Page 10 - Write Away Magazine April

seal’s vocals

Seal screwed my technique up. He single handedly made learning to sing impossible for me for a
number of years.

The year is 1991, I’m 22 years old and I hear Crazy for the first time. Wow! So unique, different. The
perfect combination of synths, groove and this black, husky, amazing vocal with incredible backing
vocals.

I’m a 6’4” red head freckled whity, living in Australia now wanting to sound like a black dude from
the UK. You can see how that worked out right?

Fundamentally, singing is about discovering our voice then bringing out the best in who we are
vocally whilst not trying to force our voice into ways it’s not designed for. I would have as much
chance to be Robert Plant as I would being Celine Dion. It’s just not how I’m built.

Seal is amazing. I wanted to be amazing. And lots of singers fall into this problem when trying to
learn. They are inspired by someone then try to become their inspiration. But seal is amazing
because Seal is being Seal.

But there are a few things that we can learn from Seal that we CAN apply to our own technique.

Timing. Many vocalists consider the timing to be the domain of the drums and bass. It’s not - It’s also
your responsibility. One listen to Michael Jackson or Eminem and you very quickly discover that the
consonants form a very important part of the songs groove. Listen, I mean critically listen to your
vocal rhythm as you sing and work on getting your voice tightly in the pocket. This can take time.
Listen back to any recordings you’ve done and check in on whether your vocal takes are locked in
or slightly loose. I’d encourage you to tap or clap whilst you’re practicing your singing. You may find
that this is deceptively hard to do at first.

Accuracy. One of the things that made the Seal recordings sound the way they did was their use of
vocal layering. Those albums were produced by a master music producer called Trevor Horn. He is
from the Video Killed the Radio Star fame. And he is obsessive. Those recordings sometimes had
over 60 tracks of backing vocals. And these were recorded in the days before auto-tune. They HAD
to get it right. If you’re struggling to get in key, it could be one of multiple reasons. But as a starting
point, doing drills really helps. Bouncing on thirds, 4ths, 5ths. Practicing octave jumps etc really
assists in getting the voice responding as you need it.

Feel. Sometimes we can get so tied up in our heads trying to make everything so perfect that we for-
get to express the song with all the emotion intended. Seal like all true pro’s have the combination of
style, charisma and feel whilst being super pro. In your pursuit of taking your voice to the next level,
remember to sing from the heart. It’s what the world needs right now.

Follow this link to find out more from Paul.....

10 www.writeawaymagazine.co.uk