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March 15, 2006
Performing in the Studio – Part 2 / Studio Singing vs. Live Singing
Cutting studio vocals can be a daunting, humbling experience for an artist just starting to record.
Like many performers, you’ve probably done most of your singing for a live audience, not into a funny looking studio mic. When you’re singing for the public, you obviously want to sound your best, but you know it will never be perfect. If you’ve been performing a while, you know that audiences have a short memory for little imperfections (if they even notice them at all!). A note sung slightly flat, a missed note on the guitar, these vanish into thin air the moment they appear. Your audience is left with the overall impression. They judge the performance by whether they like your song and your performance. If the audience is “with” you, you can almost do no wrong!
In the studio, you may feel a bit out of place at first. Many singers have a hard time listening to the sound of their own voice. It’s a bit like looking at a beautiful painting from a ways off, and it looks perfect until closer inspection reveals flaws not previously seen. If you put a section of the painting under a microscope and examine it even more closely, you begin to spot even more imperfections. Cracks in the paint, colors blurred, bits of dirt and dust clinging to it.
When you sing in the studio, your voice is put under a microscope, so to speak. Everything is revealed, good or bad. (Especially if the engineer decides to listen to your voice without the backing!) You’ll be able to hear every intake of breath, every smack of the lips, every bit of phlegm rattling around on your vocal cords. You’ll be able to hear every time you drift off-pitch, and every phrase that doesn’t sound quite right. You’ll quickly learn that the human voice can be an endlessly beautiful, but imperfect instrument.
So what can you do to prepare for studio singing?
I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you!
Posted by leon at March 15, 2006 11:56 AM