Song Updated! | Alternative Rock | Speak to Me

[Casey H]

AubI will come back and listen later to the update. I definitely can hear past vocal issues to hear the song itself. Trust me, if you ever heard ME sing, you'd understand!! I only commented on the vocals from the perspective of your goals...Gotta run... visiting Mom in NY... Later, Casey

[aubreyz]

Quote:Vocals and melody are to monotone and monotonous. I also feel the verse chord changes with your melody are awkward. As with most producers, I listened to the first 30-seconds of the song, if it doesn't grab me I go on to the next. Try some vocal/melody variations and you could nail it. BTW, I too, have been guilty of the same thing. This usually happens when the vocalist is not a "singer." An experienced/gifted singer would change it in a minute. Hmmm. Interesting. Though the gifted part is certainly debatable, I've been singing professionally most of my life--(though whether I'm any good at it might be debatable too ). I also know how to write catchy/pop melodies. Writing jingles is part of what I do for a living. I agree that the melody and chord changes are awkward on this one, but that was the point. This song was never intended to be a pop song, but a haunting, eclectic, alternative piece of music. The diversity of opinions has been very interesting. From a younger, alternative audience the feedback is very promising- overwhelmingly positive. From older (even my age) more pop audiences, the comments are more negative - mostly about the melody/chord structure. I'm not surprised by the diversity of opinions, but the extreme love/hate reaction was a bit unexpected.Reactions from outside the Taxi forum have literally been either -- "The melody and chord changes don't work", or "I love the weird chord changes and melody". Very little middle ground.I'm under no illusions that a song like this is going to race up the charts, or even grab the attention of a "producer". However, the kind of music I love and write is often odd, melancholy, dissonant and outside of the norm. I have been working hard at packaging the kind of stuff I write into a more commercial form, but at some point you are who you are and do what you do. Is there a market for it? Time will tell. I wholeheartedly appreciate all the feedback, and probably the negative feedback the most. I'm not easily offended and have no sacred cows when it comes to my writing. Perhaps there is a way to stay true to the essence of what I feel and hear as an artist and appeal to a larger audience. So far, some of my attempts at "normalizing" end up with something that might have broader appeal, but I end up not liking it as much. Believe it or not, Speak to me has already been "normalized" quite a bit from it's original form. Though I don't think it's my strongest work, it is a good example of the farthest "left of center" side of my music that I think I might could get away with -- I have a number of tunes yet to produce that would fall into the same category, so it's kind of a "test case" to see how far left I can lean and still keep balance.Though the jury is still out on Speak to Me, I'm carefully considering both sides of the opinion pool as I test the waters--- there may be some middle ground that will both please me as an artist and provide broader appeal. That's the main reason why I'm here, and why I find Taxi and this Forum so valuable. Thanks for your input.Aub

[aubreyz]

Quote:3. The vox are getting there. Have you thought about almost speak-singing the first part? I love the epic, powerful, emotional delivery in the second half, but for me (and me only of course), the falsetto/vibrato attack in the beginning doesn't work. It sounds like a mime in a park or something. Please don't take that wrong, you can obviously sing! And wait 'til I start posting mixes; I'll dream of that mime reference!Okay... next time I cut vocals, I'll lose the white gloves and clown face makeup.... (funny sidenote, I once cut vocals in a straight jacket to try and get the feel I was looking for )I'm not sold on the falsetto thing yet --- though I have this sound in my head that I've not been able to make happen on the hard drive yet. I do know that a more soto voice thing, down a step or so will work, so that safety net is there. Unfortunately I've been so busy with other productions, I've not been able to spend a whole lot of time getting this right yet. Just for some background, I'm pushing myself as a vocalist right now into some new areas--- the falsetto thing being one of them. I grew up singing gospel, traveling with my family. Was classically trained in High School and College and did quite a bit of opera and musical theater. Went somewhat techno in the eighties, lot's of vibrato pretty voice stuff (which I now hate btw). Evolved into grunge in the nineties with more grit and some eighties metal kind of vibrato (which I also now hate) -- for the last ten years, it's been mostly Christian Praise and Worship kind of stuff, or for the last few years mostly studio work. So what I'm doing now is to combine all those influences into an updated commercial vocal. It's a little difficult to produce your own vocals. It's easy for me to change gears and sound very different, but it's hard to know what actually sounds the best. Just yesterday someone was listening to some of my productions for work, and some of my originals as well. The comment was - "you sound like a different person on a lot of these tracks". That can be good and bad.Thanks for your input -- mime and all!Aub

[michael11]

Quote:Quote:3. The vox are getting there. Have you thought about almost speak-singing the first part? I love the epic, powerful, emotional delivery in the second half, but for me (and me only of course), the falsetto/vibrato attack in the beginning doesn't work. It sounds like a mime in a park or something. Please don't take that wrong, you can obviously sing! And wait 'til I start posting mixes; I'll dream of that mime reference!Okay... next time I cut vocals, I'll lose the white gloves and clown face makeup.... (funny sidenote, I once cut vocals in a straight jacket to try and get the feel I was looking for )I'm not sold on the falsetto thing yet --- though I have this sound in my head that I've not been able to make happen on the hard drive yet. I do know that a more soto voice thing, down a step or so will work, so that safety net is there. Unfortunately I've been so busy with other productions, I've not been able to spend a whole lot of time getting this right yet. Just for some background, I'm pushing myself as a vocalist right now into some new areas--- the falsetto thing being one of them. I grew up singing gospel, traveling with my family. Was classically trained in High School and College and did quite a bit of opera and musical theater. Went somewhat techno in the eighties, lot's of vibrato pretty voice stuff (which I now hate btw). Evolved into grunge in the nineties with more grit and some eighties metal kind of vibrato (which I also now hate) -- for the last ten years, it's been mostly Christian Praise and Worship kind of stuff, or for the last few years mostly studio work. So what I'm doing now is to combine all those influences into an updated commercial vocal. It's a little difficult to produce your own vocals. It's easy for me to change gears and sound very different, but it's hard to know what actually sounds the best. Just yesterday someone was listening to some of my productions for work, and some of my originals as well. The comment was - "you sound like a different person on a lot of these tracks". That can be good and bad.Thanks for your input -- mime and all!AubI would like to hear some of your,vibrato,pretty stuff Aub.It was obvious to me you have an excellent voice I just didn't care for that type of song which is more mood than melody.

[aubreyz]

Quote:I would like to hear some of your,vibrato,pretty stuff Aub.It was obvious to me you have an excellent voice I just didn't care for that type of song which is more mood than melody.Okay -- against my better judgment, here's a flashback circa 1991Love Sabotage I'm snowed in here--- must be freezing my brain. Aub (can't believe I just posted this) Delane

[michael11]

Quote:Quote:I would like to hear some of your,vibrato,pretty stuff Aub.It was obvious to me you have an excellent voice I just didn't care for that type of song which is more mood than melody.Okay -- against my better judgment, here's a flashback circa 1991Love Sabotage I'm snowed in here--- must be freezing my brain. Aub (can't believe I just posted this) DelaneCan't get it to play Aub.Can you put it on MySpace or post your Soundclick, address?

[michael11]

Quote:Try thishttp://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm? ... 70252Great Vox Aub but the song still isn't quite my cup of tea as we say this side of the pond but that's not to say it isn't a great song.Just wasted on me.