Re: Layering of vocals

["Xenu's Sister" <vickie@miso.wwa.com>]

On Sat, 26 Oct 1996, Richard Bensam wrote:

> Mr. H shared the following:

<znip re layering of vocals stuff)

It's definitely one of Kate's many, many strengths. I would
guess that Kate's self-harmonizing might be a result of
(besides wanting pleasing aesthetics) Kate's desire (stated
in many interviews) that she prefers to sing alone. With
overdubs, she can harmonize to her heart's content, process
the hell out of it (or not) and come up with all different
kinds of effects without having to subject others to her
torturous perfectionism.

One of my favorite songs is "Night Scented Stock" because
of the glorious layering of Kate's vocals. It's a slice of
heaven, though waaaay too short.

> Anyway.  The real Champion of Self-Vocal Layering is most likely a singer
> named Kirsty MacColl, daughter of Ewan MacColl, who is legendary for her
> near-inhuman ability to harmonize with herself.  No surprise, then, that
> her first love in pop music was the Beach Boys.

Kirsty's wonderful, yes, but I can't accept that anyone is a
Champion of Self-Vocal Layering other than Enya. She's well-
known for using up to 400 different overdubs! People can
argue if quantity equals quality, but in quantity, Enya's
the queen. (Ooops, I mentioned queen!). I love Enya and
Kirsty (Kirsty more), btw.

>  Also, I've been listening to Happy Rhodes a lot lately;
>  her use of multi-tracked vocals is the result of careful
>  study of Kate's technique, and she does her inspiration proud.

Well, Happy's use of self-harmonizing was actually more
inspired by (here it comes) Queen and Peter Gabriel. It is true
that she learned how to *sing* by listening to _The Kick Inside_
though, and Kate's harmonies were almost certainly inspiring
too. Her homage to "Night Scented Stock", the song "Summer"
on _RhodeSongs_, is one of my favorites, and I used to love
to play them back-to-back on my radio show.

A tiny bit of history: As a teenager, Happy got a job as an
apprentice at a recording studio. To learn the equipment, she
started recording her own songs, and her self-harmonizing was
mainly a way to learn how to use the equipment for overdubs.
She never expected thos early songs to be be heard by anyone
other than herself and the studio owner, but luckily for her
fans, events transpired (thanks to Kevin Bartlett) to get
those songs released as her first 2 albums.

While overdubs on her records are important to blend her
looooow and medium vocals with her high, Kateish voice,
it's interesting to see her use her entire vocal range
live, where she can go from low to high in the blink of
an eye. It's pretty astonishing!

Vickie (who couldn't help delving into Happy land for a bit)

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