Music and Technology
What I like doing when I鈥檓 relaxing is to listen to music of all kinds. Sad or happy, it doesn鈥檛 matter. The live sound of musical instruments being played by talented people who have studied for years is to me, very moving.
Yes, Composers of modern musicals are no doubt geniuses, but, they have all the sophisticated computerisation to help them.
That isn鈥檛 in itself such a bad thing, but to me there is a certain lack of warmth compared to the sound of an orchestra performing a live concert.
I can remember back to the days when I was a professional singer. When you went into a recording studio, you had to pay by the hour. If you were fortunate enough to be able to fund your recording, you would have possibly three weeks to complete an album. Now, it can take up to a year.
So, with all the essential qualities of a good voice, and good live musicians to accompany me, I could give a performance in which my voice was at the forefront. Do we really know how many so called stars can sing these days? One of the reasons I gave up singing in social and cabaret clubs, was that live musicians were being sacrificed for the sake of economy, and were replaced by backing tracks. I missed the little jokes that passed between artiste and organist, drummer or guitarist ect.
I once sang at the London Palladium with a 20 piece orchestra, and no amount of technological brilliance, no matter how good it may be, could ever take away that feeling of elation I experienced, knowing that every instrumentalist on that stage was playing to my singing.
I would like to hear some of the stars of today performing without all the sights and sounds created to make them icons, I want to hear them warts and all.
