by Gary Powell Click Here to See all the Photos
I spent June 17-19, 2005 as guest faculty at the Oklahoma Arts Institute, a multi-disciplinary program for the development of young artists. There were some 40 singers present, each of whom had won a seat at OAI through audition. The singers’ first week was spent in the very capable hands of Dr. Lynn Gackle from the University of South Florida. I attended her concert with these singers the night I arrived. They were wonderfully rehearsed and created music of real beauty. Dr. Gackle bravely repositioned the singers for each piece, creating a different aural experience for the audience throughout the concert.
As is usually the case, I was invited to bring an experience and overview of what is expected of singers in
actual recording sessions. Briefly, this is about creating exercises that deepen the relationship between a singer’s ear and their voice.
In contrast to traditional choral singing, I work to create and define what happens between the notes more than the tone or sonority of the voice. One might think of it as developing a horizontal perspective more than a vertical one. This is greatly oversimplifying, but I’ll write a book on this later.
Also, the singers play a very important role by taking part in creating “vocal gestures” themselves. This singing-with-style thing asks for individuals to step out of the choir, improvise, then allow us to audition, sculpt and choose what we like. The next stop after identifying the style for a given word or phrase is for the rest of the group to quickly assimilate what they’ve just heard into an ensemble sound.
Can this be taught in a few hours of rehearsal? Of course not, but it CAN help a singer learn about their own talent, aptitude and interest in this style of singing. These kind of exercises are best achieved after the trust of the group has been established.
My gratitude to these young singers in allowing me to work in a similar fashion to how I interact with professional singers. I would not have expected to have taken such direct and blunt liberties with high-school singers. Nonetheless, I found these young singers up for the task. I got excited by the sound we created together and I hope some of them did as well. Thank you all for a wonderful experience and to Matthew (our producer).
Special thanks to choral accompanist, Jennifer Carr, for her warmth and support of me and the singers both. Also, thank you to Andrew Stewart (wow, what a voice) and Lauren Stewart, (who I didn’t get to hear sing) for their help in making my life and stay so easy and enjoyable. Also, I would like to thank Nance Diamond and Robin Huston for such a beautifully organized arts event!
THE SINGERS of the OKLAHOMA ARTS INSTITUTE
Patrick Ahern, Charles Barraclough, Jeff Beioncik, Jed Boyd, Jillian Bumpas, Ryan Carr, Erik Collins, Mason Combes, Halen Dahl, Anderson Daniel, Charlotte Daniel, Sarah Duval, Andra Erbar, Kirk Forthman, Alexandra French, Jason Gadberry, Brain Gaylor, Henry Gorton, Brittney Green, Elizabeth Greuel, Eric Hamilton, Brian Hasse, Keaton Hasty, Amanda Hayes, Charla Henderson, Kristen Jackson, Kyle Leapline, Emily Lott, Samantha Mason, Virginia Mather, Chris McAbery, Susanna McDaniel, Alison McMahan, Evan Mustard, Bailey Perkins, Drew Pierce, Nicole Pride, Nicole Pride, Joshua Seals, Matthew Stensrud, Brett Terry, kyle Torbert, Sarah Torneten, Amanda Underwood, Kaylee Vardeman, Kaylee Vardeman, Scott Whisenhunt, Thomas Williams, Ryan Wood
by Gary Powell Click Here to See all the Photos
I spent June 17-19, 2005 as guest faculty at the Oklahoma Arts Institute, a multi-disciplinary program for the development of young artists. There were some 40 singers present, each of whom had won a seat at OAI through audition. The singers’ first week was spent in the very capable hands of Dr. Lynn Gackle from the University of South Florida. I attended her concert with these singers the night I arrived. They were wonderfully rehearsed and created music of real beauty. Dr. Gackle bravely repositioned the singers for each piece, creating a different aural experience for the audience throughout the concert.
As is usually the case, I was invited to bring an experience and overview of what is expected of singers in actual recording sessions. Briefly, this is about creating exercises that deepen the relationship between a singer’s ear and their voice.
In contrast to traditional choral singing, I work to create and define what happens between the notes more than the tone or sonority of the voice. One might think of it as developing a horizontal perspective more than a vertical one. This is greatly oversimplifying, but I’ll write a book on this later.
Also, the singers play a very important role by taking part in creating “vocal gestures” themselves. This singing-with-style thing asks for individuals to step out of the choir, improvise, then allow us to audition, sculpt and choose what we like. The next stop after identifying the style for a given word or phrase is for the rest of the group to quickly assimilate what they’ve just heard into an ensemble sound.
Can this be taught in a few hours of rehearsal? Of course not, but it CAN help a singer learn about their own talent, aptitude and interest in this style of singing. These kind of exercises are best achieved after the trust of the group has been established.
My gratitude to these young singers in allowing me to work in a similar fashion to how I interact with professional singers. I would not have expected to have taken such direct and blunt liberties with high-school singers. Nonetheless, I found these young singers up for the task. I got excited by the sound we created together and I hope some of them did as well. Thank you all for a wonderful experience and to Matthew (our producer).
Special thanks to choral accompanist, Jennifer Carr, for her warmth and support of me and the singers both. Also, thank you to Andrew Stewart (wow, what a voice) and Lauren Stewart, (who I didn’t get to hear sing) for their help in making my life and stay so easy and enjoyable. Also, I would like to thank Nance Diamond and Robin Huston for such a beautifully organized arts event!
THE SINGERS of the OKLAHOMA ARTS INSTITUTE
Patrick Ahern, Charles Barraclough, Jeff Beioncik, Jed Boyd, Jillian Bumpas, Ryan Carr, Erik Collins, Mason Combes, Halen Dahl, Anderson Daniel, Charlotte Daniel, Sarah Duval, Andra Erbar, Kirk Forthman, Alexandra French, Jason Gadberry, Brain Gaylor, Henry Gorton, Brittney Green, Elizabeth Greuel, Eric Hamilton, Brian Hasse, Keaton Hasty, Amanda Hayes, Charla Henderson, Kristen Jackson, Kyle Leapline, Emily Lott, Samantha Mason, Virginia Mather, Chris McAbery, Susanna McDaniel, Alison McMahan, Evan Mustard, Bailey Perkins, Drew Pierce, Nicole Pride, Nicole Pride, Joshua Seals, Matthew Stensrud, Brett Terry, kyle Torbert, Sarah Torneten, Amanda Underwood, Kaylee Vardeman, Kaylee Vardeman, Scott Whisenhunt, Thomas Williams, Ryan Wood
by Gary Powell
Session photos from the Parents’ Choice Award Winning Record, “A Bug’s Life Sing Along”.
Robin Huston is the Vice President of Programs at the Oklahoma Arts Institute
I discovered Robin Huston as a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin when she auditioned for the vocal group under my direction there. There are very specific skills needed for recording studio session singers. That vocal group, “Ensemble 109”, was designed to teach singers how to survive and even prosper in that environment. Since our first meeting in 1986, Robin has earned well over 100 credits as a solo performer, half of which have been for Walt Disney Records here in my studio.
Robin invited me to teach a choral seminar for high-school singers at the Quartz Mountain Arts and Conference Center of the Oklahoma Arts Institute on June 18-19, 2005. Hopefully, these young singers will get to hear Robin perform. She is a “first-call” session singer and long-time friend and colleague. She has all the talent and skills that these young choral singers would want to emulate if deciding to start a recording career. Thank you, Robin!!!!
by Gary Powell
Session photos from the Parents’ Choice Award Winning Record, “A Bug’s Life Sing Along”.
Robin Huston is the Vice President of Programs at the Oklahoma Arts Institute
I discovered Robin Huston as a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin when she auditioned for the vocal group under my direction there. There are very specific skills needed for recording studio session singers. That vocal group, “Ensemble 109”, was designed to teach singers how to survive and even prosper in that environment. Since our first meeting in 1986, Robin has earned well over 100 credits as a solo performer, half of which have been for Walt Disney Records here in my studio.
Robin invited me to teach a choral seminar for high-school singers at the Quartz Mountain Arts and Conference Center of the Oklahoma Arts Institute on June 18-19, 2005. Hopefully, these young singers will get to hear Robin perform. She is a “first-call” session singer and long-time friend and colleague. She has all the talent and skills that these young choral singers would want to emulate if deciding to start a recording career. Thank you, Robin!!!!
by Gary Powell.Â
Session Date: June 3, 2005 / 7pm-12am
I have worked on four albums previously as Kurt Van Sickle’s choral arranger and vocal recording producer. Kurt is a leader in the meditational music field and writes beautiful melodies. In attendance at the session was Chet Himes, Kurt’s recording engineer. I engineer most of my own sessions, but having Chet present lended the session a set of outstanding ears and engineering talent. We recorded five men and five women simultaneously using a mid/side microphone configuration with a pair of AKG 414-TL’s (that Chet brought) running through a Drawmer 1960 Mic-Pre.
The singers pictured above are: Meredith McCall, Alicia Jones, Susan Lincoln, Rebecca Schoolar, Laura Benedict, Larry Seyer, Jerome Schoolar, Scott Kripple, Craig Toungate and John White. Most of these singers have been recording in my studio for more than 10 years and some as many as 20 years. My compliments and thanks to everyone present for their hard work, talent and wonderful attitudes. Also pictured are Kurt Van Sickle, Chet Himes and Gary Powell.
by Gary Powell.Â
Session Date: June 3, 2005 / 7pm-12am
I have worked on four albums previously as Kurt Van Sickle’s choral arranger and vocal recording producer. Kurt is a leader in the meditational music field and writes beautiful melodies. In attendance at the session was Chet Himes, Kurt’s recording engineer. I engineer most of my own sessions, but having Chet present lended the session a set of outstanding ears and engineering talent. We recorded five men and five women simultaneously using a mid/side microphone configuration with a pair of AKG 414-TL’s (that Chet brought) running through a Drawmer 1960 Mic-Pre.
The singers pictured above are: Meredith McCall, Alicia Jones, Susan Lincoln, Rebecca Schoolar, Laura Benedict, Larry Seyer, Jerome Schoolar, Scott Kripple, Craig Toungate and John White. Most of these singers have been recording in my studio for more than 10 years and some as many as 20 years. My compliments and thanks to everyone present for their hard work, talent and wonderful attitudes. Also pictured are Kurt Van Sickle, Chet Himes and Gary Powell.
by Gary Powell.
ONE SIMPLE QUESTION to a trusted mentor of all things requiring a deep understanding is what started this performance idea. His name is Ralph Person who is 73 years old with a Doctorate of Theology (DTheol) from the University of Basel in Switzerland. His lifelong relationship with church, philisophy and political history is rich.
So, I asked him this question at dinner with no provocation: “What happened in this country (USA) in 1776 that caused such an explosion of human potential and production in every aspect of how humans live, work and prosper together?” Without blinking he said, “You’d have to go back to Aristotle to answer that question!” Ralph expanded the answer by saying, “Aristotle believed that man was uniquely ‘the rational creature’ and that reason was man’s sole source of conceptual knowledge.” Ralph then made a quick leap through the middle ages showing that Thomas Aquinas had rediscovered Aristotle and taught that reason and faith need not conflict. This led to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.
REASON IS MAN’S BASIC TOOL FOR UNDERSTANDING HIS WORLD AND SURVIVING AND LIVING EFFECTIVELY!
Ralph then went on to explain how Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was the emancipator of reason. For the first time in history, Aristotle had suggested faith and reason be held apart and that reason is man’s basic tool for understanding his world and surviving and living effectively! Probably not a fabulously popular idea in 350 B.C.!
Ralph then made this remark which astounded me: “Aristotle’s idea, for the most part, didn’t surface again until …….. well, Thomas Jefferson in 1776!” And…there was the answer to my question.
This conversation happened in October, 2004. I was so inspired by the prospect of gaining insight into my own choices and inevitabilities that I thought I could have a two-hour show up by Christmas, 2005. The inevitabilities have stepped forward, but the passion has not flagged. Thanks to Ralph with his wisdom and knowledge, I will add one more voice to the “Choir of Emancipation” in which Ralph has been singing for decades before me.
by Gary Powell.
ONE SIMPLE QUESTION to a trusted mentor of all things requiring a deep understanding is what started this performance idea. His name is Ralph Person who is 73 years old with a Doctorate of Theology (DTheol) from the University of Basel in Switzerland. His lifelong relationship with church, philisophy and political history is rich.
So, I asked him this question at dinner with no provocation: “What happened in this country (USA) in 1776 that caused such an explosion of human potential and production in every aspect of how humans live, work and prosper together?” Without blinking he said, “You’d have to go back to Aristotle to answer that question!” Ralph expanded the answer by saying, “Aristotle believed that man was uniquely ‘the rational creature’ and that reason was man’s sole source of conceptual knowledge.” Ralph then made a quick leap through the middle ages showing that Thomas Aquinas had rediscovered Aristotle and taught that reason and faith need not conflict. This led to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.
REASON IS MAN’S BASIC TOOL FOR UNDERSTANDING HIS WORLD AND SURVIVING AND LIVING EFFECTIVELY!
Ralph then went on to explain how Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was the emancipator of reason. For the first time in history, Aristotle had suggested faith and reason be held apart and that reason is man’s basic tool for understanding his world and surviving and living effectively! Probably not a fabulously popular idea in 350 B.C.!
Ralph then made this remark which astounded me: “Aristotle’s idea, for the most part, didn’t surface again until …….. well, Thomas Jefferson in 1776!” And…there was the answer to my question.
This conversation happened in October, 2004. I was so inspired by the prospect of gaining insight into my own choices and inevitabilities that I thought I could have a two-hour show up by Christmas, 2005. The inevitabilities have stepped forward, but the passion has not flagged. Thanks to Ralph with his wisdom and knowledge, I will add one more voice to the “Choir of Emancipation” in which Ralph has been singing for decades before me.
by Gary Powell
Today we recorded the final vocal for Helen Darling’s song, “Mistake” co-written with Gary Burr.
I cut Helen with a Rode NTV through Mark McQuilken’s RNP (Really Nice Preamp). This combination of mic/mic-pre is warm and wonderful for Helen’s voice with no sibilance at all. With Helen, there was no need to compile the vocal from different takes. We have a conversation about the performance she is choosing and with a very few punches we’re done. We recorded a three/four part background vocal texture in the bridge with cascading, major 2nds added to each chord change. It offers a beautiful blue-grass voicing for those chords. None of it was parallel to the lead vocal, which we both loved. Helen has a wonderfully quick ear and is a total pro (and fun) in the studio. Thanks, babe.
by Gary Powell
Today we recorded the final vocal for Helen Darling’s song, “Mistake” co-written with Gary Burr.
I cut Helen with a Rode NTV through Mark McQuilken’s RNP (Really Nice Preamp). This combination of mic/mic-pre is warm and wonderful for Helen’s voice with no sibilance at all. With Helen, there was no need to compile the vocal from different takes. We have a conversation about the performance she is choosing and with a very few punches we’re done. We recorded a three/four part background vocal texture in the bridge with cascading, major 2nds added to each chord change. It offers a beautiful blue-grass voicing for those chords. None of it was parallel to the lead vocal, which we both loved. Helen has a wonderfully quick ear and is a total pro (and fun) in the studio. Thanks, babe.
by Gary Powell
My partner, Amy, and I present a very intimate home concert experience called, “In the Studio with Gary Powell”. I had not met Tom Parish, but we had a mutual friend who informed Tom about our concert series in my recording studio. Tom shot me an e-mail and suggested I might benefit from one of his consulting specialties, Podcasting. We had a fun lunch where he taught me about blogging, podcasting and other life enhancing cyber stuff like Search Engine Optimization….hence his SEO title. I had only heard of Podcasting the week before and had only a vague knowledge of weblogs, which he encouraged me to commit to. A quick visit to Tom’s site gave me all the necessary tools and links to get started in the blogging world. We found out that we both share many interests especially in the audio world. Check out his “TALKING PORTRAITS” where Tom interviews smart and interesting contributors. It’s great to find someone who has business acumen and an active hand in the arts and communication as well. And better yet, we found out we live just across Hwy 290w from each other. Thank you, Tom, for the help. I’m glad to have an ally in the hood.
by Gary Powell
My partner, Amy, and I present a very intimate home concert experience called, “In the Studio with Gary Powell”. I had not met Tom Parish, but we had a mutual friend who informed Tom about our concert series in my recording studio. Tom shot me an e-mail and suggested I might benefit from one of his consulting specialties, Podcasting. We had a fun lunch where he taught me about blogging, podcasting and other life enhancing cyber stuff like Search Engine Optimization….hence his SEO title. I had only heard of Podcasting the week before and had only a vague knowledge of weblogs, which he encouraged me to commit to. A quick visit to Tom’s site gave me all the necessary tools and links to get started in the blogging world. We found out that we both share many interests especially in the audio world. Check out his “TALKING PORTRAITS” where Tom interviews smart and interesting contributors. It’s great to find someone who has business acumen and an active hand in the arts and communication as well. And better yet, we found out we live just across Hwy 290w from each other. Thank you, Tom, for the help. I’m glad to have an ally in the hood.