Did He Deserve the Golden Buzzer? Vocal Analysis of Matty Juniosa's "Dream On"

[00:00:00]All right, well, after hearing Matty you guys told me I had to hear his version of Dream On. So, here I am.

[00:00:11]And I thought it was dangerous taking on Prince, but taking on Steven Tyler?

[00:00:18]We'll see.

[00:00:31]The song is brutal.

[00:00:37]Listen, I love what everything he's doing, but if you're going to do a run like that, it better be crispy. And I heard a little muddiness there. But, like it got lost at the end. I need to hear that again.

[00:00:52]Yeah, yeah, like at the last two notes, I I feel like it got lost a little bit.

[00:00:56]And he's got a great voice. Don't come for me in the comments, but, you know, I am a vocal coach. I do need to say what I hear.

[00:01:16]Doos, I love that. All right, here we go.

[00:01:21]This was Aerosmith's breakthrough song, by the way. 1973 it was released.

[00:01:35]From on sages, a little pitchy on the sages part. The jaz, listen again.

[00:01:47]Sages is da da da. That's the part that I was a little disappointed in. He ends well, but but that part was a little muddy.

[00:02:01]I love the bottom of the He really He really umphs it up there.

[00:02:05]That's great.

[00:02:08]Yeah.

[00:02:11]Yeah.

[00:02:16]Come back to you. All the way up there on two. And listen, this is a vocal competition, guys. So, don't get your gutchies in a wad because I'm critiquing certain things. Like that is the point here. And he is taking on a behemoth of a song, okay? So, if you're going to do it, you got to do it. And I'm sure that this went crazy because he kills the hardest part. But it there It is worth saying there needs to be vocal precision and as close to perfection as possible in pitch and in accuracy when you are competing on these shows. I know. I did one of them. And listen, I wasn't perfect either. So, um it's it's not like, "Oh, it's easy for you to say."

[00:02:57]No, no, no. I've been there. I've been on those stages. I know exactly what it feels like and how hard it is. So, I'm saying it from a complete place of compassion, but also of truth. Like, you know, to be honest is to be kind. I believe that.

[00:03:17]Yeah.

[00:03:22]It's so positive right here.

[00:03:25]Love it.

[00:03:27]Yes.

[00:03:29]Love the crying way.

[00:03:31]Love the straight tone.

[00:03:33]Love the high octave.

[00:03:36]Woo.

[00:03:37]Okay, guys.

[00:03:42]Yes, call and response.

[00:03:52]Wow. Okay, wait. Before get there, oh, I know, I know, I know. I need to point out this beautiful vocal bend up that he did because it's a beautifully executed stylistic choice there.

[00:04:12]That's something that eludes a lot of singers. So, let me just tell you how he's doing that. He's not hitting the targeted note right away. The targeted note is "on". He's not going there. So, he's doing the same note on "on" as he is the first note on "dream". Dream, uh, and then he's going there, anchoring there, and sliding up to his targeted note. So, it's it's like you got to know where you're going and where you're ending, but you do not start there. You give yourself a lower note to start off and and slide up from. DREAM, UH, UNTIL you reach that. And it's a very suspenseful and and full of tension. And then there's this big satisfaction, this big release after you get up to that top note, which is so smart to do, especially in vocal competitions and live performances.

[00:05:17]Woo! Okay. Okay. By the way, that was probably one of the easiest notes for him that he hit. Why? Because all of this time up until now, he's been belting. But Matty is a natural belt mixer. So, when he GOES UP TO MATTY, TELL ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT LIKE also tell the people the truth if I'm right. Like that note, he's probably in his head like, "Yes, I'm finally here.

[00:05:42]Like this is my moment to take a vocal break, but also vocally impress people, too." And I feel the same way when I go to whistle because it's very impressive to hit those high high notes, but it's actually a vocal break for me. It's easier for me sometimes to go into whistle than it is to just continue belting. So, I'll like do an opt up and it's more impressive to the listener, but meanwhile, I'm just like I just want a break.

[00:06:05]So, he's getting this win-win by going into his sweet spot, which is his belt mix. And he it's on a perfect vowel, TOO, THE AND HE'S CRUSHING IT, RIGHT? And it's this beautiful framable moment. And and he is also wowing the audience while he's doing it. And then he falls OFF OF IT, WHICH IS A BEAUTIFUL zip down. So, he's in this 50/50 chest mix, but then as he zips down, he zips from that 50/50 to full chest again, which is also very very impressive. It shows how smooth his break has become. Like, he can make a vocal break between registers, but he can also be smooth about it. And that's the holy grail, guys. That's really what a lot of people come to my studio wanting. I want to learn how to mix. I want to smooth out my break. I want to have control over it. Yes, yes, you do.

[00:06:50]And this is a good example of someone who does.

[00:07:17]I love his face there.

[00:07:28]Love that.

[00:07:29]There's that sweet spot again.

[00:07:48]>> Okay, wait, before we finish, before we finish, I I have to say, I want to say again though, sweet spot, chest mixing, not necessarily riffs and runs accuracy. And if I were able to vocal coach Matty, it's the one thing that I'd be like, Matty, we're cleaning this up, because if you just clean this one thing up, you will be unstoppable. Like, you just have this amazing voice and this unreal control over your chest mix, and it's so powerful, and it's so amazing. But, when you sing riffs and runs, I'm like guessing at what he's trying to do there, but I I can't quite tell, because they're they're not fully in the pocket of the center of the pitch. When you have a complicated riff or run melodic structure, and the notes are not perfectly in the center of the pitch, it becomes difficult and almost impossible for the listener to tell what it was intended to be, and that's that's what I'm having a hard time with right now.

[00:09:01]And and just as I said in the other the other constructive criticism moments of this piece, he ends well. He's really great at finding his way out of the woods and onto that clear true path of centeredness of pitch at the end. But, my heart for you, Matty, is to get those places from the beginning and all the way through. And something that I noticed is that he overshoots the first couple of notes within the melodic line of the improvisational section, like a riff or a run, but then he finds his way out of it again. And so, it's sort of like it covers up the the issue at the end. But, that can be helped. That's a matter of ear training and training the centeredness of pitch in your voice when you're doing a lot of agility work.

[00:09:52]I love it. He's got such great stage presence.

[00:09:56]Crazy amazing hold here.

[00:09:59]Gorgeous.

[00:10:06]I love it.

[00:10:08]And And this actually is pretty masterful.

[00:10:11]Do you Look at that framable moment there, okay? So, this is great technique here. He's got a dropped and locked mouth. His tongue is dropped like that. You got a trough in your tongue. And he's leaning back and in SO DO RE MI INSTEAD OF DO RE LIKE THE the We don't want the strain, right? He's actually arching almost so that there's not strain here. It's everywhere else. It's in his abs. It's in his face. But, actually the throat is really loose.

[00:10:37]There's no veins here popping out. It's really well-placed gorgeous note. He's so good at the chest mix.

[00:10:45]Watch how he like I don't know.

[00:10:49]braces.

[00:10:51]Woohoo!

[00:10:53]I love his face again like you did that.

[00:10:55]I did that. Yes.

[00:10:59]Yeah.

[00:11:03]Really great stage performance.

[00:11:05]Awesome facial expressions.

[00:11:08]Totally worthy of being there for sure.

[00:11:11]But, like I say, just this is a vocal competition. And so, it's not like a live performance that's just supposed to be emotive and expressive. Like, no, you you are being judged on your vocal prowess and capability and performability and all of the things on these shows. And so, I'm hoping that you don't feel like I was too hard on Matty today, but more observant so that you can hear the difference between something that's clean and clear and something that isn't. And also moments that are brilliantly placed and wonderful because there are so many of those in this performance. In fact, we're not going to watch it, but he actually won Amanda's golden buzzer for this performance and I think it's well deserved. So now I want to speak to you about your voice because if you are a singer watching this, I know that you probably would love to be on a stage like this. It may even be your lifelong dream and I want you to know my coaches and I have helped students all over the world get on to every single one of these talent shows.

[00:12:08]Like all of them. Like The Voice, America's Got Talent, X Factor, American Idol, I could go on. And so if you are curious as to whether you have what it takes to be on one of these shows, you only have to do one thing. You have to click on the link in my description box and get yourself a discounted online first vocal lesson with me or one of my vocal coaches. And in just one half hour, we will tell you the truth because that's what we do at Tara Simon Studios.

[00:12:33]I love you guys so much. I am so proud of you and as always, I'll see you on the next one. Bye.