure and my voice isnt drying out.

    Kurt wouldn't have been able to do that slider at the end, Wigs. He would also have needed to place that song at the end of the set if singing true to the recording.
  • WigsWigs Moderator, 2.0 PRO, 3.0 Streaming Posts: 5,042
    @Mashara @DonaldWinston @Terence Thanks for checking this out, as you can see from the assignment video its not a quick transition but its definitely a big leap in the long run! Here is another song I did for a bit of fun with my brother where I try to really over drive the distortion.

    https://forum.kentamplinvocalacademy.com/discussion/16368/2-brothers-have-a-go-at-singing-bodies-by-drowning-pool-with-growl-and-scream#latest
  • ModMod 2.0 PRO Posts: 60
    edited April 2022
    Very good! [the 1st song] Have you done a newer version of this song? It would be interesting to hear if there was any difference.
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