Number of posts : 250 Age : 30 Location : Venezuela Registration date : 2011-11-02
Subject: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 15th January 2012, 22:39
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE POSTING, TYVM. ;D
Spoiler:
I know, I know: there are plenty of topics in this sub-forum you could go to. But since most of them have been inactive for a while, I have decided to step in and open a little space of my own, heh. I'm not the best singer out there nor do I know everything about singing, yet I do believe I can help you improve, if you let me, of course. I'm painfully blunt, yes, but I also will have your best interest in my mind. I'm not going to tell you if you are doing good or bad - I'm going to tell you what I think you could do to make it better.
So you could say this is
Been singing for: I've been singing for about fifteen years (I'm eighteen. I highly doubt that I've been singing for my entire life, since I don't really think I was singing when I was a few months old!); however, I've only done it with proper knowledge and usage of vocal techniques for three years now. And counting. Strengths: I have a precise relative pitch (if you don't know what relative pitch is, you can go here for more info), so I can help you with your pitch. I am fairly good with tone, expression, breathing and phrasing as well. Weaknesses: I only speak English and Spanish fluently, so I can't really judge your pronunciation in other languages as accurately as you deserve. What makes you qualified?: I have studied music and singing (both classical and popular) and I have taught singing techniques before. Oh, and I am one horribly honest person. Number of max. clips submitted to criticize: one per. person, it can be a solo cover or a collaboration. Please refrain from submitting any other songs until I have responded and reviewed your previous submission. I encourage you to submit another clip once you consider you have improved from your last review. This way, I can truly follow your progress! :)
My standards: Every cover that is submitted for reviewing starts with an initial total score of 10 points out of 10. However, points will be substracted out of this score for every thing that I consider needs to be worked on or fixed in the future, leading me to a final average score. Read carefully each correction, and don't hesitate to ask any questions.
Submission form: You can either attach your submission at the end of your form or link me to it.
Code:
Name / username: Song: Originally performed by: Anything else:
Now, go go go!
Last edited by Kimberly on 19th April 2012, 22:17; edited 1 time in total
zombiefishy LTS Firefly
Number of posts : 53 Age : 31 Location : Ireland Registration date : 2011-12-15
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 16th January 2012, 00:09
Name / username: zombiefishy Song: The Story Only I Didn't Know Originally performed by: IU Anything else: I never sing these type of songs and I'd love to sing these kind of songs again so I need advice on how to improve >.<
Number of posts : 518 Age : 32 Location : France Registration date : 2011-10-10
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 21st January 2012, 04:36
Name / username: AnihJourney Song:Hallelujah Originally performed by: Leonard Cohen but this is the instrumental of Alexandra Burke's song. Anything else: I know I am a bad actor so don't watch =)) We do the mix (just put the recording on the instrumental) in 5 minutes because we had to do the movie =S
Kimberly LTS Raindrop
Number of posts : 250 Age : 30 Location : Venezuela Registration date : 2011-11-02
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 31st January 2012, 17:45
zombiefishy wrote:
Name / username: zombiefishy Song: The Story Only I Didn't Know Originally performed by: IU Anything else: I never sing these type of songs and I'd love to sing these kind of songs again so I need advice on how to improve >.<
First and foremost: Sorry I took so long to get back to you! Well, let's start.
This song's difficulty lies mostly in its emotion. IU's vocals portray a certain fragility at first, and as the song goes on, her voice becomes slightly stronger (just the tiniest bit) but remaining melancholic. She's heartbroken and you can tell. This is what you would like to achieve.
At first listen: your voice is naturally sweet, it seems, but the song's pitch is a bit too low for your range. More specifically on 0:32:
Jeongmal neon da ijoeotdeora Bangapge nal boneun neoui eolgul boni
The bolded parts are barely understandable. Sounds slightly strained. At 0:37, your tone is off and the note should be a semitone lower at least. How can we solve this?
Spoiler:
The easiest choice would be to make the song a semitone higher, so you're able to reach the low notes. However, the long-term solution lies in breathing exercises and rounding your voice. You could start with the simplest exercise there is: Take a good breath (not too deep) and focus on filling your abdomen and NOT your lungs. Do not raise your chest or shoulders. Slowly, with your lips slightly rounded, exhale the air making an 's' sound. Try to last as long as possible without overworking yourself. The trick in these babies is to do them daily, at least five a day - strive to improve at least one second every day. Keeping a record helps loads. Rounding your voice, as funny as it sounds (I'm not sure if there's an specific term in English, haha), will also be beneficial. Rounding your vocals correctly is great for polishing: proper rounding is what makes a singer sound "smooth," and "flawless." Rounding consists in shaping your mouth and lips a certain way whenever you sing a particular vowel. For O's and U's make sure your mouth forms a little circle, slightly opening for the U. For A's and E's, try as if you were to smile, but raise your lower lip. I's are the hardest ones, because if they are too open, the sound ends up coming from your throat. For these, round your mouth as if you were to do an O, but widen it a bit. If you do it too much, you might feel your voice scratchy, so be careful!
At 0:44, we encounter our first of many falsettos to come in this song. IU is a master in using her head voice, and this might take some time to get the hold of. Since you were sick, they sound weak. How do I fix this?
Spoiler:
I'll share with you a personal trick I learned two years ago from my vocal coach. It might sound crazy, but it does work! :P Whenever you're about to do a high note, be a falsetto or using your chest voice, tighten your butt cheeks. I know, it sounds really freaky! But when we do this, our body reacts to it and our entire posture changes, making those notes easier to reach. Trust me on this one.
Sae sal chaoreuji mothan sangcheoga
The beginning of the phrase is shaky. However, on sangcheoga is more stable, and most of your phrases are closed quite nicely - they're pretty clean. I'd keep them clean for the first verse and chorus, and spice them up later with some vibrato towards the end to emphasize the overall emotion, but that's a personal choice.
At 1:12, your pitch is off again. The bolded parts are where it was the most noticeable - I already addressed how to work on this in one of the first spoiler. On the last phrase, though, the pitch is accurate. The closing is neat.
This is too low. The diction is off. For the rest of the verse the diction is okay (and I like how you're gaining a bit of confidence as the song advances!), albeit I can't really judge you since I don't speak Korean fluently. But it sounds fairly good - and the tone is stable once again.
I really, really like that last phrase. To me, you reach the perfect level of emotion especially at ooseuwotdeon geoni. There's a bit of an issue with your breathing here, though, because the chorus begins right away, and you sound out of air by the time it starts. What should you do?
Spoiler:
There are many kinds of breathing. Intercostal, drip... For this case, when there isn't much time to take a deep breath and refill our diaphragm, the best is "drip breathing" (again, not sure if this is the proper term in English) Drip breathing consists in taking a quick breath through our mouth instead of our nose. To execute it we are not supposed to open our mouth too much - just a tiny, tiny bit, so we keep our vocal cords warm. Maintain your teeth somewhat clenched when you do it. It's very important to do it this way, because a shot of cold air could damage your vocal cords in the long run.
The last chorus sounds EXACTLY like the first one. And this is a problem, because this is where you are supposed to explode - it's supposed to be a climax of sorts. I honestly felt let down, because the song ends and I'm left wondering what happened or if I missed anything. I'm thinking you were focusing more on your voice and not so much on how did the song made you feel or how to showcase that. Emotion emotion emotion - let's work on this:
Spoiler:
It helps a lot to read the translation of the lyrics, and try to put yourself in the shoes of the songwriter/performer. Sometimes it's better to get lost in the moment and just sing your heart away, because it sounds more genuine, and it will let you build a connection with your audience. This song talks about a relationship ending without someone noticing, and by the time they realize that their world is crumbling around them, it's too little too late. Look back into your memories for a time where you have felt lost, lonely even? Take that and use it. Every experience will enhance your performance. Even if you've never been in a similar situation before, you can always imagine how would it be if you were. It might not feel as real, but it's a place to start. A pleasant manner to inject some expression towards this is to add a bit of vibrato towards words, or thickening the breathing so it sounds like a sigh. There are many ways, though, and only by exploring your feelings you'll find which are the ones that suit you best!
- 2 : pitch - 1 : expression - 0.5 : diction - 0.5 : breathing OVERALL SCORE: 6 points out of 10 STRENGTHS: phrasing, natural tone NEEDS TO WORK ON: pitch, breathing, expression
You have plenty of raw talent. :) Good luck working on your skills!
Rie LTS Snowflake
Number of posts : 352 Age : 29 Location : Indonesia Registration date : 2011-11-11
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 13th February 2012, 16:15
Name / username: Rie Song: Be my baby and UFO Originally performed by: Wonder Girls and Stellar Anything else: sorry for being greedy..2 cover at once D: I hope it's okay
Kimberly LTS Raindrop
Number of posts : 250 Age : 30 Location : Venezuela Registration date : 2011-11-02
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 15th February 2012, 16:04
Anih and Rie, sorry I have yet to get back to you guys. I will try to review your entries as soon as I can. Hopefully they will be up next week!
Hyuriko LTS Raindrop
Number of posts : 419 Age : 31 Location : France , Montbéliard Registration date : 2011-04-17
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 18th February 2012, 10:20
Hi Kimberly ^__^ can you critic me harshly :) ? Name / username: Hyuriko Song: Gee Originally performed by: SNSD
Name / username: Hyuriko Song: Silver no udedokei Originally performed by: Morning musume
Thankyu =^_^=
Last edited by Hyuriko on 18th February 2012, 10:40; edited 1 time in total
Rie LTS Snowflake
Number of posts : 352 Age : 29 Location : Indonesia Registration date : 2011-11-11
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 18th February 2012, 10:33
Hyuriko wrote:
Hi Rie ^__^ can you critic me harshly :) ? Name / username: Hyuriko Song: Gee Originally performed by: SNSD
Name / username: Hyuriko Song: Silver no udedokei Originally performed by: Morning musume
Thankyu =^_^=
umm,me? but this is Kiki's thread? :3
Hyuriko LTS Raindrop
Number of posts : 419 Age : 31 Location : France , Montbéliard Registration date : 2011-04-17
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 18th February 2012, 10:39
Ooops ! So confused i do a mistake XD
bee LTS Firefly
Number of posts : 148 Age : 80 Location : Ohio Registration date : 2011-11-12
Subject: Re: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 26th February 2012, 00:19
Name / username: bee Song: Nanchatte Renai Originally performed by: Morning Musume
![[CLOSED] Kiki's Corner I_icon_minitime](https://2img.net/s/t/12/98/13/i_icon_minitime.gif){kind=icon}
30th June 2014, 19:44 by saranghaekpop99
Subject: [CLOSED] Kiki's Corner ![[CLOSED] Kiki's Corner 2nl4u48](https://2img.net/h/oi40.tinypic.com/2nl4u48.png)
