Return of the Vocal Videos

Things have been busy for me lately. Aside my continuation in Skyrim (level 56 almost 57) for All Achievements, I also recently picked up Rocksmith last week since the game was FINALLY released in Europe. Now not only am I trying to level up in Skyrim for that damned Legendary dragon, but I am also trying to make sure I play Rocksmith consistently to maintain whatever callouses I may be gaining.  That is not including the fact that Rock Band still releases new DLC and I want to record vocal videos (especially of Amberian Dawn songs). So many things I want to do and so little time... first world problems, ya know?

So today I shook off some of the lazy and hauled my desktop to my living room to get some recordings done. I actually managed to get 2 videos recorded, Cold Kiss and Passing Bells; both by Amberian Dawn.

RB Vid: Field of Serpents & New Mic!

It's been a while since I have posted an Amberian Dawn video. As you may recall, I have complained a lot about having issues with recording videos in Rock Band from this artist. Any time I try to sing lyrically my notes are so high and loud that there is a horrible crackle and popping sound on the notes. So I started singing soft, flat and without much effort which resulted in videos I was unhappy with.

Recently I had to purchase a new microphone for use in my band (I bought a Shure SM58 A Beta). It seemed to work wonders in practice (the mic we had wasn't working very well for me), and I started to wonder if it might be useable in Rock Band.

Why I Sing Soft in Rock Band (RB Video: Lost Soul)

This is a video/blog combo I have been meaning to do for a while but it always ended up on the back-burner. Yesterday while trying to record Amberian Dawn- Lost Soul (at the request of the lovely Seli) I unintentionally ended up with decent enough footage to demonstrate what I mean.

To give you some background I've been doing Rock Band videos since May 4th, 2009 when I used to use my digital camera to record my tiny tv (I have a new one now lol) for my videos. In fact here's a link to my very first video: Forever (Rock Band 2) Expert Vocals 100%. My singing has improved since then (or at least I hope so O_o).

I've had lyrical singing lessons (only 7 hours mind you and I hope to take more, but I learned something that was life changing) and I was told that I was placing my voice incorrectly thus giving me a false lower voice and potentially damaging my vocal cords. I've since stopped... and although I pretty much seem to have good natural projection my projection has improved. I know how to not sing "weak".

However the game forces me to sing soft and weak. Thanks also in part to the removal of the sensitivity adjustment on Rock Band 3, if I sing at full (or even partial projection) I get horrible mic distortion, especially on high notes (which due to the nature of high notes are naturally louder).

On Overdue Update (Real Life, Rock Band & More)

Well it's been a long while since I've posted here and I first of all want to apologize for that.

To be honest I've been rather busy and all my little online occupations have been suffering a bit in order to make room for my new occupation.

Real Life

Since the end of last year I had been looking around locally for a band, or something that would allow me to meet people who share my interests, and help me progress and work on my singing.

I had a few potentially successful encounters but distance/transportation was often the hindrance, and in one case the person I was speaking to misplaced my contact information and didn't find me again through other means until I had given up and moved on. After asking some more information from one band regarding what they were looking for exactly, I suddenly found myself planning an audition date.

Video of the Week: Evil Inside Me (RBN)

This week's video is another Amberian Dawn song. What can I say? They are probably the songs that are the most fun on vocals. Plus it is nice to have music you like in one of your favorite games. ;)

I really like to listen to this song, but sadly (and oddly) it wasn't as fun for me to sing as LionHeart or Kokko (which I didn't really like to listen to as much as some others). I think my main problem is I just don't like the way I sing it.

Also I think it is charted weird.. generally I don't have issue with anything Rock Gamer Studios has charted, everything is pretty good and rather accurate. I've noticed that often the lyrics are slightly off on the Amberian Dawn songs, but it's generally really minor.

Video of the Week: Lionheart (RBN)

This week saw the release of TWO Amberian Dawn songs, Lionheart and Evil Inside Me.

I had intended to do both today but I ran out of time, so you only get one :p

Like Kokko, this song really wasn't one of my favorites to listen to.. again, not that I hated it.. just there were other songs I liked more. However, Lionheart has grown on me.. BIG TIME. I REALLY like it.. vocally it is fun, lyrically it is awesome.

I never pay too much attention to lyrics, I generally read through them once when I get the album and then they end up forgotten. However playing the songs on Rock Band

Video of Last Week: Kokko- Eagle of Fire (RBN)

I was bad last week and let this one slip by without blogging about it.. naughty me.

Honestly I didn't really have too much to say about this video anyway other than MORE AMBERIAN DAWN (insert fan-girl squeal)!

Kokko has never really been one of my favorite songs, it's not that I hate it.. I just like other songs more, but ya know.. Kokko is really fun to sing.

So this song earns 5 stars on my "fun on vocals" scale.

I think it came out pretty well other than the mic distortion and am happy with it. It got good ratings

Video of the Week: Shallow Waters (RBN), Eating My Oxygen

This week's video is more Amberian Dawn! This time, Shallow Waters and as you can guess from the title it isn't an easy one.

Hardest problem I had was managing to sing that fast and high without that many chances to get a breath. Really really hard on that level. If you're doing the song in a lower octave though, it's a piece of cake. I played it in a lower octave the day it came out because I was a bit congested and I just didn't have it in me to try to sing it in a higher octave physically.

I did this song over and OVER and OVER again trying to make my struggle to breathe sound less obvious and it did indeed become easier the more I did it (yes, yes, I know practicing helps!) but still it's a killer.

Video of the Week: Incubus (RBN), I sense and know its presence yet I'm asleep.

 Incubus is out for purchase today via the Rock Band Network on Xbox 360, yay! I was starting to get impatient for some new Amberian Dawn songs, so it's about time another makes it out of Peer Review.

This song took me a few tries before I managed an FC. I guess most of it is I'm really out of practice with singing. I didn't have a mic for a long time and I've been having a hard time FCing any Amberian Dawn songs when it used to be so easy in the past. :/ I also did this song as soon as I got up so my voice wasn't really awake yet.. but I was so impatient to play it that I tried anyway.

Anyway after I got the FC my new problem was "How to FC this and not sound like crap?". I hate to say it, but it's something I didn't find the answer to.

My voice is weak in the song. It's especially noticeable in the phrase: ".. to take over me and choke me!"

Video of the Week: Valkyries (RBN), choosers of slain!

Just what I've been waiting for, more Amberian Dawn in Rock Band! Yay!

If you don't know already (shame on you) I am a HUGE Amberian Dawn fan and helped bring them to the RBN for the enjoyment of all.

Valkyries is actually one of my favorite AD songs so I was really happy when this went for sale yesterday on the RBN.

This song SHOULD be hard to sing, but since you don't have to sing it as high as Heidi does, it's not really as hard as it sounds. I managed to sight-read FC this yesterday but didn't get a video up as I had planned because my monitor died during the recording. I was forced to hurry my butt to the stores before they closed to buy another.

I chose to sing it as close to the original version as possible, for me that's the fun of AD's songs on vocals anyway so why ruin it?

Video of the Week: He Sleeps in a Grove (RBN)

This week's video is He Sleeps in a Grove by Amberian Dawn available for sale on the Rock Band Network, authored by the awesome people over at Rock Gamer Studios.

This is actually the first time I have ever FCed (full cleared) the song in expert. I had issues where I was stuck on a certain point and once I figured that out I managed to mess up on a part I usually make.

The song is difficult because it is high for a long period of time with little to no breathing room between phrases. In order for me to hold a high note I need a good amount of oxygen and I just wasn't getting must space to breathe. After a bit of practice (or should I say 10+ 99% runs) I got a little better at it although my voice is still a bit weak.

I feel like it has to be said that I am not a real singer, I have no training in classical singing (it's something I'm interested in though)

OMG RBN! Video of the Week: River of Tuoni

I totally had intended to remake my first ever youtube video but I had a change of plans.

It just so happened that while I was failing at FCing Forever by only getting a strong on the last note Dpritch sent me a message on xbox live talking about the ever spreading rumor that the RBN was coming TODAY!

I immediately decided it wasn't worth continuing to kill my voice for In This Moment- Forever and hovered over twitter watching for the latest news..

And then it came... Rock Band Network was listed under the Music Store and I instantly downloaded the 2 available Amberian Dawn songs (Hey! I helped get them in the RBN ok?) Naturally I went straight for River of Tuoni.. I mean I love Amberian Dawn but He Sleeps in a Grove is not one of my favorite songs of theirs. (I can't wait for the incoming 5 new ones)

I'm actually EXTREMELY lucky I got to play these songs at all because the RBN was not available everywhere.

Vocal Covers? Do I dare?

Hey guys. I know this really doesn't have a whole lot to do with gaming but I don't have much other place to write about this so I'll blame this on the sexy microphone I received from the Team Cena sponsors.

I've been singing/playing vocals on Rock Band for sometime now, I also (as you know) have been posting videos of myself playing the game for a while too. I know that being good at the game on vocals doesn't make you a good singer. It's more or less like an advanced karaoke where you have a pitch line to follow that hopefully prevents you from sounding less bad than a tone deaf monkey.

I've kind of hid behind the game, this was a way I could post videos of myself playing it and having fun knowing that I wasn't really trying to impress anyone with my singing or anything. I know covers are a whole other world and open to more criticism and possibly rude comments.

Another reason I've never attempted covers is the kind of music I like generally has a classically trained soprano vocalist. Being that my only experience involves singing in a car or when I'm by myself this hasn't exactly been a welcoming domain to enter. I'm not into pop music too much (which would be much easier to sing) and the vocalists I like are just jaw-droppingly impressive. On the other hand this mic is so awesome that I HAD to test it out especially knowing that such vocals were too overpowering for the microphone I had previously.

So this is a partial cover of Amberian Dawn's Passing Bells. I just was singing it for fun and thought I was recording the whole thing to compare mic quality when I realized for some reason I had only a partial recording (hence why this is "partial"). I guess it is a good way to see if I should even bother trying covers of such music and/or if my youtube subscribers are even interested.

Either way whether you think it is bad or not, bet your ass I'm doing ALL of Amberian Dawn's DLC from the Rock Band Network for my youtube Rock Band videos. And if I DO do more covers in the future know that they won't all be Amberian Dawn and they will probably be much less frequent.



Should I bother pursuing covers? I know for sure I need more practice, but would you be interested?