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From Indian Lakes – Absent Sounds

From Indian Lakes

I came across this band – From Indian lakes – a few months back and I’m really impressed with them. I’d describe them as soft rock, but I’m useless when it comes to sub-genres!

I really like the softer and lighter vocals scattered across the tracks, and I love the soundscape that flows by underneath them. From Indian Lakes is definitely a sound that is growing in popularity at the moment, and well worth checking out if you like the intensity of rock but also want something a bit softer to go along with it.

Check out this video and their whole album, and enjoy!

As an aside, one of the things that troubles me about today’s music is how much we focus on having the SAME sound as everyone else. As a voice coach I get a lot of people in wanting to sound like X, Y or Z, which leads to frustration when they don’t sound EXACTLY like that person.

However the reality is that no two instruments sound alike. As such, you simply can’t expect your own voice to be the same or even in the same ballpark as your favourite singers. That’s not to say that you sound BAD, simply that you will have a beautiful but different tone once a certain amount of training has been undergone.

What I love about this growing genre is that it celebrates a desire (in my opinion) to make music irrespective of whether an existing vocal sound already subsists in the audiosphere. From Indian Lakes has relatively light vocals. They are not jamming their voices as hard as they can ala hard rock, Zeppelin/Cornell style vocals. They are also not singing super low or dark ala Vedder or the like. Equally so, despite singing soft they are not going for the crooner sound ala Michael Buble. Instead there’s a sound that’s wholly different, so we have no preconceived notion of what they should or should not sound like.

Now, with today’s music being what it is, this could easily lead to us dismissing such music. However I feel they’ve managed to write something that grabs your ear and makes you want to pay attention to the whole song. This is critical to good artistry, and something I deeply respect.

I hope that’s made you think a little more deeply about songwriting and what you hear on the radio today. Til next time! Enjoy!

DIRECT LINK HERE

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Brett Domino How to Write a Hit Pop Song

Those of you who are in for lessons regularly know about my love for a songwriting guru called Ralph Murphy, but I’m also a big fan of Brett Domino and his hilarious satire on hit songwriting.

While this is not quite the same sort of intellectual level of that sort of songwriting advice, this video by Brett on ‘How to Write a Hit Pop Song’ is VERY funny.. and remarkably catchy… maybe it says something about the pop industry?

Check it out and enjoy!

Brett Domino How to Write a Hit Pop Song

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Sam Smith How Will I Know

Another voice coach in the US brought my attention to Sam Smith How Will I Know cover, i.e. this awesome song – check it out!

Listen to the quality in the voice.

Sure he goes intentionally light towards the top end of his voice, but listen to how it serves the song. There’s the odd two-to-three note riffs, but nothing ostentatious… it’s ALL about the song… and this is rare in today’s world.

Sit back, relax, and let Sam’s dulcet tones soothe your savage beast!

Sam Smith How Will I Know

NOTE: As an aside, this is a GREAT example of a singer who perhaps bucks today’s current trends of singers needing to sound as LOUD and as POWERFUL as possible. Sam has a fantastic voice, but not because his instrument is hyper-developed in terms of volume, power, riffability, etc, but because he has spent time FINDING his voice. He has worked on the weaknesses, capitalised on his strengths, and his instrument is unlike anyone else’s… i.e. his Unique Selling Point IS that he isn’t the same as the current crop of singers.

How awesome is that?! This is a mainstream artist strutting his stuff in a way that is counter to everything we see on the current roster of international singing superstars… so don’t discount your voice just because you don’t sound like singer X – celebrate what you have, build on your strengths and learn to fix your weaknesses, and see how you could have a voice that is as unique and loveable as Sam’s…

Just some food for thought!

(for those who the embedding doesn’t work – here’s a direct link)

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White Christmas – Michael Buble and Kelly Rowland

I had a student bring this in the other week to look at, specifically because of the vocal riff that the wonderful Ms Kelly Rowland sleighs (ho-ho-ho) us with a minute or two in. Love this White Christmas!

I had about 10 minutes to identify and break down the riff in question, and I just managed to solve it for the student. Twas a toughie!

In any case, it’s a great rendition, so why not Christmas-ify your day and check it out!


(or click here to open in a new tab)

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U2 Gospel Choir – Rock Lead and Gospel Backing

U2? and a Gospel Choir? a U2 Gospel Choir?

I was at a training event recently, and as part of this I did some testing. Some of those tests involve teaching people I’ve NEVER met or even heard sing before, and I have 20 minutes to make them sound better in that time. Pleased to say I passed!

Another part of it is a voice test, where I basically get a voice lesson but we also focus on what’s going on in my own voice in relation to teaching as well. There’s always stuff to work on.

In this case I decided to work on U2’s ‘Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. This is a beautiful song – rich vocals, strong lyrics, gorgeous and powerful melody, and the arrangement is wonderful.

Afterwards I had someone who’d observed the lesson mention that U2 once did a gospel version of this song (say whaaat?!) with a proper black gospel choir – a ‘U2 Gospel Choir’ if you will!

I looked it up, and was absolutely astounded by what I heard….

Talk about merging of styles… truly, a U2 Gospel Choir!

When was the last time you sought out a song done in a merging of two or more styles? When was the last time you tried one of your favourite songs in another style? It’s sometimes tough to imagine these things, but it’s a real doorway to finding some cool sounds you would never have stumbled across otherwise… sticking songs and styles in a particle collider and seeing what comes out is a fantastic way to develop your artistry and understanding of what makes certain songs work in particular styles.

Check out the video and see what you can come up with in your own repertoire!

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Josh Groban – Drummer, then singer?

Josh Groban was a drummer?

So, believe it or not, I don’t get THAT much Josh Groban brought in to the teaching studio… quite surprising given how great Josh’s voice is and how popular he is.

Nevertheless! Here is a great video someone posted on a forum I’m a member of.

Turns out Josh studied with Seth Riggs, the guy who started off the technique of Speech Level Singing (the method I initially trained and Certified as a singing teacher in) and which principles underpin the IVA teaching method.

In this video, he talks about his own background, how he actually started as a drummer (YES! a DRUMMER!), how he started getting coaching with Seth, and how his first gigs were massive concerts. Crazy stories but utterly true. He’s also one of the most humble guys you’re ever going to meet.

Check it out.

For those of you who are also musicians, but perhaps feel that because you started singing AFTER getting decent on another instrument you are somehow disqualified from being classified as a true singer… or that you can never become a great singer… Josh is a living testimony this is not true.

Whatever you think is stopping you from achieving your goals, is not what’s actually stopping you. It’s you THINKING something is stopping you, that is the thing that’s really preventing your progress.

Watch the video and hear the hidden nugget in there.

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Riffing Lesson: Natalie Weiss does Tori Kelly’s Pretty Young Thing

Riffing is something many people think is harder than it actually is. Let me illustrate…

So here is a video of the amazing American artist Tori Kelly. There is just incredible control and artistry in this video by Tori.

Check out her stuff – really fresh and inspiring!

There is a KILLER vocal riff at 2m22s, which I’ve been giving a bash and I can promise you – it’s tough! That said, it is not as difficult as it might seem once you’ve broken it down. Here’s a link to a great singer Natalie Weiss Breaking Down This Riff – she was even teaching at a training conference I went to back in August 2013!

There are a great many things we all think are very difficult, but actually, EVERYTHING is difficult… until we’ve done it so many times that it becomes easy. Not only that, but sometimes it just takes a different perspective and simpler approach to make even the most seemingly-complex issue become pretty straightforward to solve.

With that in mind, if you want to start learning to riff, and learn the riff she pulls off at 2m22s, then check out this awesome video from Natalie Weiss from ‘Breaking Down The Riffs’

See? It might sound crazy but if you take it slow and break it down, it’s actually not as insurmountable as it first seemed.

So do me (and you!) a favour – ask yourself – what was the last thing you decided you COULDN’T do vocally? Is it too fast? Too high? Too low? Once you break it down, you may start to see in-roads to help you tackle the issue you’re struggling with. Honestly, all you need to start moving towards doing the very thing you’re scared of is adopting a different perspective and utilising the right tools.

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3 Musical New Year’s Resolution

NOTE: I’ll be asking you ‘what would your 3 resolutions be?’ at the end of this post, so do have a think while you read mine, and do also leave a comment on yours below! I’d like to hear from you!

When I was at school and university, I used to love holiday times not just because they were time off from studies, but because they gave me uninterrupted time to focus on ‘woodshedding’. This is a term often used by guitarists and jazz musicians to refer to time spent locked away in (often!) a woodshed away from the world honing particular aspects of their craft.

While I won’t be doing these in a woodshed, here are 3 of my resolutions I’m working towards this year. Some people opt for more, some for less, but I feel 3 gives me enough resolutions to stand a chance of doing at least one without getting stretched too thin!

1. Get better at piano – While I play it sufficiently well enough to teach, I spend far so much time in front of a piano everyday for voice and teaching, that I am out with a vengeance to learn to play the thing properly. I will then go through every song in my repertoire that I can already perform vocally with a guitar and learn to play an equivalent version with a piano. That way if I ever am presented with guitar OR piano, I can do my entire repertoire equally well on both.

2. Reduce the amount of gear I own – I’m a true minimalist at heart, and while I love exploring new equipment and how it works for me and my sound, once I have experimented and branched out, I like to strip back to the basics. This last year I’ve started to develop more of my own sound, or rather, develop a confidence in the sound I had already started to develop, and this requires a more simplistic approach to gear (if not musically). As such, I plan to shed at least a 1/3 of the remaining gear I have.

3. Add 10-20 more songs to my repertoire – One of the problems with having come from a technical instrumentalist background is that I am quite fussy about songs. I want songs that challenge me, and that present some technical challenge to my development. Which means I find it increasingly hard to find things I want to work on as I develop and get better. This is obviously helpful in some respects, as every song I work on develops my voice such that other songs become easy and often automatic, but it does mean I struggle to find new songs to add to my repertoire. In this regard I’m going to be less picky and just find 10-20 songs to add to my repertoire over the course of this year, regardless of their difficulty, just based on whether I like them or not!

I’d also add that I will be ‘writing more songs’ as a resolution, except that this is an ongoing resolution, so it’s hardly new for this year!

What are your resolutions?

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