Now at last it’s time to put your voice on tape. make sure you have everything set up the right way before you start the tape rolling and begin to sing. Voice is one of the hardest things to properly record, but is often the most important part of a recording session. You’ll want to know how to go about things before you begin.

First off, don’t record your vocals first. Get everything else into place before you even think about recording your voice. Having to work from the vocals as a starting point will only bewilder everyone else involved; it is far easier to add vocals last into the mix. Putting vocals first can even cause the track to get off, which is hardly the result you want for all your hard work.

Once everything else is properly recorded, get your studio set up for recording vocals. You’ll want a small, enclosed space for this so as to not have too much resonance. You want to capture the voice, not the room here. You’ll need to position the microphone or microphones to capture voice from all sides, yet not pick up any other sounds present in the room.

Very important when recording vocals is keeping an eye on peaks. Vocals can easily peak and go into the red, which can ruin your vocal track! Compressors are the way to prevent this. Many microphones have compression built in, which compresses (thus the name!) the sound waves created by the voice before they are passed to the mixing board. Even if you are using compression, make sure to check the peaks on the vocal track before you actually record. You’ll want to leave yourself some space to adjust volume.

From here on in, it is all about getting the mix right, which can be tricky with vocals, particularly for the novice recording engineer. Equalization units (or EQs for short) can assist in getting exactly the sound you want for your vocals, and everything else besides. You can use EQ to control the highs, lows and middle frequencies in your recording. This can be done on the mixing board as well as in post production via software. Noise gates can also be a great help. Noise gates prevent and control resonation and can be set to cut off resonation above or below a certain threshold which the engineer may define.

With the voice recorded properly, the engineer can then treat it like every other track in the mix, adjusting volume, normalizing to match other instruments and so on. The important part is getting it recorded well in the first place.

After normalization, there are a lot of software tools available for the recording engineer or producer to work with on vocal tracks. What has been removed from the vocals during compression can be added back into it with reverb, flange and other effects. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the tools at your disposal, you will likely need to tinker to get that perfect sound. With software, you can always undo any changes you make; so take your time and get just the vocal sound you want!

By using these simple rules given in this guide, you can turn recording vocals from a dreaded chore to one of the most enjoyable parts of the entire recording process. Record the vocals right, and you will give yourself ample room to work with the sounds and get that perfect vocal track on every recording you produce.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.

The cupid shuffle is a dance move created by songwriter Cupid. This dance is most popular in the African-American community. The dance steps are revamped from the popular dance since the 70′s called the electric slide. The electric slide has been adopted as a party favorite and has been known to enliven a dance floor. It seems the Cupid Shuffle is garnering the same esteem. The Cupid Shuffle brings a modern and hip twist to the electric slide. Not only is the Cupid Shuffle easy to learn it’s also enjoyable for all ages.

You first start with a four count of shuffling and moving to the left. The song goes “to the left, to the left, to the left, to the left”. In these 4 steps you will move to the left with a shuffle and glide to the left. It’s that simple, you will want to put some style and rhythm into your glide just to get a better effect. Now, repeat the same exact move, but this time move to the right again use the four count. The song goes “to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right.”

The next series of moves include kick your feet forward in a heel toe action. Start with the right foot and thrust it forward with your heel touching the pavement and your toes pointing towards the sky. Quickly switch to the left foot. And then repeat this in a four count, with each kick completing one count. The song goes “now kick, now kick, now kick, now kick.”

The last move of the Cupid Shuffle is the “walk it by yourself” move. This is basically a walk it out dance step which allows you a lot of creativity and freedom. The dance step is simply a two-step forward motion with a 360 degree step-by-step spin. The song goes “walk it by yourself, walk it by yourself, walk it by yourself, walk it by yourself.”

Cupid Shuffle is as easy as that. This is one of the latest dances to hit the scene and you will impress your family and friends at the next gathering or party when you show them what you got on the dance floor. Now get out there and move to the left, then move to the right, now kick, and walk it by yourself!

Ant Onaf is a content producer in association with LearnClubDance.com (http://www.learnclubdance.com), an online retailer which sells DVD and video sets so you can learn to dance.

There are many talented singers around and their skills come in several different varieties. Some of them sing the blues and others are great pop music singers. Then there are those who don’t have the best voices in the world, but boy can they perform!

There is always someone out there who can sing better and is more talented at what they do and this clearly re-enforces the fact that it is important to market your talents to the very best of your ability to ensure you do not get passed by.

Marketing, in simple terms means to sell and can be associated with almost anything such as goods, services and even your singing talents.

Marketing and management services are offered to singers by both companies and individuals in exchange for a flat fee or sometimes for a percentage of the singer’s income. The majority of those offering such a service are experts in their field and can be depended on to gain maximum exposure for the singer, in a professional manner.

Nonetheless, because of the complicated world of the recording industry and show business in general, singers should be extremely cautious when dealing with marketing and management services. Do some research and check out that the person or company providing the service is accredited by their organization and this will avoid your involvement with any fly by night marketers who have only one aim and that is to take advantage of your inexperience.

Once you have employed the services of a professional marketer or manager you will not only have the luxury of access to venues and shows which will enable you to promote your career in singing but you may even be lucky enough to have some of your songs used on the soundtrack of a movie.

If you can get your complete album included on a movie soundtrack this is an excellent publicity means, as when the movie takes off and hits box office highs, there is a good likelihood that the soundtrack will become a great success too and your career will be launched into a whole new dimension.

So how can you spot the right marketer for you? You should look for one with a good reputation who is known for having lots of show biz contacts. This will open many avenues for you to promote and develop your career in singing.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.

Last night, whilst lounging on my sofa with a friend watching the television, I flicked through the channels to stumble across a woman playing the piano as if it was as easy as a simple stroll in the park. The sound that came out of her carefree fast-motioned fingers, made me wonder how it is possible to have both of your hands work on two different chords at different ends of the piano. This then made me realise that it is exactly what I do when I play my bass guitar.

When watching this woman play, I found myself in a deep discussion with my friend about whether it is a natural talent towards playing music or whether it truly is a long time of practising to make perfection. I refuse to believe that every time I walk into a guitar shop that every single person in there looking at guitars are ‘naturally’ gifted in music or have a ‘natural’ talent to music. Similar to the woman playing the piano, it would have taken many years of practise to be as good as that.

On my last visit to my local guitar shop, to pick up a tabs book, I found myself talking to someone else about how they had never played a piece of music by ‘The Doors’. It just so happened this said shop supplied a tabs book for that and this person blew me away. He simple perched the book against the wall, sat down with his guitar and started to play like true professional no problems, just from reading the tablatures.

Amazing I thought, but then when I think about this more logically, this man has had twenty years more experience in playing the guitar than I had playing my bass. Therefore, after years of experience he was able to play anything for the first almost perfectly. It would appear that this man could play any piece of music set down upon him; therefore, his dedication to playing the guitar was made prominent through his performance in the guitar shop.

Musicians, artists, writers, performers, dancers and people within the creative industry will know all too well that to become good at something you have to practise to perfection, or practise until you never get it wrong. The same applies for any profession or hobby; this includes people in sporting events or even in the entertainment industry. To truly master playing a musical instrument, one will need to make more than just a few visits to the music or guitar shop buying books and accessories.

A lot of this should be mirrored by the dedication to practising and actually playing the instrument. The first time I had begun playing my bass was not that long ago, but I remember picking it up all excited and eager to play only to find that I had no idea what I was doing. The first thing I wanted to do was learn a few bass tunes to some popular rock music. Whilst doing this I decided to learn a few impressive tricks and techniques that would help me to play better.

Those wanting to learn to play an instrument will need to begin finding their feet in learning to play and try to play a song that interests them. This will mean plenty of time alone going over the same tune again and again. It will be frustrating, painful and even laborious at time, but you will very quickly adjust to this and once you see the improvements in your playing you will never want to stop. Often, you will find when playing the guitar, you may improvise and create your own tunes, this is a good sign of progress and it is worth recording these if you can.

When playing in front of people, your nerves will be playing topsy-turvy in the pit of your stomach, even if the audience is your family members! To people who do not know how to play a musical instrument, you will appear a musical genius with a ‘natural’ flair for music.

Whether it is something that you are born with or have a keen interest in, nothing can rule out that practise is the key. It is true that some people are gifted in being able to learn faster than others are able to, but whatever the rate of learning power you have with practise comes familiarity, clarity and perfection. Therefore, the key to becoming a good musician is to practise, practise and practise some more.

Anna Stenning regularly visits her guitar shop to maintain and keep her bass guitar in good condition, as well as pick up DVD tutorials and tablature books.

Two singers may be singing the same song with the same musical arrangement and yet, one singer delivers the song with such feel, passion and gusto that get the teary eyed audience clapping away non stop whilst the other singer just belts out the song to a bored audience. Guess who will be the superstar and who will always be the mediocre singer? Why is this so?

To most people, good singing simply means just memorizing the lyrics and hitting the correct notes without going out of key. If a singer can just do that and is blessed with a “good singing voice”, then this singer will have great potential in his/her singing career.

Well, if it is just that simple, then many of us will have great potential as a singing superstar but that obviously isn’t the case, isn’t it?

Do remember that although some famous singers are born with a good voice, all of them will have to be trained to capitalize on their voices to take them to the maximum distance their voices can go. The other less fortunate who are not blessed with a “natural good singing voice” will have to take more vocal lessons and training to develop it. In other words, to develop voice quality and to sing well requires scientific as well as artistic vocal training whether you are a superstar potential or not.

Since the title of this article is about how to sing with feel, passion and emotion of a superstar, we will only touch on this topic although there are many many more factors to good singing.

Often overlooked by singers, singing is all about communication. You are telling a story or delivering a message to your audience in a musical tone instead of giving a lecture or reading poetry.

For example, when a speaker delivers a speech, the bad speaker will deliver the speech in a deadpan manner or worse, reading off a prepared script. A good speaker will be full of life, punctuating his speech with emotion and passion, using a soft delicate voice to coax sympathy and an authoritative firm voice to capture attention or to inspire. Sometimes the good speaker speaks slowly to get his point across and then speak quickly to inject urgency into his message.

Now, good singing is not just about having a good voice, it is about how you convey your message to the audience that they not only be able feel you, identify with your lyrics but have an emotional reaction to your singing too!

It is because of this reason, before you put musical tone to your lyrics, you will have to read the lyrics out loud and then phrase the lyrics with cadences as if you are telling a story. Imagine yourself as the character in the lyrics, and immerse yourself in the position of the character so that you can feel the emotions of the character, so that you can capture how the character would feel if he/she were singing the song instead of you.

After which, you will then to sing in the musical notes. At this point, you will be able to sing with feeling and emotion with a passion for the song. This is the time when you decide when do you want to hold the notes a little longer to achieve a desired effect or when to sing faster, softer or louder.

When you are able to do this, along with other good vocal techniques, with every song that you sing, you will be known as a singer who is able to capture the feel, emotion and the passion of songs and this skill alone will put you way streets ahead of other singers who simply just belt out the lyrics.

More music articles from Chris Chew at Common Singing Mistakes and
Learn How To Get Perfect Pitch

Ever wanted to explode onto the music scene with the best song you ever wrote? Well if you use MySpace your chances have just increased.

Ultimately this article is for aspiring musicians and talented artists that have artist profiles on this popular website and want that little extra help in leveling out the battle field and make it possible to compete with the big names in today’s music industry.

Have you ever heard of increasing MySpace mp3 song plays? Well, it is the new craze that is rapidly spreading across the internet. The deal is this, they increase your plays, profile views or even your video plays and intern your MySpace chart ranking increases along with your fan count and daily friend requests.

Now I am not a marketing guru but I would think that receiving many plays every day and many profile views every day that would lead to more CD sales and increased exposure to A&R’s?

Increasing mp3 plays, profile views and video plays has been recognized by many as the only real way to contend with the big names in the music business. These days if you are not popular on the music charts the question remains to be who are you. The main trick with MySpace is you can give your fans something from your page and they can actually be there and contact you, leave a comment and simply be on a level with you.

Being the powerhouse on the internet with millions and millions of users each and every day, advertising and pushing your music to your fans on MySpace is the cheapest and most simplest option for any artist out there today.

Obviously if you used such services your music better be up to scratch or you would be wasting your marketing $$ exposing bad music, which is not really what you want, so you must make sure your music is of HQ (high quality) and that you can be contacted or all your work and effort will be a waste.

On one hand I would think that the likeliness of succeeding in such a manner would fail due to MySpace’s strict policies, but on the other hand I think many do fool the giant in making them look so real that they are very hard to detect, and maybe even if the increase system is smart enough, undetectable.

Though the 1 area for this system I see may fail, is if the play delivery system stopped for a while and then kicked back in with massive numbers, surely they would detect something there. But really I think all the visits are done so stealthy by using proxies and different referrers that MySpace can not really do anything, as far as they could know you are just simply marketing you or your bands page, or you could of just done a concert etc.

So if you are considering using this kind of service to increase your mp3 music plays I would be very careful and sure to start off small and slowly increase over a time frame that looks
fairly realistic!

Increase MySpace Mp3 and check out Steve’s Increase MySpace Mp3 Plays

I don’t think there is any mystery to practicing the guitar. If you surf the internet for tips on “how to practice the guitar”, than you might get dizzy. The amount of websites gracing us with their special practice methods on how to shred or play like Jimi Hendrix in 2 weeks is overwhelming and confusing, to say the least.

Do you think that any of the great guitarists, athletes or actors just woke up one day and had these super human skills? Probably not. Talent level aside. Simply put, all elite guitarists, athletes, etc. do have a few things in common even if their abilities differ somewhat. Practice. Hit the grindstone, go to the woodshed.

They work, or to be more precise, practice, practice and more practice. One grows by increasing knowledge input at a slow pace, while practicing each piece of knowledge until perfect. It is not a competition or race, so no matter how long it takes to master something, keep practicing until it is mastered. Enjoy the experience. It’s not that bad!

Logically speaking, of course, we recommend starting with easy learnable assignments. Mastering an assignment builds happiness and confidence. These are two essential ingredients to success. You must enjoy your chosen art, in this case the guitar, and you must build confidence.

Michael Jordan was the greatest talent in basketball, ever. You may not want to believe it, but it’s true. He also had a reputation as the most intensely ferocious person on court during practice. He always pushed the other team mates too the limit. It made them better too.

What do you think Steve Vai did all day while developing into one of the greatest guitarists ever. Steve(Vai is obviously a genius and graduate of The Berklee School of Music. If you could ask Frank Zappa about Steve Vai’s intelligence level, assuming he was alive. Vai was transcribing music for Zappa when Vai was fourteen years old). What do you think he would say?

That being said, the most important part of practicing is having the time and desire to go over certain pieces of musical information until you get it. It is a discipline that requires lots of practice time. It’s comical to even think of practicing during a recital or gig or basketball game. Gametime, recital time or gig time is time when you play by instinct. No practicing at those times. Period.

My point is that a lot of time is going to be consumed practicing the guitar. I read (and saved it, but can’t find it) a reprint of a Stevie Vai practice session in Guitar World about 2 years ago. It was a ten (10) hour/per day practice. Broken down into steps, from warming up through different left and right hand techniques and exercises, to the mental part of transforming it into muscle memory.

Without complications I hope to have conveyed to you in this article that in order to be a top-notch guitar player, be prepared to do it the old fashioned way. Lots of practice. There is no magic formula, unless you are a Voodoochild, or went to the Crossroads to get on your knees!

Enjoy

For more information about Guitar Players Center Guitar Tools or Guitar Chords. Feel free to visit our website, ask questions, share it with others, make comments or simply enjoy.

If you want to put together and arrange a recording, you might need something a bit different than simply putting a band together and then mixing all of the music in. Today, you have options available so that you can put together your songs and make sure that everything is hanging together just right.

Tip #1: Use patterns and repeats. Everything in music is built off of a pattern or motif. If you have these types of patterns in your song, don’t rewrite them over and over again. This is especially unnecessary if you’re not playing live. Simply create a loop with the specific musical pattern you want, so that you get what you want for much less time and money.

Tip #2: Find those loops. Most recording packages have premade loops that can be used for just general patterns. This is effective if you need a simple beat or general rhythm pattern. Loops should not be your songs’ foundation, but they can provide a general background.

Tip #3: Layer. It doesn’t matter whether you’re recording live, using loops or patterns; you still need to think in layers. Start doing this when you start with an arrangement of the song and continue it throughout production and mixing.

Tip #4: What should you put in first? It doesn’t always matter how you put your tracks down, but there’s usually a way that is both logical and effective. Start with a rhythm track if you can, because you can use both a repetitive loop here and you’ll also help keep everything pointed in the same direction. Then, stack from low to high, starting with bass, then going to mid range, and then finally, high range.

Tip #5: Your “icing” is the vocals. Performing live, usually, the singers are at the front of the stage, but when you record, they’re in the back. Before you bring vocalists in for a recording session, have your layers of instrumentation completely finished, including your mix. You can put the voice in last so that it will be compressed and will blend well with the rest of the instruments.

Tip #6: Make sure you know your way around more than one program. Most recording studios prefer to use one particular program or set of programs for everything they record. For you, the more adaptable you are and the more you know your way around various recording software packages, the more capable you will be of finding just the right arrangements and sounds, as well as the capabilities within each kind of software. Familiarize yourself with software so that you know which software is best at what task.

Tip #7: Know the background and foreground. One of the biggest mistakes those new to recording make is that they have the balance and the back arrangements as their foreground. This can be managed if you use a volume control in your arrangements. Research to see what standards are for each setting in volume before you start your recording.

Tip #8: It’s harder to get softer in volume than it is to get louder. When you just start your mix, start at a low volume. Test each instrument or pattern before you change anything. Start with a volume of about -6.0. If you need to, you can move up. However, don’t go to zero when you’re recording, especially before you bring the vocals in. This can cause the sound to be too loud so that waves will make it peak and it will be unbalanced.

Tip #9: Test, test, test. Use volume control when you test each of your sounds. Each instrument should stay below a yellow or red zone. The volume itself should be at a nice halfway point with each instrument. Some may need to be higher than others for the mix itself, but staying within the mid-zone is the general rule. If you keep in mind, you have an easier time keeping the instrumentation together in terms of its volume.

Tip #10: When should you preset? If you’re going for a certain sound, or if you know what needs to be put together or compressed in a certain way, do that before you start playing. This is especially important when it comes to the mixing. However, don’t experiment unless you’re willing to lay the track down several times using different settings.

By utilizing these tips, you can put pieces together in less time and more effectively. When you know what you can use and when with your computer, and you’ll get the exact sound you need. This is also true when you know what settings you should use.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.

Angela loves to sing, even though she doesn’t have the voice talent that most people believe they should have in order to be a good singer.

With that kind of determination, she took some singing lessons to improve her vocal stamina. In time, she was able to develop her singing prowess and was able to build a career of her own.

Many people seem to believe that it is not possible to gain talent through singing and that all the talented singers in the world were born with it. The good news is that anyone can become a good singer as long as they put in the time and effort to do so. All anyone has to do is learn the right techniques in order to improve their vocal stamina.

Even famous singers take on lessons to improve their vocal stamina. They need to do this from time to time to strengthen their vocal cords and increase their range as much as four points on average.

Talent is not everything when it comes to singing. Singing also is based on physical exertion. When you sing, the air is forced out from the diaphragm and the vocal cords are what determine the pitch of the voice.

You should remember that a powerful voice requires the physical exertion that is calls for. This is achieved through steps that help you improve your vocal stamina.

Here are a few steps to help get you on your way to building more vocal stamina and to become the singer that you have always wanted to be:

1. At first you must perform the correct warm ups. Just like you would do if you were exercising it is important that you first start with warming up before you rehearse. Doing this will help your vocal cords stabilize its potential for reaching the higher notes that you desire.

Some warm up exercises may include things like humming, cord adducting or singing on pitch. After this doing these warm ups your voice should be ready for more “far-reaching” vocalizing.

2. Next you need to develop a good technique. If you have not noticed, every great singer has their own way of delivering a pitch. It is essential to develop one of your own in order to guarantee good singing performance.

3. Last you need to improve the control you have over your Larynx. Doing this will help you improve the tone you have when you are singing. You will be able to manage the location of the Larynx while you are delivering your notes.

All of these thing mainly focus on the physical exertion put out by the vocal cords. It is essential to improve your vocal stamina and be able to sing that note at a higher level.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.

Stage deportment in singing may be defined as the actions of a singer before an audience, between entrance and exit. Good stage deportment depends on common sense and good manners.

Common Sense – Before making an appearance a singer should plan his entrances and exits. Common sense will dictate whether he should enter from the side, down stage right or left, or from the back – that is, upstage, right, left, or center. If the entrance is to be made through a divided curtain, he should in some way mark the entrance and exit spot.

The singer and accompanist should have a good, well-tuned instrument with which to work. It is preferable not to make an appearance at all unless conditions are reasonably good.

In the matter of solo appearances with a choral group or an orchestra, the position of the soloist is usually a matter of convention: Down center to right or left of the conductor, slightly ahead, so as not to block the conductor’s contact with, or view of, the orchestra.

The underlying principle of a good entrance should be: Make Friends. The soloist must reflect good spirits and a friendly attitude. Too little reserve will be as unfavorable as too much reserve. Good Taste should govern one’s presence. If a guest were to enter a room filled with people, the first impulse would be to look around for the host, for some familiar face, some acquaintance, and to nod the head slightly in greeting.

The same procedure holds on confronting an audience. Without giving off an air of boldness, too much confidence or familiarity, the soloist looks over the audience and bows slightly or nods as if to acknowledge acquaintances.

Posture – The singer’s attitude should reflect good health, good spirits and friendliness. The position should not be a military one, with shoulders thrown back, chin up, heels together. The body position should be a comfortable one, feet slightly apart for balance, either one foot or the other slightly forward, with weight resting on heel of one or ball of the other.

The conventional position of the hands for a woman singer is the back of one hand in the palm of the other, held in a comfortable position about the waist line.

The conventional position of the hands for a man singer is about the same, except that it looks more manly for him to hold a book or program. Hands at the side or back usually look awkward. Hand in pocket, or hand on piano, or leaning on piano – all these create an unfavorable reaction.

Distractions – An underlying principle of good deportment: Avoid distractions. A distraction may be defined as anything that takes the attention of the audience from the intent of the song material. The singer is in effect trying to cast a spell or create a mood. A distraction will break the spell, or destroy the mood.

Distractions:

Unusual mannerisms,

Unusual or unconventional dress. Peculiar facial expressions

Poor manners

Clearing of throat

Pianistic accompanist

In the case of character or comedy material, distractions may be in order.

The actions of an accompanist should not attract the attention of an audience away from the content or interpretation of the song material. Hand or body movements which might be in place in a piano solo are obvious distractions in accompanying.

Extreme care should be exercised in dynamics not to cover the singer’s voice or to leave him without sufficient support. An accompanist can cue or prompt the singer when help is needed, but such assistance must be given carefully to avoid distraction.

An underlying principle in concert singing should be: Avoid movement.

More can be learnt of stage deportment, but these guidelines will get you off on the right foot.

Follow My Free Singing Lessons And You May Just Be The Next American Idol.

Click Here For Free Online Ebook
http://www.freesinginglesson.net/