Musical musings

[mapsedge]

This is the continuation of the thought that I alluded to in my Alison Kraus post.

I'm not sure how I want to approach this topic.  It's about home grown bands, and faire bands in particular, but I have some criticisms and I don't want everyone that reads this who is in a faire band to think I'm talking about them.  Maybe I am, maybe I'm not.  If the shoe fits, I suppose, then, that it needs to be worn without any griping, because my intent is good.  At least, I like to think that working to improve the overall sound of the music is good intent.

There is one faire band (hereinafter referred to as fb) in particular that is a shining example of what's wrong with fb's in general (there are, btw, fb's who Get It, and sound really good).  You've got a group of people, each of whom by him- or herself is a reasonably good singer, and they decide they're going to perform, for instance, "Wild Mountain Thyme"  (or Go, Lassie Go if you prefer.)  No, hold on.  For this example, we need something a little more up-tempo, say, "The Queen of all Argyle."  They've got the energy, they've got the volume, and they can carry a crowd because the crowd likes them, and if they're lucky, no one's listening too closely because when the harmony starts, that's when the music breaks down into cacophony.

You see, you've got three or four people, all singing more or less the same song, at more or less the same tempo, at more or less the same volume.  See all those "more or less"es? 

Let's contrast this with the concert I attended last night, Alison Kraus.  When you had all three mail vocalists working harmonies for AK, you couldn't tell one from the other - all of the S's ended at the same moment (or were dropped altogether*); no one tried to compete or outsing anyone else; everyone was precisely on tempo; in short, the blend was flawless.  When, at the end, AK and Dan Tyminski sang "Down to the River to Pray", DT and AK listened to one another, and DT's voice was always, always under AK's, supporting, bolstering, reinforcing, never ever competing.  You could hear him adjust to match her, and it was gorgeous.

Someone's going to argue with me now.  I can hear the voice now, "But they're professional singers!  We can't do that."  B. u. l. l. s. h. i. t.  They're singers just like the rest of us who, a: are aware of what it takes to sound good; and b: make the effort to do that.

I sing on occasion at the local coffee house, and as a part of my set I do a cover of "There Were Roses."  Another musician there, name of Ruth Ward, will almost always come out of the audience, grab a mic and sing harmony with me on the refrain.  Ruth gets it.  She blends so flawlessly that the first time she did it I almost didn't make it through the song - I'd started to cry for the beauty of it.  It touched the audience, too.

And isn't that the goal?

* A technique I learned working with Frank Blair: only the lead pronounces hard or trailing consonants.  The folks singing harmony sound weird, but the final blend is perfect to the listener.

 

Comments

[rougewench.livejournal.com]

I think you see that problem in faire bands because in the outdoor environment, all members are singing as loud as possible in hopes that the final mix will reach the audience in something like a blend that works and will be heard above the din of the huge crowd.


D.

[billthetailor.livejournal.com]

No, and that's the tragedy! The particular group I have in mind is actually worse on their recordings. Maybe it's just bad engineering, but you'd think if that were the issue - and the band members were aware and cared enough to sing the very best - that a different studio would be found, or at least take control of the engineering process.

Had another thought, too - James Taylor has the same issue when he's performing live. Used to be one of his backup singers - the tall blonde with the big teeth - was way over the top. She'd get into it and damn near outsing him on just about every song. You can hear her on his live CD. I don't know if she's still around.

[fantomas71.livejournal.com]

I love doing low comedy at fair almost as much as life itself, but I'm not so sure about music. I've been acquainted with many musicians who've become disillusioned with that particular venue over the years, and I can't blame them. Frankly, it's not a venue that rewards good musicianship. I really do miss having the abundance of musicians at fair that there were years ago, and I agree that there should be a concentration on the sound that isn't there much of the time.

I'll be the first to say that the standard of folk music coming out of fairs is not very good, although there are exceptions. A lot of groups just churn out a disc every year to rake in the ducats. Too many tapes I pick up (and put down) at fairs are the same songs everyone's heard four thousand times, with the only variation being some trademark clever verse or two. Good instrumentation gets lost because of bad studios or bad engineers. People who are jaded from doing the same crap year after year get callous and all joy drains from their performance. It's sad.

Like you say, it's all about the audience, or should be.

[duane-kc.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

You've just given me more real music instruction than I had the entire *year* I was working with Joe Simunak as a musical apprentice.

I know my group wasn't particularly good. I know I couldn't start a tune on the same key twice (after our guitarist told me so).

But this one tip would have made us sound so. damn. much. better.

[toddles off to find his "Teach yourself mandolin" book and put batteries in his tuner]

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Oh GODS, yes! You *can* get away with matching consonants if you're psychic or family, just about the only time. Bruce and I can for the first reason and well, we are family. Plus my mother taught me how to blend with anybody, to the point that I thought I couldn't sing lead, but that's ok.

There is absolutely NO excuse for sloppy harmony or blend. That's one thing we are death on. Our harmonies are our strong-point and blend is always something we strive for. Whoever sings lead on a particular song stands in the center and gets to call style and arrangement, for the most part.

It leads to some funny do-ce-do's on stage but the blend is just that important. Our biggest problem is that Bruce's guitar is FRIKKIN' loud and sometimes it's hard to hear each other over it; something we constantly are aware of. But it's the selection of songs that works for each venue and audience that determines what you can do with a song. And singing outside offers peculiar challenges, true, but only it's bullshit if that's used as an excuse for sloppy musicianship.

I've heard waaaay too many bands guilty of exactly what you're talking about and believe me, if anyone hears us doing it, please, PLEASE take us aside and tell us.

You're gonna get nothing but agreement on these issues from me! That's why we love the Cup and Chaucer venue at KCRF - it's small but gods, the sound in there! We can do either "Foggy Dew" or "KilKelly" or "Irish Lullabye" and hear every nuance. Wish we could pack that place when we're there, but nobody knows about it *yet*!