I Will (Cover)

[CrowsofFritz]

Thought I'd try my hand at this song to see how far I can take my vocals. It's tough, but not too tough on my voice. It's a sloppy recording. I'm just wondering what you all think of the vocals.

[musicturtle]

It's tough to have an opinion on this as the melody(in rhythm and pitch) in many places isn't close to the original. If you are trying to emulate the original song, it falls short for me.

The vocals aren't poorly recorded, but the harmony part in the middle is out of tune.

You have the range vocally for this song, it just sounds to me like you need to work on it a bit more before laying it down.

[TripleM]

I'm really used to the original. And the vocal there is falsetto for almost the whole thing. So I have those expectations. You're doing very little falsetto, so it was strange to me to hear it that way.

But in terms of the tone of your voice, it sounded nice. It was totally in your range. It was well recorded. If you double track, I'd lower one of the tracks a good 8-12 dbs. You still get the doubling effect, but it's not too noticeable.

[CrowsofFritz]

@musicturtle Thanks! I was surprised I was able to sing this at all actually. The high harmony part was really difficult for me, so that’s why it’s a bit out of tune. I’ll go back and work on it and see if I can make it better. I did this by memory and I guess my memory is bad as I just heard the original and you’re right. It’s a bit different.

@TripleM Thanks so much. Glad to know my vocals didn’t sound strained (at least the main vox). I’ll turn down the double in the last part a bit.

[rayc]

Yes, the variation from the original melody makes it hard to hear for its own sake.
Nothing wrong with the variations - just the sad truth about neural impression.
The other two chaps have covered the areas of import.

[CrowsofFritz]

Yes, the variation from the original melody makes it hard to hear for its own sake.
Nothing wrong with the variations - just the sad truth about neural impression.
The other two chaps have covered the areas of import.

Thanks for listening @rayc !

[Manslick]

Yea this is like an impressionism painting.

Probably a bad analogy.

[Lt. Bob]

I'm really used to the original. And the vocal there is falsetto for almost the whole thing.

no it's not ...... I'll go listen to it again but I have listened to this song forever and Paul was singing in his soft voice .... not falsetto.
He hits that falsetto for the last note but I wouldn't call anything else in it falsetto.

As for not being able to judge the vox unless it's an attempt to replicate the original, that doesn't even make sense to me .... his vox can only be good if it's just like the original?
Silly.

I find the vox a bit strained sounding to me but it could be you don't know the song well enough ( as someone mentioned ) and if you knew it better you would be more relaxed.
You're clearly distracted by trying to remember the chords and where to change them and that doesn't lend itself to a relaxed vocal.

[musicturtle]

As for not being able to judge the vox unless it's an attempt to replicate the original, that doesn't even make sense to me .... his vox can only be good if it's just like the original?
Silly.

It depends what you are asking to be judged. Recording/audio quality of the track or a quality performance of the song. In this case, for most of the song, the melody was changed pretty drastically from the original. I just wanted to know if that was intentional or not before giving any further advice.

[Lt. Bob]

As for not being able to judge the vox unless it's an attempt to replicate the original, that doesn't even make sense to me .... his vox can only be good if it's just like the original?
Silly.

It depends what you are asking to be judged. Recording/audio quality of the track or a quality performance of the song. In this case, for most of the song, the melody was changed pretty drastically from the original. I just wanted to know if that was intentional or not before giving any further advice.

he kinda specifically asked how his voice sounded but I get what you're saying.

[CrowsofFritz]

I'm really used to the original. And the vocal there is falsetto for almost the whole thing.

I find the vox a bit strained sounding to me but it could be you don't know the song well enough ( as someone mentioned ) and if you knew it better you would be more relaxed.
You're clearly distracted by trying to remember the chords and where to change them and that doesn't lend itself to a relaxed vocal.

Yeah, I’ll have to look up the chords again. I remember there being more than I thought and I probably play less than Paul does. As for the vocals, he’s a tenor and I wish I were a tenor but I’m a baritone, and it’s just hard. I think it being soft vocals really helped that I was abled to hit the notes in the first place. If it weren’t soft vocals, I don’t think I could do it lol. Thanks!

[Lt. Bob]

I find the vox a bit strained sounding to me but it could be you don't know the song well enough ( as someone mentioned ) and if you knew it better you would be more relaxed.
You're clearly distracted by trying to remember the chords and where to change them and that doesn't lend itself to a relaxed vocal.

Yeah, I’ll have to look up the chords again. I remember there being more than I thought and I probably play less than Paul does. As for the vocals, he’s a tenor and I wish I were a tenor but I’m a baritone, and it’s just hard. I think it being soft vocals really helped that I was abled to hit the notes in the first place. If it weren’t soft vocals, I don’t think I could do it lol. Thanks!

I will say that as a singer ( if you're a solo act you're first and foremost a singer so I guess I'm a singer now), I put songs in whatever key suits my voice ......

Just last night I added "Love Will Keep Us Alive" to my gigging songlist and I chose to do it in D when the original is A ..... doesn't sound like the original but it sounds like me and it's in a range where I sound good so it sounds good there.

I know a lot of people seem to think you simply MUST do a song in the same key as someone else did but you really don't.

Choosing between an original key where I sound strained and a different key where I sound good is an easy decision.

[CrowsofFritz]

Yeah, I’ll have to look up the chords again. I remember there being more than I thought and I probably play less than Paul does. As for the vocals, he’s a tenor and I wish I were a tenor but I’m a baritone, and it’s just hard. I think it being soft vocals really helped that I was abled to hit the notes in the first place. If it weren’t soft vocals, I don’t think I could do it lol. Thanks!

I will say that as a singer ( if you're a solo act you're first and foremost a singer so I guess I'm a singer now), I put songs in whatever key suits my voice ......

Just last night I added "Love Will Keep Us Alive" to my gigging songlist and I chose to do it in D when the original is A ..... doesn't sound like the original but it sounds like me and it's in a range where I sound good so it sounds good there.

I know a lot of people seem to think you simply MUST do a song in the same key as someone else did but you really don't.

Choosing between an original key where I sound strained and a different key where I sound good is an easy decision.

That’s a good idea. The great thing about this song is that the capo is on the fifth fret so I can just move it down. I HATE tuning down my guitar. Especially with it having pegs instead of tuning machines.

[Lt. Bob]

I will say that as a singer ( if you're a solo act you're first and foremost a singer so I guess I'm a singer now), I put songs in whatever key suits my voice ......

Just last night I added "Love Will Keep Us Alive" to my gigging songlist and I chose to do it in D when the original is A ..... doesn't sound like the original but it sounds like me and it's in a range where I sound good so it sounds good there.

I know a lot of people seem to think you simply MUST do a song in the same key as someone else did but you really don't.

Choosing between an original key where I sound strained and a different key where I sound good is an easy decision.

That’s a good idea. The great thing about this song is that the capo is on the fifth fret so I can just move it down. I HATE tuning down my guitar. Especially with it having pegs instead of tuning machines.

then that'll be easy. Put it where you sound your best.

Personally I've never tuned a guitar down in my life ...... I just play in a different key.

And actually when I've done gigs with bands that do tune down 1/2 step to make singing easier, I still stay tuned in standard.

Reason for that being that I can't tune down a sax so if I pick it up to play something I have no choice but to be in standard and transpose as I go along .... so it's best for me to just do that across the board.
So the guitar stays standard and I just have to remember that I'm up 1/2 step to them so if they have a song in E, I actually have to be playing in Eb .... everything I do has to be transposed that half step and not just the sax.

But I guess because I've done so much 'hired-gun' work, I'm sorta indifferent to keys.

[musicturtle]

I will say that as a singer ( if you're a solo act you're first and foremost a singer so I guess I'm a singer now), I put songs in whatever key suits my voice ......

Just last night I added "Love Will Keep Us Alive" to my gigging songlist and I chose to do it in D when the original is A ..... doesn't sound like the original but it sounds like me and it's in a range where I sound good so it sounds good there.

I know a lot of people seem to think you simply MUST do a song in the same key as someone else did but you really don't.

Choosing between an original key where I sound strained and a different key where I sound good is an easy decision.

Couldn't agree with this more. Sing in a key that fits your voice. Everyone has a different sweet spot to their voice, be it higher or lower, and singing in that area will be a more pleasurable experience for both the singer and the listener.

One of the things I hate more than anything is kids in the talent show at my elementary school trying to sing a popular song in the original key. Very rarely does it turn out well.

[TripleM]

no it's not ......

As I listen to the lines, take any of them... "Who knows how long I've loved you?"... He is singing the word "Who" normally, and the rest of the line is falsetto. Other lines are similar. Anyway, it's always seemed that way to me.

[vomitHatSteve]

That’s a good idea. The great thing about this song is that the capo is on the fifth fret so I can just move it down. I HATE tuning down my guitar. Especially with it having pegs instead of tuning machines.

then that'll be easy. Put it where you sound your best.

Personally I've never tuned a guitar down in my life ...... I just play in a different key.

And actually when I've done gigs with bands that do tune down 1/2 step to make singing easier, I still stay tuned in standard.

Reason for that being that I can't tune down a sax so if I pick it up to play something I have no choice but to be in standard and transpose as I go along .... so it's best for me to just do that across the board.
So the guitar stays standard and I just have to remember that I'm up 1/2 step to them so if they have a song in E, I actually have to be playing in Eb .... everything I do has to be transposed that half step and not just the sax.

But I guess because I've done so much 'hired-gun' work, I'm sorta indifferent to keys.

That sort of thing is a big part of why my primary bass is drop-tuned. It's easier to just be able to go down to the B as needs be rather than muck about with tuning on stage.

As to the song, the rhythm changes are distracting, but listening past that, you're definitely not comfortable. You can hit the notes, but you'd definitely need to rehearse this one a few times to get a really good performance of it.

[CrowsofFritz]

@vomitHatSteve I think it’s best if I change the key like Bob suggested. No matter how much I sing it, it won’t sound any different. Thanks for listening!

[Alison]

Playing catch up here. . .been MIA for a bit but, I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in the ring.

This is definitely one of my favorite Beatles songs. I agree with the others that you don't seem very comfortable singing it and the rhythm changes really threw me.
There are a ton of chord changes in this song, about every 2 beats, fixing that might help with the rhythm. There is also a surprise major chord change at "Love you when we're apart". I play the song in G so, the chord in that part is an A and it's the only time that chord is used, that's why it sounds so surprising but it works! Took me forever to learn the song because of all the chord changes and I definitely had to change the ending, sadly, I don't have McCartney's range.

Great work in progress though!

[CrowsofFritz]

Playing catch up here. . .been MIA for a bit but, I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in the ring.

This is definitely one of my favorite Beatles songs. I agree with the others that you don't seem very comfortable singing it and the rhythm changes really threw me.
There are a ton of chord changes in this song, about every 2 beats, fixing that might help with the rhythm. There is also a surprise major chord change at "Love you when we're apart". I play the song in G so, the chord in that part is an A and it's the only time that chord is used, that's why it sounds so surprising but it works! Took me forever to learn the song because of all the chord changes and I definitely had to change the ending, sadly, I don't have McCartney's range.

Great work in progress though!

Yup, every two beats. I changed it to every 4 but sometimes remembered the chords so played it to every two sprinkled in. I’ll see what I can do with this. Thanks, Alison!