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Dream Theater => Dream Theater => Topic started by: NickySpanjaards on September 18, 2010, 12:22:00 PM
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Hey Everyone,
For the upcoming time I planned to do some DT/Winter Rose covers. This will be the standard topic for it because otherwise I stay opening new topics and that will become a mess. So everytime I made a new cover I'll let you know.
For now I did a cover of Goodnight Kiss, which you can see in the link below.
https://vimeo.com/14827606
Hope you enjoy and stay tuned!
Nicky Spanjaards
PS, I'll also take requests.
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*EDIT: Less inflammatory*
Dude, I have to tell you, your sense of pitch is horrendous. You were off by whole half-steps at times.
rumborak
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Nice rumborak.
To be fair it was ok until the are you lonely bit, where you need to be higher.
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Yeah, pay a lot more attention to your pitch. I'm baffled that you don't notice how off you are.
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Well ..... You nailed the rhythm and lyrics......
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Sorry, I have to admit that I don't hear that I'm off-pitch. At least not in the verse. In the chorus indeed in some parts. But in the period I recorded this I didn't use earplugs. Now I use earplugs since a week so I can hear myself much better and now I sing better because of that.
On the James LaBrie forum I got the request to do a vocal cover of As I Am, so I'm going to record that next week.
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Great! Looking forward to it.
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YOu nailed the guitar solo!
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Didn't this guy make a thread for his Winter Rose cover? And wasn't it locked...?
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Didn't this guy make a thread for his Winter Rose cover? And wasn't it locked...?
All of his posts have been about his vocal covers, he actually hasn't done anything else on the forum as far as I know.
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I thought it was locked for...the obvious reason :lol
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If I could make a suggestion, don't record yourself over regular DT tracks. Reason being, you get buried under JLB's vocals.
Instead of doing As I Am, I suggest you take one of the stem tracks off BCSL and record yourself over that.
rumborak
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I already thought you were Dutch because of your name, but I can also hear the Dutch accent in your singing.
But indeed, try using the stem tracks. I had some trouble hearing you over JLB.
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As a fellow vocalist, I can hear that yes your pitch is off, probably because you didn't wear earplugs. However, your vocal timbre is perfect for a song like Goodnight Kiss. Make sure that you are using enough breath support when hitting the higher notes and you should be fine.
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Looks and sounds to me like your attempting to chest voice the whole thing, James goes into head voice on a number of parts. Notice any time James' voice resonates louder in this song, he has already placed himself. Let your voice thin out as it gets higher, so you don't pull chest. If you have a hard time making chest and head sound the same, find a comfortable compromise between the two and work on it.
You sound like a baritone, James is a tenor, so his chest voice top end is high than yours. I am also a baritone it can be hard singing DT at times, I find James' makes full use of his ability to sing right in the middle of the baritone Passaggio (the fucker lol).
Here's what I would do:
1. Practice the song without the actual song playing. This will help make you aware of the pitch issues, as it will be easier to notice you are of pitch without James' masking your voice.
2. Once you have gathered a feel for where you need to be in regards to pitch. Hum the song or do lip bubbles (if you know what those are). This will help you find the correct placement for you voice and help you focus your resonance.
3. As mentioned before keep in mind breathe support. This is not necessarily hard support but merely consistency. If I were singing a song like this I would be exerting little pressure but my core is still firm and adjusting the different pitches.
4. Let the voice thin out as you ascend or you will just hit a wall.
I know you didn't ask for advice, non-the-less I hope this helps. :tup
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Sounds good until the chorus.
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Thanks for the tips everyone! I'm going to work on it.
Which song would you like me to cover of BC & SL?
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The Count of Tuscany, it doesn't have any high notes and is fairly easy to sing.
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Just watched all your videos on Youtube.
Dude, I'm gonna give you the most honest advice out of anyone so far. And please read the whole thing, because, as you'll see, there's good news at the end.
First off, your covers of Dream Theater and LaBrie's style are not good. Some, like the Asylum City one, are laughably bad. James' voice is very unique, and does not lend well to being mimicked. And your range is not suitable for his at all. Secondly, do NOT imitate James' mannerisms. They look funny enough coming from him. Coming from someone that can't quite pull off his voice makes it even worse.
Now, here's the good news. You're actually a good singer, and I can show you why:
https://www.youtube.com/user/NickySpanjaards#p/u/4/rLUWaDtgQRs
Your vocals here are pretty damn good, and I can really hear why you're the singer of the band! Your cover of Symphony of Destruction is also not too shabby.
So I'd say, stick with the lower stuff, and keep at it. And find a new hero. LaBrie's a great singer at all, but even he has a hard enough time with the higher notes-- and his voice is made for it.
You're not a wailer, but you're good. Stick with that real heavy, lower register shit and you'll do fine. Or find some way to work on your pitch, to keep your control from falling out when you go higher. But your gods should be Barlow, Hetfield, that dude from Type-O, older Ray Alder, etc. Not LaBrie and Dickenson.
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Just watched all your videos on Youtube.
Dude, I'm gonna give you the most honest advice out of anyone so far. And please read the whole thing, because, as you'll see, there's good news at the end.
First off, your covers of Dream Theater and LaBrie's style are not good. Some, like the Asylum City one, are laughably bad. James' voice is very unique, and does not lend well to being mimicked. And your range is not suitable for his at all. Secondly, do NOT imitate James' mannerisms. They look funny enough coming from him. Coming from someone that can't quite pull off his voice makes it even worse.
Now, here's the good news. You're actually a good singer, and I can show you why:
https://www.youtube.com/user/NickySpanjaards#p/u/4/rLUWaDtgQRs
Your vocals here are pretty damn good, and I can really hear why you're the singer of the band! Your cover of Symphony of Destruction is also not too shabby.
So I'd say, stick with the lower stuff, and keep at it. And find a new hero. LaBrie's a great singer at all, but even he has a hard enough time with the higher notes-- and his voice is made for it.
You're not a wailer, but you're good. Stick with that real heavy, lower register shit and you'll do fine. Or find some way to work on your pitch, to keep your control from falling out when you go higher. But your gods should be Barlow, Hetfield, that dude from Type-O, older Ray Alder, etc. Not LaBrie and Dickenson.
Don't listen to this! At least not to the point of not aspiring to be able to sing like your favorites. Sure for now, if you are putting on a concert or showing off stick to what you are good at. But never ever let anyone tell you that you should not or cannot sing what you want, because it's bullshit. Keep trying to sing like JLB, you'll get it eventually and put your own touch to his material.
I do agree with Perpetual Change on not imitating his mannerism though, get your own. lol
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What is this? Constructive, respectful criticism at DTF? Ye gods!
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Heey,
@ Perpetual Change: I know that James' voice is unique, but every singer has a different voice nad I don't try to mimick him, I try to put my own touch in it. Thanks for the tip, I'm going to change my mannerism.
Thanks, right now I do The Hunter even better. it's right that I sing better in the lower register, but I also want to sing in the higher registers. And since Era IV, the band I'm the singer in, wants me to sing Fear Of The Dark and some Judas Priest songs, I'll have to keep practising it. I already try to mix both the lower registers and higher registers for a couple of years.
Also, I keep getting better and better. I recorded my voice last year in the beginning that I sang along with DT. But if I listen to it now I think: Wow...that's horrible! In one year my voice has improved a lot. And I'm just 19, so my voice can still be heavily improved.
@ El JoNNo: Thanks man, I'll keep trying to sing like JLB. With my earplugs in, I sing better, with more control. And for next week, I'm going to cover The count of Tuscany. Thanks for that request, it's a great song! :coolio
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And honestly, I wish I was doing what you are doing at 19, because I can't carry a note in a bucket right now. But, I really do think your Iced Earth cover is quite good.
And, I think El Jonno is right. If you want to sing like James, keep trying. I do think you need to work on the pitch some, though. The fact is, you're consistently flat as soon as James leaves what I'll call your comfort zone. Do you practice with a piano, or something? You need to make sure you're hitting and hearing those notes right. I'd recommend, at the very least, sitting down next to a keyboard, and hitting the notes on it while trying to sing them to make you're singing the notes you think you're hearing.
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Nicky the best piece of advice I can give you is to take vocal lessons. You need to learn breathing techniques as well as knowing pitch control. I would recommend checking out the wonderful (and free!) videos from Eric Arceneaux:
https://www.youtube.com/user/EricArceneaux
Study this stuff religiously for a few months and you will notice a severe shift in the quality of your tone the precision of your notes. Good luck!
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Hi MykeHavoc,
Thanks for the advice and those video's! I can really learn from that.
I also follow singing lessons by a vocal coach. This is the third year.
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:omg:
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:omg:
....no signature? No quip? What is this?
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Nicky the best piece of advice I can give you is to take vocal lessons. You need to learn breathing techniques as well as knowing pitch control. I would recommend checking out the wonderful (and free!) videos from Eric Arceneaux:
https://www.youtube.com/user/EricArceneaux
Study this stuff religiously for a few months and you will notice a severe shift in the quality of your tone the precision of your notes. Good luck!
So I'm not the only one?!!!
Also, I suggest to buy Brett Manning's "Singing Success". He's amazing. He trains Hayley Williams from Paramore and Taylor Swift among others. Hayley Warming Up Her Voice! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ8DGCjjPx0)
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Also, I suggest to buy Brett Manning's "Singing Success". He's amazing. He trains Hayley Williams from Paramore and Taylor Swift among others. Hayley Warming Up Her Voice! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ8DGCjjPx0)
Uh, that one's absolutely terrible.
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:omg:
Dammit! I still can't forgot your Queen cover! ;)
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Hey, you might not have liked it, but I don't think I had pitch issues.
rumborak
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Neither does Nicky :P
But seriously... after watching Nicky's Iced Earth cover... and his Disappear one... he's got potential. And this stuff is one take, not countless attempts in the studio.
It's just something that has to be overcome. I mean, LaBrie has had pitch issues his entire career, and he's still one of metal's premier vocalists. And don't even get me started on Dickenson.
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Exactly, thanks mate!
I don't have pitch issues, but I just need to learn to nail higher notes. One goes better than the other.
And, as Perpetual Change says, this is live, not countless times overdone in a studio.
Today I'm going to record As I Am and The Count Of Tuscany.
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Also, I suggest to buy Brett Manning's "Singing Success". He's amazing. He trains Hayley Williams from Paramore and Taylor Swift among others. Hayley Warming Up Her Voice! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ8DGCjjPx0)
Uh, that one's absolutely terrible.
You may not like Taylor Swift. That's understandable. But saying she's a terrible singer is just ???
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I still can't forget that "You belong to MEEEE(FLAT!!!!)" at the award show last year.
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Today I'm going to record As I Am and The Count Of Tuscany.
Are you going to use the instrumental track of TCOT?
rumborak
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He betta.
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Today I'm going to record As I Am and The Count Of Tuscany.
Are you going to use the instrumental track of TCOT?
rumborak
Yes I will ;D
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I still can't forget that "You belong to MEEEE(FLAT!!!!)" at the award show last year.
It wasn't as bad as this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38tfrbFU7U
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Yes it was.
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A few things....
1. You have a great voice.
Your tone is great. BUT, as everyone has already mentioned, your intonation is so off it's nearly unlistenable. I mean, it's just awful.
HOWEVER (before you get upset with me)....
I don't think it's because you "can't" sing in tune. I think you just don't have control of your voice yet. It sounds like you need to get with a good voice teacher and work on some exercises (scales, etc) and gain control of that great voice you have. I honestly believe that if you could learn how to control your voice, you would be amazing. The potential is there, so best of luck to you.
2. STOP THE HAND GESTURES
They look really stupid in my opinion.
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Oh and....
3. I'd stay away from DT right now because you're not ready for it. I think you COULD be ready for it if you work on what everyone has mentioned. But, honestly, I'd work on some really, really easy music.
You know what's good? 50's music. Like, the Beach Boys, Ritchie Valens, etc.... that stuff is very melodic and it moves through chord changes a lot. Then, move on to some Beatles tunes or something.... just, easy, simple melodies that you can practice your intonation on.
Another good thing to practice: HYMNS
Forget about the METAL and learn how to sing musically.
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I'm going to come out and be brutally honest. You need a ton of work to even be a passable vocalist. You are very flat and off key. If your going to post threads boasting your vocal ability you should actually be able to sing. Don't get me wrong I have heard worse but this did not require a thread. Sorry.
I am a singer and if you would like to criticize my vocals click on the link in my signature and feel free. :tick2:
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I don't think he was boasting at all. I think he has been very humble and quite welcoming of the advice he has been given. Whether he uses the advice is another story.
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I don't think he was boasting at all. I think he has been very humble and quite welcoming of the advice he has been given. Whether he uses the advice is another story.
I'll accept your correction. That the boasting part out and I'll go with the rest of my post.
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I was going to post an apology for my harsh criticism, but after watching Count, I'm going to stand behind it. :lol
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Yeah, I too stand by my statement. It has pitch problems all over the place, and now they're no longer buried under JLB's vocals.
EDIT: Here's the video: https://vimeo.com/15154550
EDIT2: @Tick, that is good stuff in your sig!!
rumborak
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Yeah, I too stand by my statement. It has pitch problems all over the place, and now they're no longer buried under JLB's vocals.
EDIT: Here's the video: https://vimeo.com/15154550
EDIT2: @Tick, that is good stuff in your sig!!
rumborak
Thanks, Rummy.
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Yeah, I too stand by my statement. It has pitch problems all over the place, and now they're no longer buried under JLB's vocals.
EDIT: Here's the video: https://vimeo.com/15154550
EDIT2: @Tick, that is good stuff in your sig!!
rumborak
Why would you post his own video before he did?
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Tick, you have good tone and quality. Why not join a metal band? I figure you have the dramatic flair for it. Something Symphony X sounding?
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Yeah, I too stand by my statement. It has pitch problems all over the place, and now they're no longer buried under JLB's vocals.
EDIT: Here's the video: https://vimeo.com/15154550
EDIT2: @Tick, that is good stuff in your sig!!
rumborak
Why would you post his own video before he did?
Well, tick mentioned it so I looked it up. And before we are discussing a video amongst each other and everybody thinks "what the hell are they talking about?!" I figured I'd edit my post and link to it. It's on Nicky's web page, so it's not exactly hidden or anything.
rumborak
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Yeah, I guess there's no reason why you can't. It's just... eh. Nevermind.
At any rate, The Tuscany video pretty much has all the same good points and problems as all the other videos so far, I recommend all the same things I recommended before, including ditching LaBrie's style because it still sounds like he's trying to sound/act like him.
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I know, I was debating whether to link to it or not, or whether to wait for Nicky to post the link. But, tick was already discussing it, so....
I don't want to come across as a sour-puss here. But Nicky, I think you were somewhat deluding yourself about the quality of your vocals, partly because they were always buried under the CD vocals. I think you do in fact have talent as a singer, but you also have clear issues to work on. And you do have pitch issues, massive ones, and if your vocal coach hasn't told you that, it's time to ditch him. In fact, ditch him either way, if you've been taking vocal lessons for 3 years by now you shouldn't be exhibiting these issues. Get a good coach, nao.
rumborak
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Yeah, it's far better to perfect your own sound and then interpret a song with your own nuances.
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Ok, I just saw The Count video. I dunno dude, I have to agree with everyone else, it was very hard to listen to, maybe DT just isn't what you should be singing.
Also, I'd suggest not worrying about your "stage presence" so much, it looks really goofy, especially alone in your room, for these videos, just worry about your voice.
And I agree with ralphy, if you have been having vocal lessons for three years, I'd suggest finding a new coach.
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At any rate, The Tuscany video pretty much has all the same good points and problems as all the other videos so far, I recommend all the same things I recommended before, including ditching LaBrie's style because it still sounds like he's trying to sound/act like him.
That is exactly the problem. As a singer for many years the key is to find out what you are and stay within yourself. Labrie is a tall order to copy so why even try? If you find your strengths and play to them you might find you can be a decent singer with some work, and a better vocal teacher. Apparently someone is just taking your money and telling you what you want to hear.
Learn proper breathing techniques and find out your true vocal range.
Along time ago as a musician I learned, as a vocalist you can't mold yourself around what a band wants you do to. You need to find a band that will work around what you do best. Then you both look good.
Keep working at it. I completely sucked when I first started singing but I was bound and determined to prove my critics wrong. Before you know it I was opening for bands like Yngwie Malmsteen and Skid Row in clubs. Don't give up, and take harsh criticism as motivation.
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Hi,
Thanks for all the reactions. I will follow up the advice. When I practise DT with my singing coach, it goes very good. I think also the problem is, is that I record it with a crappy microphone. It records not my natural voice, but with a bit of destortion. But next month I'm going to buy a professional one. Also, I didn't practise The Count a lot before. Anyway, you already have The Count link, now I'm busy uploading As I Am, and I did that one a lot better. As soon as it's available i'll post the link.
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I don't see how the microphone matters at all in what we're saying.
The best advice I can give you is to find a better vocal coach. You have potential, I'd hate to see a poor coach not help you reach it.
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Nicky, I think we're all experienced enough to tell the difference between a bad microphone and pitch problems. Tick is an excellent singer with shitloads of experience under his belt, and I've definitely worked with enough singers to spot specific issues a mile away by now. Don't blame the equipment dude.
rumborak
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In this link you can view the As I Am vocal cover:
https://vimeo.com/15156297
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In this link you can view the As I Am vocal cover:
https://vimeo.com/15156297
For the love of all that is sacred, please stop. :lol
I love the beginning when the music is playing and your not on camera. Then you pop in and look out! :lol
Dude, that just isn't good. Do your ears hear that as sounding decent? Is this really just to get laughs?
You have out done yourself on this one.
(https://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/795/795401_300.jpg)
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The most emotionless head banging I've ever seen.
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This is too good.
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His initial thread featuring the Winter Rose cover got shut down because...I think everyone thought it was a joke :P
I don't know what to say. Singing is my life. If anyone came and shit on me for it, it might upset me, but it wouldn't deter me from continuing. Never say die, Nicky!
We should really appreciate these videos. I mean, this stuff is archive-worthy :biggrin:
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His initial thread featuring the Winter Rose cover got shut down because...I think everyone thought it was a joke :P
I don't know what to say. Singing is my life. If anyone came and shit on me for it, it might upset me, but it wouldn't deter me from continuing. Never say die, Nicky!
We should really appreciate these videos. I mean, this stuff is archive-worthy :biggrin:
I agree with much you said. The only thing is, he should be honing his skills, not posting this stuff. He isn't any good at this time. I do however agree, never give up if you love it!
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As I Am :lol
Yeah, im no singer at all so i cant give much technical help, but it was tough to get through your videos. You are clearly a DT fan and a music lover, so I definably think you should continue...But you gotta improve! And the first step is to recognize that right now, there is A LOT to improve. Seriously. As I Am was NOT good and in the best one so far (Goodnight Kiss) I could hear more James than you, so yeah...give it some time, practice more, change your techniques and in couple of months, post new videos; I'm sure we will all be surprised to see your improvement.
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I'm going to repeat what I said in an earlier post: his actual voice has potential, but he needs to try some easier material to gain control over his instrument (his voice). It's the same thing when kids post videos on You Tube of themselves playing Steve Vai solos and they can't play them at all. But, you know they could play "Enter Sandman" or "Crazy Train" and they just need to practice the easy stuff before they do the really challenging stuff.
That's what this guy needs to do. EASY STUFF!
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I'm gonna have to side with Myke and Tick on this one, it doesn't seem serious at all. Nicky, either you're actually tone deaf, which is ok, a lot of people are, or this is just trolling.
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I'm very tempted to post myself singing DT so you guys truly know what bad is.
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Btw, a random comment on the side : what happened to the good old word "singer"? It seems everybody with a streak for the pretentious calls himself "vocalist" these days.
rumborak
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Well if I sing so bad...why am I then in a metal band who respect and appreciate my voice? They see that I'm a really good singer. This is just how my voice is. And I'm not the only one who hears that my voice is good. Alright, some parts maybe I'm off-pitch...but even the best metal singers doesn't sing perfectly. But my friends and family and some outsiders say that I'm a really good singer. I'm even going to play live with my band next year march/april. But on this forum...no...almost everyone thinks I'm joking and whatever more. But I will keep going on. I love singing. Well, think of me what you want, but I'll be back in a few months and I'll let you see what my voice can!
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But my friends and family and some outsiders say that I'm a really good singer.
Simon Cowell has made a fortune from this sentence.
rumborak
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Btw, a random comment on the side : what happened to the good old word "singer"? It seems everybody with a streak for the pretentious calls himself "vocalist" these days.
rumborak
Well... there are guys who are bad singers (In terms of technical skill of course), but their voices fit in almost perfectly with their band so it makes up for it. So you might say that they are a good vocalist. After all, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Tom Warrior's voice of Celtic Frost, but his voice doesn't really work in any other setting.
Well if I sing so bad...why am I then in a metal band who respect and appreciate my voice? They see that I'm a really good singer. This is just how my voice is. And I'm not the only one who hears that my voice is good. Alright, some parts maybe I'm off-pitch...but even the best metal singers doesn't sing perfectly. But my friends and family and some outsiders say that I'm a really good singer. I'm even going to play live with my band next year march/april. But on this forum...no...almost everyone thinks I'm joking and whatever more. But I will keep going on. I love singing. Well, think of me what you want, but I'll be back in a few months and I'll let you see what my voice can!
So, you don't want constructive criticism? They're just trying to help you improve. What your friends think, and what musicians outside of bar-bands might think is two totally different things. That being said, don't stop, but learn to take some criticism and work to your strengths. I'm an awful singer, first off :lol So don't worry too much, but take constructive criticism. Not everybody is going to praise you all over the place. Learn to accept that.
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Well if I sing so bad...why am I then in a metal band who respect and appreciate my voice? They see that I'm a really good singer. This is just how my voice is. And I'm not the only one who hears that my voice is good.
There's no doubt that potentially, you could be a good singer but I have a feeling that most of the people telling you how good you are either A:Friends/Family, or B:Aren't hearing what we are. You have a nice quality to your voice but if you HONESTLY can not tell from watching those videos that you are off on pitch then I am at a loss.
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Yeah. You're not an expert, but you're certainly a better singer than me.
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Ok, here's a reality check that every musician in this world can confirm:
- Your family *always* lies to you about how good you are. You are a relative of theirs, and they're not gonna piss you off over your musical attempts.
- Same with friends
- Your band mates don't say a word to the day they kick you out of the band
- Your first gig will have a lot of people coming. Because it's the novelty factor, they want to see you do it. The second gig will have your closest friends coming.and the ones who couldn't make it the first time The *third* gig is the real first gig, the one that shows you whether anybody gives a rat's ass about what you do.
- When you record something, a lot of people want it, as long as it is for free. Once you charge money you see how good you really are.
The bottom line of this : We are very likely the first people to give you honest and unbiased feedback. And the verdict is, you are not good. Use that criticism to your benefit, or believe that somehow we are a weird group of people who all have no taste and can't distinguish between a bad mic and pitch problems.
rumborak
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Well if I sing so bad...why am I then in a metal band who respect and appreciate my voice? They see that I'm a really good singer. This is just how my voice is. And I'm not the only one who hears that my voice is good. Alright, some parts maybe I'm off-pitch...but even the best metal singers doesn't sing perfectly. But my friends and family and some outsiders say that I'm a really good singer. I'm even going to play live with my band next year march/april. But on this forum...no...almost everyone thinks I'm joking and whatever more. But I will keep going on. I love singing. Well, think of me what you want, but I'll be back in a few months and I'll let you see what my voice can!
Dude, I've honestly never seen this forum give as good constructive criticism as in this thread. I hope you use it.
En anders succes nog. Met wat training en doorzettingsvermogen zal het vast wel lukken. Misschien kan je iets van je band posten, dat zal hier misschien wel wat beter vallen. Ik denk niet dat het daaraan ligt, maar DT is hier nogal heilig soms.
Just felt like typing some encouraging words in Dutch :angel:.
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Well if I sing so bad...why am I then in a metal band who respect and appreciate my voice?
because you own a P.A.?
Seriously, let your hard work do the talking. Come back in a year sounding better and make us all have to give you props. Until then, stop making these videos and practice.
If you don't mind me asking, what kinds of things is your vocal instructor teaching you? How long have you taken lessons? What kind of credentials does your teacher have?
As Rummy said, your friends and family are not a good barometer for judgment. They will lie to you every time.
Don't give up, but don't believe the hype. A voice is like any other instrument. It takes a lot of time and training. That's why a lot of singers suck, because they have that anyone can do it attitude. Wrong.
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The most emotionless head banging I've ever seen.
Yeah, totally agreed...
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Nicky, could you describe what your voice teacher goes over with you in your lessons? I'm curious to know this because you're obviously taking the initiative to get better by being in lessons, so perhaps it's not your 'fault' if your teacher isn't instructing you properly.
So, what have you gone over during the past three years? And, what happens during a typical voice lesson for you with this person?
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Ok, here's a reality check that every musician in this world can confirm:
- Your family *always* lies to you about how good you are. You are a relative of theirs, and they're not gonna piss you off over your musical attempts.
- Same with friends
- Your band mates don't say a word to the day they kick you out of the band
- Your first gig will have a lot of people coming. Because it's the novelty factor, they want to see you do it. The second gig will have your closest friends coming.and the ones who couldn't make it the first time The *third* gig is the real first gig, the one that shows you whether anybody gives a rat's ass about what you do.
- When you record something, a lot of people want it, as long as it is for free. Once you charge money you see how good you really are.
The bottom line of this : We are very likely the first people to give you honest and unbiased feedback. And the verdict is, you are not good. Use that criticism to your benefit, or believe that somehow we are a weird group of people who all have no taste and can't distinguish between a bad mic and pitch problems.
rumborak
There is so much fucking win in this post.
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Here's the thing, Nicky. You're much better than the average Joe who thinks he can sing lead vocals in a band at your age. Much better. I played in several bands highschool, and the same problem ALWAYS was the fools who decided they could "sing" for us. You have a PA, so you're already a cut above the rest. And, like I said earlier, you're lower and mid register is perfectly acceptable. But you still aren't were you need to be, skill-wise, with your high register. I agree with rumby on this one. After 3 years, if your vocal coach isn't correction those high notes than ditch him. Even if he is, you still need to ditch him. The fact is, you should change teachers every couple of years anyway. And, really, just don't shrug all the advice you've been given off. You'll never get better that way.
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I don't why your band tells you how good you are, maybe they really think you're great. But I can give you examples from my life that might be similar.
1. I was in several bands when I was your age, in most of them we had a singer because he was our friend, we didn't care much if his voice sounded good, and we usually thought it did, though it never did.
2. When I ran a studio last year, I recorded many bands with terrible vocalists. What's odd is that the bands usually knew the singer sucked but didn't tell him, they always wanted me to autotune it or something, or they figured they'd finally get it right in the studio with enough takes.
Bands your age are more focused on having a good time and good chemistry, lots of bands that age have terrible members, but they're friends so it's all good. I don't know what your case is.
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I don't why your band tells you how good you are, maybe they really think you're great.
Or maybe they just suck as well.
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Or, maybe he's the only singer they know and they think he has potential.
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Or, maybe he's the only singer they know and they think he has potential.
This is doubly important because of the shitstorm of negative encouragement now occurring in this thread.
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Maybe the band has potential!
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Nick's right.
Rumb wins the thread lol.
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Sorry for the last comment guys, I was just a little pissed. Of course I take the criticism with me, but some reactions just made me pissed like: The most emotionless headbanging I have ever seen.
The first two years my vocal coach began most of the lessons with training on the piano. Then he learned me breathe techniques and techniques to push my midriff down for extra power on the voice. After those technical part, I had to play a cd with a song I like to sing. That happened more in the first year than in the second year. But anyway, I sang Dream On, from Aerosmith. We did that a couple of lessons. He just listened carefully while I sang. Sometimes he paused the cd to make comments about certain points what I should do and he put onto it. In the second year, I had to do much more songs which he choose, while he played them on the piano. I had to sing love you more of Racoon. After the two years, I took a break to learn all the things further that I learned those two years.
This third year, I've had two lessons now. (actually three, but one lesson he was sick, so it was cancelled). The first lesson was just a conversation and he was testing my voice on the piano, how high I could go. I hit a G#5 in falsetto. He said, next week you bring a cd with you with the songs you play with Era IV.
So last Monday I brought the cd with me. We began with Fear Of The Dark of Iron Maiden. He said wow your voice has really improved last year! (before I couldn't even get the head voice, so I would go from my normal voice to my falsetto). After a part of Fear Of The Dark, he skipped to the next song, Symphony Of Destruction of Megadeth. He thought that was also great. He said that I have a really good lower register.
And next week we are going to practise it further.
I take lessons of 15 minutes each. (the first two years were 20 minutes each).
Then about Era IV:
First...I'm not the only singer they know.
Before I auditioned they had 5 other singers on audition, which they fired immediately in the end of the auditions. I'm now since March in the band.
Second: We were not friends before. They didn't know me, and I didn't know them.
I will post a video with a video us performing a song in the repetition room to let you see what we are capable of.
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You'll have to keep us updated. One thing I noticed is that you do try and sing like James, either consciously or not. It's good to have role models. But anyone serious about singing will tell you that LaBrie has his share of bad habits, and, unfortunately, you seem to be "unconsciously" mimicking them too when you sing the DT songs.
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You'll have to keep us updated. One thing I noticed is that you do try and sing like James, either consciously or not. It's good to have role models. But anyone serious about singing will tell you that LaBrie has his share of bad habits, and, unfortunately, you seem to be "unconsciously" mimicking them too when you sing the DT songs.
I'll keep you up to date :smiley:
I indeed try mostly to sound like James, but as you say, I have to change that to my own sound.
Soon I will post the video of Era IV performing in the repetition room.
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Btw, a random comment on the side : what happened to the good old word "singer"? It seems everybody with a streak for the pretentious calls himself "vocalist" these days.
rumborak
Good question, and WTF @ this thread.
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Btw, a random comment on the side : what happened to the good old word "singer"? It seems everybody with a streak for the pretentious calls himself "vocalist" these days.
rumborak
Because being a vocalist could just mean that you're using your vocal chords in any possible way. Singing, talking, yelling, whistling, anything vocal. Singing is specific to singing. And since alot of vocalists can't sing well to save their lives, they become vocalists.
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I could see that, e.g. Bobbie McFerrin being a vocalist. My personal impression though is that the word "singer" had become too commonplace, and thus "vocalist" replaced it to indicate supposed quality. Sort of, like the janitor is now the facilities manager.
rumborak
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I could see that, e.g. Bobbie McFerrin being a vocalist. My personal impression though is that the word "singer" had become too commonplace, and thus "vocalist" replaced it to indicate supposed quality. Sort of, like the janitor is now the facilities manager.
rumborak
Or hipsters who play 3 chords are called musicians.
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You'll have to keep us updated. One thing I noticed is that you do try and sing like James, either consciously or not. It's good to have role models. But anyone serious about singing will tell you that LaBrie has his share of bad habits, and, unfortunately, you seem to be "unconsciously" mimicking them too when you sing the DT songs.
I'll keep you up to date :smiley:
I indeed try mostly to sound like James
Fail.
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I enjoyed the videos. He has a good presence about him and I felt compelled to watch. Can't say that about all performers. And he has the passion and energy, which you can't really teach. It comes natural. He sounded the best in "Disappear." Keep up the good work!
However, the bedroom walls need some decorating. :biggrin:
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I enjoyed the videos. He has a good presence about him and I felt compelled to watch. Can't say that about all performers. And he has the passion and energy, which you can't really teach. It comes natural. He sounded the best in "Disappear." Keep up the good work!
However, the bedroom walls need some decorating. :biggrin:
No offense, but I think it's comments like this, that desperately try to ignore ANYTHING negative that is causing him to be confused by us showing negative reactions to aspects of it. There's no need to be mean, but there's no need to be dishonest. Unless you really thought he was great.
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One of the cruelest things you can do to a person is fail to give them criticism when it's due. It may seem mean in the short term, but it's for their benefit.
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One of the cruelest things you can do to a person is fail to give them criticism when it's due. It may seem mean in the short term, but it's for their benefit.
Personally, looking back, I love the fact I was booted by my first band as a 16 year old kid. I love the fact all my friends secretly joked about my singing behind my back thinking I was ridiculous to think I wanted to sing in a band. In the end I got the last laugh as my friends got to watch my band open up for Joan Jett, Warrant, Skid Row, Yngwie Malmsteen and others. I was highly motivated by my naysayers.
Its not how you start, its how you finish.
That being said Nicky, you have a lot of work to do to be a respected singer. When your truly getting better you will know it because people are generally honest and they will let you know it.
I honestly don't think anyone criticizing you is doing it to be a dick. They are just being honest, and if you improve I believe people will give you your due.
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Yes. ^
Nicky, I just read what your voice teacher works on with you.... and, I'm sure he's a great teacher for what he does, but saying, "bring in a CD" every week and having you work on Megadeth songs is NOT going to make you a great singer. If you're so into LaBrie's singing, then you must know that he studied with an Opera singer for a while.
I'm sure that singing metal is fun and all, but - and, this is the last time I'm going to say this because I don't want to be TOO redundant - you HAVE to sing other types of music. Learn how to sing some Classical music; learn how to get a great tone and how to control your voice.
That's what you need. Best of luck to you.
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And, be a bit more humble when you put yourself out there. I mean, the website, the promo pictures... that's stuff that is reserved for professional singers. So, when you start a thread telling us you do requests and stuff, and then turn out to have all these singing problems, it's obvious that we will give you way more shit than if you had started a thread saying "hey guys, I recorded an audio track of me singing over a DT song, feedback is appreciated ".
rumborak
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No offense, but I think it's comments like this, that desperately try to ignore ANYTHING negative that is causing him to be confused by us showing negative reactions to aspects of it. There's no need to be mean, but there's no need to be dishonest. Unless you really thought he was great.
I didn't say he was great. I just highlighted the aspects of his performance that I enjoyed and found merit in. I figured enough people had given constructive criticism. The bottom line is, I did watch each video all the way through. I rarely do that with a cover song posted online. Was his singing top notch? No. But there was something endearing about him that drew me in and made me watch.
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No offense, but I think it's comments like this, that desperately try to ignore ANYTHING negative that is causing him to be confused by us showing negative reactions to aspects of it. There's no need to be mean, but there's no need to be dishonest. Unless you really thought he was great.
I didn't say he was great. I just highlighted the aspects of his performance that I enjoyed and found merit in. I figured enough people had given constructive criticism. The bottom line is, I did watch each video all the way through. I rarely do that with a cover song posted online. Was his singing top notch? No. But there was something endearing about him that drew me in and made me watch.
Are you sure it wasn't the train-wreck effect that made you keep watching?
Seriously, not trying to be a jerk, but I had a hard time sitting through ONE video. The singing was pretty off and the "stage presence" was extremely laughable.
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No offense, but I think it's comments like this, that desperately try to ignore ANYTHING negative that is causing him to be confused by us showing negative reactions to aspects of it. There's no need to be mean, but there's no need to be dishonest. Unless you really thought he was great.
I didn't say he was great. I just highlighted the aspects of his performance that I enjoyed and found merit in. I figured enough people had given constructive criticism. The bottom line is, I did watch each video all the way through. I rarely do that with a cover song posted online. Was his singing top notch? No. But there was something endearing about him that drew me in and made me watch.
Are you sure it wasn't the train-wreck effect that made you keep watching?
Seriously, not trying to be a jerk, but I had a hard time sitting through ONE video. The singing was pretty off and the "stage presence" was extremely laughable.
It wasn't a train wreck, and you ARE being a jerk.
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No offense, but I think it's comments like this, that desperately try to ignore ANYTHING negative that is causing him to be confused by us showing negative reactions to aspects of it. There's no need to be mean, but there's no need to be dishonest. Unless you really thought he was great.
I didn't say he was great. I just highlighted the aspects of his performance that I enjoyed and found merit in. I figured enough people had given constructive criticism. The bottom line is, I did watch each video all the way through. I rarely do that with a cover song posted online. Was his singing top notch? No. But there was something endearing about him that drew me in and made me watch.
Are you sure it wasn't the train-wreck effect that made you keep watching?
Seriously, not trying to be a jerk, but I had a hard time sitting through ONE video. The singing was pretty off and the "stage presence" was extremely laughable.
It wasn't a train wreck, and you ARE being a jerk.
Oh. OK.
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Mods, just some friendly advice - this thread is about to get ugly.
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Well it started off good, then got bad, only appropriate it gets ugly. Provided afterward it has to get the hell off of my lawn.
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Mods, just some friendly advice - this thread is about to get ugly.
Why do you say that?
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:rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin
WTF is this?!??!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0PnCCxx23E
Not referring to the singing....
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:\
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I'm really worried that Nicky's vids are going to go viral. He may very well be on his way to becoming an internet sensation.
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Hmm, yeah, that wouldn't be good. Totally of his own doing of course, but still.
rumborak
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUzTG5-NX2s&feature=related
By far his best one, but dude you really gotta find a new umm routine or something, but the vox here are good.
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Nah, he still has pitch issues on that one, they're just less audible because of the growling in the voice.
rumborak
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Nah, he still has pitch issues on that one, they're just less audible because of the growling in the voice.
rumborak
Well it's not perfect, but even during those few actual vocal moments "a roooooooooollll" and so forth, he seems decently on.
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Nah, he still has pitch issues on that one, they're just less audible because of the growling in the voice.
rumborak
Well it's not perfect, but even during those few actual vocal moments "a roooooooooollll" and so forth, he seems decently on.
Seriously. I understand constructive criticism and all, but rumborak and others in the thread are really just giving him shit unnecessarily.
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Nah, he still has pitch issues on that one, they're just less audible because of the growling in the voice.
rumborak
Well it's not perfect, but even during those few actual vocal moments "a roooooooooollll" and so forth, he seems decently on.
True. It's definitely the best of the ones I've heard.
rumborak
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Nah, he still has pitch issues on that one, they're just less audible because of the growling in the voice.
rumborak
Well it's not perfect, but even during those few actual vocal moments "a roooooooooollll" and so forth, he seems decently on.
Seriously. I understand constructive criticism and all, but rumborak and others in the thread are really just giving him shit unnecessarily.
Well, from what I could gather so far, we have a vastly different perception of his vocals. I actually find your encouragements somewhat misplaced, because I think they do more harm than good.
rumborak
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Well, from what I could gather so far, we have a vastly different perception of his vocals. I actually find your encouragements somewhat misplaced, because I think they do more harm than good.
rumborak
Like what?
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It's a good attempt but I think there is a lot of room for improvement. As I Am is a song that I actually love to sing the same with These Walls. I'm hoping I can join in the idea of cover vocals. I would love to do Wither, but I have a LOT of trouble with that song. I either hit it or I'm off, way off.
Also don't try to sound like someone. your voice is your unique signature. Use that signature to its potential and create music from that. I sing DT every now and then but use my own voice which in many ways sounds a bit like Bellamy.
Also, Tick that's some good stuff.
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:rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin
WTF is this?!??!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0PnCCxx23E
Not referring to the singing....
At 2:10, he does the signature Labrie! :lol
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Well, from what I could gather so far, we have a vastly different perception of his vocals. I actually find your encouragements somewhat misplaced, because I think they do more harm than good.
rumborak
Like what?
Could be the fact that he is yelling the chorus not singing it and is about a tone lower while doing it. His looks like is about to explode, I'm not saying this to rip him apart, it's true. I think he enjoys singing and should continue to learn and get better but as for this cover it was not good. Again I'm not saying it to tear him down, I'm just being realistic. I agree with Rumborak.
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DID ANYONE NOTICE THIS on Nicky's site?
https://www.nickyspanjaards.comule.com/1_2_Biography.html
In the fall of 2009 Nicky was deadly ill after food poisoning. He had to throw up all the time. He ruptured his vocal chords and after that he couldn't even sing anymore. Nicky went to a doctor and the doctor said he should rest his voice for half a year. Nicky didn't, in fact he was in the middle in a record of his debut album with Century Crash. His voice was far from normal. He lost a part of his vocal range, the voice cracked most of the time, was weak and it was fast tired.
^
James Labrie much?
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Actually, few people know that it was really Nicky on I&W and Awake. He ruptured his chords after that (not 2009 obviously) and they got James LaBrie to replace him. Since Jame's voice was so obviously poor compared to Nickys, they said James also had the chords rupturing incident. Portnoy recently left DT in attempts to form a new band with Nicky.
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DID ANYONE NOTICE THIS on Nicky's site?
https://www.nickyspanjaards.comule.com/1_2_Biography.html
In the fall of 2009 Nicky was deadly ill after food poisoning. He had to throw up all the time. He ruptured his vocal chords and after that he couldn't even sing anymore. Nicky went to a doctor and the doctor said he should rest his voice for half a year. Nicky didn't, in fact he was in the middle in a record of his debut album with Century Crash. His voice was far from normal. He lost a part of his vocal range, the voice cracked most of the time, was weak and it was fast tired.
^
James Labrie much?
Complete joke much.. I don't think I can be serious to this guy anymore. lol
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You can join the forumz!!!!
Just Klick here!! :neverusethis:
https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/
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You can join the forumz!!!!
Just Klick here!! :neverusethis:
https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/
Wow. 0 posts by anyone other than nicky.
Also, did anyone read the whole bio? He retrained his voice by singing along to aerosmith.
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One of the cruelest things you can do to a person is fail to give them criticism when it's due. It may seem mean in the short term, but it's for their benefit.
This is the truest line of thinking that most people just don't understand. Whenever Simon used to rip people apart on American Idol the crowd would begin to boo at what he was saying 100% of the time and for the most part his criticism was dead on. Everyone seems too dead set on not hurting anyones feelings and assume that the effort of attempting something earns someone at the worst an "it was ok".
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You can join the forumz!!!!
Just Klick here!! :neverusethis:
https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/
wtf?! lol
Alright, this does have to be some sort of prank.
That being said...who signed up for the forum? I'm kinda curious.
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You can join the forumz!!!!
Just Klick here!! :neverusethis:
https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/
Wow. 0 posts by anyone other than nicky.
Also, did anyone read the whole bio? He retrained his voice by singing along to aerosmith.
Not a bad singer to emulate but I don't hear it anywhere. Who ever his vocal coach is needs to be fired. There is potential there, but it needs to start back at the beginning, back to breath control. Something that Matt Bellamy for some reason was able to get around. There's a man with some vocal chops but the man cannot breath correctly and you get these gasps of air.
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You can join the forumz!!!!
Just Klick here!! :neverusethis:
https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/
Wow. 0 posts by anyone other than nicky.
Also, did anyone read the whole bio? He retrained his voice by singing along to aerosmith.
Not a bad singer to emulate but I don't hear it anywhere. Who ever his vocal coach is needs to be fired. There is potential there, but it needs to start back at the beginning, back to breath control. Something that Matt Bellamy for some reason was able to get around. There's a man with some vocal chops but the man cannot breath correctly and you get these gasps of air.
My theory on his vocal coach. He is either non existent , or a toothless crack addict in need of a daily fix.
Nicky needs to focus on actually learning how to sing, because at this point he can't. Also stop posing in his bedroom in an unbuttoned shirt. I'm sorry, but its just ridiculous.
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I'm more confused by this part:
In February 2010 he got a girlfriend. By all the support and love she gave him his voice is now how it is meant to be, full of power and with a big vocal range, so he says.
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I'm more confused by this part:
In February 2010 he got a girlfriend. By all the support and love she gave him his voice is now how it is meant to be, full of power and with a big vocal range, so he says.
(https://www.therushforum.com/html/emoticons/huh.gif)
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I think we successfully chased him away with due criticism. He doesn't want to hear it, and needs to build himself up dilusionally rather than actual improvement. Can we just let this thread die and leave him alone...no point in hounding him on his board and youtube.
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I tend to agree.
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I tend to agree.
As do I. I was willing to cut the kid some slack at first, but when he went and stole my post and used it at LaBrie's forums I realized something-- even though I wasn't and still am not mad about the act itself. Saying what I realized seems a little bit harsh here, and not to mention overkill, so I'll just give it a rest.
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I think we successfully chased him away with due criticism. He doesn't want to hear it, and needs to build himself up dilusionally rather than actual improvement. Can we just let this thread die and leave him alone...no point in hounding him on his board and youtube.
He has his own messageboard! Holy shit that's funny!!! :rollin
Ok, I'm done! :lol
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In the fall of 2009 Nicky was deadly ill after food poisoning. He had to throw up all the time.
Was this picture taken 10 minutes before that incident?
(https://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/795/795401_300.jpg)
"Uuuuugh, that fish sandwich is not sitting right with me .... uuuughh, this is not looking good."
rumborak
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In the fall of 2009 Nicky was deadly ill after food poisoning. He had to throw up all the time.
Was this picture taken 10 minutes before that incident?
(https://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/795/795401_300.jpg)
"Uuuuugh, that fish sandwich is not sitting right with me .... uuuughh, this is not looking good."
rumborak
That is the best looking fart on an album cover I've ever seen.
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King, I'd like you to me a favor. Find out the exact part of your brain that controls your jokes. Then make sure it's in your will and on your driverse liscence that when you die, you'll donate that part of your brain to me.
Once it's all signed and so forth, let me know. I'll take care of the rest.
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King, I'd like you to me a favor. Find out the exact part of your brain that controls your jokes. Then make sure it's in your will and on your driverse liscence that when you die, you'll donate that part of your brain to me.
Once it's all signed and so forth, let me know. I'll take care of the rest.
I'll do it it you take my sexy midriff. I need to loose that too.
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(https://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/795401_3001.jpg)
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:rollin
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Oh shut up you bastards!!! >:( All those stupid jokes of yours!
I try to improve my voice and share my video's for advice/comments. But all I get by most of you (not all, some gave really good advice) is those focking jokes and comments that hurt me badly! :angry:
I want to share a new video, of Era IV in the repetition room. The last two months I trained my voice really hard and I want to know if you also think my voice is improved since last video's. This is our cover of The Hunter of Iced Earth.
https://vimeo.com/15867595
Well of course you are going to make new jokes, but all I want is some advice/comments.
Of course I love jokes and of course you can post them here, but if you want to post stupid jokes, please post them in another thread where I won't read them.
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The video almost gave me a seizure, but it sounds pretty good form what I could tell.
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The video almost gave me a seizure, but it sounds pretty good form what I could tell.
Yeah we had the yellow light a bit too bright for the camera. This evening we are going to dim it a bit.
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Oh shut up you bastards!!! >:( All those stupid jokes of yours!
I try to improve my voice and share my video's for advice/comments. But all I get by most of you (not all, some gave really good advice) is those focking jokes and comments that hurt me badly! :angry:
I want to share a new video, of Era IV in the repetition room. The last two months I trained my voice really hard and I want to know if you also think my voice is improved since last video's. This is our cover of The Hunter of Iced Earth.
https://vimeo.com/15867595
Well of course you are going to make new jokes, but all I want is some advice/comments.
Of course I love jokes and of course you can post them here, but if you want to post stupid jokes, please post them in another thread where I won't read them.
Grow up Nicky. You keep posting this stuff and setting yourself up for abuse and you have the nerve to be angry about it?
I think that video is just further evidence that you can't sing in key.
I tried offering up some constructive criticism by recommending you lay low and focus on actually becoming a quality vocalist instead of wasting your time filming yourself.
Reality. Your not very good at this time. Posting videos of yourself will not change that. Hard work will. Stop being angry for being inept and do your homework! You sing so off key I am shocked when a note you sing is not a sour one. Your teacher blows, that's obvious.
I would like to see a video of him singing? That would be interesting.
:heart
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Dude, tick, did you really think it was that bad? The latest video isn't fantastic, but it's certainly good compared to what I've heard come out of most high-school band basements. Nicky would be "good enough" for rock'n roll if he got realistic about his image and upper register.
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Dude, tick, did you really think it was that bad? The latest video isn't fantastic, but it's certainly good compared to what I've heard come out of most high-school band basements. Nicky would be "good enough" for rock'n roll if he got realistic about his image and upper register.
I'm being completely honest PC. I have an ear that hears flat notes and pitch problems and that video is loaded with them. The music being loud is the only thing that helps save him at all. Yeah, I really do think its that bad, sorry.
When I watch past live performances of myself recorded at gigs I cringe when I hear myself hit a flat note. It happens. Whenever Nicky hits a note on key, its a rarity. He needs to stop all the bullshit and hon his craft. He needs ALOT of work, but with the proper training there is hope cause he has untapped potential. I want to hear his teacher justify himself if he gets paid to teach this kid. He should be ashamed of himself. Maybe he is tone deaf?
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Dude, you really don't have to apologize for disagreeing with me. There have been plenty of times where I've seen singers sing and thought it was awesome, only to have my friend like wow that completely sucked minutes later ESPECIALLY at live concerts. So don't worry. I play guitar, but my ear isn't that great. I can tell when my guitar is out of tune, but when people are singing, unless there more they're at least a half-step off I don't notice.
If I had been sitting in Nicky's basement, drinking his beer and watching that, I probably would've thought it was cool. Not lying there. But, again, I don't really know when someone's a tiny bit off. Awhile ago, I showed a friend some James LaBrie live stuff. They're singers, and they were cringing at how flat he sounded a lot of the time. Weird thing is, they were cringing at parts that I thought were amazing, too.
But, on an unrelated note, I'd like to learn how to singer a bit better, just so I don't come off as a complete tool when I'm playing/singing songs on my guitar. Any tips?
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I actually think he sounded pretty good in the new video! I hear progress. Nice scream at the end! Keep working hard, Nicky! Maybe I thought it was better because it was original music this time and I didn't feel myself comparing him to LaBrie, who is tough to match for anyone. It's like American Idol contestants singing Mariah Carey songs.
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But, on an unrelated note, I'd like to learn how to singer a bit better, just so I don't come off as a complete tool when I'm playing/singing songs on my guitar. Any tips?
The biggest tip is to find out what vocal range you fall in. That helps greatly. Stay in your range and stay within yourself. Know your limitations. Just because a singer can't sing a certain range doesn't mean he can't be good. If I was trying to sing Dream Theater it wouldn't be that good if I tried to do it in James range. I would need to take it down an octave.
Also breathing is key. You need to sing from your belly and not your head. I learned that lesson the hard way. Major headaches when you sing improperly! Every line you deliver should be followed by a full tank of air. In other words, don't sing multiple sentences in one full breath.
That's the best I can offer as I'm not a teacher.
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But, on an unrelated note, I'd like to learn how to singer a bit better, just so I don't come off as a complete tool when I'm playing/singing songs on my guitar. Any tips?
The biggest tip is to find out what vocal range you fall in.
This is by far my biggest issue. How do you find out? I sing high, and all the sudden the song is too high. I sing low, and all the sudden it's too low. lol.
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But, on an unrelated note, I'd like to learn how to singer a bit better, just so I don't come off as a complete tool when I'm playing/singing songs on my guitar. Any tips?
The biggest tip is to find out what vocal range you fall in.
This is by far my biggest issue. How do you find out? I sing high, and all the sudden the song is too high. I sing low, and all the sudden it's too low. lol.
You just sing. Start on middle C and do a standard voice tone up to the 5 and back down again. Go up until you start to strain. This will be obvious. Then go back down past middle C and as far as you can go before again you start to strain, and again it will be obvious. That right there is your normal voice range. Now there is a head voice as well which is used and practiced properly can increase your range significantly and then there is falsetto. Your head voice and falsetto are really two different things. It's all about where that voice is coming from (I think).
Pitch is all about practice and this where having a vocal coach who isn't tone deaf knows what he is doing. He will have you start in your middle range and you will move up the scale. If you are off pitch, he will let you know (one would hope). There are MANY different ways to help your improve your pitch. One way is to hear the note, then hum the note making sure you match, then you move from the hum, open the mouth and sing the note. There are many other ways to improve pitch but if you find yourself without a teacher, the humming technique works just so as long as you are not tone deaf and can hear when your hum and the note are one. This takes practice. I trained with a vocal coach for about 4 months once and did notice an improvement but when he had to leave I also noticed my voice suffered since the training stopped. Practice, practice, practice. But all the practice in the world isn't going to help you if you cannot first breathe correctly and know the correct pitch. Having a piano or a pitch finder is essential. Piano is far easier since you can simply move up and sing along as you play. You don't need to know how to play, you just need to know the chord you are trying to sing. For example, you want to practice singing in D Major today. Great, well as long as you know the notes for D Major then no problem. Start on D and just move up the scale to the fifth and back down again. Once finished just move up one step in the scale. It's always a good idea to start on C Major. Master C Major first, then move on to another key, maybe A minor. After that I would go up to G Major as G is the fifth of C which means one extra sharp and so on. Another thing to do is to just practice singing up whole notes. This is what my vocal coach did with me. That is the five notes we sang ran up the piano on whole steps only. There were no half steps for me too sing. I think this is standard but I'm not sure. Nothing is stoping you from doing either or both. I think it's a matter of preference and ease.
Vocal training for absolute beginners in my opinion requires a vocal coach. One you learn the basics you can train yourself to a point. After that there are then techniques that may want to master, for example, how to sing higher, lower, longer, voice control, maybe you want to learn how to make your voice raspy, to scream, etc.
Nicky's new video is ok. He's still off pitch but all he's really doing that's an improvement is he's sticking to his range. He still needs to get his pitch fixed. I highly recommend him to sit by a piano and practice the humming technique described above. Stop trying to emulate other singers and first learn what it means to be on pitch. For me, this is the hardest part of singing as I am usually off pitch myself. I tried very hard once to sing Metropolis and I gave it the best I could, and when the reviews came in I agreed 100%, I was 50/50 on and off and that song is way beyond my normal range of singing and I shouldn't even touch it right now. Sing what you know and sing what you can easily touch. Let the challenges come later. For me actually I love practicing against Depeche Mode as Gahan's range and my range are practically the same however the trick is not to try and sing like Gahan. I mean the guy does have 20+ years of experience. Of course his voice is going to be 1000x more professional.
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I actually think he sounded pretty good in the new video! I hear progress. Nice scream at the end! Keep working hard, Nicky! Maybe I thought it was better because it was original music this time and I didn't feel myself comparing him to LaBrie, who is tough to match for anyone. It's like American Idol contestants singing Mariah Carey songs.
It wasn't original. It was an Iced Earth cover called The Hunter, which is actually a great song.
That said, sorry Nicky but it was quite bad.
You can't complain that we're not giving you constructivie criticism at this point either. You have pages of honest realistic criticism, and what do you? You say "thanks! here's another video". You completely ignore all of our suggestions and just keeping throwing more at us expecting us to randomly start being nicer about it. It doesn't work that way. When you get better, post a video. Wait till then though, right now....stop posting samples, it's not helping.
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Actually, I have to comment on this, the drummer in that new video is very solid. Listen to the double-bass work, it's pretty nice.
rumborak
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BTW, Nicky, you say you do requests. Here's a request actually: I think it would be interesting to hear you sing "Somewhere over the rainbow" (I take it you know the tune, if not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRa4X07jdE ). Just the chorus itself, in a key of your choice (i.e. bring it down to a key that's comfortable to you).
If you are convinced you have no pitch issues, you should have no problems with this tune. Oh, and no background music, no singing over the Youtube video or something, just your vocals. The trick about this tune is that it has a lot of very interesting intervals in there, and your innate sense of pitch is tested with this tune.
rumborak
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But, on an unrelated note, I'd like to learn how to singer a bit better, just so I don't come off as a complete tool when I'm playing/singing songs on my guitar. Any tips?
The biggest tip is to find out what vocal range you fall in.
This is by far my biggest issue. How do you find out? I sing high, and all the sudden the song is too high. I sing low, and all the sudden it's too low. lol.
You just sing. Start on middle C and do a standard voice tone up to the 5 and back down again. Go up until you start to strain. This will be obvious. Then go back down past middle C and as far as you can go before again you start to strain, and again it will be obvious. That right there is your normal voice range. Now there is a head voice as well which is used and practiced properly can increase your range significantly and then there is falsetto. Your head voice and falsetto are really two different things. It's all about where that voice is coming from (I think).
Pitch is all about practice and this where having a vocal coach who isn't tone deaf knows what he is doing. He will have you start in your middle range and you will move up the scale. If you are off pitch, he will let you know (one would hope). There are MANY different ways to help your improve your pitch. One way is to hear the note, then hum the note making sure you match, then you move from the hum, open the mouth and sing the note. There are many other ways to improve pitch but if you find yourself without a teacher, the humming technique works just so as long as you are not tone deaf and can hear when your hum and the note are one. This takes practice. I trained with a vocal coach for about 4 months once and did notice an improvement but when he had to leave I also noticed my voice suffered since the training stopped. Practice, practice, practice. But all the practice in the world isn't going to help you if you cannot first breathe correctly and know the correct pitch. Having a piano or a pitch finder is essential. Piano is far easier since you can simply move up and sing along as you play. You don't need to know how to play, you just need to know the chord you are trying to sing. For example, you want to practice singing in D Major today. Great, well as long as you know the notes for D Major then no problem. Start on D and just move up the scale to the fifth and back down again. Once finished just move up one step in the scale. It's always a good idea to start on C Major. Master C Major first, then move on to another key, maybe A minor. After that I would go up to G Major as G is the fifth of C which means one extra sharp and so on. Another thing to do is to just practice singing up whole notes. This is what my vocal coach did with me. That is the five notes we sang ran up the piano on whole steps only. There were no half steps for me too sing. I think this is standard but I'm not sure. Nothing is stoping you from doing either or both. I think it's a matter of preference and ease.
Vocal training for absolute beginners in my opinion requires a vocal coach. One you learn the basics you can train yourself to a point. After that there are then techniques that may want to master, for example, how to sing higher, lower, longer, voice control, maybe you want to learn how to make your voice raspy, to scream, etc.
Nicky's new video is ok. He's still off pitch but all he's really doing that's an improvement is he's sticking to his range. He still needs to get his pitch fixed. I highly recommend him to sit by a piano and practice the humming technique described above. Stop trying to emulate other singers and first learn what it means to be on pitch. For me, this is the hardest part of singing as I am usually off pitch myself. I tried very hard once to sing Metropolis and I gave it the best I could, and when the reviews came in I agreed 100%, I was 50/50 on and off and that song is way beyond my normal range of singing and I shouldn't even touch it right now. Sing what you know and sing what you can easily touch. Let the challenges come later. For me actually I love practicing against Depeche Mode as Gahan's range and my range are practically the same however the trick is not to try and sing like Gahan. I mean the guy does have 20+ years of experience. Of course his voice is going to be 1000x more professional.
Wow, great post! You know your shit. I had some breathing training exercises early on from a friend of mine who is an accomplished singer. After that, it was all trial and error for me. I learned by my countless mistakes, and became an entertaining but average singer on a professional level. Are you a singer first or is it secondary to the instrument you play?
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If I were in any band it would only be to sing as I'm not proficient in any instrument except maybe piano which I play very badly. ;) Just for kicks I found my Metropolis attempt which was done about a year ago. God it's nasal as shit. :blush
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All things considered...this video IS the best thing he's done so far. Not saying that it is great, but he does appear to have improved a bit. I am a vocalist with a trained ear, so I'm aware that he is still perpetually flat/sharp and he's pushing far too much from the throat, but he is making improvements. Nicky, all the advice given in the last few posts is sound advice. Sit down with your Casio keyboard and get cracking on some scales. I gave you the links to Eric Arcenaux's videos a month ago. Have you been watching them and doing warmups daily? I can't take you seriously as a singer until you put forth the effort necessary.
And the reason we bust on you so much is, because like Tick said, you set yourself up. Having a forum for yourself is rather ridiculous. It makes you seem like you have no perception on where exactly you currently reside in the scheme of things. You have a lot of strides to make to go further up the totem poll and earn some respect. You're vying for something that a zillion other people are, and I always live by the mentality that there will always be people far superior in their talents then that of any individual (including myself), meaning that you have to keep yourself grounded. If you continue to hype yourself up, you will only be the butt of more jokes.
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BTW, Nicky, you say you do requests. Here's a request actually: I think it would be interesting to hear you sing "Somewhere over the rainbow" (I take it you know the tune, if not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRa4X07jdE ). Just the chorus itself, in a key of your choice (i.e. bring it down to a key that's comfortable to you).
If you are convinced you have no pitch issues, you should have no problems with this tune. Oh, and no background music, no singing over the Youtube video or something, just your vocals. The trick about this tune is that it has a lot of very interesting intervals in there, and your innate sense of pitch is tested with this tune.
rumborak
Wow does judy Garland just nail that song through and though. It is literally one of the most beautiful and memorible songs of any movie.
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Thanks everyone for the REALLY good advice, I appreciate it!
@MykeHavoc:
Last weeks I watched and trained (and still doing) with the video's of Eric Arcenaux and I can hear a bit of improvement in my voice. In my middle range I have better control now over my voice compared to some weeks ago.
And as most of you say, the result is better than the video's I posted earlier (as do I, when I hear some parts of the earlier video's now I think: wow, that's bad!)
@ Adami:
I don't complain that you're not giving me constructive criticism. And I don't say "thanks here's another video", ignore all your suggestions and keep throwing more at you, like I don't give a shit. Last month I worked hard on most of the criticism I got here. I posted the new video for advice/comments on the last month I worked on my voice, to keep you up-to-date with how the things are going. What is wrong with that?
@Rumborak:
Thanks for that request. I didn't know the song before, but I love to give it a try and to sing the chorus (of course I'm going to sing lower ;) ) And I promise that I will post it with just my vocals and nothing else.
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Thanks everyone for the REALLY good advice, I appreciate it!
I don't complain that you're not giving me constructive criticism. And I don't say "thanks here's another video", ignore all your suggestions and keep throwing more at you, like I don't give a shit. Last month I worked hard on most of the criticism I got here. I posted the new video for advice/comments on the last month I worked on my voice, to keep you up-to-date with how the things are going. What is wrong with that?
Ok, now your making me lose my mind. You think in a couple weeks you have corrected your vocal issues and that's why you posted the video, to show your improvement?
Are you kidding, Nicky? :facepalm:
Nicky, answer a simple question if you would. How do you rate yourself as a singer on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being the highest.
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https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2
"constellation: Virgin" :lol
sorry.... :rollin
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Thanks everyone for the REALLY good advice, I appreciate it!
I don't complain that you're not giving me constructive criticism. And I don't say "thanks here's another video", ignore all your suggestions and keep throwing more at you, like I don't give a shit. Last month I worked hard on most of the criticism I got here. I posted the new video for advice/comments on the last month I worked on my voice, to keep you up-to-date with how the things are going. What is wrong with that?
Ok, now your making me lose my mind. You think in a couple weeks you have corrected your vocal issues and that's why you posted the video, to show your improvement?
Are you kidding, Nicky? :facepalm:
Nicky, answer a simple question if you would. How do you rate yourself as a singer on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being the highest.
No of course not, but just a bit better. I know it takes a lot of time before it's all corrected. But every bits help right.
A 6.5, because I'm young and there is much to learn.
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Now there is a head voice as well which is used and practiced properly can increase your range significantly and then there is falsetto. Your head voice and falsetto are really two different things. It's all about where that voice is coming from (I think).
Head voice and falsetto are separate, falsetto is produced using the false folds and head voice is produced using the true folds. The falsetto will cap out (notes vary from person to person), the head voice or full voice can theoretically go to any note. Well obviously there are human constraints but you know what I mean. For example I can barely squeeze out a G5 in falsetto, but in full voice I can nail a soprano C (maybe a note or so lower now I haven't practiced in a while) and in whistle an E6.
Other than that good post.
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Thanks everyone for the REALLY good advice, I appreciate it!
@MykeHavoc:
Last weeks I watched and trained (and still doing) with the video's of Eric Arcenaux and I can hear a bit of improvement in my voice. In my middle range I have better control now over my voice compared to some weeks ago.
And as most of you say, the result is better than the video's I posted earlier (as do I, when I hear some parts of the earlier video's now I think: wow, that's bad!)
@ Adami:
I don't complain that you're not giving me constructive criticism. And I don't say "thanks here's another video", ignore all your suggestions and keep throwing more at you, like I don't give a shit. Last month I worked hard on most of the criticism I got here. I posted the new video for advice/comments on the last month I worked on my voice, to keep you up-to-date with how the things are going. What is wrong with that?
@Rumborak:
Thanks for that request. I didn't know the song before, but I love to give it a try and to sing the chorus (of course I'm going to sing lower ;) ) And I promise that I will post it with just my vocals and nothing else.
You have a good spirit and attitude, Nicky. You really do. And your passionate. You can't teach passionate and drive. Best of luck, and keep up tha hard work :)
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https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2
"constellation: Virgin" :lol
sorry.... :rollin
Just want to say that this is a bad translation from the Dutch word, which is 'Maagd' and literally translates into virgin.
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Nicky, allow me to show you something. Here is a demo I did at 18:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12RswSfRDzA
Now here's something I did when I was 23:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NRDhNYhlik
That's 5 YEARS of trying to become a better singer. In that time, I quit smoking and (for the most part) drinking.
I changed my diet and increased my sleep. I did vocal warm-ups and practiced everyday. And I'd say I got maybe twice as good. Just a heads up that it's gonna take a LONG time for you to see any real noticeable improvement. Just remain realistic.
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Did you really create a Nicky Spanjaards forum? Why?
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Nicky, allow me to show you something. Here is a demo I did at 18:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12RswSfRDzA
Now here's something I did when I was 23:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NRDhNYhlik
That's 5 YEARS of trying to become a better singer. In that time, I quit smoking and (for the most part) drinking.
I changed my diet and increased my sleep. I did vocal warm-ups and practiced everyday. And I'd say I got maybe twice as good. Just a heads up that it's gonna take a LONG time for you to see any real noticeable improvement. Just remain realistic.
Oh, here comes the mother lode, the thing that absolutely everbody dances around in these kinds of discussions, for the fear of touching a subject that could hurt too deeply ....
Talent.
I listened to both of your Youtube videos. What changed? The amount of practice. What didn't change? The amount of talent.
Your first video, the supposed "before" video, is great. No other way of putting it. Sure, everything is raw, the timing of the instruments is off (probably due to cheap recording software), but your pitch is on, your timing is on, and at the age of 18 you had a very good sense of what sounds good vs. bad.
So, everybody always posts stuff like "oh, I put in shitloads of practice to become as good as I am now, and so can you if you put in the effort", but reality is, a lot of people put in the effort. The ones that end up being good are the ones that have talent.
I am not saying Nicky has no talent. I am saying that you have/had a lot more talent than Nicky. What does that mean for Nicky? He need to put in a lot more effort than you did to achieve the same level as you. Or maybe he never will, that is the curse of talent. I consider myself a pretty talented guitarist, and I have both met people who I knew I could show something to 1,000 times and they still wouldn't be able to do it, and also people who I knew had mastered in a week what I had struggled with for years. I play in a DT tribute band and am thus pretty sure that I am able to play things that a lot of people can not, and at the same time I know that I wouldn't earn a dime as a session musician because of the slew of people out there who can run circles around me. And probably finger their gf while they're doing it.
rumborak
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https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2
"constellation: Virgin" :lol
sorry.... :rollin
Just want to say that this is a bad translation from the Dutch word, which is 'Maagd' and literally translates into virgin.
Don't care.
Still funny.
Sorry, but don't intellectualize my sophomoric humor.
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Nicky, allow me to show you something. Here is a demo I did at 18:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12RswSfRDzA
Now here's something I did when I was 23:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NRDhNYhlik
That's 5 YEARS of trying to become a better singer. In that time, I quit smoking and (for the most part) drinking.
I changed my diet and increased my sleep. I did vocal warm-ups and practiced everyday. And I'd say I got maybe twice as good. Just a heads up that it's gonna take a LONG time for you to see any real noticeable improvement. Just remain realistic.
Oh, here comes the mother lode, the thing that absolutely everbody dances around in these kinds of discussions, for the fear of touching a subject that could hurt too deeply ....
Talent.
I listened to both of your Youtube videos. What changed? The amount of practice. What didn't change? The amount of talent.
Your first video, the supposed "before" video, is great. No other way of putting it. Sure, everything is raw, the timing of the instruments is off (probably due to cheap recording software), but your pitch is on, your timing is on, and at the age of 18 you had a very good sense of what sounds good vs. bad.
So, everybody always posts stuff like "oh, I put in shitloads of practice to become as good as I am now, and so can you if you put in the effort", but reality is, a lot of people put in the effort. The ones that end up being good are the ones that have talent.
I am not saying Nicky has no talent. I am saying that you have/had a lot more talent than Nicky. What does that mean for Nicky? He need to put in a lot more effort than you did to achieve the same level as you. Or maybe he never will, that is the curse of talent. I consider myself a pretty talented guitarist, and I have both met people who I knew I could show something to 1,000 times and they still wouldn't be able to do it, and also people who I knew had mastered in a week what I had struggled with for years. I play in a DT tribute band and am thus pretty sure that I am able to play things that a lot of people can not, and at the same time I know that I wouldn't earn a dime as a session musician because of the slew of people out there who can run circles around me. And probably finger their gf while they're doing it.
rumborak
I'm still trying to figure out if you just shit all over me or not :lol
In truth, the music I sang with Contortionist was far different from that of Zero Point. Contortionist was busy wannabe Dream Theater stuff. Zero Point was more a mindless thrash/rock/punk sort of sounding thing. I wasn't using it as example to show off music. I'm using it to show how much more proper my delivery was. In the Contortionist video, I am singing far too much from my throat. FAR too much. That can be attributed to not knowing how to properly singing. By the half way mark, I'm already going flat. That is something I spent a day doing takes of.
The Zero Point demo was done in ONE take (minus the gang vocals) with no pitch correction. It is quite clear I changed my approach.
There is no little to no strain. My head voice is far more convincing and less forced. I will play you some stuff from my new band Dorian Gray when we mix our latest demo, as the ZP stuff was still, at this point, a year and a half ago, and I've learned even more since.
But this post wasn't even meant to be about me. It is simply a tool to illustrate to Nicky that he needs to stick with it for a long time for the effects to convincingly show.
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I wasn't talking smack, no worry :lol My point was that even at your first effort you had shown your talent clearly. And your second video was obviously better, but it was also obviously built on what was innate to you, as was visible from the first video.
rumborak
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Okay that makes more sense. I was so conflicted there for a bit :lol
And regardless of talent, one must know their abilities more then anything.
You can't push yourself. You have to stick with what you can naturally do. Sure, the boundaries of that can be stretched, but you must always be aware of what your limitations are. If you are unhappy with them, learn proper ways to make such things smaller with practice.
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https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2
"constellation: Virgin" :lol
sorry.... :rollin
Haha that's a great sense of humor, it made me laugh! :biggrin:
@MykeHavoc:
Wow those are really good video's and you've indeed improved in those 5 years!
But what I also do with this video of The Hunter, is comparing it to the one I sang 4 months ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLUWaDtgQRs
As all of you say, I still have pitch issues, but the vibrato now is better and I sing it with more power and in the chorus I have better control.
Time to do some homework now... :smiley:
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In the spirit of constructive criticism, I'm considering posting a recording of me just playing a song on guitar and singing along. I recorded this a couple hours ago, and basically just did everything in one go (just played while singing without really trying to cover up mistakes or do other takes or anything).
I'm considering posting this in the hopes that maybe one of you good singers here can give me some pointers, like "Oh, you need to work on your breathing." Or "Oh, your pitch is horrendous in certain areas. You should do this _____." Or "You just don't have a good voice for singing songs. Sorry!"
If people here think they could give those kind of tips just by listening to a poor recording of me playing along and singing a song through my laptop mic, then I'll be more than happy to upload it. If not, then I won't. As a reminder, I'm not looking to be a wailer or anything. Just trying to sound less terrible when I want to play guitar and sing and other people are around and all...
Let me know guys!
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I wasn't talking smack, no worry :lol My point was that even at your first effort you had shown your talent clearly. And your second video was obviously better, but it was also obviously built on what was innate to you, as was visible from the first video.
rumborak
Its funny, Rummy. You have been brutally honest with Nicky, but he thanks you for asking him to trash Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
That's just funny to me. :lol
Nicky, good or bad vocals, your becoming a DTF icon! :tup
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@PC, go ahead.
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Here's some sound advice that will guarantee results. I know quite a few people who have done this and it's just one of those things that sometimes gets overlooked. Join a choir. Now I'm not talking about a high profile choir I'm talking about a church choir or similar. It may sound strange perhaps especially if you are not the religious type, but I again, some of these people who joined aren't religious either. The reason behind a choir is thus: 1) you will get hands on instruction from someone who is knowledgable. The church pays these people and they will hire only those who have the experience. Most choir directors I know have some musical degree or a ton of background. 2) It's free and you learn a LOT 3) You will correct any and all pitch issues if you stick with it because you have no choice but to be in pitch. Now I know you are ambitious so I'm sure you would work hard in such a project and I'm very sure that noticable improvement would happen after 6 months and after 1 year you should have most of the pitch issues resolved. Now sure, there are some choirs out there that are quite bad and their are some choirs out there that are good. Look for the good ones. Most of the time high profile churches will employ a good music director and the church will have a compentent choir. Not sure what choirs you have in Sweden, but hopefully this isn't hard to make happen.
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Netherlands, not Sweden. :D
But, I second the idea of a choir, that is a very good suggestion. I used to sing one in highschool (tenor), and it teaches you a LOT. Holding your pitch only one full note away from your neighbor (in the case of a #9 chord for example) is challenging, and rewarding when you realize you are on.
rumborak
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In the spirit of constructive criticism, I'm considering posting a recording of me just playing a song on guitar and singing along. I recorded this a couple hours ago, and basically just did everything in one go (just played while singing without really trying to cover up mistakes or do other takes or anything).
I'm considering posting this in the hopes that maybe one of you good singers here can give me some pointers, like "Oh, you need to work on your breathing." Or "Oh, your pitch is horrendous in certain areas. You should do this _____." Or "You just don't have a good voice for singing songs. Sorry!"
If people here think they could give those kind of tips just by listening to a poor recording of me playing along and singing a song through my laptop mic, then I'll be more than happy to upload it. If not, then I won't. As a reminder, I'm not looking to be a wailer or anything. Just trying to sound less terrible when I want to play guitar and sing and other people are around and all...
Let me know guys!
Bring it on!
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BTW Nicky, when we give you the advice, we didn't really mean "try this for a week or two then come back". We meant more like.....several months at the very least. It takes a long time. Take 6 months, practice a LOT, then come back and post a video. Not next week, not in 3 weeks, 6 months.
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Netherlands, not Sweden. :D
But, I second the idea of a choir, that is a very good suggestion. I used to sing one in highschool (tenor), and it teaches you a LOT. Holding your pitch only one full note away from your neighbor (in the case of a #9 chord for example) is challenging, and rewarding when you realize you are on.
rumborak
My Dad sings choir constantly and when I visit and he's scheduled to sing I am usually invited to sing with them however when they do the multiple voices stuff I usually sit that out. That's a lot harder than it looks. :eek
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https://www.nickyspanjaards.comule.com/
:facepalm:
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First of all, I think it's high time this gets moved to the Musicians forum, we stopped talking DT a long time ago in this thread.
Second, I'm not a singer so I won't critique your singing, but when you post stuff like this:
In the fall of 2009 Nicky was deadly ill after food poisoning. He had to throw up all the time. He ruptured his vocal chords and after that he couldn't even sing anymore. Nicky went to a doctor and the doctor said he should rest his voice for half a year. Nicky didn't, in fact he was in the middle in a record of his debut album with Century Crash. His voice was far from normal. He lost a part of his vocal range, the voice cracked most of the time, was weak and it was fast tired.
He had to begin to train his voice all over again. It was going so bad that he was mostly of the time very stressed, depressive and crying of despair. He trained his voice with some of his own songs, which he twisted even more by singing it very different at most points. Half a year later he felt his voice felt stronger then ever before. Century Crash went their own way because the guitarist leaved. Nicky leaved too and placed an advertisement on a music site.
In February 2010 he got a girlfriend. By all the support and love she gave him his voice is now how it is meant to be, full of power and with a big vocal range, so he says.
I can't take this seriously. It just screams "bat-shit crazy". It's one thing to emulate your heroes, but to take their experiences and and claim them as your own is just moronic. I take you probably don't get Seinfeld over there, but until you can back up this insanity, I'm going to mock you and call you Peterman.
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First of all, I think it's high time this gets moved to the Musicians forum, we stopped talking DT a long time ago in this thread.
Second, I'm not a singer so I won't critique your singing, but when you post stuff like this:
In the fall of 2009 Nicky was deadly ill after food poisoning. He had to throw up all the time. He ruptured his vocal chords and after that he couldn't even sing anymore. Nicky went to a doctor and the doctor said he should rest his voice for half a year. Nicky didn't, in fact he was in the middle in a record of his debut album with Century Crash. His voice was far from normal. He lost a part of his vocal range, the voice cracked most of the time, was weak and it was fast tired.
He had to begin to train his voice all over again. It was going so bad that he was mostly of the time very stressed, depressive and crying of despair. He trained his voice with some of his own songs, which he twisted even more by singing it very different at most points. Half a year later he felt his voice felt stronger then ever before. Century Crash went their own way because the guitarist leaved. Nicky leaved too and placed an advertisement on a music site.
In February 2010 he got a girlfriend. By all the support and love she gave him his voice is now how it is meant to be, full of power and with a big vocal range, so he says.
I can't take this seriously. It just screams "bat-shit crazy". It's one thing to emulate your heroes, but to take their experiences and and claim them as your own is just moronic. I take you probably don't get Seinfeld over there, but until you can back up this insanity, I'm going to mock you and call you Peterman.
He can't sing a single not on key, yet he has his own official web site, and his own Nicky Spanjaaaaaaards messegeboard? I'm starting to really question the sanity of this kid. For real, I truly do.
The more of this crap I see the more I believe he will never be anything as a singer because all is, is a promoter of himself. His band isn't half bad. He should hire a replacement singer for himself, and then manage and promote the band. He would be good at it.
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Is he really 19 years old?
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Is he really 19 years old?
I doubt it, you can start balding at a very early age but 19 is pushing it. The receding hairline and bald spot on the back of his head would suggest older than 19.
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Nope. A guy on my course has been balder than him since he was 18.
In fact, he has to wear a hat all the time to hide how bald he is.
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Yeah, I know a guy who was noticeably balding at about 17. It happens.
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Is he really 19 years old?
I doubt it, you can start balding at a very early age but 19 is pushing it. The receding hairline and bald spot on the back of his head would suggest older than 19.
His actions strongly support that he is 19 years old.
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Is he really 19 years old?
I doubt it, you can start balding at a very early age but 19 is pushing it. The receding hairline and bald spot on the back of his head would suggest older than 19.
Friend of mine started losing it when he was 16.
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Is he really 19 years old?
I doubt it, you can start balding at a very early age but 19 is pushing it. The receding hairline and bald spot on the back of his head would suggest older than 19.
Friend of mine started losing it when he was 16.
I don't know how soon you can lose your hair, but Peterman is certainly showing you can lose your mind at any age.
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Guys, let's take it easy. Some of the comments here make me cringe, but I've been trying not to say anything. Polite constructive criticism is one thing. But making fun of a guy's physical appearance and calling him crazy is another. It's almost like cyber bullying. He's not a punching bag. He's a teenager still.
So what if he has his own website and forum? Every teenage band in the world does now on MySpace and other music websites that let you leave comments and discuss. Nicky is just extra passionate and put in time and energy to make his website more professional. Good for him. I like his go-getter attitude.
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Guys, let's take it easy. Some of the comments here make me cringe, but I've been trying not to say anything. Polite constructive criticism is one thing. But making fun of a guy's physical appearance and calling him crazy is another. It's almost like cyber bullying. He's not a punching bag. He's a teenager still.
So what if he has his own website and forum? Every teenage band in the world does now on MySpace and other music websites that let you leave comments and discuss. Nicky is just extra passionate and put in time and energy to make his website more professional. Good for him. I like his go-getter attitude.
This. Some of you guys are being complete douches.
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Guys, let's take it easy. Some of the comments here make me cringe, but I've been trying not to say anything. Polite constructive criticism is one thing. But making fun of a guy's physical appearance and calling him crazy is another. It's almost like cyber bullying. He's not a punching bag. He's a teenager still.
So what if he has his own website and forum? Every teenage band in the world does now on MySpace and other music websites that let you leave comments and discuss. Nicky is just extra passionate and put in time and energy to make his website more professional. Good for him. I like his go-getter attitude.
This. Some of you guys are being complete douches.
That's your opinion.
Nicky isn't very good. That's the general view, period. Should we lie to him or just be fake because he decides to post his crappy vocals publicly? Its his choice to put himself out there? You are owed nothing!
Who are you to call us a douche? If you want to kiss his ass go right ahead, but don't get self righteous with us for being honest with him. If you are going to put yourself out there, you get what you get, and you don't get upset. Period.
LET ME SAY IT ONCE MORE SO ITS CLEAR...
IF YOU START YOUR OWN THREAD IN THE DREAM THEATER SECTION OF A DREAM THEATER BOARD PROMOTING YOURSELF AS A VOCALIST AND YOUR NOT ANY GOOD, YOU WILL GET WHAT THE MEMBERS DEEM FIT!
If you want nice, don't start the thread and you have no worries.
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Guys, let's take it easy. Some of the comments here make me cringe, but I've been trying not to say anything. Polite constructive criticism is one thing. But making fun of a guy's physical appearance and calling him crazy is another. It's almost like cyber bullying. He's not a punching bag. He's a teenager still.
So what if he has his own website and forum? Every teenage band in the world does now on MySpace and other music websites that let you leave comments and discuss. Nicky is just extra passionate and put in time and energy to make his website more professional. Good for him. I like his go-getter attitude.
There's a difference in creating a facebook to talk to all of your friends and making a forum specifically dedicated in your honor because you think you're going to be the next big sensation. It leaves the impression that your head is pretty high in the clouds and can be viewed very negatively by a lot of people. I think its somewhat arrogant of him to do so, but whatever floats his boat.
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Guys, let's take it easy. Some of the comments here make me cringe, but I've been trying not to say anything. Polite constructive criticism is one thing. But making fun of a guy's physical appearance and calling him crazy is another. It's almost like cyber bullying. He's not a punching bag. He's a teenager still.
So what if he has his own website and forum? Every teenage band in the world does now on MySpace and other music websites that let you leave comments and discuss. Nicky is just extra passionate and put in time and energy to make his website more professional. Good for him. I like his go-getter attitude.
You want to know why I called him crazy? Because he's dillusional, which is within the spectrum of mental illness, which we colloquially call "crazy". That has been my only criticism of him, and I stand by it. I don't fault him for singing, posting samples of his work for crtique, etc. But when you start reimagining your life - particularly in the same manner of someone you emulate - that's a sign of mental illness. You can't just go around propagating lies, I chose to call him out on it. Everyone I know has thrown up at somepoint in their lives, so I find it extremely unlikely that Nicky suffered the same freak accident that happened to his idol.
Like Tick said, if you are going to put yourself out there, be ready to deal with real feedback; and regardless of what you are posting or why you are posting it for fucks sake BE HONEST.
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Not to mention it took JLB ten years to heal, but him only 6 months. Now he is better than evaR!
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Alright guys, in spirit of constructive criticism I've uploaded a video of myself singing Avenged Sevenfold's So Far Away. My mic sucks, so please excuse all the buzzing and stuff.
Also, I'm not asking if my vocals are GOOD or not, because I know that they aren't at all. I'm just looking for tips. What I should look into (pitch, breathing, something else?). But if you want to bash me, go ahead! I could care less. It'll be fun :D
https://www.sendspace.com/file/qtga34
And feel free to critique my guitar playing too. I've been playing for 10 years, on and off, but I almost never use acoustic. So I'm still not even really sure how to strum away on the acoustic and have it not sound like shite. lol.
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Guys, let's take it easy. Some of the comments here make me cringe, but I've been trying not to say anything. Polite constructive criticism is one thing. But making fun of a guy's physical appearance and calling him crazy is another. It's almost like cyber bullying. He's not a punching bag. He's a teenager still.
So what if he has his own website and forum? Every teenage band in the world does now on MySpace and other music websites that let you leave comments and discuss. Nicky is just extra passionate and put in time and energy to make his website more professional. Good for him. I like his go-getter attitude.
This. Some of you guys are being complete douches.
That's your opinion.
Nicky isn't very good. That's the general view, period. Should we lie to him or just be fake because he decides to post his crappy vocals publicly? Its his choice to put himself out there? You are owed nothing!
Who are you to call us a douche? If you want to kiss his ass go right ahead, but don't get self righteous with us for being honest with him. If you are going to put yourself out there, you get what you get, and you don't get upset. Period.
There's a difference between being honest and being a douche.
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Ok, I'll try to explain maybe where they're coming from.
1. He posted his stuff on the DT part of the forum, saying he'll take requests. That kind of says that he had some pretty high thoughts of his voice.
2. His videos are mostly him trying to act like a rock star, with all the head banging and moving around and hand motions and so forth, especially when they're just supposed to showcase his voice.
3. He has his own forum with no members as far as I know. Why would a 19 year old kid need an official forum? You have to earn things like that by having fans, he has none outside of his friends/family, none of which needs a forum.
4. He has a rather insane biography section. No 19 year old with no experience needs any kind of bio, especially one like that. And the food poisoning thing is just odd and strange. It just makes him look like he takes himself WAY too damn seriously.
5. Despite all of our actual cricitism, he keeps posting videos and hasn't gotten better. Why? Because it's been a month. Who gets better in a month? No one. We suggested taking a very long time to tone and perfect his voice, and all he did was post more videos of him still singingly poorly.
6. It seems his friends and family give him absolutely nothing but praise and adoration. None of us need to. Especially since he isn't very good. And he's not 8 years old, he doesn't need us to let him know that he's special and that he can do anything. He's an adult, and we're treating him like one.
If he was WAY more humble, took himself seriously and just acted like a 19 year old guy who's learning how to sing, instead of a rockstar who needs to catch a break, we'd show him more respect. But as of now, he has done very very little to earn our respect.
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Ok, I'll try to explain maybe where they're coming from.
1. He posted his stuff on the DT part of the forum, saying he'll take requests. That kind of says that he had some pretty high thoughts of his voice.
2. His videos are mostly him trying to act like a rock star, with all the head banging and moving around and hand motions and so forth, especially when they're just supposed to showcase his voice.
3. He has his own forum with no members as far as I know. Why would a 19 year old kid need an official forum? You have to earn things like that by having fans, he has none outside of his friends/family, none of which needs a forum.
4. He has a rather insane biography section. No 19 year old with no experience needs any kind of bio, especially one like that. And the food poisoning thing is just odd and strange. It just makes him look like he takes himself WAY too damn seriously.
5. Despite all of our actual cricitism, he keeps posting videos and hasn't gotten better. Why? Because it's been a month. Who gets better in a month? No one. We suggested taking a very long time to tone and perfect his voice, and all he did was post more videos of him still singingly poorly.
6. It seems his friends and family give him absolutely nothing but praise and adoration. None of us need to. Especially since he isn't very good. And he's not 8 years old, he doesn't need us to let him know that he's special and that he can do anything. He's an adult, and we're treating him like one.
If he was WAY more humble, took himself seriously and just acted like a 19 year old guy who's learning how to sing, instead of a rockstar who needs to catch a break, we'd show him more respect. But as of now, he has done very very little to earn our respect.
Understandable I guess. I'll leave y'all alone. :P
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Anyways, to Nicky, you really do need vocal training. Your voice is good, but you seem to have no control over it. You gotta harness control before you can really be a good vocalist.
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Alright guys, in spirit of constructive criticism I've uploaded a video of myself singing Avenged Sevenfold's So Far Away. My mic sucks, so please excuse all the buzzing and stuff.
Also, I'm not asking if my vocals are GOOD or not, because I know that they aren't at all. I'm just looking for tips. What I should look into (pitch, breathing, something else?). But if you want to bash me, go ahead! I could care less. It'll be fun :D
https://www.sendspace.com/file/qtga34
And feel free to critique my guitar playing too. I've been playing for 10 years, on and off, but I almost never use acoustic. So I'm still not even really sure how to strum away on the acoustic and have it not sound like shite. lol.
I'll leave the more detailed explanations to more knowledgeable singers than me, but it sounds like the biggest thing you need to work on is breathing/breath support. That'll help your power, as well as your tendency to really tense/tighten your throat on the higher notes, which is hurting your tone and your pitch.
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Alright guys, in spirit of constructive criticism I've uploaded a video of myself singing Avenged Sevenfold's So Far Away. My mic sucks, so please excuse all the buzzing and stuff.
Also, I'm not asking if my vocals are GOOD or not, because I know that they aren't at all. I'm just looking for tips. What I should look into (pitch, breathing, something else?). But if you want to bash me, go ahead! I could care less. It'll be fun :D
https://www.sendspace.com/file/qtga34
And feel free to critique my guitar playing too. I've been playing for 10 years, on and off, but I almost never use acoustic. So I'm still not even really sure how to strum away on the acoustic and have it not sound like shite. lol.
I'll leave the more detailed explanations to more knowledgeable singers than me, but it sounds like the biggest thing you need to work on is breathing/breath support. That'll help your power, as well as your tendency to really tense/tighten your throat on the higher notes, which is hurting your tone and your pitch.
first of all thanks for sharing...
I concur. I can tell without even looking at a video you are not "opening" your mouth. This is a problem I have as well and because of this the voice sounds nasal. First rule in a powerful full voice, open the mouth, not horizontally but vertically. This is the first thing my instructor pointed out as well. He basically told me to sing an "o". Then he said, now, take in a full breath, open your mouth like this (showing a vertically opened mouth) and sing and boom out came a tall voice. This is very hard to maintain especially if you are not used it. Best advice here is practice with a guitar and do the vocal progressions paying attention to how your mouth is shaped. It should be opened tall, not wide. Now this isn't how it should be 100%. I man look at JLB when he sings, in many ways he looks like he's open both wide and tall. Also there is something when it comes to the tongue, but someone who is more experienced needs to talk about that. I forgot the importance of it and what you are supposed to do. Apparently though the tongue plays a VERY important part in getting that "open" and "relaxed" feel to your voice. I don't think I can offer much more than that. I'm going off of memory and even I am way out of practice.
Thanks to this thread I'm now thinking when I get back to the states that I might sign up for singing lessons at the local college or maybe find a vocal coach in town since the local college is 40 minutes away. :(
again thanks for sharing. Brave man you are. Braver than I. :metal
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For the record, my hair fell out at 21. And I hadn't really noticed Nicky's receding hairline. I'd kill for locks like that nowadays :lol
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Like DTVT said, I think the reality is, he is a bit mentally ill. Perhaps that would be the one reason to call off the dogs. He just isn't right.
Adami was spot on. Well said.
LLTWM. Thanks for once again calling us douches.
PC. I'm sorry, I wasn't able to hear your tune. Not sure what that link was?
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That links to the DL of my tune. I mean, I COULD upload a video of myself pretending to be Bob Dylan later I guess. hehe. I'll have to wait to see how I feel about that. :hat
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LLTWM. Thanks for once again calling us douches.
Read my response to Adami. I see where you guys are coming from now. :\
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Ok, I'll try to explain maybe where they're coming from.
1. He posted his stuff on the DT part of the forum, saying he'll take requests. That kind of says that he had some pretty high thoughts of his voice.
2. His videos are mostly him trying to act like a rock star, with all the head banging and moving around and hand motions and so forth, especially when they're just supposed to showcase his voice.
3. He has his own forum with no members as far as I know. Why would a 19 year old kid need an official forum? You have to earn things like that by having fans, he has none outside of his friends/family, none of which needs a forum.
4. He has a rather insane biography section. No 19 year old with no experience needs any kind of bio, especially one like that. And the food poisoning thing is just odd and strange. It just makes him look like he takes himself WAY too damn seriously.
5. Despite all of our actual cricitism, he keeps posting videos and hasn't gotten better. Why? Because it's been a month. Who gets better in a month? No one. We suggested taking a very long time to tone and perfect his voice, and all he did was post more videos of him still singingly poorly.
6. It seems his friends and family give him absolutely nothing but praise and adoration. None of us need to. Especially since he isn't very good. And he's not 8 years old, he doesn't need us to let him know that he's special and that he can do anything. He's an adult, and we're treating him like one.
If he was WAY more humble, took himself seriously and just acted like a 19 year old guy who's learning how to sing, instead of a rockstar who needs to catch a break, we'd show him more respect. But as of now, he has done very very little to earn our respect.
Well said.
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I think Adami's point #5 is the key here. If there's one impression I got in this whole thing, it's that he didn't take any of the criticism seriously. He paid lip service to them, i.e. pretending that he will work on the issues, but then just proceeded to record more stuff, probably from the bizarre idea that we will sooner or later be blown away by his singing. After all, he plays in a band, so he must be a good singer!
rumborak
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After all, he plays in a band, so he must be a good singer!
I think this is another thing right here. Most of the bands that I hear when they are starting out from their "demos" posted on MP.com, JLB.com, etc and other music forums, the band itself is pretty good and the singer is okay. Sometimes the singer is just plain awful and rarely is the singer really good. Almost always if the singer is good as well as the band itself recognition starts to fly in their direction. Why not? It's deserved. The band is talented and people always flock to talent. If the band or the singer is lacking, people will recognize this and tell the band, ditch the singer or tell the singer ditch the band. Fame doesn't come even if you are begging for it, and especially doesn't come when you hang a spotlight over your head and go "look at me" unless you have the talent to back it up. I've seen Simon Calwell (spelling) tear such people to shreads and one of two things happens afterwards, they break down and cry realizing they really do sound that bad and everything they have built up before was meaningless, kinda like someone whipped the rug from under their feet, or two they ignore it and call Simon stupid even though they were nodding and agreeing with him when he was talking to them. So I don't get it. I would love, absolutely love to have the kind of voice JLB has but alas I do not and probably will never have it. I have done one song to which I thought was pretty good, posted it, got back reviews and it was 50/50. the minute I read the reviews I relistened and heard everything the reviews mentioned. My response was, "I'll work on it. Thank you very much." and I have yet to even come close to re-recording anything mostly due to the fact that I haven't practiced it and also due to the fact that I need lessons on training my head voice. We all want to show our chops and see if we can hit the big time in our lives. I have never found any of the forums: this one, nor mp.com nor JLB to be "mean" when it comes to criticism. It only gets that way when the submitter starts to lash out for people not liking him or disagreeing with him. So again, I don't get it.
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I have never found any of the forums: this one, nor mp.com nor JLB to be "mean" when it comes to criticism.
Yeah, good point. If anything, I would say Nicky can consider himself lucky he posted this on DTF. Any other forum's response would have been vicious, whereas this thread here is a treasure trove for someone who actually wants to improve his game. For someone who was solely looking for unanimous praise it's of course still a disaster, but that's hardly our fault.
rumborak
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Guys, let's take it easy. Some of the comments here make me cringe, but I've been trying not to say anything. Polite constructive criticism is one thing. But making fun of a guy's physical appearance and calling him crazy is another. It's almost like cyber bullying. He's not a punching bag. He's a teenager still.
So what if he has his own website and forum? Every teenage band in the world does now on MySpace and other music websites that let you leave comments and discuss. Nicky is just extra passionate and put in time and energy to make his website more professional. Good for him. I like his go-getter attitude.
This. Some of you guys are being complete douches.
This. I just wanted to make a website and forum to make it look more professional and because it's a cool challenge.
That's your opinion.
Nicky isn't very good. That's the general view, period. Should we lie to him or just be fake because he decides to post his crappy vocals publicly? Its his choice to put himself out there? You are owed nothing!
Who are you to call us a douche? If you want to kiss his ass go right ahead, but don't get self righteous with us for being honest with him. If you are going to put yourself out there, you get what you get, and you don't get upset. Period.
Yeah that's their opinion, and you sound like everyone has to agree with your opinion.
If he was WAY more humble, took himself seriously and just acted like a 19 year old guy who's learning how to sing, instead of a rockstar who needs to catch a break, we'd show him more respect. But as of now, he has done very very little to earn our respect.
Why? I think everyone deserves the same treatment of respect.
You want to know why I called him crazy? Because he's dillusional, which is within the spectrum of mental illness, which we colloquially call "crazy". That has been my only criticism of him, and I stand by it. I don't fault him for singing, posting samples of his work for crtique, etc. But when you start reimagining your life - particularly in the same manner of someone you emulate - that's a sign of mental illness. You can't just go around propagating lies, I chose to call him out on it. Everyone I know has thrown up at somepoint in their lives, so I find it extremely unlikely that Nicky suffered the same freak accident that happened to his idol.
I think this is a very respectless comment. You don't even "know" me and you have a prejudice with "he IS dillusional and HAS a mental illness. But you don't know if it's true. It's like I say that you're disabled, and I don't know if it's true. And then you say I'm spreading lies about my "thrown up" story. That was a really hard time for me! But I will explain how it happened.
On a sunday in the fall of 2009 we ate sauerkraut with bacon. The next day my brother, father and I were very sick. We all had stomach ache.
I had to work, so I went to my work because I thought that I could handle it. Whyle cycling I felt that I had to throw up. So I stopped and thrown up. After throwing up a few times only gastric juice came out of my mouth. I constantly had to make a stop after a few minutes of cycling to throw up. It became really tired of it and my head was spinning. my vocal chords were really hurting. When I came to the working place they offered me to drink cola, because that reduce the stomach ache. It was getting better with me. So I worked for 2 hours. I cycled back to home and I went in my bed to sleep the rest of the day. The next day I went to the doctor I had ruptured vocal chords. Not heavy, but just a little. He said that I had to rest my voice as much as possible and that I could pick up singing after half a year. I didn't, I was in the middle of a record with my first band, but the record never finished, because the guitarist shortly leaved after that to join another band. I began to train my voice all over again, I did that by singing along with Aerosmith. Of course lower. My voice was weak, fast tired and it cracked by most of the higher notes I tried to reach. When it got a bit better I practised with DT and after 4 months my rupture was healed. My voice was a lot better after those 6 months of hard practise, singing lessons being despressive and everything and I'm still practising to this day.
Hope that cleared some things up. (I still have a few old records of me singing along with DT for evidence).
And the last thing: Most of you gave really good advice, and don't say "he doesn't do anything with it, because a month later he has posted a new video" and that sort of things. I just want to share some video's of us while in the repetition room, and I will get on with that. I love singing and practise with Era IV. If you say I don't improve or anything, well maybe it is, but I'm just excited to post new video's of me and my band, and I'm not fast upset, but some comments here are very respectless.
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Well, this out to be interesting.
Popcorn anyone?
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Dibs on being the one who gets to write Nicky's biography!
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(I still have a few old records of me singing along with DT for evidence).
I want to hear this.
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(I still have a few old records of me singing along with DT for evidence).
I want to hear this.
Same lol
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Dibs on being the one who gets to write Nicky's biography!
I think JLB could do that pretty easily
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https://vimeo.com/15984151
So it at LaBrie's forum, so figure I could post it here.
I'd say stop taking requests for at least a year, Nicky.
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https://vimeo.com/15984151
So it at LaBrie's forum, so figure I could post it here.
I'd say stop taking requests for at least a year, Nicky.
Compare it to this as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P703e7_hHs8
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You know, what's interesting here is, years ago I read that Billy Sheehan was kinda disrespected by the greater bass community, because his flashy style of playing had caused a whole generation of bass players to neglect the basics and focus on the flashy parts. It seems JLB with all his antics and idiosyncrasies somewhat falls into the same category. Nicky is focusing so much on the flashy parts, i.e. the screams, the weird end-of-word exhale, and totally neglects the basics, pitch.
rumborak
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Nicky,
I'm just going to be straight with you here. You need to practice like everyone has said, the basics. I think you have actually performed worse on your Pull Me Under Cover, than you did on some of your previous ones. You need to stop trying to sing Dream Theater, and try to sing something simpler.
When I was starting out on guitar, I didn't go straight for Dream Theater or Metallica solos. I learned how to play nirvana solos. Importantly, I practiced them over and over in order to get them right. Once I was mastering that, I moved on. Now I can play the UAGM solo pretty well. And that is the course of 8 years of practice.
You really need to start from the beginning if you want to get better. Let me emphasize, you NEED to start from the beginning. Get a new vocal coach ASAP. Sing simpler and easier stuff and slowly expand your singing. You can't go from noob to JLB and Bruce Dickinson in a couple weeks. Sorry, it just won't happen and you just don't have the innate talent to do it. But that's OK! You just need to make up for it with hard work so you can make some progress. I'm not saying hard work will make you extremely good. It's not easy to be JLB vocally, that's why he's in a big respected band and highly regarded and most of us aren't. If everyone was that good, then no one would care about talent, there would be nothing special about it.
So you really need to go back and work your way up from the bottom. Stop posting DT covers for people to hear, because man they are really bad. You are all over the place in pitch and tone.
Don't cheat yourself man. Do it right.
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I get that as well, rumby. It sounds like Nicki is imitating all of LaBrie's little quirks. Those quirks are part of LaBrie's charm, but when imitated by someone off pitch they're just distracting.
I will say, that was almost a decent "Once in a Livetime/House of Blues" era James imitation.
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https://vimeo.com/15984151
So it at LaBrie's forum, so figure I could post it here.
I'd say stop taking requests for at least a year, Nicky.
That is fucking atrocious! It makes me want to cause physical harm to myself as I listen. The military could literally play that song in a loop to torture prisoners. It would be quite effective!
You have not learned anything and I can't even sugar coat anymore. You are a bad singer.
Stop posting these pieces of vomit thinking one of them will get praise. I lost my ability to put a positive spin on this anymore. You learn nothing. Your the child who puts his hand on the hot stove burner, cry's, then does it again repeatedly. You are destined for American Idol audition stardom.
I just realized you didn't post it PC did so I'm sorry for that part. But you do keep making them instead of learning how to fucking sing!
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You have a very fitting avatar for that post, tick.
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You have a very fitting avatar for that post, tick.
Thank you. I meant every word of it. Listening to that link made me irritable, for real!
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https://vimeo.com/15984151
So it at LaBrie's forum, so figure I could post it here.
I'd say stop taking requests for at least a year, Nicky.
That is fucking atrocious! It makes me want to cause physical harm to myself as I listen. The military could literally play that song in a loop to torture prisoners. It would be quite effective!
You have not learned anything and I can't even sugar coat anymore. You are a bad singer.
Stop posting these pieces of vomit thinking one of them will get praise. I lost my ability to put a positive spin on this anymore. You learn nothing. Your the child who puts his hand on the hot stove burner, cry's, then does it again repeatedly. You are destined for American Idol audition stardom.
I just realized you didn't post it PC did so I'm sorry for that part. But you do keep making them instead of learning how to fucking sing!
Dude, you can't say stuff like that. It's cyber bullying. Honestly. "Fucking atrocious," "torture prisoners," "pieces of vomit," etc. If you don't like it, just say that politely. Don't dump on the guy with a hurtful tone. We can discuss the clips more respectfully without being nasty. ;)
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https://vimeo.com/15984151
So it at LaBrie's forum, so figure I could post it here.
I'd say stop taking requests for at least a year, Nicky.
That is fucking atrocious! It makes me want to cause physical harm to myself as I listen. The military could literally play that song in a loop to torture prisoners. It would be quite effective!
You have not learned anything and I can't even sugar coat anymore. You are a bad singer.
Stop posting these pieces of vomit thinking one of them will get praise. I lost my ability to put a positive spin on this anymore. You learn nothing. Your the child who puts his hand on the hot stove burner, cry's, then does it again repeatedly. You are destined for American Idol audition stardom.
I just realized you didn't post it PC did so I'm sorry for that part. But you do keep making them instead of learning how to fucking sing!
Dude, you can't say stuff like that. It's cyber bullying. Honestly. "Fucking atrocious," "torture prisoners," "pieces of vomit," etc. If you don't like it, just say that politely. Don't dump on the guy with a hurtful tone. We can discuss the clips more respectfully without being nasty. ;)
Tick is def being harsh, but in his defense he was being incredibly constructive and kind to Nicky in previous posts when all this started. Nicky has since ignored all of Tick's advice and continued to post really really bad vocal performances for the world to see and criticize. So I can definitely see where Tick's frustration is coming from. I feel for you Tick!
I looked at his thread in the JLB forum, and one guy criticized constructively and the follow up poster said, oh don't be mean it was good and I think you improved nicky!
Nicky then completely ignored the criticism post (which was really sound advice) and commented on the guy giving him praise saying something along the lines of "Thanks I think I sound good and improved to". This is detrimental to Nicky trying to become a good singer. He fails to see his own fail. You can only be better if you are critical of yourself.
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From his ''biography''
In the fall of 2009 Nicky was deadly ill after food poisoning. He had to throw up all the time. He ruptured his vocal chords and after that he couldn't even sing anymore. Nicky went to a doctor and the doctor said he should rest his voice for half a year. Nicky didn't, in fact he was in the middle in a record of his debut album with Century Crash. His voice was far from normal. He lost a part of his vocal range, the voice cracked most of the time, was weak and it was fast tired.
https://nickyspanjaards.comule.com/1_2_Biography.html
God stop trying to be JLB. You need to find your own style.
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Honestly, if I were Nicky I'd take all the videos of me singing DT stuff down. I'd just leave the Iced Earth and Megadeath ones up. I'm VERY surprised no-one has posted these anywhere where they'd got viral yet, because I think certain ones definitely could. But if they do, the fact that your name and personal information are EVERYWHERE could be a lot of trouble for you.
Just sayin'
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https://vimeo.com/15984151
So it at LaBrie's forum, so figure I could post it here.
I'd say stop taking requests for at least a year, Nicky.
That is fucking atrocious! It makes me want to cause physical harm to myself as I listen. The military could literally play that song in a loop to torture prisoners. It would be quite effective!
You have not learned anything and I can't even sugar coat anymore. You are a bad singer.
Stop posting these pieces of vomit thinking one of them will get praise. I lost my ability to put a positive spin on this anymore. You learn nothing. Your the child who puts his hand on the hot stove burner, cry's, then does it again repeatedly. You are destined for American Idol audition stardom.
I just realized you didn't post it PC did so I'm sorry for that part. But you do keep making them instead of learning how to fucking sing!
Dude, you can't say stuff like that. It's cyber bullying. Honestly. "Fucking atrocious," "torture prisoners," "pieces of vomit," etc. If you don't like it, just say that politely. Don't dump on the guy with a hurtful tone. We can discuss the clips more respectfully without being nasty. ;)
It's not cyber bullying, it's a bit of a dick way to get your point across but not bullying. It's not like he is picking on him over and over for no good reason and if he were to do that the mods would step in.
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Something tells me the only thing that will get through to him will be if JLB steps in and does some critiquing.
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I STILL think this is funny. Not because of the singing, but because of the overall presentation of everything combined together.
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I STILL think this is funny. Not because of the singing, but because of the overall presentation of everything combined together.
In particular, his photo that he uses for promotion. lulz. I think he may want to drop the Nicky thing too. I mean, using the name Nicky comes across as childish. It does to me anyway. I feel like using his full name would make him look at least a little more serious. Of course all this is moot because he can't sing well yet.
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I STILL think this is funny. Not because of the singing, but because of the overall presentation of everything combined together.
I feel like using his full name would make him look at least a little more serious.
Kevin James LaBrie. :neverusethis:
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I STILL think this is funny. Not because of the singing, but because of the overall presentation of everything combined together.
Have you seen his website? It's ridiculous how the guy takes himself too seriously.
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I STILL think this is funny. Not because of the singing, but because of the overall presentation of everything combined together.
Have you seen his webosite? It's ridiculous how the guy takes himself too seriously.
You haven't read the rest of the thread have you.
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I STILL think this is funny. Not because of the singing, but because of the overall presentation of everything combined together.
Have you seen his webosite? It's ridiculous how the guy takes himself too seriously.
You haven't read the rest of the thread have you.
Not all the 7 pages :-\
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:lol
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I STILL think this is funny. Not because of the singing, but because of the overall presentation of everything combined together.
Have you seen his webosite? It's ridiculous how the guy takes himself too seriously.
You haven't read the rest of the thread have you.
Not all the 7 pages :-\
If you think the website is entertaining, I assure you that you will find this whole thread to be worth reading. :D
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I know I'm hooked. I've been following ever so closely
:corn
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https://vimeo.com/15984151
So it at LaBrie's forum, so figure I could post it here.
I'd say stop taking requests for at least a year, Nicky.
That is fucking atrocious! It makes me want to cause physical harm to myself as I listen. The military could literally play that song in a loop to torture prisoners. It would be quite effective!
You have not learned anything and I can't even sugar coat anymore. You are a bad singer.
Stop posting these pieces of vomit thinking one of them will get praise. I lost my ability to put a positive spin on this anymore. You learn nothing. Your the child who puts his hand on the hot stove burner, cry's, then does it again repeatedly. You are destined for American Idol audition stardom.
I just realized you didn't post it PC did so I'm sorry for that part. But you do keep making them instead of learning how to fucking sing!
Dude, you can't say stuff like that. It's cyber bullying. Honestly. "Fucking atrocious," "torture prisoners," "pieces of vomit," etc. If you don't like it, just say that politely. Don't dump on the guy with a hurtful tone. We can discuss the clips more respectfully without being nasty. ;)
It's not cyber bullying, it's a bit of a dick way to get your point across but not bullying. It's not like he is picking on him over and over for no good reason and if he were to do that the mods would step in.
Maybe its being a dick? I thinks its brutal honesty. I'll let others form their own opinion on that. I won't back down from what I said, because its all true. I don't bully anyone. I gave him harsh criticism because its warranted. The kid is on another planet. He will thank anyone who will give him praise and ignore the others. Nicky should listen to my vocals and rip me apart if he wants? I know I am not a virtuoso singer, but I at least can feel like I am an actual singer and not someone who is off key and tone def who has a messegeboard. "The official website of vocalist Nicky Spanjaards" Delusional.
C'mon...get real.
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This is epic :lol
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I looked at his thread in the JLB forum, and one guy criticized constructively and the follow up poster said, oh don't be mean it was good and I think you improved nicky!
Nicky then completely ignored the criticism post (which was really sound advice) and commented on the guy giving him praise saying something along the lines of "Thanks I think I sound good and improved to".
I don't find this surprising at all. What's the reason he posted his stuff on this forum? He wanted to be praised. That's why he built up the web page, doing "requests" etc. etc. He wants to be the "big thing" and wants to hear it from people that he's on the way to be that.
So, that didn't work out because he gets a lot of flak on this forum for his poor singing, and then he just goes the path of least resistance to still get what he wants (being praised), by posting his stuff on the JLB forum where people are too polite to be honest.
rumborak
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Maybe Nicky would be better in a different style of music, like punk or something. Prog metal requires a lot of precision. He definitely has the passion, energy and vocal power, but it his current tone and precision don't seem to fit the genre too well in my opinion. Maybe a different style of music would better suit his voice. In certain spots, his sound reminds me a bit of Chuck Moseley, the vocalist of early Faith No More.
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Maybe Nicky would be better in a different style of music, like punk or something. Prog metal requires a lot of precision. He definitely has the passion, energy and vocal power, but it his current tone and precision don't seem to fit the genre too well in my opinion. Maybe a different style of music would better suit his voice. In certain spots, his sound reminds me a bit of Chuck Moseley, the vocalist of early Faith No More.
A serial killer can have"passion, energy and vocal power", but that doesn't mean they can sing? :)
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I have tons of respect for tick for telling it how it is. :tup
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I love the cycle of this thread.
Nick - Hey guys, I'm a singer from holland, here are some vids of me singing DT. I'll take any requests you have!
Most posters - Nicky....that wasn't very good, here is some advice to help....
Nick - THANKS! I'll do all of those things.
Nick - Ok, it's been 2 minutes, I improved, here's more vids!
Most posters -Nicky, that's terrible. You aren't listening to the criticism
Some posters - Nicky, you have great passion and I think I might have noticed a little bit of improvment
Nick - Thanks! I think I improved too! Here's more vids
Most posters - Nick...terrible....stop...get better first
Some posters - Stop being mean to him you douches!
Nick - Yea, I deserve respect.
It just keeps going and going and going.
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.
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I know I'm hooked. I've been following ever so closely
:corn
That's the code I was looking for!
:heart
Is that regular or cheddar flavor?
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I know I'm hooked. I've been following ever so closely
:corn
That's the code I was looking for!
:heart
Is that regular or cheddar flavor?
It's a mix of both!
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I know I'm hooked. I've been following ever so closely
:corn
That's the code I was looking for!
:heart
Is that regular or cheddar flavor?
Cheddar certainly be appropriate for this thread.
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Why the hell is this thread still in the DT section?
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Why does Nicky try using an auto-tune device for his recordings? I don't know too much about them, but sometimes they sound cool. Of course, that doesn't correct the fundamental problems he's having, but it could improve the finished recordings.
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Why does Nicky try using an auto-tune device for his recordings? I don't know too much about them, but sometimes they sound cool. Of course, that doesn't correct the fundamental problems he's having, but it could improve the finished recordings.
He doesn't need to cheat himself any further
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Why does Nicky try using an auto-tune device for his recordings? I don't know too much about them, but sometimes they sound cool. Of course, that doesn't correct the fundamental problems he's having, but it could improve the finished recordings.
Because these aren't products, they're showcases. If you use autotune on something to show case your voice, then what the hell are you show casing?
I mean, if he's recording an album and uses some autotune, fine...most singers do that. But he's just trying to show us what a great singer he is. Auotune would make him sound better, but it wouldn't actually make him better.
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Why does Nicky try using an auto-tune device for his recordings? I don't know too much about them, but sometimes they sound cool. Of course, that doesn't correct the fundamental problems he's having, but it could improve the finished recordings.
He doesn't need to cheat himself any further
There's a difference in slight touch-up with autotune and completely abusing it.
I would bet money that James LaBrie has probably used autotune at some point in time.
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Why the hell is this thread still in the DT section?
Because outside of the drummer situation, this is the most exciting thing occurring in the DT universe at this time.
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Why does Nicky try using an auto-tune device for his recordings? I don't know too much about them, but sometimes they sound cool. Of course, that doesn't correct the fundamental problems he's having, but it could improve the finished recordings.
He doesn't need to cheat himself any further
s. i
There's a difference in slight touch-up with autotune and completely abusing it.
I would bet money that James LaBrie has probably used autotune at some point in time.
He said himself that he uses it in recording. It's fine to use as long as it doesn't make you sound WAY better than you are. Which it would with nicky.
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It's a great tool when you have a great 20 second take that is marred by one slightly-off note. On Nicky's vocals it would sound like "I got a feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas.
rumborak
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:lol
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Why does Nicky try using an auto-tune device for his recordings? I don't know too much about them, but sometimes they sound cool. Of course, that doesn't correct the fundamental problems he's having, but it could improve the finished recordings.
He doesn't need to cheat himself any further
There's a difference in slight touch-up with autotune and completely abusing it.
I would bet money that James LaBrie has probably used autotune at some point in time.
I know all about auto-tune man. What I'm saying here is what Adami already touched on. Nicky is trying to showcase his talent and get criticism on it. Auto tune would just make him sound better than he is and he'd never get better.
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Why does Nicky try using an auto-tune device for his recordings? I don't know too much about them, but sometimes they sound cool. Of course, that doesn't correct the fundamental problems he's having, but it could improve the finished recordings.
He doesn't need to cheat himself any further
There's a difference in slight touch-up with autotune and completely abusing it.
I would bet money that James LaBrie has probably used autotune at some point in time.
I know all about auto-tune man. What I'm saying here is what Adami already touched on. Nicky is trying to showcase his talent and get criticism on it. Auto tune would just make him sound better than he is and he'd never get better.
Getting better is not his goal. I'm sure Nicky has ordered himself an autotune in the past couple hours. My guess is he will buy one, use it in his next video then post it to ask if he's getting better.
He'll be all like....
(https://www.therushforum.com/html/emoticons/coy.gif)
"hey guys, gettin better eh? Want to join my messegeboard?"
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Tick lives for this thread now :biggrin:
I would suggest just detaching from this. This has gotten awfully personal for you :lol
Just let it go. I'm admiring and giggling from a distance. It is what it is and no insult or temper tantrum will change anything, sadly.
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Tick is my hero in this thread. I found the videos difficult to listen to, but not having any training as a singer I didn't feel qualified to comment on them.
Nicky - do you want to shut everyone here up? Compete in and win the DTF karaoke and show us up: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=17627.0 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=17627.0)
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Tick lives for this thread now :biggrin:
I would suggest just detaching from this. This has gotten awfully personal for you :lol
Just let it go. I'm admiring and giggling from a distance. It is what it is and no insult or temper tantrum will change anything, sadly.
I know. Its like watching a car wreck. Its hard to walk away from the scene. :biggrin:
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Tick is my hero in this thread. I found the videos difficult to listen to, but not having any training as a singer I didn't feel qualified to comment on them.
Nicky - do you want to shut everyone here up? Compete in and win the DTF karaoke and show us up: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=17627.0 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=17627.0)
Now why would you go and do that?! :lol
Tick lives for this thread now :biggrin:
I would suggest just detaching from this. This has gotten awfully personal for you :lol
Just let it go. I'm admiring and giggling from a distance. It is what it is and no insult or temper tantrum will change anything, sadly.
I know. Its like watching a car wreck. Its hard to walk away from the scene. :biggrin:
I suppose...
I just hope it's not as long as A Nightmare to Remember :P
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Well, I gotta say if Nicky released a DT cover CD I would probably buy it at this point, lol. For better or for worse, I find myself entertained and captivated by him. I still find Nicky very endearing and likeable, despite his other short-comings.
I'm wondering what DT song, if any, he could best handle at this stage? Some of this choices so far have been difficult ones. Maybe a simpler one like "Wait for Sleep" or "Space-Dye Vest"? Idk.
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I'm in the same boat. How can you not love him? He's such a goof. In 20 years, people will look back on him more fondly. He will be a legend in the DT community :lol
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Why does Nicky try using an auto-tune device for his recordings? I don't know too much about them, but sometimes they sound cool. Of course, that doesn't correct the fundamental problems he's having, but it could improve the finished recordings.
He doesn't need to cheat himself any further
There's a difference in slight touch-up with autotune and completely abusing it.
I would bet money that James LaBrie has probably used autotune at some point in time.
I know all about auto-tune man. What I'm saying here is what Adami already touched on. Nicky is trying to showcase his talent and get criticism on it. Auto tune would just make him sound better than he is and he'd never get better.
Getting better is not his goal. I'm sure Nicky has ordered himself an autotune in the past couple hours. My guess is he will buy one, use it in his next video then post it to ask if he's getting better.
He'll be all like....
(https://www.therushforum.com/html/emoticons/coy.gif)
"hey guys, gettin better eh? Want to join my messegeboard?"
hmm good point. That's sad. I really do hope he snaps out of it, takes all the great advice that has been given to him, and goes and works his ass off to become better. :-\
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Nicky,
I'm just going to be straight with you here. You need to practice like everyone has said, the basics. I think you have actually performed worse on your Pull Me Under Cover, than you did on some of your previous ones. You need to stop trying to sing Dream Theater, and try to sing something simpler.
When I was starting out on guitar, I didn't go straight for Dream Theater or Metallica solos. I learned how to play nirvana solos. Importantly, I practiced them over and over in order to get them right. Once I was mastering that, I moved on. Now I can play the UAGM solo pretty well. And that is the course of 8 years of practice.
You really need to start from the beginning if you want to get better. Let me emphasize, you NEED to start from the beginning. Get a new vocal coach ASAP. Sing simpler and easier stuff and slowly expand your singing. You can't go from noob to JLB and Bruce Dickinson in a couple weeks. Sorry, it just won't happen and you just don't have the innate talent to do it. But that's OK! You just need to make up for it with hard work so you can make some progress. I'm not saying hard work will make you extremely good. It's not easy to be JLB vocally, that's why he's in a big respected band and highly regarded and most of us aren't. If everyone was that good, then no one would care about talent, there would be nothing special about it.
So you really need to go back and work your way up from the bottom. Stop posting DT covers for people to hear, because man they are really bad. You are all over the place in pitch and tone.
Don't cheat yourself man. Do it right.
This
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Okay, I'm sorry I'm gonna be slightly harsh, but this is getting ridiculous...I don't see why people still defend Nicky when the majority of the people who post here basically talk about suggestions to improve his singing/why he shouldn't upload anymore videos/the way he ignores all the suggestions he gets. And yet, Nicky keeps uploading those.
Now, I could careless if it was a minor thread and only in this forum, but he also posted it in JLB's forum (where people barely criticize him because of over-politeness), and hell, he made a forum for himself, which only he posts at, imitating the writing style of James' posts.
But seriously, there are 3 things that really make me roll on the floor:
1. Nicky, seriously, just because James does a certain move when performing doesn't mean you need to do that too. We understand you appreciate him, imitating him both in your "presence" and in your singing style wouldn't work well, especially if you can't get it done properly.
2. The website part 1 - dammit, that website makes me laugh. Already mentioned the writing style of James in the forums, but look at the lyrics he wrote - it's like it was taken off certain DT/JLB songs. Seize the Day - "I never saw it coming", "A heart is bleeding bad", "Remember seize the day Looking back to the moments We spent together"...didn't bother to look on the other ones.
3. That one really made me laugh...the whole vocal rupture section or the girlfriend section in the "biography". First, biographies should be written by another person, after you're known widely, I can't help betting you wrote it yourself so the whole "(so he says)" etc parts make me laugh. Also, if you REALLY had a vocal rupture, your girlfriend's love can't recover it, maybe it can happen in a bad movie. Either way, the whole vocal rupture paragraph looks like a JLB copy-paste with some name modifications.
By the way, this post -
I love the cycle of this thread.
Nick - Hey guys, I'm a singer from holland, here are some vids of me singing DT. I'll take any requests you have!
Most posters - Nicky....that wasn't very good, here is some advice to help....
Nick - THANKS! I'll do all of those things.
Nick - Ok, it's been 2 minutes, I improved, here's more vids!
Most posters -Nicky, that's terrible. You aren't listening to the criticism
Some posters - Nicky, you have great passion and I think I might have noticed a little bit of improvement
Nick - Thanks! I think I improved too! Here's more vids
Most posters - Nick...terrible....stop...get better first
Some posters - Stop being mean to him you douches!
Nick - Yea, I deserve respect.
It just keeps going and going and going.
really sums it up to me. So my opinion is, either listen to the suggestions you get and quit uploading videos for a year in which you'll train A LOT, or tone down your work overall. A website like that telling about you before you actually released anything close to a good song, telling about you and a few unknown bands is really not something to be taken seriously, especially with so many references to your idol. Also, when people give you tips, use them, don't just say "yes I'll do that", upload a video after a day and redo all your mistakes.
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I can't help betting you wrote it yourself so the whole "(so he says)" etc parts make me laugh.
Of course he wrote that himself. Who else could have? The flock of fans on his forum?
The thing I absolutely don't understand about this thing is, I mean we've all been there at some point. Getting a bit too excited about some new endeavor we entered, and wanting to share our achievement with the world.
Here's the rub: After the first few days of the responses in this thread, I would have looked at my website, my forum, my videos and would have thought: "Holy f***ing shit, I look like a moron, I better erase all of this and regroup behind the enemy lines."
Not so here. This thread has been going for a month (!!!) and Nicky hasn't even bothered taking down the Bad Burrito picture.
That's what I don't get. I don't think he's mentally ill or whatever, but something doesn't click in him that clicks in most people.
rumborak
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That's because the people who support him are right. And the people who don't support him are wrong and mean.
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I can't help betting you wrote it yourself so the whole "(so he says)" etc parts make me laugh.
Of course he wrote that himself. Who else could have? The flock of fans on his forum?
The thing I absolutely don't understand about this thing is, I mean we've all been there at some point. Getting a bit too excited about some new endeavor we entered, and wanting to share our achievement with the world.
Here's the rub: After the first few days of the responses in this thread, I would have looked at my website, my forum, my videos and would have thought: "Holy f***ing shit, I look like a moron, I better erase all of this and regroup behind the enemy lines."
Not so here. This thread has been going for a month (!!!) and Nicky hasn't even bothered taking down the Bad Burrito picture.
That's what I don't get. I don't think he's mentally ill or whatever, but something doesn't click in him that clicks in most people.
rumborak
He can't do nothin to the Bad Burrito photo, its in my photobucket! :lol
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I apologize to all those I called douches.
I never realized how ignorant this guy was. :tdwn
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I apologize to all those I called douches.
I never realized how ignorant this guy was. :tdwn
No worries! :tup
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Well, I gotta say if Nicky released a DT cover CD I would probably buy it at this point, lol. For better or for worse, I find myself entertained and captivated by him. I still find Nicky very endearing and likeable, despite his other short-comings.
I'm wondering what DT song, if any, he could best handle at this stage? Some of this choices so far have been difficult ones. Maybe a simpler one like "Wait for Sleep" or "Space-Dye Vest"? Idk.
The end of Wait for Sleep is a lot harder than it looks however Space-Dye Vest is remarkably easy to sing given the vocals are quite steady. A few songs I have found that are "accessable" for the beginner: Hallowed Years, Disappear, Vacant and The Answer Lies Within. For absolute beginners I recommend Ytse-Jam and Stream of Consciousness.
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Well, I gotta say if Nicky released a DT cover CD I would probably buy it at this point, lol. For better or for worse, I find myself entertained and captivated by him. I still find Nicky very endearing and likeable, despite his other short-comings.
I'm wondering what DT song, if any, he could best handle at this stage? Some of this choices so far have been difficult ones. Maybe a simpler one like "Wait for Sleep" or "Space-Dye Vest"? Idk.
The end of Wait for Sleep is a lot harder than it looks however Space-Dye Vest is remarkably easy to sing given the vocals are quite steady. A few songs I have found that are "accessable" for the beginner: Hallowed Years, Disappear, Vacant and The Answer Lies Within. For absolute beginners I recommend Ytse-Jam and Stream of Consciousness.
Did Mebert really say he would buy Nicky's CD? All I can do is... :facepalm:
"I find myself entertained and captivated by him. I still find Nicky very endearing and likeable"
Really? I find I want to hurt people when I listen to him sing.
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Well, I gotta say if Nicky released a DT cover CD I would probably buy it at this point, lol. For better or for worse, I find myself entertained and captivated by him. I still find Nicky very endearing and likeable, despite his other short-comings.
I'm wondering what DT song, if any, he could best handle at this stage? Some of this choices so far have been difficult ones. Maybe a simpler one like "Wait for Sleep" or "Space-Dye Vest"? Idk.
The end of Wait for Sleep is a lot harder than it looks however Space-Dye Vest is remarkably easy to sing given the vocals are quite steady. A few songs I have found that are "accessable" for the beginner: Hallowed Years, Disappear, Vacant and The Answer Lies Within. For absolute beginners I recommend Ytse-Jam and Stream of Consciousness.
Did Mebert really say he would buy Nicky's CD? All I can do is... :facepalm:
"I find myself entertained and captivated by him. I still find Nicky very endearing and likeable"
Really? I find I want to hurt people when I listen to him sing.
Yea, I did say that. But it would have to be a DT cover CD. And it's mostly because of the intrigue factor at this point. I find him somewhat fascinating. Just being honest. You left out the phrase "for better or for worse" when you quoted me, lol. Without that, it sounds like I think he's great. I don't. I'm mostly intrigued.
The bottom line, Nicky has kinda carved out a spot for himself and this thread has had some staying power, lol. It might be the William Hung factor, but he's intrigued us. If he gets better down the road, it's a great story.
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Yea. I know there's a lot of great vocalists here at DTF. But Nicky gets my vote as the "voice" of DTF.
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I can't help thinking Nicky would have been a great candidate for the "WB Superstar" It was a mock American Idol where contestants thought they were winning a legit contest, but the joke in the end was they were looking for America's worst singer. In the end, the winner found out they won for being bad. It was hilarious.
This is the synopsis video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyIkKlCtPmE
This guy "Jo Jo" was my favorite. Him singing Beyonce made me fall off my coach!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd1QIpH3lw0
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^^^^
THE PAIN!!! IT HURTS!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!! :loser:
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.
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shit sandwich
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He's still reading this thread, that's the interesting part.
rumborak
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Now, I could careless if it was a minor thread and only in this forum, but he also posted it in JLB's forum (where people barely criticize him because of over-politeness)
Well, I told him this:
Nicky, I'm going to suggest that you follow Freko's advice regarding practicing pitch. Save the covers until after you've got that nailed, otherwise you're building on bad foundations.
So, quite naturally, he said this:
I will do first Solitary Shell, which is also a great song in my opinion.
You're right, we must be being too polite. :facepalm:
Anyone reminded of the Simpson's episode where Lisa sets up the Cupcake wired to a battery and Bart finds it, touches it, gets shocked, goes "ouch", touches it again, gets shocked, goes "ouch", touches it again, gets shocked.....
I think the line "I won't sing hard DT songs" should be modified to "I won't sing DT songs, period". I forgot about the Beatles. That's a great place to start.
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Well, I challenged him to sing Somewhere over the rainbow, I guess he's not gonna do that after all.
rumborak
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I can't help thinking Nicky would have been a great candidate for the "WB Superstar" It was a mock American Idol where contestants thought they were winning a legit contest, but the joke in the end was they were looking for America's worst singer. In the end, the winner found out they won for being bad. It was hilarious.
This is the synopsis video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyIkKlCtPmE
This guy "Jo Jo" was my favorite. Him singing Beyonce made me fall off my coach!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd1QIpH3lw0
Holy shit, where was I for this? Genius :lol
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Well, I challenged him to sing Somewhere over the rainbow, I guess he's not gonna do that after all.
rumborak
Nicky here is a hint, there is an octave leap from one note to another SOMEWHERE in this song.
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I can't help thinking Nicky would have been a great candidate for the "WB Superstar" It was a mock American Idol where contestants thought they were winning a legit contest, but the joke in the end was they were looking for America's worst singer. In the end, the winner found out they won for being bad. It was hilarious.
This is the synopsis video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyIkKlCtPmE
This guy "Jo Jo" was my favorite. Him singing Beyonce made me fall off my coach!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd1QIpH3lw0
I feel dumber for having watched some of that.
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I can't help thinking Nicky would have been a great candidate for the "WB Superstar" It was a mock American Idol where contestants thought they were winning a legit contest, but the joke in the end was they were looking for America's worst singer. In the end, the winner found out they won for being bad. It was hilarious.
This is the synopsis video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyIkKlCtPmE
This guy "Jo Jo" was my favorite. Him singing Beyonce made me fall off my coach!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd1QIpH3lw0
I feel dumber for having watched some of that.
Perhaps you are? :tick2:
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.
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(https://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/795401_3001-1-2.jpg)
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...and so it begins :lol
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(https://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/795401_3001-1-2.jpg)
You know he'll completely misconstrue this as a complement.
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What does it say on there? "Die God"?
(I assume this is meant as kinda like "Das Auto", because those things are German. Nicky is Dutch. The equivalent would be "het God")
rumborak
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What does it say on there? "Die God"?
(I assume this is meant as kinda like "Das Auto", because those things are German. Nicky is Dutch. The equivalent would be "het God")
rumborak
It says DTF God
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What does it say on there? "Die God"?
(I assume this is meant as kinda like "Das Auto", because those things are German. Nicky is Dutch. The equivalent would be "het God")
rumborak
Yeah, fuck you God :lol
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What does it say on there? "Die God"?
rumborak
:lol WTF! NO! "DTF GOD"
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I hope all those "Nicky is a DTF god/the voice of DTF" comments are 100% jokes, or we have a little problem :lol
Either way, if you're already talking about easy songs to start from, I'd say songs like Mullmuzzler's "Listening" are rather easy, but then again, I'm absolutely NOWHERE near being a singer (not even an amateur one)...
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I hope all those "Nicky is a DTF god/the voice of DTF" comments are 100% jokes, or we have a little problem :lol
Either way, if you're already talking about easy songs to start from, I'd say songs like Mullmuzzler's "Listening" are rather easy, but then again, I'm absolutely NOWHERE near being a singer (not even an amateur one)...
Read some of my past posts in this thread and tell me if its a joke? :tick2:
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(https://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/795401_3001-1-2.jpg)
You know he'll completely misconstrue this as a complement.
and a flood of new videos will ensue! :lol
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(https://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/795401_3001-1-2.jpg)
You know he'll completely misconstrue this as a complement.
and a flood of new videos will ensue! :lol
Oh no what have you done? :lol
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Seriously tick, now Nicky will link this to his forum/website and all of his hundreds/thounsands of devoted fans will come here and yell at us for saying he needs to work on his voice!
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posted in the photoshop members page, but I think it belongs here as well.
(https://filebox.vt.edu/users/mrouser/nicky.jpg)
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Hi Nick! Sorry but your covers are simply unlisteneable...I don't even try to explain why..Just too many things. Try another job or go take singing and music lessons until you can pull off something cool! It's impossible to sing songs from DT while having no technique! We are not tryng to hurt anyone, but if you post something like this on a forum you'd be prepared to the comments ;) take care
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Hi Nick! Sorry but your covers are simply unlisteneable...I don't even try to explain why..Just too many things. Try another job or go take singing and music lessons until you can pull off something cool! It's impossible to sing songs from DT while having no technique! We are not tryng to hurt anyone, but if you post something like this on a forum you'd be prepared to the comments ;) take care
This is Awake87's first forum post. Do you get it Nicky?
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Hi Nick! Sorry but your covers are simply unlisteneable...I don't even try to explain why..Just too many things. Try another job or go take singing and music lessons until you can pull off something cool! It's impossible to sing songs from DT while having no technique! We are not tryng to hurt anyone, but if you post something like this on a forum you'd be prepared to the comments ;) take care
This is Awake87's first forum post. Do you get it Nicky?
Oh God... :lol
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I'm just waiting for his cover of Learning To Live. I feel he's going to take this thread as a personal challenge, and thusly aim for the stars.
Fix'd.
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I'm just waiting for his cover of Learning To Live. I feel he's going to take this thread as a prasonal challenge, and thusly aim for the stars.
I don't know what the word "prasonal" means but Nicky has no interest in becoming a better vocalist. He already thinks he is, and all he needs to do is keep on singing and that alone will make him better. If he does it long enough he will get somewhat better but right now he is just plain old bad so...
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I'm just waiting for his cover of Learning To Live. I feel he's going to take this thread as a prasonal challenge, and thusly aim for the stars.
I was thinking the same. Watch him nail the F#. :lol
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I'm just waiting for his cover of Learning To Live. I feel he's going to take this thread as a prasonal challenge, and thusly aim for the stars.
I was thinking the same. Watch him nail the F#. :lol
Oh he's going to rupture a ball in that attempt!
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Nicky, you should do some vocal covers of Mars Volta.
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Nicky, you should do some vocal covers of Mars Volta.
Nicky should become a mime who performs Dream Theater songs.
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Nicky, you should do some vocal covers of Mars Volta.
LOL. Just imagine Nicky performing this music in a video.
The thing is, this guys pitch sucks too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH11YFqMoB0&feature=related
Just goes to show you Nicky, even if you decided to stop trying, there's still a chance you can be a famous singer.
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I honestly think this guy could be a halfway decent singer, if he actually put some time and effort into working on it. But again, he has no interest in this, and no progress will be made. But I do believe we've arived at this conclusion multiple times.
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I hate to say it but this thread probably should be locked.
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What I'm about to say is the honest truth. I thought that you were quite decent at times, but really off at others. Like we've said, the real problem was the lack of a sense of pitch. Don't lay your vocals over JLB's. When you do, we can tell just how off you are. Fuck, we can even hear the wah-wah's of being off a half-step. However, I do think that you have some potential. Your Maiden cover was not too shabby. Since you're still at quite a young age, you are in a position where I wouldn't be surprised if you sang something that blows us away in a few years. But as for now...work on improving.
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(I still have a few old records of me singing along with DT for evidence).
I want to hear this.
Here are the video's I recorded in the time I had the vocal injury:
Pull Me under:
https://vimeo.com/16138511
And a part of The Killing Hand:
https://vimeo.com/16138973
And for those who say I haven't learned anything...well listen to this and to the covers now. There is a time of +/- 11 months between them.
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I thought they were supposed to be from before your vocal injury? Meh. Honestly, these videos don't tell us much to prove you really had a vocal rupture. If anything, you coulda just sung them really poorly intentionally to fool us. I mean, it sounds like you're trying to sing out of pitch.
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OK. I just wanted to see and hear for myself. Well. Do you really hear what you're singing? It's off most of the time. Btw, why didn't you try singing without James's voice? I think it would do you good. Maybe you'd b able to hear yourself singing and hear what's amiss.
B.Lee
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No, these were recorded at the time I had my vocal injury. Sorry if it was not clear. Didn't they really gave prove? Well sorry about that, but it is the best evidence I have. And I didn't sung them really poorly to fool you. Why would I? And there is a lot of evidence in it. I used another microphone, my voice cracked all over the place and in The Killing Hand you can even hear some hick-ups, especially the one in "Will it be the same?" You hear Sahaaa -hick-aaaa-hick-aaame. That's something I can't even do anymore!
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Well then looking forward to how things sound in another +/- 11 months :tup
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There is a noticable improvement but I must say there is still a lot more room for improvement. Key issues being: stop singing using someone else's style and start developing a style of your own. Switching between the melodic and the pseudo-scream isn't working at all. You still have breathing issues. This is very evident with the "watch the sparrow falling" section. This is where the head voice is key and this is what I need to work on so believe me when I tell you, you need to work on this too. Also....relax. relax, relax, relax x1000. You are straining your voice and it really sounds as if you are doing damage to your voice in singing that way. You really need to relax your voice. The song is clearly out of your range. I would push it down a fifth in the very least. Audio editing software can help you this. Again, you don't have to sing a song 100% accurate to be a cover, there are plenty of singers out there that push down the vocals just so they can sing them. There is nothing wrong in this and shows a clear indication of knowing your limits.
This thread has basically stated more times than I cound now what you need to work on. Why do you insist on trying to prove you don't need to work on them by continuing to post videos of your improvement? you have improved but that never the point of this thread. That is to prove you have improved from 2009 to now. We are simply asking you to work on it and come back in a year. I don't think this forum is going anywhere so you have all the time in the world. I am also working on my voice and plan to post a few covers in the future, but that won't happen for at least another year and a half. I clearly have patience and I'm twice your age. ;)
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Thanks for sharing these, nicky. Keep the passion going. I live your spirit and enthusiasm. Personally, I would love to hear "Wait for Sleep" sometime down the road.
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What Vivace said, really. While you may or may not have had that "vocal chord rupture", it has never been the issue we are criticizing. You are off as many times in those videos as you are off in the newer ones. And we don't have the impression you are working on that.
EDIT: BTW, I'm not sure whether you are aware of this, but we're having a Karaoke thread right now in the GD area. Fiery Windu submitted an excellent cover of Wither: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=17627.msg642588#msg642588
I think it's important as a musician to know where you fit in in terms of the "hierachy", and Fiery Windu's peformance is something you could work towards in terms of quality. In case you have any illusions, he sings far better than you currently, and he has a lot of good habits you can copy.
rumborak
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I'm not quite sure what did those videos prove...I mean, now I know he sang even worse a year ago, but it could always be a flu or whatever, or like PC said, a lie. It still doesn't prove he was any better than that, and doesn't reflect his potential.
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Sit down at a piano and go up and down the keys until you can nail your pitches better. Please. Before you make any other videos. Really prove to us that you can do it by resisting the temptation. It will only make you look worse if next week you put up another one. You must realize that you will continue to be ripped apart until you truly make the effort.
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Sit down at a piano and go up and down the keys until you can nail your pitches better. Please. Before you make any other videos. Really prove to us that you can do it by resisting the temptation. It will only make you look worse if next week you put up another one. You must realize that you will continue to be ripped apart until you truly make the effort.
Those were video's I recorded last year ;)
What Vivace said, really. While you may or may not have had that "vocal chord rupture", it has never been the issue we are criticizing. You are off as many times in those videos as you are off in the newer ones. And we don't have the impression you are working on that.
EDIT: BTW, I'm not sure whether you are aware of this, but we're having a Karaoke thread right now in the GD area. Fiery Windu submitted an excellent cover of Wither: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=17627.msg642588#msg642588
I think it's important as a musician to know where you fit in in terms of the "hierachy", and Fiery Windu's peformance is something you could work towards in terms of quality. In case you have any illusions, he sings far better than you currently, and he has a lot of good habits you can copy.
rumborak
I wasn't aware of that, thanks for sharing, I'll definitely sign up!
Next week I get my new microphone and then I'm going to cover Wait For Sleep for the Karaoke thread and after that I won't post any more video's for at least around a year! :smiley:
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FYI, Nicky, the DT round is not until Round 8, which will be many moons from now. The first round is any song you like (except DT), so this is definitely the perfect time to post something that is not James LaBrie.
Song's due by Wednesday. Glad you feel like signing up.
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If he's only actually going to enter with one song, just let him post DT.
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If this man sings another DT song, I think the world may end.
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Sit down at a piano and go up and down the keys until you can nail your pitches better. Please. Before you make any other videos. Really prove to us that you can do it by resisting the temptation. It will only make you look worse if next week you put up another one. You must realize that you will continue to be ripped apart until you truly make the effort.
Those were video's I recorded last year ;)
Regardless, it's still sound advice. Please leave and return when this is done.
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That version of Wither on the Karoke thread was pretty good. 90/10 pitch wise which in my opinion is grand. The only advice I would give is dynamics. Regardless, it was certainly something I listened all the way to the end. I think that's the sign of a good vocal performance. That is, if most listeners here or on any forum are actually able to sit through the whole performance. Most of the tim on Youtube I have to stop the video before I throw up.
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I wasn't aware of that, thanks for sharing, I'll definitely sign up!
Next week I get my new microphone and then I'm going to cover Wait For Sleep for the Karaoke thread and after that I won't post any more video's for at least around a year! :smiley:
Well, you have to stick to the rules of the competition. The first song has to be submitted by Wednesday, and it can't be a DT song. Don't worry about the microphone; despite of what you think of us, we can very well recognize a good vocal performance through a cheap microphone. Some of the submissions in that thread have been recorded with worse equipment than you have, and they still received praise.
rumborak
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Nicky, you're young, you already had vocal issues (vocal rupture you said, or something like that..)and still continue to damage your voice. And first of all, you have no TALENT.. Sorry, don't take this as an offense! This means that you simply can't go and sing whatever you want and pretend to sound good without having no idea of pitch and thecnique.. Even for talented people it's essential to study hard and improving to became a real singer!! Considering the point you are at now, forget to sing difficult songs like those you posted. Forget to sound like James LaBrie and trying to fit his own style.. you can't even sing in the right pitch! Singing is NOT just screaming to reach high notes and jump around the room to look 'cool' ;)
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Nicky, you're young, you already had vocal issues (vocal rupture you said, or something like that..)and still continue to damage your voice. And first of all, you have no TALENT.. Sorry, don't take this as an offense! This means that you simply can't go and sing whatever you want and pretend to sound good without having no idea of pitch and thecnique.. Even for talented people it's essential to study hard and improving to became a real singer!! Considering the point you are at now, forget to sing difficult songs like those you posted. Forget to sound like James LaBrie and trying to fit his own style.. you can't even sing in the right pitch! Singing is NOT just screaming to reach high notes and jump around the room to look 'cool' ;)
Great n00b post. :clap:
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That version of Wither on the Karoke thread was pretty good. 90/10 pitch wise which in my opinion is grand.
In my opinion thats insanely good!
;)
Matt
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That version of Wither on the Karoke thread was pretty good. 90/10 pitch wise which in my opinion is grand.
In my opinion thats insanely good!
;)
Matt
grand, insanely good, all great ways to say, :tup
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Nicky, you're young, you already had vocal issues (vocal rupture you said, or something like that..)and still continue to damage your voice. And first of all, you have no TALENT.. Sorry, don't take this as an offense! This means that you simply can't go and sing whatever you want and pretend to sound good without having no idea of pitch and thecnique.. Even for talented people it's essential to study hard and improving to became a real singer!! Considering the point you are at now, forget to sing difficult songs like those you posted. Forget to sound like James LaBrie and trying to fit his own style.. you can't even sing in the right pitch! Singing is NOT just screaming to reach high notes and jump around the room to look 'cool' ;)
Great n00b post. :clap:
Sorry Vivace, English is not my first language so can you explain better please?
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Nicky, you're young, you already had vocal issues (vocal rupture you said, or something like that..)and still continue to damage your voice. And first of all, you have no TALENT.. Sorry, don't take this as an offense! This means that you simply can't go and sing whatever you want and pretend to sound good without having no idea of pitch and thecnique.. Even for talented people it's essential to study hard and improving to became a real singer!! Considering the point you are at now, forget to sing difficult songs like those you posted. Forget to sound like James LaBrie and trying to fit his own style.. you can't even sing in the right pitch! Singing is NOT just screaming to reach high notes and jump around the room to look 'cool' ;)
Great n00b post. :clap:
Sorry Vivace, English is not my first language so can you explain better please?
This wasn't me, but it's a compliment. That is, you're initial posts to the board are excellent. I wish I could say the same about my initial posts. ;)
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That version of Wither on the Karoke thread was pretty good. 90/10 pitch wise which in my opinion is grand.
In my opinion thats insanely good!
;)
Matt
grand, insanely good, all great ways to say, :tup
I was getting at the 90/10 typo ::)
But, back on topic...
I think the best advice I can offer you is to develop a practice routine. It goes the same for all instruments including the voice. Have a strict schedule everyday but mix things up so it doesn't begin to bore you. Always start with a warm up and finish with a warm down (if that makes sense ;) ), then spend a certain amount of time on one exercise before moving onto the next - keep the timings of each exercise strict so it is a productive session. Break up each session by slipping in some time singing basic songs - as you begin to improve you can exchange the songs for harder ones. One tip is to record each time you sing and play it back to yourself and criticise it so you have it clear in your head which areas you need to work on. Save these recordings and listen back to them in a few months against a newer recording of the same song to see where you have improved. Structure, routine and evaluation are all key things in learning and improving.
I would also forget about trying to sing any difficult songs at this time, which pretty much encompasses the whole DT catalog. To put it in perspective, imiagine for one minute you want to learn to play guitar, do you think you would start by trying to play the 'Under a Glass Moon' solo, or any pertucci solo (or rhythm part for that matter) ? No you wouldn't, believe me, when I started playing guitar I thought it looked easy after watching JP play on the Scenes from NY dvd, turns out its not at all as easy as it looks - much the same with singing. I always said the first song I would learn on guitar would be Pull Me Under because it was the first DT song I heard, after ~3 years I could play just about everything but the solo. The same as I couldn't play a DT song straight off I wouldn't expect many people to be able to belt out Innocence Faded on the spot having never sung in their life.
Now, I understand that you have sung before and apparently you were better before your 'vocal injury', but I would suggest forgetting everything you know, start from the basics and importantly, get a reputable vocal coach if you can afford it. Additionally, forget YouTube, Vimeo, etc. even exist - if you keep on posting videos to the standard you have been then they will probably go viral (yeah you'd become marginally famous for your singing, but not for the right reasons!)
I realise I've probably repeated alot of what has already been said but anyhoo, good luck! There has been some awesome advice given in this thread - use it!!
tl;dr version:
develop a practice routine, forget about singing DT or anything like it for the time being, start again from the basics, get a reputable teacher, take on board the advice in this thread - its good and its free!
Matt
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Nicky, you're young, you already had vocal issues (vocal rupture you said, or something like that..)and still continue to damage your voice. And first of all, you have no TALENT.. Sorry, don't take this as an offense! This means that you simply can't go and sing whatever you want and pretend to sound good without having no idea of pitch and thecnique.. Even for talented people it's essential to study hard and improving to became a real singer!! Considering the point you are at now, forget to sing difficult songs like those you posted. Forget to sound like James LaBrie and trying to fit his own style.. you can't even sing in the right pitch! Singing is NOT just screaming to reach high notes and jump around the room to look 'cool' ;)
Great n00b post. :clap:
Sorry Vivace, English is not my first language so can you explain better please?
This wasn't me, but it's a compliment. That is, you're initial posts to the board are excellent. I wish I could say the same about my initial posts. ;)
Yup, thats what I meant. :smiley:
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^^whoops. Just noticed my horrible typo. :facepalm:
Oh the 90/10 wasn't a typo. 90+10=100. ;)
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Nicky, you're young, you already had vocal issues (vocal rupture you said, or something like that..)and still continue to damage your voice. And first of all, you have no TALENT.. Sorry, don't take this as an offense! This means that you simply can't go and sing whatever you want and pretend to sound good without having no idea of pitch and thecnique.. Even for talented people it's essential to study hard and improving to became a real singer!! Considering the point you are at now, forget to sing difficult songs like those you posted. Forget to sound like James LaBrie and trying to fit his own style.. you can't even sing in the right pitch! Singing is NOT just screaming to reach high notes and jump around the room to look 'cool' ;)
Great n00b post. :clap:
Sorry Vivace, English is not my first language so can you explain better please?
This wasn't me, but it's a compliment. That is, you're initial posts to the board are excellent. I wish I could say the same about my initial posts. ;)
Oh sorry..I just noticed that :lol Thanks, anyway ;)
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I had a Nicky sighting yesterday.
(https://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa388/Ricky_Stewart/Screenshot2012-03-07at65942PM.png)
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OMG I just listened to the PMU video he made and I about pissed myself laughing. This clearly has to be a joke right?
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I think it's about time this gets locked, it doesn't need to continue be a bash Nicky thread.
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ITT I think we should all just post our own vocal covers of DT songs. I will go last
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I regret my necrothreading, so I'll post a vocal cover of a DT song this weekend.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZuFj0Oabv4&list=UU51DKwBnRqUGZcfWvrWswgQ&index=1&feature=plcp
(somebody forwarded it to me the other day)
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I made it through a whole minute. I think he's improving!
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He bought himself a better microphone (wireless) and a vocal processor (with reverb), that's for sure. Not sure about the other part.
rumborak
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A wireless mic AND reverb? What more could you possible ask from a vocalist? I think you're just nitpicking, dude.
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He does hit some highs... Now if he could control them...
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To the guy who did these covers (if he still reads this thread):
I would take classical vocal lessons. They'll help you out with some of the difficulties you've been having. If you learn that style it will help you sing other styles too.
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I made it through a whole minute. I think he's improving!
:lol
This video is actually a wee bit better than his other videos. He actually hits the high notes (sometimes; the third act was particularly bad w.r.t. pitch), but as El Jonno pointed out, he can't control them. This isn't just a problem with his high notes: he even seems to struggle to hit the low notes at 1:00 for some reason. He just can't control his voice.
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Ouch.
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i still think this is all a huge joke but man do i get some good chuckles :lol
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I am sick of everyone needlessly being harsh on him. What good does it do? How about some constructive criticism instead? How about we just stop needlessly bashing this person.
That being said. That was horrible. I'd suggest trying to learn guitar, bass, keys or drums if you want to be a musician.
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It's OK to record the voice but why show yourself in front of the camera and act like exactly James LaBrie?
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What I realized and was impressed by after I saw this video is that when you want to cover a DT song, you can choose either the studio version or a live one and there will be no difference. I hadn't paid too much attention to the music and I thought it was the studio version and then I heard a girl on 0:57 and was like: :o
Edit: Total JLB look on 2:54.
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He bought himself a better microphone (wireless) and a vocal processor (with reverb), that's for sure. Not sure about the other part.
rumborak
Yes, the microphone is a sennheiser e945 en the vocal processor is an M-one XL.
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I am sick of everyone needlessly being harsh on him. What good does it do? How about some constructive criticism instead? How about we just stop needlessly bashing this person.
That being said. That was horrible. I'd suggest trying to learn guitar, bass, keys or drums if you want to be a musician.
Trollolol
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I am sick of everyone needlessly being harsh on him. What good does it do? How about some constructive criticism instead? How about we just stop needlessly bashing this person.
That being said. That was horrible. I'd suggest trying to learn guitar, bass, keys or drums if you want to be a musician.
(https://cdn.styleforum.net/9/90/909263d6_2291482-not_sure_if_serious.jpeg)
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^ i was actually looking for that exact image but i couldnt find it :(
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I will say Nicky takes criticism better than a couple of singers who where actually in DT.
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I am sick of everyone needlessly being harsh on him. What good does it do? How about some constructive criticism instead? How about we just stop needlessly bashing this person.
That being said. That was horrible. I'd suggest trying to learn guitar, bass, keys or drums if you want to be a musician.
-snip-
^ i was actually looking for that exact image but i couldnt find it :(
It's Adami. What do you think?
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I will say Nicky takes criticism better than a couple of singers who where actually in DT.
(https://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/000/681/what-you-did-there-i-see-it.thumbnail.jpg)
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I will say Nicky takes criticism better than a couple of singers who where actually in DT.
(https://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa383/TisBOOLsheet/gif/balekermitok.gif)
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I will say Nicky takes criticism better than a couple of singers who where actually in DT.
good.........point.......
brb aliens.
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He bought himself a better microphone (wireless) and a vocal processor (with reverb), that's for sure. Not sure about the other part.
rumborak
Yes, the microphone is a sennheiser e945 en the vocal processor is an M-one XL.
Just fyi, the vocal effect is somewhat overwhelming. The rule for any effect is that you shouldn't consciously get drawn to it.
rumborak
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He bought himself a better microphone (wireless) and a vocal processor (with reverb), that's for sure. Not sure about the other part.
rumborak
Yes, the microphone is a sennheiser e945 en the vocal processor is an M-one XL.
Just fyi, the vocal effect is somewhat overwhelming. The rule for any effect is that you shouldn't consciously get drawn to it.
rumborak
I think in this case the rule is supposed to be that reverb is putty for music.
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:metal
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I feel reminded of Florence Foster Jenkins, I must say.
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He bought himself a better microphone (wireless) and a vocal processor (with reverb), that's for sure. Not sure about the other part.
rumborak
Yes, the microphone is a sennheiser e945 en the vocal processor is an M-one XL.
Just fyi, the vocal effect is somewhat overwhelming. The rule for any effect is that you shouldn't consciously get drawn to it.
rumborak
Thanks, I will lower the reverb next time.
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Nicky, you're vocal timbre has improved since I last heard it, especially in the lower-mid register. I was actually pleasantly surprised.
However, you really need to work on your control and pitch. I don't know if you're still seeing a vocal coach or not, but regardless, you need to find someone who starts you off on the basics of pitch and control. I know that might seem like moving backwards, but I have a feeling you and/or your vocal coach pushed you into singing very difficult songs before you were ready. It'll be boring, but you will thank yourself later.
The entire time I listened to this latest video, I kept thinking, "this kid would be halfway decent if he was hitting the right notes and holding them". So please consider my advice and use this as a challenge to strengthen your voice where it's weak.
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Nicky, you're vocal timbre has improved since I last heard it, especially in the lower-mid register. I was actually pleasantly surprised.
However, you really need to work on your control and pitch. I don't know if you're still seeing a vocal coach or not, but regardless, you need to find someone who starts you off on the basics of pitch and control. I know that might seem like moving backwards, but I have a feeling you and/or your vocal coach pushed you into singing very difficult songs before you were ready. It'll be boring, but you will thank yourself later.
The entire time I listened to this latest video, I kept thinking, "this kid would be halfway decent if he was hitting the right notes and holding them". So please consider my advice and use this as a challenge to strengthen your voice where it's weak.
Agreed. it's obviously very little vocal control here and there are still pitch problems. i would scrap the reverb or any vocal effects until you have completely solved your pitch and vocal control. Also, as stated before, it would be better to start on songs that are within your ability to sing with control and with pitch. It's never a good idea to jump from the highest platform until you are comfortable with all the levels up to that point.
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You are definitely improving Nicky, but you still have a long to go. :)
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Like others have said, there is marked improvement, so it means you probably haven't plateaued yet if you are willing to continuously hone your craft. The challenge for you now is to not rest on your laurels yet and keep working. I'm not a vocalist so I can't give you any specific advice, but I would suggest that while singing covers is a good way to practice and improve (since you and your coach) will have some point of reference, it might be a good idea to start developing your own voice as well. You're never going to sound like JLB, even similar voices like Steve Perry and the Filipino guy that replaced him sound a little different. The ultimate goal is to have your own band, right? So make it about you and play to your strengths.
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(https://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/000/681/what-you-did-there-i-see-it.thumbnail.jpg)
Greatest ever! :rollin
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Grab an acoustic guitar and write a bunch of acoustic stuff. Just simple chords and sing over it all, practice like that. It's quite helpful if your vocal coach is proving to be as useless as yours is.
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It's of course a mixed bag. While there are improvements, they're mostly cosmetic (microphone etc). The substantial issues, such as pitch and control, IMHO have not improved. More than a quarter of the notes are still off-pitch.
rumborak
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Nicky, whatever happened to that cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow?
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Yeah, I would still like to hear that, especially without any backing track. It's a challenging sequence of notes and key shifts. Shifting keys without backing tracks separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to singers.
rumborak
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I just saw the wait for sleep cover which I think is your best one. Good stuff
https://vimeo.com/27335440
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Thanks for the advice everyone!
I know I still have a long way to go, but I'm up for that challenge! I'm just 20, so I still have some years left :D
I still follow singing lessons, but beside that I also train with cd's that are released by professional vocal coaches.
The advice of the acoustic guitar is a great one, I'm learning guitar at the moment.
EDIT: Completely forgot about the Somewhere Over The Rainbow song! I'm going to study it and then I'll make a video of it. Keep you updated.
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I know this thread has become somewhat of a hallmark around here, but why is it still in the DT section?
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EDIT: Completely forgot about the Somewhere Over The Rainbow song! I'm going to study it and then I'll make a video of it. Keep you updated.
:tup
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Another bitchin' vocal tune is the melody of the old Star Trek series. Starts out with a minor 7th, and then has shitloads of chromatics in it.
rumborak
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Another bitchin' vocal tune is the melody of the old Star Trek series. Starts out with a minor 7th, and then has shitloads of chromatics in it.
rumborak
Good god rumby you can be cruel.
"It seems you're having trouble crawling...........I suggest you run a marathon"
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I know this thread has become somewhat of a hallmark around here, but why is it still in the DT section?
"DT" vocal covers
EDIT: Actually it could be in the musicians section too
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This thread makes me feel funny inside.
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woah how did I never see this thread?!
Nicky -- kudos for putting videos of yourself singing relatively difficult music on the internet -- I always think its a positive thing when people are moved so much by music that they learn the parts, sing along, etc., even when they may not be that good at it.
What's funny is that everyone is talking about vocal training --- that can only go so far (but it is important). What you really need is some serious EAR training. Your voice will do its own work if your ears are strong. Try this exercise. You say you've started playing some guitar -- that will help.
I've taught seemingly tone-deaf people to sing pretty damn well in tune with this exercise, over a period of time, with all different tonalities (not just major).
Step one: tune your guitar perfectly. Judging by your range, G major will be a good key to start in here.
Sing the notes G and A. The lyrics are "Do - re - major - second", playing a G major chord while singing "Do", a D major chord at "Re", Gmaj at "major" and Dmaj at "second" (so the notes you are singing: Do = G, Re = A, major = G, second = A ---- clear?)
We're going to do this for all diatonic intervals.
Next is G and B (major third), so you sing "Do - mi - major - third", but this time holding a Gmaj chord the whole time.
G and C is a perfect fourth, so you sing "Do - fa - perfect - fourth", with Gmaj and Cmaj chords alternating.
Next, G - D: "Do - sol - perfect - fifth" with Gmaj the whole time.
G - E "Do - la - major - sixth", again with Gmaj and Cmaj alternating.
G - F# "Do - ti - major - seventh", with Gmaj and Dmaj alternating.
Lastly, G - G: "Do - do - perfect - octave" with Gmaj the whole time.
then go backwards.
this will hammer basic tonality, diatonic intervals, and a simple I-IV-V progression into your head. You need this kind of concrete groundwork to build up from, so that you can sing things in tune, not just from memory of how it sounded in a song, but "ear-logically", relating things to a tonality. Everything you are singing is tonal music, and its not like you're singing every note out of tune, but its definitely not consistent. I think this exercise will help you immensely if you do it slowly. Later on you do it with natural minor and all the other modes of the major scale, and then with all the modes of harmonic minor and melodic minor.
Start doing the exercise with the guitar - the chords will help give you a "safety net" and a very clear progression to relate what you're doing to. Then try it with just a "Do" drone, in all different keys.
Then without any reference. This is the important part. RECORD THIS and listen back to how close you can stay to the original key. This is a very telling exercise, and I think you'll be able to do it.
Make a video of yourself doing the exercise with the guitar and without.
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Can I offer some rather brutal yet honest advice:
1) Someone said practice with an acoustic guitar. Do this! People seem to hear improvement. The only improvement I hear is that you have somehow managed to blanket over the problem areas with either flashy equipment or by doing something kinda weird with your voice (raspy vocals, screaming here and there, etc). This is why the acoustic guitar thing is vital. You need to drop all of this flashy equipment you have and get to the root of it all, your voice, clean, without distortion, without singing raspy or screaming.
2) For the love of God, stop practicing to CDs. You need a real, live, breathing person sitting next to you and this person needs to be absolutely unrelenting and cruel but only insofar as to push you and move you in the direction you need to go. So throw away those profession CDs with vocal coaches and fire your previous vocal coach. Go out and find a teacher that a) isn't afraid to tell you to your face that you need training b) knows "how" to train you and c) will not get you to perform tricks to mask your faults.
3) And this might be a hard thing to hear but only you can do this. You have to convince yourself that you need to start again from the basic foundations of singing. You need to unlearn (as Yoda would say) these tricks and cutting-corners and start with a baseline. I'm pretty convinced that you don't have a baseline that you are drawing from other than to emulate James Labrie. Imitation is definitely a form of flattery but I think we are beyond this right now. I mean if someone picks up a guitar they are going to start with a baseline such as classical, blues, jazz or modern and have their inspirations they draw from and try to play, just as you are drawing from Labrie and trying to sing his stuff. Good for you! But now it's time to put all of that aside. Drop the imitation routine and start singing and developing your vocal style. Your throat will thank you for it.
I think there are a few here that really believe that you can improve but you need to throw away almost everything and get outside assistance. You have the motivation.
My two cents.
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@Jazzy: He doesn't quite know how to play guitar yet, according to him. But if he did, then that advice would be great.
@Vivace: That is some excellent advice. However Nicky started posting these almost 2 years ago. In that time he has made virtually no improvement (despite some of the people here who are trying to be nice and supportive). So I really don't think that either A) He is listening to any of our advice or B) It's doing any good.
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@Jazzy: He doesn't quite know how to play guitar yet, according to him. But if he did, then that advice would be great.
I've never seen a student take more than 2 weeks to learn those 3 chords, and he seems to have the motivation to learn. Good chance to practice the chords, too. Kill two stones with one bird.
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@Jazzy: He doesn't quite know how to play guitar yet, according to him. But if he did, then that advice would be great.
I've never seen a student take more than 2 weeks to learn those 3 chords, and he seems to have the motivation to learn. Good chance to practice the chords, too. Kill two stones with one bird.
How about you and Nicky do a duet?
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Another bitchin' vocal tune is the melody of the old Star Trek series. Starts out with a minor 7th, and then has shitloads of chromatics in it.
rumborak
:lol That's just cruel even for a good vocalist, plus all of those weird intervals and chromatics make it a real bitch to even memorize.
However, I'd still love to see it.
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Some of you really need to stop bitching, guys.
I admit, he is too far being "good" but I think he is trying and I really see some improvement since he's posted his videos. He is young and clearly he wants to have singing career.
Again I admit, I found some of his performance funny and I really advice when you record your voice, don't show yourself in front of the camera or at least don't act like James LaBrie (especially hand thing), just your voice and that would be great. Nicky, this is not just about you. We all can be seemed funny in front of the camera, so in that case it could be hard to focus on your voice.
Keep working... Working hard.
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Some of you really need to stop bitching, guys.
I admit, he is too far being "good" but I think he is trying and I really see some improvement since he's posted his videos. He is young and clearly he wants to have singing career.
Again I admit, I found some of his performance funny and I really advice when you record your voice, don't show yourself in front of the camera or at least don't act like James LaBrie (especially hand thing), just your voice and that would be great. Nicky, this is not just about you. We all can be seemed funny in front of the camera, so in that case it could be hard to focus on your voice.
Keep working... Working hard.
Thanks man, next time I won't give a show in the video but really concentrate on the voice.
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Ah screw it, I give up.
Nicky, you're great. Please sing Learning to Live.
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did I turn on my Google Translate without knowing?
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Ah screw it, I give up.
Nicky, you're great. Please sing Learning to Live.
That's the spirit!
rumborak
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Ah screw it, I give up.
Nicky, you're great. Please sing Learning to Live.
Yeah what I noticed when I took a couple hours yesterday to read this thread/watch the videos is that he seems to be ignoring all the criticisms but when someone says something positive he listens.
I consider myself more of a songwriter but when I do singing, I try to stay in a comfortable range. Nicky's throat seems to be in pain when he is reaching those high notes. I'm not really gonna say much more because most of the posts here have already pointed out the issues. Keep practicing but I would sing songs that are more in a comfortable range.
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I am seriously getting to the point where I think this is just one massive troll
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Nah, no troll, this shit's for real. He used to play in a band and posted videos for that, and he used to have that infamous "bad burrito gives me stomach cramps" website.
rumborak
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Nah, no troll, this shit's for real. He used to play in a band and posted videos for that, and he used to have that infamous "bad burrito gives me stomach cramps" website.
rumborak
i know. it's just unreal how long this has gone on for and the ammount of progress he has made
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Out of curiosity, are there any videos of him singing songs by bands other than Dream Theater?
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Out of curiosity, are there any videos of him singing songs by bands other than Dream Theater?
There's one of him singing The Hunter by Iced Earth, and one of Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth.
They're somewhere, I don't feel like finding them.
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He does a cover of the Queen medley, search for his name and "Vimeo".
rumborak
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He does a cover of the Queen medley, search for his name and "Vimeo".
rumborak
Wow.
Actually, when he's singing low and very softly, he's not half bad.
EDIT: Just watching now The Answer Lies Within and I take back what I just said about him not sounding half bad.
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Everyone is talking about what Nicky should change, but I want to talk about what he should keep the same.
Please always start off the video by coming from behind the camera in a hulking, lumbering sort of way, with broad shoulders and your head slightly down.
It is also a good idea to walk like that in public to avoid being mugged.
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Just found this. https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/
Nicky, you need humility and perspective. Seriously.
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Just found this. https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/
Nicky, you need humility and perspective. Seriously.
Oh come on, you said the same thing about Icy, and look how that ended up...
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Just found this. https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/
Nicky, you need humility and perspective. Seriously.
Oh come on, you said the same thing about Icy, and look how that ended up...
Ever think that maybe he became the worlds youngest billionaire BECAUSE of what I said? Exactly.
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Just found this. https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/
Nicky, you need humility and perspective. Seriously.
Oh come on, you said the same thing about Icy, and look how that ended up...
Ever think that maybe he became the worlds youngest billionaire BECAUSE of what I said? Exactly.
Mind = Blown
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Just found this. https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/
Nicky, you need humility and perspective. Seriously.
Oh my god, yes. :lol
I knew the other site was taken down, but I never knew a replacement site was put up. Beautiful.
This version of the bio doesn't mention the girlfriend. Guess they broke up. :lol
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I like the new website, Nicky. The design is really cool! \m/
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I like the new website, Nicky. The design is really cool! \m/
You have no idea the damage you're actually doing.
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I like the new website, Nicky. The design is really cool! \m/
(https://magsol.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/jackie-chan-meme.jpg)
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His biography on the site is...interesting. The food poisoning incident sounds to similar to JLB to be believable.
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His biography on the site is...interesting. The food poisoning incident sounds to similar to JLB to be believable.
You should really read the whole thread. Not saying that because what you're pointing has been discussed numerous times (which it has) but because it is a REALLY entertaining read. Read all 13 or whatever pages, watch all of his videos, make a day of it. You won't regret it.
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I like the new website, Nicky. The design is really cool! \m/
You have no idea the damage you're actually doing.
:lol
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Ok this guy HAS to be trolling. The tucked in Metallica shirt? The Gears 3 poster? C'mon....
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Just found this. https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/
Nicky, you need humility and perspective. Seriously.
Dang. Dang! That page is even better than the previous one. Given that the bad burrito picture is no longer there, I vote for calling this version the "BJ" version (or whatever else he's doing with the mic in the main picture).
rumborak
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The site even has a forum. I would say the race is on, between his and Charlie's forum, which of the two gets the next post. Self-posts don't count.
rumborak
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His biography on the site is...interesting. The food poisoning incident sounds to similar to JLB to be believable.
You should really read the whole thread. Not saying that because what you're pointing has been discussed numerous times (which it has) but because it is a REALLY entertaining read. Read all 13 or whatever pages, watch all of his videos, make a day of it. You won't regret it.
Pretty much what I did yesterday.
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https://www.facebook.com/nickyspanjaards
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Wow, why all the bitching? ???
First of all, I'm REALLY not trolling. I'm seriously working on a singing career. Things doesn't always go as fast as other people want. Some people are learning fast, by others it take more time. I'm willing to learn. I'm going to take vocal lessons by another coach, I learn from professional singing coaches by cd since some months. And now I'm also going to train my ears by tones of the acoustic guitar.
So some that say that I don't listen to their advice, I sure do and I'm aware that there is still a long way to go, but I'm ready to walk that road!
And then all those things that I think of "yeah right..." Why should I be trolling when I'm wearing a Metallica shirt or that I have an GoW 3 poster in my bedroom? I also have posters bands. My website, my biography, how I look on pictures, why is that all so funny?
And no Adami, I'm not going to sing Learning to Live, because that song is just too hard for me right now to sing.
I don't know what it is with you guys...first some give advices and say I must learn from those advices. And now that I follow some of those advices it's still not good, I still get a shitstorm right over me. It's not that I cannot handle criticism, I really can. When people have criticism I listen to them. But this is just not "normal" criticism, you make funny comments about me everywhere you can. Really guys, I don't want to flame, I only want to make things clear and be more nice to each other. I really want to have a great time with you guys at the board! Everyone is there to learn right? Your whole life is a journey of learning. Hope I made my point.
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Learning to Live is way too hard but Metropolis is just right for you? :P
Still waiting for Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Just a simple instrumental in the background and no vocal effects. Must be easy if you're already singing DT tunes, right?
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Yeah, I find Learning to Live has more advanced singing techniques then Metropolis, i.e. some harder passages ;)
Yeah, I'm taking the time for it, I think it'll be at the end of this week or maybe next week. :smiley:
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I'm seriously working on a singing career.
I hope you don't mean the word "career" as in "I plan to make a living out of it". If you do, let me say this: You will not be a professional singer. You got the ambition, but you just don't have the talent. Period.
Keep it as a hobby, and you're gonna have a lot of fun. Try it professionally and you'll be busing tables.
rumborak
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I'm seriously working on a singing career.
I hope you don't mean the word "career" as in "I plan to make a living out of it". If you do, let me say this: You will not be a professional singer. You got the ambition, but you just don't have the talent. Period.
Keep it as a hobby, and you're gonna have a lot of fun. Try it professionally and you'll be busing tables.
rumborak
No, indeed not in the way to make a living out of it, but in the way of a hobby, something cool to do. The whole band I'm in sees making music as a hobby and we are like we'll see where it goes.
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Oh, good. If you keep it that way you'll have a lot of fun.
rumborak
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I really don't want to read the whole thread or anything, but I think it would be a good idea to strengthen your judgement in whether the song you just recorded is good enough to be recorded and shared on the internet.
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What's up with the microphone quality on the Metropolis video? I felt like he was yelling at me through the sewer grate and I gathered around to hear what was up....
If the mic quality was better, the video wouldn't have been horrible. The high notes are still off
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What's up with the microphone quality on the Metropolis video? I felt like he was yelling at me through the sewer grate and I gathered around to hear what was up....
If the mic quality was better, the video wouldn't have been horrible. The high notes are still off
That was just the aforementioned uber amounts of reverb.
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Interesting to see how some people are just being straight up dicks to the kid-- not to mention how many people have miraculously come to hear missed notes in a vocal performance, and have been willing to say it so starkly. I find the former somewhat sad, and the latter endlessly amusing.
EDIT: some guy posted something essentially telling the kid not to go for singing as a career because he has no talent and will end up waiting tables. I don't see it that way. I think if does certain things and does them the right way, he has-- or appears to have-- the passion and the drive to eventually be a very good singer. If he's serious and he goes out and gets an experienced vocal coach, and practices his ass off, why can't he progress to be a good singer?
The problems he's having are correctable with coaching and proper practice. There are plenty of people who have the same issues with singing that he's having-- granted to a lesser degree. I won't mention any names. He's young and just needs and experienced teacher to help him along.
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I'm seriously working on a singing career.
I hope you don't mean the word "career" as in "I plan to make a living out of it". If you do, let me say this: You will not be a professional singer. You got the ambition, but you just don't have the talent. Period.
Keep it as a hobby, and you're gonna have a lot of fun. Try it professionally and you'll be busing tables.
rumborak
No, indeed not in the way to make a living out of it, but in the way of a hobby, something cool to do. The whole band I'm in sees making music as a hobby and we are like we'll see where it goes.
Nice. Yeah its always fun being in a band. Playing around locally, recording etc
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Interesting to see how some people are just being straight up dicks to the kid-- not to mention how many people have miraculously come to hear missed notes in a vocal performance, and have been willing to say it so starkly. I find the former somewhat sad, and the latter endlessly amusing.
EDIT: some guy posted something essentially telling the kid not to go for singing as a career because he has no talent and will end up waiting tables. I don't see it that way. I think if does certain things and does them the right way, he has-- or appears to have-- the passion and the drive to eventually be a very good singer. If he's serious and he goes out and gets an experienced vocal coach, and practices his ass off, why can't he progress to be a good singer?
The problems he's having are correctable with coaching and proper practice. There are plenty of people who have the same issues with singing that he's having-- granted to a lesser degree. I won't mention any names. He's young and just needs and experienced teacher to help him along.
Once again, there is a long history here. This isn't just a kid posting some poorly sung videos and everyone attacking him. His attitude and other factors are playing a major role in our responses.
And despite what some of you may think, ambition and drive aren't always enough. It's good to have, but it doesn't assure anything.
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Interesting to see how some people are just being straight up dicks to the kid-- not to mention how many people have miraculously come to hear missed notes in a vocal performance, and have been willing to say it so starkly. I find the former somewhat sad, and the latter endlessly amusing.
EDIT: some guy posted something essentially telling the kid not to go for singing as a career because he has no talent and will end up waiting tables. I don't see it that way. I think if does certain things and does them the right way, he has-- or appears to have-- the passion and the drive to eventually be a very good singer. If he's serious and he goes out and gets an experienced vocal coach, and practices his ass off, why can't he progress to be a good singer?
The problems he's having are correctable with coaching and proper practice. There are plenty of people who have the same issues with singing that he's having-- granted to a lesser degree. I won't mention any names. He's young and just needs and experienced teacher to help him along.
Once again, there is a long history here. This isn't just a kid posting some poorly sung videos and everyone attacking him. His attitude and other factors are playing a major role in our responses.
And despite what some of you may think, ambition and drive aren't always enough. It's good to have, but it doesn't assure anything.
Aren't enough to what? If you meant that ambition and drive aren't enough to become the greatest vocalist or even top 100 in the world, then yeah I agree. But in the vast majority of cases, drive, and proper guidance and proper practice are enough to become good. There's no assurance of anything in anything. But unless he has a disability that prevents him from hearing music at it is-- and I doubt he does-- the problems that he is having are correctable.
I'm not telling him he's going to be a top 100 vocalist or that he'll make a successful living as a professional musician. I'm just saying that he can get good with the aforementioned tools.
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I'm not telling him he's going to be a top 100 vocalist or that he'll make a successful living as a professional musician. I'm just saying that he can get good with the aforementioned tools.
In case you didn't notice, that's exactly what I told him. He can maybe one day become decent. But he will not have a professional singer career. That's exactly what I told him.
Regarding the other statements, I don't see how you can be certain that his problems are correctable. He's been posting videos for 2 years now, and the two major problems of his, pitch and control, have not improved. Supposedly after professional guidance no less.
rumborak
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I'm not telling him he's going to be a top 100 vocalist or that he'll make a successful living as a professional musician. I'm just saying that he can get good with the aforementioned tools.
In case you didn't notice, that's exactly what I told him. He can maybe one day become decent. But he will not have a professional singer career. That's exactly what I told him.
Regarding the other statements, I don't see how you can be certain that his problems are correctable. He's been posting videos for 2 years now, and the two major problems of his, pitch and control, have not improved. Supposedly after professional guidance no less.
rumborak
How can you be certain he will not have a professional singing career if he can be "decent"? There are plenty of professional singers who are only "decent" and do just fine for themselves. It shouldn't be too hard to think of some. And come to think of it, there are hundreds of other musicians (guitarists, for example) who are only decent who have professional careers in music. Fact is, most popular styles don't require an extraordinary vocalist. In many cases, the untalented ones make more than the players who have talent. Nevertheless, with the right ingredients, Nicky has the opportunity to be good.
Of course nothing is guaranteed, but I do believe that, like I already said, with the right vocal teacher, and hard, focused practice, he will be able to sing those songs on pitch. He's having technical problems, and since the songs he's trying to sing are not difficult songs for a human being to sing, I believe he can learn to sing them properly. The fact that it's been 2 years doesn't mean anything without having taken the right steps to do it right way. I've seen numerous guitar students come in without being able to play relatively easy songs because they've been doing things the wrong way or haven't been practicing. It's the same thing here. Relatively speaking, these aren't tough songs to sing. NONE of the performers of the songs he's been covering command such a degree of vocal ability that Nicky, or anyone else-- even you :biggrin:-- for that matter, can't learn to sing the songs properly.
The classical approach to singing is what I recommend to him and I really believe if he takes to it seriously he can take those covers, which I admit are not very good, and make them good. It takes time.
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Oh, good. If you keep it that way you'll have a lot of fun.
rumborak
errr... his website, the videos and everything else tells me his idea of a hobby = career. :P
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TBS, I totally get that you are trying to be supportive, kind and all that stuff. But history has told us a few things.
1. Nicky can't sing very well.
2. Despite his claims to listen to our advice, there's no evidence he has in the slightest bit.
3. He's made virtually no progress in 2 years.
4. He generally ignores those who criticize him and focus generally on people like you who cheer him on to whatever degree.
5. He truly believes that he is a very good singer. Not perfect, but he has stated outright that he doesn't hear many problems with his singing and considers himself to be quite talented.
6. He has a god damn website.
7. He has a god damn forum.
8. Number 9 is awesome.
9. Number 8 has high expectations.
10. This makes the list a more round number.
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Speaking of forum, anyone want to join it?
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I'm not telling him he's going to be a top 100 vocalist or that he'll make a successful living as a professional musician. I'm just saying that he can get good with the aforementioned tools.
In case you didn't notice, that's exactly what I told him. He can maybe one day become decent. But he will not have a professional singer career. That's exactly what I told him.
Regarding the other statements, I don't see how you can be certain that his problems are correctable. He's been posting videos for 2 years now, and the two major problems of his, pitch and control, have not improved. Supposedly after professional guidance no less.
rumborak
How can you be certain he will not have a professional singing career if he can be "decent"? There are plenty of professional singers who are only "decent" and do just fine for themselves. It shouldn't be too hard to think of some. And come to think of it, there are hundreds of other musicians (guitarists, for example) who are only decent who have professional careers in music. Fact is, most popular styles don't require an extraordinary vocalist. In many cases, the untalented ones make more than the players who have talent. Nevertheless, with the right ingredients, Nicky has the opportunity to be good.
Of course nothing is guaranteed, but I do believe that, like I already said, with the right vocal teacher, and hard, focused practice, he will be able to sing those songs on pitch. He's having technical problems, and since the songs he's trying to sing are not difficult songs for a human being to sing, I believe he can learn to sing them properly. The fact that it's been 2 years doesn't mean anything without having taken the right steps to do it right way. I've seen numerous guitar students come in without being able to play relatively easy songs because they've been doing things the wrong way or haven't been practicing. It's the same thing here. Relatively speaking, these aren't tough songs to sing. NONE of the performers of the songs he's been covering command such a degree of vocal ability that Nicky, or anyone else-- even you :biggrin:-- for that matter, can't learn to sing the songs properly.
The classical approach to singing is what I recommend to him and I really believe if he takes to it seriously he can take those covers, which I admit are not very good, and make them good. It takes time.
er.... I have first hand experience with Metropolis. I have a demo for which I "tried" singing it. It's well beyond my range and capability but I was curious enough to see what 4 months of singing lessons accomplished since I was finally able to get a head voice to come close to reaching the high end of that song. Let it be known, "Metropolis is NOT easy". It requires a *ton* of vocal control to keep those high parts soaring. I think Nicky attempted the song twice: once a year ago and a year later. Both performances show the exact same problems meaning he hasn't trained to remove those problems, only to find a way to cover up those problems by doing something else (screaming, raspy, new equipment). The issue here is Nicky won't hear it. He won't hear the people that are telling him to ditch this stuff and correct his pitch problems and his vocal control. 1 year should have been enough time to bring those issues to a close. He only wants to hear the crowd that tells him he's improving and he's great and to make more videos. Maybe he is great, but the pitch and control issues bring his performance down and he needs to realize this. Now learning pitch and control is *easy*. You pick up a guitar or sit in front of a piano every day for at an hour and just practice scales. Control requires someone who knows proper breathing techniques and to get you to use them. Again, both pitch and control are easy and is almost always the first thing any teacher is going to teach you because *that's* a basic foundation of singing. Without that progress is impossible and this recent video is proof of that. But again, as we have seen for the past year, Nicky won't hear of it. It's frustrating in that we know he has the motivation but he is at a stand-still with progress.
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All I see, despite Nicky's improvement over 2 years which can not be described "enough" people want to make funny of him over internet. How mature! Get over it.
He can have damn website which is desinged really bad, he can have some funny profile photos but it's another thing to make them avatar. Consider, he is really really young and all that can be effected in a bad way. You may not take internet seriously but it seems he takes, so I think we must be a bit careful what we say.
And how the hell most of you can be sure he doesn't have talent to be singer. I'm sure many singer in that age can't control their voice and even can't hit any notes properly. Like all the singers have amazing talent. He can be singer but it's debateable if he can be musician but why not. I admit Nicky has a long way to go, really a long way. As a hobby or career I see he is doing something but all he sees is bitching instead of some supportive comments.
I'm with TBS on this matter.
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Fine, here's a piece of advice I haven't seen given yet.
Nicky, singing DT songs over and over isn't practice. When we tell you to practice, we don't mean just continue doing what you're doing over and over, no improvement is made that way. I have a feeling your version of practicing is putting on a CD and singing to it.
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Just to clarify, at first Nicky was here simply pushing his videos (and asking for comments) which made him open to a little more pointed comments then the forum would normally allow. If Nicky does plan to stay and contribute to other threads and be a normal member as he's said, I ask that everyone treat him with the respect you would everyone else. Of course you can still criticize his videos and such, just please do so in a nice manner.
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I'm not telling him he's going to be a top 100 vocalist or that he'll make a successful living as a professional musician. I'm just saying that he can get good with the aforementioned tools.
In case you didn't notice, that's exactly what I told him. He can maybe one day become decent. But he will not have a professional singer career. That's exactly what I told him.
Regarding the other statements, I don't see how you can be certain that his problems are correctable. He's been posting videos for 2 years now, and the two major problems of his, pitch and control, have not improved. Supposedly after professional guidance no less.
rumborak
How can you be certain he will not have a professional singing career if he can be "decent"? There are plenty of professional singers who are only "decent" and do just fine for themselves. It shouldn't be too hard to think of some.
That's true, but Nicky also doesn't have any of the other things that make for a good metal frontman.
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That's true, but Nicky also doesn't have any of the other things that make for a good metal frontman.
Well, he is only 20.This guy over here:
(https://www.lebmetal.com/wp-content/files/2009/10/mdimage_1_98_0_5.jpg)
is now this guy:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3281/2707947150_68bb2a9239_z.jpg?zz=1)
I don't like him but he sure looks more badass than back then.
Nicky, my opinion is that you don't need a fan page on FB and a personal website. At least, not yet. Please answer if you read this, do you really expect people to register on your site's forum? And talk about what, the DT covers? My suggestion is that you delete all these videos,fan pages,sites etc, vanish off the internet for a while and come back when you have really practiced hard and your voice is improved. And post your next videos here. Your friends or family will always be telling you that you sound great because they don't want to hurt you. But here we don't know you and we tell you the truth. At least, if you want to keep your website on,get someone who knows a thing or two about image manipulation. What the hell is that,man? :lol
https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10001/Nicky.jpg
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Nicky, my opinion is that you don't need a fan page on FB and a personal website. At least, not yet. Please answer if you read this, do you really expect people to register on your site's forum? And talk about what, the DT covers? My suggestion is that you delete all these videos,fan pages,sites etc, vanish off the internet for a while and come back when you have really practiced hard and your voice is improved. And post your next videos here. Your friends or family will always be telling you that you sound great because they don't want to hurt you. But here we don't know you and we tell you the truth. At least, if you want to keep your website on,get someone who knows a thing or two about image manipulation. What the hell is that,man? :lol
https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10001/Nicky.jpg
I think everybody was telling him exactly those words two years ago, trying to help him out.
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And how the hell most of you can be sure he doesn't have talent to be singer. I'm sure many singer in that age can't control their voice and even can't hit any notes properly.
Call it musician's intuition. I have dealt with quite a few musicians over the years, and you get reasonably good at spotting who has surmountable issues, and who doesn't.
In all of this discussion I am reminded of a discussion I had with a German coworker a while ago. We both arrived in the US at roughly the same time, meaning we spent the last ~8 years in the US. The interesting part is, there is a *huge* difference between his English and mine. Without patting myself on the back, I make very few pronunciational errors these days, whereas he has a strong and classic German accent.
The reason I'm mentioning this is because we had a discussion about how English pronunciation has changed over the years. So, I was telling him that these days for many Americans there is no difference between "wail" and "whale". His answer? "What do you mean? You just said the same word twice". So, I proceeded to totally over-pronounce the aspirated "w" in the word "whale", but he kept asking whether I was making fun of him by just saying the same word twice.
The bottom line was, he didn't hear the difference. And if you want to improve anything, you first have to hear the difference between what's correct and what isn't. And I think it's the same with Nicky; over the years he has amply displayed that he doesn't believe us when we say he doesn't hit the notes. He has instead invested in new microphones and effects processors, because that was his theory all the time, that we're mistaking bad recording quality with bad vocal performance. (he said that many many times)
The most likely explanation I have for that is that he simply doesn't hear the difference. I think to this day he writes our criticism off as nitpicking; whereas for most of us it's a difference between night and day.
rumborak
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Speaking of forum, anyone want to join it?
Why, yes of course.
When another forum split takes place, I'm taking refuge in there.
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Nicky, my opinion is that you don't need a fan page on FB and a personal website. At least, not yet. Please answer if you read this, do you really expect people to register on your site's forum? And talk about what, the DT covers? My suggestion is that you delete all these videos,fan pages,sites etc, vanish off the internet for a while and come back when you have really practiced hard and your voice is improved. And post your next videos here. Your friends or family will always be telling you that you sound great because they don't want to hurt you. But here we don't know you and we tell you the truth. At least, if you want to keep your website on,get someone who knows a thing or two about image manipulation. What the hell is that,man? :lol
https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10001/Nicky.jpg
I think everybody was telling him exactly those words two years ago, trying to help him out.
your avatar :rollin
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Nicky, can you post any of your band's videos, so we can see if you are any better at singing your own material? I really think DT material is way too hard for you to sing, but perhaps we will be pleasantly surprised if you post something of Era IV's?
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Out of curiosity, are there any videos of him singing songs by bands other than Dream Theater?
Yeah, this is a Metallica: Master Of Puppets cover which I did 1 year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7-9m8clFag
And this one is Symphony Of Destruction by Megadeth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUzTG5-NX2s
Nicky, can you post any of your band's videos, so we can see if you are any better at singing your own material? I really think DT material is way too hard for you to sing, but perhaps we will be pleasantly surprised if you post something of Era IV's?
Yeah sure, I'll post one tomorrow. Now I'm going to sleep.
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I still uploaded the cover before I will sleep. ;)
It's a cover of Accept: Balls To The Wall: https://youtu.be/6YgHlvL1Puk
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Hey, Nicky, that cover's pretty damn good! Accept suits your vocal range well.
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Silence the critics, Nicky!
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man. I could re-respond to this thread in a few different ways, but I think I'm gonna go for the neutral post -- posting about how I could respond. I could respond continuing to try to encourage Nicky positively, but have him completely ignore the help and only actively respond to praises and requests for more videos. Or I could respond and talk about what a complete tone-deaf, clueless, delusional moron he is. But I'm not responding. I'm simply thinking about how I could respond. But I haven't responded. Or I could delete everything I just typed. Whoops already clicked post
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btw Rumby I like your comparison in reply 460
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Fine, here's a piece of advice I haven't seen given yet.
Nicky, singing DT songs over and over isn't practice. When we tell you to practice, we don't mean just continue doing what you're doing over and over, no improvement is made that way. I have a feeling your version of practicing is putting on a CD and singing to it.
That's true. So next time I practise I must set the volume to minimal or so?
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He's saying not to only use CDs to practice.
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Fine, here's a piece of advice I haven't seen given yet.
Nicky, singing DT songs over and over isn't practice. When we tell you to practice, we don't mean just continue doing what you're doing over and over, no improvement is made that way. I have a feeling your version of practicing is putting on a CD and singing to it.
That's true. So next time I practise I must set the volume to minimal or so?
What? No.
Practice actual practice routines. Singing DT is something you're not good at because you haven't figured out the basic techniques yet. Continuously doing what you can't do over and over won't make you any better at it. Stop singing DT all together. Learn all of the basics BEFORE singing DT. So when we tell you to practice, don't sing along to ANY bands. That isn't practice, it's goofing around.
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Or I could respond and talk about what a complete tone-deaf, clueless, delusional moron he is.
That is definitely not needed here, please keep that kind of crap out of the thread.
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Nice job on the cover Nicky.
Sounding good :tup
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Fine, here's a piece of advice I haven't seen given yet.
Nicky, singing DT songs over and over isn't practice. When we tell you to practice, we don't mean just continue doing what you're doing over and over, no improvement is made that way. I have a feeling your version of practicing is putting on a CD and singing to it.
That's true. So next time I practise I must set the volume to minimal or so?
What? No.
Practice actual practice routines. Singing DT is something you're not good at because you haven't figured out the basic techniques yet. Continuously doing what you can't do over and over won't make you any better at it. Stop singing DT all together. Learn all of the basics BEFORE singing DT. So when we tell you to practice, don't sing along to ANY bands. That isn't practice, it's goofing around.
OK, thanks for the explanation. So I should first train to sing every note on pitch, ear training, learn notes on the acoustic guitar before I go to the more advanced steps?
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Nice job on the cover Nicky.
Sounding good :tup
Which cover is he sounding good on? I'm honestly curious.
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Hey, Nicky, that cover's pretty damn good! Accept suits your vocal range well.
Nice job on the cover Nicky.
Sounding good :tup
Thank you both :smiley:
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Fine, here's a piece of advice I haven't seen given yet.
Nicky, singing DT songs over and over isn't practice. When we tell you to practice, we don't mean just continue doing what you're doing over and over, no improvement is made that way. I have a feeling your version of practicing is putting on a CD and singing to it.
That's true. So next time I practise I must set the volume to minimal or so?
What? No.
Practice actual practice routines. Singing DT is something you're not good at because you haven't figured out the basic techniques yet. Continuously doing what you can't do over and over won't make you any better at it. Stop singing DT all together. Learn all of the basics BEFORE singing DT. So when we tell you to practice, don't sing along to ANY bands. That isn't practice, it's goofing around.
OK, thanks for the explanation. So I should first train to sing every note on pitch, ear training, learn notes on the acoustic guitar before I go to the more advanced steps?
Yes Nicky. As we've all been telling you for two years now.
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Nice job on the cover Nicky.
Sounding good :tup
Which cover is he sounding good on? I'm honestly curious.
This one, the cover of Balls To The Wall:
https://youtu.be/6YgHlvL1Puk
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I think this is what people are suggesting, so I'll try to make an analogy for you.
When you learn math, you don't jump right into algebra and calculus in kindergarden. You start with basic counting, addition, and subtraction.
Trying to sing covers (particularly DT) is like jumping right into algebra and calculus. Start lower or at the beginning and work your way up. I am capable of singing, but I don't know how to sing. I get the impression you're in the same boat as me, except that I don't really care about learning to sing because I'm not trying to be a singer.
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Nice job on the cover Nicky.
Sounding good :tup
Which cover is he sounding good on? I'm honestly curious.
This one, the cover of Balls To The Wall:
https://youtu.be/6YgHlvL1Puk
HUGEEEE improvement. Feels like you guys are performing at a concert too with all the lights and having a lot fun :metal
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Fine, here's a piece of advice I haven't seen given yet.
Nicky, singing DT songs over and over isn't practice. When we tell you to practice, we don't mean just continue doing what you're doing over and over, no improvement is made that way. I have a feeling your version of practicing is putting on a CD and singing to it.
That's true. So next time I practise I must set the volume to minimal or so?
What? No.
Practice actual practice routines. Singing DT is something you're not good at because you haven't figured out the basic techniques yet. Continuously doing what you can't do over and over won't make you any better at it. Stop singing DT all together. Learn all of the basics BEFORE singing DT. So when we tell you to practice, don't sing along to ANY bands. That isn't practice, it's goofing around.
OK, thanks for the explanation. So I should first train to sing every note on pitch, ear training, learn notes on the acoustic guitar before I go to the more advanced steps?
have you not been listening?
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Fine, here's a piece of advice I haven't seen given yet.
Nicky, singing DT songs over and over isn't practice. When we tell you to practice, we don't mean just continue doing what you're doing over and over, no improvement is made that way. I have a feeling your version of practicing is putting on a CD and singing to it.
That's true. So next time I practise I must set the volume to minimal or so?
What? No.
Practice actual practice routines. Singing DT is something you're not good at because you haven't figured out the basic techniques yet. Continuously doing what you can't do over and over won't make you any better at it. Stop singing DT all together. Learn all of the basics BEFORE singing DT. So when we tell you to practice, don't sing along to ANY bands. That isn't practice, it's goofing around.
OK, thanks for the explanation. So I should first train to sing every note on pitch, ear training, learn notes on the acoustic guitar before I go to the more advanced steps?
have you not been listening?
I listened, but it was more to confirm it if he meant those things with the basics ;)
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No offense, but don't quit your day job.
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Fine, here's a piece of advice I haven't seen given yet.
Nicky, singing DT songs over and over isn't practice. When we tell you to practice, we don't mean just continue doing what you're doing over and over, no improvement is made that way. I have a feeling your version of practicing is putting on a CD and singing to it.
That's true. So next time I practise I must set the volume to minimal or so?
What? No.
Practice actual practice routines. Singing DT is something you're not good at because you haven't figured out the basic techniques yet. Continuously doing what you can't do over and over won't make you any better at it. Stop singing DT all together. Learn all of the basics BEFORE singing DT. So when we tell you to practice, don't sing along to ANY bands. That isn't practice, it's goofing around.
OK, thanks for the explanation. So I should first train to sing every note on pitch, ear training, learn notes on the acoustic guitar before I go to the more advanced steps?
have you not been listening?
I listened, but it was more to confirm it if he meant those things with the basics ;)
No, I mean listening for the last like, 2 years?
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Didn't read the entire thread but I'm getting a "Borat" vibe here. I'm going to feel stupid if you all know it is and are playing along.
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Didn't read the entire thread but I'm getting a "Borat" Bruno vibe here. I'm going to feel stupid if you all know it is and are playing along.
ftfy
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Silence the critics, Nicky!
Viva la Resistance!
Fight the power.
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Come to think of it, Nicky, isn't there a school of music somewhere near you? Are they any good? If so, why not enroll in a university for some vocal and music lessons? With a university you should get an unbiased evaluation, professional knowledge and a fixed and focused curriculum.
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Another really cheap thing to do is to download one of those interval training apps on your smartphone. Recognizing intervals is a key capability for any musician.
rumborak
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Come to think of it, Nicky, isn't there a school of music somewhere near you? Are they any good? If so, why not enroll in a university for some vocal and music lessons? With a university you should get an unbiased evaluation, professional knowledge and a fixed and focused curriculum.
No sadly not...the nearest school of music is 60 km away from me :sad:
Another really cheap thing to do is to download one of those interval training apps on your smartphone. Recognizing intervals is a key capability for any musician.
rumborak
Thanks for that man! Which app do you recommend?
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I actually never used one because I trained that skill long before smartphones existed, but a friend of mine tried several on Android. Don't remember which one he liked though :(
What I did back in the day was listening to TV and movies, and tried to play melodies on my guitar first try. So, I would go the intervals through my head, map them on the fretboard, all before picking up the guitar. Then I would try it on the guitar to see whether/where I was wrong. Was a nice combo exercise that taught me both intervals and the fretboard.
rumborak
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Nicky, I'm in the need of repeating my advice. Just record your voice, don't show yourself in front the camera. Actually, stand moveless and sing to the mic. Moving while singing can effect your performance. This is not a stage performance. Just record your voice in a proper way.
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Here's a different angle, somewhat in line with Serox' comment:
Nicky, there's two elements to being musician: the style, and the craft. What most people see is the style, but what actually makes most serious musicians succeed is their mastery of the craft.
You have spent a lot of time on style. The mimicking of James' mannerisms. The shirts. The website.
Problem is, you sorely neglected the craft. Without knowing the craft you'll always noodle around that "wannabe" level that you're currently at.
rumborak
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Here's a different angle, somewhat in line with Serox' comment:
Nicky, there's two elements to being musician: the style, and the craft. What most people see is the style, but what actually makes most serious musicians succeed is their mastery of the craft.
You have spent a lot of time on style. The mimicking of James' mannerisms. The shirts. The website.
Problem is, you sorely neglected the craft. Without knowing the craft you'll always noodle around that "wannabe" level that you're currently at.
rumborak
To be honest, he also fails at style. Its all kind of goofy for me. The singing is just plain awful. Sorry. Really no other way to put it if your being honest about it. I'm not saying Nicky can't learn how to sing better, but it will NEVER happen without legit guidance.
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You can make videos but just take a seat and relax. I usually like watching videos of people performing etc because its entertaining but there is no need to do a lot of those movements that Labrie does.
Just take a seat and sing bro. If you are performing with a band then keep doing what you are doing
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i still think this is all an elaborate troll
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i still think this is all an elaborate troll
A 2 year troll? That's dedication to the art
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i still think this is all an elaborate troll
A 2 year troll? That's dedication to the art
some men just wanna watch the world burn
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i still think this is all an elaborate troll
Definetly not a troll. He is just a delusional kid who just doesn't realize he can't sing. He is hearing something totally different than what our ears are hearing.
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what im wandering is, and please answer if you read this. we've recently been telling you things to practice instead of just singing DT over and over again, but what has your teacher been telling you to do for the last 2 years then?
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I actually never used one because I trained that skill long before smartphones existed, but a friend of mine tried several on Android. Don't remember which one he liked though :(
What I did back in the day was listening to TV and movies, and tried to play melodies on my guitar first try. So, I would go the intervals through my head, map them on the fretboard, all before picking up the guitar. Then I would try it on the guitar to see whether/where I was wrong. Was a nice combo exercise that taught me both intervals and the fretboard.
rumborak
OK, I'm going to download some of those apps and check which one is the best.
what im wandering is, and please answer if you read this. we've recently been telling you things to practice instead of just singing DT over and over again, but what has your teacher been telling you to do for the last 2 years then?
Basically we practised ballads (some of Kane and that sort of bands), listening, singing and hearing notes on a piano and stomach excercises.
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This thread is full of so much win.
So glad I took the time to read through the whole thing.
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I take it we'll never hear Somewhere Over The Rainbow then?
And no bailing out of the "Somday I'll wish upon a star" part, that's where the cool key change happens.
rumborak
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Practice singing jazz standards. It'll do wonders for interval recognition plus being able to hit more odd tones in the chords, like the major 7th or tritone.
I haven't listened to you much, but this is good practice nonetheless.
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I take it we'll never hear Somewhere Over The Rainbow then?
And no bailing out of the "Somday I'll wish upon a star" part, that's where the cool key change happens.
rumborak
Of course he won't.
However he may give us a brilliant rendition of On The Backs of Angels in coming months. Judging by his history.
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I take it we'll never hear Somewhere Over The Rainbow then?
And no bailing out of the "Somday I'll wish upon a star" part, that's where the cool key change happens.
rumborak
Of course he won't.
However he may give us a brilliant rendition of On The Backs of Angels in coming months. Judging by his history.
:lol Hey guys here's a video of the entire AA saga! I did MP's vocals too!
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I take it we'll never hear Somewhere Over The Rainbow then?
And no bailing out of the "Somday I'll wish upon a star" part, that's where the cool key change happens.
rumborak
Of course he won't.
However he may give us a brilliant rendition of On The Backs of Angels in coming months. Judging by his history.
:lol Hey guys here's a video of the entire AA saga! I did MP's vocals too!
:rollin i thought that you were him with that damn avatar
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:rollin
epic avatar
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This thread is so legendary
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Honestly unless you're a trained vocal coach you should just tell Nicky to get a trained vocal coach instead of giving him specific advice (not that I know he would follow it)
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I do not agree with that statement. There's a lot of musicians on this board who have very good knowledge, and your argument is essentially that you shouldn't advise on driving unless you're a driving instructor. Which is ridiculous.
I *would* agree with you if Nicky made subtle mistakes that are tricky to rectify. As it stands, his vocal performance could land him in the first two episodes of any American Idol season.
rumborak
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rumby is correct.
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I do not agree with that statement. There's a lot of musicians on this board who have very good knowledge, and your argument is essentially that you shouldn't advise on driving unless you're a driving instructor. Which is ridiculous.
I *would* agree with you if Nicky made subtle mistakes that are tricky to rectify. As it stands, his vocal performance could land him in the first two episodes of any American Idol season.
rumborak
It's not that they're not knowledgeable. It's just that now the kid has like 345,875,053 directions from like 124,538,634 people, none of whom is close to the situation. It's getting muddy and probably just confusing him.
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Aside from the guy who suggest Jazz standards, we're all giving him essentially the same advice.
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I do not agree with that statement. There's a lot of musicians on this board who have very good knowledge, and your argument is essentially that you shouldn't advise on driving unless you're a driving instructor. Which is ridiculous.
I *would* agree with you if Nicky made subtle mistakes that are tricky to rectify. As it stands, his vocal performance could land him in the first two episodes of any American Idol season.
rumborak
It's not that they're not knowledgeable. It's just that now the kid has like 345,875,053 directions from like 124,538,634 people, none of whom is close to the situation. It's getting muddy and probably just confusing him.
The thing is that he's gotten the "get a private teacher" suggestion many, many, many times. It's probably the most common suggestion he's gotten.
EDIT: The situation is made all the worse by the fact that the teacher he has/had doesn't seem to be helping whatsoever.
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This thread is so legendary
i always picture Larry David speaking when I read your posts lol
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Aside from the guy who suggest Jazz standards, we're all giving him essentially the same advice.
Pretty much this. I would stay away from Jazz for the moment. Jazz in my mind is like defensive driving for the learned. You don't dare tackle it without a foundation first and that's where everyone is trying to steer Nicky right now. Back to basics and to know them.
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I actually don't buy that he's taken singing lessons, I think he said that so that we would be convinced of his skill and that he's taking the craft serious. A while ago he said the next music school is really far from where he lives (which of course is a somewhat hilarious statement given he's from the Netherlands). And honestly, it's highly unlikely that anyone would make that little progress with regular singing lessons.
rumborak
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Ran into this and I think it's a big improvement especially on Through Her Eyes
Nicky Spanjaards: School Of Christmas Rock - Bootleg 2011
Dream Theater - Through Her Eyes
Dream Theater - Under A Glass Moon
Dream Theater - Love Lies Bleeding (Elton John Cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4OENXpcD2E&feature=plcp
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Yo dawg, I heard you like covers, so I covered a cover so you can interpret while you interpret.
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Through Her Eyes was actually a pretty solid live performance. A few of the usual pitch issues with some sharp notes, but overall it was on melody, the tone was consistent, and it had some style, and was admirable for performing in front of a crowd.
Then UAGM came on, and it sounded like the usual. If he'd stopped after Through Her Eyes, the crowd would have left with a good impression. I think UAGM undid that. That's tough even for a seasoned and well trained vocalist like JLB, and was just way out of range, and you could hear the voice cracking and just not reaching those notes.
Stick to songs in the appropriate range, and know your limits. And also, stop copying JLB's exact mannerisms. It was too obvious.
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Through Her Eyes sounded great. But what was up with the guitar part? It sounded a little out of time.
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Through Her Eyes sounded great. But what was up with the guitar part? It sounded a little out of time.
I noticed that. My theory is that he used a karaoke effect to remove the existing vocals, and it removed the main guitar lead too, leaving only the delay?
You can hear the same thing on UAGM, although because it's a full band song, it didn't work as effectively there, and you can hear the drums sound empty and echoey, and you can still hear JLB enough for the audience to hear what the vocals should have sounded like. :lol
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Yeah, if he used Audacity for example, it could have ripped out the main guitar part.
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Τhis one is by far the best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUc-SqpAm6I&feature=relmfu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUc-SqpAm6I&feature=relmfu)
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I love the JLB stage antics.
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Ran into this and I think it's a big improvement especially on Through Her Eyes
Nicky Spanjaards: School Of Christmas Rock - Bootleg 2011
Dream Theater - Through Her Eyes
Dream Theater - Under A Glass Moon
Dream Theater - Love Lies Bleeding (Elton John Cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4OENXpcD2E&feature=plcp
Wow, that's pretty cool that the teacher just lets him randomly sing in class with a microphone and everything. Is this like a School of Rock or something, according to the video title? We have School of Rock by me in NY. Anyway, he sounds on "Through Her Eyes." Good job, Nicky!
UAGM made me smile because Nicky is really into it, but the class is just silently sitting there two feet away and not even looking at him. I love Nicky's passion and energy.
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I love the JLB stage antics.
That kick at the beginning made it look like he was aiming for some invisible guy's shins. Nicky is a dangerous, dangerous man.
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He is drinking water from the bottle just like James does. This is even copied. Wow.
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Unfortunately, Nicky has not improved. Whatsoever. It's really kind of a bummer, honestly.
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While Nicky has gotten a bit better (his new Metropolis video is a lot better than his original Winter Rose one), I don't think those LaBrie-isms are going to be discarded anytime soon. At this point, I do not really think Nicky is training to be a professional singer, but instead going for James LaBrie cosplay. To each his own :biggrin: I do get some enjoyment out of watching these videos (https://"https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoBadItsGood"), so as long as Nicky keeps 'em coming I'll keep up the viewing.
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Oh, no. The Labrie-isms are far from being the problem here. :lol
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I'll say it again.......he HAS to be trolling all of us. There's just no way.
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I find it sad that the standards for us judging Nicky have been lowered to such a degree that many of us are calling that rendition of Through Her Eyes to be "good" or "solid" simply because it's mostly on key. He's off quite often and timbre of his voice is just not appealing on that song at all.
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I think Nicky sounds very good singing the tender ballad in a softer voice. Maybe he's just better singing those types of songs for whatever reason. His performance of "Under a Glass Moon" didn't appeal to me as much, however. I also happen to think he's pretty brave. I mean, getting up in front of a disinterested class and singing like that -- not just going through the motions, but singing w/ total passion and dedication. He's fearless. It's admirable. And I think he has good stage presence.
EDIT: I think my fav part is exactly at 12:00 when he starts everyone clapping together, then at 12:28 he yells "Yeah!" His effort is awesome.
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I think Nicky sounds very good singing the tender ballad in a softer voice. Maybe he's just better singing those types of songs for whatever reason. His performance of "Under a Glass Moon" didn't appeal to me as much, however. I also happen to think he's pretty brave. I mean, getting up in front of a disinterested class and singing like that -- not just going through the motions, but singing w/ total passion and dedication. He's fearless. It's admirable. And I think he has good stage presence.
You're awesome Mebert, you can see the positive side of the holocaust.
Sadly he will read your statement as "You're a great singer Nicky, just keep doing what you're doing and you'll be famous".
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I think Nicky sounds very good singing the tender ballad in a softer voice. Maybe he's just better singing those types of songs for whatever reason. His performance of "Under a Glass Moon" didn't appeal to me as much, however. I also happen to think he's pretty brave. I mean, getting up in front of a disinterested class and singing like that -- not just going through the motions, but singing w/ total passion and dedication. He's fearless. It's admirable. And I think he has good stage presence.
You're awesome Mebert, you can see the positive side of the holocaust.
:lol
I think Nicky sounds very good singing the tender ballad in a softer voice.
That's because Through Her Eyes is in his range.
That's not to say, though, that the song actually sounds good when he sings it. Most of the notes are roughly in-tune, but his voice is really weak and the timbre is really strange.
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I do agree that its kinda cool that he just brought the microphone and everything and sang infront of a class...
When he got everyone clapping, that was pretty cool.
The singing needs work for sure... I feel like I always repeat myself but the singing is pretty decent when staying in the range like in Through Her Eyes but UAGM just doesn't look comfortable. It takes a lot of balls to sing that one because even Labrie has trouble singing it so instead I would choose something easier to sing for the heavy track.
Nice variety of song choices :tup
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Nicky may not have a perfect voice but he definitely has guts :tup I could never sing in front of people, even if I had the best voice in the world, so kudos for that, Nicky!
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Just found out about this thread and I can easily say that this shit is golden.
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Hi all,
Over the past year I took vocal exercises and training. I also bought a keyboard to train my ears and to learn better pitch control. I must say that when I listen now to my Winter Rose cover I can only laugh about it ;D Still have a way to go, but overall I have my voice a lot better under control.
Last month I recorded A Rite Of Passage. Let me know what you think: https://youtu.be/JDAYzlqHM2M
Nicky :coolio
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The hand gesture at 7:45 is spot on :tup
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Hi all,
Over the past year I took vocal exercises and training. I also bought a keyboard to train my ears and to learn better pitch control. I must say that when I listen now to my Winter Rose cover I can only laugh about it ;D Still have a way to go, but overall I have my voice a lot better under control.
Last month I recorded A Rite Of Passage. Let me know what you think: https://youtu.be/JDAYzlqHM2M
Nicky :coolio
Getting better. A lot of times you start slightly off pitch, and then slide into the correct pitch. I will also say, during the chorus, it's nice seeing you take the lower harmony instead of the melody. It's still shaky and not exactly good, but I do see improvement. If you keep it up I think you'll get there. I definitely don't think you're tone deaf, because you have pitch recognition. I think what's happened now is that you spent so much time early on working on your moves that now you're having to go back and actually learn how to sing more properly. I will say that why it's a little shaky, your vibrato at about 4:27 is actually pretty nice. Keep up the hard work you silly banana.
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New Nicky video, w00t!
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:corn It's been TOO long
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After watching the video I can say two things for certain:
1) Your hair is longer
2) Your arms are bigger.
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Hi all,
Over the past year I took vocal exercises and training. I also bought a keyboard to train my ears and to learn better pitch control. I must say that when I listen now to my Winter Rose cover I can only laugh about it ;D Still have a way to go, but overall I have my voice a lot better under control.
Last month I recorded A Rite Of Passage. Let me know what you think: https://youtu.be/JDAYzlqHM2M
Nicky :coolio
Yes!
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Not to be mean, but I think you need a new vocal coach. Whoever you've got now isn't really helping you overcome many of your issues.
Look, the same thing happened to me with guitar. I had a guitar teacher who, at first, taught me exactly what I wanted to learn -- powerchords and some pentatonic scales. 2 years into playing, that was still all I knew, while friends were racing ahead of me with their expanded knowledge. I had to get a new teacher, to open my eyes to broadened avenues of playing. I sitll stink at guitar, but at least I have a much stronger foundational knowledge of it now.
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After watching the video I can say two things for certain:
1) Your hair is longer
2) Your arms are bigger.
Yes that's true haha :lol
As some of you recommended I got a new vocal coach. Since then I sing more relaxed and I have better control over my voice, so it really helped to leave the old coach and find a new one.
Here's a new video to show the improvement. This time it's The Great Debate: https://youtu.be/BrajZc8rvLE
Nicky :coolio
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Contrary to what Rumby might think, there is a God!!! This is a marvelous day!!! The Prodigal son has returned!!!! :hefdaddy :biggrin: :hefdaddy
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That was hands down the best vocal cover I have heard of TGD all day.
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Ok, I watched in horror. But I guess that's ok cause its Halloween? Seriously Nicky, you flat out badly on every single line you sing. I have been a singer for 25 years and I can't stand going to see bands with bad singers. I would walk out in 5 minutes if I saw you perform in a bar. Or stay for some laughs, depends on my mood. I see zero improvement at all! None! Not the slightest bit.
Harse? Yes it is, but you need to stop the delusion you are a legitimate vocalist. You are not!
TAKE SOME LESSONS FORM A LEGITIMATE TEACHER!
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I'm not trying to be too critical here but have you thought about putting up more posters behind you? I think that would improve the wall immensely.
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Nicky, you have some competition now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ-LfB-X4hA
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Nicky, you have some competition now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ-LfB-X4hA
:lol :metal
No offense to Nicky, but Dennis is better. Much better pitch. He just needs to stop with the ridiculous growl at the end of sentences. Still not good however.
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When someone first told me about Nicky Spanjaards I had one thing to say: "The guy from those God-awful Youtube Vocal Cover Videos?" "I believe im James LaBrie." Yeah, nice thought, Nicky. But it caught DreamTheater Forums attention(and 5/8s). And then I started to pay attention to Nicky and all the good that he's been doing to our fan base. And you know what? I believe in Nicky Spanjaards. I believe that on his watch, Dream Theater can feel a little safer, a little more optimistic. Look at this face. This is the face of Dream Theater's bright future.
Nicky inspired me to sing, so hey, what's another cover that some people might have to put their ear plugs in for a couple minutes?
https://soundcloud.com/jimthescrivener/dream-theater-wait-for-sleep
-On a side note, longtime forum lurker. You guys have a great community, so I thought I would finally register.
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https://soundcloud.com/jimthescrivener/dream-theater-wait-for-sleep
Epic first post, mang. I snorted.
:welcome:
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When someone first told me about Nicky Spanjaards I had one thing to say: "The guy from those God-awful Youtube Vocal Cover Videos?" "I believe im James LaBrie." Yeah, nice thought, Nicky. But it caught DreamTheater Forums attention(and 5/8s). And then I started to pay attention to Nicky and all the good that he's been doing to our fan base. And you know what? I believe in Nicky Spanjaards. I believe that on his watch, Dream Theater can feel a little safer, a little more optimistic. Look at this face. This is the face of Dream Theater's bright future.
Nicky inspired me to sing, so hey, what's another cover that some people might have to put their ear plugs in for a couple minutes?
https://soundcloud.com/jimthescrivener/dream-theater-wait-for-sleep
-On a side note, longtime forum lurker. You guys have a great community, so I thought I would finally register.
Dude, you totally sound good enough for a supporting role in a high school musical!
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Does today's date have any bearing on the troll vs legit debate?
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When someone first told me about Nicky Spanjaards I had one thing to say: "The guy from those God-awful Youtube Vocal Cover Videos?" "I believe im James LaBrie." Yeah, nice thought, Nicky. But it caught DreamTheater Forums attention(and 5/8s). And then I started to pay attention to Nicky and all the good that he's been doing to our fan base. And you know what? I believe in Nicky Spanjaards. I believe that on his watch, Dream Theater can feel a little safer, a little more optimistic. Look at this face. This is the face of Dream Theater's bright future.
Nicky inspired me to sing, so hey, what's another cover that some people might have to put their ear plugs in for a couple minutes?
https://soundcloud.com/jimthescrivener/dream-theater-wait-for-sleep
-On a side note, longtime forum lurker. You guys have a great community, so I thought I would finally register.
Nice job man and welcome!
Might be a stupid question but how did you take the vocals out from the track?
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As far as removing the vocals from the original song, I have no idea how that would be done. Im not 100% familiar yet with the rules in regards to referencing other sites, so I will just say this; I saw an audio version of the song without vocals on a certain site, and then I used a tool from another site to rip that audio into an mp3 version.
(And no, I don't mean illegal downloading or file-sharing.) :yarr
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First I listened Wait For Sleep which is amazing then I found myself in a nightmare by listening *the new DT cover* from Nicky.
Oh God. Why did I do that?
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Nicky, you have some competition now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ-LfB-X4hA
:lol :metal
No offense to Nicky, but Dennis is better. Much better pitch. He just needs to stop with the ridiculous growl at the end of sentences. Still not good however.
Thanks? :lol wait do you guys know that's me?
I'm working on uploading more covers and also original music. If you don't like the growly things, surely there will be something I upload that you'll like better- I did those on purpose because I just figured out how to do it, and I thought it sounded cool, but I won't use that at the end of every sentence :P. Plus you can watch my piano playing- that's my real trained skill.
Nicky- you can see my comment on youtube on your video :)
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Protip: I don't think anyone likes the growly things ;)
EDIT: OK, more constructive feedback, now that we know it's you.
-Not much wrong with the actual singing, to my ears
-Still, what's with the Nickyeqsue LaBrieisms? (the hand motions, darting for a water bottle between verses of easy material, etc.)
-You definitely got carried away with the growls, especially when they started to become how you ended every line
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Protip: I don't think anyone likes the growly things ;)
Proptip: You don't speak for everyone.
I liked them. I thought they were cool, they were just very randomly placed, and not controlled at all. Once he's using them in a more controlled and appropriate way, they'll kick ass. :metal
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Yeah, you liked them alright, just not how he sang them, or when.
:lol
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:lol
Ok tell you what, I'll keep doing what I'm doing, but get better and better at it. Sound good? That seems to be a great formula!
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I just think growling sounds weird in DT songs.
If you like growling and singing, have you listened to any Periphery? Seems like it'd be right up your alley.
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I actually thought the growling was hilarious. But yeah, Daniel and Nicky aren't in the same ballpark. Daniel is inexperienced, but clearly has a strong sense of pitch.
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Dennis ;)
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Mm . . . I couldn't finish watching it (TGD cover). Sorry.
Probably better than I could do though.
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Nicky, you have some competition now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ-LfB-X4hA
:lol :metal
No offense to Nicky, but Dennis is better. Much better pitch. He just needs to stop with the ridiculous growl at the end of sentences. Still not good however.
Thanks? :lol wait do you guys know that's me?
I'm working on uploading more covers and also original music. If you don't like the growly things, surely there will be something I upload that you'll like better- I did those on purpose because I just figured out how to do it, and I thought it sounded cool, but I won't use that at the end of every sentence :P. Plus you can watch my piano playing- that's my real trained skill.
Nicky- you can see my comment on youtube on your video :)
Well, I didn't know that was you so at least you know you got my honest assessment. You need improvement but you are so young. It will come if you do the work. I sucked when I first started singing but I never gave up. Now after playing in bands that have done some pretty big shows over a span of 25 years I am proud of what I accomplished. Stay with it and most important...DO THE WORK! :tup
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Yes thanks, always give honest assessments. It's difficult right now because my voice has changed in the past 2 or 3 years so it's brand new to me. I don't sound like this one anymore- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCtNZ_CsXo ..... thank god :lol
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I think the growls can be pretty cool, used in moderation.
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(https://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/002ac3f3-9b63-4a2c-985b-35da1b53aebe_zpsdf68d1da.jpg)
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Yes thanks, always give honest assessments. It's difficult right now because my voice has changed in the past 2 or 3 years so it's brand new to me. I don't sound like this one anymore- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCtNZ_CsXo ..... thank god :lol
I actually think that was way better than the Panic Attack cover.
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Dennis, I quite like stuff of yours I've heard so far. One can definitely tell your age and all, but you have good pitch and good understanding of the required style. The growling is not so necessary but even JLB seems very growl-happy in live environment nowadays and is adding rawness into many songs that didn't contain as much of it in the studio. So it's not like it's outrageous or anything. I'd like to hear you take on some older DT material - it's out of most people's leagues obviously but the newer material doesn't have as many grabbing vocal melodies.
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Ok, I watched in horror. But I guess that's ok cause its Halloween? Seriously Nicky, you flat out badly on every single line you sing. I have been a singer for 25 years and I can't stand going to see bands with bad singers. I would walk out in 5 minutes if I saw you perform in a bar. Or stay for some laughs, depends on my mood. I see zero improvement at all! None! Not the slightest bit.
Harse? Yes it is, but you need to stop the delusion you are a legitimate vocalist. You are not!
TAKE SOME LESSONS FORM A LEGITIMATE TEACHER!
I dunno dude. You can look at it from two sides. I would argue Nicky is perfectly on pitch, but the music is off. It's a chicken and egg kinda thing. Who was off first?
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I would do vocal covers, as I have the ear for getting my pitch right very consistently at a lower range, but my voice just isn't meant for singing.
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Yeah, you liked them alright, just not how he sang them, or when.
:lol
Oh you know what I mean. :lol
I hope. :lol
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Yes thanks, always give honest assessments. It's difficult right now because my voice has changed in the past 2 or 3 years so it's brand new to me. I don't sound like this one anymore- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCtNZ_CsXo ..... thank god :lol
I liked this one :)
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Nicky, I've only read a few pages of this thread, but I noticed you stated you aren't looking to make a career out of singing. If that's the case, I can't help but wonder why you've spent years worth of time and money on a vocal coach. That's quite an expensive hobby.
First of all, you need to make a concrete decision on what your aspirations are. Is it really just a hobby or are you serious about it? Do you want to be an "ok" singer or a great singer?
If you're wanting to be a great singer, you need to first find a new coach. He/she has failed to help you through just the mere basics, and apparently only gives a shit about taking your money. Secondly, do NOT try to do this on your own with the assistance of Youtube videos. I can't even begin to tell you how many people think they've perfected certain techniques through these videos, but have actually not. It's incredibly easy to get things wrong, and not even know it until you actually try to sing a song, and everything falls apart. You need a qualified professional paying close attention to what you are doing, ready to correct any mistakes you make. Furthermore, the entire process is a hell of a lot more involved than simply going through scales and doing breathing exercises.
Last, but not least, I implore you to put aside any concern for image, stage moves, and making videos for now. It is not where your focus should be right now. I know you probably don't want to hear it, but if you're really serious about this, you need to start this journey over from square one.
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As a more seasoned Nicky fan here, I think it's maybe worth throwing my 2 cents in:
Nicky is what he is. At this point I would say take it or leave it, for there won't be much change, for better or for worse. I for one have learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, and am always excited when there is a new video. It always walks a fine line of cringe, but that's what it makes it exciting at the same time. Regarding vocal coaches, I have never believed for a second there was any serious vocal coaching involved. I think the only vocal coaches there were, had names like Clive N. Budokan, or Hans-Anna Livetime.
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he seems to spend waaaaaay more time perfecting hand gestures and mannerisms than actual vocal improvement.
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I'd like to hear Nicky try something like "Take the Time"
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NEVER STOP THE HAND MOVEMENTS. People don't want to tell you this because it's been top secret, but it's about time the world knows.. JLB couldn't hit high notes at one point either. He was struggling and getting off key constantly barely holding on to a D4. Then one day a prophet came to him in his dreams and displayed to him an array of hand and body motions. He didn't know why, but he HAD to get up out of bed and start singing again. Something within his soul guided him and he couldn't stop. He copied the movements, but still, no improvement was made. Did this make him stop? NO. He kept pursuing these motions because he had faith that it would lead him where he needed to go. That was until one day he felt the powers of the hand gestures and mannerism gods rush through his body like a wave of energy up from his toes to his arms and head. Suddenly.. POW F#5!
And now it's your turn Nicky Spanjaards. Do not stop the motions no matter what they tell you and some day you will be a god too.
Seriously though don't stop with them, I like your impersonation.
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Serious doe, when it seems like he's worrying more about his hand movements and creepy obsession of becoming James LaBrie, rather than worrying about his actual singing, it's a problem.
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Only if it's distracting him during the performance. But sometimes it can actually not be a distraction if it comes naturally from watching James and trying to replicate what you heard and saw. That's what I think. Sure if a passage comes when you need to concentrate for a second and not move, or move a certain way, go for it.. but you'll kind of look like James because that's what he does. :lol
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I think it would be cool for Nicky and Dennis to do a duet like Charlie and James in WDADRU :biggrin:
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As a more seasoned Nicky fan here, I think it's maybe worth throwing my 2 cents in:
Nicky is what he is. At this point I would say take it or leave it, for there won't be much change, for better or for worse. I for one have learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, and am always excited when there is a new video. It always walks a fine line of cringe, but that's what it makes it exciting at the same time. Regarding vocal coaches, I have never believed for a second there was any serious vocal coaching involved. I think the only vocal coaches there were, had names like Clive N. Budokan, or Hans-Anna Livetime.
Nicky is what he is, and what he is is NOT a vocalist. Anyone can grow long hair and sing badly. As a vocalist, I find what Nicky does as offensive as me picking up a guitar not having a clue and telling people that I'm playing it when I'm not.
He has become a cult figure on this board and I find the whole thing entertaining for the most part, but he can't sing. Its bad and that may be a harsh assessment but at the same time its the 100% reality of it.
Does he think with each passing year of singly badly with no training we will at some point embrace it due to longevity? Umm...no.
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Im sorry Nickyspandex....or whatever your name is....that was awful.....out of tune.....horrendous.Please dont take whatever points of view forum members say about your vocals to heart...but your really not a singer/vocalist.Bloody good try though.......have you ever thought about baking cakes as a hobby!!
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As a more seasoned Nicky fan here, I think it's maybe worth throwing my 2 cents in:
Nicky is what he is. At this point I would say take it or leave it, for there won't be much change, for better or for worse. I for one have learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, and am always excited when there is a new video. It always walks a fine line of cringe, but that's what it makes it exciting at the same time. Regarding vocal coaches, I have never believed for a second there was any serious vocal coaching involved. I think the only vocal coaches there were, had names like Clive N. Budokan, or Hans-Anna Livetime.
I can't stop laughing.
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Hahaha guys some posts made me really laugh, good sense of humor :lol
I am taking vocal lessons though. My previous vocal coach wasn't that good, he was sick a lot of times etc. and he did even quit. So I had to search for another vocal coach. And if I look back I waited too long to search for another vocal coach.
The vocal coach I'm working with now is not so long, only since 2 months or so, so that's why there is not really a progression to sing on pitch. I only thought I can reach and hold the higher notes better then before and have better gritty tone, as it sounds more natural then first ;) But we are working on that now and I'm ready to practise, practise and practise for it, since it's necessary.
And props to you Dennis! You're doing a good job and you indeed recognize the pitch better than me :) Way to go! I read your reaction on youtube, thanks for that man really appreciated. ;) Doing a song together sometime down the road would be cool as Perpetual Change mentioned haha :D
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I don't think that vocal coach is an issue there. :millahhhh
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I'm willing to give you a free vocal lesson right here right now....do more kicks like at the beginning of this video. Goddamnit, many more kicks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUc-SqpAm6I&feature=relmfu
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I'm still waiting for that cover (no backing track!) of Somewhere over the Rainbow, Nicky.
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I'm willing to give you a free vocal lesson right here right now....do more kicks like at the beginning of this video. Goddamnit, many more kicks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUc-SqpAm6I&feature=relmfu
kicks are indeed awesome!
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Ok then Nicky....guess your done here?....See ya next year!
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Hey this is totally off topic, but since Nicky doesn't seem to post much and we were talking about my singing before, could you guys tell me what you think of this one? I'd love to hear what your critiques are. :metal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUSZTzAA6Xw&feature=youtu.be
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Hey this is totally off topic, but since Nicky doesn't seem to post much and we were talking about my singing before, could you guys tell me what you think of this one? I'd love to hear what your critiques are. :metal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUSZTzAA6Xw&feature=youtu.be
Well, there is a significant lack of kicks.... :-\
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As much talent as Dennis has, it's just not the same as Nicky :(
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Yeah, talk about disappointment when I saw this thread bumped.
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:lol
Seriously though Dennis, you sound really good.
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Thanks! :rollin
And Nicky when you do get back here to the thread, I'd love to do a Metropolis duo :metal It'll be a fun extreme challenge. Plus NO ONE will be disappointed. But I'm serious it would be fun even if it isn't perfect.
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God damn you Dennis. You're freaking badass.
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Nicky's website is gone, so I guess maybe he figured it was finally time to pull the plug on being the singer of Dream Theater. :(
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It's gone?
https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/index1_5.html (https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/index1_5.html)
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https://www.nickyspanjaards.com/index1_1.html
edit: :shadowninja: 'd
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Or he has another, second voice injury just like James had it second back 2000's. :)
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EDIT: It looks like it just doesn't work if you do nickyspanjaards.com :lol
What gives, Nicky? :facepalm:
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.
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(https://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/795401_3001.jpg)
I googled Nicky Spanjaards and this picture I made a couple years ago came up in images! :lol
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Wow, it has been 4 years since he graced us with his presence. I remember it like it was yesterday.
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(https://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/795401_3001.jpg)
I googled Nicky Spanjaards and this picture I made a couple years ago came up in images! :lol
this is amazing. I never saw it so thank you for resurrecting it.
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He's in a new band actually. No videos yet though.
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Thanks! :rollin
And Nicky when you do get back here to the thread, I'd love to do a Metropolis duo :metal It'll be a fun extreme challenge. Plus NO ONE will be disappointed. But I'm serious it would be fun even if it isn't perfect.
Yeah that would be cool to do! :smiley:
I've been away for some time indeed. Worked really hard to improve my voice and I'm still in a band, but we're still working out covers and songs yet.
I've made a new cover, it's a while back I recorded the last one haha.
This time it's not a DT song actually ;D this one is from Alter Bridge, Cry of Achilles, hope you enjoy :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx68k6kTqJ0
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When I saw there was a new post in this thread, I got excited...and then I saw it was Nicky himself that posted and I nearly jumped off the couch and imitated Nicky imitating James LaBrie kicking the air. Then I saw it was not a DT cover and I got sad.
I do have to say, I love certain things about the new video. I like the decorating you've done. A single Gears of War poster held up by what appears to be a single piece of tape. Ok, it was only one thing I loved....but Nicky is back!!!!
Damn it, now cover some more Dream Theater.
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WOooooooo!!!!
It's like Christmas and New Years in one day when Nicky posts a new video.
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Nicky, now that you're back would you consider this question? Is there any truth to the rumor that the reason JLB is singing out of his skin this tour is that you're along for the ride serving as his understudy and pressuring him to perform or be replaced? I just got back from seeing the band in Seattle and McCaw Hall was abuzz with speculation that there was a prodigy traveling with the band waiting to pounce when and if JLB's voice cracked. Even if this is a malicious rumor, I'm glad you're back. Could it be a coincidence that you've chosen to resurrect your DTF persona during Easter week, or is this a sign of greater powers at work?
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I like the decorating you've done.
lol
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Nicky, I'm totally being honest here the new is video is not perfect but good. Considering the old videos of yours I see much more control and stability in your voice.
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Nicky, now that you're back would you consider this question? Is there any truth to the rumor that the reason JLB is singing out of his skin this tour is that you're along for the ride serving as his understudy and pressuring him to perform or be replaced? I just got back from seeing the band in Seattle and McCaw Hall was abuzz with speculation that there was a prodigy traveling with the band waiting to pounce when and if JLB's voice cracked. Even if this is a malicious rumor, I'm glad you're back. Could it be a coincidence that you've chosen to resurrect your DTF persona during Easter week, or is this a sign of greater powers at work?
Haha well that's someting I want you to answer :yarr and no it's not true I guess ;D
Nicky, I'm totally being honest here the new is video is not perfect but good. Considering the old videos of yours I see much more control and stability in your voice.
Thanks! And you're right , my old videos are laughable, especially the oldest ones :D
I made a new video, and I think it's even better since the latest one because the stability and control of my voice has more improved. This time it's Fallout from The mayfield Four.
And I promise, next time it will be another Dream Theater song of their latest record ;D
Let me know what ya think and hope ya guys like it :metal :biggrin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6vD0dtZCog
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Germany becomes soccer world champion, and then Nicky posts a new video. This week is epic.
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Germany becomes soccer world champion, and then Nicky posts a new video. This week is epic.
Buy a lottery ticket right now.
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Hi all ;D
Just wanted to say I'm going to place a new vocal cover here :D
This time it's again a Dream Theater song, The Enemy Inside.
It's uploading right now so I'll place the link here as soon as it is finished :metal
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CAN :metal
FUCKIN :metal
WAIT :metal
not a typo
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I see what you did thurrrrrrrrrr
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Hahaha ;D
Well here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ6slLcR5gg&feature=youtu.be
Let me know what you guys think :yarr
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You've gotten a lot better, Nicky. Congrats.
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Hahaha ;D
Well here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ6slLcR5gg&feature=youtu.be
Let me know what you guys think :yarr
What do I think?!
What do I think???!!?!!!??
I think you have definitely recorded another vocal cover of a Dream Theater song!
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Best room decoration yet!! :lol
But yeah, you've definitely gotten better, no denying that.
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Ummm... :yeahright
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You've gotten better definitely. There's still a lot of room for improvement, but it's fascinating to me that you've come this far. I have to say though, the two things I particularly almost can't stand about your performance are A. Your body language and movement, and B. Your misuse of power and tone in your singing.
To elaborate:
A. Please try to pay attention because I'm saying it hoping you will get better - your covers are best viewed while looking at a different tab. You're trying to imitate some of James' moves and stage banter that he pulls off in the band's most heavy, upbeat songs, or you're simply acting like a Power Metal frontman. That doesn't work usually since firstly, most of DT's songs don't mesh with the way James moves in, say, Lie's video clip. This song is a serious song with a slightly dark tone about post traumatic stress disorder, and while the guitar and the drums may set a powerful tone, James sings it in a very light, vulnerable tone to pass the message properly. So waggling your hands and throwing fists doesn't help much.
Secondly, even if some of the movement does fit the tone, remember you are in Youtube and filming yourself in your room - this is not a stage, and the environment makes any kind of excessive body language seem ridiculous.
B. I think the issue with your phrasing and singing comes from lack of breathing - it does seem like your breathing between lines, sometimes you might need to breathe while singing a line and pausing for a moment to accentuate the words you're singing. It seems like you're running out of air during segments like "I'm hanging on the edge" or "No magic pill can bring it back again" (during the bold words), so these words really lose their tone and power, and you also get a little flat on your tone. The lack of breathing almost makes it seem like you're "mumbling out loud". You should try to do something like "No magic pill" *pause for a short, quick breath* "can bring it back" *another breath* "AGAaaaaaiiinnnn"
Also, until you get the low/normal segments right, please try to avoid improvising high notes not present in the studio version. Improvs in lower/normal keys can be beautiful as well, and high notes require much higher skill to pull off. Beside that, you still need to develop a sense of when it's appropriate to pull a high note. When singers don't wait for the right "climax" moment of the song, it tends to sound like they're trying to scream some mucus out of their throat rather than pull an impressive achievement.
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This is great :metal :metal :metal
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Nicky's Jameisms are half the reason I watch his videos.
:hat
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Nicky's Jameisms are half the reason I watch his videos.
:hat
They are the reasons why I avoid watching them. I could bear his singing if he was only trying to sing and not impersonate James.
B.Lee
On a side note, no, I don't think I could bear his singing even in that case.
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Uhm, I dunno, I thought The Enemy Inside cover was pretty good and totally listenable. Much better than Nicky's earlier stuff.
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ASYLUM CEEEEEEEREEEEEEEE :metal :metal :metal :millahhhh :metal :metal :metal
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Uhm, I dunno, I thought The Enemy Inside cover was pretty good and totally listenable. Much better than Nicky's earlier stuff.
Well, OK, I was a little harsh. I would like to hear him without James singing behind and doing his own stuff on the song.
B.Lee
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You've gotten better definitely. There's still a lot of room for improvement, but it's fascinating to me that you've come this far. I have to say though, the two things I particularly almost can't stand about your performance are A. Your body language and movement, and B. Your misuse of power and tone in your singing.
To elaborate:
A. Please try to pay attention because I'm saying it hoping you will get better - your covers are best viewed while looking at a different tab. You're trying to imitate some of James' moves and stage banter that he pulls off in the band's most heavy, upbeat songs, or you're simply acting like a Power Metal frontman. That doesn't work usually since firstly, most of DT's songs don't mesh with the way James moves in, say, Lie's video clip. This song is a serious song with a slightly dark tone about post traumatic stress disorder, and while the guitar and the drums may set a powerful tone, James sings it in a very light, vulnerable tone to pass the message properly. So waggling your hands and throwing fists doesn't help much.
Secondly, even if some of the movement does fit the tone, remember you are in Youtube and filming yourself in your room - this is not a stage, and the environment makes any kind of excessive body language seem ridiculous.
B. I think the issue with your phrasing and singing comes from lack of breathing - it does seem like your breathing between lines, sometimes you might need to breathe while singing a line and pausing for a moment to accentuate the words you're singing. It seems like you're running out of air during segments like "I'm hanging on the edge" or "No magic pill can bring it back again" (during the bold words), so these words really lose their tone and power, and you also get a little flat on your tone. The lack of breathing almost makes it seem like you're "mumbling out loud". You should try to do something like "No magic pill" *pause for a short, quick breath* "can bring it back" *another breath* "AGAaaaaaiiinnnn"
Also, until you get the low/normal segments right, please try to avoid improvising high notes not present in the studio version. Improvs in lower/normal keys can be beautiful as well, and high notes require much higher skill to pull off. Beside that, you still need to develop a sense of when it's appropriate to pull a high note. When singers don't wait for the right "climax" moment of the song, it tends to sound like they're trying to scream some mucus out of their throat rather than pull an impressive achievement.
This really is a great post. The fact you took the time to write it is something Nicky should appreciate.
I have sang for over 25 years now and I can say that if you are working hard at the craft you will continue to improve no matter how many years you have been doing it.
I can't say even now I am very impressed with the vocals or the stage presence compared to past efforts, BUT keep working hard and you will continue to improve. The fact others feel you are getting better is good motivation for you, Nicky. Good luck moving forward.
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You've gotten better definitely. There's still a lot of room for improvement, but it's fascinating to me that you've come this far. I have to say though, the two things I particularly almost can't stand about your performance are A. Your body language and movement, and B. Your misuse of power and tone in your singing.
To elaborate:
A. Please try to pay attention because I'm saying it hoping you will get better - your covers are best viewed while looking at a different tab. You're trying to imitate some of James' moves and stage banter that he pulls off in the band's most heavy, upbeat songs, or you're simply acting like a Power Metal frontman. That doesn't work usually since firstly, most of DT's songs don't mesh with the way James moves in, say, Lie's video clip. This song is a serious song with a slightly dark tone about post traumatic stress disorder, and while the guitar and the drums may set a powerful tone, James sings it in a very light, vulnerable tone to pass the message properly. So waggling your hands and throwing fists doesn't help much.
Secondly, even if some of the movement does fit the tone, remember you are in Youtube and filming yourself in your room - this is not a stage, and the environment makes any kind of excessive body language seem ridiculous.
B. I think the issue with your phrasing and singing comes from lack of breathing - it does seem like your breathing between lines, sometimes you might need to breathe while singing a line and pausing for a moment to accentuate the words you're singing. It seems like you're running out of air during segments like "I'm hanging on the edge" or "No magic pill can bring it back again" (during the bold words), so these words really lose their tone and power, and you also get a little flat on your tone. The lack of breathing almost makes it seem like you're "mumbling out loud". You should try to do something like "No magic pill" *pause for a short, quick breath* "can bring it back" *another breath* "AGAaaaaaiiinnnn"
Also, until you get the low/normal segments right, please try to avoid improvising high notes not present in the studio version. Improvs in lower/normal keys can be beautiful as well, and high notes require much higher skill to pull off. Beside that, you still need to develop a sense of when it's appropriate to pull a high note. When singers don't wait for the right "climax" moment of the song, it tends to sound like they're trying to scream some mucus out of their throat rather than pull an impressive achievement.
This really is a great post. The fact you took the time to write it is something Nicky should appreciate.
I have sang for over 25 years now and I can say that if you are working hard at the craft you will continue to improve no matter how many years you have been doing it.
I can't say even now I am very impressed with the vocals or the stage presence compared to past efforts, BUT keep working hard and you will continue to improve. The fact others feel you are getting better is good motivation for you, Nicky. Good luck moving forward.
Thank you for the appreciation. I have no experience with singing other than being part of a choir as a child and singing a lot of solos there, something that taught me to love the instrument and the action of singing, and maybe secretly trying to get back to that hobby every now and then later in life, privately - though I pretty much gave up ever since puberty hit my vocal cords and the fear of peer pressure hit my will to follow through.
Regardless, I've remained very critical and "loyal" to this particular instrument, usually over others. The singer is the first thing I pay attention to in any band I come by, and much like Nicky, James LaBrie is my favorite singer of all time. I admire both his natural gifts and his own developed tone, style and uniqueness, and he's pretty much my go-to vocalist if you ask for my taste in every professional aspect. Since Nicky obviously admires James so much and he's obviously inspired by his stage banter as much as I am, I've been trying to remain as critical and constructive as I can for a while with his covers, since he obviously sees the same thing I do in James' singing - he just hasn't developed the skill to pull it off yet, and I admire the fact he actually shoots for it.
Anyways Nicky, once again, I hope you will take our criticism the right way, and I hope you will someday get to your incredibly hopeful destination, the best thing you could do right now is learning to face your limitations and not trying to be cocky about it - think of how James completely took the show down in "Awake in Japan" 1995 when he tried to shoot for things well beyond his physical limitations at the time. Then look at Live Scenes from New York, where his performance wasn't an incredibly technical showcase as far as feats and notes are concerned, but it was much more bearable to listen to and he actually nailed the stuff that's "easier to sing". As long as you're still not able to sing the way you aim for, lower your expectations and master the notes and improvisations that are within your reach, and make them sound as good as possible. All the best!
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Nicky's Jameisms are half the reason I watch his videos.
:hat
I didn't even realize people had other reasons for watching them. :|
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Thanks everyone for the good feedback! ;D It's good to hear from you guys that I have improved. One of the reasons is I got more serious into singing. I've found a new vocal trainer, I'm doing vocal warm-ups and I'm doing scales almost every day to get better pitch and voice control.
Thanks for the advice IdoSC, it's really appreciated man. I'm going to work on the things you mentioned that I must look better at my body language and the lack of breathing. That was a really good thing you pointed out so thank you.
Which song of DT do you guys want me to sing next?
As Bertielee wants to hear me sing without James voice, maybe something of BC&SL?
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Nailed it Nicky! Definitely do Illumination Theory next.
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My challenge still stands, Nicky. "Somewhere over the rainbow", with no accompaniment.
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you know there's an instrumental version of The Enemy Inside that you could sing to?
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Thanks everyone for the good feedback! ;D It's good to hear from you guys that I have improved. One of the reasons is I got more serious into singing. I've found a new vocal trainer
How many new trainers is this? 8? 9?
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Ok, it so happens that every time Nicky posts a vocal cover on DTF the veil of shame which usually hides my vocal capabilities or lack thereof lifts itself magically, and I immediately feel entitled to record a Labrie vocal cover and share it with you.
Here is SURROUNDED: https://soundcloud.com/francesco-di-plinio/dream-theater-surrounded-vocal-cover. Audio only, garageband for mac and the apple headphones mic. 2 takes, indeed even willing to do more, the "but I will HOOOLD" does not come more than twice.
I hope you somewhat like the fact that I hit most notes. My vocal tone is nothing special and I have never taken singing lessons, just lots of ear training. My real job is being a mathematician, so at least I can claim I sing better than James integrates rational functions.
Cheers
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Ok, it so happens that every time Nicky posts a vocal cover on DTF the veil of shame which usually hides my vocal capabilities or lack thereof lifts itself magically, and I immediately feel entitled to record a Labrie vocal cover and share it with you.
Here is SURROUNDED: https://soundcloud.com/francesco-di-plinio/dream-theater-surrounded-vocal-cover. Audio only, garageband for mac and the apple headphones mic. 2 takes, indeed even willing to do more, the "but I will HOOOLD" does not come more than twice.
I hope you somewhat like the fact that I hit most notes. My vocal tone is nothing special and I have never taken singing lessons, just lots of ear training. My real job is being a mathematician, so at least I can claim I sing better than James integrates rational functions.
Cheers
I thought you did pretty good, particularly near the end.
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Ok, it so happens that every time Nicky posts a vocal cover on DTF the veil of shame which usually hides my vocal capabilities or lack thereof lifts itself magically, and I immediately feel entitled to record a Labrie vocal cover and share it with you.
Here is SURROUNDED: https://soundcloud.com/francesco-di-plinio/dream-theater-surrounded-vocal-cover. Audio only, garageband for mac and the apple headphones mic. 2 takes, indeed even willing to do more, the "but I will HOOOLD" does not come more than twice.
I hope you somewhat like the fact that I hit most notes. My vocal tone is nothing special and I have never taken singing lessons, just lots of ear training. My real job is being a mathematician, so at least I can claim I sing better than James integrates rational functions.
Cheers
I thought that really wasn't bad at all. You should take singing lessons, I think you have talent.
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Yeah, that was pretty decent. If I had to single out the most important area of improvement, it would be timing. Especially at the beginning you came in too early or too late quite a bit.
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Thank you all for the nice feedback. Rumborak: you are right, some of the lines are ever so slightly off beat. These can be fixed if one does more than 2 takes: actually I am surprised I get the 5/4 part "dreams are shaking... by a candle.." on time.
To who is suggesting singing lessons: well, I am not spring chicken anymore... I would think about it if I could go back in time. But maybe buying a real microphone and singing out some more tunes, that I can do.
Actually, I have just recorded a Take the Time version. Here is it if you are interested, I think it sounds better than Surrounded, I was able to tweak the eq a bit more this time.
https://soundcloud.com/francesco-di-plinio/take-the-time-dream-theater
The backing track is due to the youtube user ekikoo.
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Speaking of SoundCloud streams, I'm just gonna post this
https://soundcloud.com/nicky-spanjaards
and slowly back out of the thread.
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Speaking of SoundCloud streams, I'm just gonna post this
https://soundcloud.com/nicky-spanjaards
and slowly back out of the thread.
:heart
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Hi all,
Here is a new vocal cover I recorded. It's not Dream Theater this time but it will be in the next video ;D
This is a cover from Accept - Kill The Pain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANoSrx7eAOU
Ok, it so happens that every time Nicky posts a vocal cover on DTF the veil of shame which usually hides my vocal capabilities or lack thereof lifts itself magically, and I immediately feel entitled to record a Labrie vocal cover and share it with you.
Here is SURROUNDED: https://soundcloud.com/francesco-di-plinio/dream-theater-surrounded-vocal-cover. Audio only, garageband for mac and the apple headphones mic. 2 takes, indeed even willing to do more, the "but I will HOOOLD" does not come more than twice.
I hope you somewhat like the fact that I hit most notes. My vocal tone is nothing special and I have never taken singing lessons, just lots of ear training. My real job is being a mathematician, so at least I can claim I sing better than James integrates rational functions.
Cheers
That one sounds great man, you have a nice tone in your voice and a good job on the higher parts! :metal
My challenge still stands, Nicky. "Somewhere over the rainbow", with no accompaniment.
That one will come in due time Rumborak ;) If you want I can post my vocals only of the Accept cover?
Speaking of SoundCloud streams, I'm just gonna post this
https://soundcloud.com/nicky-spanjaards
and slowly back out of the thread.
Yeah that one was not a pretty good take, timing is all over the place. But I joined my new band and the timing is a lot better now.
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Hi all,
The next cover I did was Find The Real of Alter Bridge.
Let me know what you think ;D :metal
https://youtu.be/xJNKw5UNVWw
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I guess I haven't really given any substantive feedback in a while, so here it goes:
Nicky, I think you have worked a lot, and with good payback, on stuff like projection, grit and presentation.
What is still missing is the pitch. I actually don't know most of the songs you sing, so when I listen to your rendition, I have no previous reference. And I have to say, this video, and *particularly* on the demo of your band, I often don't know what your intended pitch is.
The Alter Bridge song is a perfect example where the song falls apart without accurate pitch. The guitars mostly do power chords, and Alter Bridge's singer (I listened to the original afterwards) fills in the chord context. He sings the missing thirds of the chord, and for that he needs to be dead on in terms of pitch. He is, you are not.
That's also the reason why I always bring up Somewhere Over The Rainbow as a song you should do. I figured it might make you realize your own weakness by exposing them, and thus motivate you to work on it. So far you always went for easy songs where you could cover up things with reverb and grit. To be perfectly blunt, if you *really* care about the craft, you need to work on your weak parts, not working on ways to cover them up.
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It is absolutely imperative for vocalists to bring emphasis to certain parts of music by acting out the words. Thus, when the lyrics "straight down" were sung you descended towards the floor. You're halfway there!
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Hi all,
The next cover I did was Find The Real of Alter Bridge.
Let me know what you think ;D :metal
https://youtu.be/xJNKw5UNVWw
Good job man!
I must admit, you sound much better in your covers of bands like Alter Bridge than you do in the Dream Theater covers. Please take this as constructive criticism and absolutely not as a knock on your skills. Everyone's voice has a certain range where their vocals shine most. You have the ability to hit higher notes where needed, but overall your voice sounds much better in the middle range of pitch.
You should continue doing covers of bands like Alter Bridge. The Accept cover also sounded good too!
As rumborak said, there definitely are some pitch problems here and there, but there are far fewer of them on the Alter Bridge song than there were on some of the Dream Theater ones.
I also agree with rumborak in that you should attempt a song like Somewhere Over The Rainbow so you can begin to identify your problem areas, and work on those. Pitch problems are absolutely able to be strengthened and worked on, as you develop vocal control, develop your ear, and develop strength in your voice.
Keep up the good work!
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BTW, just to comment on Somewhere Over The Rainbow, obviously nobody expects a Judy Garland saccharine vibrato. Make it your own, give it some edge. The important part however is the pitch, particularly the ones in the "someday I'll wish upon a star" section. The song actually switches key in that section, and it's only vocals at that point, so you have to switch keys, and land back in the original key, with no one to help you.
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BTW, just to comment on Somewhere Over The Rainbow, obviously nobody expects a Judy Garland saccharine vibrato. Make it your own, give it some edge. The important part however is the pitch, particularly the ones in the "someday I'll wish upon a star" section. The song actually switches key in that section, and it's only vocals at that point, so you have to switch keys, and land back in the original key, with no one to help you.
For fun I may just take that challenge and post the vid! I think I could kill Somewhere Over The Rainbow! :metal
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https://youtu.be/CE4Ef5EXA-k
(I know, not truly DT-related, but this place can use anything at this point)
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https://youtu.be/CE4Ef5EXA-k
(I know, not truly DT-related, but this place can use anything at this point)
No, just no! I thought I could bare it in a different context but I just can't. I just don't like Nicky's voice...not a bit!
B.Lee
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The part starting at 3:05 is just wondrous.
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Infernal Agony
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And his bandmates?!?!? Is it a joke or what?
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I can't help feeling like I'm being punked in this thread.
I mean, is this a sincere William Hung thing or an elaborate Andy Kaufman parity.
The part starting at 3:05 is just wondrous.
:omg:
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Nice light show :metal
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Ok here we go.
That was not *that* bad until 3:00 and so.
I think (yeah I mean it) Nicky is a powerhouse. But the problem is his timbre. His voice powerful but his timbre is annoying or at least his song choices are simply bad. He is mostly out of tune.
And the most annoying thing is the James LaBrie mimics are all over the video. I understand he somewhat idolize him but act like him? I was just like I was watching 92/94 LaBrie performance. Stop it man. Really stop it.
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I think (yeah I mean it) Nicky is a powerhouse.
I'm assuming you mean that he's putting a lot of energy into it, and yeah that actually is i think what makes it so alluring to watch him.
Musically, he has no talent, sad to say. But again, that combination makes it the delightful trainwreck it is.
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In a way, yes. And again, he has a powerful voice but again like you said, musically there is no talent in it. No control over it, no likeable timbre. Though I see a improvement over the years considering his videos I watch but it seems it has to stay as a hobbie or something.
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Don't worry Nicky, even some of the most famous prog metal singers around really are questionable behind the mic (see: the guy from Haken). Prog metal is just such a demanding genre for metal and rock, which is *supposed* to be layman's music.
If I were you, I'd cut my hair, dye it, learn an instrument, and join a punk or indie rock band ;D
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I didn't realize this thread was still in existence... What a joy!
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Meh.
I know people just like to pay Nicky out because his early videos and his LaBrie-isms are lolworthy, but tbh I didn't think that video was so bad. His voice is solid. Yeah he's not an AMAZING singer, but who fucking is nowadays - everyone's doctored to shit in the studio. The band has a lot of room for improvement, but that's fine, it'll come if they keep it up.
Maybe it's the culture in my country that makes me feel this way but I really don't get how people can dog other bands outright like that - if there's room for improvement, say so, constructively, and leave it at that.
Kudos for them for getting out there and actually doing some fucking shows - that in itself puts the seemingly endless array of 'bedroom bands' to shame.
In a way, yes. And again, he has a powerful voice but again like you said, musically there is no talent in it. No control over it, no likeable timbre. Though I see a improvement over the years considering his videos I watch but it seems it has to stay as a hobbie or something.
I really don't think an 'annoying timbre' is much of a hindrance at all - LaBrie's post-accident timbre is pretty mud.
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but tbh I didn't think that video was so bad. His voice is solid. Yeah he's not an AMAZING singer, but who fucking is nowadays - everyone's doctored to shit in the studio.
I don't want to overly bash the guy as he seems a nice fellow, but I really don't subscribe to this default cynicism of "everybody sucks these days; he sucks a bit worse, so what". There is not a single moment in the video where he is on pitch. While that gets somewhat glossed over in the almost-spoken-word verses, it becomes brutally and obviously clear in that 3:00+ section.
Also, out of interest, what bands do you listen to that are live in the same ballpark as this?
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I really don't subscribe to this default cynicism of "everybody sucks these days; he sucks a bit worse, so what".
I don't think everybody sucks. I just realise that singing, live singing, is a lot harder than people give thought to, and that a lot of the time the people you think have great voices on record struggle when it comes to the live application.
There is not a single moment in the video where he is on pitch.
Granted, I listened to this on my laptop speakers last night, today on headphones... I can kinda see where you're coming from. Still, I don't think that's a fair assessment - the verses definitely sound a bit off, like he's singing a major tonality over the minor progression (which Hetfield does all the time because he's shitty like that). The chorus (I assume that's what it is) is definitely a lot better pitch-wise, where he's following the riff Ozzy-style. The bridge part later in the song is also relatively in tune.
The part at 3:05 is pretty terrible, granted. But I know how easy it can be to lose the tune live, especially if you have a rubbish monitor system - I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here.
Also, out of interest, what bands do you listen to that are live in the same ballpark as this?
Not any bands that I listen to actively, but they definitely remind me of your average bar band, or school battle of the bands type-band. It's clear through the recording that the riff-writing is there in some respectable form, but it definitely needs some work.
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Not surprising to see some of the same pathetic individuals hating on Nicky nearly three years after I had just about had enough of this forum. Not that I particularly like his vocals either, but how low does one's sense of self-worth have to be to spend three years hating on a person? I'm also not sure what qualifies someone with no body of vocal work as far as we can see to coach others on how to sing.
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And you felt you needed to resurrect the thread for this, after it had been dead for over a month?
k.
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From what I can tell, no one takes Nicky seriously because Nicky himself doesn't give off the impression that he takes himself too seriously. I haven't seen any hate. People critiquing, having a laugh, and giving advice.
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Not surprising to see some of the same pathetic individuals hating on Nicky nearly three years after I had just about had enough of this forum. Not that I particularly like his vocals either, but how low does one's sense of self-worth have to be to spend three years hating on a person? I'm also not sure what qualifies someone with no body of vocal work as far as we can see to coach others on how to sing.
For what its worth, I think MondayMorningLunatic's vocals need a lot of work too.
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Hi all,
I made a new cover ;D
And I'm singing in a new band. I'll post some material once we have some.
This one is A Fortune In Lies. Enjoy! :D
https://youtu.be/5CbT7Ao2hlI
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The prodigal son returns as off key and flat noted as usual. :tup
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Nicky Spanjaards :metal :metal :metal
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Not surprising to see some of the same pathetic individuals hating on Nicky nearly three years after I had just about had enough of this forum. Not that I particularly like his vocals either, but how low does one's sense of self-worth have to be to spend three years hating on a person? I'm also not sure what qualifies someone with no body of vocal work as far as we can see to coach others on how to sing.
I have been a vocalist in various working bands for 25+ years and he is flat on nearly every single note he sings. Period.
Bye now
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A Fortune In Lies is by far one of the longest hi-pitch songs by DT, following closely Innocence Faded. You should try more head voice or mix, instead of chest voice. You're bursting your breath out before you finish the first line!
But I've got to admit, your tone and timbre are reasonably good!
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When you do the more harsh vocals, in lower register, it aint so bad. Did you try to do some Metallica?
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Dude, Nicky, you still haven't got anymore posters to put up?
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Am I smelling a poll? Rumby-drunk vs Nicky?
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I like the use of Papyrus.
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Am I smelling a poll? Rumby-drunk vs Nicky?
Better get several vocal coaches. Nicky has already had 13.
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I love this thread. Nicky it's nice to see you making improvements through the years. Keep at it man!!
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Improvements in what way? He is still completely off key and every note he sings is flat.
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He grew a goatee.
All is forgiven.
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Improvements in what way? He is still completely off key and every note he sings is flat.
Yes, it's embarrassing. Tbh, some things you are made for and others you aren't. Nicky, singing the type of songs DT has is not for you. Too difficult.
B.Lee
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Improvements in what way? He is still completely off key and every note he sings is flat.
Yes, it's embarrassing. Tbh, some things you are made for and others you aren't. Nicky, singing the type of songs DT has is not for you. Too difficult.
B.Lee
He sees these comments every time and yet he keeps coming back for more thinking next time it will different. Okay...
The definition of insanity...
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You keep doin' you, Nicky!!
:metal :metal :metal :metal :metal :metal
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Improvements in what way? He is still completely off key and every note he sings is flat.
Yes, it's embarrassing. Tbh, some things you are made for and others you aren't. Nicky, singing the type of songs DT has is not for you. Too difficult.
B.Lee
Personally, the only thing that is embarrassing is hating on someone for doing what they love doing.
Who cares if it's off-key or bad? Don't listen to it. It doesn't affect you in the slightest.
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Improvements in what way? He is still completely off key and every note he sings is flat.
Yes, it's embarrassing. Tbh, some things you are made for and others you aren't. Nicky, singing the type of songs DT has is not for you. Too difficult.
B.Lee
Personally, the only thing that is embarrassing is hating on someone for doing what they love doing.
Who cares if it's off-key or bad? Don't listen to it. It doesn't affect you in the slightest.
First off, there is no hate and I don't see where you get that from. Second, the guy is coming back again and again and people keep telling him it's not his thing and yet, he keeps coming back. Read the whole thread, people here have been more than nice. After a while, some of us wonder if the guy is capable of understanding what we're telling him.
If singing DT is his thing, so be it. I'm not judging him. BUT if you submit what you do to critical eyes, be prepared to be criticized -be it in a positive or a negative way.
Third, thanks for the lecture!
B.Lee
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this is bad.. but not that bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0
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this is bad.. but not that bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0
Its horrendous! Its that bad for sure! Nothing positive is happening there!
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this is bad.. but not that bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0
Its horrendous! Its that bad for sure! Nothing positive is happening there!
I Guess that what Moor meant is that Nicky's covers aren't as bad as the thing he presented there.
B.Lee
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this is bad.. but not that bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0
Its horrendous! Its that bad for sure! Nothing positive is happening there!
I Guess that what Moor meant is that Nicky's covers aren't as bad as the thing he presented there.
B.Lee
Oh. If that's the point I agree.
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this is bad.. but not that bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0
Well, to be fair, while this is bad, it's mostly a singer with bad timing (possibly without a good monitor?) who's a little flat and a guitarist with next to no technical ability. It can be tolerated. This, however, is WAY worse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjeMDvCdrtc
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this is bad.. but not that bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0
Well, to be fair, while this is bad, it's mostly a singer with bad timing (possibly without a good monitor?) who's a little flat and a guitarist with next to no technical ability. It can be tolerated. This, however, is WAY worse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjeMDvCdrtc
The drummer has potential. That's the nicest thing I can bring myself to say.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPopWDlJXjA
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I don't recognize the song at all, but still had no problem feeling the melody. Great job! :tup Nice range and power. I'd like to hear something along with a backing track.
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I don't recognize the song at all, but still had no problem feeling the melody. Great job! :tup Nice range and power. I'd like to hear something along with a backing track.
I take it you're not a fan of The Astonishing.
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I made a new cover! :metal
This is Lost Not Forgotten. Let me know what you think of this one ;D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAo5a7PG4Rg
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???
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Dude...that was impressive! Seriously! It sounds so amazing. Keep going!
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Dude...that was impressive! Seriously! It sounds so amazing. Keep going!
You're new here aren't you? :lol
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Yeah. XD
First cover I heard from him and honestly, it was not bad at all!
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That held note ... :omg: :omg: :omg:
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Where's the goatee? :sadpanda:
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at least he used autotune this time around :-)
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What the fuck man? Where's your poster? Didn't you have a poster on your wall? Now there's nothing. :-\
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Dude...that was impressive! Seriously! It sounds so amazing. Keep going!
Thanks man! Glad you liked it! ;D
Where's the goatee? :sadpanda:
I trimmed it, but I'll let it grow again xD
What the fuck man? Where's your poster? Didn't you have a poster on your wall? Now there's nothing. :-\
I'm moving to a new apartment next week, so I packed almost everything :)
at least he used autotune this time around :-)
I can guarantee you I used 0,0% autotune. What you hear is my pure natural voice. The only effect I did add on my vocals is a little reverb ;)
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you don't fool my ears saying there's just reverb done to your vocals :-)
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Well some are convinced (and point-blank refuse to believe otherwise) that JLB uses autotune, so...
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Nicky Spanjaards4 days ago
I can guarantee you I didn't use any autotune ;)
What you hear is pure my natural voice. The only effect I did add on my vocals was a little reverb.
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also vocals don't match up with the video
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Well...if Nicky is using autotune, he needs to up the anti on it.
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What the fuck man? Where's your poster? Didn't you have a poster on your wall? Now there's nothing. :-\
I'm moving to a new apartment next week, so I packed almost everything :)
That should be the last damn thing you pack! It's the only thing anybody (read: me) remembers about your videos besides, ya know, the LaBrieisms, the passion, the fury, and...well, the voice.
I can guarantee you I used 0,0% autotune. What you hear is my pure natural voice. The only effect I did add on my vocals is a little reverb ;)
[/quote]
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Really? I always watch them when I'm in doubt how to headbang to Dream Theater :metal unless headbanging falls under the category of passion/fury, in which case I stand corrected.
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Really? I always watch them when I'm in doubt how to headbang to Dream Theater :metal unless headbanging falls under the category of passion/fury, in which case I stand corrected.
It most certainly does.
You want to see some prime passion/fury, check out his take on Winter Rose's Asylum City. My god, the way he kicks the air, it was like he was kicking me right in the soul only with my spirit to be resurrected when his angelic voice sang the first verse.
#nickykixx
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The "are you using autotune" obviously was a sarcastic remark. Quick way of telling whether somebody is using autotune: Is it on pitch? If not, then he/she is not using autotune.
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The "are you using autotune" obviously was a sarcastic remark. Quick way of telling whether somebody is using autotune: Is it on pitch? If not, then he/she is not using autotune.
Yeah, I had sensed it was sarcastic too. Because if you use autotune and you sing that bad, you must sue the company that has provided you with the device. :biggrin:
B.Lee
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Really? I always watch them when I'm in doubt how to headbang to Dream Theater :metal unless headbanging falls under the category of passion/fury, in which case I stand corrected.
It most certainly does.
You want to see some prime passion/fury, check out his take on Winter Rose's Asylum City. My god, the way he kicks the air, it was like he was kicking me right in the soul only with my spirit to be resurrected when his angelic voice sang the first verse.
#nickykixx
Wow! You weren't kidding. 4 seconds in and Nicky already gave me a soul boner
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This thread is brilliant :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin
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Really? I always watch them when I'm in doubt how to headbang to Dream Theater :metal unless headbanging falls under the category of passion/fury, in which case I stand corrected.
It most certainly does.
You want to see some prime passion/fury, check out his take on Winter Rose's Asylum City. My god, the way he kicks the air, it was like he was kicking me right in the soul only with my spirit to be resurrected when his angelic voice sang the first verse.
#nickykixx
Wow! You weren't kidding. 4 seconds in and Nicky already gave me a soul boner
Soul Boner.
Nicky, please use this as a band name.
#nickykixx #soulboner
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Hi everyone,
Here is a new cover of me, this time I'm singing three days! :yarr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJS7dp1LLPI
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Brace yourself.
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HA HA HA HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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That mic sounds awful, just want to get that out of the way...
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That mic sounds awful, just want to get that out of the way...
Yeah, it's the best one I have right now. But i'm saving money for a new mic ;D
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Some of those hair flourishes were spot on :D
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Honestly, that was amazing.
The introduction, when you sang it, you really sang out the mood. You sang in a deep, growly voice and reflected off of Nafarius' mood nicely. Well done!
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In this world of turmoil, some things remain the same, and that is good.
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a simple popfilter would already make a big difference with your mic..
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I actually had (somewhat) high hopes after the soft intro, but then the rest of it kicked in and I had to turn it off during what I assume was the chorus (not a slight against you, just not sure if that's actually the chorus in the song or not).
But this is a DTF tradition at this point I guess. You post a video, a bunch of us rip it apart, a bunch of guys decide that only praise is worth posting and give you tons of compliments, you say thanks, ignore the criticisms and suggestions to improve and the cycle repeats in a few months.
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I actually had (somewhat) high hopes after the soft intro, but then the rest of it kicked in
Yeah, I thought his intro was actually quite good other than the mic.
and I had to turn it off during what I assume was the chorus (not a slight against you, just not sure if that's actually the chorus in the song or not).
Are you talking about the section before "brace yourself..."? Because if so, I'm not sure if that's the chorus or not but it was the worst part in this cover; that and the very last line of the song...
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I actually had (somewhat) high hopes after the soft intro, but then the rest of it kicked in
Yeah, I thought his intro was actually quite good other than the mic.
and I had to turn it off during what I assume was the chorus (not a slight against you, just not sure if that's actually the chorus in the song or not).
Are you talking about the section before "brace yourself..."? Because if so, I'm not sure if that's the chorus or not but it was the worst part in this cover; that and the very last line of the song...
Looked it up, I meant the "hide and protect him....". Felt like a chorus, but whatever it is, that's when I had to shut it down.
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Ah, come on, you gotta do the "HA HA HA HA HA HA" section!
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A bummer you didn't do the laughing section man! Perhaps it would be a good idea to do some eartraining, there are plenty of apps, websites etc that can help with that ;)
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If James does it, Nicky does it. If James doesn't do it, Nicky doesn't do it.
'tis the law of things.
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Dude, what happened to your backdrop? And by backdrop I mean the one random poster you decided to decorate your wall with by using a single piece of tape to hold it up.
I hate to nitpick but I will not watch any more of your videos unless you bring it back.
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I'll make a new video where I'll do the evil laugh :yarr , special for all of you :D
The reason why I didn't do it was I didn't know if I would do it right. But fuck it, once in a life(live)time, right? ;D
Dude, what happened to your backdrop? And by backdrop I mean the one random poster you decided to decorate your wall with by using a single piece of tape to hold it up.
I hate to nitpick but I will not watch any more of your videos unless you bring it back.
All right, sorry! I'll bring it back! :angel:
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You should collaborate with Zantera on the next Paris in the Spring album.
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For all the s*** he's getting when posting here, Nicky Spanjaards keeps coming back and keeps his sense of humour. For all that, and I mean it sincerely, I love you, Nicky!
B.Lee
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Reading this:
Brace yourself.
Immediately after reading this:
Hi everyone,
Here is a new cover of me, this time I'm singing three days! :yarr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJS7dp1LLPI
= :rollin :rollin :lol
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I'll make a new video where I'll do the evil laugh :yarr , special for all of you :D
The reason why I didn't do it was I didn't know if I would do it right. But fuck it, once in a life(live)time, right? ;D
Dude, what happened to your backdrop? And by backdrop I mean the one random poster you decided to decorate your wall with by using a single piece of tape to hold it up.
I hate to nitpick but I will not watch any more of your videos unless you bring it back.
All right, sorry! I'll bring it back! :angel:
Thank God! :tup
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So do you guys seriously think he sounds exactly as bad as years ago? No improvement? I could have sworn he sounded a tad better in his latest than the ones he did way back when. I mean, it still hurts to listen to, but still.
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He *has* improved, no doubt. But reality is, you could count the on-pitch notes in that song on one hand.
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So do you guys seriously think he sounds exactly as bad as years ago? No improvement? I could have sworn he sounded a tad better in his latest than the ones he did way back when. I mean, it still hurts to listen to, but still.
Minor improvement over........5 years? I think? Sure, but if our standards are at the point where we praise that kind of improvement, then we probably don't have much room to criticize anyone.
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I'm waiting in the pumpkin patch for Nicky to return....
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After 3 years?
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He posted on his YouTube account more recently than that:
https://youtu.be/_w3J84Hztyk (https://youtu.be/_w3J84Hztyk)
G o l d
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I have never once listened to this guy. Went to the page, listened to him cover about a minute of my favorite current band, Alter Bridge, and just cringed. Holy shit was that bad. I mean, credit to him loving hard rock and metal, and loving to sing, and putting it out there. But uh...
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I completely forgot about the Christmas Special that he did. I feel so uncomfortable watching it because everyone in the room looks so confused.
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I completely forgot about the Christmas Special that he did. I feel so uncomfortable watching it because everyone in the room looks so confused.
Even before the "singing" starts.
"Is it a man?" :lol
Nicky is a DTF Hall of Famer - love him.
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This thread is still alive! Incredible!
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Saw the reference to this one in another thread. Wow.
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Jesus Christ
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looks like i have some homework
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Damn, you guys got me excited. I thought Nicky dropped some new material. I'm not sure the forum could handle new Nicky content and Dream Theater reuniting with Mike Portnoy in the same year.
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looks like i have some homework
IKR?! I don't know who this person is either. Maybe we don't want to know? :lol Just getting the impression from some of the comments that it may not be worth my time.
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The thread was 5 years dead for a reason . . . :facepalm:
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no other reason than Nicky stopped posting his vids, sure hoped he'd come back to the forums when MP returned...