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Recording Masterclass for Ruben's and Clay's CDsby Rosanne Simunovic -- 06/24/2003
View Printable version of this article Over the past couple of weeks, I have received numerous e-mails regarding a Masterclass article in reference to the enormously successful CD singles by Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. Well, it took a while for these CDs to reach Canadian soil, but I finally received them from Amazon.com. However, before I continue with my review, I would like say that there is a huge difference in production quality between these two recordings – at the expense of Clay Aiken. Clay’s recording sounds as if it was produced in a harried, thoughtless fashion. I only hope that more thought and care is utilized for his full-length album, because this extraordinary performer deserves better than this. So, that being said, I am happy to share my thoughts about Clay’s and Ruben’s recordings and will highlight the strengths as well as critique the vocal, instrumental, and recording production issues that I feel need some attention in the future. Bridge Over Troubled Water Strengths: Clay performs this song beautifully, exhibiting the beautiful seamless quality of his vocal range. Great choral sound here, performed by a really stellar choir. This is an excellent and refreshing new arrangement of this Paul Simon classic. Clay is singing with beautiful focus and has stayed pretty consistently true to his “bel canto” technique for sustaining on the pure vowel. Critique: The first major criticism I have at the outset is the very obvious presence of this choir. The choir, as I said previously, is excellent, but it totally overpowers Clay’s vocal presence on this CD. I love the choral intro – but, after this intro, then I feel that the choral background should have remained silent for the first verse so that we could really enjoy the vocal excellence of Clay. Less is more, I feel, and the choir, in my opinion, is not only too exposed, but also extremely loud. The result: Clay sounds like he is a soloist from this (nameless) choir and this is very unfair. I am a great believer in the power of background vocals; however the end result should not overshadow the singer. There is a reason that we use the word “background” when describing these additional singers. In addition, I suspect that Clay recorded his solo to a pre-recorded track of background vocals and instrumental accompaniment and I feel that we have lost the magic and excitement of the live performance. When Clay sang this song live on American Idol, it really smoked; the energy, enthusiasm and adrenaline rush that you feel in a live performance cannot be duplicated in a studio. I understand that this is the norm in recording circles, but, honestly, I feel that the result is a more stagnant and a musically uninteresting performance. Also, although Clay sang with a nice free pop style in this number, I think that the ubiquitous presence of the choir really inhibited his own personal delivery of this song. At times, it was almost like a competition and this encouraged Clay to sing with a forced, pinched vocal quality. I breathed a sigh of relief when the song moved to the beginning of another verse so we could enjoy the beauty and quieter nuances in Clay’s voice. To summarize: Clay sang beautifully, as did the choir; however, the production of this song needs to be evaluated so that there is an element of dynamic surprise within the performance structure of this song. The song was too predictable – Clay sings a few lines of verse, then the choir overtakes the rest of the verse at a feverish pitch and the intensity increases etc., and then the sequence is repeated again and again. This Is The Night Strengths: What a beautiful composition. This is not an easy song to perform, as the singer has to have a technically secure and flexible vocal range. Clay has all of these important attributes in his singing voice and he performs this song with confidence and sensitivity to the lyrical content of the music. Generally, his entire range sounds remarkable – clear, with that ringing head tone in both the upper and register that is so very important. This song really reminds me of Celine Dion – it appears to be very close to the type of song that she usually records with great success. Perhaps this is why Clay has emerged as a star. Apart from Josh Groban, who is inherently more a classical than a pop singer, Clay is the only real male pop singer that sings pop music with a classical element intact – much like Celine Dion. I was really impressed with the superb agility in Clay’s voice and the way he could bend the sustained vocal line and add more riffs and runs with pitch perfect control. Critique: Clay, be very careful that you are always singing on the pure vowel. That “bel canto” singing style is improving, but, at times, those diphthongs take over and the result is a less focused, less vocally pure sound. We lose the beauty and richness of your voice. Production for this song was very good and the arrangement, including background vocals and instrumental, was excellent. It really allowed Clay to shine and this is what was missing in the first number. Generally, however, the background vocals were not as vocally proficient in this song as in “Bridge Over Troubled Water;” however, at least they stayed in the background and allowed Clay’s voice to remain prominent throughout the number. View Printable version of this article
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