Producers Seminar and working together in Stockholm

Hi!

Last month was an exciting one for us, this time working together in Sweden with seminars, workshops, songwriting and planning. We set up these things due to a commission we got initially to hold a seminar together in Stockholm on the 18th of April. Taking care of the opportunity of being at the same location, we then added more activities around the event. 

The commission we had was from the Swedish magazine Studio who invited us to be the guests of their recurring event "Producers Seminar", for which we designed a special programme about singing and vocal recording, tailor-made for producers, sound engineers and recording vocalists. We both have a lot of experience from working in the studio, both recording ourselves, being recorded by others and coaching singers for and during studio sessions. From our many hours in the studio, we know that there is a lot of knowledge that can make the work of producers and sound engineers a lot easier and more efficient. It is about several things: understanding how the voice works and the singer's situation, how to communicate to get the desired results, how to chose and use your equipment and much more. There are quite some efficient and concrete techniques that producers can use to help singers in the studio and get really good results even if the producer is not a singer or vocal coach. We combined our knowledge in order to share some of our tips and tools for how to make vocal recording the best it can be.
Part of it was coaching and recording invited singers live. We recorded some parts and then worked quickly tweaking for instance dynamics, vowels, sound colour etc. and recorded new takes. This was especially fun as it became even more evident than usual how much improvement can be achieved and how fast. Usually when we teach in master classes and time passes between the first performance and the coached one, listeners clearly hear a lot of progress, but this time we also had it on tape! We were delighted to hear that the audience chose the tweaked examples every time asked.

Seminar - Live coaching

Since we had to fit so many subjects in this short seminar we could only share some of our many tools. Many of the subjects we briefly mentioned also contain a lot more interesting and useful information and it was clear there was a great need and interest for more. So we have decided to arrange a longer course for both producers and singers. This workshop will be in Stockholm in the middle of August. Let us know if you're interested in joining!

The weekend following the Producer's seminar Annika was teaching singers at the 4-month singer education at Vocal Soul. Ville joined in a few hours to guest-teach some wonderful singers in the master class. Both this and the producer's seminar were great experiences in teaching together. Ville will return to the subject soon to share thoughts why it is such a good idea to work together with another teacher.

We'd also like to thank the two singers whom so bravely and professionally let us record and coach them live for a big audience at the Producers Seminar. If anyone is looking for a great vocalists we warmly recommend you to ask Åsa Lundman (Nordin) and Herman Gardarfve. Ask  us if you need help getting in touch with them and we will assist you.

Do you REALLY want to sing like that?

Complete Vocal Technique makes it clear that anyone can sing in any way. However, that doesn't mean everyone wants to sing in every way.

The choices you make - what sounds you chose to do, and, what sounds you chose not to do - is part of the building of your own unique sound. That is simply part of what makes you You.  

Every now and then a singer gets stuck when approaching a new way to sing a song, despite that they seem to have everything they need to do it. A clear wish has been expressed for how to sing the song, they have the knowledge of what techniques can take them there and the tools for how to do it. Still they can't do it. 

This is a good time to go a bit deeper into the actually wish, to see if it really is what they think it is… 

Let's take an example: The song "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", sung by Jennifer Hudson. Let's say a singer wishes to sing it exactly like she does, or at least with similar energy and expression. 

The recipe for this is, simply put; a good amount of volume, which means we will be spending a lot of time in the full metal modes. Then put in some Neutral and Curbing here and there, a lot of twang and some dips into darker sound color to even more increase the great dynamics of the song, a good deal of vocal runs, some splashes of growl (vocal effect) and basically there you have it… 

Anyone can do this if they know how to. But there is something more to it at a deeper level. 

Who sings like this? What kind of character would chose to express themselves in this way? Of course that is a question that can be answered different ways depending on the person, but to simplify it a bit I would say; someone who is really eager to say something and to say it loud! The song is basically a 5 minute scolding. Imagine a long period of stong feelings and effort and build it up to a climax when you are at the top of frustration and everything basically explodes out of you. 5 minutes of screaming, yelling, begging, whining, sobbing… 

It is a great, powerful song and has given joy to many, many listeners. And this is what it is, a 5 minute loud explosion of feelings. 

Then take a singer who never speaks louder than a soft stroke. Who prefers to sing gently, simply and quietly. Now they are in my studio wishing to sing like Jennifer Hudson. Perhaps because they love it and really long to burst out into that kind of expression. Perhaps because they need to learn how to do it cause they got a job where they're gonna perform it like this.. Or perhaps because someone else told them it would be better if they sang like this. Maybe they just have some idea about that this would be good to do, but still, they really don't feel like doing it.. It can be they are not really comfortable with expressing themselves this way because it's just very far away from their own personality. Maybe they want to change both their personality and how they sing, or maybe they actually don't. Being loud is great, but being gentle is also great. It's really just a matter of taste and when a singer is expressing themselves, it is about THEIR taste, no one elses. 

Remember, it is possible, if you really want it. But the question to ask here is, do you REALLY want to sing like this? Are you up for it? Because to sing this song like Jennifer Hudson sings it means to bring out that kind of character. It takes a lot of energy and you need to be ready to give that energy. To be loud, to be angry, to take a lot of space and to not doubt that it is ok to do it. 

When that question is asked and the answer is yes, we are ready to get to work!

- Annika