Zitat des Tages über Gesang / Vocals:
As a musician, I don't think I'm the greatest guitar player. I'm a bigger fan of the drums than I am the guitar; I just happen to play guitar. I play drums almost every day at my house. I wrote a lot of songs behind the drum kit, just having the music and vocals in my head and playing the rhythm.
My son is in a band, and he's a singer, and his vocals... they're screaming-growling stuff... and he's got a pretty reasonable voice. Yet he practices really hard to get the screaming-growling thing without losing that voice every five minutes. So I'm, like, 'Hats off to you.'
The vocals are what immediately draw people in and sell the song.
I used to chop up C-Span soundbites or interviews with politicians like John Kerry or Bill Clinton into a radio-esque show hosted by Awkwafina and her producer, Mookie. I would pitch down my vocals to have male guests and would send them to a small circle of friends after they were done.
It was way out in the woods in a beautiful, huge log studio. Keith Richards came in and did the vocals with Levon. Again, a big party, but we did get a good cut out of it.
Growing up, my parents always played artists like Alanis Morissette, Aerosmith and Michael Jackson, so I just grew to love their music. And I just love so many diverse artists for different reasons; some for their instruments, some for their edge, some for their vocals.
I'm making a record that's half stripped down acoustic which is the way I perform a lot and half of it is very produced. It's really hard to keep music simple but I was trying to keep it simple and focus on one or two instruments and vocals.
If I'm playing with Ozzy it's just a guitar thing. But with the vocals I feel like I'm studying for the SATs.
For a young band about to make a record, make sure you get the vocals right.
We were gradually playing larger venues and in the early days PA systems were kind of non-existent. So to play loud, we had to use louder equipment. The PA systems back then didn't mic the instruments - only the vocals.
Something on mainstream radio is very in your face with the vocals. I tried that, and it just doesn't feel like Washed Out. It's got to have that haziness to it.
I usually prepare a track and then I work with the artist when it's time to do the vocals.
There's not a day that I don't work on vocals, have vocal coaches, go to acting classes, read books.
You get some confidence in your songwriting abilities and go for the essentials - guitar, bass, drums, vocals. Those are the basic band essentials that have to be in place before you go any further.
I don't think I'm a singer that likes to flex my vocals. I'll do some runs and a bunch of high notes, but that's it. I really pride myself and I really work on just trying to sing. Like emotions. Just using my voice, not doing anything extra.
But I would lie on the floor and analyze everything. I'd listen to all the strings and the background vocals on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and try to pick out the different instruments.
When I listen to the radio, I just hear so much music that doesn't even sound like people. The vocals are all tuned, and the drums are all fake.
Maybe I was just born with a little bit of vocals or natural talent, but I feel like I taught myself.
When we talk about my music, it's a cross between Tina Turner, Alanis Morrisette, and Diana Ross. It's the glamour and the showiness of Diana Ross; the ferociousness and pain of Tina Turner; and the vocals of Alanis.
It's like a painter with various layers of paint. I start with a drum loop and add keyboards, and then melodies start to take shape. The vocals happen later. I've never really done therapy before, but it's a form of therapy. Everything else falls away.
I write the vocals last, because I wanted to invent the music first and push the music to the level that I had to compete against it.
I naturally like that dreamy, shoegazey sound on my vocals. A lot of reverb helps, and so do a lot of delay effects on everything.
The vocal arrangements are a big part of the formula for a Bad Religion song - layered harmonies and background vocals. So when I start to describe the elements of Bad Religion's sound, it starts to sound like a Christmas choir.
I pay such close attention of the record making process that most people would assume are very little and wouldn't be that big of a deal; the packaging, the title, and the harmonies, I think, are arguably as important as the lead vocals.
Whenever I'm home, I haven't got any makeup on. But even in the studio, before I do vocals, I put makeup on.
Later on, when I signed with Sony, we wanted to re-release 'Fade' as 'Faded' with a brand new mix and with vocals by Iselin Solheim. I think Iselin was the first person who sung demo vocals for 'Faded.' And it worked out great! The way I got in touch with Iselin was through a guy that I work with in the studio.
Yeah, I'm just blessed to have this very strong thing, my vocals. I'm very healthy in that regard.
Oh man, I love what the South brings as far as the soul, and I really have noticed from even the early days of listening to OutKast and Goodie Mob that Atlanta and the South has a diverse sound to it. You have bounce music. You have soulful musicians. You have artists with vocals who try to do different things.
There are a lot of people using technology that are playing to a click with backing vocals already stuck in there on some computerized thing that runs along in time to the show so they have these amazing vocals that are only partly the guys on stage producing them at the time.
I just like simplicity. I like simple songs, I like simple chords, simple vocals, simple lead guitar. I just like simplicity. That's just the way I like it.
All my vocals were recorded at home, which was great for me. You can actually have a studio in a computer program called ProTools. I did half the record with ProTools.
There's Eddie's conviction and his lyrics and his ideals, and he can just rock straight out. His vocals are incredible. And we all are really competent musicians.
I think one of the things about writing in the studio is that the song hasn't matured, if you like, so quite often the vocals are early attempts. Whereas once you've taken it out on the road a bit, you learn more about a song.
But when I record my next studio album, of course I'll do the lead vocals.
The music that I listen to is very minimalistic. I listen to a lot of old blues that is just guitar and vocals.
As far as favorite 'overall package' record of all time, I'd have to say 'My Girl' by The Temptations. I like everything about it, not only the composition - but the arrangement, the production, the lead vocals, the background vocals, the horns, the strings. That one I listen to over and over again.
