I am about a year into producing an album for a new artist known as "altered boy." This young man has been classically trained as an opera singer and is a countertenor (really high voice for a male, imagine a voice higher than Michael Jackson). According to Wikipedia, the counter tenor voice went through a massive resurgence in popularity in the second half of the 20 century, partly caused by the increased popularity of baroque opera and also due to a need of male singers to replace the castrati roles in opera.
Getting a pop vocal performance from a classically trained opera singer has been a challenge for both of us. opera singers are trained to sing in a way that projects their voice. A lot of the emotions in Opera, are a bit less intimate than what I look for in a vocal.
I am also getting used to making room in my tracks for lead vocals that reside in the reaches of high midrange (a location that I had not previously become acquainted with. A task which should not be taken lightly.
However, the challenges were what got me excited and thinking about how to make it all work. altered boy was up for the challenge, but probably did not anticipate the tortures that were in store when I got him behind the mic. When I was producing records with EXUDE, and NC -- 17, I relied on my brother, Vince's, skill at picking and synchronizing rhythms and beats. Without him to help I have developed my sensitivity to the rhythm and groove of a track, but it wasn't a sense that came to me naturally and I knew I wasn't the best man for the job. About two days ago altered boy introduced me to Adam Dugan, whose expertise and many talents include (but are surely not limited to) being a DJ. Adam has the rhythm intuition that escapes me, and in a first listen to one of the tracks that I play for him he picked out and added that I thought I had hidden.
It wasn't long before I told Adam that it was great to finally find someone else who had been dropped off of the same space ship (which led to a productive discussion on methods of coping with earthlings).
The next step is acquainting Adam with the software I am working with (acid, and Pro tools LE) so that I can turn him loose to do what he does best.
He should be here any time now so I'd better get things ready.
See more about TwinkleU at their website: http://www.twinkleumusic.com/