Just Suddenly
We wish to help you get your message across, to your loved ones, through music
I judged the singing competition at SIES, Nerul on 10th Feb 2023, called ‘The Voice’. Now all the participants gave their best and for that, I am proud of you. I hope I judged the event well and you guys were happy with the results. But what I really want for you is to learn something from this experience. Hence, I’m going to explain how I judged the competition, so you get some feedback, train harder and smarter every day, and achieve your dreams at lightning speed.
Before we begin, I wish to apologize to you on behalf of the Cultural Team and me for the giant blunder that we made. I had read the rules, but it slipped my mind that you were not allowed to use backing tracks. I was under the impression that you would be performing on backing tracks. Only after talking with one of you on WhatsApp on 12th Feb did I come to know that you were not allowed to use backing tracks. Although I remember, S36 performed his Michael Jackson song on a backing track. I don't know how that happened. So, sorry for being unfair on this part. It was completely our mistake as the organizers if you were forced to perform without a backing track. This has been a learning experience for the Cultural Team too, so please be kind enough to overlook this mistake. I hope you’ll forgive us.
Now let’s get down to business.
1. Tempo : Your ability to sing your song on a uniform beat, or the beat set by the accompanist, or the beat of the backing track.
2. Pitch: Your ability to sing each note on the scale of the song, the scale of the backing track, the scale set by the accompanist, or the Electronic Tanpura.
3. Overall Feel: Your ability to create an aesthetically pleasing ambiance or experience for your audience with your vocals or your performance as a whole. Also, what you made me feel through your performance.
4. Stage Presence: Your ability to stand on stage with confidence, by being presentable, by being a lunatic, being whoever you are, like the stage was your kingdom to rule for 5 mins (one song) or 1 hour (whole set-list).
5. Clarity / Pronunciation / Tone Quality: Your ability to sing the words clearly and make sure your lyrics are easily understandable. And also your voice’s tone quality, throw, whispers, humming, and other vocal techniques incorporated.
1. Tempo : Singing at a uniform pace is extremely important. It not just helps you sync with the accompanist, but forms the foundation of your song. A non-uniform tempo subconsciously displeases the audience, simply because every song you hear in the movies or on the internet is recorded at a uniform tempo. The audience is used to uniformity. By not singing on a uniform beat the song is not tight and delivers an average performance unless you’re doing it on purpose to invoke strong emotions. (For eg: The last 4 lines of the song Bekhayali were dropped in tempo on purpose. To express that he is still sad as he finishes the song.) Also, any good musician will quickly catch that a performer is not singing on the beat of the song.
2. Pitch: This is for 'The hobbyists'. Despite how naturally talented you are, taking a few months of vocal sessions is highly recommended, because it helps you match your vocal pitch to whatever scale the song is on. Anyone can sing well with enough training. You can learn to sing well even if you are not naturally talented. If you want proof here’s a video of my vocal skills when I started - Unsure/Uncertain - Dumb Video. And here’s a video of my vocal skills now – Just Suddenly - Holding On. All the classically trained vocalists will easily sound better simply because they have put in the hours and have learned the basics of pitching. Always train your vocals on a musical instrument. 1 Hour of vocal training a day is a must for anyone who desires to be a good vocalist. Your vocal cords are like any other muscle in your body, you don’t train it regularly, it will not perform well during your performance. As for the classically trained vocalists, I don't need to give you extra advice, just that do something new, something original, something unique. You don't have to copy-paste and sound exactly the way you were taught. Take the basics and innovate. Add a bit of you to your singing.
3. Overall Feel: Sometimes you don’t need natural talent or skill to give a good performance. (For eg: Gnash wrote the most simplest song ever – I hate you, I love you, and performed it with the most average vocals and yet, we all loved it for his simplicity and breathtaking lyrics). A performance can sound beautiful if you do simple things in an aesthetically pleasing way. Whatever auditory ambiance you create with the Backing track, Accompanist, Electronic Tanpura and your Vocals provide a unique experience for your audience. This is the human element. I was paying attention to how your song/performance made me feel. Every song you perform is a chance to connect with your audience, to make them feel something, happy, sad, angsty, nostalgic, energetic, or depressed. Your performance should have the ability to make the audience forget their troubles for 5 mins, to entertain them, not just to impress them, but your chance to express what you feel. Make your audience feel what your song made you feel when you heard it for the first time.
4. Stage Presence: Usually this includes everything you do on stage, from what clothes you wear, your smile, the way you handle your gear, everything. However, I judged you on how comfortable you felt on stage, whether you just stood like a flag pole, whether you moved around, whether you smiled, how your hands moved, and whether you connected with the audience. I did not consider the friendly cheers some friends provided their friends. I did not even consider the mandatory applause at the end of each performance.
5. Clarity / Pronunciation / Tone Quality: Clarity of words and lines is important so that you get the meaning across. Your pronunciation is also extremely important cause the story gets lost if I can’t understand the lines and it all sounds gibberish or mumbling. However, that shouldn’t be your only goal. Even if you are singing on the right scale or have good clarity there is a plethora of different ways you can sing each line. Choosing the best way to sing each line and word and then delivering all of it in one fluid performance is the goal of every vocalist. (For eg: Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams. She takes a gasping breath to express she was overwhelmed at that point in the song.) Your tone quality improves after a year of vocal training. Do some digging on Improving Tone Quality. There are a lot of other vocal techniques that no one used in their songs like humming, whispering, falsetto, etc.
1. Tempo :
a. Participants who performed Acapella, I could not judge if you were on tempo. I have used my best judgement as humans adjust to each other’s tempo easily. But you received an average score for this parameter.
b. Participants who performed on the Electronic Tanpura, again, it was difficult to judge your tempo. Some of you were on tempo, and most of you messed up the tempo when you switched from verse to chorus, or chorus to drop, and the sort. Most of you need to work on your breath control. You guys did not maintain your tempo when you ran out of breath.
c. Participants who performed with an accompanist, you are supposed to follow the tempo set by your accompanist. You should not expect the accompanist to adjust the tempo to your vocals. This provides a less-than-average performance. I judged you based on how well you synchronized with your accompanist.
d. Participants who performed with an instrument, you were in control of the tempo at all times, you should not change the tempo of your song the majority of the time.
e. It’s the job of the accompanist to set the tempo and maintain it throughout the song. You can change the tempo during the softer parts for a dramatic feel or raise the tempo during the Outro or Crescendo but show that it was intentional and not an adjustment.
f. Everyone should be well-versed with the metronome. Train every song on the metronome before you set foot on stage.
2. Pitch:
a. Participants who performed without Acapella, it’s very difficult to judge your pitch control and whether you sang on the scale. I know it’s much, much easier to sing without a backing track. But, you got an average score for not having a backing track for this parameter.
b. Participants who performed with a backing track, thank you, I could judge your pitch control extremely well.
c. Participants who performed on the Electronic Tanpura, thank you, I could judge your pitch control precisely well.
d. Participants who performed with an accompanist or with an instrument, thank you, I could judge your pitch control perfectly well.
e. Participants who were classically trained and sang beautiful alaps and nuances during their performances, you guys were amazing, but you were not all 100% tight. With alaps, there is more room for error. So if you’re not that confident you can pull it off, simplify it for the time being. When you go on stage, you need a tightness of 8/10 (Which means, if I make you perform a line, a verse, or the whole song, 10 times. I need you to be absolutely correct 8 times). If this was one of those 2/10 performances where you went wrong, then you’re going to perform well tomorrow anyway. So you can relax.
f. Now for the participants who sang simple songs without alaps or other complicated nuances and techniques, you gave good performances because you didn’t leave room for error with your simple vocals. You were precise. "I know this much, and I will sing this much extremely well. Period". And in doing so, you scored well. It's not wise to go on stage with a WIP song. Fix each word and line and then step on stage. Experiment all you want at home, and bring your tested and proven formula to your performance.
3. Overall Feel:
a. Electric Tanpura performances – Less feel. You got an average score for this.
b. No backing track performances – Least feel. You got an average score for this.
c. Backing track performance – Good feel. You got one additional point for this, and then it depended on how well you performed.
d. Accompanist or Instrument performance – Great feel. You got one additional point for this, and then it depended on how well you performed.
4. Stage Presence:
a. Train your song 150 times before coming on stage. And train an additional 50 times focusing on stage presence. How would you act on stage if you were as famous as your favorite Pop-star? Act like that. It's an entertainment art at the end of the day. Then, you’re ready to give a flawless performance.
b. Record your videos and audio footage and analyze yourself. Pitch, Tempo, and Clarity should be second nature, part of your muscle memory, then you'll be able to make brain space for stage presence and any other last-minute obstacles that come your way on stage.
c. I remember this dialogue from ‘Chandni Chowk To China’. Don’t show me a thousand moves that you’ve practiced once. Show me that one move that you’ve practiced a thousand times. That’s your ultimate weapon. Don’t learn 100 songs. Choose 5-6 and perfect them. Show me that one song that you’ve practiced 200 times, and you’ll see yourself perform like a professional.
d. Don’t just stand like a flag pole during your performance. Walk around, jump, run, pose, do something with your body to express the energy of the song, or show who you are as a person. What makes you different and unique as compared to everybody else?
e. Hand movements, groove with the song, do something unique with the way you hold your mic. Girls are usually fantastic at dancing, I don’t know why none of the girls even moved a little to the beat of the song.
f. Facial expressions – Smile wide for a happy song, smile minimum for a sad song, or downright cry during your sad song, feel it. Give me authenticity. Give me emotions. Don’t close your eyes throughout your song (I remember you). Don’t give me a stone cold expression (The one with the Ukulele. Was it a sad song because of which you gave that expression?). Try not to show your nervousness and anxiety on stage.
5. Clarity / Pronunciation / Tone Quality:
a. Make sure your words and lyrics are easily understandable.
b. Less accent, more clarity.
c. Train so much that you improve your tone quality. There were hardly 3 people whose tone quality was great. I heard 15 people whose tone quality will improve immensely if they train 1 hour every day for a year. Yes, 365 days, 365 hours. No pain, no glory! No sacrifice, no victory!
d. Make sure your vocal volume is always louder than the instrument. Always do a 2 mins sound check, sing one verse before you begin your performance. You can’t give a beautiful performance if you can’t hear yourself. A professional band reaches the venue 5 hours before the event. They take 3 hours to set up and do a thorough sound-check. They test each and every song before each performance. Don’t you think if a professional band takes so much time, you, an amateur, deserve at least 2-5 mins for a sound check? At least to make sure your volumes are at good levels.
I’m extremely sorry for rushing the Duet performances. I had guitar sessions scheduled for the day that I did not wish to cancel.
a. In my opinion, a duet performance should have one leading vocalist and one supporting vocalist at all times. I mean, you could switch the roles between the two of you throughout the song. That way both of you get to lead and support alternatively. However, one person performing at one time, makes it just another Solo performance with 2 people doing the same song at the same time.
b. When you’re performing as a Duet, you should focus on harmonies, the lead vocalist should sing the main lyrics, while the supporting vocalist should sing the backing vocals that complement the lead vocalist’s lines.
c. The supporting vocalist could play around with singing in different octaves, provide a delay of echo effect to the lead lines. There are always supporting vocals in every song if you hear carefully.
d. The supporting vocalist could sing alaps that support the lead vocalist and make the song larger than life.
I am looking for a female vocalist to record one of my songs in the coming months. It'll go on my 3rd EP Album. It’s an English song. I’ll be uploading the Rough Mix on YouTube as a private track. So, if anyone is interested in auditioning for the song, do sign up to the Just Suddenly Mailing List below and you’ll get an email shortly. The song is 6:50 mins long. It’ll be a non-paid opportunity. The name of the song will be – Just Suddenly – It Breaks My Heart To Break Yours too Ft. Your Name.
I loved each one of your performances. I judged your songs objectively as well as subjectively. Given the authority, I would throw out the point system, use all the funds of the prize money and divide it equally among each one of you for simply coming on stage and giving a decent and honest performance.
I would like to give individual feedback to each one of you cause I have made notes for at least 30 of you. If you desire it, get my contact info and ping me on WhatsApp. All the feedback will be my personal opinion. It might not be the best advice, but I’m just telling you what I have learned over the years. Some of you are clearly better vocalists than I am and can do better and more wonderful things than I can. I just have more stage experience and I’ve written around 25 original songs. So, don’t undermine yourself. You are awesome. I consider you my friends and peers.
And if I said or did something stupid or wrong and hurt anyone’s feelings in the process of judging the competition, I’m extremely sorry. I want you all to have a career in music if you so desire. Cause I’m living the dream of being able to survive in the field of music.
I would like to thank Abhinav Tiwari for contacting me and giving me the honor and opportunity to judge the event.
Thank you Chaitali, for showing me around the college, and spending some time with me. You were very sweet.
Thank you The Pink-top girl, the black-dress girl, and Sonu, for talking with me and listening to my banter.
I still feel the additional security was ridiculous and unnecessary. But, thank you for your efforts. I know you meant well.
Thank you Sound guy, for managing the sound, mic stands, and holding the mic for the performers. On top of that, you also performed extremely well.
A big Thank You to the rest of the team that I did not meet and talk with, but worked tirelessly to make the event possible.
