Nashville Number System

Judy Rodman on “Singing in the Studio” at the Nashville Berklee Jam

Our guest speaker for the June, 2014 Nashville Berklee Jam was award-winning vocal coach, Judy Rodman. In this in-depth workshop she covers many facets of the most challenging endeavor a vocalist will encounter, singing in the studio. Here are some highlights from her talk (her entire presentation can be viewed below).

JudyRodman“The studio is an odd place to sing, it’s very artificial…it requires perfection, because the mic is really sensitive… and recording is forever.”

To optimize a studio performance, Judy offered many practical pieces of advice:

  • Make sure that you get the cue mix that you want.
  • Make sure you get the right amount of reverb.
  • Try singing with one side of the headphones on and one side half off. This allows you to “be a little grounded in the room acoustically”.
  • Take some things out of the mix that are swimmy or distracting.
  • When singing lead, experiment with tracking the song in sections, for instance verses first, then a high chorus
  • Regarding tuning and compression – “You want to sing as well as possibly can so you can use as little of that correction as possible…then the song is going to sound more natural and you’ll be in control.”

One reason that singing in the studio is hard is that you are missing an audience. Most singers that are new to singing in the studio tend to look down at the mic. “I can’t think of any song I’ve ever heard that the lyrics were directed to the mic, and when you sing to the mic that way, it’s going to sound like you’re not singing to anyone.” To remedy this, Judy’s suggests singers don’t face the control room. Face a corner or somewhere you’re not distracted and imagine you’re singing in a concert hall. “Create your own holideck.”

Another thing that makes studio singing hard is that most studio settings are not set up for optimal singing. “I’ll bet you 95% of the studio’s I ever go into, the mic is not set up, the music stand is not set up, the cue box is not set up in ways that would help a singer automatically have the best breath control.” During her talk, she demonstrates the proper way to place a mic stand, music stand and cue box to give the singer the space they need to optimize breath control. “Move the music stand and cue box back a little.” The singer shouldn’t have to lean forward to reach the mic.

Regarding multiple takes of a vocal, sometimes an engineer or producer might say, “okay, this pass, give me everything you’ve got!”. This doesn’t mean to push harder. Often, the louder you sing, the smaller you sound. The louder you sing, the more they have to pull you back because your pinging the meter. And you lose resonance. “More is two things – passion and resonance.” The magic formula is “back off the pressure, add passion”. The power comes from your butt, hence the phrase “sing your butt off!”

Lastly, “You want to know how to maximize your efforts so you get magic”. Know how to prepare for the studio, know your songs backwards and forwards, know your keys and tempos. The day of your vocal session – get a massage, drink water like a fish, watch what you wear (noisy fabrics, ball caps, sun glasses – don’t let anything come between you and the vocal).

Judy Rodman is an award winning vocal coach, session singer, recording artist, stage and television performer, songwriter and vocal producer. Named ‘Best Vocal Coach” by NashvilleMusicPros.com and “Vocal Coach in Residence, August 2013” by TC Helicon’s Voice Council Magazine, Judy teaches her trademarked vocal training method “Power, Path and Performance”™ to singers and speakers nationally and internationally in her office, by phone and Skype. She is a published author with several professional vocal courses; her “All Things Vocal” blog has over ½ million views. Her vocal clients include major and indie recording artists and labels, touring and studio background singers, national public speakers and voiceover talent. She has had #1 records as an artist, songwriter and producer, and won ACM “New Female Vocalist” and BMI Millionaire awards. She is member of NATS, AFTRA, SAG AFofM, BMI. Judy’s vocal students include: Kacey Musgraves, Mat Kearney, Pam Tillis, Dakota Bradley, Radney Foster and Brian White, to mention a few. To learn more about Judy or for more practical vocal tips please visit her website, JudyRodman.com.

The Berklee Nashville Jam is a bi-monthly event held on the last Monday of every other month at the Rutledge and hosted by Berklee alum, Eric Normand ‘89. The event, which is open to the public, is free for alumni and a guest; and $5 for non-alums. After the guest speaker, attendees are welcome to jam with the house band and others from the Nashville music community. For more information about the Berklee Nashville Jam, visit www.nashvilleberkleejam.com.

Judy’s Talk

Nashville Berklee Jam with Bryan Beller – April 29, 2013 – Videos

For those of you who missed our second Nashville Berklee Jam at the Rutledge, you missed quite a special night. Berklee alum and bassist for Steve Vai and  Joe Satriani, Bryan Beller shared a fascinating story and some great insight, as well as a great performance with our house band and his wife, Kyra Small. Fortunately, we captured the whole evening on video (special thanks to Jack Zander for filming and video editing). Here are some highlights from this great night!

Bryan’s Talk

 

“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” performed by Bryan Beller and the house band


“Signed, Sealed, Delivered” performed by Bryan & the house band, vocals by Kyra Small


“Cissy Strut” performed by Bryan Bller and the house band


“Ain’t No Sunshine”
performed by Bryan & the house band, vocals by Kyra Small

 

Here are some links to performances from the jam portion of this event:

The Nashville Berklee Jam is held at The Rutledge on the last Monday of every other month, with the next event to take place on Monday, October 28 with special guest, performance coach, Diane Kimbrough.

For more info about future events, please visit the Nashville Berklee Jam website NashvilleBerkleeJam.com

If you would like to learn more about the Nashville music industry, please check out my website and book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide”.

Dave Pomeroy at the Nashville Berklee Jam, June 24, 2013: Videos

Here’s the videos of Dave Pomeroy speaking at our June Nashville Berklee Jam, plus a video of Dave performing one of his original tunes “Old Friends”. Video courtesy Jack Zander.


Dave Pomeroy Talk – Building a Career in a Changing Music Industry – Part 1

 

Dave Pomeroy Talk – Building a Career in a Changing Music Industry – Part 2

 

“Old Friends” – performed by Dave Pomeroy

The Nashville Berklee Jam is held at The Rutledge on the last Monday of every other month, with the next event to take place on Monday, October 28 with special guest, performance coach, Diane Kimbrough.

For more info about future events, please visit the Nashville Berklee Jam website NashvilleBerkleeJam.com

If you would like to learn more about the Nashville music industry, please check out my website and book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide”.

A-list bassist and Union President, Dave Pomeroy speaks at the Nashville Berklee Jam; June 24, 2013

by Eric Normand

Long before recording with artists like Emmy Lou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Peter Frampton, Nashville Musicians Union President and our guest speaker on this night, Dave Pomeroy was learning how to play the standup bass in a school orchestra in Virginia. Growing up as the son of a military man, Dave experienced life in a few different places and also learned how to play the electric bass before eventually permanently relocating to Nashville in 1977. Following a musical heart inspired by the British Invasion, his foray into the world of the fretless bass would eventually come full circle when his skills landed him session work with Keith WhitleyDavePomeroy and Trisha Yearwood many years later.

The road that led to A-team session work in the Nashville studio scene of the 80’s and 90’s was filled with a plethora of life and music enriching experiences. Working with the legendary Don Williams from 1980 to 1994 was a “journey into minimalism” which ultimately taught him the power of the song. Under the wing of this world-class songwriter and performer, Dave learned how to become a great songwriter, studio musician and producer in his own right.

“Don changed my life… these are all things he taught me, just by example and by encouraging me and giving me respect…”

A key moment in Dave’s life came 10 days after he finished recording on Keith Whitley’s fourth album, when the legendary singer died suddenly of an alcohol overdose.

“…It really shook me up and I realized that I was not at a good place in my life, I needed to change some things and make myself a happy person…it really did change my life and made me realize that life is precious and you better get on with what you’re trying to do…”

Dave continued on as an in-demand session player, his work with Keith Whitley ultimately leading to recording the bass tracks on Trisha Yearwood’s first seven albums as well as countless other major-label projects.

“One of the lessons that I really want to impart is that you have to listen to your inner voice when it talks to you, because if you don’t, it will stop talking…”

He joined the Nashville Musicians Union, AFM Local 257 in 1978, gradually becoming more and more involved in the years that followed. As the years rolled by he became frustrated with the status quo of the Union, feeling there was a growing “disconnect between players and leadership”. In 2008 he ran for union president and won the election. Dave shared that the Musicians Union has totally changed, both here and nationally and spoke about its role in regards to the rights of the individual musician.

“It’s really about trying to spread the word that it’s okay to take care of business, and not all musicians are good at that…in this day and age, if you don’t protect yourself who’s going to? If the Musicians Union doesn’t have your back, it’s you against the music business, good luck with that, it works for some people, but at the same time it’s good to know that there are resources and that you do have something you can fall back on.”

One of his roles as union president is fighting for musician and songwriter rights to be paid for their work, and the reality of digital piracy.

“We’ve been through this terrible thing with digital piracy… it really just decimated the way things were. But now we’re starting to see that people are actually understanding that it’s not that big of a deal to spend $1.29 or $.99 to buy a song instead of stealing it, and that if you want to have a music business in the future it may not be there if you’re not willing to pay for stuff…it’s okay to be a consumer, it’s okay to be a fan, I’m still a fan.”

Near the end of Dave’s talk he shared a few pieces of advice one can only learn from a lifetime of pursuits in the music business:

  • Take nothing for granted
  • Don’t be afraid to ask questions
  • There are no stupid questions
  • Strive to play with players who are better than you
  • Be honest with yourself
  • Be a nice person, nobody wants to work with a jerk
  • Don’t take it personal if you don’t get the call
  • Owning your own stuff is the way of the future

DavePerformanceAfter some questions and answers Dave played a brief set of original solo material using a very unique approach. Tying into his theme of “individual entrepreneurship in a changing music scene” he used two basses, one on a stand and one he wore around his neck to create loops on the fly using a loop machine. He then sang tunes over the loop accompanying his performance on the second bass by playing secondary parts, fills and solos. It was an inspired performance that everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

His portion of the night concluded, and the open jam began featuring a combination of Berklee alumni and others from the Nashville music community. The jam covered a lot of ground, everything from blues jams to original songs by some up-and-coming Nashville songwriters.

I would like to extend a big thank you to Dave Pomeroy for sharing his wisdom and music, Jack Zander for videotaping this event, The Rutledge, Berklee alumni volunteers Shantell Ogden, Heston Alley, Blake Branch, and everyone else who came out for this event. See you at the next one!

The Nashville Berklee Jam is held at The Rutledge on the last Monday of every other month, with the next event to take place on Monday, August 26 when I will be giving a talk about navigating the Nashville Music Industry

For more info about future events, please visit the Nashville Berklee Jam website NashvilleBerkleeJam.com

If you would like to learn more about the Nashville music industry, please check out my website and book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide”.

AlumsPlaying

Nashville Berklee Jam with Dallas Davidson – February 18, 2013 – Part II

By Eric Normand

We were only halfway through our very first Nashville Berklee Jam at The Rutledge and those in attendance had received some amazing perspective, and enjoyed an inspired performance from one of Nashville’s top songwriters, Dallas Davidson. After Dallas’s portion of the night was over we took a moment to reorganize and then began the open jam portion of this night.

Among those who performed were alums, Amanda Williams (also one of the organizers of this event), Mason Stevens, who played a Delta blues instrument known as the “Diddly Bo”, drummers, John Rodrigue and Russell Garner, and bassist, Austin Solomon (Austin took a means solo in Cissy Strut). A few others from the Nashville music community also sat in on drums, Austin Marshall and Tom Drenon.

All the performances were strong and everyone who participated had a great time, but don’t take my word for it, check out the videos below to get a better idea of what can happen at The Nashville Berklee Jam!

The Nashville Berklee Jam is held at The Rutledge on the last Monday of every other month, with the next event to take place on Monday, April 29 featuring special guest, Bassist, Bryan Beller (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Mike Keneally) who will also be joined by his wife, Kira Small.

For more info about future events, please visit the Nashville Berklee Jam website NashvilleBerkleeJam.com

If you would like to learn more about the Nashville music industry, please check out my website and book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide”.

The Nashville Berklee Jam Goes Public

Today I want to tell you all about an exciting monthly event I have been hosting – The Nashville Berklee Jam, and its new accessibility to everyone in the Nashville music community. The beginnings of this idea came to me a few years ago when I first attended the annual Nashville Berklee Alumni Reception. On my way home that night, I remember thinking how great it was to meet so many musicians in one night who were so passionate about their musical ambitions and so hungry for knowledge. These musical comrades were a mix of Berklee alumni residing in middle Tennessee and Berklee students who came down for the annual Nashville field trip. At this reception I made connections with other like-minded alums and students who came down on the field trip, the latter peppering me with questions about my experiences in Music City. This event was a very stimulating night as the energy of three hundred musical minds meeting and conversing seemed to create an air of camaraderie and untapped potential! Then I went home and another year passed before I got this fix again.

So this past winter I decided to create a monthly event to try to emulate this musical networking hoedown on a smaller scale, and The Nashville Berklee Jam was born. Held on the first or second Tuesday of the month from 7 PM to 11 PM at The Fillin’ Station in Kingston Springs, TN, these events start out with an informal meet and greet, followed by a Nashville music industry guest speaker, and end with an open jam. So far the reception has been very positive, here’s a recap (with links to their corresponding blogs):

February  – A-list session bassist, Mike Chapman gave a great talk about being a session musician, outlining key concepts in what he calls, “the essential slices of the session player pizza”. He also jammed with several alums after the talk.

March – award-winning vocal coach, producer, and hit songwriter, Judy Rodman gave an insightful talk about career paths for vocalists. She also performed a couple of songs with the house band and then critiqued and coached several vocal performances, helping vocalists make instant improvements.

April – Stevie Ray Vaughan keyboardist, Reese Wynans shared his fascinating story about being a lifelong-career musician, the life-changing moment that came on his last night with Delbert McClinton that landed him the SRV gig, and the whirlwind years that followed. After his talk, he joined us for a few inspired performances.

May – fellow alum, musician, and author of “The Nashville Number System”, Chas Williams gave an introductory class on this subject. After the class, he charted one of alum, Sarah Tollerson’s originals and performed it with Sarah and the house band with everybody reading the chart off a dry erase board.

June – drummer, producer, and clinician, Rich Redmond gave an inspiring talk on “Navigating the Nashville Music Industry” speaking candidly about his early “lean years” in Music City and different approaches to finding success here. After his talk he sat in for a few tunes and stuck around to chat with others in attendance.

For our next event, to be held on Tuesday, July 10, I will be giving a talk that continues last month’s theme – “Navigating the Nashville Music Industry – Part Two”, during which I will explore some of the concepts I write about in my book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide”. And, this just in, for our event in August we are proud to announce that the guest speaker/performer will be none other than Nashville guitar ace, Jack Pearson, formerly of the Allman Brothers, Vince Gill and many others.

All of the guest speakers have given great talks, sharing their knowledge and providing inspiration, and these talks have been interactive with many great questions and comments from alums. My band, Skinny Buddha (comprised of Berklee alumni and others from the Nashville music community) provides backline and a starting point for the laid back jams which have covered everything from originals to classic rock to blues tunes to two-chord  jams. All of these events have been great friendship building and networking experiences for all involved, as well as educational. So far, the attendance has been mostly comprised of Berklee alumni, but as there seems to be a growing interest from others in Nashville, we are now officially making this event open to the Public. Nashville is a diverse and complex music community in which a Berklee alumni community also resides, and it is my goal to help these two worlds intersect and meld together.

So come on out to our next “Nashville Berklee Jam” On Tuesday, July 10. I hope to see you there!

P.S. if you have any comments, thoughts, or questions, please feel free to e-mail me at eric@ericnormand.com

Nashville Berklee Jam with Judy Rodman – March 6, 2012

Our second “Nashville Berklee Jam” at The Fillin’ Station in Kingston Springs this past Tuesday was a great success! The guest speaker on this night was none other than Nashville’s award-winning vocal coach, Judy Rodman. Judy has played many a role in the Nashville music industry over the years – recording artist, A-list session singer, producer, hit songwriter – and on this night her talk focused on different career paths for vocalists. Judy was involved in the writing of my book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide” and, backing up my theory of the necessity to “wear a lot of hats”, she talked about multiple streams of income for today’s musicians and artists. Among the potential jobs for vocalists she outlined were artists, live singers, and session singers (jingle singers, background vocals, demo singing, and voiceovers).

Here are a few excerpts:

“Recording artists need vocal ability, because the mark is up. Even with pitch fixing, rhythm fixing…your vocal needs to be as good as it possibly can be because it’s going to sound more natural and it’s going to be more emotionally compelling…You also need a ‘unique artist definition’…it’s not good enough to be just another great singer…you really need to be unique and find your own definition as an artist – your uniqueness, your vocal uniqueness – which means you need to explore your whole voice and your life experiences that you’re going to put into your art. The sound of your artistic definition is going to have to do with the sound of your voice, the choice of your instrumentation, and your message… Artistic definition takes exploration. For those of you wanting a career as a recording artist I would say don’t shortcut your experimentation.”

“For live background singing – you need to have the ability to trace and completely blend and go with the nuances of the voice of the singer you are looking to back…You’ve got to be able to change your sound as the artist wishes…you will of course have to have the ability to sing harmony parts and hear them… you have to have a specific look – whatever the artist is looking for. You need to network and find out who is gigging, who is in need of background vocalists.”

“Session singing…You need great vocal technique, usually you’ll need some vocal training…you really need to have surgical control of your voice for pitch, sound, blend and nuances –because time is money in the studio…You need to of course hear harmony parts quickly, you need to have the ability to read manuscript…but you also need to know the Nashville Number System.”

Judy then gave some practical vocal technique tips before answering several questions from alumni. Click on the following links if you would like to hear her talk in its entirety.

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Judy Rodman Talk – Part 1 (21 min)

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Judy Rodman Talk – Part 2 (21 min)

There is also a ton of useful and practical information for vocalists at Judy’s website www.judyrodman.com.

When her talk concluded we began the jam portion of the evening with our house band backing Judy for two songs to start things out. Her second tune, “One Way Ticket”, was a number one hit she wrote that was cut by LeAnn Rimes. Judy’s vocal performance was emotionally charged and inspiring to say the least, and this set the tone for the rest of the evening. A special dynamic on this night was the “optional vocal performance critique” that Judy offered for willing participants. To break the ice, I decided to go first and sang my two songs with the house band. After my first song, Judy pointed out some of the strengths about my performance and addressed a few things to work on.

The jam continued with several great performances. Brian Lucas, the house keyboardist, sang a great rendition of “Georgia”, for which he took the vocal critique option. This pattern continued for the rest of the night, with literally every vocalist asking for a critique. Among these were Ted Schempp, the vocal duet “Acklen Park” (performing songs they co-wrote with alum, Shantell Ogden), Sarah Tollerson, and Michelle Lambert – all performing original material. After the first song by each performer, Judy offered critiques and then we would try a part of the song again, seeing instant improvement in the vocals (don’t get me wrong, the vocal performances were pretty strong to begin with). Alums, Elton Charles on drums and Rick Carizales on guitar, also sat in and did a fine job backing up some of the guests. Brian Lucas made a big contribution by charting out many of the songs in advance, and Shantell helped out by taking photos and some great video excerpts (see below).

It really was a special evening, fun was had by all and I think everybody learned a few things too. I want to thank Judy Rodman, our house band (Heston Alley on drums, Tom Good on bass, Brian Lucas on keys) and all the alums who participated and helped make this a special evening, I can’t wait for the next one!

The next Nashville Berklee Jam will be held on Tuesday, April 10th at the Fillin’ Station with special guest, Reese Wynans, formerly of Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble. His talk will share perspective on being a lifelong career musician, working with SRV, and the importance of understanding blues and roots music. Please check our website regularly for updates.

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