Imagine

[SLD Music]

Hey all,

This was my second song I did a while back, which was mainly used as a vehicle to learn MIDI.  It's just a cover of John Lennon's imagine.  Maybe too much reverb again, and the vocal is probably a bit too forward in the mix--but it's done now. Anyway, it gave me a chance to sing more freely as a "soloist" this time and I learned the basics of dealing with software MIDI instruments.  Thought I'd share.

Scott

[elwoodblues1969]

Well....I must say that the vocals are very pretty & pristine-so much so,that it has me wondering why you are not singing as a vocation-or at least,as a side-line??
I know this is very nit-picky of me,but I am stickler for accuracy,when it comes to cover songs and I have two aspects of your performance that I am curious about.
With regard to your vocals-as impressive as it is,I thought that there was a bit too much vibrato in your voice for this particular tune(though the vibrato is beautifully done).
It is my opinion that if you were singing covers from artists such as Johnny Mathis,George Michael or Tom Jones,then all of that marvelous vibrato would be absolutely appropriate & especially lovely to hear in a lot of the songs from said artists.

As for the music-I remember reading that you were primarily a vocalist & that instrumentation was secondary,if that.I couldn't help but notice how choppy sounding the piano was and that some of the bass notes in certain segments of the song sounded wrong(can't confirm at the moment,as I have not heard the tune in a long while).

Overall though,a 5-star-pro-quality vocal performance...which really has me itching to take vocal lessons....something I should have done long ago.


-Thom

 

[SLD Music]

Well....I must say that the vocals are very pretty & pristine-so much so,that it has me wondering why you are not singing as a vocation-or at least,as a side-line??

Thank you very much.  That's very nice of you to say.  This was all one take.  No comping was done, and I didn't do any pitch correction either (not that I'm against that.  I believe in using all the tools available.. heh).  That said, it took about 20 takes to get the one I finally used, though. 

I know this is very nit-picky of me,but I am stickler for accuracy,when it comes to cover songs

Hm.  I guess that's where you and I see things differently.  I wasn't trying to ... meticulously recreate the original.  When I sung live, I never tried to do that either.  It's just my performance of the song is all.  I think there's room for some vibrato in Imagine.    Just as there's room for hybrid deaf choir / show choir arrangement of it as performed on the TV show Glee.  Certainly plenty of people much more talented than me have covered that song with far more wildly adventurous interpretations than mine.  Without that we wouldn't have "Black Magic Woman" by Santana (a cover of a Fleetwood Mac song that has now far surpassed the original in popularity), or George Thorogood's popular re-working of Bo Diddley's original, "Who Do You Love?", or perhaps even more apro po the wildly different arrangements of Beatles tunes as done for the movie Across the Universe many of which I think are fantastic (the slowed down and thoughtful rendition of "Girl", for example, or Joe Cocker's amazing version of "Come Together").  Anyway, there are countless other examples.  I don't know.  That's just how I view cover songs.  You're mileage may vary.  Ultimately, I just enjoy singing, and this was a great song to learn my software on, and I tell ya, a side benefit is that it made my mom smile when I gave it to her. 

As for the music-I remember reading that you were primarily a vocalist & that instrumentation was secondary,if that.I couldn't help but notice how choppy sounding the piano was and that some of the bass notes in certain segments of the song sounded wrong(can't confirm at the moment,as I have not heard the tune in a long while).

This one I can't argue with.  Hehe.  I'm no pianist, and although I tried my best to get the bass line right, I can't gaurentee I got it all.    Thanks very much for your thoughts.  I will try my best to make use of them in the future.

Overall though,a 5-star-pro-quality vocal performance...which really has me itching to take vocal lessons....something I should have done long ago.

Thank so much again.  There's nothing like putting together a vocal performance you feel good about, especially in front of a live audience of 1000+ people.  Those moments were among the best and most memorable in my life. 

You have a great voice, Thom.  If you're serious, you really should get together with a teacher.  You'd be surprised how fast you can improve; and how those out of reach things you really want to be able to do become not so out of reach after only one or two lessons.  I will say that it's darn near impossible to learn how to sing well from books, though.  It's like any instrument, it takes experienced instruction, time and lots of practice.

Thanks again for listening, and for putting up with my verbose response!

Scott

[elwoodblues1969]

I suspected that you weren't trying to flawlessly emulate John Lennon-that is to say,that I saw that as a distinct possibility.There are indeed,many examples of various artists who have taken lackluster performances of other artists and have made their renditions really shine with their style & abilities.
Some artists-namely artists such as James Brown,Aretha Franklin & the like,never sing a song the same way twice-& this is a good thing.

Then there are artists such as Howard Jones,Hewy Lewis & the News,Elton John & such...and after hearing & falling in love with their style of singing with regard to how they lay things down on their studio albums,that's exactly how you want to hear it live(at least I do).

Truth is,you clearly have more talent and ability in your voice than Lennon ever could have hoped for,but I just love his style in that song & that suits my pallet best.
To each his/her own of course,& that's just me.I could certainly see the logic in covering a Bob Dylan song and improving upon the vocals,because that man could not sing,period.
Then there are anomalies like Jim Morrison....maybe not the most gifted singer,but his style was so unique,so passionate and so full of life,that to this day,I never heard anyone's performance of his songs that I liked as much as his own.

As for vocal lessons...well...eventually...financial situation permitting...certainly not anytime soon.It also depends on the cost,of course and whether or not I can justify the expense...being that I am resigned to a life of Karaoke & other non-profit ventures.


-Thom

[Azell]

1) je suis vraiment fan de ce nouveau membre de KM, enfin, de sa voix  Ce que j'aimerai faire des duos ensemble!   
2) j'aime beaucoup cette version de "Imagine"
3) je suis d'accord avec Scott, Thom, tu devrais prendre des cours de chant, surtout de technique vocale, pour libérer ta gorge qui est trop serrée quand tu chantes. Ta voix est magnifique mais il faut juste la laisser s'exprimer un peu plus...
(j'espère que Google va faire du bon travail de traduction) 

1) I'm really a fan of this new member of KM, finally, his voice) What I'd like to do duets together!
2) I love this version of "Imagine"
3) I agree with Scott, Thom, you should take singing lessons, especially in vocal technique, to release your throat is too tight when you sing. Your voice is beautiful but you just let her speak a little more ...
(I hope Google will do a good job of translation): D

Bravo à vous 2
Azell

[SLD Music]

Azell,

Thank you again for your wonderful thoughts.  Would love to do a duet with you sometime. 

And Thom, just for the record, he may not have been "well trained" and all that, but I think John Lennon has one of the great rock voices of all time. 

Merci encore pour vos pensées merveilleuses. Aimerait faire un duo avec vous un moment.

Et Thom, pour le compte rendu, il peut ne pas avoir été "bien formé" et tout ça, mais je pense que John Lennon a l'une des voix rock de tous les temps.

Scott

[folderol]

I think your singing on this is excellent. It is your voice, not Mr Lennon's so shouldn't sound like his!

As already commented, the piano is not so hot, but then (shock - horror) I always thought the piano part detracted from the original. Have you ever thought of devising a completely different arrangement?

[offthewall]

 
Hey,
I just got round to listening to this one.
I have to agree totally with Folderol.
This is a superb vocal. 
I have to say here that I have always been one to make covers 'in one's own style' as opposed to 'strict copying' of the original.  Just my opinion and will probably suffer for it sometime  (but we are all friends here)
My next agreement is ... why not make a totally new arrangement?
If you ever want to give it a try I would be more than happy to make a guitar version with you. Sounds like fun ... just strumming along to this, it makes me realise that it could be a super string-picker number with the right approach. 

 
James

[SLD Music]

James,

What a cool offer!  I would love to do that.  Very busy these days (hence my lack of forum presence lately).  Work is gearing up, and I'm trying to make something marginally decent out of my KVR contest entry this month (there are a lot of really good entries so far--::shudder:, but would love to take you up on this at some point soon!

[offthewall]

That would be great fun.
Send me the chord structure that you use and I will get started. in the background.
If I can get a track bed laid then you could just croon over it. 

 
James

[Marc JX8P]

Brilliant cover. The piano's reverb has a bit of an overly pronounced early reflection which presents itself as a bit of a short delay, which I would tone down if I were you. I thought I'd get that out of the way as for the rest this is just fantastic, from the sound selection to the singing which is fantastic. You've not only got a good singing voice but also a voice with character. I really enjoyed this one!

[SLD Music]

Marc,

Thank you SO much for the very nice comments.  Yeah, that damn piano was the death of me in this piece.  I really struggled with getting enough brightness out of it... and trying to make it sound decent while trying to mimic the delay on the original.  I didn't do so well.  Heh.  And at the time, all I had was the stock piano that came with Ableton Live Lite.  In any case, I'm anxious to do a "remake" with James' guitar(s)! 

Speaking of which,  James, here is the template I used to do Imagine, that and a lot of listening to the original song:

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/j/john_lennon/imagine_crd.htm

If you need something else, let me know.

I know that cover songs aren't everyone's cup of tea, and I appreciate everyone listening and commenting on the ones I've done.  I'll post some original stuff soon... although at least with cover's your gaurenteed to get a good song, even if the execution isn't great.  With original compositions, it's a lot less certain. 

That said, I've enjoyed listening to everyone's music here!

[offthewall]

Scott,
That's the same template that I have here.

I'm not normally one for covers but I fancy this one somehow.
But, in saying that, I also try to keep clear of doing covers trying to imitate the original. I usually like to try and put a new spin on things.
Is this OK with you?   
If so then I shall get started soon and send you something to work with.

 
James

[SLD Music]

Sounds great, James. 

Looking forward to it.

[Oren]

I have to agree totally with Folderol.
This is a superb vocal. 
I have to say here that I have always been one to make covers 'in one's own style' as opposed to 'strict copying' of the original.  Just my opinion and will probably suffer for it sometime   (but we are all friends here)

I like it!

Lennon had his moments, certainly, but I find his voice nasal and under-inflected. You fixed that very nicely in your rendition... Schweet!