Karaoke Competition VII

[Timeless Enigma]

My my... I think I misread the problem. Silly me.

[kcl822]

Someone just asked about the lenght of the song, and I forgot to add it to my original post so I did. For the new people, the songs have to be full-length. Meaning, no tv versions accepted!
That should clear it up.

EDIT: Sigh... I keep forgetting important things... Bah!!
Please read the bold letters on the first page for the updated rules (mainly the full-length versions and recording it in one take). Thank you all~

[Fome]

About the "all in one take" aspect, isn't there really no way to discern this? I mean, you can tell when reverb or harmonies are added in, but you can't really tell if someone is doing it all at once or in pieces. I see this as a road to many false accusations as well, since people's voices tend to change as they warm up or wear down. I've recorded many songs in one go, but because my voice has changed slightly through the song, it sounds different by the end of the song.

[Jinto]

Often you can tell (except the singer has a very trained voice, in which case he/she should not need to record in several takes - unless studio quality recordings are needed). Afaik it also depends on the recording quality, so if the quality is high, you can better tell, if something is cut together. (not only does the voice differ from day to day, it will alter when constantly singing too - overstraining of some vocal chords -> slightly different voice harmony - that happens in the process of singing. If the changes are fluent (singing it in one take), listeners are not aware of such changes.)
But if the voice is decently trained, and the recording not too good, one cannot hear the difference between one-take and cut-together. (When I have to adapt my voice unaturally for a song, I often encounter the problem, that it sounds like cut-togther, even if I am singing it as one-take. I figured out, that when I listen to it using my monitors, I can better tell such things appart then listening via headphones - imo sound through headphones often lacks dynamics and appears high pitched).

edit:

Originally Posted by Toua

You just need a few good warm up exercises to perform equally in one take. If you've ever been into a choir or did solo singing, you know what those are like, but for those that don't, you can get some of them from the internet.

That applies for my natural voice, yes. But that does not apply for my emulated voice - it is hard to get it sound the same if you sang something different in between... btw. I define emulation as - straining my voice to sound like something it naturally doesn't, which often requires special breathing techniques and suppressing certain vocal chords).

[cyth]

You just need a few good warm up exercises to perform equally in one take. If you've ever been into a choir or did solo singing, you know what those are like, but for those that don't, you can get some of them from the internet.

As for the new rule: Last time, I had a pretty complex song so I recorded it in two parts. Any more than that and the recording would've been funky as hell (I tried ). Also, multi-stage recording (except voice overlaps) wasn't explicitly forbidden. I mean to honor the present rule though.

I don't really object to the new "all in one take" rule but as far as possible faulty accusations are concerned, everyone, including judges, contestants, and the listeners, should know that this competition is held so that we all have some fun (oh, and kcl gets her annual torture time ). We really shouldn't be disecting everyone's audio graph to spot abnormalities in one's voice, like we were doing a karaoke witch hunt or something. Contestants should respect the rules, and that's all there is to it.

[Pengie]

I'm actually going to participate this time... I swear it...

[Fome]

Originally Posted by Toua

You just need a few good warm up exercises to perform equally in one take. If you've ever been into a choir or did solo singing, you know what those are like, but for those that don't, you can get some of them from the internet.

As for the new rule: Last time, I had a pretty complex song so I recorded it in two parts. Any more than that and the recording would've been funky as hell (I tried ). Also, multi-stage recording (except voice overlaps) wasn't explicitly forbidden. I mean to honor the present rule though.

I don't really object to the new "all in one take" rule but as far as possible faulty accusations are concerned, everyone, including judges, contestants, and the listeners, should know that this competition is held so that we all have some fun (oh, and kcl gets her annual torture time ). We really shouldn't be disecting everyone's audio graph to spot abnormalities in one's voice, like we were doing a karaoke witch hunt or something. Contestants should respect the rules, and that's all there is to it.

My thoughts exactly. If this competition becomes some kind of meticulous scrutiny of recording, the atmosphere of respect and friendship may change. But my answer would be to just toss the "all at once" clause, because unfortunately, not all people are willing to follow rules when it's so hard to detect a transgression.

I mean, I don't care that much about it. We'll see how the event transpires, and decide on next time based on the results.

[Red HamsterX]

Originally Posted by Pengie

I'm actually going to participate this time... I swear it...

Yeah, right. I believe you. =P


I'll probably record something at the last minute, like always. Though I'm hesitant to call that 'participating'.

[kcl822]

Well, I'm not going to dissect every single entry that comes in just to see if they sang it in one take. Guess I'll have to trust people and their little voices to keep that in check. Besides, singing it that way is more fun anyway and is certainly different from the other competitions, that's for sure. And like I said before, I'm not interested in those "perfect" songs that anyone can make with some copy paste (and some clicking). If those type of singers happen to exist, that's all good. If they don't, no big deal. Just have fun.
And now, back to our regular programming.

[GipFace]

Demand that everyone sings their song via a webcam!

On a more serious note, most cheapie mics leave a trace of noise during recording, so it's pretty easy to tell a cut-and-paste job from that. Expensive mics can also leave noise because they are too sensitive. It's improbable to record in a soundless environment when most people are recording beside a computer tower with multiple noisy fans.

If kcl wants to be really anal, she could have people submit their voice along with the off-vocal track and mix all the songs herself. An almost foolproof plan! >_>;

After boring people to death with a 60 BPM song a year ago (Asu e no brilliant road -second genesis-), I'm wondering whether to do this 42 BPM song or this 286 BPM song... hmm...

[Jinto]

So you are going for extremes, I'ld prefer the fast one

[Natsumeyashi Meiyo]

Originally Posted by GipFace

Demand that everyone sings their song via a webcam!

What a lovely idea ~~~ :P xD Not really bandwith-friendly I'm afraid xD

I think the record-in-one-go is quite a nice idea. At least, I don't really have any problems with it, for I normally record my songs in one go. Reason is indeed that, most of the time, you can clearly hear the difference, bcecause my voice sounds different every day and every hour, plus there the fact that the surrounding noises differ each time.

Then again, I totally agree with Toua.

*continues studying again*

[llama]

Originally Posted by Fome

About the "all in one take" aspect, isn't there really no way to discern this? I mean, you can tell when reverb or harmonies are added in, but you can't really tell if someone is doing it all at once or in pieces.

Actually I don't know if that's necessarily true. Some people can't seem to tell about reverb or harmonies, because last competition someone said I'd added vocal effect to one part of mine. o_O I swear I didn't! *llama cries* I think they may have been talking about the whisper part, though. It did sound a bit funky the way it was picked up.

I guess we do just have to trust people to follow the rules, though. If they feel like they have to break them, then they are taking this way too seriously anyway.

[Shiemi]

I must be very computer illiterate because I don't know what people mean with cutting and pasting a song. I thought you only sang, mixed the voice with the instrumental and that was it. But maybe it would be better to not know.

[Mnemosyne]

i had a nearly perfect recording of Dearest once, but i got distracted and missed the last note... so i tried to paste just the last word from another recording...

it didn't end well... (no pun intended? i've always wanted to say that!)

moral of the story? i like the in-one-take rule, because i can't do it any other way... ^^;;;

anyway, i think i have my song! woo! now i just need to record it without messing up the lyrics and hope that no one else picks the same one!

[Natsumeyashi Meiyo]

*curious about the song you're gonna sing*

*curious about everyone's song*

I want the competition nooow xD

I guess everyone hopes that no-one else has the same song xD I do, too.

[Jinto]

I guess I can safely say, that noone is going to sing my song. Yes I am almost 100% sure

[cheyannew]

Originally Posted by GipFace

Yay yay, another karacomp~~~ hopefully I can do better than 37th this time!

Does anyone like Makoto Shinkai? (The Place Promised in our Early Days, 5cm) I purchased the single that's featured in his latest game work (ef), with the intention of doing the theme song for this event. Unfortunately, I sound beyond terrible, as the song is quite difficult and is way out of my vocal range. However, I know there is a powerful female singer out there who could perform this superbly. Don't have a song yet and want a challenge? PM me and give this a try!

Movie [short]: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CvNlpnM79n4
Lyrics and translation: http://www.neechin.net/article/40/ly...ternal-feather

*wonders what basket meant with the FF reference*
FF7 was the most influential game in the series.

I liked the song
But I don't have a cute voice to do it o.O

[SCHADOWFOX]

Originally Posted by Jinto Lin

I guess I can safely say, that noone is going to sing my song. Yes I am almost 100% sure

I'm curious now, what are you going to sing Jinto-lin?

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by SCHADOWFOX

I'm curious now, what are you going to sing Jinto-lin?

*points to the signature*