New Vocalist - Second Rehearsal

[rsadasiv]

Good news is, I had my second rehearsal with the new vocalist today. Bad news is that he's been banished to central Pennsylvania until Nov. 4th, so this will be the last practice for a while.

 

Still trying to figure out how to work together. We did a couple of songs, one of which I thought came out pretty well. It's a different direction than I've been following in the past, let me know what you think.

 

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6910390

[eeglug]

You did a nice job of putting this together. I think he has the makings of a potentially good singer. He doesn't seem to have much projection - I'd be curious to hear what he sounds like standing a little farther from the mic.

 

He sounds a little bored and lifeless, which perhaps reflects on the style of music he'd rather be singing - dry flat alienated '80s synth pop. I'd want to bring more character out of him but I'm not sure how'd you go about doing that,

[billbank]

really good news!

[rsadasiv]

Thanks guys. I didn't know how to describe this genre, but I think Blue2Blue would call it "electronica for the Brie and Chardonnay set".

[ido1957]

Okay - the singer has a very nice voice. It suits the particular song in the current lower key - i.e. it has a softer, laid back feel, one I would normally associate with acoustic guitar type songs. Kinda like James Taylor, Cat Stevens that type. songs in higher keys will probably bring out more vocal power and a different feel - not so "boring" as classfied previously. Good vocalist/song/arrangement/recording....you're onto something good here...

[Mozart551]

Pfft, like anyone cares.

 

McCain 08

[rsadasiv]

 

Pfft, like anyone cares. McCain 08

 

 

thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom with me. :-)

 

Cheney/Voldemort '08!

[ProgRock11]

Not to be mean, but his voice doesn't seem to fit. This guy sings like a dead fish, it's completely lifeless, with no personality. This is Electronica, the voice is supposed to be the human element, not the element that makes the song more robot like.

 

I dig the song tho.

 

Mozart551 scared me a little. I am honestly scared that people might vote for he whose name we cannot speak.

[blue2blue]

thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom with me. :-) Cheney/Voldemort '08!

And he can do it in four words -- one of which is pfft.

 

 

The brilliant thing about Harmony Central is that it has attractive nuisances like Open Jam and the thoroughly toxic pit that is the politics forum that draw most of the trolls. After all, folks like us really are boring to guys like that... they're trolling.

[blue2blue]

Back on topic...

 

Now that I've had a chance to hear this guy a couple times I have a more developed idea of where he stands with regard to your music -- as filtered, of course, through my own sensibilities.

 

I rather like his vocal instrument, on reflection. A pleasant native vocal sound and he mostly seems to know how keep things pretty optimal through the range he was working in. That said, I'm not sure I see much in the way of signs of a grasp of pop technique -- even of the brie and chardonnay variety. (BTW, my chosen phrase there would typically be white wine and cheese... I don't even know the names of them fancy kinds, man. [drawl thickens dramatically])

 

I'm not sure where a natural tentativeness of working in an apparently unfamiliar genre leaves off and a less than robust grasp of genre-related technique kicks in.

 

I'm sort of thinking of this guy in terms of Darryl Hall in his choirboy mode as a quasi-ideal not more than a stone's throw (in some ways but not necessarily others) from this guy's basic approach.

 

 

Let's play offbeat metaphor... if this guy's voice was a writer, I'd say that he hadn't found his voice yet ( ooh, I didn't even see that one coming)... I'd suggest that he hadn't lived enough yet. Anyhow, self-reflexive metaphorical puns aside, I think you see what I'm trying to get at... I'm just not sure this guy's ready for the varsity, yet.

 

 

BTW... about those music beds he was singing over. I think we need a rhythm check on some of those underpinnings. (I know, I'm a fine one to talk. Maybe I can't play in time, myself, but I can sorta hear in it. ) Also, even if they're technically correct, that percolating synth thing under his vocal seems like it would make it hard for a lot of folks to sing over (if, indeed, he did). But the real rhythm prob I hear was related to interplay between one of the rhythm guitars and the drum machine. Something off the dime, there, I could feel it in my arthritic bones.

[Marko]

Really nice song

[macresto]

I really enjoyed this piece. The music is wellcomposed with an interesting soundscape. The singers voice also suits this song well, but in my view he needs more practice with the song. It sounds like he is singing someone else's song - it's not his own. Even though the song should be sung very down-played and anonymous-like (I really don't know hot to say it good english) there should still be a nerve to it. And he lacks that in this recording. But as he has a good voice for the song, I think some practice with the phrasing, the beats and the general feel will make huge improvements on the song as a whole.

Looking forward to hear more from you guys!

[rsadasiv]

Thanks for the feedback - really appreciate all the comments. It's probably not the best basis to completely judge Scott's abilities - in the last 15 minutes of rehearsal he heard the original for the first time, heard the backing track for the first time, did one run through and then recorded his take. He called it a "cold reading" which is a fair description. But it does show that he has a basically pleasing vocal tone and that he picks up the patterns of a vocalist's phrasing quite well (Moby is not the world's most dynamic singer).

 

There is a little rhythmic problem right at the end of the verse - the acoustic guitar lead is not totally in sync with the vocals. This is more my fault than Scott's, he had the original song in his headphones, and he matched that very well - I think I was so in love with the sound I was getting through the mic'ed acoustic that I forgot to concentrate on the correct phrasing.

 

We spent a lot more time on another song, which is one he knows extremely well. I have some more work to do on that, but I'll try and post it a little later.

 

The thing that I liked about how the song came out was the space in the arrangement - usually I wind up with way too much stuff all going on at the same time in the same place, but on this it felt like there was plenty of room for each instrument to play and for the sounds to really blossom out.

[Chicken Monkey]

I/We would love to hear a track that he's comfortable with and has rehearsed. This one left me the same way the last one did--good singer, unprepared.

 

McCain 00

[NeverTheMachine]

I don't think he's that much of a singer, but more a guy with a nice speaking voice. I really like the music, it's relaxing and I think more melodic singing would serve it better.

[Eclepto Funk]

 

I/We would love to hear a track that he's comfortable with and has rehearsed. This one left me the same way the last one did--good singer, unprepared.

 

 

yeah ... we're basically listening to this guy "cold" (as it were)

 

i think if he lives with the songs for a while and gets them down, he'll do great

 

nice song, btw

[rsadasiv]

 

I/We would love to hear a track that he's comfortable with and has rehearsed.

 

 

Ok, here is the other song - he says he has been singing this one for twenty years, and I think the ending is about as good as I can get him to sound on my equipment.

 

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6921446

 

I'm not so sure about my parts on this one. Not to delve to deeply into the human drama of it all, but I don't really like the song that much - except for one place where it uses a B instead of a Bm the chord progression is nothing special, and the lyrics are just as mawkishly awful as you would expect a teenage girl's diary entry to be (I would probably prefer a song about not wanting to end up as just another post in your blog). Anyway, I think I overcompensated for my personal feelings by throwing the kitchen sink at it, production-wise, to the point of the arrangement sounding mildly schizophrenic.

[eeglug]

I don't know the song. It sounds like something the Thompson Twins would do. It's really not something I can relate to at all - the style epitomizes many things I hate about 80s music. If this is as good as he will get then I'm not impressed. I prefer that you sing your own material.

[rsadasiv]

LOL - Scott hates it too. Oh well, if you never screw up you never learn. I wanted to try a build up a journey to the starkly mixed ending, slowly pulling the debris away so that the vocal would resolve everything but I seem to have lost the plot somewhere.

 

One issue I really struggled with was getting the "page in your diary" backing track to stand out from the rest of the lyric. We probably should have tracked the backing vox on a different mic.

 

Hmmmm...I think it may be a bit too much, to be honest. Did you overlay your own vocals on top of mine? I'm not sure we sound that great together on it. I kind of like the "phone call" effect but not on the verses...more like on the "A page in your diary" bits...I also think the vocal gets lost in the mix. I prefer to have it more starkly-mixed, but maybe that's just me.

[Lee Knight]

I like his vibe. But... he really needs to work on being in the pocket. There is a tentative quality about him that I recognize. He lacks the knack of committing when he performs. And that is due, as far as I can tell, to his uncertain rhythmic sense.

 

I think his character is worth it though. You need to drill the rhythm of his phasing with him so when performs, it hits. The song Diary, that's Alison Moyer I believe? She's a great example of a confident performer in the electronica genre. The girl has a strong sense of groove and pocket in her vocal performances. Or what about New Order? Your guy (Scott?) has an "every man" quality about him not unlike New Order's singer. New Order, even through the almost bored persona still project a strong rhythmic sense vocally.

 

He needs to own his rhythmic phrasing. Right now he's sort of drifting around it. Confidence comes from knowledge and you can hear he's not sure of his phrasing. I can live with his pitch issues as they seem to have character. Rhythm. rhythm, rhythm.

[eagle1]

Hey guys.

Long time no see.

 

rsadasiv, I dig the tune.

I love the nuances, the sound, everything... but... it kind of sounds too much Postal Service'ish to me. The singer seems to have a good voice for these kind of songs but definitely needs more practice with the song to actually stay in time with the rhythm. With more practice I believe he will nail the timing and the song will sound oh so much better!

 

Great job nonetheless.

[ProgRock11]

Diary is a much better performance by your vocalist. However, I still say he needs some work on the emotive aspects of singing. None-the-less, this song shows he has much more potential than I heard in the previous song. You can tell he's much more comfortable singing it and that allows him to be a bit more confident. The mix has a lot going on...a lot, almost to the point that it felt too crowded and the musical aspects had no space to breath. However, it was extremely interesting to listen to because you have a lot of interesting things going on.

[rsadasiv]

 

Hey guys. Long time no see.

 

 

Yeah, I was beginning to think that eagle1 has signed off for the last time. Good to see you back.

[Chicken Monkey]

I think Lee Knight's got it right on. Work on fitting into the groove--the pitch is there, for the most part.

[yenerich]

Sounds good, has potential... but all its a little lazy. Need more life, maybe get more involved with the music.

But you are moving in a nice direction.