It’s not everyday that you get to get to say this, but this image shining over Times Square in New York is our very own Karin Ann, who we developed at 360!
Karin goes from strength to strength and has now been chosen as a featured artist by Spotify themselves for their playlist “Equal” and her song “in company” is first on the playlist!
It is a pleasure to work with Karin. She is from Zilina in Slovakia and her dedication to music saw her coming over from there to Leeds to work on a number of songs and artist development with us.
Since then she has continued to work with well known producers and music industry professionals and is touring in multiple countries, due to land here in the UK for Reading and Leeds festival later this month (August 2021).
Karin and her family said of working with 360 “It’s been a really good experience. Thank you for being the start, you were there in the beginning to give the first stone for the successful building of the project, thank you for your help” and we couldn’t be prouder of what she has gone on to achieve.
Congratulations Karin, you deserve this success and may you have a long and successful career in the music industry!
https://www.360artistdevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/karin-Ann-Times-Square.jpeg992744matthew@360artistdevelopment.comhttps://www.360artistdevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/360-artist.pngmatthew@360artistdevelopment.com2021-08-18 17:26:032021-08-18 17:26:03Karin Ann Featured in Times Square by Spotify!
Knowing what to expect when you visit a recording studio can take away a lot of nerves and ensure you have a great session.
Even if you don’t write your own songs you can record onto backing tracks. A lot of rappers will buy beats online and then visit a studio to record their rap over the top and some studios provide or produce beats themselves.
If you’re a singer who doesn’t play any instruments, ask your local studios if they have any writers on the team who can help you come up with an original song.
A good place to start if you are completely new to recording in a studio is going there and simply recording a cover song. You will learn what it’s like to record and when you are more comfortable you can come back and do original songs.
First time in recording studio tips
When you visit a studio, you will meet the engineer -the person who controls the recording equipment. They will talk to you through headphones on something called TalkBack and they will explain to you what you need to do, when you need to start singing etc.
The producer is somebody who directs what should happen to get the best performance from you. So they might say:
“let’s do that again”.
“A Little Bit Stronger”.
“Let’s put more emotion into that”.
“How about you try singing it like this”
Often in small recording studios, the engineer and producer are the same person.
You have a choice as to whether you want to be produced.
Most really appreciate the help of an experienced producer to tell them what they need to do to get the best performance, but some don’t.
A great producer can put you at ease and get a great performance!
There is usually separate room that you go in to record your vocals. You stand in front of the microphone (which will be height adjusted) and they will ask you about whether the volume levels are right for you.
You can say “turn my vocal up, but keep the music as it is”
“turn the music up, but keep my vocal as it is”
or “turn them both up (or both down)”.
It’s really important to get the right levels so that you aren’t straining or under-singing because of wrong volume levels.
I’ve seen some people sing with one side of the headphones off and the other on. Should I do that?
There is no right or wrong. Having both on there will be less chance of the microphone recording what is coming out of the headphones while you do your take and some artists love to be fully immersed in the music, but others find that by having one ear off they can hear themselves more naturally and therefore put a better performance in. So it’s just personal choice.
You may be wondering “what do I need to bring to a recording session?”
Usually this will just be you, lyrics that you need and links to backing tracks or actual files you want to be used. It’s a good idea to talk to the studio beforehand and agree what you need to bring because there’s nothing worse than turning up with your iPad which has your track on, only to find that they don’t have a cable that plugs into that in order to get your song off of it!
Remember, recording is not a live performance
‘Doing takes’ means recording the same thing over and over and this can be edited perfectly later on. If you make a mistake, just carry on because the next take can be chopped in later. By the end of the recording session you might have done five, six different takes and the producer or the engineer can cut up all of those into one perfect take.
Some physical considerations for singers
It’s important to look after your voice. Don’t go having just eaten, avoid dairy products, bananas, alcohol and caffeine (tea/coffee. Consume lots of water so that you sound the best you possibly can.
Emotion
Your voice will be compressed after its recorded, which basically means that the loud parts will get quieter and the quiet parts will get louder. This ensures that your voice sits properly over the music.
This can cause a problem if you’re relying on ‘quiet’ to be your basis of what sounds emotional. Work on real emotion in singing lessons before you go and then give it your all!
Final points in how to prepare for a recording.
Never give the engineer or the producer the lyrics to the song that you’re going to sing.
Ask them to tell you what they think you’re singing. There are a lot of songs out there where misheard lyrics happen and the reason is all around poor mouth shapes. If this happens to you in a recording session, it can only be spotted by somebody who doesn’t know what the lyrics are because as soon as you know, you will naturally hear those words!
Go and visit your local Studios, get a relationship with the. Ask to come down and have a look at the place or book a session in. You don’t lose anything and you might gain so much.
Please Subscribe to us on YouTube and you’ll then be able to pick up all of our #TuesdayTopTip series for free.
https://www.360artistdevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/HQ-Inside-1-scaled.jpg18292560matthew@360artistdevelopment.comhttps://www.360artistdevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/360-artist.pngmatthew@360artistdevelopment.com2021-08-11 11:19:122021-08-11 11:19:12What Happens When You Visit a Recording Studio
Do online singing lessons work? Are online singing courses as good as a real teacher?
In this article we will look at online singing lesson pros and cons by comparing courses vs local singing teachers.
Deciding which option is right for you when you learn how to sing is important and it may be that a combination of both works best.
This is obviously a very personal decision. YouTube is saturated with many singing videos from different people with different levels of experience and different ideas on teaching how to sing.
There are some absolutely fantastic things that you can learn from these videos. Equally though, it can be incredibly time consuming to keep going through endless online music training videos to find the ones that will truly help you and so it is worth considering at the start if you truly have time for that – especially when many teachers contradict each other with topics such as mixed voice and belting etc.
Exercises, vocal warm-ups and improving your range can definitely be taught using online, pre-recorded means.
When considering how to learn online, you may decide that it’s worth paying for a course that is set out by one voice teacher who you like.
This decision could save you masses of time searching the internet for help and you will spend more time focussed on improving your voice instead.
There are many sites you can look at for courses like this including Udemy, Yousician, takelessons and of course on our site too.
However, online vocal coaching videos don’t 100% replace the need for a real singing teacher.
Even our own online course – “Fast Track Singing” (which has been sponsored by VocalZone) includes a chapter on how to find a singing teacher for that exact reason.
A singing teacher can help you work on real songs and work through your own individual vocal issues to become a better singer overall.
Just like you would research the best singing course for you online, it’s equally important to find the best local teacher for your needs.
Some teachers are very technical, have University qualifications in vocal anatomy or similar.
Others are more focussed on the fun side of singing and might be less qualified but better singing teachers for you, because they connect with you better.
If you want to take exams, you need a teacher that is authorised to send you to examinations and knows the syllabus for that.
Some teachers don’t teach certain genres like Opera for example, so your choice may be based on your particular singing voice
What if you don’t have a great local singing teacher available?
Do online vocal lessons work?
Singing teachers have been teaching online on Zoom all the way through the coronavirus lockdown and so yes online voice lessons are definitely possible and the benefits of this are that:
You can choose any singing teacher in the world that you want to work with
You can learn from the comfort of your own home
You can save on travel costs
You will be motivated to continue practising because you have future lessons booked in
However there are definitely some drawbacks to this way of learning, such as:
It is internet speed and internet connection dependent
You have to be the one that presses play/stop on the recording to avoid a lag with the audio
If you go to a singing teacher who has a studio setup, you can do recordings to hear yourself getting better over time.
This is a little bit like when your mom or grandma used to put marks on a door to measure your height. It is not always easy to remember being that small, but by seeing the marks on the door you can see the different heights you reached.
The same applies with singing. You won’t necessarily notice the small changes in your voice, but hearing yourself on different recordings you will (and other people will notice the difference in you too).
Whatever you decide, online course vs real singing teacher, it is important to be consistent and keep learning and practising week after week. That is what brings success.
https://www.360artistdevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Singing-Lessons2.jpg324576matthew@360artistdevelopment.comhttps://www.360artistdevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/360-artist.pngmatthew@360artistdevelopment.com2021-08-05 13:27:092021-08-05 13:27:36Are Online Singing Courses As Good As A Real Teacher?
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