FeedBack Needed On The Musical Song Any Dream Will Do

[video=youtube;srm_NOr_PNc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srm_NOr_PNc

I finally discovered the head voice, YaY!!!

Im looking forward to some constructive criticism, I plan on performing this song at the next voice recital.

~ James

Good - was that two of you singing throughout ? I didn't notice the other guy singing until you moved the camera. Piano was overpowering a bit but I got enough to enjoy it.

Thank You ido! Yes we were both singing, although I was louder and more familiar with this piece.

The 1:10 mark to 1:30 is what I find the most challenging.

I performed this song last week as a solo in a master class and I bombed very badly with my breathing.

currently now im having a problem on projecting my voice as loud as possible especially on the highest notes. Now i need to focus on facial expression FML -_-

Hi! I haven't been to this forum in a while, so sorry if this is outta the blue. This was good and I enjoyed listening.

I have a few suggestions that I think might help.

Your tone falls a little flat, especially on the sustained notes. By tone, I don't mean pitch, but rather the quality of the sound or timbre of your voice. Remember that you are singing in a broadway style and so vowels that are more rounded would be very appropriate and would bring more depth and warmth to your tone.

Also, because of the style, a light vibrato would be appropriate as well as help with your tone by giving it motion, energy, and direction and maybe even help your pitch by releasing a little bit of tension. I do say "light" vibrato, because you shouldn't get all opera-ish, which would be inappropriate. I'm just talking about the amount of vibrato that isn't over-emphasized and still allows you to keep it within the "conversational" mood that is best for this musical style.

In addition, don't be too strict with the rhythms. If you push and pull the beat a little it will sound more like you're conversing with me and will draw me in to the music. "Tell" me the story of the song, don't "recite" it to me. (A second little note on "telling" me the story of the song. Don't forget to connect the first syllable of a word to the following syllables in a way that sounds natural. Don't place too much emphasis on the pronunciation or dynamic of later syllables of a single word even though they get their own note(s). The whole point is to let the syllables of a single word flow into one another so that they sound like one entity rather than multiple. In almost any style that is not classical in nature you don't want to over-pronounce too much unless maybe if you are singing in a choir or other large vocal ensemble where intelligibility is more of an issue.)

Last but not least, nicely remind your accompaniment that they are only the accompaniment. You have the most important part in the song. You (and the other singer) are the soloist(s) and the accompaniment's job is to back you up, not drown you out. You should never have to feel like you are competing with the backup and the song almost felt like a competition between melody and harmony to me. The problem had nothing to do with you not being loud enough. If you go soft they should be even softer, if you go loud they should be right behind you but still underneath you. My point is that although you do need to project as is appropriate for the space in which you are singing as well as the equipment you are using, or lack thereof, (like any singer should) the accompaniment should still follow you no matter what your dynamic level happens to be. As a soloist, the final say in every aspect of interpretation should be up to you (and any other soloist(s) that you are singing with) and the accompaniment needs to follow that rather than try to do their own thing. (Realize, also, that this applies even to countermelody as well. Even though a countermelody should also be above the accompaniment in dynamic level, it should still be below the primary melody.)

I realize that this may be a lot at once, but remember that the usefulness of this advice is going to be in direct correlation to the time that you have to perfect it before a performance. If you have lots o' time to spare then it will be fine, but trying to make too much change without any time to do it really well could actually hurt more than help. Sometimes it's better to keep things as they are and use the advice in the future if time constraints will not allow for anything better.

I hope something I said will be useful to you. Please take only that which is useful from anything that I may say and simply discard the rest. Good luck on your recital! I know that you'll do great!

Thank you Neptune thats some amazing feedback for me to work on. I'll be referencing back to this very often =D