Hey guys, so I wanted to host a visual kei vocal contest event! I figured I’d host because I have more than enough time to and I can easily make it work. So far my ideas are:
Send 2 VK song recordings performing vocals, typically over instrumental tracks. Each recording must be at least 1 minute long.
Files will probably be sent to me directly so I can organize them all into one post after the deadline.
Deadline before disqualification will be around a month, unless we vote otherwise.
Switching lyrics from Japanese to a more familiar language is currently allowed for more flexibility.
Vocal effects like reverb, eq, compressor and fading are fine if used within reason. Don’t sound robotic.
Participants will attach sound recordings in the thread once the contest begins. Voters can either heart their three favorite contestant posts or send me their top 3 via DM (If anonymity makes members more comfortable)?
Original post:
I could possibly organize a visual kei vocal contest?
The idea is pretty simple. Each contestant has to record an audio clip of them covering a visual kei song before a specified deadline. The community will then vote for which contestants they enjoyed the most, maybe voting for a top 2 or 3.
The votes could be sent to me for the sake of anonymity and ambiguity. I wouldn’t want any participants to feel bad or discouraged if their performance isn’t rated very favorably in a public vote off.
As for the likelihood of the event being set up, I would definitely participate in this contest so that would already give us 1 person. It gives me extra motivation to study the lyrics of a song so I could finally start performing true vocal covers.
A few ideas I have off the top of what was mentioned
We could have a theme, or we could allow vocalists to perform any song they choose. I prefer the latter approach for ease, as this helps even the playingfield a bit I think.
Clips could be a minute or longer. Shorter clips may be helpful for those who aren’t confident singing full songs, which might even the playingfield.
I honestly don’t even know if doing this is within the realm of possibility, but it would be cool if it worked out. We did this a few times in MH back in the day. I didn’t participate back then though.
Part of my motivation for doing this is because I think VK influenced singers deserve more support. It’s a bit discouraging as a VK singer to struggle to find an audience. Although I do sing other genres, I just feel more at home as a VK singer just due to how much I enjoy the music.
If interested post on the thread and/or give me a like??
If the staff has another idea, doesn’t agree with the thread placement, or prefers organizing this they can do as they wish. That’s not a problem to me. I just think it would be lovely and rewarding if this happened and was executed properly!
I thought of an idea! But I’m not sure if it’s too much effort. We could have each contestant record 3 covers, but you can’t re-use the same artist or same singer. This rule would encourage more dynamic singing which could help improve the quality of the overall ratings.
Could still have the 1:00 or longer option, so singers don’t have to record full songs if it’s too difficult to fully memorize lyrics or something. This gives singers more time to choose songs to cover. Just some options.
I’m not sure how the clips could be sent. I think you can send mp3 or lossless files direction on here. Otherwise Unlisted Youtube videos, vocaroo links etc could work.
Covers should also have hearable background music. This isn’t a capella. It’s not a raw vocal recording contest. Although that sort of idea is technically allowed should the contestant really insist. I just don’t think it’s preferable in this instance.
Ill prob do 3 full songs. I get to into the song for me to cut it short. I can clip it afterward. Also if mods agree this thread could be move to the “Community events” section.
Edit: Updated first post! Please tell me what you think of the voting process, which was my final bullet point on the thread opener.
Just a note but if using effects keep to reasonable. You can use compressor, reverb, equalizer, normalize, fade and all that stuff as it won’t alter your voice enough to mask off key notes.
Reverb is a trick that makes you sound like you have slightly better resonance and masks subtle imperfections. Audacity has two reverb settings you can try which are called Vocal 1 and Vocal 2. Again it won’t change your voice that much, but it will help make you sound slightly better. I personally like how reverb sounds on falsettos. Here’s an example:
Be creative and figure out what you want. Subtle effects like reverb are okay as they don’t really alter your voice enough to be a problem, especially in rock music where too much effects can be extremely counter productive. You don’t want to sound like you’re in a choir singing gregorian chant music when you’re covering a Gazette song.
For now this thread will be kept in ‘General’, as we want to keep it visible to those who don’t have accounts and may want to participate (‘Community Events’ threads cannot be seen unless you have an account).
Yeah you can use typical editing, you just don’t want to abuse it. But like I said it’s hard to really abuse vocal effects in a way that would substantially make up for poor vocals, so I’m not so much worried about it being used to “cheat”. It’s sort of like adding filters to selfies, except you’re embellishing your sound, not your appearance.
If anyone needs support mixing their vocals there should ideally be someone who can offer help. Otherwise I would recommend these videos for those who have no idea how to use basic effects.
Here are some basic compressor settings that can be played with. Compressor evens out the volume of your track.
Here’s a reverb tutorial, but if using audacity you can just use one of the two vocal presets. A small amount of reverb can add dimension to your voice, but too much makes you sound unnatural or like you’re performing in a cathedral. Reverb also helps add harmony between the vocal track and backing track. These comments explain that nicely.
Some people also like to use EQ. I don’t have much experience with EQ personally, and I’ve seen a lot of conflicting approaches to it. But it should be okay. It mainly just helps you alter the volume of frequencies of the vocal tracks, so if you want your high notes to shine you can alter the tremble, and if you want to alter low frequencies you can alter the bass. You can achieve this easily by using filter curve default presets in a program like audacity, but filter curve use is slightly controversial. Many people think altering these freuqencies too much is ‘overkill’ and doesn’t improve the vocal track. However it’s ultimately up to you and one of the main purposes of this event is to encourage vocalists to step up their game and contribute their art!
