Voice & Sound is putting out some great talent!

RAE, a young Pop/R&B flower from OC, will be joining the bill for the V&S Artist Showcase on April 15th! Rae started her love affair with music when she was a little girl. She wrote her first song when she was just 6 years old and hasn’t stopped since. Her background of dancing and performing helped her cultivate her style and persona on stage. She is inspired by her personal experiences and finds joy in sharing them with the world.

VS Artist Profile

@luvxrae | Facebook Page
musicbyrae.bandcamp.com

Also, Tunecore is an independent artist’s digital dream. Visit here to see what they can do for you.

Trent Reznor Interview on Tunecore

Living CrazyBrave is a philosophy, a strategy and an action. It’s a way of living that addresses this weird limbo we creative types often find ourselves in.

The concept of living CrazyBrave is about getting out of your own way, forging outward with a renewed sense of energy and investing in the gifts and insights that come naturally to you. It’s about letting go so you can be more of yourself, so you can be happier, less burdened and more courageous in your life. Living CrazyBrave is about standing up in your art and falling in love with yourself again. Some may call us Crazy and some may even call us Brave.

If your life is a messy mountain and the blood in your veins ring with hope and dreamlike visions, then I am speaking directly to you. And there is an answer.

For this e-course, you will have to adhere to a few items of change. It involves 12 postulates, 3 months and a willingness to look at yourself – the good, the bad and the nasty. The postulates are foundational elements that will help us define our deeply held beliefs. These postulates are not a religion or a set of moral values. They are simply ways to begin the process of deep self evaluation and meaningful change. It is a psychological approach designed to link to our emotions and help clear out the mud and blocks of life.

I will need you to be committed to finishing the full 3 months. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does have to be a sustained effort to the end. I welcome your personal stories and input. It means a lot to me and will help all of us work toward loving ourselves more.

E-Course #1 Details:

• FREE
• 12 weeks: Jan 2 – Mar 26, 2012
• online access
• willingness to commit to weekly exercises and comment on the forum
• willingness to look at yourself and be open to change

REGISTRATION CLOSED —> New course in Spring!

STORY

I have always been a creative. I am a loner by nature, live in my head, and am generally mystified by things like rules, regulations and consequence. Along with my dream-like naiveté, I am also a super-sensitive. My heart hurts for people over things like natural disasters, domestic cruelty, slavery and the Nazis. When I say it hurts, it really hurts. Like, I-want-to-drink-myself-under-the-table kind of hurt or take enough opiates keeping me this side of dead.

I wish someone had known 40+ years ago how to help a kid like me. It would have come in handy understanding why 4th grade mathematical fractions made no sense, or why my thinking resembled shuffling car radio stations instead of focused cruise control. It would have helped to know that I wasn’t stupid or misguided and that I could actually do something special in the world. Of course, no one had discovered ADHD yet or understood that gifted creatives would someday change the world by pioneering a new way of thinking in business, education, and art. For a little girl growing up in the 60’s it would have meant a lot to have had someone help bridge the enormous gap between what the world expected of me and what I expected of myself. I had one great teacher in elementary school who took an unorthodox approach to education and I think she noticed something in me too. But she too wasn’t given enough tools to help in the education of people like me. It was clear. I was left to my own ingenuities to figure out how to make it in the world.

Thank God, I had a secret weapon. A place I could go and get away. MUSIC.

I discovered music the summer before 5th grade. I signed up for a silly elective like “General Music Ed” and at show and tell, some girl took out a beautiful chrome flute and played it for the class. It would not be an understatement to say that in that moment I found Jesus. It was a mind blowing and brilliantly life changing event for me. I begged and pleaded with my parents to get me a flute ASAP and after nagging strenuously over months, they finally acquiesced.

The day I got my flute, I staying up all night learning how to make a sound come out of it and by morning I could play a rendition of “Camp Town Races” with modest proficiency. I surprised even myself. But even more surprising was the hours of intense focus I experienced that first night. This was a new thing for me. It was like I was Columbus and I had just discovered the new land. Music became my refuge, my addiction and my first love.

Flash forward to now. I am a voice teacher, jazz singer and psych-shrink working with singers and musicians who want to create something beautiful in their art. I call them the chosen ones and I love the work that I do.

Over 15 years of teaching, I’ve noticed a few things about my students:
1. They are almost always insecure on some level
2. They struggle with relationships
3. They feel deeply about everything
4. They are often naïve
5. They have a critic in their head telling them they suck all the time
6. They are moody
7. They are dreamers
8. They are scared
9. They are depressingly sad people if they cannot do their art
10. They have a lot to say to the world

And the list goes on.

I wanted to launch this CrazyBrave E-course to address some of these issues and to simply… help. I was always told that if you were going to write, write about what you know and since I am a musician first, I will be writing from that vantage point. However, creativity is creativity and those who want to understand their creative efforts will benefit from this blog series too.

Yours Truly,

REGISTRATION CLOSED —> New course in Spring!

I feel the cold in the air during the holidays and the landscape is dotted not so much with sugar plum fairies, but with sadness and hopelessness. For many, this has been a tough year and the season brings a mixed bag of emotion marred by tight malls and even tighter wallets. If you sing, the opportunities to heal, uplift and encourage are endless during the holiday season. The planet needs healing, the continents need healing, and our families need healing as we continue to search for healing in ourselves.

You have a grand window of opportunity this December to use your unique voice and personal expression to heal the landscape around you, and inside of you. Give yourself the wonderful gift of personal time with music and singing. Discover new ways to ramp up your internal creativity so you can offer the best of yourself to others around you. If you are reading this blog, you just might be ready for a challenge, so here goes.

Choose one of the following 10 ideas to do before the end of the year:

1. Spend three consecutive hours listening to new music.
2. Download a karaoke song and sing it OUT LOUD when you’re home alone.
3. Record a Christmas Song and give it out as gifts to those home alone this season.
4. Take yourself to a concert.
5. Find a song that you normally wouldn’t sing. Study the lyric, melody and rhythm carefully.
6. Buy a soundtrack CD from your favorite movie.
7. Buy yourself a small hand held recorder to capture any new songs, lyrics or music you create.
8. Read a story to a young person using all your best vocal expression to bring the story to life.
9. Have a small party with friends and sing holiday songs together.
10. Organize a few friends and sing at a hospital or senior citizen home.

Small activities like these will increase the reservoir of solace and strength you gain as you enter into the new calendar year. Your deserve it, and those around you deserve your Heart Shared Through Your Art. Remember, the gift you give to others just might be the gift you give to yourself.

Stress, physical or emotional, also will affect your voice and the way in which you interpret and emotionally connect with your songs, so make sure that you journal, pray, vent, cry, etc. or whatever you need to do to release all the daily worries, doubts, fears and frustrations that tend to build up over time, but that our society sometimes tells us we are not allowed to express. Or sometimes, life just feels to busy to stop and take stock of what we are actually feeling. Taking that time every day, or even a few times a week, to (at the risk of sounding cliche) get in touch with our emotions can really aid the process of any kind of artist or creative person.

Exercise is an often overlooked aspect of singing, however, as a vocal teacher and a vocalist, I am discovering more and more how staying active can be extremely beneficial to a singer. First of all, it’s obvious that lung capacity plays a pretty major role in singing, and getting regular cardiovascular exercise can help maintain and even increase lung capacity, so that you can take in more air, and therefore have more power so that you can sing longer and stronger! Exercise can also help you stay limber and alleviate muscle tension that accumulates from stress, and sedentary lifestyles.

I recently read an article that supports what I have also found to be true, in that regular cardio exercise keeps my diaphragm and breathing muscles loose and strong, which help in supporting my voice, and in producing a strong and free vibrato. To check out this excellent article by Judy Rodman, click on this link: http://ezinearticles.com/?Singing-and-Physical-Exercise&id=2280813

It should be noted, however, that a few teachers I have come across have recommended against excessive body-building in the shoulder/neck area (although of course it is beneficial to have strong shoulders and upper back, just not to the extreme of bulky muscles that may limit range of motion), as they have seen this interfere with singing and cause tightness in the neck and throat.

Happy singing, and stay healthy!

For singers, our body is our instrument, yet we don’t always give our instrument the care we should. We scream at a loud concert, we smoke, we drink, we don’t exercise, and we eat badly, not to mention that studies have shown that most Americans don’t get enough sleep. (For more on “Sleep Debt”, check out: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0224_050224_sleep.html )

Let’s start with how we use our voices in day to day life: The word to remember is SUPPORT. If you’re at a concert, a baseball game, or at a loud party, chances are you’re yelling, screaming, or at least talking over other background noise… that’s okay, provided you use breath support. Make sure you’re breathing deeply, and feel your diaphragm push out the air, as opposed to your throat muscles.

Smoking… where should I start? By now we should all know the dangers of smoking, so I’m going to skip that and focus on the effects on a singer. Although some singers claim to need a smoke before a performance, the reality is that smoking can alter the quality of your voice, reduce your range, and drastically reduce your lung capacity. Less lung capacity = less air. Less air really affects singing.

Drinking alcohol dehydrates your voice, which can cause irritation and damage. Personally, I’ve noticed that even a glass of wine, or a beer, will affect my voice the next day, making my voice less powerful, and reducing my range.

If you want to use your voice to the best of it’s potential, it may be time to honestly evaluate how your lifestyle may be negatively affecting your instrument.

1. Hire a vocal coach or teacher: The vocal line is invariably the focal point of a song, so it has to be good; and because the natural human voice is the sound with which we are most familiar, any flaws in a vocal recording are immediately evident. I strongly advise you to invest some money, and find a good vocal coach who can help you during the preparation process. If you’ve looked around and hired the right person for the job, it will be well worth your pennies.  Your coach should work on perfecting your vocal pitch and delivery. If possible, have your coach record you informally so you can hear what you sound like. Get accustomed to your voice on tape. Learn to listen for what works and what needs to be changed. If you can’t afford a vocal teacher/coach, then put yourself on tape and get honest feedback from friends or loved ones.

2. Take Care of Your Voice: I call it the H.O.R. Principle (pronounced like the more commonly known word, but thankfully means something nicer).  It stands for:

Hydrate: Anything that dries you out can be problematic – over-exercise, caffeine, smoking and alcohol.  On the contrary, warm liquids and plenty of H2O will keep the vocal chords moist and ready for singing.  Keep yourself hydrated during the vocal session to help with vocal flexibility.

Outside Factors: Allergies, acid reflux and the air conditioning in a room. Cold air freezes the pipes and reeks havoc on the voice.  Warm Tea, Water, and a calming atmosphere are conducive to capturing good vocals. Become a vocal detective.  Which foods and environmental conditions affect your voice?  Be aware and listen to what your body tells you.

Rest: Most creative people are night owls. In fact, with Starbucks on every corner and energy drinks in every fast food market, exhaustion seems to be the norm.  Sleeping and real rest are perhaps the most important and rejuvenating actions you can take in vocal preparation.  And contrary to popular belief, your creative engine can be turned on anytime of the day, not just at night.

3. Rehearse your Stuff: You must rehearse your material A LOT.   The music can be great, the arrangements dazzling, but if the vocals are poor, the recording will suffer. Rehearse your material with a respectable vocal coach who can point out the areas that need work, OR spend time rehearsing with a self-critical ear.  Could you sing the verse with more feeling?  Is the hook strong enough?  Does your voice honor the musical arrangement of the piece? Rehearse your art and it will serve you well once you enter the studio.  Don’t be under the illusion that you need little rehearsal time and that your vocal tracks will somehow miraculously sound terrific.  Most everyone, even the most talented of singers, have to work hard to get to the place where their vocals sound great.  I see it happen all too often.  A new artist comes into the studio to record vocals and it becomes evident, 10 minutes into the recording, that they are not prepared.  They sound tired, their delivery is flat or they just haven’t practiced enough.   Don’t let that be you.

4. Pitch & Tempo: Although there are many vocal techniques we could cover here, let me offer two basic elements that are crucial in the delivery of a great recordeding.

Problems with “ pitch” are the vocalists #1 enemy. This applies in the performance setting as well as in the studio. “Autotune” technology exists so that an engineer can correct the pitch of a singer. There are programs out there that not only correct pitch, but tempo, tone, and all sorts of other miscalculations in the human voice. However, any good engineer will tell you that overuse of these programs can make your vocal sound “fixed” and “mechanical”. Something you don’t want.  If the engineer has to go in after the fact and correct your vocal for elements that you could have corrected earlier, it could cost you quality in the recording and money in your pocket.  So save yourself some time and money and use your rehearsal time to make sure you are on pitch.

Tempo:  Be aware of your timing.  Are you consistently “behind” or “in front” of the tracks?  Different genres call for different timing requirements.  If you are planning a lazy vocal over some sketchy rhythm track (ala Neo-Soul, Jazz, Rap or R&B), make sure it works for the style your singing.  If you are slightly ahead of the track (ala some Latin rhythms etc.) then practice accordingly.  Most music, however, requires a keen sense of rhythm and vocal placement. Moreover, the ability to read music and sight read charts is an invaluable skill for any vocalist. Any slight hiccup in timing can affect the flow of a song and even butcher the intention of the writing.

5. Expression: Sounds easy?  It’s not.  People dedicated to the arts can often work a lifetime educating themselves in more effective ways to express their art to the world.   Simply defined, expression is that element of musical performance that is more than notes or musical abbreviations. It involves human elements of interpretation that include emotional content, skill and talent. Your personal interpretation and expression of a song – dynamics, phrasing, the ability to tell a story – are anchored in the sum total of your experiences and ability to be completely honest within your craft. Target those characteristics that are unique to you, as this is where the art happens. Listen to what other singers are doing.  Find out what works for you and what doesn’t.