Jack's Lament Vocal Cover, Is My Singing Okay

[Disney Music Fan]

....

[Operadaisuki26]

Your diction is good I can clearly understand what you are saying, even if sometimes I can't hear the final consonant, like "placed", I couldn't really hear the ed. And you have a nice voice.

My question is, are you trying to sing like what is played in the movie? You sound so careful, each action is thought out, but maybe it is too thought out. Instead of thought, (sorry, getting a little complex) can you feel, as if each new line is a new thought.

Also, your carefullness adds rigidity to your flow, the phrases need to be smoothly connected. I have experienced such challenges in that area as well.
Have you tried walking around as Jack did and sing the song as if it was an aside, just your own musings outloud.

One phrase, one breath, one line.

Another thing, instead of copying the movie, maybe you could try and make the song your own, it may not be Jack, but it would be your own voice, your own spirit, your own talent.

It's good to see that The Nightmare before Christmas is stil an existing favorite and keep up the good work.

[PanDah K]

At first listen I can hear that you have great diction, and breath control. Your vibrato is much too narrow, and slightly unnecessary to mimic Jack. There were moments where my ears gave me big question marks, you need to listen more and make sure you are putting the notes in the pockets where they go. Lastly, there was a bit less emotion than the human voice could provide. This is Jack's lament, you are confessing too the world that you are empty and alone. You are feeling as if you life is losing meaning. That doesn't show as much in your voice as it does when Jack sings it in the movie. So more emotion, widen up your vibrato, and use your ears, and it will be much more effective to your audience.

[Disney Music Fan]

Operadaisuki26

Your diction is good I can clearly understand what you are saying, even if sometimes I can't hear the final consonant, like "placed", I couldn't really hear the ed. And you have a nice voice.

My question is, are you trying to sing like what is played in the movie? You sound so careful, each action is thought out, but maybe it is too thought out. Instead of thought, (sorry, getting a little complex) can you feel, as if each new line is a new thought.

Also, your carefullness adds rigidity to your flow, the phrases need to be smoothly connected. I have experienced such challenges in that area as well.
Have you tried walking around as Jack did and sing the song as if it was an aside, just your own musings outloud.

One phrase, one breath, one line.

Another thing, instead of copying the movie, maybe you could try and make the song your own, it may not be Jack, but it would be your own voice, your own spirit, your own talent.

It's good to see that The Nightmare before Christmas is stil an existing favorite and keep up the good work.

thank you

[Disney Music Fan]

PanDah K

At first listen I can hear that you have great diction, and breath control. Your vibrato is much too narrow, and slightly unnecessary to mimic Jack. There were moments where my ears gave me big question marks, you need to listen more and make sure you are putting the notes in the pockets where they go. Lastly, there was a bit less emotion than the human voice could provide. This is Jack's lament, you are confessing too the world that you are empty and alone. You are feeling as if you life is losing meaning. That doesn't show as much in your voice as it does when Jack sings it in the movie. So more emotion, widen up your vibrato, and use your ears, and it will be much more effective to your audience.

I'll have to figure out how to widen my vibrato somehow, I'm not really sure how, but perhaps I'll figure it out

I usually try to hold back my emotion a bit, so that I don't get all teared up, but I'll try my best to open up my emotions more.

I think if I memorize the lines, instead of reading it word for word, I'll be able focus a lot more on listening

thank you for your input

[PanDah K]

Disney Music Fan

PanDah K

At first listen I can hear that you have great diction, and breath control. Your vibrato is much too narrow, and slightly unnecessary to mimic Jack. There were moments where my ears gave me big question marks, you need to listen more and make sure you are putting the notes in the pockets where they go. Lastly, there was a bit less emotion than the human voice could provide. This is Jack's lament, you are confessing too the world that you are empty and alone. You are feeling as if you life is losing meaning. That doesn't show as much in your voice as it does when Jack sings it in the movie. So more emotion, widen up your vibrato, and use your ears, and it will be much more effective to your audience.

I'll have to figure out how to widen my vibrato somehow, I'm not really sure how, but perhaps I'll figure it out

I usually try to hold back my emotion a bit, so that I don't get all teared up, but I'll try my best to open up my emotions more.

I think if I memorize the lines, instead of reading it word for word, I'll be able focus a lot more on listening

thank you for your input

I'm sorry, but if you don't know how vibrato works than you probably should not be using it until you do.

[AkaTsuki-chan]

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1W3GS3VJDdH

[PanDah K]

Disney Music Fan

PanDah K

Disney Music Fan

PanDah K

At first listen I can hear that you have great diction, and breath control. Your vibrato is much too narrow, and slightly unnecessary to mimic Jack. There were moments where my ears gave me big question marks, you need to listen more and make sure you are putting the notes in the pockets where they go. Lastly, there was a bit less emotion than the human voice could provide. This is Jack's lament, you are confessing too the world that you are empty and alone. You are feeling as if you life is losing meaning. That doesn't show as much in your voice as it does when Jack sings it in the movie. So more emotion, widen up your vibrato, and use your ears, and it will be much more effective to your audience.

I'll have to figure out how to widen my vibrato somehow, I'm not really sure how, but perhaps I'll figure it out

I usually try to hold back my emotion a bit, so that I don't get all teared up, but I'll try my best to open up my emotions more.

I think if I memorize the lines, instead of reading it word for word, I'll be able focus a lot more on listening

thank you for your input

I'm sorry, but if you don't know how vibrato works than you probably should not be using it until you do.

yah, for sure, I'll have to wait to use it; my pet snake promised to teach me vibrato if I feed it 3 more people, and I'm not sure how long that's going to take me, but I'll try to do it asap

until then, I'll try not to use vibrato

No need to be ultra dramatic, the internet is a great thing.

But I can help you, or at least try.

Vibrato is just a fluctuation of your air. The faster you fluctuate it, the narrower the frequency. The slower you fluctuate, the wider the frequency.

[Disney Music Fan]

AkaTsuki-chan

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1W3GS3VJDdH

well appreciated, I love how you went through the whole thing for me 3nodding

I didn't really like how I rolled my tongue on 'France' & the accent wasn't good on it either + I'm trying to get it so I can get an English accent in there on the word 'England', but I haven't quite been able to pull that off fast enough yet. I'd have to interchange in between 3 different accents really fast confused not easy, but I'll work on it

oh, but I like being harsh on the "scream like I can" part; it makes it much more fun for me, but yah, I totally gotta be more articulate with the notes right after that part for sure. I know I couldn't get away with doing the harsher sound too much, unless I was only singing a couple songs or if I left it until the last song, like with what Kurt did on the 'MTV Unplugged in New York' album.

I actually heard that Jeremy Irons didn't sing the last part of 'Be prepared' because his voice gave out on the "you won't get a sniff without me", but I totally love that part. Not sure if that's true or not, but either way, I still love that song

The funny thing about my 'diction', which people seem to be complimenting me on.... I never do any vowel/word vocal exercises along with notes. I only roll my tongue & lips at the same time along with notes, and that's the only vocal exercise I do aside from occasional tongue twisters.

Then I've got my breathing exercise that I do.

Vibrato.... yah, something I have completely ignored, gotta work on that for sure

Anyways, like I said before, your input is very well appreciated, thank you kindly smile

[Disney Music Fan]

PanDah K

No need to be ultra dramatic, the internet is a great thing.

But I can help you, or at least try.

Vibrato is just a fluctuation of your air. The faster you fluctuate it, the narrower the frequency. The slower you fluctuate, the wider the frequency.

Uh Oh... it's too late gonk

I already fed the snake 1 human

jk, I'll try my best to work on what you said, thank you very much

[AkaTsuki-chan]

Disney Music Fan

AkaTsuki-chan

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1W3GS3VJDdH

well appreciated, I love how you went through the whole thing for me 3nodding

I didn't really like how I rolled my tongue on 'France' & the accent wasn't good on it either + I'm trying to get it so I can get an English accent in there on the word 'England', but I haven't quite been able to pull that off fast enough yet. I'd have to interchange in between 3 different accents really fast confused not easy, but I'll work on it

oh, but I like being harsh on the "scream like I can" part; it makes it much more fun for me, but yah, I totally gotta be more articulate with the notes right after that part for sure. I know I couldn't get away with doing the harsher sound too much, unless I was only singing a couple songs or if I left it until the last song, like with what Kurt did on the 'MTV Unplugged in New York' album.

I actually heard that Jeremy Irons didn't sing the last part of 'Be prepared' because his voice gave out on the "you won't get a sniff without me", but I totally love that part. Not sure if that's true or not, but either way, I still love that song
'

The funny thing about my 'diction', which people seem to be complimenting me on.... I never do any vowel/word vocal exercises along with notes. I only roll my tongue & lips at the same time along with notes, and that's the only vocal exercise I do aside from occasional tongue twisters.

Vibrato.... yah, something I have completely ignored, gotta work on that for sure

Anyways, like I said before, your input is very well appreciated, thank you kindly smile

You're quite welcome, many of the musicians forum frequenters seem to appreciate a play-by-play. I like it because it saves my fingers and I can just say 'at this part' rather than describe with time slots.

Getting the accents on "england and france" is kind of rough. Rather than thinking about doing a french accent, just do an 'english' accent for both. Keeping that 'gl' of england from being swallowed is both hard and important. If you can think 'eenga-land' and either do a regular r or just flip it, don't roll. French doesn't roll R's, they actually have a completely different sound that just sounds like wargarble when you say it out of context of other french words. Danny Elfman rolls it, but if you can't cleanly/dryly roll it (which is hard to do!) then I'd avoid doing it.

It's not that you shouldn't be 'harsh' on that part, but it's that you do it healthily. There's a thread or two around here somewhere that talk about healthy growling (like they do in death metal etc) and how to do it without killing your throat. There's a lot of damage you could do to your voice with poor technique, and it would be a shame to wreck such a nice developing voice with poorly executed growls.

You're right, he DIDN'T sing that last part because he wore out his voice doing the exact thing I'm warning you against.


Some people are naturally better at diction/enunciation than others. Part of it might be because you're more in a 'speaking voice' than singing voice for most of it. I'd actually encourage you to keep a bit more of that 'singing' feeling going on, because it might help your intonation a bit. It's hard to go seamlessly between singing and speaking.

With the vibrato, don't worry about 'making it happen,' if it's there, it'll come out. if it's not, don't force it. It should be very even and effortless, feeling no different than when you say a long vowel. if your voice is that jittery when you speak, then there may be a biological issue that I'd recommend therapy for, but since it only seems to come out when you're doing the held out notes, it's probably just a very correctable technique issue.

Also, when you do go into the 'singing' part, it tends to be very far 'back' in your throat. For this style, bring it forward and think about making it brighter. Compare + contrast: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1asXexN94qp

[AkaTsuki-chan]

aquatiger1987

AkaTsuki-chan

Disney Music Fan

AkaTsuki-chan

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1W3GS3VJDdH

well appreciated, I love how you went through the whole thing for me 3nodding

I didn't really like how I rolled my tongue on 'France' & the accent wasn't good on it either + I'm trying to get it so I can get an English accent in there on the word 'England', but I haven't quite been able to pull that off fast enough yet. I'd have to interchange in between 3 different accents really fast confused not easy, but I'll work on it

oh, but I like being harsh on the "scream like I can" part; it makes it much more fun for me, but yah, I totally gotta be more articulate with the notes right after that part for sure. I know I couldn't get away with doing the harsher sound too much, unless I was only singing a couple songs or if I left it until the last song, like with what Kurt did on the 'MTV Unplugged in New York' album.

I actually heard that Jeremy Irons didn't sing the last part of 'Be prepared' because his voice gave out on the "you won't get a sniff without me", but I totally love that part. Not sure if that's true or not, but either way, I still love that song
'

The funny thing about my 'diction', which people seem to be complimenting me on.... I never do any vowel/word vocal exercises along with notes. I only roll my tongue & lips at the same time along with notes, and that's the only vocal exercise I do aside from occasional tongue twisters.

Vibrato.... yah, something I have completely ignored, gotta work on that for sure

Anyways, like I said before, your input is very well appreciated, thank you kindly smile

You're quite welcome, many of the musicians forum frequenters seem to appreciate a play-by-play. I like it because it saves my fingers and I can just say 'at this part' rather than describe with time slots.

Getting the accents on "england and france" is kind of rough. Rather than thinking about doing a french accent, just do an 'english' accent for both. Keeping that 'gl' of england from being swallowed is both hard and important. If you can think 'eenga-land' and either do a regular r or just flip it, don't roll. French doesn't roll R's, they actually have a completely different sound that just sounds like wargarble when you say it out of context of other french words. Danny Elfman rolls it, but if you can't cleanly/dryly roll it (which is hard to do!) then I'd avoid doing it.

It's not that you shouldn't be 'harsh' on that part, but it's that you do it healthily. There's a thread or two around here somewhere that talk about healthy growling (like they do in death metal etc) and how to do it without killing your throat. There's a lot of damage you could do to your voice with poor technique, and it would be a shame to wreck such a nice developing voice with poorly executed growls.

You're right, he DIDN'T sing that last part because he wore out his voice doing the exact thing I'm warning you against.


Some people are naturally better at diction/enunciation than others. Part of it might be because you're more in a 'speaking voice' than singing voice for most of it. I'd actually encourage you to keep a bit more of that 'singing' feeling going on, because it might help your intonation a bit. It's hard to go seamlessly between singing and speaking.

With the vibrato, don't worry about 'making it happen,' if it's there, it'll come out. if it's not, don't force it. It should be very even and effortless, feeling no different than when you say a long vowel. if your voice is that jittery when you speak, then there may be a biological issue that I'd recommend therapy for, but since it only seems to come out when you're doing the held out notes, it's probably just a very correctable technique issue.

Also, when you do go into the 'singing' part, it tends to be very far 'back' in your throat. For this style, bring it forward and think about making it brighter. Compare + contrast: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1asXexN94qp

thanks for your input again smile

well, actually now that I've been figuring out this vibrato thing, which I believe I've improved vastly on after you guys mentioned it..... ummmm, I don't like vibrato anymore

I just like holding the notes to the best of my ability; this is going to take some getting used to for me though, because I'm so used to that incorrect fast sheep vibrato thing I was doing

this scenario sort of reminds me of skateboarder's speed wobbles, how fast can the skateboarder go in a straight line before his legs start to buckle and the skateboard starts to wobble?

Lol, It's kind of an acquired taste, I guess, but it is a result of good vocal technique - as long as you aren't artificially creating it by shaking your jaw etc. Provided it's a healthy vibrato, it's nothing like the speed wobbles. it's more of an acoustic... thing that just happens. Waves and stuff. I don't know how to explain it. x__x Feel free to re-record and post it! I'd love to hear your progress.