♬
Others?
What do you practice, what do you study,
what are you passionate about these days?
Well my the latest thing is that I've discovered
this this whole school of vocal coaching
this New York Vocal Coaching thing- I'm just- it's absolutely amazing
and mind-blowing and I'm not even…
I'm not even playing, it is actually all of that.
It’s a new arena for me, um, but throughout my entire life
it's been about learning.
[Justin] Yeah.
[Mark] I’m naturally an arranger, but I never stop learning
more about arranging.
You know, I'm always listening to other people
and how they do things.
And there's always something new
that I have not discovered.
There's always new ways of doing a lead vocal.
I am constantly learning new ways of “skinning that cat”
and you know, different approaches to how we produce,
because you know the whole industry is changing.
Technology is always changing.
So we always have to just keep bringing it in.
Keep your mind open.
You know it was Quincy Jones that said, you know,
“never never stop learning”. You can always learn,
I don't care how old you are.
[Justin] Yeah.
[Mark] You never know it all.
When you think you know it all,
that's when you're done.
[Justin] That's right, yeah yeah.
[Dave] One of the techniques I use to learn,
is I first figure out what I like
and then I say why do I like this?
And then I approach almost everything that way.
You know because, even things that didn't seem
to catch my eye the first time,
when I go back and I see everyone else is enjoying it,
I'll say, well man I wonder why they like that
let me get into that a little bit
and say oh man that is pretty cool.
And so regardless of the genre,
regardless of the style, you can always find
an entertainment value.
Something that is enjoyable about it.
And then dig into why, and then as you start to
transcribe, or something like that, you figure out, you dissect it,
and you figure out why it is the way it is.
And why people enjoy it.
[Justin] Yeah, absolutely.
Any other things you're passionate about learning
or ways that you practice?
[Alvin] You know, one other thing I will just add,
is there have been a couple of times
when I've had a mental-
Um… I'm trying to think of a different way
to say it…
Brain farts.
And I don't know what the next lyric is,
I don't know it.
It's coming, I see it.
It's coming, I'm looking at their faces
trying to see if anybody can help me
before I give them this look,
and there will be some move or something that I'll do
and it's there.
Like the arm, for whatever reason.
So as much as possible, I would encourage people
to practice all of the mnemonic devices.
Use everything.
You know, don't rehearse sitting down if you're
going to be standing up.
You know, give all of what you're supposed to do.
If you're an oral learner, put it on repeat.
Learn it, learn it, learn it, listen to it, listen to it.
Even as you're, you know, washing your dishes or whatever.
Take all of the devices, because your brain will use it.
It'll get in there in some kind of- in different ways that you're
not intentional about or aware of.
[Justin] Yeah.
[Alvin] And it'll come out when you need it.
[Dave] I would go back to just add one other thing.
When you start to dissect,
there's some people who are really good
but then you say they've taken it too far
and just understand that there's a certain level
of technicality that sometimes is just too much.
[Justin] Yeah.