It’s “The Perfect Doggie Day” at Jesmax Music, BMI

101 Dalmations and Friends CD Art
Jesmax Music, BMI has added “The Perfect Doggie Day” with words and music composed by Gary Powell to its catalog of songs. Gary Powell also served as producer/arranger of the song which is on the album entitled “Disney’s 101 Dalmatians and Friends” releasing March 4th, 2008 on Walt Disney Records. The song was recorded in Austin, Texas at Powell Studio Productions and the album was compiled by Walt Disney Records VP, Ted Kryczko. Congratulations to Steve Sterling on his very cleverly designed album and CD artwork.

“Hamburgers burnt, hambugers soggy.
It’s all good when you’re the doggie.”

– Lyric from “The Perfect Doggie Day”

The song is performed by Austin singer, Trent Durham, a long time contributor for Powell Studio Productions. Trent made a previous appearance for the Walt Disney Records’ album, “Disney’s Song Factory – Dinosaur (Songs Inspired by Aladar’s Adventure)” on the song “Paradise” released in 1999. Trent continues to write and perform in Austin, Texas. The guitar parts were all played by Austin recording session guitarist extraordinaire Larry Seyer of Larry Seyer Digital. The male background vocals were performed by Zach Reiner-Harris, Ian Stuart, Ryan Farnsworth and Jeffrey Benson Parker, who were all students from the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California at Irvine. We found these young singers during auditions for the Recording Experience hosted by Ted Kryczko and held at Jeff Sheridan’s studio, Soundworks, in North Hollywood, California.

(Please note neither Gary Powell or Jesmax Music, BMI sells any Disney products on this site.
For further information please visit DisneyMusic.com or contact Gary Powell.

101 Dalmations and Friends CD Art
Jesmax Music, BMI has added “The Perfect Doggie Day” with words and music composed by Gary Powell to its catalog of songs. Gary Powell also served as producer/arranger of the song which is on the album entitled “Disney’s 101 Dalmatians and Friends” releasing March 4th, 2008 on Walt Disney Records. The song was recorded in Austin, Texas at Powell Studio Productions and the album was compiled by Walt Disney Records VP, Ted Kryczko. Congratulations to Steve Sterling on his very cleverly designed album and CD artwork.

“Hamburgers burnt, hambugers soggy.
It’s all good when you’re the doggie.”

– Lyric from “The Perfect Doggie Day”

The song is performed by Austin singer, Trent Durham, a long time contributor for Powell Studio Productions. Trent made a previous appearance for the Walt Disney Records’ album, “Disney’s Song Factory – Dinosaur (Songs Inspired by Aladar’s Adventure)” on the song “Paradise” released in 1999. Trent continues to write and perform in Austin, Texas. The guitar parts were all played by Austin recording session guitarist extraordinaire Larry Seyer of Larry Seyer Digital. The male background vocals were performed by Zach Reiner-Harris, Ian Stuart, Ryan Farnsworth and Jeffrey Benson Parker, who were all students from the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California at Irvine. We found these young singers during auditions for the Recording Experience hosted by Ted Kryczko and held at Jeff Sheridan’s studio, Soundworks, in North Hollywood, California.

(Please note neither Gary Powell or Jesmax Music, BMI sells any Disney products on this site.
For further information please visit DisneyMusic.com or contact Gary Powell.

University of California at Irvine

Student Call-Back for Studio Work Experience

by Gary Powell

As an alumnus of the University of California at Irvine, Ted Kryczko, VP of A&R Catalog Development at Walt Disney Records, has rekindled a close relationship with the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine. As an distinguished alumnus, Ted offered a recent opportunity to the singers from its School of Performing Arts where they could be heard and critiqued by industry professionals. This studio session was a callback from an audition we held on the UC Irvine campus on November 17, 2007. In 2005, Ted and I offered a similar vocal workshop for singers at the “Buffalo Summer Institute in Media Writing and Production” in Buffalo, New York.

Most of these singers from UC Irvine had either never sung in a professional recording studio or had not performed as a soloist in a studio before. For this session Ted chose the studio Soundworks, which is owned by engineer and long time associate Jeff Sheridan. Soundworks, located in North Hollywood, is well-known for providing audio production services for a wide range of recordings for television, radio and music projects.

Just singing in the studio with headphones on and re-learning how to sing in tune in this unfamiliar environment is a major adjustment for any singer, but on this day, the singers were also challenged to learn a song in under fifteen minutes. Each singer was then given about thirty minutes to record the song with my vocal coaching set on speed-dial. I can attest that these vocal performers are being taught something wonderful at UC Irvine. I found each of them professional in their demeanor with an excellent set of ear-training skills as well. I was amazed at how comfortable these singers were in being coached at this level of detail while under pressure. Let’s hope we all will get to know these names as they move forward in their performing careers.

My special thanks to all of the UCI singers for a really fun day: Katie Horwitch, Mazie Wilson, Kristen Rude, Laura D’Andre, Melissa Dunham, Julia Goretsky, Zach Reiner-Harris, Ian Stuart, Ryan Farnsworth, Jeffrey Benson Parker and Kari Hall

All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
.

The Struggle of Becoming & Creating

samuel barber hermit songs
by Gary Powell

At 22 years of age in 1973, I was simply too young to connect with this lyric below viscerally, but nonetheless, somehow found it intriguing. I performed Samuel Barber’s “Hermit Songs” in my senior recital as a vocal major in that year. Loneliness at that time was neither in my experience or aspirations. Now, understanding, accepting and living the solitude of composing music has recently brought this lyric closer to my heart and to a more complete knowledge of myself. Despite the sacrifices and compromises in almost every lattitude of my life from having chosen a career in music; it has been a good decision, and if for nothing else, the fullness of the experience. It is almost impossible to imagine myself being outside of the struggle of becoming and creating; both the quintessential archetypes held within the psychology of the composer. Within each composition, if looking, we can find the expression of a single life and how artistically that life has been lived. And now, how cool to actually be fully living what once was only a young man’s intrigue found within the prose of fourteenth century monks and our “desire for hermitage”.

Loneliness is the absence of the other, but solitude is the company of the self. – May Sarton


(Aniyia Williams, who is not a student of mine, here nicely sings “The Desire for Hermitage” from Samuel Barber’s Hermit Songs)

The Desire for Hermitage

Samuel Barber, Composer (1910-1981)
The Poetry of 14th Century Irish Monks

Ah! To be all alone in a little cell with nobody near me;
Beloved that pilgrimage before the last pilgrimage to death.
Singing the passing hours to cloudy Heaven;
Feeding upon dry bread and water from the cold spring.
That will be an end to evil when I am alone
In a lovely little corner among tombs
Far from the houses of the great.
Ah! To be all alone in a little cell, to be alone, all alone:
Alone I came into the world
Alone I shall go from it.

All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License

.

Obscura la Noche

Dark the Night

Guilty Movie Posterby Gary Powell

As a creative strategy in scoring Glendalough Studios’ movie Guilty, I first composed the song “Obscura la Noche”. Although the movie is in English Gabe Folse, the director of the film, and I agreed that the lyric played more emotionally when sung in Spanish. In the truest sense, this song is a “theme song” in that the melodic content and harmonization reflect the Latino culture and the layered internal compromises of the characters. Many of the film’s musical cues quote themes taken from both the harmonization and the melodies from the song itself. These musical components of the song are indeed inner-woven into the score which purposefully presents itself as one piece of music. The end effect of this compositional technique is that as the song is finally revealed at the end of the movie, audiences will already be familiar with it like an old friend you haven’t seen in years.

Hank Olguin, who masterfully translated my English lyric into Spanish, introduced me to singer Sara Traina of Indart Music. Sara is a native Spanish speaker and as Hank suggested, was the perfect singer to deliver the emotional impact of this song using her haunting and soulful voice. Sara is a principle player with Indart Music and Sound Productions in Los Angeles and Hank Olguin also works within this impressive music group from his home base in Mountain View, California. I offer many thanks to both Hank and Sara for working on a very short deadline and for delivering such a beautiful performance and also to audio engineer, Danny Osuna, who recorded Sara’s vocal.

(SITE TIP: Click on the script “Listen” to hear the music described in each post throughout this site.)

Composer & Lyricist: Gary Powell
Translator from English to Spanish: Hank Olguin
Vocalist: Sara Traina
Vocal Recorded by: Danny Osuna
Recorded and Mixed by: Gary Powell
Piano & Percussion: Gary Powell
Guitar: Larry Seyer
Upright Bass: Larry Seyer’s Acoustic Bass Library featuring the samples of Spencer Starnes, bassist



“Obscura la Noche”
Music and Lyrics by Gary Powell
(Spanish Translation by Hank Olguin)
Copyright 2007 Jesmax Music, BMI

Dark the Night

(Obscura la Noche)
Words and Music by Gary Powell

When the day is gone
And the night is long
There’s no way to live
Nothing’s left to give

Wash the day away
Hold the pain at bay
Settled for a knife
Settled for my life

Dark the night (Obscura la noche)
Dark the day (Obscuro el dia)
On the lonely path of only hurting
Loving souls when I once loved in light

Just below the skin
Looking deep within
There’s a place to rest
Where I’ll pass the test

Fluid threads are creased
Fragments cloak the peace
A dark soul to bear
Masked from all who care

Dark the night (Obscura la noche)
Dark the day (Obscuro el dia)
On the lonely path of only hurting
Loving souls when I once loved in light

When the day is gone
And the night is long
There’s no way to live
Nothing’s left to give

Dark the night (Obscura la noche)
Dark the day (Obscuro el dia)
On the lonely path of only hurting
Loving souls when I once loved in light

(Copyright 2007 Jesmax Music, BMI)

All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License

.

Guilty Movie Posterby Gary Powell

As a creative strategy in scoring Glendalough Studios’ movie Guilty, I first composed the song “Obscura la Noche”. Although the movie is in English Gabe Folse, the director of the film, and I agreed that the lyric played more emotionally when sung in Spanish. In the truest sense, this song is a “theme song” in that the melodic content and harmonization reflect the Latino culture and the layered internal compromises of the characters. Many of the film’s musical cues quote themes taken from both the harmonization and the melodies from the song itself. These musical components of the song are indeed inner-woven into the score which purposefully presents itself as one piece of music. The end effect of this compositional technique is that as the song is finally revealed at the end of the movie, audiences will already be familiar with it like an old friend you haven’t seen in years.

Hank Olguin, who masterfully translated my English lyric into Spanish, introduced me to singer Sara Traina of Indart Music. Sara is a native Spanish speaker and as Hank suggested, was the perfect singer to deliver the emotional impact of this song using her haunting and soulful voice. Sara is a principle player with Indart Music and Sound Productions in Los Angeles and Hank Olguin also works within this impressive music group from his home base in Mountain View, California. I offer many thanks to both Hank and Sara for working on a very short deadline and for delivering such a beautiful performance and also to audio engineer, Danny Osuna, who recorded Sara’s vocal.

(SITE TIP: Click on the script “Listen” to hear the music described in each post throughout this site.)

Composer & Lyricist: Gary Powell
Translator from English to Spanish: Hank Olguin
Vocalist: Sara Traina
Vocal Recorded by: Danny Osuna
Recorded and Mixed by: Gary Powell
Piano & Percussion: Gary Powell
Guitar: Larry Seyer
Upright Bass: Larry Seyer’s Acoustic Bass Library featuring the samples of Spencer Starnes, bassist



“Obscura la Noche”
Music and Lyrics by Gary Powell
(Spanish Translation by Hank Olguin)
Copyright 2007 Jesmax Music, BMI

Dark the Night

(Obscura la Noche)
Words and Music by Gary Powell

When the day is gone
And the night is long
There’s no way to live
Nothing’s left to give

Wash the day away
Hold the pain at bay
Settled for a knife
Settled for my life

Dark the night (Obscura la noche)
Dark the day (Obscuro el dia)
On the lonely path of only hurting
Loving souls when I once loved in light

Just below the skin
Looking deep within
There’s a place to rest
Where I’ll pass the test

Fluid threads are creased
Fragments cloak the peace
A dark soul to bear
Masked from all who care

Dark the night (Obscura la noche)
Dark the day (Obscuro el dia)
On the lonely path of only hurting
Loving souls when I once loved in light

When the day is gone
And the night is long
There’s no way to live
Nothing’s left to give

Dark the night (Obscura la noche)
Dark the day (Obscuro el dia)
On the lonely path of only hurting
Loving souls when I once loved in light

(Copyright 2007 Jesmax Music, BMI)

All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License

.

2007 (A Year in Review)

Gary Powell 2007 Year in Review Photos
by Gary Powell

  • SIXTEEN “Tween” Pop Songs Produced
  • TEN Vocal Jazz Songs Recorded and Mixed
  • ONE Jazz Choir Piece Recorded and Mixed
  • EIGHT “Tween” Pop Song Vocals Produced and Mixed
  • ONE Spanish Song Written and Produced
  • ONE Italian Song Orchestrated and Produced
  • THIRTY-FOUR Movie Cues Composed and Mixed
  • EIGHT Musical Storybook Cues Composed and Mixed
  • ONE Pop Song Written and Produced
  • Four Folk Rock Songs Produced
  • TWO Christmas Songs Produced and Mixed
  • FIFTEEN Poetry Music Cues Scored and Produced
  • ONE Instructional DVD for Classical Guitar
  • FOUR “In the Studio with Gary Powell” Shows Produced
  • SEVEN Personal Appearances as a Speaker or in Facilitator in Vocal Workshops

January

    Recorded ten songs for the Austin Vocal Group “Take 5” Album Project.
    Composed and Produced eight one-minute underscore cues for a European audio release of “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

February

    Presented private “In the Studio with Gary Powell” show featuring Craig Toungate for Wes Bishop’s birthday party.
    Produced eight songs for Disney’s Karaoke Series,“Disney Girlz Rock”.

March

    Delivered a speech to the Austin Downtown Rotary Club on the state of the music business.
    Facilitated a Vocal Workshop for the theatrical singers at DeSales University with Director, Dennis Razze.

April

    Brainstormed in a three day personal workshop with theatrical director, Alan Souza, for my major musical work of “Aristotle’s Prayer”.
    Record two publishing demos for singer/songwriter, Faith Greve.
    Wrote and recorded “Go Go Bananas” for Walt Disney Records’ new release “The Jungle is Jumpin’“.
    Arranged and produced “Baloo”, a previously unreleased song from “The Jungle Book”, for “The Jungle is Jumpin’“.

May

    Produced Rich Harney’s composition, “Jesus Lamb of God”, a Choral Recording.
    Produced Helen Darling’s Publishing Demo for her song “Mistake”.
    Arranged and recorded the string orchestra for the song “Se” from the movie Cinema Paradiso for singer Giovanni Giglini.
    Arranged and produced two more publishing demos for singer/songwriter Faith Greve.

June

    Hosted and produced an “In the Studio” concert, featuring Craig Toungate and Susan Lincoln, in Huntsville, Texas for my father’s 83rd birthday.
    Recorded and produced eight songs for Disney Karaoke Series, “The Cheetah Girls 2″.

July

    Recorded and produced the vocal tracks for “Disney’s Karaoke Series, Hannah Montana”.
    Arranged, recorded and produced “Holly Jolly Christmas”, featuring Craig Toungate.

August

    Rode motorcycles with Larry Seyer to Branson, Missouri for a week of meetings with performers and visits to venues.

September

    Edited and archived audio and video recordings from my studio for singer Joe York’s Memorial Service at Austin’s Zilker Park.
    Finished a year-long project producing the video for classical guitarist Philippe Bertaud, “Philippe Bertaud, On the Music of Hector Villa-Lobos”.

October

    Began creative meetings with Glendalough Studios for their feature film “Guilty“.
    Completed work scoring the poetry of John Lee (began recording in 2005) to be released in the Fall of 2008 under the title, “John Lee, Thunderstorm in Mentone”.

November

    Spent six days in Los Angeles for pre-production, development, thematic and creative meetings with clients.
    Wrote and recorded the theme song, “Obscura la Noche” for placement in Glendalough Studios’ movie “Guilty“.
    Composed and recorded the original score for Glendalough Studios’ movie “Guilty“.

December

    Mixed and delivered the score for the movie “Guilty“.
    Finished and delivered the final mix of “Se” for singer Giovanni Giglini.

PICTURED AT RIGHT FROM THE TOP DOWN:
Gary Powell, Amy Person, Max & Jessie Powell, Vanessa Joy & Amy Person, Giovanni Giglini, Taylor Seyer, Alice Gerhart, Amy Person & Sae Minh & Peter Minh & Gary Powell, Larry Seyer, Dennis Razze, Faith Greve, Ted Kryczko, Paul Baker, Philippe Bertaud, Alison Acton & Helen Darling, Yakov Smirnoff, Take 5, Helen Darling, Gary Powell & Chris McGuiness, Alison Acton, Larry Seyer, David Wise, Susan Lincoln & Craig Toungate, Alicia Jones, Mike Mordecai, Max Powell, Luiz Coutinho, Joel Cowen, Ben Nippis, Lisa Minchich, Rich Harney, Gary Slechta, Mr. Marvin

View Gary Powell's profile on LinkedIn
View Gary Powell’s Profile on LinkedIn

(Please note that I do not represent the Walt Disney Company nor do I sell their recordings.
For more information please go directly to Walt Disney Records
or follow the links within my site for specific titles.)

Gary Powell 2007 Year in Review Photos
by Gary Powell

  • SIXTEEN “Tween” Pop Songs Produced
  • TEN Vocal Jazz Songs Recorded and Mixed
  • ONE Jazz Choir Piece Recorded and Mixed
  • EIGHT “Tween” Pop Song Vocals Produced and Mixed
  • ONE Spanish Song Written and Produced
  • ONE Italian Song Orchestrated and Produced
  • THIRTY-FOUR Movie Cues Composed and Mixed
  • EIGHT Musical Storybook Cues Composed and Mixed
  • ONE Pop Song Written and Produced
  • Four Folk Rock Songs Produced
  • TWO Christmas Songs Produced and Mixed
  • FIFTEEN Poetry Music Cues Scored and Produced
  • ONE Instructional DVD for Classical Guitar
  • FOUR “In the Studio with Gary Powell” Shows Produced
  • SEVEN Personal Appearances as a Speaker or in Facilitator in Vocal Workshops

January

    Recorded ten songs for the Austin Vocal Group “Take 5” Album Project.
    Composed and Produced eight one-minute underscore cues for a European audio release of “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

February

    Presented private “In the Studio with Gary Powell” show featuring Craig Toungate for Wes Bishop’s birthday party.
    Produced eight songs for Disney’s Karaoke Series,“Disney Girlz Rock”.

March

    Delivered a speech to the Austin Downtown Rotary Club on the state of the music business.
    Facilitated a Vocal Workshop for the theatrical singers at DeSales University with Director, Dennis Razze.

April

    Brainstormed in a three day personal workshop with theatrical director, Alan Souza, for my major musical work of “Aristotle’s Prayer”.
    Record two publishing demos for singer/songwriter, Faith Greve.
    Wrote and recorded “Go Go Bananas” for Walt Disney Records’ new release “The Jungle is Jumpin’“.
    Arranged and produced “Baloo”, a previously unreleased song from “The Jungle Book”, for “The Jungle is Jumpin’“.

May

    Produced Rich Harney’s composition, “Jesus Lamb of God”, a Choral Recording.
    Produced Helen Darling’s Publishing Demo for her song “Mistake”.
    Arranged and recorded the string orchestra for the song “Se” from the movie Cinema Paradiso for singer Giovanni Giglini.
    Arranged and produced two more publishing demos for singer/songwriter Faith Greve.

June

    Hosted and produced an “In the Studio” concert, featuring Craig Toungate and Susan Lincoln, in Huntsville, Texas for my father’s 83rd birthday.
    Recorded and produced eight songs for Disney Karaoke Series, “The Cheetah Girls 2″.

July

    Recorded and produced the vocal tracks for “Disney’s Karaoke Series, Hannah Montana”.
    Arranged, recorded and produced “Holly Jolly Christmas”, featuring Craig Toungate.

August

    Rode motorcycles with Larry Seyer to Branson, Missouri for a week of meetings with performers and visits to venues.

September

    Edited and archived audio and video recordings from my studio for singer Joe York’s Memorial Service at Austin’s Zilker Park.
    Finished a year-long project producing the video for classical guitarist Philippe Bertaud, “Philippe Bertaud, On the Music of Hector Villa-Lobos”.

October

    Began creative meetings with Glendalough Studios for their feature film “Guilty“.
    Completed work scoring the poetry of John Lee (began recording in 2005) to be released in the Fall of 2008 under the title, “John Lee, Thunderstorm in Mentone”.

November

    Spent six days in Los Angeles for pre-production, development, thematic and creative meetings with clients.
    Wrote and recorded the theme song, “Obscura la Noche” for placement in Glendalough Studios’ movie “Guilty“.
    Composed and recorded the original score for Glendalough Studios’ movie “Guilty“.

December

    Mixed and delivered the score for the movie “Guilty“.
    Finished and delivered the final mix of “Se” for singer Giovanni Giglini.

PICTURED AT RIGHT FROM THE TOP DOWN:
Gary Powell, Amy Person, Max & Jessie Powell, Vanessa Joy & Amy Person, Giovanni Giglini, Taylor Seyer, Alice Gerhart, Amy Person & Sae Minh & Peter Minh & Gary Powell, Larry Seyer, Dennis Razze, Faith Greve, Ted Kryczko, Paul Baker, Philippe Bertaud, Alison Acton & Helen Darling, Yakov Smirnoff, Take 5, Helen Darling, Gary Powell & Chris McGuiness, Alison Acton, Larry Seyer, David Wise, Susan Lincoln & Craig Toungate, Alicia Jones, Mike Mordecai, Max Powell, Luiz Coutinho, Joel Cowen, Ben Nippis, Lisa Minchich, Rich Harney, Gary Slechta, Mr. Marvin

View Gary Powell's profile on LinkedIn
View Gary Powell’s Profile on LinkedIn

(Please note that I do not represent the Walt Disney Company nor do I sell their recordings.
For more information please go directly to Walt Disney Records
or follow the links within my site for specific titles.)

Investigating the Recording Studio

Session Singer Career Path

by Gary Powell

singer faith greveI have previously written about the job description of the recording session singer, but it was brought to my attention by a subscriber that I had not written a how-to-succeed to-do list for becoming a recording studio session singer on my site. Having already given you the job description, below is a list of just one possible scenario for becoming a professional recording studio session singer.

So, if becoming a recording session singer is a career path you are interested in pursuing, then tomorrow morning start working on this list and answering its questions. Feel free to skip items as scheduling permits and opportunities present themselves.

Nobody REALLY learns to sing until they start recording. – Gary Powell

  • Have a professional vocal coach or producer assess your talent. This assessment can be a broad overview of your vocal and musical capabilities within the context and understanding of where you want to be professionally. They may be wrong, but do it anyway. You must find out if your aptitude and talent match the job description of the recording session singer.
  • Determine what existing singer, if any, you most sound like in terms of tone, texture, phrasing and vocal range. Why do this? This is where your own assessment begins.
  • Determine what style of music your vocal instrument will most likely find work. What’s hip today won’t be tomorrow, but knowing where you most naturally fit or don’t fit stylistically is still important information for you to know about yourself.
  • After determining what musical genre your vocal instrument is particularly well-suited for, heighten and enhance your vocal performance skills within this vocal style! It is here, within the genre which you find most natural and in which you already excel, that you will most likely attract your first customers. Let them discover your true talent later. In the meantime, broaden your vocal stylistic repertoire to include as many genres as possible.
  • Have your tonal memory assessed by a music educator. If required, have that teacher develop adaptive listening skills designed for your own, very unique, instrument. This training will facilitate the most important part of your instrument, being the integration of your voice and ear. This is everyday stuff at any decent music school.

    • At this point, you should have made the realization that your ear is as important as your voice if not more so. If you have not of yet realized this, then repeat from step #1.

  • Start creating a “book” of songs that you can perform when opportunity calls. Your “book” will have all your best-suited repertoire organized with each song written in the right key for your voice. The songs can be simple lead sheets or piano/vocal sheet music, but don’t make the pianist have to interpret or transpose anything. Your “book” will prepare you for any opportunity whether it’s a gig or an audition. If the audition calls for a performance of only sixteen bars, then create the chart that accommodates that restriction as musically as possible. It also means you will never be dependent again on only one pianist for your gigs and you will also be prepared to work with an unknown auditioning or workshop accompanist with no rehearsal at all.
  • Sing. Sing all the time. Learn licks off the radio when you are driving. Anytime you are listening to music, begin singing harmony parts that are not even on the recording. Sing the lead guitar parts. Sing the bass line in whatever octave you can. Listen. Sing. Listen more closely. Sing again. Don’t stop this for the rest of your career. These exercises help to mature the relationship between your ear and your voice.
  • Never sing out of tune again. “Faulty intonation” or “singing out of tune” are the terms used to describe problems with pitch accuracy. In the old days, people used to call this “singing out of key”. Whatever you call it, singing out of tune is the fastest way for dismissal from a recording session unless your family owns the studio.
  • Learn the word timbre and how to pronounce it. (tam’-ber not tim’-ber)
  • Start recording your voice as soon as possible. Record your voice lessons. Record yourself singing karaoke. Sing into a $29 Radio Shack cassette deck or sing directly into your laptop, but start recording and listening to how others hear you. I’ve often said that nobody really learns to sing until they start recording. Start the recording process at whatever level you can afford, then repeat.
  • Now that you have the chops, be brave. Present yourself with confidence wherever you find opportunity, then prove yourself in person. It’s intoxicating to us professionals when your competence and confidence are confirmed in a live audition. We producers are well aware of an important piece of software called Antares Auto-Tune and its ability to correct any singer’s pitch problems. Therefore, we tend to not trust recorded auditions anymore as an accurate measure of a singer’s abilities regarding pitch accuracy.
  • If the singing career does not work out for you, sing anyway. It’s what humans do and it will always enrich your life regardless of where you do it or how much you are paid or not paid. Be human. Sing!

    • Thank you to the newest session singer in my studio, Faith Greve, for her talent, her wonderful attitude and for the use of her photo.

    All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
    Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
    .

    by Gary Powell

    singer faith greveI have previously written about the job description of the recording session singer, but it was brought to my attention by a subscriber that I had not written a how-to-succeed to-do list for becoming a recording studio session singer on my site. Having already given you the job description, below is a list of just one possible scenario for becoming a professional recording studio session singer.

    So, if becoming a recording session singer is a career path you are interested in pursuing, then tomorrow morning start working on this list and answering its questions. Feel free to skip items as scheduling permits and opportunities present themselves.

    Nobody REALLY learns to sing until they start recording. – Gary Powell

  • Have a professional vocal coach or producer assess your talent. This assessment can be a broad overview of your vocal and musical capabilities within the context and understanding of where you want to be professionally. They may be wrong, but do it anyway. You must find out if your aptitude and talent match the job description of the recording session singer.
  • Determine what existing singer, if any, you most sound like in terms of tone, texture, phrasing and vocal range. Why do this? This is where your own assessment begins.
  • Determine what style of music your vocal instrument will most likely find work. What’s hip today won’t be tomorrow, but knowing where you most naturally fit or don’t fit stylistically is still important information for you to know about yourself.
  • After determining what musical genre your vocal instrument is particularly well-suited for, heighten and enhance your vocal performance skills within this vocal style! It is here, within the genre which you find most natural and in which you already excel, that you will most likely attract your first customers. Let them discover your true talent later. In the meantime, broaden your vocal stylistic repertoire to include as many genres as possible.
  • Have your tonal memory assessed by a music educator. If required, have that teacher develop adaptive listening skills designed for your own, very unique, instrument. This training will facilitate the most important part of your instrument, being the integration of your voice and ear. This is everyday stuff at any decent music school.

    • At this point, you should have made the realization that your ear is as important as your voice if not more so. If you have not of yet realized this, then repeat from step #1.

  • Start creating a “book” of songs that you can perform when opportunity calls. Your “book” will have all your best-suited repertoire organized with each song written in the right key for your voice. The songs can be simple lead sheets or piano/vocal sheet music, but don’t make the pianist have to interpret or transpose anything. Your “book” will prepare you for any opportunity whether it’s a gig or an audition. If the audition calls for a performance of only sixteen bars, then create the chart that accommodates that restriction as musically as possible. It also means you will never be dependent again on only one pianist for your gigs and you will also be prepared to work with an unknown auditioning or workshop accompanist with no rehearsal at all.
  • Sing. Sing all the time. Learn licks off the radio when you are driving. Anytime you are listening to music, begin singing harmony parts that are not even on the recording. Sing the lead guitar parts. Sing the bass line in whatever octave you can. Listen. Sing. Listen more closely. Sing again. Don’t stop this for the rest of your career. These exercises help to mature the relationship between your ear and your voice.
  • Never sing out of tune again. “Faulty intonation” or “singing out of tune” are the terms used to describe problems with pitch accuracy. In the old days, people used to call this “singing out of key”. Whatever you call it, singing out of tune is the fastest way for dismissal from a recording session unless your family owns the studio.
  • Learn the word timbre and how to pronounce it. (tam’-ber not tim’-ber)
  • Start recording your voice as soon as possible. Record your voice lessons. Record yourself singing karaoke. Sing into a $29 Radio Shack cassette deck or sing directly into your laptop, but start recording and listening to how others hear you. I’ve often said that nobody really learns to sing until they start recording. Start the recording process at whatever level you can afford, then repeat.
  • Now that you have the chops, be brave. Present yourself with confidence wherever you find opportunity, then prove yourself in person. It’s intoxicating to us professionals when your competence and confidence are confirmed in a live audition. We producers are well aware of an important piece of software called Antares Auto-Tune and its ability to correct any singer’s pitch problems. Therefore, we tend to not trust recorded auditions anymore as an accurate measure of a singer’s abilities regarding pitch accuracy.
  • If the singing career does not work out for you, sing anyway. It’s what humans do and it will always enrich your life regardless of where you do it or how much you are paid or not paid. Be human. Sing!

    • Thank you to the newest session singer in my studio, Faith Greve, for her talent, her wonderful attitude and for the use of her photo.

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