A couple of weeks ago, I helped out a friend and had a great time doing it.
An extremely talented pianist, he now wants to learn how to play the guitar. He knew enough to spend a reasonable amount of money for a quality instrument, but didn't know what attributes he wanted. So, he asked me to accompany him. Whatever instrument I liked best in his price range, he would buy it. Great for me, I get all the pleasure of shopping but without the cost!
I knew the best options off the bat, so when the salesgirl approached I noted requirements for a built-in preamp and dreadnaught-style body. I played quite a few guitars, and we narrowed the options down to two really nice Tanglewood guitars. I'd never heard of them before, but they're pretty awesome. My next acoustic might just be the same one we bought for my friend.
Checking the resonance and intonation, I was playing chords that involved droning open strings along with frets up at the high end of the neck. For some reason, I started playing "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by Iggy & The Stooges. An old punk classic.
Suddenly our salesgirl, replete with pompadour and shitty rockabilly tats, got excited. This old fart with grey in his moustache and a Blackberry on his hip… was hip! She gave me "props" for "rocking some acoustic Iggy."
For the brief moment that I held some long-lost cred, I encouraged her to buy "Please Kill Me," by Legs McNeil - a compilation of fantastic interviews with 1970s punk legends.
That "cool" feeling kept me going for a few days.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Temptation
Last month, I triumphantly reported that tracking had been finished for Lies &Speculation. In a whirlwind of joyous noise, I raced through the 10 songs. Then I took a few weeks off to recover from the stresses of wage-earning, school, Christmas, etc , etc, etc.
Last week I returned to the mixing desk and started digging through the tracks. And they were crap! I was really disappointed with the vocals. On takes where the inflection was right, I was usually singing a little sharp. And where the pitch was right I didn’t like the way I was annunciating.
This is where it got weird. To experiment and play (that’s the beauty of artistic pursuits), I brought an auto-tuner into the track. I clicked ‘on’, chose the key of Emajor, and clicked Play. My jaw dropped. Coming from the speakers was exactly what I’d been trying to accomplish! Pitched properly, with just the right amount of attitude, the singing was perfect. In 3 simple mouse-clicks I had rectified what would have been weeks of re-work.
For about 10 seconds, my jaw agape and eyes glazed, I reveled in the finished product. The album that would define the last few years of my life. Suddenly, like coming out of a bad dream, my eyes went wide. “No,” I screamed as my hands slapped the desk. As fast as I could, I deleted the auto-tuner.
You see, the auto-tuner is the biggest detractor to modern music. Anyone who can’t sing can easily run their voice through one of these and sound like a star. Think Paris Hilton, Keisha, Britney Spears… That’s all you need. No musical skills, just a nice rack and cute bum. Or in Hilton’s case, money.
Even talented stars are now auto-tuning everything beyond perfection. I’ve been told that Justin Beiber can actually sing, but everything I’ve ever heard of him is computerized out of reality. There’s no skill or substance needed anymore, just the packaging. And I just saw how easy and cost-efficient it can be. I’ve been taking singing lessons with a great teacher for 8 months now, and spent days trying to accomplish what I could have covered in 2 hours with auto-tune help.
I pride myself on being primarily a musician. I really do. Not a singer, not a guitarist, not a songwriter, or producer. A musician. I’ve been playing the guitar for over 20 years and am able to play the things I want to hear without much effort. Most other instruments I can warble a basic melody from, if you give me a few minutes to figure it out. And I’m happy that I can actually express myself in this way.
And because of that, I’m uninstalling the auto-tuner, reverting back into pre-production mode, and going to practice, practice, practice. And when you hear me sing these songs, it will really be me. I don’t need perfection, just humanty. That’s what life is all about.
Last week I returned to the mixing desk and started digging through the tracks. And they were crap! I was really disappointed with the vocals. On takes where the inflection was right, I was usually singing a little sharp. And where the pitch was right I didn’t like the way I was annunciating.
This is where it got weird. To experiment and play (that’s the beauty of artistic pursuits), I brought an auto-tuner into the track. I clicked ‘on’, chose the key of Emajor, and clicked Play. My jaw dropped. Coming from the speakers was exactly what I’d been trying to accomplish! Pitched properly, with just the right amount of attitude, the singing was perfect. In 3 simple mouse-clicks I had rectified what would have been weeks of re-work.
For about 10 seconds, my jaw agape and eyes glazed, I reveled in the finished product. The album that would define the last few years of my life. Suddenly, like coming out of a bad dream, my eyes went wide. “No,” I screamed as my hands slapped the desk. As fast as I could, I deleted the auto-tuner.
You see, the auto-tuner is the biggest detractor to modern music. Anyone who can’t sing can easily run their voice through one of these and sound like a star. Think Paris Hilton, Keisha, Britney Spears… That’s all you need. No musical skills, just a nice rack and cute bum. Or in Hilton’s case, money.
Even talented stars are now auto-tuning everything beyond perfection. I’ve been told that Justin Beiber can actually sing, but everything I’ve ever heard of him is computerized out of reality. There’s no skill or substance needed anymore, just the packaging. And I just saw how easy and cost-efficient it can be. I’ve been taking singing lessons with a great teacher for 8 months now, and spent days trying to accomplish what I could have covered in 2 hours with auto-tune help.
I pride myself on being primarily a musician. I really do. Not a singer, not a guitarist, not a songwriter, or producer. A musician. I’ve been playing the guitar for over 20 years and am able to play the things I want to hear without much effort. Most other instruments I can warble a basic melody from, if you give me a few minutes to figure it out. And I’m happy that I can actually express myself in this way.
And because of that, I’m uninstalling the auto-tuner, reverting back into pre-production mode, and going to practice, practice, practice. And when you hear me sing these songs, it will really be me. I don’t need perfection, just humanty. That’s what life is all about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
