Back with Matt Forger and we’ve got something really special especially for the recording engineers out there, but really anybody that’s just a fan of music or that’s even dabbled with music like, what was it like recording Michael Jackson? >> Okay, we can do it that way. >> >> Bruce has often said he would he was so easy to record.
I and I want to say well, that’s because Michael had so much experience performing and being on stage, he knew how to use a mic. He always came totally professionally prepared. If there was a song he was going to perform on a certain day, he came he knew that song cold. He knew how he wanted to approach it, how he wanted to execute it. He was warmed up.
He was he was ready to go. And it was just like you didn’t have to work hard uh to get a good sound because he had such a a wonderful instrument. His voice was so good. >> So you said he was totally prepared, right? He’d do his vocal exercises. He was studying with Seth Riggs. Like did he he like actually showed up doing did you see him doing vocal exercises or did he do all that home before he showed up? >> Uh usually Seth would show up and show Seth would be at the piano.
>> Oh, in the studio? >> In the studio. >> Are you all set, Michael? >> I’m ready. >> Okay, here we go. >> [screaming] >> I’m ready, Seth. in. >> No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. [singing] >> That’s as high [clears throat] as you have to do it. How do you feel? Sounds real good. The vibrato is very steady.
How do you feel? >> Am I all the way open? >> I don’t really like you are. >> First question Seth would ask Michael is, “Okay, Michael, what’s the highest note you’re singing in this song?” And they would from there Seth would know the range of Michael that what he would be using in his voice.
So, he would know how to warm up Michael specific to what he was going to be singing that day. >> Amazing. Like an athlete. Like a trainer coming out there saying, you know, we’re we’re going to need in this game we’re going to need to defend. So, you’re going to be down low. So, we’re going to use these resistance bands and we’re going to like we know what we’re doing, right? It’s it’s like training.
>> Yeah. And there were times I want I want to say in later album projects where Michael wanted a gruffer, raw, rougher voice and he would intentionally not do the Seth warm-up routine so that he could get that that gravelly kind of raw character. But when he wanted his voice to really project, really shine, really, you know, just the tone be perfect and articulate and and just totally under control, he would do the warm-up routine.
And it was a whole series I would I saw this happen endless times, numerous times. >> Did he did he read the lyrics or did he know it? >> Uh for the most part he would study the lyrics and he would know them at all. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> He memorized them the most. >> Sometimes he would have a lyric in front of him.
Uh typically if he did have a lyric in front of him, he might doodle or he might make a underline a phrase like I want to accentuate this line this way and sometimes I I see a lyric sheet afterwards and he would have crossed out words that maybe were not necessary. Maybe they he it helped the flow to to drop a certain, you know, uh word or or he would he would fine-tune it.
But he would basically know what he was going to do when he came in the door. >> He had the melody down. >> He he had it down. He basically, uh when we did Thriller, um he knew what he was going to sing uh and how he was going to sing it, how he’s going to execute it, all of his ad-libs, he knew all of the vocal >> ad-libs? >> Yeah. All of the vocal background parts.
>> he knew they were going to go. >> He knew every single hiccup, hee hee, ta, uh, ha ha, he knew every single thing to this extent. When he would be on the microphone, and he was singing background vocals, background vocals, let’s say if it’s a three-part harmony, so he’s singing three vocal parts, each of those parts is doubled, means it’s recorded twice.
The basic is on the left, the double is on the right. So he would do the notes ascending. And when he would sing, uh he would in his mind have the musical arrangement of if he didn’t ad-lib, he knew this ad-lib was going to be coming out of the left speaker, and when he did this other ad-lib, he knew to sing it on the double, so it would come out on the right speaker.
>> And he’d hear it that way? You guys >> He had it totally mapped out. >> were making sure that it was the cue mix was right, you were dialing in the left, the right. What about proximity? Did you like the things I’ve read like when he would do another layer, did you make him step back and >> Uh lots of times uh Bruce would say, “Take a step back for this part.
” And then that would create a slightly different texture than being having as much proximity effect when you’re right on the microphone. So, there was that thing of varying the texture um through the proximity of know- knowing uh the characteristics of the performances of how the mic works. And then Michael just was he would take any direction uh that uh was given to him by the control room by either Quincy or Bruce.
But what Michael instinctively a lot of this he knew and understood. He knew how to work a mic. He knew how to uh you know, if he if had a really really hard consonant like a big puh or a buh uh he would know to just ever so slightly turn his Yeah. head just so that the the the the the biggest part of the breath didn’t exactly hit the microphone even though it did have a giant foam windscreen.
>> Yeah, so tone for sure, but you’re allowing him to hear it exactly how it’s going to be at least before the final mix. What about feeding him any harmony part? Like he just knew the harmony notes? Was anybody feeding him those those uh the notes or only if they heard something and said, “Hey, let’s just double check that.
” >> If it was a song that Michael wrote, Michael knew the harmony arrangement. He knew the harmony notes. For example, if it was a Rod Temperton song uh especially talking about Thriller. Talk about you know, I mean there’s what some five-part harmony on there? You know, Rod would be giving him notes.
If they were other songs that were from outside artists, um someone would be uh you know, saying, “Oh, this is the note you’re singing.” Usually it’s Rod. Rod did the arranging. Uh Rod knew how to arrange vocals like like nobody. Uh else and sometimes, you know, Michael would say something. Sometimes he would need a little bit of guidance and he’d ask and then it Quincy would say, “Rod.
” And Rod would be, “Oh yeah, this is the uh you know, he would jump in. And that was that kind of that synergy, that collaborative thing. Anytime someone needed any support or any uh input to help guide to get the best result. Uh it was like it was automatically understood what was needed and someone would jump in and and it would just >> Okay, so >> that way.
>> What about like night, day, lighting, dark, light? >> Michael preferred dark. Uh typically the lights would be down and he’d have a music stand in front of him and there’d be a light on the music stand. So that if there was a lyric or if he was writing a note of of some kind, making a note to himself, he could see that.
So if you were in the control room looking out, you would see nothing except what that uh music stand light was illuminating. >> He’s just behind the music [clears throat] stand. >> generally be his face. >> I want to tell you about a few things that we have now. My course, Think Like a Synth, where you can learn the exact method that I’ve used on hit records and films for over 40 years.
>> >> We have a Patreon where you can get exclusive videos that aren’t available anywhere else and you can be a part of our interactive live streams. Go to anthonymarinellimusic.com to get exclusive free content and find out more. And don’t forget to like and subscribe, leave a comment, and ring the bell so you don’t miss out on any future videos.
>> Did he like recording his vocals at night or did it matter? >> Um it didn’t seem to matter for him. He would show up at the studio ready to sing whenever, you know, Thriller was mostly days. There were a few times he was singing in the evening, but it didn’t seem to he seemed to be able to control his voice so that time of day wasn’t an issue.
>> Mostly first takes? >> There’d be There’d be a few takes because uh there’d be something that Michael might want to approach it just subtly different on on different phrasing or different inflections. So, there would typically be a few uh a few takes. That would be. >> And everyone has to remember like even though you had a lot of of multi-tracks running, you still couldn’t just keep taking vocal take after vocal take after vocal take.
You were going over the previous take. >> Generally because we had a system of using uh many multi-track tapes. So, Quincy might say to Bruce, “Uh how many How many tracks do we have open?” And Bruce would say, “Well, on this tape we got we got five.” And so, um basically if Michael couldn’t get a vocal in five takes, and generally if he did five takes, there would be one that was just superior because he would he would be locking in and sinking with the emotional delivery in such a fashion that that was the one that just felt like it worked best.
>> Yeah. And sections or would he like to do a whole >> He would like to do the whole thing, but if there was something about Let’s Let’s pick up this section. Uh it would be Sometimes Michael would say, “Oh, can you Can you back it up and can I take it from this point?” But it wasn’t like punching in words.
It was like if you were going to do that, that was the nitty-gritty of comping later. But that was only later in in the recording of later projects because at Thriller he was so on the money in these performances. He didn’t do a lot of takes. He He He knew what he had to do. >> The approach is I guess cuz he had a great vocal teacher and he like you said he was a seasoned performer by that time even though he was in his early, you know, mid-20s.
>> Um total pro. Like like a like a session singer almost. Like approached it like a total pro. >> Yeah. >> If you like this video, click right here. There’s another video I know you’re going to love. And if you want to go deeper into synthesizers, click right here and check out my course Think Like a Synth.
It’s the exact method that I’ve used on hit records and films and I know you can learn it, too. Looking forward to seeing you on more videos.
Michael Jackson Just Worked Harder Than Everyone Else
Back with Matt Forger and we’ve got something really special especially for the recording engineers out there, but really anybody that’s just a fan of music or that’s even dabbled with music like, what was it like recording Michael Jackson? >> Okay, we can do it that way. >> >> Bruce has often said he would he was so easy to record.
I and I want to say well, that’s because Michael had so much experience performing and being on stage, he knew how to use a mic. He always came totally professionally prepared. If there was a song he was going to perform on a certain day, he came he knew that song cold. He knew how he wanted to approach it, how he wanted to execute it. He was warmed up.
He was he was ready to go. And it was just like you didn’t have to work hard uh to get a good sound because he had such a a wonderful instrument. His voice was so good. >> So you said he was totally prepared, right? He’d do his vocal exercises. He was studying with Seth Riggs. Like did he he like actually showed up doing did you see him doing vocal exercises or did he do all that home before he showed up? >> Uh usually Seth would show up and show Seth would be at the piano.
>> Oh, in the studio? >> In the studio. >> Are you all set, Michael? >> I’m ready. >> Okay, here we go. >> [screaming] >> I’m ready, Seth. in. >> No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. [singing] >> That’s as high [clears throat] as you have to do it. How do you feel? Sounds real good. The vibrato is very steady.
How do you feel? >> Am I all the way open? >> I don’t really like you are. >> First question Seth would ask Michael is, “Okay, Michael, what’s the highest note you’re singing in this song?” And they would from there Seth would know the range of Michael that what he would be using in his voice.
So, he would know how to warm up Michael specific to what he was going to be singing that day. >> Amazing. Like an athlete. Like a trainer coming out there saying, you know, we’re we’re going to need in this game we’re going to need to defend. So, you’re going to be down low. So, we’re going to use these resistance bands and we’re going to like we know what we’re doing, right? It’s it’s like training.
>> Yeah. And there were times I want I want to say in later album projects where Michael wanted a gruffer, raw, rougher voice and he would intentionally not do the Seth warm-up routine so that he could get that that gravelly kind of raw character. But when he wanted his voice to really project, really shine, really, you know, just the tone be perfect and articulate and and just totally under control, he would do the warm-up routine.
And it was a whole series I would I saw this happen endless times, numerous times. >> Did he did he read the lyrics or did he know it? >> Uh for the most part he would study the lyrics and he would know them at all. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> He memorized them the most. >> Sometimes he would have a lyric in front of him.
Uh typically if he did have a lyric in front of him, he might doodle or he might make a underline a phrase like I want to accentuate this line this way and sometimes I I see a lyric sheet afterwards and he would have crossed out words that maybe were not necessary. Maybe they he it helped the flow to to drop a certain, you know, uh word or or he would he would fine-tune it.
But he would basically know what he was going to do when he came in the door. >> He had the melody down. >> He he had it down. He basically, uh when we did Thriller, um he knew what he was going to sing uh and how he was going to sing it, how he’s going to execute it, all of his ad-libs, he knew all of the vocal >> ad-libs? >> Yeah. All of the vocal background parts.
>> he knew they were going to go. >> He knew every single hiccup, hee hee, ta, uh, ha ha, he knew every single thing to this extent. When he would be on the microphone, and he was singing background vocals, background vocals, let’s say if it’s a three-part harmony, so he’s singing three vocal parts, each of those parts is doubled, means it’s recorded twice.
The basic is on the left, the double is on the right. So he would do the notes ascending. And when he would sing, uh he would in his mind have the musical arrangement of if he didn’t ad-lib, he knew this ad-lib was going to be coming out of the left speaker, and when he did this other ad-lib, he knew to sing it on the double, so it would come out on the right speaker.
>> And he’d hear it that way? You guys >> He had it totally mapped out. >> were making sure that it was the cue mix was right, you were dialing in the left, the right. What about proximity? Did you like the things I’ve read like when he would do another layer, did you make him step back and >> Uh lots of times uh Bruce would say, “Take a step back for this part.
” And then that would create a slightly different texture than being having as much proximity effect when you’re right on the microphone. So, there was that thing of varying the texture um through the proximity of know- knowing uh the characteristics of the performances of how the mic works. And then Michael just was he would take any direction uh that uh was given to him by the control room by either Quincy or Bruce.
But what Michael instinctively a lot of this he knew and understood. He knew how to work a mic. He knew how to uh you know, if he if had a really really hard consonant like a big puh or a buh uh he would know to just ever so slightly turn his Yeah. head just so that the the the the the biggest part of the breath didn’t exactly hit the microphone even though it did have a giant foam windscreen.
>> Yeah, so tone for sure, but you’re allowing him to hear it exactly how it’s going to be at least before the final mix. What about feeding him any harmony part? Like he just knew the harmony notes? Was anybody feeding him those those uh the notes or only if they heard something and said, “Hey, let’s just double check that.
” >> If it was a song that Michael wrote, Michael knew the harmony arrangement. He knew the harmony notes. For example, if it was a Rod Temperton song uh especially talking about Thriller. Talk about you know, I mean there’s what some five-part harmony on there? You know, Rod would be giving him notes.
If they were other songs that were from outside artists, um someone would be uh you know, saying, “Oh, this is the note you’re singing.” Usually it’s Rod. Rod did the arranging. Uh Rod knew how to arrange vocals like like nobody. Uh else and sometimes, you know, Michael would say something. Sometimes he would need a little bit of guidance and he’d ask and then it Quincy would say, “Rod.
” And Rod would be, “Oh yeah, this is the uh you know, he would jump in. And that was that kind of that synergy, that collaborative thing. Anytime someone needed any support or any uh input to help guide to get the best result. Uh it was like it was automatically understood what was needed and someone would jump in and and it would just >> Okay, so >> that way.
>> What about like night, day, lighting, dark, light? >> Michael preferred dark. Uh typically the lights would be down and he’d have a music stand in front of him and there’d be a light on the music stand. So that if there was a lyric or if he was writing a note of of some kind, making a note to himself, he could see that.
So if you were in the control room looking out, you would see nothing except what that uh music stand light was illuminating. >> He’s just behind the music [clears throat] stand. >> generally be his face. >> I want to tell you about a few things that we have now. My course, Think Like a Synth, where you can learn the exact method that I’ve used on hit records and films for over 40 years.
>> >> We have a Patreon where you can get exclusive videos that aren’t available anywhere else and you can be a part of our interactive live streams. Go to anthonymarinellimusic.com to get exclusive free content and find out more. And don’t forget to like and subscribe, leave a comment, and ring the bell so you don’t miss out on any future videos.
>> Did he like recording his vocals at night or did it matter? >> Um it didn’t seem to matter for him. He would show up at the studio ready to sing whenever, you know, Thriller was mostly days. There were a few times he was singing in the evening, but it didn’t seem to he seemed to be able to control his voice so that time of day wasn’t an issue.
>> Mostly first takes? >> There’d be There’d be a few takes because uh there’d be something that Michael might want to approach it just subtly different on on different phrasing or different inflections. So, there would typically be a few uh a few takes. That would be. >> And everyone has to remember like even though you had a lot of of multi-tracks running, you still couldn’t just keep taking vocal take after vocal take after vocal take.
You were going over the previous take. >> Generally because we had a system of using uh many multi-track tapes. So, Quincy might say to Bruce, “Uh how many How many tracks do we have open?” And Bruce would say, “Well, on this tape we got we got five.” And so, um basically if Michael couldn’t get a vocal in five takes, and generally if he did five takes, there would be one that was just superior because he would he would be locking in and sinking with the emotional delivery in such a fashion that that was the one that just felt like it worked best.
>> Yeah. And sections or would he like to do a whole >> He would like to do the whole thing, but if there was something about Let’s Let’s pick up this section. Uh it would be Sometimes Michael would say, “Oh, can you Can you back it up and can I take it from this point?” But it wasn’t like punching in words.
It was like if you were going to do that, that was the nitty-gritty of comping later. But that was only later in in the recording of later projects because at Thriller he was so on the money in these performances. He didn’t do a lot of takes. He He He knew what he had to do. >> The approach is I guess cuz he had a great vocal teacher and he like you said he was a seasoned performer by that time even though he was in his early, you know, mid-20s.
>> Um total pro. Like like a like a session singer almost. Like approached it like a total pro. >> Yeah. >> If you like this video, click right here. There’s another video I know you’re going to love. And if you want to go deeper into synthesizers, click right here and check out my course Think Like a Synth.
It’s the exact method that I’ve used on hit records and films and I know you can learn it, too. Looking forward to seeing you on more videos.
