Why Voice? #10 - Inspiration - where does it come from?

To those few whom I have not already informed of my latest project - my very own album, with my very own music, at this point in time named "A North Node"... well, thats it, now everyone should be informed. 

I am very excited about the whole thing so therefore probably most everybody are informed already as I simply can't seem to shut up about the whole thing, and thus I am bringing it on to my blog about voice. And there are some great discoveries to be had about the voice in a recording studio.

At this stage of album making it's all about patience as far as I can tell. I have the songs, I know how I want it to sound, and then you have to somehow get it down on some tracks in the studio which is highly time consuming and rather mind-bogging as you can do some really surreal things to your "sound" in the studio.

One thing you discover about your voice - usually very quickly - is that it isn't doing what you want it to do. Not unlike a performance situation, being in the studio can be nerve racking and everything you thought you knew how to do in your sleep, is now the hardest thing in the world. It doesn't help to tell yourself that you can just do it again - somehow that actually makes it worse - I am no expert on the psycology behind this phenomena, but I like to say to my students that it's about being scared of your own excitement and potential (now I try to tell myself the same thing:-). Too many options and too much joy (yes, I know it sounds crazy) it's sort of like tears of joy, a really, really, weird, good feeling of overwhelm, can mess you up as well as anything.

Song is to a large degree about controlling or managing your breath flow. When we are excited or scared or in otherways emotionally on a high note, that becomes a really hard thing to do, also in a recording studio even if you can "always just do it again". 

Going to the studio certainly makes you aware of your shortcomings and your greatness too, and can be a great learning experience even if you are not going to release an album and just want to challenge yourself.

Why Voice #9 - a little bit about lyrics...

There are probably as many approaches to how to work on the lyrics of a song as there are teachers, coaches and artist out there, and so I thought maybe it was time I wrote down some of my thoughts on the subject. In this particular part of my musicianship and wearing my teacher hat I turn to my actor self because as an actor you deal with this thing with putting meaning into words all the time.
That approach means questions like; Who are you talking to? what would you like to change in that person(s) with these words? And what are your tactics to do it? what is the circumstance? can you relate to this circumstance? (and if not change them to circumstances you can commit to). Why is it import for you to to say this? Where are you? Is there an obstacle? And so on.....

But even when having asked yourself all these questions and hundreds more and think you are clear on it all, you might still run into the biggest trap of them all when it comes to art. You will attempt to "express" yourself and forget that its not about you and/or your pain, sorrow or joy, but about what you are trying to achieve with your song and lyrics.

The reason why I try to stay away from the word "express" is that is seems to indicate that its a one way street - that it is not about communication, but only about how YOU feel somehow. That is however not what communication is....makes me think of that Dolly Parton song...."it takes two baby....lalalala" :-) communication which art in my opinion is all about, is about you taking something in - letting it affect you - and than expressing how that somehow changed you (mind, body or soul) But it starts with taking in, not letting out, not disappearing in your own pain. No, you need a mission to fulfill with that song so it doesn't all become about you expressing how you feel, save that for therapy:-)
Don't get me wrong I want to know how you feel and hear it in the song, but only if you are on a mission to change something in someone/somebody/something - not just feeling sorry for yourself.
Those are my two cents on how to approach lyrics :-)

Why Voice #8 - Breath

One of my lovely teachers (wonderful and missed; Ian Adam), back when I was a fresh faced young singer just discovering what it was all about, would always start out the lesson by simply saying "Lets breathe". And so we would.
We would pant and breathe and do all these rather crazy looking exercises, and I never really payed much attention, I was young and foolish, nor did I really get what he was trying to teach me, but the pure practice of it was enough to somehow make me better.

One of the main things that suffered most when I went from being a classically inspired singer to a contemporary inspired singer over a decade ago, was my breath management. My whole idea of breath in singing somehow was changed - BIG mistake, but one that I have since corrected and thus feel extra vigilant about correcting the misconception of when I see/hear them in my studio.
If there is something that singing teachers can discuss to death it is; what perfect breath management is - and how to obtain it. I love when I have students that come to me saying they want to learn how to breathe the right way, it's like asking for the answer to an impossible ridle. The right way is....just not that simple, however once you got it and your body has adapted the habit it does seem like the simplest thing in the world to people looking at it. Nobody questions the amount of training that goes into a ballet dancers perfect triple pirouette, yet done well, it looks so easy and simple. Breath management in singing seems to me like the same thing (though I never mastered the triple pirouette:-) It requires strength, balance, momentum and focus and to get that you must practice it a billion times and fall on your ass a few times too...
In my breath training we train all these aspects separately and together, and though I know it is confusing to many of my students - they are very happy when they get it :-) and sometimes wonder why they ever found it so difficult in the first place....well, that is just the magic of it all.
So "lets breathe"...