In a Musical Moment of Maddness, A Musician's Perspective

There is nothing that compares to the trepidation one feels just before going out on stage to preform. Yes, I call it trepidation, for the moments before actually preforming can be just that, quite fearful. This is usually mingled with a great many other emotions, however.

Most often it is coupled with the exhilaration of anticipation. Yes, that would be the most apt description, I think, half fear, half anticipation. Something about this particular ratio gives you an adrenaline rush, and before you know it, you are out there in front of that crowd again. It is like no other feeling on earth.

The fear and anticipation are gone, and now you feed off the energy of the crowd. A throbbing, pulsating wave of emotion takes you over, and you and your band mates are gone...lost in the music, just like the rest of the crowd. You are one with them now. You are a part of that mass of primal energy until the show is over.

Afterwards, there is usually also the emotional oneness you feel with your band mates. As you all go hang for a bit at whatever greasy spoon you can find open, the trepidation that began your evening is now just a distant memory. You wonder if it ever happened at all. Basking in the mutual accolades of your band mates, it's easy to forget the moment of fear laden anticipation before you all took the stage by storm.

Then again, there are those "other nights". The ones when the crowd wasn't as big or as enthusiastic as you hoped. The nights when the sound equipment fails somehow, and mysteriously nothing seems quite right the entire evening from there on out. There are the nights when the band as a whole is far too ill and road weary to "click" on the most fundamental of levels.

These are the nights when we pack our gear in relative silence, unless of course there is an ego in the band who has to seek blame in someone, and animosity, which can run the gamut from quiet disgruntled grumblings to loud obnoxious conflict then ensues. Still, usually these are the nights we all part in silence, not stopping to regroup and figure out what went wrong at the usual greasy spoon as we probably should.

We all have at least a few of these nights, whether we want to admit it or not. From the smallest garage band playing at their uncle's birthday kegger, to the biggest star in rock history...every musician since the first chords were struck, and the first song took shape knows this feeling. It is the very feeling and the very type of experience that causes the fear and panic we all get in that "moment". The moment just before we hit the stage running, and find out exactly which kind of night it is going to be.

Previously published on http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/

Vocal Nuances - The Dynamic Power and Melody of Singing Duets

Sandy Denny

Many people pay little or no attention to who is singing what in a particular rock song. However, being a vocalist myself, I can't seem to help analyzing such things.

There are many singers who sound similar. Most people do not even notice these subtle nuances in a song, and many others still, assume it is simply doubled, or overdubbed in the studio by the same singer. For instance, did you know that :

1. Led Zeppelin - In the song The Battle of Evermore, though it may sound as though it could all be Robert Plant, he is in fact singing along side a female soprano named Sandy Denny. I find their voices to be very similar. In fact, this is one of the first songs that piqued my curiosity about vocal nuances and dynamics as a child. They both sing falsetto at times, and this confuses things further still, but the combination has created a timeless and intense classic.

2. Deep Purple - Another song that intrigued me as a child was Burn by Deep Purple . I was already familiar with David Coverdale, and though he does have a good voice, I knew there was no way he was singing those beautiful high notes. I was only 9 years old at the time, but I knew the difference.

Low and behold, this was my first real intro to the superb vocal talents of bassist Glenn Hughes. I have followed his career ever since, and he is still one of the most amazing singers in Rock and Roll, in my opinion. Thank you, Glenn. You have been an enormous influence on me through the years.

3. Heart - While Ann Wilson of Heart does take most of the lead vocals of the duo, there are several songs on which her sister Nancy actually takes the lead. Though the sisters do sound very similar, and it is hard to differentiate on backing vocals, you can always tell when Nancy takes the lead. Hers is a softer, mellower, and in many ways, a more timid voice than Ann's. Ann, though thoroughly capable of the softer tones, usually has the stronger, more "raunchy" voice that has made Heart famous.

4. Temple of the Dog - Most rock and grunge fans do realize that both Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell of Sound Garden share vocals on Temple of the Dog's Hunger Strike, but do you notice the drastic differences in their voices?

Though the two don't really sound similar (to my ear, at least), they do blend well. Vedder's is the softer, mellower, less powerful, and even lower voice in this instance, where as Cornell takes all the powerful high notes, and intense emotional projection. Cornell originally intended to record both parts himself, but when Vedder stepped in, it became the stuff that hits and archetypal melodies are made of.

5. Alice in Chains - Layne Staley was arguable one of the most unusual and inventive singer/songwriters in rock. Many realize now that Jerry Cantrell is the new voice of Alice in Chains, but few realize that he sang lead on quite a few of their earlier songs as well. Here again, you will notice if you listen carefully that Cantrell's is the softer mellower voice, while the late Layne Staley takes the emotive powerful side, with more vocal inflections. If it weren't for Staley's power and unusual inflections, you could barely tell them apart. The two singers meshed and blended impeccably.

Cantrell has always made it apparent that it was Staley who gave him the confidence to sing more, and the influence is still evident in his vocal style, keeping Staley alive in spirit. It is great that he has found a singer like William Duvall to create new A.I.C. magic with as well.

The one thing most evident in all of the forgoing duets for me is the great elements that are brought together to make something unusual. Power and melody seem to be the most prominent of these, and these give way to emotive contrasts and a range of dynamics and nuances that truly set these songs, bands, and singers apart.

Image Credit : Sandy Denny, Wikimedia Commons, This work is in the public domain in that it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice.
Author : Island Records