Sharp Practise
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12/4/2008 11:15:36 AM
Planning to record vocals
One of the great things about being a record producer is that you get to do things other guys cannot imagine with girls they can only dream about! That’s been the case recently, as my side project with a female singer has developed. We originally set out to do a few demos with a view to getting publishing on a couple of songs. It now looks as if we may be making an album in 2009 and launching a new artist.
I want to talk about my voice this time. If you look at any sheet music you’ll usually find the legend “words and music” at the top, which suggests that the words (and therefore the singing of them) should have equal prominence with the music. So how do I start to get a balance between all of the instrumental performances and the lead vocal?
Again, it’s all down to planning and my planning takes three stages. First, are the words right for the context of the song i.e. is ‘I am unable to obtain any satisfaction’, while grammatically correct, accurate in terms of meter and for the character who’s singing the lyrics? ‘I can’t get no’ is so much better…
Secondly, what is the right voice for these words? Is it one with a shout in it, a cry in it, clear diction or slurred? Do certain phrases or words demand a different delivery?
Finally, to whom am I singing? Is it me, one person or a crowd? Again, this will affect how I deliver any given line, as a song may change audience from section to section or even line to line.
I’ll talk more about how I make this happen in the next instalment.
Cheers
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