Awesome Singing

Grammy winner Charles Yang showcases his amazing vocal abilities while playing violin with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. His performance of Sam Cooke’s A Change is Going to Come sent shivers down our spine. His interpretation of House of the Rising Sun with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong is similarly jaw-dropping.

The NetMusic YouTube channel specializes in isolating vocals from the music in various songs. This edit is a true gem, highlighting the amazing vocal talents of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush as they perform their 1986 duet Don’t Give Up. After listening to this, it feels like the music was almost unnecessary.

Enjoy a heaping helping of hope in these turbulent times courtesy of singer Geoff Castellucci, who brings his deep baritone vocals to John Lennon’s magnificent anthem of peace, unity, and harmony. For more subwoofer-shaking vocals, check out Geoff’s performance of Jim Croce’s You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.

AI voice generation software has made it relatively easy to create songs and speech that sound like anyone. But can an AI singer beat a professional like Anthony Vincent? The Ten Second Songs host asks you to be the judge. While the technology certainly is impressive, we will always be Team Human when it comes to creative pursuits.

This impressive yet creepy AI tech can take a single still image and make it appear to speak or sing any audio. Developed by researchers from Alibaba’s Institute for Intelligent Computing, EMO: Emote Portrait Alive’s model was trained on more than 150 million images to work its magic. The video is peppered with examples of the convincing deepfakery.

French vocalist Sarah Schwab is a master of musical impressions. We’re not familiar with all of the singers she mimics, but her imitations of Kate Bush, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Cher, Cyndi Lauper, Sia, and others are uncanny. Check out her Instagram channel for more, including her take on Bohemian Rhapsody.

If you’ve seen the Coen Brothers’ film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, you’ll immediately recognize the song I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow, made famous by The Soggy Bottom Boys. Singer Geoff Castellucci sang all parts of the American folk classic and embellished the track with his impressive low bass vocals.

The Journey song Don’t Stop Believin’ is a true classic – and it wouldn’t have been anything without Steve Perry’s talents. NetMusic shows off just how good his singing was by stripping away most of the music and allowing us to hear Perry’s isolated vocals. Neil Schon’s guitar solo is also a treat.

Musician Wendel Gama doesn’t just impersonate Michael Jackson’s look and dance moves, he’s got the voice to back it up. If you close your eyes and listen to his performances of Billie Jean, You Are Not Alone, and Remember the Time, you’d be hard-pressed to tell it isn’t The King of Pop reincarnated. He also does Tiny Tim.

This might not be the first cat to utter the words “Oh Long Johnson,” but this vocal kitty is even better thanks to added lyrics and music by The Kiffness. The track Hold Onto My Fur is a groovy earworm that will have you singing along with the talkative orange kitty from China.

Recorded audio and radio programs from the early 20th century have a distinctive sound. Musician Sam Stafford got his hands on a vintage 1920s carbon microphone and shows how much of that sound was due to limitations in the era’s audio technology. When Sam gets out his banjolele and starts singing, it’s like he stepped into a time machine.

Lebanese singer Tony Abou Jaoudeh, aka looneytony4 is a master of vocal impressions. In this video, he performs The Weeknd’s 1980s-style track Save Your Tears in the voices of artists who were popular in the 1980s like A-Ha, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, and George Michael. His Jimmy Somerville is spot on.

Now here’s something you don’t see every day… a guy playing the accordion, yodeling as fast as humanly possible, and smoking a cigarette at the same time. We’d only wish we could have been there to see the performance in person while we glugged down a giant stein of beer.

To celebrate the release of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, musician and producer Jared Halley performed a wonderful a cappella version of Redbone’s 1973 hit Come and Get Your Love. Jared’s multi-layered approach gives added depth to an already great song.

Musician Bob Strachan has the uncanny ability to sound just like Johnny Cash. But he doesn’t just use his talents to cover Johnny’s songs. In this case, he took Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise and turned it into a moody country song along the lines of Folsom Prison Blues.

Musician Joel James has a unique talent – he’s able to perform songs backward so they sound like the original when played back in reverse. It’s a simple concept, executed brilliantly by Joel. See if you can guess these songs before he hits rewind.