By Jeannie Deva

The following is an exerpt from "Five Secrets to Recording Your Best Studio Vocal" which will soon be released as a download from this site.

Achievement of a professional quality recording depends on these five key factors.

1A) Vocal technique to expand range, develop vocal stamina and consistency, improve tone, pitch, overall ease of singing, control, passion and power resulting in a spontaneous, emotion-sensitive voice.

1B) Song technique to develop the different elements that help you not only learn a song but develop your voice in the context of the song.

2) Song delivery and interpretation to establish your own unique style.

3) Performance skills to achieve fresh, emotional vocals despite the restrictions of the recording studio environment and recording process.

4) Knowing and understanding the art of vocal recording.

5) Knowing how to evaluate your tracks and the best ways to fix any problem areas.

Ultimately, it is the culmination of all these talents and skills into a superb recording that achieves a passionately sung song, a uniquely identifiable vocal sound and broad recognition for you.

Let�s look deeper into each of these five elements.

1B) Song Technique

When working on your vocal for a recording (or performance, for that matter) concentrate first on the technical details of singing the song, then on the overall performance.

1) Establish the right key,

2) Learn the melody,

3) Learn the lyrics,

4) Smooth out any pitch and range difficulties,

5) Lock onto the rhythm,

6) Learn all important melodic and rhythmic ques for your entrances

1) Establishing the right key � a song melody has a lowest note and a highest note. You will need to ensure that the note you choose to start on permits you to also sing the lowest and the highest notes comfortably. In order to showcase your voice, it is important to avoid choosing a key for the song that you think you should be able to do but that you can not easily sing at this time.

Once you have found what note to start on that permits you to sing the entire song, you will need to remember that starting note. If you know music theory, you will be able to find out what key this is. If not, you will need to get the help of another musician to determine it.

2) Learn the melody � put on a recording of the song. If you are singing someone else�s song, put on a recording with another vocalist singing it. Or, if you read music and have the sheet music, you can learn it that way. Just get familiar with the melody. Don�t even worry about the lyrics yet.

Exercise

This exercise will help you learn the melody and will make singing the song easier. If the range of the song and key you select is at least close to what is possible for you to sing, you may find this exercise will help you to comfortably execute all the notes.

Practice: Singing the melody of the song with no lyrics, using a naturally pronounced �Ah.� Strive to keep your �Ah� pronunciation consistent and relaxed regardless of pitch changes. Slow the song down so that every note is about equal in length, nothing rushed. Sing the phrases smoothly and connect the phrases together as much as you can.

Repeat this a second time, working on perfecting the directions given above. Then sing the song with the lyrics. This approach can help relax your throat muscles, enhance resonance, reduce strain, improve accuracy of pitch and overall melodic phrasing.

All the Best,
Jeannie Deva