by Cari Cole
So you’re off to L.A. to work with the producer of your dreams but you’re sweating bullets over whether your voice will perform on cue, or you have crazy amounts of anxiety about whether you’re ready to record!
I got you! Hey, I’ve been there. Nothing is worse than when you need to deliver and you’re not confident you can. But here’s the good news. You can significantly improve this situation with just a few simple adjustments. I just had an artist in my studio last week with this exact situation. Here’s what I told her.
Here are 7 Ways to Killer Vocals on Your Next Recording:
1. Technical Prep.
Nothing beats getting your voice ready technically. Even if you only have a few days -at least do warm ups to get your voice physically in shape and open it up. (My Singers Gift Warmups are some singers favorite warmup out there!)
2. Rehearse Easy Peasy.
Don’t go at it too hard or you’ll blow your voice out for your session. Rehearsing hard doesn’t make your session better, it just burns your voice out. If you’re really concerned, use Hearfones (available on Amazon.com) to rehearse at a lower volume so you don’t swell your cords. Also keep in mind that when you sing lighter you’ll go into “head” or “falsetto” earlier. Don’t worry – that’s still good for your voice to rehearse that way!
3. Perfect Your Pitch Ahead of Time.
There’s a process I teach my singers – it’s called matrixing. Play the melody on piano (super slow) and find all the notes of your “chorus” or “verse”. Match each note to the center of pitch. For non-musician singers, get someone to record the melody on piano on a separate track. When you record, make sure the piano note is loud enough so you can match your voice to it! Of course you can always use auto-tune to correct pitch on your record, but who wants to rely on that?
4. Practice Your Phrasing.
Phrasing is your go-to keyword with recording. It’s the key to great vocal takes. Record yourself and listen back. Are you slightly ahead of the beat or falling too far behind. Lineup your vocals in the “pocket” to make them feel good.
5. Prep Your Ad Libs Ahead of Time.
Prepare some ad libs ahead of time – you don’t want to be empty handed. If you’re not good at ad libbing, have a singer pal or a vocal coach give you some ideas. You want to be able to play a little!
6. Bring a Vocal Health Kit.
Here are my top 3 products to bring to fix whatever ails ya:
1) Vocal Eze Throat Spray. If you bring one thing – this is my all over fix for a dry or sore throat, and it will keep you from getting sick. Great for airplane travel and touring.
2) Alkalol. This product eliminates mucous for up to 2-3 hours. Great for a recording session. You can use it as a nasal spray or a gargle.
3) Nim Jiom Pei Pa Koi Throat Syrup. This stuff rocks. It’s main ingredient is Loquat Syrup which soothes a sore, dry or scratchy throat instantly. Used by Beyonce, Jason Mraz and many others as their go vocal fix.
4) Sunrider Balm. Muscle tension has a way of creeping up on you, especially when you are stressed or nervous. This is my favorite balm in the world. I use it on my neck and back muscles. It penetrates fast and dissolves deep muscle tensions that cause pitch problems and limit your vocal resonance. Only available in a 6 pack – but worth it. Lasts for a long time.
5) Gelsemium Sempervirens Homeopathic Remedy. This amazing homeopathic remedy will help you stay focused and help alleviate anxiety so you can sing better and get great vocals! If you struggle with this, don’t hesitate to try it – there are no side effects and it’s completely natural.
7. Envision It Going Well (Don’t Picture All the Potential Mess Ups!)
You know our brains do a funny thing when anticipating an event. We tend to prepare for “what could go wrong”. But the problem with that is that the focus is on the wrong thing. Imagine you are walking down the street wearing a new pair of shoes worried that you are going to trip and so you trip. Because you were focusing on it. You want to shift that focus to what could go right. Envision the event going well. It’s not magic, they’ve actually tested this with Olympic athletes and the ones that visualize winning win more.
Of course these are only snippets of my deeper teaching on how to prepare for the studio — there are many more techniques that I teach to my students and artists.
Share your vocal question in the comments below? Let me see if I can solve your dilemma!