I recorded new vocals for Beyond Mars today. I love singing because it's not easy, but a long and slow process of gradual improvement over many years, step by step. How much better I can sing now than in the past! Oh to re-record the vocals of the past. This feeling is common to singers and can't be helped. Art shouldn't stop being made now, even when knowing that skills will probably be better in future. We must do our best at the time and strive to learn and improve with every act.
I now tend to sing a song through twice in a row. Both takes are often very similar, but with two there is always an option of a certain part being better in one than another. The hardest and most important part when singing a song is the opening line and the opening word. Firstly, there is no former sound to guide the voice, it must start in an instant, but also the first line is often crucial for setting the mood of the whole song. In a few of The Modern Game songs, like Beyond Mars, like All The Broken Flowers, like Two Kinds Of Animals, the first line defines the feeling and the idea of the whole song and condenses and summarises it, like an overture.
I also watched Robocop with Deb last night, and was reminded what a good film it is. It manages to be sci-fi, action, comedy, romance, tragedy, and satire.
