…or on stage!

One of the reasons I started this blog was to begin a dialog with other singers and musicians about our techniques in the recording studio, and on stage. Since I am in the middle of recording my third jazz CD, I thought I’d keep a log of issues as they come up, and maybe some singers out there will respond and add their wisdom and experiences, too.

You know how when you’re in the shower, and you start singing, and it sounds so GREAT because of the acoustics in the bathroom, and how it feels SO great and you’re all happy and stuff?? No?? Oh yes, you do, come on, admit it! Anyway, that’s one of the times that I am feeling really good about my singing and I don’t doubt my abilities or my musicianship or have any fears about what, or WHY, I continue putting myself out there as a singer.

Well, that great feeling in the shower SHOULD be how you feel when you’re in the studio, singing your heart out, for all the world to hear (you hope). Problem is, you’re not always feeling 100% when you’re in the studio. For whatever reason, you’re tired, you’re stressed, etc., you just can’t seem to make it click. And the harder you try, the worse it sounds, and the worse you feel.

I recently had an experience like that in the studio, and I was so frustrated that I felt I wasn’t singing well. What to do when every minute is costing you money?

I decided to hang in there, and record three more tracks, of the same song, and then force myself to walk away and listen to what I had just recorded, in a few days.

To my surprise, when I went back to listen to what I had done, I discovered a GREAT track, full of emotion, right on pitch, everything was there. I used that track as the final vocal, and i LOVE it!

So: sometimes you may lose your perspective on what you sound like, based on how you’re feeling. But, unlike singing in the shower, singing in the studio may not always sound so great to YOU, but it may sound great to the many others who will be listening to your project. You NEVER KNOW…you may be recording a GREAT track. BELIEVE in your abilities….you may sound better than YOU think you do!!!

So hang in there!!! Know when to keep going, but don’t force yourself. Know WHEN to GET OUT OF THE SHOWER if it’s just not working for ya!!!

Late last night I received two new mix tracks in my email box, from Jamie (my ex-husband and fantastic recording engineer – Jamie Bridges): one of which is a track that I recorded live with the band, in one take, on the day we did all the instrumental tracks.

This last track is referred to as my “reference vocal.” That means it’s the vocal I sing, in studio, so that the musicians can follow along when they record their tracks. Generally, ‘reference vocals’ are thought of as throwaway tracks, not meant to be kept or used on the final project, because the singer will go into the studio at a later date, alone, and record her final tracks, over the instrumental tracks, without the band.

Regarding that reference vocal, Jamie’s email said (and I quote):

This a frigging piece of Magic. There is no band on this planet that could play this elegantly around your vocal like this, but these guys. It was a lot of work to get this ruff mix up. But I think it was worth it. There are still a few details to fix and I need to up the level on the mix. The vibes have one distorted note. But your vocal is total magic. Go ahead try and top it I double dare you.

I said the same thing about “All I Want” and I was right.

This is why I use the best mic, micpre, compressor on your reference vocal. Most engineers would just use a Shure 58 and call it a day ( thinking the ref voc is just there to keep the band from f’ing up) – Jamie

I listened to the reference vocal and thought: “Yep. He’s right. This time!” It’s a keeper. I’m not going to touch it.

What’s really cool about it is that this particular song was thrown in at the last minute, with absolutely no rehearsal. Just Jonathan and Randy going over a few chords with Gerry on vibes, and me just having Alan count it in, and here we go.

That’s how they did it in the old days of jazz recording. Throw it together and see what happens. That’s what happens live on the stage, too…let’s do this song, in a totally different tempo, different key, different feel…and make some MUSIC!

So, it’s very exciting to capture on a recording, LIVE in the studio, what I like to call Magical Musical Moments. Unrehearsed. Unplanned.

The moral of this story?

There is no such thing as a ‘reference vocal!’ Each and every time that “RECORD” button is ON, sing it like you mean it, not as if it’s a ‘throwaway’ track.

You might just capture some Magic!

Even before I knew I wanted to be a singer (I was 4 years old when I first saw Barbra Streisand on tv and thought: “I want to do that!”), I sang. All children sing. We sing ourselves to sleep so we won’t feel alone in our bed, afraid in the dark. We sing silly songs and play hand-clapping games and jump rope rhymes. We sing in groups in church or school. We sing along with the radio, unconsciously hum while we work, or whistle the theme song from that commercial stuck in our head.

I was unaware as a child that I was always singing, or whistling, or beating my foot to the music I heard in my mind constantly. But I realize now that the music I was making was simply the manifestation of whatever I was feeling at the time – out loud, with melody, and some sort of soothing, repetitive rhythm.

It just felt good.

When I began to really LISTEN to music, at a very young age, it was as if I were drinking in my feelings…that the music somehow knew everything I felt or thought and was out there, and it wasn’t until I heard Bach or Judy Garland or Joni Mitchell or Faure that I became aware that they were just like me, they knew exactly how I felt; Music understood the human condition and entered us to help heal our fear, the loneliness, the searching. Of course, I wasn’t able to verbalize all of this at the time…all I knew was that Music was a magnet and I couldn’t stop listening…or singing.

These thoughts occur today because I have Phoebe Washer, and especially her family, so much in my heart and on my mind, making it hard to concentrate on my ‘day’ job. And my daughter is sad and upset and finding it hard to talk about it with me. What I really feel like doing is singing.

So I decided to schedule some time in the studio today to continue recording my CD rather than working. Tap into the instrumental tracks we recorded, and extract the joy that lives there, and give it back through my voice. I don’t know how or what it will feel like  but I know the process, becoming engrossed in it, will give me something back. It always does. Then, I can put those feelings into the Song and send that song out into the world for the future person who may want to hear it…listening to Music that might help them feel better for a while.