SPCNET Background Music - Final Round

[GuGu]

no i wont.. Sugar is a diva...her song choice should be more classy...
i think 0-0-0 would be very good singing the bubblegum song LOL

What's the bubblegum song?

So, #3 is Sugar? Cool!

[annaaa]

so #3 is sugar?! i suspected ittt. thats cool, shes totally leading by a lot.

[Sugar]

what the hell is this Who is managing me? They will soon go bankruptcy :

[kidd]

See, that's where I give effort marks. Even though I couldn't really understand what #3 was singing throughout the entire song, I think it impresses me that she tried to cross the language barrier to sing a song she wanted.

I'm not saying she's not good and shouldn't be praised. She sings well too. That's why I didn't b!tch about how she's mumbling and not as good as the original singer earlier on. I mean, we are all amateurs here.

I just want to point out that pemberly is being very bias for dissing #1 only while the other singers also have their weaknesses.

[yearning]

Actually, are disses allowed? I thought it was a whole aura of positive comments only'? But they're good sports, I don't think they'll mind. Yeah I sensed the mumbling too, but I figure it's still good for the participant to pick a song they wanna do. Personally, I love Everlasting and I try to sing it for fun at karoke even though my Korean/Japanese skills are non-existent.

I would've expected a more even distribution in the results. #3 is great, but I would've thought the other two would have gotten some votes too hmmm.....I wonder why they're not.

[kidd]

I would've expected a more even distribution in the results. #3 is great, but I would've thought the other two would have gotten some votes too hmmm.....I wonder why they're not.

Reasons I can think of

1) #3's beautiful voice
2) #3 good singing skills
3) Wuxia fans
4) TV series fans (is the song featured in the series?)
5) RPG games fans
6) Good song
7) More hot-blooded males voting

[LuNaR]

Reasons I can think of

1) #3's beautiful voice
2) #3 good singing skills
3) Wuxia fans
4) TV series fans (is the song featured in the series?)
5) RPG games fans
6) Good song
7) More hot-blooded males voting

lol im cold blooded

heres my reason for not voting the other 2

king of k is not that appealing of a song
2 is in viet, which i dont understand

[flyingfox2002]

I would like to vindicate myself. I went home and merged what I recorded with the original version to see whether I was offkey as Pemberly accused me of being. If I am as offkey as Pemberly said I was, I can't hear it.

Here's the merged file, pls listen and decide for yourself.

http://www.geocities.com/lingwuchung2001/merged.mp3

EDIT: This is the 2nd half of the song with the volume of the chorus part of my recording lowered so that you can hear both Eason and my voice equally well. In the first merged file, you can't hear Eason's voice too well:
http://www.geocities.com/lingwuchung2001/merged2.mp3

I think 2 or 3 are both better singers than me. I certainly made a number of mistakes with the song when compared to the original. I entered for fun, not to win, but I don't like false accusations. I just had to defend myself against the serious charge of being badly offkey.

[yearning]

Lol I can think of reasons as well to why #2 was not voted:
1) as mentioned, #2 is in Viet, which not many members understand
2) the song chosen in #2 is not a popular one

Otherwise, I can't think of reasons for #1 except that people don't like Eason? Yeah I dun think you sound off key either (but then again, I'm kind of tone deaf, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me, who knows how I got through those years of piano).

[NetDriftr]

hehehe this is getting interesting.
I was wrong when I said there are only 2 ways you can vote in this round. Vote for your favourite or vote strategically against those you dislike.
But Pemmy demonstrates a 3rd way to vote - vote for your favourite and undermine those you dislike with 'constructive' criticism

[sunnysnow]

I liked #1's performance! Despite a little pitching problems here and there, i think he tried very hard and put alot of effort into it, and it came across, plus the song is very nice-sounding (as most Eason songs are) i liked #3 as well, well, I've always liked "Xian Jian Wen Qing" as a song so it's a plus that the singer picked that song. The only weakness would probably be her pronunciation but her strong vocals and great pitching overcame that! And extra points for singing in a language you're totally unfamiliar with!

[flyingfox2002]

hehehe this is getting interesting.
I was wrong when I said there are only 2 ways you can vote in this round. Vote for your favourite or vote strategically against those you dislike.
But Pemmy demonstrates a 3rd way to vote - vote for your favourite and undermine those you dislike with 'constructive' criticism

LOL Was it that obvious?

She could have just opined that she didn't like the song or my singing. That would have been perfectly fine. There was just no need to make up the way off-key stuff. I couldn't let that go without defending myself.

Anyway, that notwithstanding, I have had a great time participating. I thank everyone for your thoughtful feedback. I am also very happy that spcnet voted for me.

I also expect my mei to send me her singing of wuxia songs soon.

This was a fun idea and I hope there will be more events like this in the future and more members will join.

Thank 0-0-0 for her hardwork in organizing this. And I also thank Net for providing a quick and easy way to listen to the songs. Even though, Net, I must say, it wouldn't have killed you to take a week or two off from work to keep your eye on this thing every second of the day! If it was me, I would have poured salt into my boss' coffee and called it a career so that I could work on SPCNET Idol.

[NetDriftr]

LOL Was it that obvious?

She could have just opined that she didn't like the song or my singing. That would have been perfectly fine. There was just no need to make up the way off-key stuff.

i sense tension between you and Pemmy

You did a good job with your singing. Don't let pettiness turn you off. Also, it aint over yet. I suspect many people are holding onto their votes until the last minute.

[yearning]

i sense tension between you and Pemmy

You did a good job with your singing. Don't let pettiness turn you off. Also, it aint over yet. I suspect many people are holding onto their votes until the last minute.

Yup, don't worry Flyingfox. Though, I'm still conflicted about #1 vs. #2 hmmm.....or maybe #3. Actually forget that I ever said anything =P

[Phoenix_Aquaris]

My two cents on that matter (okay ... I know I'm no expert in this field):

It's time to come clean, since it looks like it won't affect the voting results anyway. I did entry number 1.

I only wish I sound like Eason. I know I don't.

Actually you did sound like Eason (at least that's what I feel) at the beginning and those parts where you needn't have to put in force into your singing.

When the chorus came, it's a different story. You obviously placed in a lot of effort into your singing, but we know effort is not necessarily synonymous with effective results - such as these parts of yours:

还能凭甚*么*

and so on.

You sounded quite ... blunt, whenever you had to go high and emphasise on that final note of the verse - a sharp contrast to the pretty soothing flow you had before then. I think this was what Pemberly was referring to. I may be wrong, though.

Still, it's a tremendous effort and it's comparable to singers out there. No kidding. You need to refine your techniques somehow (I know you're no professional singer).

Hope to hear more of your singing.

Actually, are disses allowed? I thought it was a whole aura of positive comments only'? But they're good sports, I don't think they'll mind.

Disses ... probably not. But I can't say the same for criticisms though. It's just like fan fiction. While it's always good to have people saying good stuffs - where there'll too much of it and almost zero of the opposite - it actually becomes more of pampering the performer.

It's not the matter of the performer minding the criticisms or not, or whether they are good sports. A whole aura of positive comments is not a positive scenario. Even the best of singers get criticisms, not to mention not-so-professional ones - and who's to say that just because these participants are not professional we have to keep up all the positive comments? These participants, I believe, are not here just to receive all positive comments - the same goes for writers, chefs, anybody ...

Appreciating their talents is one thing; having everybody on the forum yelling "awesome!" is another. I'm sure there's a better way to convey the message that their efforts are appreciated.

~

I think I'll choose #2. I was having an exam today and I found myself humming the viet song while scribbling down mathematics. It's a foreign song, yet I like it so much! Sure it distracted me, but now that I think of it, I enjoyed listening to his performance and I definitely want to hear more of it and see him go through.

Anyways, here's to all participants: cheers

(Gosh ... My posts are getting longer by the day ... Got to learn how to put things simplier and less mouthy ...)

[0-0-0]

no i wont.. Sugar is a diva...her song choice should be more classy...
i think 0-0-0 would be very good singing the bubblegum song LOL

are you implying that i'm not classy? TBH, i was going to enter my rendition of Xian Jian Wen Qing in the bg music division, and now i'm doubly glad that i didn't...

on the other hand, i'd be happy to do a rendition of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry if i had the background music



In regards to the entries, what i will note:

These singers are not professionals, and this is reflected in their recordings. There are mistakes in all three pieces.

The first singer, i believe, has a couple of places which sounded slightly out of rhythm. The volume balance between the singing and the bg music probably makes any mistakes slightly more obvious than the other two entries. Although i cannot sing for crap, i do play two musical instruments and so i think that even though i can't sing well, anything that is off tune sticks out a bit. Number 1's singing is certainly not off key and as with most singers, when you sing high notes, there is an adjustment that is made while you sing. This adjustment that is made while you sing is usually corrected in professional recordings, however we obviously don't have that luxury.

The other entries had no such problems because to be honest, there weren't any "high notes" to hit.

Even if people think one or all three of the entries sound terrible, there is certainly a more tactful way of putting it. We don't all have to be skykings. As i said in the first round, these people are not professional, they're entering for fun or because i blackmailed or bribed them. If professional singers sounded bad, we would criticise them. However, these are NOT professionals, in fact they are people with no professional training. The aim of the competition is to encourage them and i am less than happy with people that make comments like "this singer is really bad and can't sing the high notes."

There's my rant for the day. Actually, i'll probably rant more later on.

This division deserves to be less skewed i think.

[Ian Liew]

Still haven't voted, but here are my comments:-

1. I just looove your choice of songs. They bring me back to the days when I could sit in front of the TV and listen to all TVB concerts and programmes, and I feel very much younger and ... happier and more innocent and carefree when I listen to this and your previous entry.... I know Eason Chan is probably a late-90s artiste, but this song sounds so 80s... or maybe it's because of the way you sing it. I don't know what Eason sounds like, but you definitely have that beautiful 80s artist voice.. I mean that as a compliment. Of the 3 this is the song I find my self humming the most, but then again, I'm biased. Canto pop is the only pop I listen to, and am only just starting to listen to Mandarin pop.

2. I preferred this to Give my love, mainly because i don't listen to English pop much. This is my *first* song in Viet that I've ever listened to, and I don't mind not understanding the words. I mean, without reading the lyrics I sometimes don't understand what Canto pop and Mandarin pop are singing either anyway. The choice of song was top-class, and the contrast between the solo bits and the backed-up bits were very effective. I also find, no offense, Viet to be a very cute language, and I agree with somebody that it sounds a bit like Thai. There were parts with the backed-up parts where the voice didn't blend perfectly, but overall it's wonderful. Sounds much better on the earphones where the vocals are louder and match the BGM.

3. In terms of pure voice quality, this one must win. The control, smoothness and flow is just perfect. There's this class feel, this ethereal effect, and I can visualise in my eyes a wuxia couple standing in a garden of flowers, holding hands, looking into each others' eyes as the leaves fall around (something like those hours of useless footage in ROCH 06). The song was also very nice, but somehow didn't catch me as much as the other two. If you had sung a Canto pop I would have voted for you unhesitatingly, but somehow the song lacked the catchiness of the other two, and while I can hum the other two after listening once, I can't even remember the tune to this one. All that is compensated, however, by a wonderful voice which captivates me as I listen to it.


If I sound like I'm doing nothing but just, in Chinese, slapping horse flatulence, that's because all three entries are just so so good... and to find any fault among the three significant enough to knock them out is just impossible. As a winner has to be found to make the whole event meaningful, I'm leaning towards the Canto pop entry simply because I sometimes get moved to tears when I listen to it because I think of my childhood. I'll indulge myself by listening to all three songs daily and vote towards the end.

[warlock110]

since everyone came out, i guess i'll come out too, i did #2 and here's the long rant...

as noted when i wrote to 0-0-0 during my sumitsion, @ 2:16 and 3:16 (or approximately) the backup vocal expose me because i did not sync (actually 1 was a miss timing and 1 was reading the lyric wrong) I call this unprepare

other than that, to be honest, the song is a bit harder to sing than it sounds, it was really harsh on the voice, and i kindda giv out at the end because i couldn't hold the note anymore.

the original track is better, i really like the artist who sang the original track, his voice isn't special but he's a good performer. very technical singer...

here's some other song he sings
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kzrjUb6nP...elated&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M2QksOHDe_E



PS: took a risk with a vietnamese song, partially because i'm not too familiar with english songs, and for those that don't know, the pronounciation is really important in singing, it helps stretching the range a bit... there's a longer explaination but let say it helps

[Ian Liew]

since everyone came out, i guess i'll come out too, i did #2 and here's the long rant...

as noted when i wrote to 0-0-0 during my sumitsion, @ 2:16 and 3:16 (or approximately) the backup vocal expose me because i did not sync (actually 1 was a miss timing and 1 was reading the lyric wrong) I call this unprepare

other than that, to be honest, the song is a bit harder to sing than it sounds, it was really harsh on the voice, and i kindda giv out at the end because i couldn't hold the note anymore.

the original track is better, i really like the artist who sang the original track, his voice isn't special but he's a good performer.

here's some other song he sings
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kzrjUb6nP...elated&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M2QksOHDe_E



PS: took a risk with a vietnamese song, partially because i'm not too familiar with english songs, and for those that don't know, the pronounciation is really important in singing, it helps stretching the range a bit... there's a longer explaination but let say it helps

Hey, I thought it was you (did some archaeology on the old threads since 0-0-0 mentioned that I could find clues there)! You're a great performer as well. The song is pretty hard, because it maintains a fairly high pitch towards the end of the chorus. You did wonderfully, though, your "oh oh oh"s at the end are just absolutely striking (because there's no background to drown you). It's a great piece, and I'm totally impressed with your voice.

Always wanted to ask you - are you using Audacity, or some other application that is miles and miles ahead of it in terms of sound quality? Or is it just your voice?

[warlock110]

Hey, I thought it was you (did some archaeology on the old threads since 0-0-0 mentioned that I could find clues there)! You're a great performer as well. The song is pretty hard, because it maintains a fairly high pitch towards the end of the chorus. You did wonderfully, though, your "oh oh oh"s at the end are just absolutely striking (because there's no background to drown you). It's a great piece, and I'm totally impressed with your voice.

Always wanted to ask you - are you using Audacity, or some other application that is miles and miles ahead of it in terms of sound quality? Or is it just your voice?

i use adobe audition, it's something i'm familiar with because i used it before when it was still "cool edit". other than that i tries to keep it as close as i sound when i sing live, i just added the effect "studio effect" for the "hollowness" that you hear in alot of recording, generally you can actually generate that by stepping in the pro studio and have the same sound effect, but i record this in my bedroom, and i'm using a cheap dynamic mic vs their 10 grand condenser, so the only way to simulate the studio sounding environment is through the software.

also, i have an ok sound card that does capture a decent amount of sound range, i use an audigy 4 pro, which is not a recording sound card, more like a high end typical user sound card. and my cheapo Shure PG58.

the problem surface as you see with the cheapo gear like this is that it sounded different when u put it through a headphone vs speakers. Generally speaking, headphones doesn't varies much, from the range of 20 bucks under you get the crappy headphones, then from the 20 to 200 bucks they sound pretty much identical provided u pick the right ones. with speakers on the other hand, especially with computer speakers, they do not have a midrange, they have a bass + tweeter that with carry the midrage, hense why the vocal sounds so small on these, if you put them through full range speakers, it'll sound like what you hear on the headphone, pro recording have sound engineer taking care of this and many other problems.

PS: i did hear this on my headphone before i summit (to avoid parents kicking my *** for being so loud, and neighbor breaking my door for making them suffer) so i did not notice the sound balancing problem, then when i was alone i put it through my speakers and noticed it, my speakers are the T3100, it's not top knotch but for music they do sound decent (not to advertise but if u wanna get some cheap speakers that sounds pretty ok, get these, not great for movies but good for music). So i figure if mine sound like this, that means everyone else who paid less for their speakers would sound like this too haha. oh well, live and learn.