Scene 1: Antonio walks into the room and slams the door shut in frustration. Marie his manager is startled.
“Antonio, what’s wrong?” Marie asks, while side-eyeing him like he is crazy.
“I-I just hate how I sound in the studio! I feel tight, tense, and most of all BORING! And you can hear it in my voice on the track! There is no crowd to give me the energy I need and get in my live performances.” Antonio walks over to the table and pulls out a chair to sit beside Marie. With frustration in his eyes, he makes his confession.
“Marie, listen, I think I should just do live projects from now on. In the studio, there is no audience to pump me up and---I think that is why the passion is just not there.” Marie nods her head slowly. Then she blurts out, “Antonio that’s whack!”
End Scene 1.
You know, I pretty much agree with Marie. Yet, Antonio is not the only one with that mentality, so I dare not sound insensitive. This could very well be an artist epidemic of sorts! Listen, I understand and believe that when we perform live, the crowd’s participation can really hype us up! For those of you who have performed live, you more than likely can relate in agreement. However, here is my issue. As an artist, we must possess the versatility to be effective both live and in the studio. If a hype audience is the source used for the output of passion in our performances, ask yourself: What if the audience is ‘dead’ during a particular performance? Or what if they aren’t really feeling the performance? And will we settle for having studio projects that sound “lifeless” because there was no audience to boost our energy? Will we be like Antonio and ditch studio projects?
Let’s dig deeper folks and get at the core issue. I think what needs to be addressed is how effective one can demonstrate their craft and be passionate in their performances regardless if there are people participating or not. My stance is that as artists who desire to grow and be better at their vocals, it’s not acceptable to dislike the studio because we “can’t” be as effective without the crowd and therefore our studio sound will be lack luster. Negative my people! We should work on that! We owe it to ourselves for the sake of being well rounded, and we owe it to the listeners for the sake of them wanting to continue to support us!
We as artists need to be so in tune with our expression/emotions and vocal technique that whether we sing live or in the studio, the passion should be evident in both atmospheres. How do we work on this? First there is the decision, and then there is the application. First decide to have the determination to be vocally authentic, passionate and sincere at all times. Choose to be passionate whenever and wherever you sing. Then go do it. Put it into practice. It may take time to train the mind to think that way. Yet remember, you have something you want to share with others. And listeners/consumers should not be the first in line to buy our live projects because of the energy we have and the passion we exude, yet at the same time not even show up in line to buy our studio projects because we sound boring! Whether live or in studio, we should be able to produce music where listeners can “feel” us. And we want them to feel the passion – so that must be consistent.
Bottom Line: Know yourself; know your musical talent; then make it equally and consistently known live and in the studio. Be versatile!
MWB signing off...