How do I get better?

[kingyami3]

One of the first things that I learned from MN and D4 when I started doing harmonies with them was that you have some leeway to breathe at the beginning of phrases as it's the part that's worth the least amount of pie but you also need to vibrato the end of the phrase if you do this to make up for the part that you missed. So be careful if you're going to do this. Also, this is only advised if the phrases are really close together and long enough.

I know that this was a little off topic to bring up seeing as you're all talking about octaves and shit but it's still useful.
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[kingyami3]

One of the first things that I learned from MN and D4 when I started doing harmonies with them was that you have some leeway to breathe at the beginning of phrases as it's the part that's worth the least amount of pie but you also need to vibrato the end of the phrase if you do this to make up for the part that you missed. So be careful if you're going to do this. Also, this is only advised if the phrases are really close together and long enough.

I know that this was a little off topic to bring up seeing as you're all talking about octaves and shit but it's still useful.
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[Koetsu]

Well I just got the 90% Medium goal, so I must be making some progress. My scores are averaging about 85%, but still really low compared to everyone else who gets 97%+

I think the most upsetting example from today was when I played Aerials. I'm sure I hit none of the parts for the outro and all the other parts like it. The thing with these "easy" parts is that its so easy to miss and especially on the lower parts since the arrow just bounces around or locks around the middle. I did some practice and no matter what the pitch of my voice was, it didn't matter since none of it counted anyways. In fact, it felt like pitch was all relative. It didn't matter how high or low pitched I sounded, the arrow always bobbed around the lower section.

So because of this, is the problem somewhere else and not on the singing?

[Koetsu]

Well I just got the 90% Medium goal, so I must be making some progress. My scores are averaging about 85%, but still really low compared to everyone else who gets 97%+

I think the most upsetting example from today was when I played Aerials. I'm sure I hit none of the parts for the outro and all the other parts like it. The thing with these "easy" parts is that its so easy to miss and especially on the lower parts since the arrow just bounces around or locks around the middle. I did some practice and no matter what the pitch of my voice was, it didn't matter since none of it counted anyways. In fact, it felt like pitch was all relative. It didn't matter how high or low pitched I sounded, the arrow always bobbed around the lower section.

So because of this, is the problem somewhere else and not on the singing?

[Icemage]

[Icemage]

[CaptCalamity]

[CaptCalamity]

[Koetsu]

[Koetsu]

[Koetsu]

Here is the video.
http://youtu.be/RfqP6oDahAU
It turned out worse than I planned because my stupid camera died 1 minute in. This is a fair example since I ended up getting 83% on medium at the end.

[Koetsu]

Here is the video.
http://youtu.be/RfqP6oDahAU
It turned out worse than I planned because my stupid camera died 1 minute in. This is a fair example since I ended up getting 83% on medium at the end.

[CaptCalamity]

One thing that I picked up on immediately: whenever you see talkies break at all, stop and back out to the main menu, and restart until they pick up again. It's just a weird thing about the game; sometimes they're broken, and won't work unless you do that. They should work every time, no matter what else gets messed up.

It's hard for me to tell the noise level in the room, but I play Rock Band the way it was meant to be played, and the way musicians actually use monitors on stage: freakin' LOUD. I turn up my surround-sound system so that I can actually hear the song. If this is a typical example of how you play, I wouldn't be able to hear the tune to sing along with, but that's just me.

I think you may be right about having to change habits from speaking quietly, and that may be a difficult thing to overcome. When I'm singing, I'm belting; I notice that in Icemage's videos, which are all very good BTW, he moves a decent amount of air, too, enough to carry the tune.

I think it would just help to play loud enough to hear the melody, and move enough air so that it sounds like you're rockin' out! It may help to look at more videos to hear what people are trying to do.

I've made a couple recently for another RB players group that I'm in, just to demonstrate paths for songs that are fairly easy to get shared #1's in, so if the path is followed, you can get one pretty easy. I don't claim to be a competent singer, but I move some air. Here's one I did not too long ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0NkbQIGmWk

Watch some more of Icemage's, and some of the other folks who post frequently, too. I think if you focus on picking the tune out by ear and then moving some air, it might help.
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http://www.youtube.com/user/kdp1962

[CaptCalamity]

One thing that I picked up on immediately: whenever you see talkies break at all, stop and back out to the main menu, and restart until they pick up again. It's just a weird thing about the game; sometimes they're broken, and won't work unless you do that. They should work every time, no matter what else gets messed up.

It's hard for me to tell the noise level in the room, but I play Rock Band the way it was meant to be played, and the way musicians actually use monitors on stage: freakin' LOUD. I turn up my surround-sound system so that I can actually hear the song. If this is a typical example of how you play, I wouldn't be able to hear the tune to sing along with, but that's just me.

I think you may be right about having to change habits from speaking quietly, and that may be a difficult thing to overcome. When I'm singing, I'm belting; I notice that in Icemage's videos, which are all very good BTW, he moves a decent amount of air, too, enough to carry the tune.

I think it would just help to play loud enough to hear the melody, and move enough air so that it sounds like you're rockin' out! It may help to look at more videos to hear what people are trying to do.

I've made a couple recently for another RB players group that I'm in, just to demonstrate paths for songs that are fairly easy to get shared #1's in, so if the path is followed, you can get one pretty easy. I don't claim to be a competent singer, but I move some air. Here's one I did not too long ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0NkbQIGmWk

Watch some more of Icemage's, and some of the other folks who post frequently, too. I think if you focus on picking the tune out by ear and then moving some air, it might help.
_________________

http://www.youtube.com/user/kdp1962

[Icemage]

[Icemage]

[Koetsu]

Yes. #3 and #4 seem like the most relevant to me. There is a sense of panic because I wasn't sure where to go or where to start. The melody was still fairly unfamiliar to me, but I knew enough of the words to use it as the sample. Lower difficulties are more generous, but Expert is disappointingly out of reach for me yet.

But this "tuning out" you described must be developing as I have made great progress. Once again, on my scores page, the greatest increase I've got so far is on The Good Left Undone. I think it was on Medium, but I can start signing on the correct pitch apparently. I've also started playing on Hard seeing as how I'm still getting consistent 4 stars, which is good enough.

[Koetsu]

Yes. #3 and #4 seem like the most relevant to me. There is a sense of panic because I wasn't sure where to go or where to start. The melody was still fairly unfamiliar to me, but I knew enough of the words to use it as the sample. Lower difficulties are more generous, but Expert is disappointingly out of reach for me yet.

But this "tuning out" you described must be developing as I have made great progress. Once again, on my scores page, the greatest increase I've got so far is on The Good Left Undone. I think it was on Medium, but I can start signing on the correct pitch apparently. I've also started playing on Hard seeing as how I'm still getting consistent 4 stars, which is good enough.

[Koetsu]

If I may add to this, I have some other concerns.
First, I am getting better. I think the learning curve was steeper and less forgiving. I'm still playing on Hard, though.
And the tierings still feel backwards. 3- and 4- tiered would be easiest, with 0- 1- and 2- towards the bottom. Maybe it's just the hardware now? Seems like parts where there are multiple singers, it just won't register. Common examples for me would be the "they said they said" part of 'Help Is On The Way' and the "we don't have to take this" part of 'Bully'. Anything I do, the cursor just bounces around inaccurately even if I am certain I'm singing the part correctly.
Just me, or bad hardware?

[Koetsu]

If I may add to this, I have some other concerns.
First, I am getting better. I think the learning curve was steeper and less forgiving. I'm still playing on Hard, though.
And the tierings still feel backwards. 3- and 4- tiered would be easiest, with 0- 1- and 2- towards the bottom. Maybe it's just the hardware now? Seems like parts where there are multiple singers, it just won't register. Common examples for me would be the "they said they said" part of 'Help Is On The Way' and the "we don't have to take this" part of 'Bully'. Anything I do, the cursor just bounces around inaccurately even if I am certain I'm singing the part correctly.
Just me, or bad hardware?

[CaptainCaptcha]

All of this advice is great, but also remember that there is a pitch guide in practice mode which can help you discern exactly what pitch you're trying to sing. I kind of learnt octave shifting through experience, but some songs you just need to hear the proper pitch dissociated from some of the audio clutter. Turning down the vocal volume of the song helps when you're doing this as well. For example, I could not for the life of me grasp the pitch of Low Rider on vocals barring the last couple of phrases, but then I took it into practice with the pitch indicator, practiced the parts I was struggling with a few times and FC'ed it on Expert in about 20 minutes.

[CaptainCaptcha]

All of this advice is great, but also remember that there is a pitch guide in practice mode which can help you discern exactly what pitch you're trying to sing. I kind of learnt octave shifting through experience, but some songs you just need to hear the proper pitch dissociated from some of the audio clutter. Turning down the vocal volume of the song helps when you're doing this as well. For example, I could not for the life of me grasp the pitch of Low Rider on vocals barring the last couple of phrases, but then I took it into practice with the pitch indicator, practiced the parts I was struggling with a few times and FC'ed it on Expert in about 20 minutes.

[tma]

One thing I wanted to add, because it doesn't t seem t have been mentioned, is that you can adjust the sensitivity of the microphone. I'm not sure how you would do it on the Wii, but on Xbox you hold down one of the controller buttons and it will bring up a sensitivity slider. If you have a particularly quiet voice, upping the sensitivity should help. Another thing that might help just for purely getting the correct pitch when the words are tricky, is to hum that section.

[tma]

One thing I wanted to add, because it doesn't t seem t have been mentioned, is that you can adjust the sensitivity of the microphone. I'm not sure how you would do it on the Wii, but on Xbox you hold down one of the controller buttons and it will bring up a sensitivity slider. If you have a particularly quiet voice, upping the sensitivity should help. Another thing that might help just for purely getting the correct pitch when the words are tricky, is to hum that section.

[Icemage]

[Icemage]

[tma]

[tma]

[Koetsu]

[Koetsu]