Studio Chat Behind the Glass with Mark Hood

If the recording studio is unknown territory for you as a vocalist, here is an interview that will give you great insight.

Mark Hood, of Echo Park Recording, has been a recording engineer and producer for thirty plus years. He has worked with many great and very talented artists including James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Herman, Helen Merrill, Singers Unlimited, Ritchie Haven, Sandy Patti, John Mellencamp, and many others. 

Peggy Weston:  "What kind of music (or other) education and training is really necessary for a successful studio vocalist?"

Mark Hood:  "I strongly encourage every aspiring studio vocalist to practice every day on all the tools of the trade - excellent pitch, ease with rhythm and syncopation, sight-singing both pitches and rhythms, transposition, diction, support, breath control - all the things your teachers have been on you to pursue. It's wonderful when you begin to discover the style and genre that really suits you best and you can begin to find a unique identity as a performer, but so many vocalists stop practicing the basics at that point and just zero in on their particular 'schtik'. You can never be too in tune, or too in the groove or sight-read too well. Developing these skills will make you a better performer both inside and outside of your individual vocal style. And, of course, you need people skills. In the intense pressure of a session, it's easy to regress into frightened behavior or its opposite, arrogance. Give it a rest, just be an adult. The people on the other side of the glass are your co-collaborators in making a great musical moment. Trust them, even if they can't articulate clearly what it is they want from you (they may be regressing, too!) And trust yourself that your instincts are correct and that your talent and training have prepared you for this moment."

PW:   "Mark, vocalists often get a bad rap from 'educated' musicians who think generally vocalists are not decent musicians. Is this attitude often seen or heard a lot around the studios, or do you think the session singer is shown more respect, because it is demonstrated that she or he has studied music theory and sight-reading and can read well?"

MH:  "There may be some truth to your assertion that vocalists are not afforded the same respect as instrumental session musicians at times. I believe that some of this is due to producers and engineers not knowing how to pick the vocalist with the correct skills and style for the job at hand. But I also think that it is unfortunately true that vocalists are not generally as versatile and capable of sight-reading as some instrumentalists. I don't necessarily think that this indicates a lack of training or dedication on the part of the vocalists, it's just part of the nature of your instrument, and it's not entirely unique to vocalists."

"For example, when a producer hires a studio sax player, it is reasonable (in my opinion) that he be able to sight-read very rapidly, sound great in all ranges of the instrument, play other related instruments (other saxes, clarinets, flutes) with equal facility, be comfortable in jazz, rock, soul, and even classical styles, be able to sight-transpose into any key, improvise fluidly over chord changes, and play very in-tune and with excellent rhythm."

"When hiring a guitar player, however, it is much rarer that all of these features are available in every package. It is understood that great rock session guitarists may not necessarily read or play jazz."

"Thus it is with vocalists; producers need to hire carefully to find the artist that is most likely to have the tools required to fit the job."

PW:  "Is there an unspoken professional etiquette that vocalists new to the studio really need to be aware of? What are the DO's and DON'T's?"

MH: "You must assume that the producer is acting in the best interests of the piece he is working on. If he/she is gruff, uncommunicative, contradictory, whatever, it's just because music is not an exact science, it's more like magic. Sometimes the logical choices and the logical approaches yield mediocre results, and that's not what producers are looking for. And, if the producer tells you that 'it's just not working', and they hire someone else for the part, don't let it give you a bad attitude towards producers, engineers or studio work in general. Give them the benefit of the doubt - that they have the ultimate best interest of their musical opus in mind. You must go on to your next session with an open mind and be mentally prepared to create magic on the next project."







Posted by Peggy Weston at 9/8/2009 7:33 PM
Categories: Recording Studio Biz
Tags: More from Mark in the future!
 

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