PLUMP in recording studio Part V

This is Part V of PLUMP in the recording studio. For Parts I-IV, please scroll down below.

Another thing I love about the studio is how great the music sounds when we listen back to it (while we are actually in the studio in the engineer's room). What I mean is, all studios in general, and the Bungalow in particular for the purposes of this journal, have a BAD ASS stereo system. I don't know anything at all really about stereos, so I really have absolutely know basis of knowledge to tell you exactly why this is or specifically which components make up this badd ass stereo, BUT please know that every studio I have been in has an awesome stereo system in the room with the engineer. In the Bungalow, the engineer's room is maybe 15 feet by 15 feet, and there are several very nice speakers pointed right at the couch that is directly behind the engineer's chair. So, the best place to listen to the playback of the music is either the engineer's chair or the couch. My experience is predominately on the couch. Mark will crank it up, and I tell you, the music has nowhere to hide. The other cool thing about listening to your music on playback is that you can look at the computer monitor and "see" the music. While a song is playing, the monitor shows every track was utilized for the particular recording, and thus the monitor shows the sound wave for each sound that was recorded for that track to make up the song. After a while, you get used to what different beats look like. When Al is strumming real fast, the sound waves look like someone colored in heavily on the screen with a magic marker. As such, we spend a lot of time in the engineer room Mark listening to the music and watching the screen and hemming and hawing and dancing and pointing at the computer monitor.

One aspect of these recording sessions that is different is that Jason Jackson and myself are performing all of the vocals. Neither of us is a complete stranger to vocals in the studio, as we have both sung back-up vocals, and I sang the lead vocals on two of the songs on the "I Like the Idea of Chance". However, this time around, one of us singing the lead on every single song. Not sure about Jason, but I wasn't nervous about singing in the studio. I definitely consider myself a drummer more than considering myself a singer, and as such I think this mindset simply prevents me from placing undue pressure on myself as a singer. However, what I didn't consider was how quickly my voice and throat got tired from working on vocals. Because I was singing constantly in studio as opposed to having time between songs, jams during song, trading off with Jason where I don't sing on songs, etc., my voice got hoarse more quickly than I thought. Also, I am here to tell you that studio vocals have nowhere to hide--we can't bury studio vocals in the mix like we could (if we cared to) during a live show. The extremely high quality microphones utilized by Mark in the Bungalow capture EVERYTHNG, so a singer REALLY gets to know exactly what he/she sounds like, and any mixed note or squeek or breathing too loud can be heard during the play-back.

Another reason vocals in the studio is slightly different is that I am not playing the drums while singing, which is how I have to do it during the shows. Singing in the studio is my only experience singing in which I am fully concentrating on the vocals. It does make it easier to sing, and since I am concentrating on vocals, my mind is freer to experiment and try new ideas on the fly. Mark has these really cool microphones that he uses for vocals. There is a huge disc-like "spit-guard", which is a kind of very thin, black, nylon mesh, about the same circumference as my face, that blocks any spittle from hitting the very expensive microphones. In my mind I always envision myself really singing into the spit-guard, as opposed to actually singing into the microphone. Mark also advised me to actually sing with the headphones positioned so that one earphone was on one ear, and one ear was without headphone--just like you see on TV and in the movies. This allows this singer to hear what he/she is singing better than if the headphones are covering both ears--and it works. Because I felt like every songer I had ever seen on TV and in the movies, and because singing in the studio immediately provides the singer with humongous visions of grandeur, power, superiority, and a sense of the inevitability of ultimate world domination, I started making outrageous demands on Al and Josh--including that they bring me green tea every 15 minutes.

Actually, I find it quite hard to sing well in the studio without a lone star either in my hand or placed within 5 feet of the microphone.