I’d try to be firm and honest, stating how the take feels to you as producer, using the most neutral language you can. When he responds, move a little outside neutral towards the counterpoint of his response. If he’s disagreeing with you, be polite and speak in terms of we and not I. If he agrees, pull back a bit on your view, and compliment his performance in examples you feel sounded best. It’s gonna be some back and forth, so you guys may need to think on it for a day or two before trying again. And when all else fails, be silly and unproductive in the conventional sense. I hard tuned my friend in a hardcore punk band when his vocals were either/or but not sweet spot. We all laughed, decided on doing a bonus track version of the song in Fetty-style for fun, and he loosened up without going fringe.
I hope some ideas here helped! You’ll know best when working with him next. Good luck! Mike Sent from my iPhone > On 15 Aug 2019, at 08:22, Christopher Gilland <[email protected]> wrote: > > So... I've run into a situation which I haven't yet in all my time recording > had happen. Quite frankly, this might be the first, but I'm damn sure it > won't be the last, so I'd rather figure out now early in my learning process > how to deal with this. > > I've got a vocalist who's recording lead vocals in my studio. Problem is, at > one point, they were not confident at all. I mean it was sow'w'w! sad! It > broke my heart, literally every day watching them try so hard through their > sessions to bang out a vocal and stay on key with good breathing technique, > etc. > > Part of being a producer can, not always, but sometimes can! as in this case, > involve having a vocal coach. In this case that was me. > > I kept trying to encourage the poor guy, and tell him, look, you may not be > an Elvis Presley, or a Paul McCartney, etc. etc, one a the big guys, but you > know what? That's Ow'w, kayy. Relax! Just be yourself. > > Every few lines, he kept saying, dammit, this just isn't working. > > The thing is, yes it was! Beautifully actually. He just didn't trust himself. > > Well, last night, we tracked a few things, and will be doing so later today > as well. The problem is, we had something very weird happen last night, and > it's starting to be another issue entirely. > > Last night, he came in, stood at that microphone with the cans on his ears, > and let me tell you what... this guy blew it dead! I mean, he knocked it slam > dunk! I dono what he did, but he was so on key it was ridiculous! His diction > was flawless, his timing couldn't have been better, etc. > > The issue is, he noticed this too, and was so excited that just as he'd start > really nailing things, he'd stop, just from laughing with joy. He's like, I > don't believe this! I'm actually pulling this off for once! I kept telling > him, wayta! gow'w! Problem though is, now, after that incident happened, now, > he's gone the other way off the deep end. First he wasn't confident enough. > Now, he's becoming rapidly so! confident that he's practically botching his > vocals left and right because he's so into it that he's losing concentration > in thinking how darn good things are starting to sound and come together. > > As a producer/coach, how do you all deal with this when you get someone who > can't get through things, not because it's not working, but more they keep > losing concentration. He's like, I can't help it, dude! It sounds so darn > good all a sudden. > > Should I maybe back off his mike a bit in his cans so that he concentrates > more on the accompiniment, or should I back off encouraging him so much, I > just dono. > > Chris. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Pro Tools Accessibility" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptaccess/30aaed67-92ab-3679-562e-6e2fc38a10f7%40gmail.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Pro Tools Accessibility" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptaccess/3E93E01E-D999-495F-BFAE-07D938A744FB%40gmail.com.
