WHAT CAN A PRODUCER DO WHEN THEIR SINGER IS STRAINING AND SINGING EXTREMELY FLAT OR EVEN SHARP?

What can a producer do when their singer is straining and singing extremely flat or even sharp? For example, as a producer, the singer comes in and they’re straining and singing extremely flat. Melodyne and/or Auto-tune can digitally tune the voice on the recording. However, this software should be used only as a slight editing tool or for special effects. Used as a minimal edit tool, the singer’s “feel” is not lost. Too much editing results in the singer sounding bad (or phony), due to the fact that the singer’s emotion and “feel” are removed.

So, what’s a producer to do? Seriously, the first thing is to cancel the session. This is because the singer needs help with the general basics of vocalizing and emotional expression. However, if it’s a pre-paid session with a tight schedule, there is not really much you can do as far as the schedule goes. One option for this situation is to consider lowering the key; another option is to use alternative notes where the straining occurs.

On the other hand, if the schedule is not tight, then the producer should send the singer to a Vocal Pre-Producer or voice teacher. If a voice teacher is selected, the artist/producer has to be wary of not losing the artist’s style to the voice teacher’s classical style or focusing too much on technique (rather than “feel”). This is because, if the singer sounds classical in any way; then, the artist’s audience or followers may be lost; and the project may not be as successful as it may have been (lost revenue).

The Vocal Pre-Producer alternative will save the project a large amount of recording time, thus reduce costs (and raise profits). Vocal Pre-producers can make the singer feel confident by giving them “cause and effect” suggestions. These actually result in a quick resolution to the vocal problems; and also to the artist’s memorization to the point that the emotions (“feel”) come directly from the artist’s soul. The artist is now ready to return to the producer’s vocal tracking sessions.

At the tracking session, the vocal producer also improves the recording since they can take the artist to the next level. This can occur because the Vocal Pre-Producer worked hand-in-hand with the artist and producer; and everyone is ready for tracking.

All great producers know that “feel” is the number one established criteria. If there's no “feel” to the recording it has no value. So, producers must focus the artist on the “feel” and sometimes have to break it down. This is so the artist understands the song that they are singing. Sometimes you find that even though the artist has written the song, the artist does not really understand their emotions behind the lyrics. Stick to a phrase at a time to really help them connect with the emotion. You may find this will correct some of the straining and pitch problems.

Working with a Vocal Pre-Producer does not take away from your income. With the artist problems corrected, it is going to make you look better as a producer. This is because you have a recording with “feel” and everyone gets a win-win with the expertise of a Vocal Pre-Producer on your crew.

Brad Chapman

www.bradchapmanvocals.com