Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

I started decorating for Christmas...kinda got me into this season's spirits!

You Don't Bring Me Flowers - Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond

Duet with limahn

Zombie - The Cranberries

Syempre love ko eh...Another for the Featured Page.

The original version:



My version:

I might have to re-do later...

When You're Gone - Cranberries

Featured songs for the week included those by Cranberries. And I love the Cranberries!

The original goes like this:



My version is this:

Gender-Bending Contest Round 1 Entry - Three Times a Lady

I managed to get into the Round 1 of Gender-Bending Contest...

The rules were:

Look here and pick a song to duet with Roland Bowman (our resident SingSnap guitar virtuoso):

http://www.singsnap.com/snap/watchAndListen/recordingsForUser/ae1f8f3

Remember to Bend those Genders!

1) You may only select songs that have no singing on them currently. (I'm pretty sure none of Roland's do, but just in case)

2) For this round no layering or voice overs.

3) No pre-records. All songs must have been recorded 11/19/2007 or later.

4)This round you will be judged on three things:

* Energy/Excitement
* Appropriate Song Selection
* Entertainment Value

Not sure about the energy/excitement...The only pop male songs I knew were Tears in Heaven and Three Times a Lady. How much can i put into such a slow song? And there were not too many male songs listed there that I knew how to sing...I know I could not make myself sound like a man here...my voice is soprano 1. Meaning, alanganing alto, alanganing soprano (mas mababa kesa sa soprano 2).

I used to be in the high school choir, and all the while I thought I was alto...but when we did the voice exercises for the first time upon joining, my voice was distinctly of a higher pitch than the rest of the alto's. So I was placed among the sopranos, but I felt so out of place there, because I knew I did not have the high range that they did, nor did I know how to do falsetto as well as they did...I decided to quit after a while...I just could not (or did not know the trick/method to) do falsetto with as much clarity and control as the others did.

So I scrolled some more and found this old old song. Rhythm of the Falling Rain...thought I'd give it a try. The pitch was okay as to let me "sound" a bit like a man...

Forever - Regine and Martin (?)

By Aubzie and Kings

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship

A duet by AUBZIE and SONGMANTOO

How Do You Keep the Music Playing - Patti Austin & James Ingram

Riffraff is one of the contestants in the Duet contest, but who was partnered with someone else. He is such a good singer that I couldn't help singing with him when I found his open duet.

In My Life - Bette Midler

Well, I was actually looking for something else with the lyrics "In my life, there is no harmony to help me through the song..." or something like that. But I ended up with this, tinuloy ko na...'

How Could An Angel Break My Heart - Toni Braxton

One of my faves

Endless Love - Duet with Tom - "Ultimate Duet" Contest

I auditioned for this contest. The host wanted us to submit recorded songs then she would pick partners and assign a song to sing. Whatever pair number we were assigned, there was a corresponding song to sing. We were pair #11.

1) Cruisin'
2) A Bad Goodbye
3) Out Of Control Raging Fire
4) Picture
5) I've Had the Time of My Life
6) Squeeze Me In
7) On My Own
8) Still Holding On
9) The Heart Won't Lie
10) Something Stupid
11) Endless Love
12) Baby It's Cold Outside
13) I Finally Found Someone
14) Who Says You Can't Go Home
15) I Got You Babe
16) Your the One That I Want
17) Let's Make Love
18) After the Fire is Gone
19) Don't Go Breakin' My Heart
20) Jackson
21) Wild as The Wind
22) Close My Eyes Forever
23) You and I
24) A Whole New World
25) Almost Paradise

My initial reaction was "Oh my God! This is so out of my range!!!" So I mostly used falsetto (sp?) to sing my part. But when I looked at the other songs, well I did not know most of them, and/or they had higher notes. So I guess it was not too bad.

Because of You - Kelly Clarkson

Me daya..I used the karaoke function of my MSI motherboard-audio, and turned the pitch to -4. It was still too high for me, so I could not do it with more power. Plus my throat is still sore from singing that "I'll Be There for You" for Rockstar Mentality contest round 1.






Here's the original:



And mine is this much lower version:

I'll Be There for You - Bon Jovi - Entry for ROCKSTAR MENTALITY CONTEST Round 1

Kanina pa ko nagpa-praktis nito...masakit na lalamunana ko...hanggang nagsawa ako kaka-praktis..kaya eto na...bahala na. final na for tonight (baka i-redo ko tomorrow night pag nakapahinga na ang lalamunan). Gasgas na lalamunan ko!!!!

Medyo me piyok sa huli (pagod na talaga!)

How Do I Live - Leann Rinnes

I was folding my laundry while singing this...

Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood

I have been listening to and singing along with this song (I like it's beat and the attitude)...



and finally had the gumption to try recording this tonight, not just once but probablyy 3 times...until I decided that's enough...this is as good as it's gonna get...

Wind Beneath My Wings

I was giving my scalp and hair a virgin-coconut-oil treatment and thought I'd sing as well...

PinoySingSnappers - Do They Know It's Christmas

Here's the very first PSS project...

Rockstar Mentality Contest

Original version: Bonnie Tyler



My entry:


My Other Considerations:

Gender Bending Contest

Here's my entry for the contest (I love SingSnap!)

In My Life - Bette Midler

Ganito pala ang best way to go on a diet...

Last Night of the World (Broadway Musical from "Miss Saigon"

My duet with Krudmonger:

One Sweet Day - Duet by 2 superb PSS

featuring Aubzie and Reynaldo

Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang - My Duet with Conrad

Conrad (aka Vivid-con in singsnap) lives in California. I enjoyed doing this with him.

Move Along - All American Rejects

sung by my younger son Ben



and my daughter Juliana



ORIGINAL

Out of Reach - Gabrielle

It has been a long busy day for me and I had been sleepy all day. I managed to get home safely despite that...Now I had a nap already and feel refreshed, but a song before I end the day is called for...

This one is an easy singing/listening song...no belting (I am no diva anyway, and I have no delusions of such)

Her version:

My version:

This Used to be My Playground - Madonna

Ikaw - OPM Karaoke

The lyrics:

REGINE VELASQUEZ lyrics

The karaoke:

Ulingputi2000 - pinoy

Here's another pinoysingsnapper...reminds me of my Tatay (not the photo, but his voice)

100 Years - Five for Fighting

One chilly fall morning...sitting on the porch, kissed by the morning sun...with my hands and throat freezin, I felt like singing this cute song about a journey in life...

Pero bakit parang me sipon ako???



Here's the orig version:

Falling Into You - Celine Dion

One song before I call it a day...(the below is not a comparison so please do not compare. It is just to let the readers become familiar with the original song if they do not know it yet).

I am using my laptop (hp Pavilion dv6000 which originally had the Windows Vista, but which I had replaced with XP because Vista sucks), and an Altec headset (which I also use for skype calls).

Celine's version:


My version:

Featured singsnapper -

JVpnoystudio1

Parang professional! Galing!

Here's a sample of his singing prowess...

Who Knew - Pink

Her version:



My humble version (wag kayong tatawa):



If you want to see the lyrics while listening, press the "A" button (next to pause button).

Comments (good only) welcome...

Certified Karaoke Addict na naman!

Thanks to thess, balik-videoke (aka video-karaoke, or simply karaoke) na naman ako...

If I had known about this earlier, I probably would not have felt too lonely during my first years here in the US, nor would have I thought of pursuing a career dahil malululong na naman ako sa addiction na to.

Let's face it, tayong mga Pinoy ay natural na mahilig kumanta at sumayaw...kaya nga laking business sa Pinas ang videoke, mapa-mumurahing bar sa mga baryo or high-tech videoke places sa Ayala (I/O ata yung paborito ko nun; meron din sa MegaMall but I had not tried that).

Recently, dahil sa pagbunyag ko about me on my post "The Face Behind the Blog" sa Kusina, na nabasa ni thess, nadiscover ko tuloy ang singsnap (thanks to one of her commenters on her posted karaoke "Don't Cry Out Loud").



Napabili tuloy ako ng M-Audio USB mic, pati soundcard (x-fi XtremeGamer), pero pina-uninstall ko yung soundcard kasi nalilito yung PC ko, at walang karaoke key-changer function yung soundblaster (I bought x-fi XtremeGamer). Kuntento na rin ako sa RealTek na kasama sa MSI motherboard ng PC ko, at least merong EAX effects na Hallway, Cave, Stone Corridor, etc., at maganda naman ang sound system ko kahit papano (wag lang akong sisigaw at wag ilalakas ang volume na parang magigiba ang bahay). Akala ko kasi yung xtremeGamer merong karaoke function (misleading yung website ng creative eh). Eh mukang yung XtremeMusic lang ang meron, pero not available sa website nila at this time. Kung hahanapin mo naman sa malls, ala ring stock. Hinanap ko sa ebay, meron at reasonable price, pero pag tinatanong ko yung sellers kung alam ba nila kung meron ngang karaoke function yun (mismong sa website kasi listing the features of xtremeMusic eh hindi naka list yung karaoke function), hindi rin nila masabi...so baka masayang lang.

Anyway, for now, for this purpose, pwede na ang aking hardware at software. Pero gusto ko pa rin sanang makabili nun xtremeMusic if it has the karaoke application para maka-record ng OPM straight from MP3's that I have, then I will upload sa singsnap.

Maganda yung recorded voice sa M-Audio, pero hindi mo marinig yung boses mo sa speakers while you sing. Kung gagamit ka naman ng headphone, maririnig mo parehong output, but the software that singsnap uses cannot record the music, only your voice. Pag gumamit naman ako ng ordinary mic, masyadong malakas yung mic (kung malapit sa bibig), at parang hanging bumabagyo pag nahingahan...kaya preferred ko yung M-Audio (plus, aliw yung anak ko sa software ng M-Audio, which lets him create his music somehow (using audio loops for different instruments, ganun...mahirap -i-explain, pero kung me anak ka na nagre-request bilhan mo sya ng Mac comp dahil sa "GarageBand", ganito rin yung software na gamit dun.)

Anyway, I started this because somehow I want to compile my list of songs that I am gonna sing. Siguro once or twice a week (syempre practice muna before recording no!). Dadayain ko rin in that I will change the key para abot ko naman yung matatas na tiklada ng boses ng mga bagong artists na sumisikat (gaya ni Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, etc.)

Eto ngayon ang dagdag na therapeutic activity ko...bawas time na naman for posting in my other blogs. I now regularly visit singsnap.com, and practice, and record songs that I enjoy...mainly for fun. I have no delusions about my (in)capabilities in singing, but hey, this is free and is a very effective stress-reliever. Join ka na rin! BTW, add me as your friend (Manang pa rin ang cybername ko dyan, syempre).

I am just trying to have fun here...kung hindi mo type ang naririnig mo, wag kang makinig at wag ka rin mag-comment. Nice comments only or none at all, please.

If you have any questions that I might be able to answer (kung type mo rin gawin to for fun and hobby and recreation), feel free to email me.