Hello everyone, I’ve been meaning to make a little post like this for a while but have been so busy with writing / recording and changing nappies that I’ve struggled to fit it in! So for any singers / vocal students out there or people looking for vocal coaching you may find this video interesting or of use to you on some level.
I recently made a close up, live performance of ‘Maeva’ from our Skyharbor record ‘Blinding White Noise’, which was released in April 2012 Basick Records. As well as being a lot of fun to do, I personally feel that this is a good example of being able to vocally execute a song that I consider (for me) to be quite difficult to perform and stay in pitch. It isn’t the greatest example by any stretch but I thought it would at least be good for my students to watch as they know I’m always banging on about staying relaxed!
Unbeknown to the majority this is probably one of the hardest songs to sing that I’ve ever written and it takes a great deal of effort and concentration to nail! So this will hopefully explain why I’ve changed the execution from the album version to cater for a live performance. It’s a fairly diverse song with the need for a lot of control in many areas. There have been a few people comment on how it appears to be ‘effortless’ which is a lovely compliment but in reality there’s a lot going on.
While my range is currently G2 – D#6, ‘Maeva’ is performed between A3 – D5 so it’s not the broadest range I’ve ever executed on a song. Although if you listen closely it’s quite a varied performance using a variety of voice types from the application of characteristic / pitched / compressed vocal fry to chest / mix / head / falsetto and mezza voce. As the resonance is constantly moving this means the more diverse the vocal performance the more need for control so this reflects in my posture and the placement of my head, which is all about control and feel, thats also another reason for relaxed vibes.
Breathing and breath management / control really plays a large part in being able to stay focussed and decompressed enough throughout to actually pull the whole song off in one go, especially in a sterile environment like my sound proofed studio. Getting a good monitoring sound obviously really helps. As you progress through the track into the ending there is an element of compression building on the voice, breathing and staying relaxed is so important, that’s why it looks like I’m chilled but in my head I’m working flat out.
Without all the control, pitching is sacrificed to a degree. The hardest part is executing the pitched vocal fry right at the end and co-ordinating my voice to connect into a high chesty mix for the end phrase! Have a closer listen and enjoy…right back to demoing new Skyharbor!!
Anyone looking for coaching or vocal production and mixing please do get in touch at rockwithdan@gmail.com
Thanks, Dan