by Eddie Gore

Any chance you get, get in the studio and get on the mic!! Any studio. A big professional recording facility or an “in the box” home recording studio will both produce a reality of performance. And really listen. Do it again, then again. Be honest. How do you sound? How is the performance? Do you believe it? Maybe you think you sound better with a band or performing live? Could you improve? How do you improve?

Whether you are an accomplished vocalist with years behind you, a prodigy talent, or just even a “one trick pony”, it all comes down to a single performance. That one performance, though, will help define you immortally to your listener.

Just to address a few differences between live and studio performances: A recording can be played again and again and will be critiqued that way. More senses are activated in a live situation distracting one from just concentrating on the vocal performance. So when the voice is isolated and played back without lights, dancing, and all that bar smell, it’s the real deal. There you are in all your unadorned glory. “Ouch!”

But, what a great place to start building a performance! No distractions. And in an environment you control.

Without going into a technical discussion of mics, eq’s, and compressors, (let’s leave that to the engineer), get comfortable. Make sure you can hear yourself through the headphones well enough to sing on pitch. Keep effects off the vocal. Sing standing up. Have a lyric sheet on a stand in front of you so your not turning away from the mic in order to see the page.

Now what’s most important in the vocal performance production is to move from the general to the specific. You’ve got to start with a complete performance of the song. Put down a track from the top and sing all the way down. You may have missed words, bad phrasing, and bad notes, but it’s a starting point. There is always something positive to hear or learn from on a first take. Take it all the way down again. Now you’ve already got separate vocal takes to compare. These takes also educate the producer on just what you may be thinking.

Ask yourself, “How are the overall performances? Am I believing it?” If it’s undeniable, let it go. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. But if there is just something missing, if there are some phrasing issues, here are a few steps that may help you diagnose the performance.

Some artists possess a truly amazing instrument with their voice. Other artists are just that: artists. Every artist is truly unique. Don’t think you have to try to be unique. It’s impossible, really, to sound just like someone else (unless purposefully). A big challenge I usually face with an artist is trying to teach them not to imitate themselves. They think they have to sing a certain way to sound differently than the next singer. But, this inevitably comes across as a lazy presentation and certainly not meaningful. And it will come across as just not real. Every singer should concentrate on the fundamentals of breathing, annunciation, and phrasing. Desired Rhythm and melody will both have a fighting chance when the fundamentals are executed properly. Critiquing the vocal performances by any level of singer can be addressed here.

Map out the performance with the help of the lyric sheet. Read through it to make corrections. Take out unnecessary words. Now talk through it as you read through the sections. I like to define breaths. Breathe in places you would when speaking the lyric, and then mark them. These breaths should be constant every time. You should feel yourself taking a breath. Don’t close your throat when trying to affect a lyric. Air is stopped and so is the support. So what comes out almost is never acceptable.

Small words are just as important as the big words. Words like “a”,“the”, “and”, “for” sometimes get run over. Proper annunciation really helps define the melody and the rhythm of a phrase. Know what specific melodic note that each of these words falls on and make sure you sing it. This is very important. Also, make sure you know and are happy with the rhythmic placement. Check the annunciations of words that have three or more syllables. Make sure you can understand what you are singing.

Phrasing determines how lyrics are connected and emphasized. Put weight on the stronger words of a phrase. For example, “love” is a more important word than “in”. If your breathing where you have indicated, then your phrasing should be correct. If not, check again if you are breathing in the right spot. Reposition a breath and remark the lyric if necessary.

You’ve now created a general map of the performance.

The melody now has a general place to lie: basically, a theme. Start checking the melody. If all is good, it’s time to try some variations. Experiment a little by changing a note or two. If it fails to catch your ear you can always retreat to the first approved melody. The same approach can be used with the rhythm of a phrase. Rhythm adjustment can help adjust emphasis of words and help the meaning of what is sung.

Get back on the mic and start addressing specific ideas. If there is more than one verse, start there. You can concentrate on your verse theme from one to the next. Try to stay consistent with the melody and rhythms. Get as close as you can even though there are different lyrics. For example, compare the second line of the 1st verse to the second line of the next verse. Make sure it's close. This can help perpetuate a theme before you try to introduce a variant melody into a separate verse. Chorus treatment normally is not as volatile. There is not much movement from one to the next. But the last word or words of the choruses probably change melody as each may lead into a different section. Make sure this is noted.

Now apply this knowledge and sing two more complete performances. Take a break and listen and compare the very first takes with the new ones. Sometimes I find the first takes have a lot of spontaneity and realness. The latter takes may be performed better but sound a little mechanical. So it’s back to your ear to figure out the best of both worlds. I like to find a track that I love the overall performance and “back-in” to it. Performance is key, and combining or “comping” perfect phrases from each take, usually creates a boring performance. It’s the imperfections that create interest and give the performance character. However, after a specific take has been declared the one to proceed with, you can find a replacement word or phrase on other takes. You will know it when you hear it, as it should sit comfortably in the final track performance.

If a vocal has to be “tuned” or mechanically fixed because it wasn’t sung correctly, go back and sing it correctly. In the physics of sound, leading tones are a little sharp and blues and minor notes can and should be a little under the pitch. So, naturally, a tuner just left in the “on” position will remove all the life out of these parts of the melody. A tuner is a great tool when resinging is not an option. A vocal tuner really needs to be understood and used correctly. So that is for another conversation. For now, just sing it knowing there is no fix later.

As one grows in performance, vocal coaching will address support, projection, placement etc. But now you can take immediate advantage of this little priority list of general to specific to really help finish a vocal. Apply this knowledge to give you today’s best performance. When visited years from now, it should “hold up to” and even compliment your more advanced performances.