High High High
Another weekend went by and the Reclinerland mobile studio was at it again. This time it was Kaitlyn Ni Donovan who lended her talents to the Ideal Home Music Library, Vol. 2. She sang beautifully, even though the part was written too high for her. This has become a bit of a problem with me. You see, way back when I started writing these songs, I had Kaitlyn in mind to sing the vocals on Up On The Orange Moon, so I listened to some of her music and wrote the song in what I guessed was her key. Confident that I had guessed correctly, Jenny and I recorded the song. Well, I was wrong. Although Kaitlyn was a huge sport about it, and her performance came out beautifully, I put a bit of a strain on her voice, and for that I'm sorry. What I should have done (let this be a lesson to you) was written the song, taken it to her and asked her where it would be comfortable to sing. Then I should have transposed it (put it in a new key) and recorded it. Oh well.
I want to emphasize, however, that Kaitlyn's vocal was really really excellent. She sang expressively, with the character in mind. We tried lots of different ways to deliver the melody, and she adapted to each one perfectly. HIgh and plaintive, or low and smoky, her voice was perfect for the material. At one point, during Il Fait Calme, she sounds like Brigitte Bardot. I can't wait for you to hear it.
So now I'm off to record my vocals, which I will do this week and on into next week. I'm going to shut myself up alone in our guitar teaching studio and have at it. I'm looking forward to singing these songs. I'm going to try to push myself to really sing differently for each song. I'd like to really work toward conveying the characters in the songs. There are some songs that I would still like to hand to other vocalists, and I'll think about that as I proceed. I'd love to have my friends Doug Sheperd, or Mathew Hattie Hein sing on these songs. But there may not be time. And people keep hinting that they'd rather hear me sing everything. We'll see what happens.
Anyway, the album is taking shape nicely. I'll keep you posted!
I want to emphasize, however, that Kaitlyn's vocal was really really excellent. She sang expressively, with the character in mind. We tried lots of different ways to deliver the melody, and she adapted to each one perfectly. HIgh and plaintive, or low and smoky, her voice was perfect for the material. At one point, during Il Fait Calme, she sounds like Brigitte Bardot. I can't wait for you to hear it.
So now I'm off to record my vocals, which I will do this week and on into next week. I'm going to shut myself up alone in our guitar teaching studio and have at it. I'm looking forward to singing these songs. I'm going to try to push myself to really sing differently for each song. I'd like to really work toward conveying the characters in the songs. There are some songs that I would still like to hand to other vocalists, and I'll think about that as I proceed. I'd love to have my friends Doug Sheperd, or Mathew Hattie Hein sing on these songs. But there may not be time. And people keep hinting that they'd rather hear me sing everything. We'll see what happens.
Anyway, the album is taking shape nicely. I'll keep you posted!