What are candycane dreams? I'll let you decide. But one thing they do require is a lot of vocal practice. As a half-decent songwriter and instrumentalist -- by my own estimation of course -- this makes the singing the hardest part.
Perhaps it's a lack of of practice, a lack of lessons, or the fact that I was a soprano chamber choir singer when I was 12, but something makes singing in my adult male voice a little more difficult than should be normal. A lot of musicians who aren't singers sometimes take a good voice for granted. There are a lot of very famous voices that had little to know training, John Lennon, Elliot Smith, Kurt Cobain, Mick Jagger, to name a few. These guys make it look so easy. It's not. And for every self-trained natural vocalist out there, there's a hundred who have had some form of training to get their voices to sound so great. In the past this would occur in the gospel churches of the south, or the private academies of the north. R&B and blues musicians would hone their craft in the house of God, before plying it for the whiskey infused masses in the juke joints around town. Unfortunately for me I'm not terribly religious, so the church choir gig is out. Juke joints are kind few and far between in Ottawa, and I've been reluctant to get out to the open mics.
That will change with the move to London. I'm making a vow though to listen to Michael Bluth, put my head down and push on through.
Below is the next attempt at public displays of my vocal abilities.
This song was written about 6 months ago. The piano was recorded a couple of weeks ago, and the vocals just finished up tonight. Comments and criticisms always welcome.
It's good. I like it! My only comment might be that it needs to build a little more through the chorus. I realize that it might just be the recording, but I think that the piano sounds just a little hesitant in this section. Regardless, I think that it's a really nice start ... can't wait to hear what you and your newly shipped recording equipment come up with one in London.
Posted by: danielle | November 21, 2007 at 12:32 PM