Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I played guitar and bass. I didn't do much vocals, although I did have one band where I was the lead singer. But that was when I was in college.
When I listen to the radio, I just hear so much music that doesn't even sound like people. The vocals are all tuned, and the drums are all fake.
To me, dance is so ethereal and elusive, so much of an illusion. After a performance, that's it. With vocals and music, you have good recordings.
I don't even like to sing in front of my own band members so it's easier for me if they send me the music and I record my vocals in my own studio.
'Chandelier' took, like, four minutes to write the chords, then, like, 12-15 minutes to write the lyrics. Probably 10 or 15 minutes to cut the vocals.
My training has been in Hindustani classical, and I have done a six-week course in English vocals at Berklee. The holistic learning has helped me a lot.
If you are blessed with good vocals then it doesn't mean you start picking up anyone's song and start singing it. You should sing less but with quality.
'Muntazir' has a very feel-good vibe to it. It's Strings' signature composition, especially the pre-chorus. I thoroughly enjoyed lending my vocals to it.
I grew up writing songs in my room on GarageBand, and I would make the beats just out of layering my vocals over and over again. Very Imogen Heap-inspired.
I felt that group vocals for 'Airplane' coming from all the BTS members who've been together through this journey would create an even more heartfelt song.
I just like simplicity. I like simple songs, I like simple chords, simple vocals, simple lead guitar. I just like simplicity. That's just the way I like it.
I strongly believe that Professor Longhair playing just instrumentals would be just as effective as stylized vocals; that's how much I believe in his music.
When I was growing up... I'm not going to say I listened to everything, but when it comes to vocals, I was really adamant about imitating all kinds of voices.
I always layer my vocals a lot. I sing a minimum of three layers of the same line every time, and then it's always one or two or sometimes even more harmonies.
Singing is something that I have done all my life, but what I did on my first two records was to hide the vocals. They're there to thicken the web of the cello.
I love vocals and what they can do, and the different layers they can create, and I really want to bring that into folk music in terms of arrangements and stuff.
A lot of the time, in pop music especially, there's reverb. And the reason is that reverb makes vocals sound better 99% of the time. It makes the notes ring out.
Something on mainstream radio is very in your face with the vocals. I tried that, and it just doesn't feel like Washed Out. It's got to have that haziness to it.
There's Eddie's conviction and his lyrics and his ideals, and he can just rock straight out. His vocals are incredible. And we all are really competent musicians.
Our bassist, Tim Staffell, was at art college with Frederick Bulsara, who changed his name to Freddie Mercury and joined the band on vocals after Tim left in 1970.
I remember when I would write a song as a kid, I would also write out on paper what the drums would do, what the bass would do, and what the vocals would be doing.
As I am a lyrical singer, I really have to work hard. I'm still really training on a daily basis on my vocals. Because of the lyrical training, it never really ends.
Bands such as LiLiPUT and Essential Logic were just as unorthodox as Gang of Four or Wire, even taking their sounds a step further with shrieking vocals and saxophone.
All my vocals were recorded at home, which was great for me. You can actually have a studio in a computer program called ProTools. I did half the record with ProTools.
What it means to look like a woman or man changes regionally - from mannerisms to clothes to posture to makeup to even your vocals - so I just observe, and I replicate.
Back in the day, I was afraid to speak out. When I get music behind me, it feels like I can soothe the hurt and put it in vocals and say it to the room the way I feel it.
I feel like vocals are to music what portraits are to painting. They're the humanity. Landscapes are good and fine, but at the end of the day everyone loves the Mona Lisa.
It was way out in the woods in a beautiful, huge log studio. Keith Richards came in and did the vocals with Levon. Again, a big party, but we did get a good cut out of it.
I can do some vocals in England; I can come across to LA You can do various versions - replace this, replace that. You can use software that almost makes the record for you.
I'm always saying in the studio, 'My vocals are too loud!' or 'My vocals have too much effect on them!' I like some of it, but I'm not a fan of loading effects onto my voice.
I guess I'm not really into female vocals that sound masculine, I guess. A lot of times, the heavy female vocalists always end up sounding like they're screaming or whatever.
The Faith No More stuff isn't about me. It was a band. Maybe that's where a lot of journalists got the wrong idea. You don't just pluck a song off a tree and put vocals on it.
One of the goals we had when making 'Moth' was to have the vocals sound less treated and less processed than we'd ever had before, to just let them be exposed and very audible.
The only time it dominates is during a solo, or when we play a low blues and I put figures in behind Eric's vocals. There's never any real problem fitting guitar and organ together.
I didn't want to put out 'The Unseen' because I thought I would be criticized. I thought everyone would think the sped-up vocals were a gimmick. I had to be convinced to put it out.
I'd gotten used to recording background vocals perfectly, doing 18 takes of them until they line up. Not recognizing the inherent beauty in each performance, but just making something good.
We're basically a rock band - guitar, bass, drums and vocals. But we take it further than that. We can be rotten, dirty, and heavy as anyone, but at the same time, we've got a lot of melody.
As a producer, when I'm trying to make something soft, I start with a slow tempo. Then after that, it would be straight to acoustic guitar and vocals, or I'm going to go strings and just piano.
The records I make, I'm there from the writing of the first note through the click tracks to the miking of the drums to the editing of everything to the production to the vocals to the artwork.
But I would lie on the floor and analyze everything. I'd listen to all the strings and the background vocals on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and try to pick out the different instruments.
You get some confidence in your songwriting abilities and go for the essentials - guitar, bass, drums, vocals. Those are the basic band essentials that have to be in place before you go any further.
Pat Simmons and I always had a great blend together. We did the background vocals on a Little Feat track called 'Red Streamliner,' and that was great fun. I always really loved the way it turned out.
It was a song I wrote for my wife as a present, never intending for it to be a Styx song. 'Babe' was a demo. The demo became the hit record, including all the background vocals, which were done by me.
I don't think it's important to be that good at singing. I think people who are good at singing sing backing vocals for pop stars. It's about how you project. I wouldn't consider myself to be a singer.
With 'Torches,' I wanted to make a great pop record; I wanted every song to be exciting, not to have too much space, no long pieces of music without vocals. I kind of wanted to write the perfect pop album.
I like Kehlani a lot because she's on her grind; she does everything herself. She's writing her own music and, you know, putting all the vocals together, and she's just dope. She just reminds me a lot of me.
I'm really loving Billie Eilish's 'idontwannabeyouanymore.' Her dreamy vocals offer such a lovely moment of escape, and there's a sophistication to the lyrics that are so surprising coming from a teen artist.
Before getting on 'The Voice,' I was very critical and judgmental of people's vocals. After getting on the show, I was so nervous, I realized my low notes were gone, so nerves do take a big toll on your voice.
When I first started writing songs, I never intended on singing. I didn't really consider myself a singer at all. I was just kind of recording the demo vocals as a holding place until someone else came and sang.
Alanis Morissette - I love how she's not afraid to say what she wants to say. Love it or hate it, she's going to say it. And her vocals are crazy; they're amazing, and I also love how her music is really organic.