Hey everybody welcome back again to Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy where the proof is in the singing.
I'm really really enjoying a series I've been doing that is taking isolated vocal tracks of
some of the most epic, legendary pieces of all time. Next up is David Bowie "Space Oddity" but before
we get started if you wouldn't mind, please like and subscribe to my channel that would be really
cool. I also have a singing course, the course is called How to Sing Better Than Anyone Else, you can
find it right here at Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy.com where I also have a free singing forum, over 20,000
singers in there, all discussing all these different styles of greatness in hopes to help
make you great at singing so. Now David Bowie is an interesting character because I'd like to
do a little bit of backstory on him. Got this from a really good source and that was David Bowie
was originally a street mime. You heard me right, a street mime and then he went in from
that into entertainment and then into singing and songwriting and so forth. Now as the industry would
put him early on, would put him in the crooner category. We've talked about this before. Who's a
crooner. Well of course we know Frank Sinatra is a crooner, we know Michael Buble is a crooner,
we know Harry Connick Jr is a crooner, we've got Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, you know
Bobby Daring. There's a lot of crooners happening. So in his era he was coming off the crooner era
and was inspired by that and kind of that was his shtick right. However I want to remind you guys of
a saying that I've said to you over and over again and the saying is this, especially for you aspiring
singers out there. A singer is only a singer because they have the guts to be one. I'm gonna say
it again. A singer is only a singer because they have the guts to step up to the front and become
the vocalist okay, the lead vocalist and I'm gonna say David Bowie certainly fits that category. Now
there's a lot of people, we've talked a lot about this and I would put Mick Jagger in that category.
I would, I would put all kinds of people, maybe even Bruce Springsteen and other people like that is,
you know where they're more singer-songwriters right and, and we could go down a huge list of this. We
just did Billy Joel for example and Billy Joel tried to get other people to sing his music and
couldn't so he just sang it himself and then we know him as Billy Joel. Now some of his stuff is
really pretty tough to sing but still it's more of a singer-songwriter and I could go on down
the list of this but he's certainly no exception. I want to dive right into the track and I want you
guys to take a listen for yourself. So without much further ado, here we go.
Now I gotta just say this, if you guys, let me turn this up a little bit so I can hear better.
If you guys, let's say you're a judge on a singing show and I just played this, this
line to you.
You know (sings). It's so melodramatic and so
you know, the wobble vibrato it's a (sings) right. You kind of, I don't think you'd
hit the button you know what I mean so. Let's continue and I'm not dissing him at all because
he was able to reinvent himself and he just went from you know again Ziggy Stardust and the creepy
stuff, the androgynousy kind of stuff he did way back in the day, you know then we have you know
(sings) right we got that, (sings) right and we got (sings), all
these really cool songs that he's done over the years. So I'm not understating, underselling his
amazing artistry, his amaze, amazing songwriting, his amazing ability to reinvent himself, his swag
in the way he presented his, his art you know with his attire that he wore and whatnot but
let's continue, here we go.
He sounds so young there (sings). He must have been like 19, 20. That's what
it sounds like to me. I'm gonna move on to the next section though here we go. Check this out.
Do you hear it's kind of, kind of strainy. (sings)
like he's just barely hanging on for dear life guys. It's not like, but we
remember this as this epic piece and when I put in the track, it covers a multitude of sins so you
don't really hear what's going on, but if I played this for you and let's put everything aside. Look
be honest with me, like straight up. I came to you right now and I said hey guys I want you to
hear something it's this demo this guy sent me right and play this this line to you and I say
I want you to hear, what do you, tell me what you think of this.
You'd say it kind of sounds like a strainy David Bowie
and I said to you, actually that's "Space Oddity" and those are his original solo vocals you'd go,
really because we wow things because of mystery and intrigue and you know all the different, the
production that goes into stuff and so a singer is only a singer because they have the guts to
be one. He had the guts to be one and then of course as he, as you know metamorphosized
himself and reinvented himself over the years, he became this incredibly awesome, legendary guy
but he didn't necessarily start out that way he started like this and then grew and grew and grew
his talent, but I want you to listen to even the voice crack (sings).
Like he cracks and he can barely even sustain the second note I'm
surprised he didn't retake it. Listen to it.
Right here.
Right (sings) right. He kind of broke a little bit and then he kind of leaned into the sound a little bit more to
to catch his fall so to speak of his voice going into that next section. Here we go.
(sings) right. He couldn't hold the note right. He didn't go (sings) it's (sings) right and he kind of cracks at the end.
It's interesting. By the way he's still David Bowie, he's still awesome guys I'm not saying he's not
but the proof is in the singing right. Check it out.
Hear that it's very unsustained, unsupported and I (sings). I talk, I teach you guys
how to maintain good vocal health, how to stay nice and strong and supported, how to grow that sound.
So his voice never got any bigger. Now it's, you know a lot of crooners don't really care because crooners
are crooners, they're not looking for big you know, huge belty voices and I get that, that's fine. So
people don't necessarily have to work that hard at their diaphragmatic support and whatnot if that's,
that's the only kind of sound they're going to go after and they're going to be really
one-dimensional in their sound, that's fine and that is what it is. So check this out.
(sings)
Hear that (sings) right. Listen to how even his opening
note is really pitchy.
It's not (sings) it's not even in the key (sings) right.
It's like it's kind of not even really in a decent key,
but it's, there are some people somehow, some singers that are able to sing out of pitch, Bono
is one of them. He just sounds like, he's a donkey on the edge you know I'm just barely hanging on
to his notes right and they're able to pull it off because they have so much character to the sound,
they sing with so much conviction in their sound and they have so much swag in what they're doing,
that we just, it's kind of part of their shtick right and so this has kind of an
unnerving sort of song and and it's kind of an unnerving vocal and so we say that's great, but
what's great about it is the passion and emotion in it that, and it's storytelling
that we just go oh wow we're so intrigued and sucked into that part of it, that we're
not noticing all this other stuff going on in the background.
Guys if I played you that line, I'm going to say this one more time and then I'll shut up,
if I played you just this one line and I said who do you think this is.
You'd probably say it sounds like some British kid with a demo kind of trying a song or something
right. It doesn't sound like "Space Odyssey" right to me.
And there's that really weird (sings) kind of unstable vibrato right but the song is a really
good song it was super catchy and the concept is really catchy but let's continue. Here we go.
Okay let's continue.
Now I want to say something that's interesting about this part.
He goes from kind of a storytelling thing into a very militant thing right. So what's
interesting about good storytellers is, if they say you know (sings)
right. When they say the word up they go up, you get it. Like I don't
(sings) it'd be kind of weird (sings). That'd be weird. (sings) right.
It kind of messes with your mind when you do something like that. So what's interesting about
this is he goes into this really kind of militant thing. One on, on one minute he's kind of got
some cool interesting swag with his rhythm in the track and now he goes like this as you hear
it and that's what the lyric is talking about. Check it out.
And even down when he goes (sings)
It gives you that illusion or that effect I should say
when he's doing it as part of the song which is also interesting because it forces you
into that space of what reminds you of what you expect from a line like that right. Instead
of being sing-songy and (sings) right. He's not doing that.
(sings) right. He's got this vibe going on. Check it out.
Now all of the sudden you're back with Major Tom in the capsule and it's real ethereal and (sings)
and we all know the ending of the song or if you know the song you know it. You know, you know
he's not going to make it right so he just gets lost in space for you know forever,
but then there's this sort of realization that he knows he's not going to make it and
he's just like oh wow this is, this is kind of a suicide mission in a way and this is
kind of what I'm going to become and there's, I get no way out of this right.
Weird vocal.
Pretty sad right, kind of creepy sad and that
was his shtick right. That was this whole ending she was holding shtick.
Right and then you got this weird circus thing. Those are, oh what are those flute things you kind
of swing around with the, that's a like a hose that makes that noise.
Right. Okay now, now there's an ending but I don't want to go into all this too because it has just
like a lot of effect, but I want to do is I want to go now to the top of the song and I just want to
put the music in so you can hear how it works with the music and how we don't now really notice all
these anomalies in his voice and whatnot.
Okay there's that part I'm gonna go to the next section here. Check it out.
Now you probably hear the, the funk in his voice now that i pointed it out to you right, but I don't think you would have
necessarily noticed it that much in the song and most tracks are like that. There are a few
exceptions and there are definitely. I mean when I listen to Whitney and I did her I'm like I am
not worthy and there's, there are those singers out there, Mariah and some others, but in this case for
the singer-songwriter standpoint, he has to work extra hard in order to get you into his music
because he can't rely on all the calisthenics vocally, instead he's got his story to tell and
his character and his passion and the songwriting and all the other things that go with that.
Okay let's go to the next section here we go.
Last line coming up.
Okay and then there's this section, this fast section that comes
up and whatnot but anyway guys hopefully you enjoyed this as much as I did. I really
love doing this stuff, I have a lot of information and a lot of backstory stuff and
I'm just enjoying you know dissecting this stuff and sharing my heart with you
so that you can really see how this stuff was done and, and we can really put some flesh and blood
on some of these again legendary pieces to where we're like in the room with them, it's kind of
interesting. Can't you kind of visualize yourself in the control room watching them sing this stuff.
That's sort of how I see it, it's almost ghostly interesting right, hauntingly cool. So with that
said gang, thank you for joining me I've got more on your way and definitely check out my next video.