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Friday, June 30, 2017

Revisiting Old Friends

Revisiting Old Friends

I am sitting here, listening to Alison Krauss “Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection” and sometimes I am amazed to discover that a song that I thought had been performed to perfection by the original artist is either topped by another artist's performance or is a song that I had judged as a throw away in the original performance and I haven’t given a second thought.

There are two songs on this collection that fit the bill. The first is the title song, “Now That I’ve Found You”. The original performance, by the The Foundations, to my mind, is a successful attempt by a UK band to imitate The Motown Sound that was very popular and innovative at the time. I think that the meaning of the song is lost in its success. Alison Krauss has brought out the meaning of this song in her rendering. The arrangement pares away the style and leaves us with a tender song of desperation, a plea for what she is losing. This could go very badly. The background vocals are used sparingly and effectively with the words “darling but I can’t let you” and “I built my world around you”. Will her plea end with this man’s return? Will she heal and move on? Or………?

The second song that came to mind, as an example of a well done song; The Beatles “I Will”. Paul McCartney captures the innocence of love in its first throes. It is genuine and without guile. The words are spoken to the loved one with complete honesty and truthfulness. The young man is bold in his proclamation. He has no fear of rejection. In Alison’s version, I hear it as a proclamation of joy at having found the person she is meant for and who is meant for her. The producer leaves us, at the beginning; with a guitar introduction that doesn’t give away what the song is. He relieves the tension 18 seconds in when the melody is introduced on the banjo. The banjo, when played at this tempo, communicates fragility in its inability to sustain notes well. It depends on the other instruments to carry it along.

Alison and company bring a new perspective to this great song. It seems, to me, to be more graceful and gentle. She brings out the hope for good things to come. Well done.

A very special thanks to Jo-Ann Hedleston at KRFC FM Radio 88.9 for being the inspiration for today's blog. She played "I Will" this morning.

-Adrian Yañez

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Can't Play With a Click Track? There is Help

Preparing for the Studio: Playing with a Click Track

Often, with musicians who are new to the studio, I have found that they struggle with playing with a click track. This is because they have not yet developed a strong sense of pulse, timing and rhythm. Some do fine when playing along with a drummer or guitarist who can keep time, that is why it is incumbent on the rhythm musicians; drums, guitar, and bass, be especially good at keeping tempos. If a piece of music speeds up or slows down it should be because it was chosen by the musicians for effect and not because the musician is struggling with tempo. It is easy to tell when the reason is for the latter.

So what can we do about it? Practice with a metronome. Start by choosing a scale pattern on your instrument, set your metronome to 50MM, and begin by giving a whole note value of 4 beats. This may seem a little extreme, but if you do this it will train you to listen for the pulse of the scale and will lock in your ability to keep time. Many students try to skip passed this step and end up with inconsistent timing, pulse and rhythm. If you are a singer, conduct yourself along with the metronome as you sing. Use the standard conductor’s patterns that can be found online. These patterns vary from meter to meter and thus will help you to develop a strong sense of the pulse of each meter. Continue the process by playing 3 beats per note or dotted half notes. Move on to half notes, 2 beats per note. This process continues until you can play 16th notes, 8 notes per beat. You can also add playing in groups of 5 and 7. When you can do it at 50MM, increase the speed a few beats per minute (BPM). Do this 3 or 4 times a day. If you want to see a more fleshed out version of this process, check out Pebber Brown's YouTube video on the topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2656SWkvRQ . In fact check out all of his videos.

Pebber starts with ¼ notes but I prefer to start with whole notes. It is harder to play slow than to play fast and you will not get to fast without mastering slow. Many of the concepts that he presents apply to any instrument. Slow and steady wins the race.

For singers, sing through all of the vocal parts with a metronome. Slow it down and bring it up to tempo a little at a time. If you can sing it without the ensemble then you will be able to lead the ensemble and not be a follower. When performing songs, it is the vocal part that is most important. All the other instruments are in service to the vocalist.

Practice with the metronome, with headphones on. This will make hearing the click track in headphones easy when you get to the studio. When you rehearse with your band it is a good idea to rehearse with a metronome. Get a metronome that subdivides the beats.


-          Adrian Yañez

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Space

I had a great preproduction meet up with an artist yesterday. One word that came from the artist was “space”. She said that she wanted it to have space in the music and that she didn’t want it to be over layered. Perhaps one of the reasons that the recording industry has gone through the downturn is because the recordings don’t stand up to multiple listening and are overproduced.
In an effort to create with a sonic canvas, some engineers and producers have ventured into a place where the music becomes unlistenable. Let’s not kid ourselves; auto tuning vocals and instruments has only made for lazy or subpar performances. You can’t fix it in the mix or polish a turd. Great mixes begin and end with great music and a great performance.

It seems to me that at one time vocalists had an earnest quality in their singing. I think of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and others. I also think of Joni Mitchell, Patsy Cline, and Judy Collins. There is a joy in listening to Ella and Louis Armstrong sing duets. Louis' voice is the trumpet. His trumpet is a mirror image of his singing. When Ella scats, she imitates the trumpet.

Patsy Cline displays this earnestness in the convincing power of her voice. Billie Holliday is earnest in her vulnerability. Listen to Judy Collins in her rendition of “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim. The closing line shows a resignation to what is happening. Look into “Sea Songs” by Edward Elgar, sung by Dame Janet Baker. She captures the storm and the return to safe harbor, a metaphor for home and family.

Use your imagination to seek the deeper meaning of song and music. Ask yourself, who am I singing this song to? What does the song mean? What are the emotions, thoughts and sentiments conveyed in the song? Where is the song being sung? This should move how you perform the song and the musical choices you make for its performance.

Adrian Yañez


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