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RT - 2008-03-31 10:54:26
I like my rhyming dictionary. It's crumblingly old, like from 1939, with plenty of weird archaic words. I've had it forever and I'm not really sure where it came from. It has worked for me on a number of occasions, most recently helping me rhyme "princess and the pea" with "simultaneously." Secondly, and this is a question to Paula and whoever else, what about singer's block, which I'm stuck in now? When you're recording and you can't get in the right place with the song, emotionally and/or vocally? And you've done 90 takes and are despairing? I think that maybe the same approach as to songwriting may apply, but I dunno.
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Paula - 2008-03-31 11:01:31
I knew that someone would be a rhyming dictionary fan, and here it is someone whose songs I love....
As for singer's block--I defer to Wombat or Sharples, who have probably encountered this in their engineer/producer roles many times, although I bet one session with a voice teacher would knock something loose...
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Sharps - 2008-03-31 11:15:57
I would strongly recommend going to a voice teacher, ever if for one or two sessions. A good one can show you a few techniques that you can put to good use for the rest of your life.
As for singer's block...that's a very common occurence.
The first thing I do is move out of the vocal booth (if you're using one) and set up in the main tracking room. Try to make the environment more performance-like.
Depending on how adventurous your engineer is, you could even try to set up monitor speakers instead of using headphones. Good luck!
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Sharps - 2008-03-31 12:52:52
Oh, duh - it just occurred to me who "RT" is. Gee, I'm surprised you're having that difficulty, I would think you nail everything first or second take. Have you tried strumming along on an unplugged guitar? Again, the idea is to try to put yourself into pure, unconscious "performance" mode, to distract yourself from the somewhat clinical process of overdubbing a lead vocal. If all else fails, there is always the John Lennon circa-1968 vocal method: take a lot of heroin and lie down on the floor. Don't worry, they can reach you with a boom stand.
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Paula - 2008-03-31 13:21:42
What, you didn't know Richard Thompson reads this blog?
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amatt - 2008-03-31 16:08:35
I was doing recordings of solo bass and voice, and found that when I recorded the bass and went to sing over it, I had difficulty. I had to do both at the same time. This demo then took no time at all to record.
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iwombat - 2008-03-31 21:38:07
Well it's a little late, I've been busy, but vocally and emotionally are too very different questions, c'mon admit it which one is it? well god,it's all in the details... emotionally, if you wrote the song you gotta put yerself back in that place, where it came out because it had too... maybe it's too late these things happen... if it's vocally, is it really in the right key? I know you've got these carefully crafted backing tracks, but it really matters... are you trying too hard, this week I seem to be telling people, while trying (notice that word) to punch in, to try less hard as sessions go on people tend to try harder, that's not always the right direction... oh, I don't know.
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MacGregor - 2008-03-31 21:43:49
Arthur Kane said he couldn't breathe and play bass at the same time.
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2fs - 2008-03-31 22:02:15
(Although I hate the word "craft," it's on my list of words that make my stomach feel gurgly.) So you're lactose-intolerant?
Anyway: it's interesting reading about problems writers and singers have...as an utter amateur at both (never performed live), it's interesting the things you learn. One thing I'd never given thought to before trying to actually sing stuff I'd written was phrasing: I just sorta assumed that singers look at the meter and the rhythm of the words and, you know, it's just there. Ha ha ha ha. There are just *so* many subtleties and different ways to do things, the voice being much subtler than most instruments, and of course it probably doesn't help that most my writing to date plays fast and loose with meter anyway... But hey: if Joni Mitchell can be superflexible with meter, why can't I? (Aim high, sez I.) Also: any advice for how to play an instrument and sing simultaneously (other than, you know, the same way you get to Carnegie Hall)? Cuz I canna do it, Cap'n. I think it's because I want to sing what I'm playing, or play what I'm singing.
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Tim W. - 2008-04-01 00:53:17
I thought my songwriting process was fairly unusual, but if so, then Andrew Bird is unusual in almost exactly the same way. I may have to check out his stuff.
Words are still much harder than music, but today I needed a verse to finish a song and I got it while driving to and from lunch. So sometimes it works.
I've never used a rhyming dictionary, but I've certainly riffled through rhyming words in my mind looking for something that works. Same diff, in my opinion.
I second the singing lesson thing--it didn't get me to good, but it definitely got me to sucks-less. I think my brief flirtation with the Alexander Technique may have helped as well.
2fs: Practicing is the only way, unfortunately. Start with simple backing parts.
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bad meow - 2008-04-01 09:19:09
I've found that one of the best ways to get to the right singing place is to exercise beforehand. I've started scheduling a boxing session right before a gig. Jogging works. I bet yoga would work. Anything to get out of your mind and let your body take over. Sex would work fabulously. Let's make that isolation booth a little less isolated, friends!
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2fs - 2008-04-01 21:38:25
bad meow: There's an old story - can't remember the exact details - that Jim Morrison wanted to record a particular vocal part while a woman was going down on him. Don't know whether that actually happened, but...there ain't no such thing as an original idea! (It didn't seem to help ol' Jimbo much, though.)
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