"Well, What Does a Producer Do Anyway?"

I have written a few words about the important role a producer plays in the recording process. My friends in the Sellaband community have made some interesting comments and have asked questions which caused me to take a step back and approach the subject from another angle.

In a perfect world, we would all abide by the sage words of Rodney King and "Just get along." Musicians would make music, engineers would see to it that the music was recorded to broadcast specifications and producers would steer the ship in the most efficient direction. Ego-less collaboration would be the order of the day, flowers would be in full bloom, the lion would lay down with the lamb and every day would begin with a happy ending.

NEWS FLASH! This just in...it's not a perfect world. Collaboration implies cooperation. Making records, as in any endeavor where success hinges on sacrificing the needs, goals or opinions of the individual in favor of the welfare of all, can often become a competition of urinary ballistics or an exercise in comparative male protrusion measurement.

Engineers often see themselves as producers or are themselves frustrated musicians. And musicians are forever grabbing knobs and faders to show that they also know a thing or two about engineering. After the smoke clears, the producer will have a word with the musician, telling him to ignore the engineer's tips on how to play the guitar, tell the engineer to put the knobs and faders back to where they were before the drummer played with them, and try to get a good take so the day hasn't completely been a waste of time.

My friend Pieps, a very talented guitarist and songwriter from The Netherlands checked into the Sellaband forum and asked, "...But what if it all goes wrong...and an artist with a huge potential works with a bad taste producer?" Well, producers can be thought of as soccer referees. They never have a home game and the operative word, "taste", is in the tongue of the beholder. Is a recording bad because we don't like it? Or is it bad because it doesn't make money?

Pieps' question opens a far reaching discussion concerning the cyclical cause and effect inherent in commercial music. The music must sell in order to justify the production costs which support the artists who make the music which must sell in order to justify the production costs which support the artists...etc. But what if we turn this question around? What happens when a producer is assigned an artist with worlds of potential but lacking in the skills associated with professional recording and/or the desire to acquire those skills?

The title of this entry is a direct quote from a young songwriter who was also the guitarist and bandleader of an act we attempted to produce at Shangri La. I'll call him Dip-shit although that isn't his real name. His band mates were John the drummer and an eye-candy bassist and co-writer called Dingbat. The band, Shit-for-Brains (also a pseudonym), had great potential. Their songs were catchy, they had a good look and there was commercial potential in their sound. We assembled a production team consisting of Dennis St. John, Neil Diamond's former musical director and producer, engineer Ron Hitchcock, and me. I was to assist Ron in engineering, help the band dial in great sounds using Shangri La's collection of vintage amps and instruments, oversee the vocal sessions, and help Dennis with any musical issues.

Dennis had been working with Shit-for-brains for two months polishing their songs. He helped them with song forms, had them re-write some weak lyrics and rehearsed the process of basic track recording. All of us, including the studio owner who was underwriting the project, believed that a hit record was in the making. After a long day of loading in, setting up the studio and getting sounds, we put a precious roll of tape on the Studer and mounted up.

What followed can only be described by a caravan of words. Funny, curious, innovative, frustrating, exasperating...and six weeks later, as we listened to the final mixes, the very walls of the studio oozed with vitriolic ill will. Shit-for-Brains respected nothing, learned nothing, acted every bit the superstars and left the studio without doing the production team the courtesy of listening to the mixes all the way through.

When we pushed the record button, Dip-shit lead his band through the first song. Without any discussion with us, Shit-for-Brains decided to ignore the weeks of pre-production with Dennis. It was a classic case of passive-aggressive nutless behavior. Dennis went into the room and tried to give Dip-shit a way out by humorously asking if they had forgotten their medication. But it was clear that there was conflict within the band. Dingbat, who's day job was telephone dominatrix ( I swear I'm not making this up!), stared daggers at Dip-shit as he stammered to Dennis that the band felt that the changes made in pre-production didn't reflect "where the band was coming from." As the studio owners representative, I stepped into the discussion to explain that a great deal of money and resources were being extended to Shit-for-Brains with the intent of realizing commercial return on investment. Therefore the production team, respecting the best interests of all parties, had a responsibility to use our best judgement in creating a viable product.

Everyone pretended to kiss and make up...but every change, every suggestion, every effect, every tone...every last detail was a fresh battleground. We would talk to Dip-shit in the control room, he would go into the studio and talk to Dingbat, she would yell at him and hand him one of his balls so he could remember that he had a pair at one time, the band would half-heartedly run through our version, tell us, "See, it doesn't work!" and go back to their original demo versions. It was absolute hell and if it were left to me, I would have stopped the bleeding immediately. The studio owner didn't deal well with confrontation so he went to Italy leaving me with instructions to "just get it done." I think Dingbat the Dominatrix scared the shit out of him and he couldn't wait to get away.

Speaking of Dingbat the Dominatrix, She really set the bar for stupid when we began to cut background vocals. Her bass playing was weak and out of time. She complained that she couldn't hear the kick in the headphones but when she took them off, they were roaring like a boombox. We decided that she was deaf and planned on letting her overdub the bass parts without the drummer later. When it came time to set her up for vocals, I noticed that before putting on her headphones, she put wax earplugs in her ears! I was twisting the knobs on the headphone box with a Makita trying to get her enough gain...and she was wearing WAX EAR PLUGS!!! I started to point out how counterproductive this was and she launched into a self-righteous ignorant rant that this is the way she always worked and why everyone should think about protecting their ears and do the same. I tried to explain the obvious downside of her listening strategy but it was like pissing into a stiff wind. Besides, it was really hard to make words, I was laughing so hard.

You will never hear the music of Shit-for-Brains. I listened to a copy of the mixes and wondered what could have been. Here was a band that we believed in strongly enough to invest six weeks of studio time and three salaried professionals toward recording a product that would benefit everyone. Ultimately it was our error. They just weren't ready. And to answer Dip-shit's question, "What does a producer do, anyway?"...well Dip-shit, you may never find out. But it's lucky for you that euthanasia is not part of the skill set.

A Demo By Any Other Name...

...is still a demo.

There is a lively discussion on the Sellaband forum which asks the question, "Does the quality of the sound recording really matter?" The comments in answer to that question display the wide diversity of experience and expectations present within the Sellaband community. Opinions vary between artists, investors and fans. I take a very firm approach and answer with a resounding and inflexible "Yes...and No...well, maybe...sometimes."

Most of the mp3 recordings posted by Sellaband artists are of demo quality, that is to say, they are recordings meant to demonstrate the writing, performance and/or production potential of artists hoping to raise sufficient capital investment for the production of professionally recorded products. These recordings can vary widely from nearly complete studio versions to song fragments recorded on the humblest of devices. I'm not aware of any aspiring artists on the site posting previously signed material so I can only assume that the music, regardless of recording quality, is posted to demonstrate potential as opposed to finished, marketable product, although there may be exceptions.

I think of a demo as being in one of three distinct categories:

1. The Writing Demo: This can be as simple as a vocal rendition of a song accompanied by one instrument. The object of a writing demo is to sell a song to an artist, producer or publisher.

2. The Artist Demo: The purpose of an artist demo is to demonstrate the performance level of a particular artist. This could be a singer, a solo instrumentalist or an entire band. Artist demos are not limited to recordings of original music as they are frequently used to showcase talent for audition purposes.

3. The Production Demo: When a band or artist has written or secured material, a production demo can be recorded in order to demonstrate and conceptualize elements of style, instrumentation, character etc. An artist or producer will frequently make a production demo to focus attention on production concepts, explore different effects or to edit arrangements before spending precious or unavailable funds in a professional setting.

When an artist is also a songwriter and is struggling to hone his concept into something worthy of recording, he is frequently self-cast in the role of producer. The advent of relatively affordable recording technology has seduced many aspiring artist/writer/performers into believing that they can produce viable products. In some cases I'm sure that this can be the case. The fact that more and more of the listening audience hears music via mp3 and computer speakers further obfuscates the value of professional production techniques.

But again, allowing for the occasional home recording genius, thinking of even the best demo recording as a finished product can be a mistake. If you put two measures of ground coffee in your mouth, pour in boiling water and milk, and then put your face in front of a steam iron, you haven't made cappuccino. All the elements are present, yes. And you've done a great job of gathering the ingredients and simulating the process. But what you've created is a convincing demo of a potential cappuccino. Before you go into mass production, you will need a pro and you will need pro-level tools.

The last project I took part in at Shangri La was the album "Suitcase" by Keb' Mo'. Keb' has many years of recording experience and two Grammys under his belt and I was thrilled to assist producer John Porter and engineer Rik Pekkonen for the project. During the process of recording, I was in awe of what I heard coming out of the studio monitors. To me, it was all gold. But time and time again, after what seemed like a brilliant take, John would go out into the room and have a word with the musicians or go into the vocal booth with Keb'. It seemed like he was just taking a short break or resting his ears or maybe just sharing a joke. But every time he came back into the control room and had Rik push the "record" button, the next take would be magic. And the difference between Keb's original demos and the grammy nominated album demonstrates to me the inestimable value of the collaboration between artist and producer.

I have written reviews of various Sellaband artists and in every case what is most compelling about these artists is potential. When I listen to The Francis Rodino Band, I bow in respect to his songwriting and the performance abilities of the band. But I also know that what I'm hearing is the tip of the iceberg. The same goes for The Vegas Dragons, Kontrust, Lone Pine, Wetwerks and so many more. Mandana, the voice of Solidetube, and Lucia Iman have the potential of making beautiful recordings. And then there is ConFused5, a band that has resurrected itself after a 20 year hiatus and still retains the exuberance of a band of 20-year-old guitar rods. All of these artists and many more on the Sellaband web site have demonstrated massive potential by way of their demo recordings. But only the open-minded collaboration of a professional producer and all that comes with that will result in a great cup of coffee.

Because a demo by any other name...well, you know the rest.

Sonata Allegro Form and the Gentle Art of Persuasion

Sonata Allegro Form is a compositional formula which began to take shape in the early classical period and reached maturity in the works of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A detailed description of the concept can be found here. In discussing how this compositional vehicle relates to the art of persuasion, I will address three elements of the form.

1. Exposition
2. Development
3. recapitulation

These three elements of Sonata Allegro form are at the heart of most logically composed pieces. A composer will make a musical statement. He will follow by expounding on the statement and developing the material by use of various methods. He may restate the material in the relative minor of the original key, or invert the intervalic relationships of the statement. He may cast the statement in a different rhythmic setting or pass the statement like a relay baton between various instruments. And when the original statement has been developed to the composers satisfaction, he will pick up the loose ends in a logical manner and restate the original material.

After the piece has come to a conclusion, the listener has been given information, had the information explained, during which time the listener may have asked himself some questions regarding the material, and finally, the listener is given a conclusion which attempts to answer whatever questions may have arisen during the development.

This form can be as complicated and convoluted as the composer chooses to make it but this is the Sonata Allegro Form in a nutshell. Make a statement, expound upon the statement, and restate the original idea. I think of this formula as being the primary building block of every musical phrase. When the formula of Exposition, Development and Recapitulation is brought to bear in popular music, every element of a song can be crafted not only to express more precisely the message of the writer, but also to make the song more accessible and pleasing to the listener.

Popular music is by definition commercial music, music to be bought and sold for the enjoyment of the listening audience and for the financial gain of the writer and performer. A pop song is really an advertisement for itself. The more persuasively a song is presented in the media, the more likely it is that the public will embrace the song and the more commercial success the writer of the song will enjoy.

The form can exist in miniature in even the shortest musical solo. A great soloist will make a musical statement, show off a bit as he develops his idea, and then wrap it up. A song lyric will follow a formula in order to convey everyday ideas in a more poetic setting. Even a simple joke can be analyzed in terms of Sonata Allegro form...

Statement: A dog with his arm in a sling walks into a bar.
Development: The bartender says "get outta here, we don't serve drinks to dogs."
Recapitulation and conclusion: I don't want a drink...I'm just gunnin' for the hombre that shot my paw!"
And now we know why the dog went into the bar and why his arm was in a sling.

Humans seem to seek form in all things, Form pleases us, it makes us feel safe. We buy cars, shoes, furniture, appliances and most things based on form. You may think that studying over the specifications of a dishwasher will give you the upper hand in deciding which manufacturer best fills your needs, but at the end of the day you'll put your money on the one that looks the best in your house. Developing the shapes and sizes of products in their most persuasive forms is a much larger component of research and development than any consideration for technical advancement. We buy packaging, not products. And we do so because the form of the package is appealing and persuasive.

Persuasion is not a bad thing in and of itself. We try to persuade children to be good and not to hurt themselves. We try to persuade our friends to use certain products or think in a certain way because we care about their health and welfare. We tell others about the merits of this movie or that recording artist because we believe that these things will make their lives better. But sometimes our efforts to improve the lives of our loved ones are met by "Mind your own business, will ya?" And even though we care deeply about the welfare of our friends and neighbors, one such rejoinder can cause us to give up.

Enter the Sonata Allegro Form as a tool of persuasion. Let me illustrate by using as an example something which I feel strongly about, the exploitation of recording artists by the music industry in general and major record labels in particular. Picture this scenario...I'm listening to new music with some friends and the conversation turns to the hot new act on the billboard charts.

Friend: "Hey Pete, have you heard the new album by the Lizard Wieners?"
Me: "Yeah they really rock!"
Friend: "yeah, I read in Billboard that they signed a multi-album deal and got 500 thousand advance money. They really made it big man."
Me: "Oh really? And how much of that do they get to keep? Did you know that now they are really in debt to the label for 500 thousand and that they'll be lucky to see any royalties in their lifetimes? There's a lot better way to go for new bands you know."
Friend: "What do you mean?"

Here comes the exposition...

Me: "There is this new internet thing called Sellaband that treats artists much more fairly than the major labels. Being a musician, I really care about this a lot. I've looked into it and not only do the artists get a fair deal, but its a great site for music fans to find cool new music and even get involved with the artists themselves."
Friend: Yeah right. I've heard about those sites, they're probably all bullshit. The Lizard Wieners got a pile of new shit man, and the label paid for everything. Your full of shit."

And now, the development...

Here I would log on to my Sellaband page, show off some of my favorite artists, or read over some choice comments on my page from bands that are every bit as good as the Lizard Wieners thereby showing how any fan has access to any artist on the site. And I would further expound on my original statement by illustrating how the Sellaband business model works to the benefit of artists, fans and label unencumbered by the greed that drives the conventional music industry. My friend may have some questions which would give me an opportunity to further develop my original statement. And my motive of persuasion would always be clear, this is a better way to go for everyone involved because it offers more freedom to the artist as well as the music fan. I would develop the original statement until any and all questions my friend might have are addressed.

And finally, the recapitulation...

Me: "Now you know what a skeptical prick I am, especially when it comes to getting screwed by labels. Hell, I've starred in that movie more times than I want to admit. And I don't intend on that happening again. So I've researched this Sellaband thing to death and you can do what you like, but I'm running with it. And so are some of my music bros...and you know they aren't into bullshit."

The Sonata Allegro Form came about as a vehicle for composers to organize their musical ideas in a persuasive form that appealed to more listeners thereby making their compositions accessible and successful. There is form in everything we do, we thrive on form. And the principles of form can be a powerful tool when used in the gentle art of persuasion.

Memories of a Studio Virgin

There is still a stack of moving boxes that have remained untouched since my untimely escape from Shangri La. It has been over a year now, so I decided to start at the top and work my way through the hastily packed memories representing my years in Malibu. Years ago, when my grandfather died, I was sent a few boxes of his things, photo albums, trinkets, his military medals...I had the same feelings now as I unpacked my own things, as if they belonged to someone else...someone who had lived a different life.

In the very first box I found a videotape I had forgotten existed. In the last two months at the studio, I had a camera set up in the control room to record whatever may prove interesting. What a find. There was Jonathan Moffett cutting drum tracks for a Gary Miller production. There was footage of the great Greg Leisz demonstrating what was one of the first Rickenbacker electric guitars, nic-named the "frying pan." There was Keb' Mo' cutting vocals for the "Suitcase" album. And most of all, there were people living, laughing and loving every moment.

Watching the footage cut short my efforts at organizing the contents of the boxes, but I couldn't stop watching. Here was a studio that pulsated with music, life and laughter. I wonder if the final product ever conveys this ingredient to the listener of an album. Ultimately, a final mix is more than just notes, effects and soundwaves. That which reaches the ears of the listener is a combination of every emotion, every joke, every cup of coffee, every prank, every callous and every heartbeat of every soul involved with the making of the record.

As the tape unwound, my thoughts drifted back over the many studios, musicians and engineers that led up to the moments captured on that short video cassette. I tried to remember my first real studio gig. I had recorded in many makeshift multitrack home studios. There was the eight track living room of Steve Gillette. And I had done some commercials in another eight track room/garage in North Hollywood that I would later find out was built by my Shangri La partner in crime, Jim Nipar. And almost everyone had a four track. But what was the first real studio? Hmmm...

It was about 1980 I think. I played bass and was musical director for a revue type of show at the old Sahara in Lake Tahoe. We had been on the marquee for almost six months and I decided that I wanted to come back to Los Angeles. I secured a gig with a lounge singer who was quite successful and would play the occasional Nevada dates, but I would be able to spend most of my time playing in L.A. When I gave the show my notice, the producers decided it would be a good time for them to change over to recorded music. They asked me if I would be able to produce tracks which they could use for the show from that time forward. I told them that I would be happy to, providing that I could hire the musicians currently playing the show at premium rates to compensate for the fact that they would soon be without work.

Did I want to produce the recordings? Hell yes! Did I have the slightest idea of how to produce twenty-two separate cues and numbers? Yeah, sure! I was at least as well prepared as Balaam's ass! But they were giving me a studio, musicians and money...what could go wrong? Luckily, not much did and the job turned out to be acceptable. But little did I know how deeply smitten I would become with the world that exists in the holy of holies, the recording studio.

At this time, I knew nothing, zero, nada about microphones, mixing desks, monitors and headphone mixes. To me, outboard gear sounded like boating equipment. These were all assets which I chose to hide from the staff of the studio which was a typical mix of gear geeks, roadies and solder junkies. I kept my ears open and my mouth relatively shut...didn't want to show off...my ignorance. I had a strong musical background and was confident in my abilities in that regard so I told (lied to) the engineer that I was really under the gun to get the best I could get out of the musicians in a short time and that I would leave the technical considerations up to him. Whenever he asked me questions like "Which reverb would you prefer?" I would scratch my chin, look into the air and act like I was mulling it over. Then I'd ask him what he thought, scratch and mull a bit more and agree with his choice.

But where I got the lethal dose, the point at which I knew that I wanted nothing more than to live and breathe in this environment forevermore was when I sat and listened to the first playback. It was the first day of school, the first beer, the first hit of good weed, the first handful of warm breast and the first rush of acid all rolled up in one illuminating moment. It was the high that happens once and only once...but nevermore goes unpursued. I know that I've been in better studios, listened to better monitors, mixed on better desks with better outboard gear...but I have never heard anything that had a greater impact than the first time I pushed "play" in that little sixteen track room in Reno, Nevada.

Watching the tape of our shenanigans at Shangri La brought it all back. The holy "Why" of it all. Anyone who has spent time in recording studios has stories to tell. Stories of legendary all-nighters or marathon three day sessions. Most are amusing and many are true. But can you imagine an insurance adjuster or accountant loving his job so much that he stays at it days on end? I've seen musicians and engineers miss meals, miss weddings, funerals and graduations. I've seen people dodge phone calls or hide under the console to avoid having to leave the studio. And all for the ostensible reason of getting the perfect EQ curve, or the right reverb or a more precise edit. Once inside, they just don't want to leave. Why? Why ask. I don't know why, but every time I listen to a recording I get a glimpse of the sweat, work and sheer joy that went into it. Everybody should be so lucky.

And now... it's back to the boxes. Maybe I'll find another tape.

Sellaband...Year one

I have a twisted respect for annoying people...well, let me clarify that. I have a great deal of respect for people who are driven by perseverance. Whenever the Mormon missionaries show up at my doorstep with their clean haircuts, white shirts and ties, I invite them to lean their bikes against the fence and I listen to what they have to say. It takes courage to talk to strangers about your deepest beliefs, especially if you're a teenager fresh out of high school, and the stranger is in his underwear and offering beer and cigarettes on a Saturday morning.

I'm usually willing to give anyone a few moments of my time as long as they are sincere. I've sent many of these missionaries away with their heads shaking and questioning their own beliefs...but only because my sincerity rivals their own. There was only one occasion that I had had enough. There were two Jehovah's Witness ladies that just wouldn't see things my way...but they kept coming back. I had to respect that, but I had my fill. The next time they came to my front door, I greeted them in my socks...and nothing else. It seems that I had found the limit of their perseverance. After gathering their jawbones up from their shoes, they fled, never to darken my doorstep again.

Sellaband is celebrating its first year. The web-based alternative to conventional record labels now boasts over 4500 artists and just over one million dollars invested. Both reasons to celebrate...but now that the honeymoon is fading, it is time for the Sellaband community to take stock in what has been accomplished and to assess ways in which these initial milestones can be parlayed into real and substantial success for the artists, the investors, or "believers", and the label itself.

Everyone has experienced the first month or so of a new relationship. It's fresh and exciting, full of energy and discovery. But as the relationship develops, cute personal habits can become annoying, and one finds that they can no longer ignore the bad breath, farting, nose-picking and scab peeling that was once so very charming. Long term relationships require hard work. Communication and perseverance become more instrumental than the pre-coffee tumble in making the relationship a successful one for both parties.

It is difficult to sustain energy in almost any endeavor that requires a long timeframe. This is the area that will make or break the Sellaband community efforts. When a new artist posts music on the web site, the community of believers are quick to support the artist's efforts. The first rush of investment can be intoxicating. But raising $50,000.00 takes time by any standards and even the artists with 20 or 30 thousand under their belt will find that raising the last $10,000 will likely be more difficult than the first.

The answer lies in perseverance, not only on the part of the artists, but also the investors. It is critical for everyone in the Sellaband community that the system succeeds. But the nature of the "crowd-funding" business model requires something which many people find difficult. When I visit the pages of my favorite artists, I see many of the same believers. Many have become E-friends and I enjoy discussing musical ideas and exchanging holiday greetings with them. But for the system to succeed, everyone in the community must now take on the role of the missionary. We have to put on our white shirts and ties, hop on our bikes, and go talk to strangers.

I think that it would be fairly accurate to say that Sellaband shareholders fall into one of three distinct groups. There are the friends, fans and family who provide the first rush of investment. Out of this group there is a growing element of what I call travelers. Once they establish their favorite artist, they roam the profile pages and invest according to the opinions shared by friends and fellow believers. And then there are the hardcore investors who look at this system as a way to be involved in a business hitherto unapproachable.

From the ranks of these three groups, there must evolve a second generation of investment from those who are either sitting on the fence or perhaps have yet to hear of Sellaband. In order for the crowd funding model to sustain itself, those already involved must take advantage of the viral effect of personal communication. The most effective tool available to the current investors is sincerity. If investors wish to see their investments come to fruition, they must make Sellaband a topic for conversation. True belief is sustained with sincerity and perseverance...and true believers have a passion for evangelism.

I want Sellaband to succeed. The importance of a forum for new ideas and independent music unencumbered by the greed which characterizes the conventional record label's motives cannot be underestimated. Now that Sellaband has had a year to teethe and take its first steps, it is time to spit out the pacifier and begin the maturation that will define success. No true believer should be shy about sharing the gospel...at least not unless someone answers the door dressed only in socks.

The Nature of Sensory Nostalgia...Sellaband's Radio Orange

Of the five senses, the sense of smell is reported to be the strongest stimulus in recalling past events. The smell of buttered popcorn, lead-based paint or pencil erasers can summon amazingly vivid memories. But what I call "sensory nostalgia" can also be triggered by what we hear. A creaking floorboard, the whistling purr of an old Volkswagon, a basketball bouncing on the hardwood floor of an empty gym...there are so many ways that sound can stop us in our tracks to ponder the episodes of our lives in vivid hindsight.

The music of each generation makes a sonic imprint that ages like fine wine and furniture. There are favorite artists and songs, of course. But I'm interested in the sounds that burrowed their way into our psyche clinging to these favorite songs like stowaway banana spiders on a cargo ship. These are the magical sounds that imbue certain songs with shamanistic qualities of recall.

The crystalline tremolo "Ding ing ing ing ing ing ing ing...Ding ing ing ing ing ing ing ing introducing Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" is such a sound. The gurgling Ieslie guitar intro of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" is another. And the phased guitar intro of Dobie Gray's classic "Drift Away" yet another. In most cases these sounds came about through the use of the latest technology of the times. Sound production has made incredible advances in the ensuing years. And yet recording artists are ever in search of the mystic combination of sounds that trip our nostalgia buttons.

Sellaband's Radio Orange is a band from The Netherlands that twitches my nostalgia nerve with every cut. The opening mood of "So Sad" immediately brought me back to the first time that I heard the Classics IV hit "Spooky." It wasn't the notes or the chords...it was the mood. And mood is one of those ethereal qualities that can't be written into a score. Establishing a mood in this way requires seasoning and experience. In surrounding their lyrics with great sounds, Radio Orange hypnotizes the listener to pay attention to the lyric.

Radio Orange has handcrafted their songs very wisely. It's the sound that pulls you in and the lyric that holds your attention. But the soundscape evolves as the song progresses and the listener is rewarded with bits of this and glimpses of that and before the song comes to a close, one is left with the feeling of having been on a journey well-spent.

And Radio Orange has much more to offer than great sounds and interesting lyrics. The songs seem very simple on first listen but the harmonic vocabulary of Radio Orange is very sophisticated. Harmonic tension and resolution, combined with excellent choices in instrumentation make these songs seem much shorter than they are. The song "Breathe" displays a very sensitive awareness of how powerfully the Major/minor harmonic relationships can be used to frame a lyric in a very specific way.

Radio Orange is not a band of children. Their music and production values are the work of experience and maturity. The Sellaband method of "crowd-funding" has come along at the right time for this band. The three songs available on their profile page are interesting and well executed. It's now up to the public to decide when this very talented group of musicians will have the opportunity to share a full album with the world.

Sound is a potent factor in triggering sensory nostalgia. Through the years I have put away the toys of my youth and now sound is my only vice...my drug of choice. And Radio Orange makes for a pleasant trip indeed.

A Not-So Secret Weapon...The Shure SM7

During the years that I was associated with Shangri La Studio, the studio owner very wisely invested in vintage microphones. Working with engineers like Jim Nipar, Chuck Ainlay, Ethan Johns, John Porter and John Hanlon, among others, was my education in the subtle nuances intrinsic to the various makes and models of vintage microphones available at the studio.

Every engineer has preferences as to how best to mic a guitar amp, which is the best vocal mic or which array will best capture the colors of a drum set. The single factor common to every great engineer, however, comes down to one word...EARS. Every engineer seemed to have a formula for quickly getting a sound up on the mixing desk. And although every engineer has a "secret weapon" or signature approach to mic strategy, engineers are always ready to try new approaches and different gear in their quest for the ultimate acoustic guitar tone or magic snare drum.

I remember setting up drum mics for a noted engineer and while we plugged in a pair of Sony C37a mics as overheads, I mentioned that "So and so" had just done a session and had preferred a pair of C-12s. After hearing about how "So and so" didn't know shit about how to mic up a drumset, we put up a pair of C12s and made comparisons. Engineers can be stubborn, defensive and secretive of their methods, But they are also open-minded enough to listen and appropriate more effective methods.

One of my favorite engineer/producers has a much more open approach. Sammy (not his real name) has been making great records for over thirty years, and he reminds me of the magician you may have read about in a previous blog. Sammy had no secrets. He would tell you every trick in the book, how it worked, and how really simple it all was. And Sammy hipped me to a piece of kit that should be in every recording environment, from major studio right down to the most humble home writing rig...the venerable and extremely affordable Shure SM7 microphone.

Sammy came to Shangri La to produce a record that would ultimately be nominated for a Grammy so I was eager to learn from him. When I asked him about mic preferences he answered that the fine collection at the studio would suit his needs adequately and that he would be bringing his Shure SM7 "just in case." We had C12s, M49s,M50s, U47s, U67s, 251s...anything an engineer could want, anything but a Shure SM7.

In talking to Sammy in the off moments, I would ask an occasional question...like "What would you use on an acoustic guitar?" or "What do you like for a vocal mic?" and in almost every case, he would answer with two or three options but would always end with "But an SM7 would work just fine." During the course of the sessions I set up the SM7 on guitar amps, bass amps, Leslie rotating speakers, drums, acoustic guitars, pianos and to my surprise, the SM7 had the inside track when it came to recording the lead vocals.

I've recently set up a small writing/recording environment in my home. I record on an iMac using Cubase4 and the mic locker at Shangri La is a distant memory. When deciding on which microphone would best suit my needs, I researched all the usual suspects from the new affordable condensers to the USB models that would eliminate the need for expensive mic preamps. By chance, I had Sammy on the phone one day and asked his advice. "What's wrong with you...get an SM7 and leave me alone!" were his words of encouragement.

This microphone is the best $250.00 I have spent on gear...ever. There are just no issues with it. I can't remember cutting a track that didn't work. It does exactly what it is meant to do and does it without offering an opinion or whining. The perfect partner in crime. I have used it through a really good mic-pre and have also plugged it directly into a Pre-sonus firewire interface with equally impressive results. And without getting into the technical minutia, I can say that the most important question..."How does it sound?" has been answered in a positive way every time.

It seems that everyone has a studio at home now. The industry catalogues are rammed full of the latest in technical breakthroughs that will allow the home-recordist an opportunity to realize the creation of a masterpiece. You can buy lots of shiny crap for $250.00, or you can invest in the real thing.

As so many producers and engineers have said, a recording can only be as good as what goes into the mic. So go practice, get really good...and put it through an SM7.

Wine Tasting with Sellaband's Lone Pine

It takes 87 steps to get from my front door to the entrance of California Wine And Cheese. The "Wine tasting joint" as I call it is the campus where my nose and palate are currently taking classes in how to tell the difference between my ass and a hole in the ground. Until my matriculation and initiation, I had always tasted wine "by ear" but I am slowly learning to appreciate the hints of berries, chocolate and leather in the nose of certain bottles. I've even learned to spell "tannins" and think I know how they taste.

Fortunately, I don't use my nose and palate when I listen to music. I may have a tin ear when it comes to fine wine, but the finer nuances of well-crafted vintage rock music are very familiar to my senses. Tonight I logged on to the Sellaband web site and pulled the cork on a bottle of fine vintage wine bearing the label "Lone Pine" and handcrafted in Cardiff, Wales.

The music of these Sellaband newcomers is simple and easy to digest on first listen. But as I swirl the glass and let the fumes rise into my nostrils, a well seasoned complexity becomes evident. The song "Money and Faith" is a prime example of how simple ingredients can be combined to render unexpected results.

From the first note, the unmistakable glassy crunch of a Fender Telecaster sets the table. A compelling rhythm track is like the shiny watch waved by a hypnotist. Lone Pine takes a no nonsense approach in using their instruments to draw the listener into the meaning of their lyrics. This is a stroke of brilliant simplicity that eludes so many young artists.

The sonic palate of Lone Pine shows maturity and great attention to detail. These boys have done their homework. The pedigree of electric guitar is presented with a transparency that makes me want to hear more. There is a sonic thread beginning with Hank Marvin and passing through the hands of Buddy Holly, Roy Buchanan, Robbie Robertson, Mark Knopfler, Keith Richards and Chrissy Hind which Lone Pine has grabbed with both hands and woven into a soundscape that offers the listener no alternative but to pay attention.

As with the guitars, the bass and drums are nostalgic in timbre yet fresh in spirit. Lone Pine has tapped into the past to produce refreshing instrumental tracks that allow the song to be the star of the show. There are hints of early John Cougar, and The Pretenders in the jagged edges of the tracks, while some of the more sensitively played sections touch on the brilliant ensemble playing of The Band.

A few years ago, while managing Shangri La Studio (incidentally, the last home of The Band) I had the pleasure of acting as second engineer for John Hanlon as he produced the "Songs" album for Belgian rocker Admiral Freebie. John has a long time association with Neil Young and it was no surprise that, as he and the Admiral joined forces in that historic studio, both Neil Young and The Band made their presence felt. I don't know how Lone Pine tapped into this energy field, but the vocal sound, and delivery calls to mind Admiral Freebie's reckless abandon, combined with the innocence of early Neil Young and the depth of Levon Helm at the top of his game.

These are the images that Lone Pine evokes. But this is a young band and these comparisons represent potential, not accomplishment...yet. Consistent songwriting and relentless development will decide if Lone Pine will enjoy lasting success. From what they offer on their Sellaband profile, they are well on their way. Their music is a versatile brew. You can down it by the bottle...or you can swirl the glass, appreciate the nose, and then sip it slowly to enjoy every nuance.

On the Separation of Church and State

My subtitle for the coming rant is "Separation of Art and Mass Media." I am a true believer in a higher power...The Arts. My particular sect worships at the altar of the concert stage and in the tabernacle of the recording studio. The Arts... Music, Dance, Painting, Sculpture etal are the only true religion in that they lift man's condition to heights not perceptible in the empty promises of the baser religions. Indeed, the so called "world religions" are nothing more than patrons of the arts...true religion's best customer as it were. To compare the base world religions to my true religion would be, to paraphrase Mark Twain, comparing a "lightning bug to the real article."

Something very disturbing occurred on American television this past week and every true artist should be alternately shaking in their boots and seething with indignation. Fox Network's "So You Think You Can Dance" brings the art of dance to a broad summer audience. This last Wednesday, Judge Mia Michaels appeared on the show wearing what appeared to be the dress uniform jacket of the United States Marine Corps. In addition to Ms Michaels' fashion statement, the show featured a dance combination in celebration of peace, love and brotherhood created by choreographer Wade Robson. That these two unrelated events would precipitate the ensuing shit rain of politically correct balderdash exceeds all understanding.

On the following night, Mia Michaels made a statement on the show insuring the audience that she had not intended to offend anyone by wearing a military style jacket. WHAT?!! Who was offended and how much power must they have to cause Fox the expense of wasting precious airtime on this absurdity? By the humble delivery of the statement, one would think that Ms Michaels had had the words "Fuck America" tattooed on her forehead! We can assume that either the network received sufficient negative emails from every trailer park with wifi and folded under the pressure, or that the internal propagandists themselves were offended at the nerve of a choreographer wearing what she deemed a smart looking jacket without first clearing her wardrobe with the Oberleutnant of political fashion propaganda.

In the next moments, Nigel Lithgow was made to kiss the ring by way of his explanation of Wade Robson's intent, and apology for any offense taken by viewers, ostensibly watching huddled in fear from the same trailer courts. OUT-FUCKING-RAGIOUS! The inquisition is alive and well at the Fox network. There was not a shred of fairness afforded the supposed offenders of the dogma. They were declared guilty and made to confess in order to keep their place in the heaven of national television.

These are artists. Sensitive, thinking people who use their talent to communicate ideas to each individual according to their own powers of taste and perception. They owed neither apologies nor explanations. To think that wearing a military costume on the one hand, and portraying peace as being better than war on the other somehow offends our troops or gives aid and comfort to the enemy is horsecrap of most refined quality.

Contrary to the belief of these conservative jackals," love of country", "love of god" and "mindless regimentation" are not mutually interchangable terms. But just as the arts were co-opted by the church for the purpose of self-aggrandizement throughout history, these soul-less judges of what we are to believe have co-opted the arts today for the glory of their religion...the bottom line. And woe to the artist who dare foul the temple by expressing individuality or compassion.

In 1987 I appeared on the popular nationally syndicated dance show "Solid Gold." It was the Reagan Years. The original fashion theme of the artist with whom I appeared was of a military nature and I decided that a few military accessories might add a nostalgic touch to my wardrobe. I wore the insignia of U.S. Army Intelligence (excuse the unavoidable oxymoron) on one lapel and the insignia of the Soviet space program on the other. On one shoulder was a CIA emblem, on the other the designation for the First Air Cavalry. My Jacket was further decorated with patches of military organizations from numerous countries. And on my back I wore the Grateful Dead skull and lightening bolt. Was I making a statement? Fuck no. My criteria for each emblem's inclusion to the outfit was simple. Did it look cool.

Judging by the ordeal of Mia Michaels and Wade Robson, and the embarrassing drivel squeezed from the mouth but surely not the soul of Nigel Lithgow, The Fox network's gestapo would have impaled my head on a pole at the parking lot entrance. Somewhere in a storage locker, that jacket still exists. The style is out of date and all of the patches probably look corny by today's standards. But if there is ever a next time...that coat is coming out. And my only apology will be for giving the ass to anyone who is "offended" by it.

What will I do on next wednesday? Will I tune in? You bet! I support my fellow artists in their endeavors to touch their audience. But I will be taking notes of the products that put money into the greasy palms of the Fox fashion police. And whatever they're selling, I'm not buying. Not a big deal, I know. But when I go to services at my church, I'll have a conscience unencumbered with inane adherence to neo-con butt-twaddle.

The True Religion of the Arts may have to rent out rooms from time to time in order to survive...but it should never be for sale.

Healing Your Hearing...WHAT?

One of the first questions I ask a voice student is, "What is the first thing you do in order to sing a note?" The answers range from, "Breathe from my diaphragm" to "Stand up straight" and open my mouth." But I think that I've heard the right answer only once. The first thing a singer must do is to hear the note. Remember my second rule...you can find it in the sidebar. "It is always simpler than it seems."

This is not exclusive to singers. This first thing you do pertains to any and every musician. Before you make a sound, you have to hear the sound you are about to create. This is a mental tool that is valuable in conceptualizing that which you are attempting to create. But the importance of hearing brings me to my subject.

Have you ever performed or attended a concert and experienced ringing ears afterwards? You leave the venue, get on a plane or go to your room and the ringing is more than annoying. You feel as if it will never stop. So you turn off the TV, shut off the iPod, anything to hear only silence. But the quieter it is, the more pronounced the ringing becomes. It is time to heal your hearing.

First, here is the fast lane explanation of how your ear works. Sound waves enter the ear canal, striking the ear drum, setting into vibration the attached stirrup which passes the vibrations along to a bone-like structure called the anvil after which the vibrations are processed by thousands of little hairs, each attached to a nerve which tells the brain what to think of it all. When the sound pressure is too high, those little hairs call it quits and your brain gets less information. So what do you do? You turn it up, of course. Causing more of the little hairs to take a powder, so you...turn it up!

Now, those little hairs are frequency specific and if the sound pressure level stays elevated long enough, they will lay down and stay down...forever. That's why drummers often lose hearing in the high frequency range. Good god, hitting a snare drum all night long is worse than passing out targets at the firing range.

Alright, that's the problem, now what is the cure? Don't ask me, I'm no doctor. I guess that the ultimate solution would be to stop making all that racket and stop going places where they are making a racket. But you gotta work. You know how to rock and roll. Here is something that might help you to rock and hear.

Let's get a little anthropomorphic here and think of all those little hairs as tsunami survivors. Once the racket stops, they are all clinging to each other in fear of the next wave. After the initial look around for survivors, they start to talk to each other. "Did you hear that shit?" "Yeah man, it was LOUD!" "Boy, it sure is quiet now.' " Yeah, I wonder what's next." Did you hear anything?" "No, you?" "Anybody seen Bob?" "He's down for the count." and so on. Now, these little guys are tiny and they have little tiny voices. But when enough of them start calling out to each other, we hear it as a ringing in the ears.

Having taught in the classroom, I can tell you that the best way to get the attention of a noisy class is to speak quietly. Standing in silence just makes you a target for paper airplanes. But a whisper will always get the attention of a crowd. So here is how I get the little guys in my inner ear to shut up and go back to work.

Put on a pair of good quality headphones. Now play a string quartet or maybe the Bach Unaccompanied Cello Sonatas. And turn the volume down to the point where you have to struggle to hear the music. Very low. Inside your ear, the little hairs' conversation starts to dwindle and finally die down. When the music hits the inner ear, you can imagine them saying to each other, "Did you hear something?" "Shh! What was that?" "I think it's a violin." Shut up man, It sounds nice." "Hey, let go of me, I can stand up on my own." "Will you guys shut up already, I want to hear this."

And soon, the little hairs stop talking and are back up and dancing. When you make them seek out something to do, something to hear, they work very efficiently. The ringing will go away, and you can finally get some much needed rest. Try it. A little classical music never hurt anybody and your ears will be full of happy little hairs for years to come.

Heal your hearing.

Mixing an Effective Demo

Mixing an effective demo recording can be as simple...or as complicated as you want it to be. In the not so long ago days of four track cassette recorders, the limitations of the equipment left fewer options for consideration. The home recordist of today however, has more toys at his command than the well stocked studio of even twenty years ago. But in spite of this, many demos still sound like shit. The reason? No matter how many compressors, equalizers, multiband mastering tools, phasers, flangers and fuck-with-the-sound toys there are in the box, you gotta have ears...and the brains to use them.

I can't tell you how many times I've listened to a home-recorded mix where the young genius pulls up a frequency analyzer and says, "Look at that curve, ain't it just perfect?" The problem is that you can't "look" at a mix, you have to listen to it. and if the song is fighting to get out of the speakers, you have a problem.

I listen to a lot of new demo mixes on the Sellaband web site. There are over 4500 artists currently showing their wares on Sellaband so there is no shortage of listening material. The quality ranges from simple guitar and voice writing demos and Garageband sequences right up to studio quality recordings. I'm going to address this to a typical 4 or 5 piece band with some sort of computer recording rig and the hopes of catching the ear of a big time A&R exec.

First of all, as I've preached before, It is all about the song. No song, no dice. Period. Assuming that there is a song to record, every aspect and every detail of that demo must have a reason for existence. This is where it is so easy to go wrong. No one will be impressed with effects. All the filtering and modulation effects are in those rigs for fun. And if you get caught up in that world to the point that the song depends on a flanging effect, that is what you will be playing for...fun. Keep it simple and let the song dictate what is needed. Effects and imaging are the herbs and spices of a mix, not the main course.

So how do you image a song demo effectively? Using our 5 piece rock band as an example, the first consideration when attempting to draw attention to the song is the vocal. A track can sound fabulous and then, when you drop in the vocal, there just isn't room left in the center of the stereo image. Here are some practical suggestions for making sure the vocal is the focal point of the mix.

1. It will probably make life easier if you record the parts to mono tracks. Yeah, I know, you just got a new stereo what-the-fuck box and when you play bass by yourself it's amazing. Forget it! You're asking for trouble.

2. Kick drum, bass and snare should be panned to the center. And here's a tip, Introduce yourself to the phase button. It's just a button, go ahead. Push it. Sometimes putting the kick or the bass out of phase can give the impression of more low end focus without affecting the overall volume.

3. Rhythm guitars, organs, pianos and most keyboard pads should be panned off center. These instruments can soak up much of the frequencies you will need for the vocal. Use your stage plot as an example. If the organ is on the right, pan it that way. And try to balance the instruments from right to left as they would be on a stage, sort of like picking teams for softball. One big guy for you, one for me. One girl on each team, and so on.

4. EQ adds amplitude(loudness) as well as frequencies(tone). Pulling certain frequencies out can be more effective that piling them on.

5. Watch that you don't put up a killer mix and then bury the detail with delay and reverb. Try the old school mono reverb trick. Pan a rhythm guitar hard right. Now put it through a mono delay or reverb and pan the effect hard left. Then pan the organ hard left and pan its effect hard right. This will give the mix size and will leave room in the center for the vocal and any solos. Remember that reverbs and delays are based on the concept of sound reflecting off of surfaces. Keep that in mind as you image the effects. Reverbs and most delay effects should be like faint halos around the edges of the mix.

And 6. The vocal. It all comes down to this. No matter how rockin' or complex the track is, you must be able to hear every nuance, every breath and every word of the lead vocal. If you listen to the dry vocal in the mix, and this isn't happening, keep the vocal playing as you solo the instruments one by one and find the culprit. If the vocal sits nicely in the center, it's time for a little reverb. If you have the toys, try this. Put up two mono reverb channels. Pre delay one of them by 20 ms and pan it hard right. Pre delay the other by 40 ms and pan it hard left. Now send the Vocal to each reverb. The vocal will be charging up the center channel and have plenty of size as well. The panned reverbs will insure that the details will be heard.

An effectively mixed song demo doesn't have to be extravagant. Your band may play great music, have amazing chops, and you can have cool outfits, But nobody will ever know how cool you are if they can't hear the song. So get that shit out of the way and let em hear the vocal.

Vocal Fatigue...Part 3

First things first. Before jumping into a series of vocal exercises that could easily harm more than help a singer experiencing fatigue, it is important to root out the cause of the problem. Again, keep in mind that every singer is different, with a unique instrument, and with a unique set of demands to be made on that instrument. Applying the generalized principles of "correct" vocal production can result in more problems than solutions.

Rather than write a boring litany of all the possible cause and effect formulae, let me illustrate by creating a hypothetical scenario. Sven the Viking is the lead singer of a metal band specializing in "Nordic Pillage Rock." Sven's band is preparing for a six month world tour and although he is gifted with massive physical presence, the stentorian tone which is his trademark is losing torque with every rehearsal. He wants two things. 1. The strength to sing a show without losing his voice, and 2. the prospect of beginning every show from square one rather then with vocal fatigue held over from the previous show.

Lets summarize what is before us:

Sven is a screamer...If we change that, his fans will pelt him with bottles.
Sven smokes...good luck changing that one, Sven just got out of drug/booze rehab and is clinging to his last known vice.
Sven is a hard worker and has reached his level of success by storming through whatever obstacles were in his path.
Sven has reached the point of saying, "It can't get any worse, I'll try anything." He is receptive to my suggestions and "believes" that what I say will help him.

We start by listening, and watching Sven sing a song. Sven has no problem with support. But as I look at his upper chest and neck, I can see the muscles working overtime. Sven is trying to squeeze 10 pounds of sound through a 5 pound opening. He sings with his chin up and opens his mouth wide by raising his head. All wrong! But the sound and delivery are exactly the same as on Sven's records.

Simply put, we need to find the range where Sven's voice is most relaxed. I start by having Sven lay on his back. Now his head is in the proper posture for singing. (For a full explanation of this, see my entry Vocal Architecture.)

I have Sven hoot like an owl, very lightly and in his falsetto, or head voice. I find that there are 5 or 6 notes that he can "hoot" so we exercise just those notes, first by singing "Hoooo" in a light breathy tone as if blowing across a bottle. Remember, the idea is not to make a great sound, but to get the vocal machinery operating in its most relaxed state. I'm looking for free and easy vibration without the tension present when Sven does his act.

Next, I use the syllable "Voo" and exercise the same notes. I start with the "Hoo" in order to begin the tone with air. This allows the vocal cords to engage in a non-violent way with a minimum of tension applied by the surrounding muscles. (See my essay on this principle here) Using the "Voo" brings the initiation of the tone, forward as the lips form the "Vee" consonant, also allowing the tone to ride on a column of air. Repetition of these relaxed exercises will manipulate the mechanism and allow the vocal cords to vibrate freely thereby providing much needed therapy much as an athlete would have sore muscles worked on by a physiotherapist.

After the upper register feels free, I look for the most relaxed range of the lower voice. This is usually in the normal speaking range. The same principles apply, find the easiest notes and exercise them by beginning the tone on a column of air. The "oo" vowel is very helpful because when produced properly, it is not a loud vowel. I ask Sven to sing "Hoo" and "Voo" as if he were imitating very low level feedback.

Depending on the individual, various other vowel sounds are brought into the exercise regimen. Normally, "oo" and "oh" feel the most relaxed while the open "ah" will tend to expose problem areas. I will move through the vowels from "oo" to "ah" with an effort to letting the "ah" vowel be influenced by the habits of free vibration being learned from the "oo."

This would be the very beginning. If Sven were not able to see me every day, I would record a regimen of exercises as he sings them and hope that he repeats these at least once a day. Progress is absolutely inevitable, IF the work is done. When Sven goes on tour, he will find that he is still screaming his guts out, his fans are loving it, and by sticking to a regimen of daily vocalization, his vocal mechanism will be able to survive.

Of course this scenario doesn't represent the way it's supposed to be according to every teacher I've learned from over the years. But what does Sven care about "Bel Canto" technique? Sven lives in the real world and only a real world approach will get him to the end of the tour.

The "17 Steps" of the Vegas Dragons

There is a series of wicked turns on the lower end of the Pasadena freeway just as you leave downtown Los Angeles, heading north. At 3:00 AM, when traffic is at a minimum, this stretch can be thrilling. You can take it up to 75 or 80 MPH but all the curves are blind and you never really know what you'll face as you round the bend in the road. If one car ahead fucks up, you'll be sideways in the guard-rail for sure.

One early morning, after a club date, I found myself with this little bit of roadway all to myself. Thrills being thrills and boys being boys, I decided to punch it up a notch and whip through the blind esses. I guess I hadn't been to Disneyland in a while and needed an adrenalin rush to make it home. Clearing the first turn, my pulse raced with excitement. No tail lights ahead! I bore down on the accelerator and braced myself for the next turn into the first tunnel...and there in front of me was a wall of tail lights! I barely controlled the car and found myself on the shoulder at a dead standstill. There was no clue as to why the traffic had stopped...no emergency lights or equipment, no police or ambulance. Just four lanes of stopped cars seemingly staring into the gaping maw of the tunnel leading to the Dodger Stadium exit.

After a few minutes, I got out of the car to investigate. I have few regrets in my life, but leaving my car that night is in the top five. As I made my way to the front of the snarl-up, my eyes followed the beams of the leading car's headlights and there, in the garish light of early Los Angeles morning was a motorcycle...well, there were parts resembling what could once have been a motorcycle...accompanied by parts of what was most likely the late motorcyclist! There were, as yet no signs of help and there was the cold, icy chill of recent events suspended in the air as if afraid to settle and lend legitimacy to the surreal tableau at my feet. In the siren-less vacuum and in light absent of emergency strobes, I looked down and saw half a face, the missing half now a 75 foot long smear in the pavement. There was no movement, but the massive wound had just moments before given up a volume of blood that seemed still alive as it continued to flow across the pavement, finally pooling as it found a dip in the asphalt. The moment is forever and indelibly etched into my memory.

Brian Taylor and the Vegas Dragons are a rock band to be found on the Sellaband web site. If they were not a band, they could do well as designers of amusement park thrill rides. Their latest offering is called "17 Steps" and is best heard with headphones cranked and with the same receptive attitude one has when ascending the first long climb of a wicked rollercoaster. You get the feeling that something exciting is just around the corner, but the full impact of the excitement is still in the future and remains unknown.

"17 Steps" opens with a soundscape I can only describe as a midievil violi da gambi duet transported to a windswept Saharan dune. Enter the drums with a pulse that is almost a heartbeat but with a sinister pathological hitch. The next layer is a guitar straight from a Sergio Leone film. Before Brian utters a word, the track has already required the listener to suspend reality. Black is white, up is down and answers become questions.

The song inexorably plows its way through the blind curves of the Pasadena freeway and as the frenzied peak is approached, as the adrenalin starts to ooze through the temples and stain the headphone pads...the listener rushes down the last precipitous drop of the rollercoaster. But instead of the exhilaratingly misty ending of "Tom Sawyers Log Ride" he finds himself staring down at pain...memories and pain. Everybody has their own most painful moment...that one memory that makes the bones inside your elbows ache in horror. In my case, it was an oozing half head at 3:00 AM on the Pasadena freeway. I think Brian Taylor and the Vegas Dragons are asking the question, "What's yours...what are your 17 steps?"

Now, to get back to the real world for a moment, I would be doing the band a grave injustice not to draw some attention to areas that could be better executed. As recorded, the vocal does not sit most effectively in the mix. I get the feeling that what is wanted here is a vocal that gnaws at the brain like a nagging conscience. The little devil perched on your shoulder reassuring you in hushed tones that it's alright to burn down the orphanage. The voices that no one but the afflicted can hear. The deafening whisper of ultimate insanity. Placing a vocal with those characteristics into a track of such cinematic breadth is daunting...but production chops and proper tools can, and hopefully will make it happen.

"17 steps" is not the sort of music that will result in many backseat conceptions. But there are already plenty of songs filling that particular bill. "17 Steps" is a ride inside. After repeated listenings, I found myself happy to have made it out again, but in some twisted way, unable to resist revisiting the scene of the crime.

Vocal Fatigue Part 2

So...to continue a discussion of vocal fatigue. There is a good possibility that I may go off on a bit of a rant but I'll try to stay on point long enough to give some advice on conquering fatigue and rehabilitating the vocal mechanism. I find it important, however, to take a quick left turn and provide some background for my method.

I spend a lot of time in my lessons discussing what I call "vocal mechanics." The human voice is produced by a machine made up of levers, tubes, reservoirs, intake manifolds, exhaust systems, tone generators, resonators, springs...Jesus, it sounds complicated, doesn't it? The truth is, yes, it is extremely complicated. The good news is that most of these systems operate involuntarily and with utmost efficiency with every beat of your heart.

Singing can be a very simple process, and I try to keep technique as simple it can be. But vocal fatigue is a symptom of one or more of the many components of the mechanism being operated in a manner that causes other components to be overworked. At that point it becomes important to carefully analyze the singer's technique with a mechanic's eye toward detail and efficiency of operation.

Most singers suffering from fatigue experience discomfort or pain in the throat, hoarseness and inflexibility in the upper register. This indicates that the vocal cords are being misused. Now, try to move your vocal cords. Go ahead, move just the left one, now move the right one. Can't do it, can you? So how can you expect to correct the abuse of the vocal cords without ascertaining precisely which component of the mechanism is not doing its job and causing the vocal cords to work overtime?

The vocal cords, or "vocal folds" as they are sometimes called, can more precisely be described as a valve. This valve's primary function is to act as the last line of defense in protecting the breathing mechanism from foreign objects. When you swallow, the epiglottis closes over the airway to cap the opening. Below this cap, the vocal cords close across the airway just in case anything gets past the epiglottis. The vocal cords, or "valve" is closed when swallowing. Hum. Now try to swallow while humming. Impossible.

The function of the vocal cords as the "tone generator" of the vocal mechanism is secondary to survival, but primary for communication. It's the architecture of the human mouth with it's ability to form words that separates humans from the non-speaking species. The process by which tone is produced by the vocal cords is discussed in detail in my post from May, 2006 entitled, "Bernoulli, Doppler and Natural Vibrato'" found in the archives.

To illustrate how the abuse of the cords results in fatigue, hold your hands in a praying position with palms flat and together. Pull your hands three inches apart and put them together again twice per second lightly, so they just touch. Repeat this for the length of a short song...say, two minutes. This is a simulation of the action of the vocal cords when singing. Now repeat the process, only this time clap your hands firmly together, again, twice per second. Do this for two minutes. How do your hands feel? They hurt, don't they? If you put your palm against your face, you'll feel how hot they have become. This is precisely what happens to the vocal cords when you scream, yell or sing with crap technique. And as small and delicate as the vocal cords are, it's no surprise at all that an ounce of abuse can require a pound of rehabilitation.

If you slap your hands together for an extended period, callouses will form at the points of most violent contact. When these irregularities form on the leading edge of the vocal cords, the surface of the cords are not able to come to a complete closure and some air flows through the opening(glottis). The resultant tone is breathy or hoarse, and there is a build up of heat and pain from slapping the cords together. Voila...Vocal Fatigue.

Okay, so I took a wide left, but let me get back on the road and suggest the first step in alleviating vocal fatigue. Step one? Stop talking! Don't say another word. When you speak with a worn out voice, you just aggravate the cords. Step two, if you can afford to, don't sing. It hurts and you sound like shit anyway, so just stop it. You're doing something wrong and until you discover what that is, you'll just continue to cause damage. Usually the fault lies in two areas. These are Breathing and Support, and Vocal Architecture, also covered in the archives. Step three, deep breathing exercises. There is no short cut. It all starts with breathing and it doesn't have to be complicated.

In a future post, I will go into more detail as to the exercises that may be helpful in rehabilitating abused vocal cords. In the meantime, If you suffer from vocal fatigue, SHUT UP, DON'T SING, and BREATH DEEP.

It's All About the Song...Sellaband's Francis Rodino

There are two things I enjoy most about teaching, whether it has to do with voice, guitar or bass. The first is what I call the "Aha moment." This is the instant that a brick falls out of the sky and smacks a student squarely on the head with a thud of revelation. I shoot for one such moment per lesson. The second thing is more delicious, but like most treats, is fleeting in nature and only happens once per student. And that is the moment during the very first lesson when I say "Okay, sing me your best song, give me your best shot. Let me see how I can help you."

A new voice student came to me this week and after engaging him in some "Tell me a little about yourself" conversation, I dropped the hammer and asked him to sing a song for me. He accompanied himself on the guitar and sang a song of his own composition...nervously. I couldn't help but think that he felt more comfortable playing the guitar than singing because instead of singing with any sort of passion and accompanying his voice with the guitar, he played with a great deal of concentration and his voice, along with the song, took a back seat.

You can ask any successful producer or A&R person, and they'll all say the same thing...It's all about the song. The reject pile is full of great performances by great musicians. Why are they in the reject pile? Crap songs...simple. The best records, the ones that define our personal moments, are recordings of great songs. This is not a genre-specific concept. Marvin Gaye sang his ass off...Jimi Hendrix played his ass off. But it's their songs that made them immortal. Great songs seduce great performers into stellar performances.

Which brings me to my subject. Francis Rodino is a rising artist in the Sellaband web-based music community. I should give proper respect and refer to the act as the Francis Rodino Band because the band looms large in the impression made by these recordings. As with all my Sellaband reviews, and in the interest of impartiality, I listen only to the mp3 files posted on the Sellaband profile page of each artist.

Francis Rodino is a rare breed... he sings with a passion that resonates on a very fundamental level. And, more importantly, he knows how to write the kind of songs that seduce musicians into memorable performances. Rodino's songs and Rodino's voice are made for each other. These songs aren't "heard" so much as "felt" and every note on these cuts seems to be performed with the express intent of framing the underlying idea of the song.

From top to bottom, the band provides a near perfect foundation for the delivery of these songs. Drummer Matt George and bassist Allan Burls play together as one instrument. One thing I really appreciate is the bass tone which melts perfectly into the kick drum, providing a warm, low end pulse reminiscent of old school analog recordings. The band plays with excellent dynamics allowing Rodino's thoughts to build with a relentless intensity. A good measure of self control combined with passionate musicality results in emotionally compelling tracks.

Rodino's acoustic guitar and Nik Hollis on electric provide a firm bed of well-played rhythm guitars. I have only one quibble and it's a matter of my own taste. I would like to hear the guitar solo sections take on more of the character and color of the vocals. Make no mistake, Hollis is a fine player, but the guitar solos could sound thicker and be more thematic in choice of notes. As tight as the band is, I think that if Rodino and Hollis developed more of a "tag-team" approach to the featured sections, what is now very competent could become very special indeed. But...as always, I could be full of shit.

The bottom line from the Bottom End is this. The Francis Rodino Band is ready. When the time comes for them to take these songs into the studio, there is no question that they'll know what to do. And I have no doubt that their audience will listen and be touched. Why? Because it's all about the song.

"Why is it Important to Know This Stuff?"

I had an interesting voice lesson recently. While I was running off at the mouth (as I often do) on the subject of voiced and unvoiced consonants, My student asked a very astute question...a question that frequently goes unasked.

"Why is it important to know this stuff?" she asked me. My very first reaction was to respond as my father would have..."Because I said so!" But her question made me think...how could I answer that question honestly and in a way that would make it clear that it is, in fact, very important to "know this stuff."

Look at the patch bay in the picture. Now picture a recording engineer following signal flow through that maze "by ear" to use a well worn phrase offered as an alternative to education by the ignorant.

In my experience, singers are BY FAR the most uninformed of all the performing artists. Yes, there are exceptions, and I suppose I'll get a ton of damning emails from the brilliant cogniscenti of the singing trade...but my opinion is built on solid ground

The fact is that anyone can sing. There are singers with natural gifts and others that have worked hard to master gifts of lesser proportions. Singers, more than other performers, have a tendency to be lazy because there are no toys involved. There is no external instrument to master, clean or maintain. There is nothing to praise and nothing to blame save for that which resides internally.

Every endeavor is enriched by fundamental knowledge of the technical skills required to carry out that endeavor. At the time this question came up, I had a repair man working on my air conditioning unit. I didn't wonder if the repairman knew his craft. He didn't show up with paint brushes or carpenters tools, he showed up with the right stuff and my house is cool again. I can't imagine a car mechanic doing a computer analysis of my electronic ignition system "by ear."

And yet, that is the attitude many singers have. Of course, ears are important. That isn't the point. Information is power. Knowledge of the instrument and vocal mechanics will never interfere with natural abilities or style. A singer's individuality is defined by much more than just knowledge alone.

Years ago, I made friends with a prominent magician, perhaps better said, an "illusionist." He was of a democratic mind set and had no qualms about showing me how nearly every illusion actually was executed. I knew how the ring trick worked, where the duck was hidden, and why the girl in the basket wasn't stabbed to death two shows per night. He showed me how the most amazing card tricks are broken down. You see, for him, there was no magic...his art was in executing the technical skills he had learned and repetitiously practiced for hours, weeks, months and years in order to allow the audience to believe that he had done the impossible. I could go through the motions he showed me, but without practice, I could never fool a soul.

So why is it important to "know this stuff?" Well, to go back to my magician friend, if he did his tricks "by ear" there would be blood in the basket...two shows per night.

Don't be lazy...learn you shit and practice!

Vocal Fatigue

Vocal fatigue can affect every singer to varying degrees. In the amateur ranks, the cure is usually painless and very simple. If one is not under the pressure of having to sing in order to keep a chicken in the stew pot, that singer can just stop for a while and rest will allow the fatigue to subside. Even in cases where the fatigue was brought about by bad singing technique, rest usually does the trick. After a short break, the singer can go back to the karaoke bar or the church choir and resume singing, bad technique intact, until fatigue once again dictates a period of inactivity.

But what about the professional singer who has dates on the calendar? There are professional singers who may have less than perfect technique and suffer from vocal fatigue. Indeed, there are a great many professionals whose lack of extensive vocal training can be an integral element of their style. Introducing too much correct technique into the style of a known artist with a characteristic sound can be catastrophic. I know that I'll get heat for that last statement, but only from the academic crowd. But screw you, you know who you are...snobs! Get back in your classroom and shut the door.

I have worked with quite a few pros who suffer from vocal fatigue. The first step in helping such a singer is to provide reassurance. The stress of thinking that one has lost one's voice can be the biggest hurdle to overcome when rehabilitation is required. After a singer buys into the possibility that the voice can and will come back, the real work can begin.

A singer should never think about technique when performing. If proper care is taken to develop exercises which gently heal the overused elements of the vocal mechanism, it will be able to recover sufficiently for the singer to continue performing without changing style or character. When a singer's style includes tension or a tight throat, there is damage done to the mechanism every performance. Consequently, every night's work begins a bit worse off than the last, until fatigue doesn't allow the singer to continue. Certain exercises designed specifically with each particular singer in mind can serve to get back what is lost during performance much like a football player might use water jet treatment or massage to therapeutically loosen fatigued or damaged muscles. This requires patience, trust, thorough knowledge of vocal mechanics and imagination. The sort of thinking that can deal with vocal fatigue in a well-known singer is the sort of creative thinking that may sometimes be frowned upon in academia. But professional singers live and work in the real world and sometimes an academic approach can fall short of success in real world scenarios.

My favorite tube amp technician is a purist. ( Yeah, I know. This is going off on a tangent but stick with me.) You can't pay him enough money to do a modification on a vintage amp. But there is one area where he will fudge the specifications. Say you have a sweet Fender Tweed Deluxe. The thing has been running with the same old capacitors for 30 years and is starting to make rice crispy noises as it warms up. Now, normally, an amp tech would replace the old, tired and leaking capacitors with new ones made to the original manufacturer's specifications. You plug in to the amp and, gosh, doesn't it sound fresh and clean. But wait. What happened to that lovely warmth, that flannel-like fuzzy mantle that surrounded your guitar sound? Aha! This is a case of correctness spoiling character. My guy will tell you that your amp does need capacitors and if you don't replace them, the sound will deteriorate further over time. But the deterioration up to this point has resulted in a sound that you like. So he will measure the value of the capacitors as they are today, and install new ones at the deteriorated value. Now your amp will have that character that you've grown to love without deteriorating. No, the values of the new capacitors are not correct according to the factory schematic. BUT WHO CARES!! The amp performs the way you like it to and it will do so dependably.

Now, I don't know if you'll understand the correlation between my amp rap and the issue of alleviating vocal fatigue. Suffice it to say that creativity is not limited to performers. The creative minds that work in support of creative performers can have a great impact on what you see and hear on the concert stage.

Think "outside." Think of something you do as a result of habit, and just for today, do that one thing differently...but don't hurt yourself!

Next entry, I'll discuss some pertinent vocal exercises and how they came about.

Studying for the bar...and Sellaband's Vegas Dragons

When I was nineteen, A few college mates and I started a band. We had a Hammond organ and three piece horn section so the logical material for us to play was Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago and Cold Blood. All of us were music students and man, we were snobs. We prided ourselves on being able to read music and thought quite a lot of ourselves.

Then I fell in with some cats who weren't musicians but who influenced me more than any musicians had up to that point. To be frank about it, I don't really know what influenced me more, their acid and weed...or their record collections. I look back on those times as my years of studying for the bar...because it was at the bar that we usually ended our daily studies.

We played a game called, "Favorite Record" the object of which was to play a record and convince the others of a particular artists merits. If enough members of the group hated your choice, the record was smashed to bits. We made our choices with much trepidation and a world of music of which I had not previously been aware was laid open to me.

And suddenly I found myself, a serious college music student, playing bass in a bar band... LOUDER THAN SHIT!! And what did we play? Album cuts from what had become my favorite records, of course. Tender little ditties like, Chunga's Revenge and Eat That Question by Zappa...Dark Star by the Dead...and 45 minute frenzied jams ala Captain Beefheart. And were we popular? Hell No! Did we care? You gotta be kidding! We dug it and that was all that mattered. We played and lived with absolute reckless abandon.

And that brings me to a band that is soon to achieve their album budget funding goal on Sellaband. The Vegas Dragons are an Australian band led by a personable fellow named Brian Taylor. I met Brian at the "London Calling" show where I played bass with another fine Sellaband artist on the rise, Lucia Iman. So tonight, I decided to give Brian and the Vegas Dragons a good listening to and hear what this personable young man's band is all about.

After listening to the three songs posted on their Sellaband page, I thought to myself, Oh, this is going to be a short review. Because all that I could think of to say was..."JESUS CHRIST!!!" Yeah, I know, Too short to be a thorough review... and I felt that, as nice a guy as Brian is, I owe the band more than that. So let me try to put my impressions into a more detailed form.

We've all seen the silent movie where some poor shlub is walking down the sidewalk, whistling to himself and thinking that the day is just too groovy to be true. Then he turns a corner and...BLAM! A safe falls out of an office building and drives the guy into the sidewalk up to his chin like a 16 penny nail. That...is called impact. The Vegas Dragons have impact, but not that kind. Their kind of impact is...well, imagine that the safe didn't stop at the sidewalk. Imagine getting hit on the head with a safe and it just kept going, right through the sidewalk, through the earth's crust, gathering speed as it plowed through the mantle, then the core and didn't lose steam until it drove you right out onto a street in China. That's as close as I can get to describing the Vegas Dragons brand of impact.

Musically, the band has no weakness. The palette of sound colors seems to be very well thought out and only lacks the polish that a first rate studio recording would provide. The intent and concept are evident as depicted on the mp3s . The rhythm section plays with absolute reckless abandon...or so it seems. In actual fact, these guys play some intensely challenging and difficult parts, but in a spirit that recalls my years of studying at the bar. It's that Alan Watts dichotemy of doing something as if you just don't give a shit... but also in the knowledge that this may be your last chance so you better nail it.

The song "Hands of Love" is just a lie from beginning to end. Here you are, minding your own business, whistling your way down the sidewalk. It starts to get a bit more intense, but you're still okay. Then, four-and-a-half minutes into the song...BLAM! And then it's another 90 seconds of being plowed through the earth by a runaway safe.

Brian and the Vegas Dragons will get their day in court. It's just a matter of time before believers in this band put them over the top and they go into the studio. I wish them the success that they will deserve when their recording is completed. But before that, I wish for them a producer and a production team that really gets under the surface and allows them to realize their most interesting vision.

And now... I'm beat, I'm going to the bar...

Sellaband's Trail and Memories...

I just had a good listen to the three tracks offered on the Sellaband web site by a band called Trail. Keeping in mind that these are mp3 files and there are some sonic compromises associated with compression, I'd like to thank the band for screwing away my workday by shifting my mind away from the tasks at hand and forcing me to relive some rather pleasant memories of my very first days as a musician...days spent staring at Fender Guitar catalogs as if they were my older brothers hidden Playboy magazines.

When I first began to play the guitar and later, the bass, I would walk home from school and linger at the window of the local music store. In the window there stood a half dozen Japanese guitars. They were similar to corresponding American models, but there was always something just a bit "off" about them. The pickguards were perhaps a bit garish, the finishes too sparkly, the headstocks close, but mis-shapen enough to make the instruments have the appearance of trying to be something they were not.

On occasion I would make my way to the back of the store. And there, in the cool air laden with the sweet aroma of tolex, dusty tube amps and bins of sheet music, I stood and stared at what was to me the most beautiful form I could imagine the angels had brought to this earth. Genuine, in the flesh Fender guitars! The single most captivating image was the headstock. I still catch myself staring at my '62 Precision Bass in the same way today...as if I had a nineteen year old Bridget Bardot in my sights.

And that brings me back to Trail. Listening to their music, I found myself drifting off into those early days when I would stare at pictures of George Harrison to see if I could copy the way his left hand formed a chord on the guitar neck. I think that it's mainly the guitar sounds on these songs that does that.

My earliest bands played surf music because none of us wanted to sing. After we found that singing drew more girls, we made the jump to songs by The Animals, The Yardbirds and of course The Beatles. Trail's guitar sounds are nostalgic in character. The tone as well as the voicings and parts, in their simplicity, have a freshness that cuts through the bullshit of the arsenal now available to guitarists that many times dials their sound out of the realm of human empathy.

There is a wonderful album by my pal, Richard Bennett entitled "Themes for a Rainy Day" which is THE dictionary of vintage guitar sounds. Richard has been doing it for a few years and with the best in the business. His discography is gargantuan. Trail is well on the way to developing a sonic signature at a very precocious stage of development.

Trail's vocal sound is equally captivating. There is youth and angst tempered with restraint and good musicianship. It isn't easy to get mature ideas across and sound fresh doing it. "Shapes of Things" by the Yardbirds comes immediately to mind as a good example. Again, Trail deserves high marks in this department.

There is however, one area which I question. The drums and bass tracks are played very well, but for my taste, they are not as impactful as the guitars. I would like to hear a bit more "in your face" mixing attitude. But again, these are mp3 files. If the mixes are a matter of taste, fair enough. But I can't help thinking that given the right production resources, Trail would sound bigger than the recordings on the web site indicate.

In any case, Trail is fast approaching their goal of generating enough belief in their music to warrant making a top-notch album. I'm looking forward to hearing this band tear it up.

U-Boat 15, and Wetwerks on Sellaband

I got a tip today about a band that deserves a second listen. The band is called Wetwerks and they are on the Sellaband web site. Actually, Wetwerks deserves a second, third and fourth listen. I'm actually looping "Further Than My Eyes" as I write this entry. But before I get into reviewing this excellent band from upstate New York, I want to tell you about a project that is near and dear to my heart.

U-Boat 15 is a new blog that is being written by my grandfather, Franz Strobl. When Franz died in the early seventies, I received a package from Salzburg containing a few of his personal items, among them a pile of handwritten papers containing the memoirs of his service in the submarine corps of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during WWI.

My Grandfather was nineteen as he began recording his experiences of those turbulent times. He was a prankster and the memoirs are full of the innocent humor and bravado of a typical nineteen year old. But as the war progressed, the humor and bravado gradually morphed into the dark fatalism that only war and its carnage can accomplish.

He began his service as a romantic warrior, proud to serve his country in the elite submarine service. Before the war had ended, he was a highly decorated hero...and a broken, hungry man, old beyond his years and wondering what it was all for.

I hope you have an opportunity to log onto U-Boat 15. Franz would like a word with you.

And now, back to the 21st century music world. Wetwerks has very obviously worked very hard to accomplish what I'm hearing in my headphones. The band deserves high marks for the attention to detail pervading the tracks posted on their Sellaband page. I like to listen at a fairly soft level and this is how I hear it.

First, all the instrumental virtuosity in the world cannot hide a crap song. I mean, how many guitar stores are there in the "civilized" world? And every one of them is bursting at the seams with zit-encrusted speed demons burning their licks on demo rigs at 240 beats per minute...and All of them work at burger joints! Why? Because they can't play a fucking SONG! And without a song, it's just a pile of cacophanous noise.

"Further Than My Eyes" is a SONG. And Wetwerks has hand-crafted that song to be enjoyed by a broader audience than the first listen would indicate. The rhythm section doesn't just sound good...they feel good. The track is butt-hole tight and very professionally executed.

The guitars are all steroids and hair and balls...but when you listen for the third and fourth time, you realize that you can hear details. These parts are very well thought out and great attention has been paid to dynamics. And the dynamics of the guitars in combination with the vicious accuracy of the rhythm section are the perfect frame around...

...the Vocals. The band plays and sounds very aggressive, but at no time is the vocal compromised. Not only could I hear the lyrics, I could understand every word. That sort of sonic awareness only comes with maturity, musicianship and a lot of good old hard work.

The bottom line of Bottom-End is this. Wetwerks has already done the hard part. In the proper recording environment and with an ample recording budget, Wetwerks is certain to make a big impression . A big hat's off.

So class, here is your homework:
1. Log on to U-Boat 15 and check out grandfather's blog.
2. Log on to Sellaband and listen to Wetwerks...three or four times.