how many takes do you think it took for me to get this right
or this
[Music] when you're working on a project how many takes does it take for you to get
discouraged for you to check out a little bit or become so tense you don't quite know what to do
with yourself there's a huge problem we have to recognize when it comes to performing or singing
on YouTube versus making something in the studio without anybody watching or even performing live
where you've gotten lots of people watching and it has to do with expectations how many
times or how many surgical magic tricks did it take you think to get this right [Music]
and live in front of a real audience you only got one shot
[Music]
what about this one [Music]
yep [Applause] [Music]
[Applause]
when you're in the studio creating a Sonic work of art particularly with your voice it's expected
and really enthralling to go over a particular passage of a song and make it the very best it
can possibly be when I'm doing it I lose track of the amount of takes that it takes I'm I'm
totally involved in how my voice feels and what it's capable of and how I can create the best
moment for The Listener over this particular Passage what that means is that a lot of times
when I'm in the studio creating these these vocal lines then I'll go piece by piece I'll experiment
and then when I find something that feels good and sounds better I'll put it down and then I'll
move on and go to the next one or maybe I'll I'll just do a verse and then add a bunch of
background vocals and the overall experience for the listener when they get done is oh whoa listen
to this performance and listen to all of the orchestrations and all of the supporting tracks
that make this vocal sound incredible and really pull it my heartstrings as I listen to it [Music]
change oh tell me how it should
tell me how it should change so tell me how it should change [Music] [Applause]
when you're live that stuff doesn't really exist when you're live you have this audience to feed
off of stage presence and you have lights and you have the the energy of the band behind you
and so the nitty-gritties of the actual vocal performance they're not only not scrutinized as
much they don't matter in the same way because it's a completely different experience when we
look at YouTube and the video medium combined with the sound that we hear and the fact that
we can replay the videos over and over and over again we run into the problem that plagues every
musician on social media well there's sort of expectations that it should be live or all in
one take or not messed with too much but the sound I expect in my head I'm comparing to
Studio level recordings this is huge believe me it's huge not only as a consistent creator
but for my students and for other people that want to create music to be enjoyed on this new
medium or new the sort of standard way of being seen and heard and it goes both ways right oh
I saw so and so on YouTube and they performed just absolutely amazing and it looked like it
was one take I could never do that and when I try I just seize up I have performance anxiety
I can't do it or you see something and go that's not real there's pitch correction
on there oh they must have done that a million times or oh the mouth didn't sync up with the
or whatever judgment based on expectation Creeps in either way and poisons your ability to create
your ability to perform I don't want that for you here's how to get around it start embracing
and enjoying the process of piecing together a vocal performance or performance in general
as you're working out how to make it the best it can possibly be get your recording equipment set
up and take things line by line sometimes word by word and record all of it don't worry about
how many punches you have don't worry about how many takes don't worry about trying to
sing lines all the way through just worry about creating the very best sonically pleasing engaged
performance that you possibly can even though it's done in pieces I remember reading an article
about a guitarist named Steve Vai who said that this is how he composed and learned his guitar
solos for his instrumental guitar this is what got me on the track of doing it with my voice
I don't get tired because I don't have to sing the song all the way through a bunch of times
I can learn and craft and compose piece by piece never mind that I don't that I can't sing what I'm
recording all the way through right now it doesn't matter I'm creating something great so that's
the first thing get in the habit of being okay with piecing things together as you're learning
and constantly giving yourself feedback on what works and what doesn't work as you're
doing this process that goes for other production elements that you might be hearing that you want
to try in the moment after you've done this one little thing what would this sound like
if I doubled it what would this sound like with more Reverb or delay what would it sound like
if I sang it slightly differently you're building something and you're having creative time doing it
then once you've gotten your cobbled together comps together take and all the experimenting
but you listen back you go oh wow that really really speaks to me as an overall performance
take a step away then start singing it all the way through along with the experience that you've had
recording it in pieces do this for several days you are going to be absolutely floored at what
happens with your own voice and mind as you start to sing whatever this song is whether
it's original or a cover as you start to see sing this thing all the way through
me
you should
send me
yeah it's not going to be perfect it's actually not even going to be as good as the one that
you meticulously labored over or the 120 you meticulously labored over but there's something
that happens you have programmed your muscle memory your mind to approach things in ways
that you never would have if you had just stepped up to the microphone and started trying to go for
it and doing it the best you can or choosing one take that works the very best for whatever setting
you're singing in once you've internalized this labor of love you've created turn on those cameras
make your video and sing your song yeah these takes are not going to be perfect but they're
going to be really good and they're going to be based on the emotional engagement the creativity
that you had when nobody was watching it's the perfect balance and when you're filming yourself
be okay to punch in and out be okay to do partial or multiple takes just as you did when you're in
the studio use different camera angles so you can creatively cut between different takes in
a way that's still engaging we as musicians are creating for a new environment a new medium and
it's absorbed and taken in in a very different way than really any other medium previously it's
not about Pride it's not about perfection it's about creating an emotionally engaged experience
for you to share with other people whether you're creating your own songs or whether you're covering
songs as a as a fan as a tribute to an artist that you love YouTube and other platforms have created
a tremendous opportunity to be seen and heard like never before don't let the fear expectation
or judgment on your part or the part of others keeping you from making wonderful experiences for
yourself and creating wonderful works of musical art that you can share with others if you'd like
more help with your own voice and your production and your mindset click the link below and join my
free voice course I'd love to work with you more deeply we'll see you for more [Music]