This guide is a follow on from an earlier article I wrote about how to start a career as a professional singer. It helped on a broad level from obtaining the right equipment for you to use at a gig to how to get yourself on the books of an entertainment agency.
In this piece I’m going to tell you about the preparation on the day of a singing performance, it will be you be energised, confident and light on your feet so you can shine like a star. First off, you need to consider your food intake on the day. When it comes to showtime you don’t want to feel sluggish with a stomach full of heavy, starchy food so avoid pizzas, chips, pies and most other types of junk food. You need to eat with a see-saw effect, starting the day with the heaviest of foods then getting lighter with food that is easier to digest. A great example diet on the day could be, toast and a bowl of cereal with a banana for breakfast, for lunch, tuna and pitta bread with mayo and salad, for early evening a healthy thick vegetable soup. This will give your body a chance to digest the heavy carbohydrates early on but the later meals give you sustained energy through the evening time.
The next step is voice preparation, around an hour before you set off to your gig you should do a warm up session. First you should do a full body stretch for every muscle group. This is a time where you can regulate some steady breathing, counting to three slowly whilst you breathe in and again to breathe out. Next you can warm your voice up by running through some scales of notes, a guitar or a piano may help you stay in tune. Quarter of a hour of vocal warm ups should get you ready to try a run through of some of the songs you will be performing in the evening. Once you have completed this you can try some scales just before you go on stage but this is your preference, personally I think the warm up at home is enough to last the rest of the day.
So here we are, 5 minutes to show time but wait a second. You’re not just a singer, you’re an entertainer. In my opinion the gig starts when you enter the venue. So after you have rigged up your equipment, rather than hanging around the dressing room area you could go out to meet and greet the members of your audience. Unless you are Mick Jagger, this is a very simple concept which will make a crowd warm to you as it shows you are down to earth, so even though you will soon morph into a rock god you are showing appreciation to the people who came to see you.
Now you are on the stage and the first song is starting, you are warmed up, energised from healthy nutrition and have the crowd on your side. Now sing.... but when you sing, look up and outwards. There is nothing on the floor that is so interesting you can neglect a room full of people all looking in one direction, at you. Many singers look at the floor for many reasons, they are shy, they are concentrating too hard on staying in pitch but the drawback is you are not connecting with the crowd and unless it is an amazing captivating performance their interest will wane. This brings on another key point and that is smile. When you smile, the world smiles with you. Try it next time you go out to the shops, it works. When I first starting smiling on stage people would react with a great interest and positive feedback which in turn inspired me into more flamboyant performances. At first it felt rather strange smiling when no-one was actually saying or doing something funny. It felt like I was a fake and people would tell. I tried it in front of a mirror and it looked like a minimal, content smile that looked like I was pleased to be there.
The final pointer as hopefully your gig is going well, you are singing good and the crowd are happy. You should talk to them between songs. There is an art to this, as sometimes the crowd will shout something straight back when you say something creating a nice two-way communication. Providing it isn’t heckling you should have a nice time. The other scenario is when it falls on deaf ears and they look back blankly. This probably isn’t a rejection on your part more simply they are the ones afraid of public speaking. To counteract this you could write and rehearse a full interesting monologue you can use that requires no response whatsoever so if you are holding a one way conversation you look like the most confident interesting person in the room. Compile these new thoughts and ideas into your repertoire as an entertainer and you are one step closer to being a professional. Good luck.
Wednesday 30 April 2014
Thursday 24 April 2014
Using Online Music Forums To Find A New Band Member For Your Group
These days it can be more and more difficult to find the right person to create that great line-up in your band. You can try putting up a paid ad in your local music shop or hang around at unsigned nights talking to others in the crowd asking if they play the bass or drums or whatever.
It can become tedious and it is most definitely eating away at the rehearsal time you could be doing to create that great sound.
With that in mind it is a great idea to turn to the internet for your rescue remedy in this situation. Nowadays there are more and more music forums popping up and you can simply search something like find a band member online and with a few clicks you may find a lead guitarist only a few streets away who is currently jamming to his music collection at home wasting away his talents.
With a few messages back and forth you could soon arrange a jamming session and before you know it you’ll be ready to roll with your first live performance.
Something this good sounds like it comes at a price but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yes there are some out there who will try and ask for your cash to access this information but keep faith and hold out until you find ones that are out for the musician and therefore free.
Without these online forums the future of music could miss out on some amazing lineups and songs that go down in history.
When you’re on there it is good to upload an image of yourself because that may help people click on your profile over others but more importantly be sure to state your tastes in music and also the type of stuff you’re willing to play.
Be open minded, I’ve seen a few metals band that teamed up with a funk bassist and their sound was phenomenal. Also try and be clear from the start what your intentions are as some bands will require a lot of your free time to try and push for a deal whereas some others are happy thrashing out some chords over a few beers.
So unless you are still at school and every lunchtime in the music rooms is like an impromptu music festival then get yourselves onto one of these sites as you may be busy with work or whatever and not have the time to audition every couple of days with musicians you know nothing about.
It is the love of live music that pushes these websites to become alive and if you are a free spirit when it comes to playing music using these forums may give you the opportunity to play with a metal band, funk, jazz, pop, acoustic, dance, indie and many other types to diversify your skills to a level you never thought possible.
Best of luck to you on your musicial journey wherever that may lead.
It can become tedious and it is most definitely eating away at the rehearsal time you could be doing to create that great sound.
With that in mind it is a great idea to turn to the internet for your rescue remedy in this situation. Nowadays there are more and more music forums popping up and you can simply search something like find a band member online and with a few clicks you may find a lead guitarist only a few streets away who is currently jamming to his music collection at home wasting away his talents.
With a few messages back and forth you could soon arrange a jamming session and before you know it you’ll be ready to roll with your first live performance.
Something this good sounds like it comes at a price but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yes there are some out there who will try and ask for your cash to access this information but keep faith and hold out until you find ones that are out for the musician and therefore free.
Without these online forums the future of music could miss out on some amazing lineups and songs that go down in history.
When you’re on there it is good to upload an image of yourself because that may help people click on your profile over others but more importantly be sure to state your tastes in music and also the type of stuff you’re willing to play.
Be open minded, I’ve seen a few metals band that teamed up with a funk bassist and their sound was phenomenal. Also try and be clear from the start what your intentions are as some bands will require a lot of your free time to try and push for a deal whereas some others are happy thrashing out some chords over a few beers.
So unless you are still at school and every lunchtime in the music rooms is like an impromptu music festival then get yourselves onto one of these sites as you may be busy with work or whatever and not have the time to audition every couple of days with musicians you know nothing about.
It is the love of live music that pushes these websites to become alive and if you are a free spirit when it comes to playing music using these forums may give you the opportunity to play with a metal band, funk, jazz, pop, acoustic, dance, indie and many other types to diversify your skills to a level you never thought possible.
Best of luck to you on your musicial journey wherever that may lead.
Friday 18 April 2014
A Short Guide To Building A Home Recording Studio To Create Great Music Demos
When you decide you want to build a home recording studio you are embarking on a journey which will provide you with an investment that will last a lifetime. The beauty of recording your music is that even if you don’t make it to the top of the charts you can capture a time in your life which will live on forever for you future generations of family to enjoy and see a snapshot of your time on earth. If that’s not a good reason to get one I don’t know what is.
On to the technical side anyway, to build your studio the very basic thing you need to begin with is a computer or laptop. You need the highest specification you can afford as music recording can really push the capabilities of its potential. Ideally keep this computer disconnected from the internet. The main reason is loss of data from downloading something and crashing the whole thing. Also it could simply slow it down and affect recording.
I’m assuming you’re already a competent musician but just to confirm you’ll need instruments, the most obvious being a guitar, bass and drums. You have these so let’s build a studio. The first thing you need is a condenser microphone. This is a special studio piece of equipment, not suitable for live performance due to the sensitivity of the diaphragm which picks up the sound. Make sure you choose one with phantom power, ideally 48v. This is a small amount of electricity which passes into the microphone to enhance the clarity of the sound.
Your next piece of equipment is an audio-midi interface. This is a small box which plugs into the USB port on your computer and then you can plug in a variety of guitar and speaker cables to send the sound into your computer for recording. Make sure you can use XLR, ¾ inch jack and MIDI cables.
Now you need to hear the sound so you need two things, get some decent headphones preferably the big ones that completely cover your ears and drown out outside noise, these will be utilised for vocals when you want to sing but not record the backing music at the same time. You also need monitor speakers. These have a higher range of frequencies than the average home stereo ones as you will be recording in high quality definition.
At this point a great optional item but not essential is a MIDI keyboard which is almost identical to the standard musical keyboard but can be used to not only lay down piano type sounds but using special computer programs you can play drums via the MIDI keyboard rather than setting up a kit in the corner of your spare bedroom.
Last but not least, you need a computer music editing program. These days there are a huge number of choices, to name one to get you started take a look at Cubase and go from there. This is essentially where you send the sound from the audio interface into the computer on the program where you can mix, edit and create.
The beauty of this set up is you can fit these items in your spare bedroom at home and with a bit of searching you can pick these up even on a small budget. This is a basic home studio but it is enough to build a full song which with the help of online music sites could be the next big hit. Good luck to you.
Many wedding entertainment bands musicians will utilise such as set up to create high quality backing tracks to use for their live performances.
On to the technical side anyway, to build your studio the very basic thing you need to begin with is a computer or laptop. You need the highest specification you can afford as music recording can really push the capabilities of its potential. Ideally keep this computer disconnected from the internet. The main reason is loss of data from downloading something and crashing the whole thing. Also it could simply slow it down and affect recording.
I’m assuming you’re already a competent musician but just to confirm you’ll need instruments, the most obvious being a guitar, bass and drums. You have these so let’s build a studio. The first thing you need is a condenser microphone. This is a special studio piece of equipment, not suitable for live performance due to the sensitivity of the diaphragm which picks up the sound. Make sure you choose one with phantom power, ideally 48v. This is a small amount of electricity which passes into the microphone to enhance the clarity of the sound.
Your next piece of equipment is an audio-midi interface. This is a small box which plugs into the USB port on your computer and then you can plug in a variety of guitar and speaker cables to send the sound into your computer for recording. Make sure you can use XLR, ¾ inch jack and MIDI cables.
Now you need to hear the sound so you need two things, get some decent headphones preferably the big ones that completely cover your ears and drown out outside noise, these will be utilised for vocals when you want to sing but not record the backing music at the same time. You also need monitor speakers. These have a higher range of frequencies than the average home stereo ones as you will be recording in high quality definition.
At this point a great optional item but not essential is a MIDI keyboard which is almost identical to the standard musical keyboard but can be used to not only lay down piano type sounds but using special computer programs you can play drums via the MIDI keyboard rather than setting up a kit in the corner of your spare bedroom.
Last but not least, you need a computer music editing program. These days there are a huge number of choices, to name one to get you started take a look at Cubase and go from there. This is essentially where you send the sound from the audio interface into the computer on the program where you can mix, edit and create.
The beauty of this set up is you can fit these items in your spare bedroom at home and with a bit of searching you can pick these up even on a small budget. This is a basic home studio but it is enough to build a full song which with the help of online music sites could be the next big hit. Good luck to you.
Many wedding entertainment bands musicians will utilise such as set up to create high quality backing tracks to use for their live performances.
Vocal Exercises For Preparation Before Singing Performances
If you want to make the most of your voice and have an even sound and tone from the top of your range all the way down to your lower notes then these daily exercises will help you achieve this goal.
Keep a look out for my other articles on how to prepare for singing and breathing exercises which will follow and try them before doing the sets below.
Steps
1) Say “le” and “la” out loud and try to use an Italian accent (say “le” instead of “lay-ee” and “la” rather than “la-uh”
2) Join the vowels “a” and “e” together with the “L” in a curving arc type sound flicking your tongue quickly making the “L” sound as short as possible.
3) Do this exercise for a few minutes
4) Say with an Italian accent vowels a, e, i, o, u, prefixed with the lip consonant “m”
5) Pronounce these vowels in sounds in the following way: “ma” for the “a” vowel as in the name Arthur. “me” as in the “e” in wheel. “Mi” as in machine. “mo” as in the “o” in more and “mu” as in the word “tool”
6) In order to produce the correct sound required for the “m” sound, spring open your lips and this will help pronounce the sound and project the note out
7) Ensure throughout the exercise maintain a good focus on good quality consistent breathing
Extra Tips
In singing Italian vowels are almost always used in singing so it is important in learning and practising this way of letter pronunciation.
Also by improving your pronunciation of the following consonants (L, M, P, T, D, F, G, N, S, V, Z) this will work towards good exercising for your tongue. For example, as opposed to using the whole length of your tongue to produce the sound “L” practice just using the tip of your tongue curled backwards. It actually makes it easier to say in fact.
Steps
1) If you take the melody of a song that is familiar to you can replace the lyrics with the Italian vowels from the above exercise for a good workout and practice.
2) The method is called vocalizing and to illustrate look at the following example: Somewhere over the rainbow / Way up high / There’s a land that I heard of / Once in a lullaby / Somewhere over the rainbow / Skies are blue / And the dreams that you dare to dream / Really do come true.
3) Using a steady flow of breath use should vocalize this example focusing on the “la” and “ma” sounds
4) Memorize all the lyrics to the song you have been practising with the Italian vowels then sing the actual song with the lyrics.
5) Instead of looking at the written lyrics try looking outwards and sing as if you are looking at an audience watching you perform.
Final Tip
When you listen to your favourite songs try not to copy the voice of the singer but rather see it as your own version of the song when you sing it. It may be fun to copy your favourite pop star but if you mean to do singing as a profession it best to do it your way in order to not damage the vocal system and also help bring out your own potential.
These techniques are some of the best professional singers and entertainers and can be conveniently done in 10-15 mins to get you performance ready at any time.
Keep a look out for my other articles on how to prepare for singing and breathing exercises which will follow and try them before doing the sets below.
Steps
1) Say “le” and “la” out loud and try to use an Italian accent (say “le” instead of “lay-ee” and “la” rather than “la-uh”
2) Join the vowels “a” and “e” together with the “L” in a curving arc type sound flicking your tongue quickly making the “L” sound as short as possible.
3) Do this exercise for a few minutes
4) Say with an Italian accent vowels a, e, i, o, u, prefixed with the lip consonant “m”
5) Pronounce these vowels in sounds in the following way: “ma” for the “a” vowel as in the name Arthur. “me” as in the “e” in wheel. “Mi” as in machine. “mo” as in the “o” in more and “mu” as in the word “tool”
6) In order to produce the correct sound required for the “m” sound, spring open your lips and this will help pronounce the sound and project the note out
7) Ensure throughout the exercise maintain a good focus on good quality consistent breathing
Extra Tips
In singing Italian vowels are almost always used in singing so it is important in learning and practising this way of letter pronunciation.
Also by improving your pronunciation of the following consonants (L, M, P, T, D, F, G, N, S, V, Z) this will work towards good exercising for your tongue. For example, as opposed to using the whole length of your tongue to produce the sound “L” practice just using the tip of your tongue curled backwards. It actually makes it easier to say in fact.
Steps
1) If you take the melody of a song that is familiar to you can replace the lyrics with the Italian vowels from the above exercise for a good workout and practice.
2) The method is called vocalizing and to illustrate look at the following example: Somewhere over the rainbow / Way up high / There’s a land that I heard of / Once in a lullaby / Somewhere over the rainbow / Skies are blue / And the dreams that you dare to dream / Really do come true.
3) Using a steady flow of breath use should vocalize this example focusing on the “la” and “ma” sounds
4) Memorize all the lyrics to the song you have been practising with the Italian vowels then sing the actual song with the lyrics.
5) Instead of looking at the written lyrics try looking outwards and sing as if you are looking at an audience watching you perform.
Final Tip
When you listen to your favourite songs try not to copy the voice of the singer but rather see it as your own version of the song when you sing it. It may be fun to copy your favourite pop star but if you mean to do singing as a profession it best to do it your way in order to not damage the vocal system and also help bring out your own potential.
These techniques are some of the best professional singers and entertainers and can be conveniently done in 10-15 mins to get you performance ready at any time.
Monday 14 April 2014
How To Be An All Round Wedding Entertainer
This guide is aimed at giving you a platform to move into wedding entertainment. This can be for either a beginner looking to move into the performing industry or someone who has paid their dues in the pub and club circuit for years and would like to move up into more consistent work.
The initial benefits of working as a professional wedding singer over singing in local bars is that an arrangement or a gig in a pub is a verbal agreement which can easily be cancelled by the landlord at the last minute, whereas wedding work is normally via an agency which will arrange a solid contract with steps in place to avoid cancellations. This security means you can use this form of employment as a steady ground to build your life on such as rent and bills etc.
In terms of the music you perform you may need to revise your set list a little from the songs about heartbreak and misery that would go down a storm with the drinkers in the pubs. A wedding day is a happy occasion so songs focusing on the positive in life will be in order here. Not necessarily cheesy numbers although you’ll need some of those towards the end when the dance floor is full.
You may have also been used to standing in the corner of the bar area with your microphone stand, speakers and mixing desk. For weddings you need a flashier look here, so try a portable lighting rig with a few traditional disco lights, look online for this. Also to disguise the lengths of cables and cords from speakers try some black canvas that covers it up. A nice touch with this is to buy white fairy lights and cut tiny holes in the canvas and pop them through to create a stars at night effect covering the unsightly stage cables.
When you dress for a wedding show, the ladies can experiment a little here but I find a traditional, classy dress in a striking colour looks fine. For a male, a suit jacket, trousers, white shirt and shoes. No need for ties as by the time you perform most of the male guests will take off the tie for comfort. Same goes for a waist jacket, you can leave that at home.
An excellent tip which will convert to more gigs for you is to learn how to be a disco DJ yourself. Most clients end up paying for a singer and a DJ separately at a great cost, if you learn how to do it yourself via a laptop with a mixing program and your entire music collection you could add it on for a nominal fee and make your act a lot more desirable to potential customers.
These little tweaks to your set up could be the ones which promote you from pubs and clubs to professional entertainer for hire. If you’re a beginner and are starting right from scratch, I have made some more tutorials online which will help you take the first step and learn how to be a pub entertainer. Take a look around for them and enjoy. When you accomplish those first steps, re-read this article and you’ll be working as a singer in no time.
Finally, when your act is up and running you’ll need professional representation. Search for entertainment agencies or find Best One Entertainment and submit your application to join their books. Good luck.
The initial benefits of working as a professional wedding singer over singing in local bars is that an arrangement or a gig in a pub is a verbal agreement which can easily be cancelled by the landlord at the last minute, whereas wedding work is normally via an agency which will arrange a solid contract with steps in place to avoid cancellations. This security means you can use this form of employment as a steady ground to build your life on such as rent and bills etc.
In terms of the music you perform you may need to revise your set list a little from the songs about heartbreak and misery that would go down a storm with the drinkers in the pubs. A wedding day is a happy occasion so songs focusing on the positive in life will be in order here. Not necessarily cheesy numbers although you’ll need some of those towards the end when the dance floor is full.
You may have also been used to standing in the corner of the bar area with your microphone stand, speakers and mixing desk. For weddings you need a flashier look here, so try a portable lighting rig with a few traditional disco lights, look online for this. Also to disguise the lengths of cables and cords from speakers try some black canvas that covers it up. A nice touch with this is to buy white fairy lights and cut tiny holes in the canvas and pop them through to create a stars at night effect covering the unsightly stage cables.
When you dress for a wedding show, the ladies can experiment a little here but I find a traditional, classy dress in a striking colour looks fine. For a male, a suit jacket, trousers, white shirt and shoes. No need for ties as by the time you perform most of the male guests will take off the tie for comfort. Same goes for a waist jacket, you can leave that at home.
An excellent tip which will convert to more gigs for you is to learn how to be a disco DJ yourself. Most clients end up paying for a singer and a DJ separately at a great cost, if you learn how to do it yourself via a laptop with a mixing program and your entire music collection you could add it on for a nominal fee and make your act a lot more desirable to potential customers.
These little tweaks to your set up could be the ones which promote you from pubs and clubs to professional entertainer for hire. If you’re a beginner and are starting right from scratch, I have made some more tutorials online which will help you take the first step and learn how to be a pub entertainer. Take a look around for them and enjoy. When you accomplish those first steps, re-read this article and you’ll be working as a singer in no time.
Finally, when your act is up and running you’ll need professional representation. Search for entertainment agencies or find Best One Entertainment and submit your application to join their books. Good luck.
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