Thursday, November 24, 2005

FRONT



You have got more front than the Hague museum

In the last 2 bands Ive worked in & for that matter a good part of my musical journey, I have been the lead Singer. It is how I started out way back in the mists of time, in a classroom, after the end of day bell rang at Morley Grammar School.

To be good at this gig you need to be confident, have an ego the size of K2 & skin so thick, diamond cutters go looking for easier prey. After all, drummers can hide behind their cymbals, guitarists can run behind amps, but the poor front man has nothing to protect him apart from a microphone stand.
(To Paraphrase Keith Moon)

It can be VERY daunting when for example; the reputation of a venue for mayhem & violence precedes your arrival at a gig. You walk out on stage trying to look nonchalant as if you are so at home on the stage, you squat there. But inside you are a seething, twisting mess of nerves, one heartbeat away from either vomiting or running.

It is only when the first Note of the first song is struck that you feel the rapturous surge of power & release. Using all that pent up adrenalin, as you kick, swagger & conquer the stage. It becomes your turf, a place to leap & prowl, while all the time maintaining eye contact with the audience & emphasizing the lyrics or emotion of the song with body language. Oh joyous times indeed!!!

The very act of singing needs to be analysed here, Instrumentalists can tell you what guitar they use even down to the strings. But the 2 most physical performers in any generic band are the drummer & the singer. (Stands back waiting for the tomatoes & rotten fruit to be thrown, but Im used to that.)

When you sing the following changes occur in your body
The larynx is located in the throat and contains the vocal chords and glottis. With the exhalation of breath, the diaphragm forces air up through cartiledge "horn" of the larynx by contracting.

The air moves through the vocal chords, which are situated in the muscular vibrating folds of the larynx, and the glottis, the space formed between them. By stretching the vocal chords, adjusting the tension and varying the air pressure through the glottis, the pitch of our voice is adjusting, tuning higher or lower.

A lower sound requires a longer column of air and is felt in the chest, a higher sound uses a shorter column of air and is felt in the nose and head.
Add to that the increase in core temperatureeture, blood pressure & increased pulse rate and it is no wonder I used to leave the stage drenched in sweat looking for a towel.

Listening to

Arcane Enigma & Heat Distance tracks

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