The Vocal Coach
01 Nov 2008
The Vocal Coach - Nov 08
BLEND, for quartets singing together, is of major importance.
There are a lot of quartets out there. Some of course are the ones who get all the publicity and work on a national scale.
Others are working on a regional scale, and others are working on a local scale. Out of all of them that I have heard, there are a precious few who really blend the way that they should. Many think that getting your part is all there is to singing in a quartet. But, when you sing in a group for any length of time, you begin realize that if a quartet does not BLEND vocally, it will never really sound good, or minister to the crowd. I believe it is the goal of each one of us who sing Gospel Music to minister to the people who are listening.
For some of you just starting out there is a possibility that this is a subject that you have not breached in your rehearsals yet. I have even heard some who have been singing for a long while who do not listen closely enough to their sound to really become accomplished at blending their voices. That is why I have brought this topic up. I am not trying to offend anyone, but I am trying to bring to the attention of all of us this very important asset that can be attained for all quartets with a concerted effort in a few major areas of our singing.
Blending of voices in a quartet is usually fairly easy for family members. They have a lot of the same inherited traits that helps them sing together and sound good together. Blend is all about, How several voices come out to have the SAME GOOD QUALITIES IN THEIR OVERALL SOUND when singing together.
Webster defines blend as "to come together or mix so that the parts are no longer distinct" or "to go well together; be in harmony" To me, that means that you can hear all of the parts ,if you have a keen ear, but the product that you hear is one where all SINGERS ARE LISTENING TO THEIR OWN VOICES AND ALL OTHER VOICES SO THEY CAN have the same SOUND PLACEMENT, VOLUME, PHRASING, AND ARTICULATION. The standard that this must go by, is each singer needs to match the qualities of PLACEMENT, VOLUME, ARTICULATION AND PHRASING with whoever is singing the lead vocal at the time.
If you hear something that doesn't sound quite right in your group, each person needs to ask themselves the question. Am I blending with everyone else? If you will check on how the person, who is singing the lead vocal on the song at the
time , is PHRASING, PLACING TONES, SINGING LOUD OR SOFT, PRONOUNCING WORDS (ARTICULATION), then everyone work at matching those qualities of the lead vocalist, ( that is unless the lead vocalist is singing everything poorly)then you will find that your blend will improve. Much of this comes with singing together over time, and listening closely to what the group sounds like together.
PHRASING, is the term I use for each singer saying all the words (beginning and cutting off at the same time on each word and each phrase) together. When you really get to where you do this in a group, it improves the quality of the group tremendously. I know that this sounds like a simple thing and I know that, when you read the music, you have all of the notations for that. However, much Southern Gospel Quartet music is done without written arrangements. Therefore, phrasing by listening closely to each other is imperative. LISTEN FOR PHRASING
The next element of GOOD BLEND is TONE PLACEMENT. This quality is accomplished by listening to where the lead singer, at the time, is placing his/her tones. For instance if whoever has the lead is placing tones in the mask mostly, then the best blend will be accomplished by all singers placing their tones in the mask. Sometimes matching tone placement can only be accomplished by stopping and analyzing where the person singing the lead is placing tones.
The next thing that should be checked, to make group singing blend is VOLUME. Every singer must listen closely to all the voices and make sure his or hers is at the same volume level as everyone elses in the group. Today this can be accomplished with ear monitors, like some singers wear. I am from the old school and I would rather have the monitors, on the floor, in front of me. However you accomplish hearing each other's volume output,is up to the group, but it is imperative that you accomplish it and keep all singers at closely the same volume output as possible to achieve a good blend.
On recordings this is not a problem because of the studio's usage of the Pro Tools system. However, on the stage it has to be done by the ears of the individuals singing. We each have to listen and balance out volume with each other. Again, this should all key off of the person singing the lead part at the time. Other singers should always try to match that person's placement and volume in order to achieve good blend.
To me this separates the quality groups from the ones that really don't try to get better every time they sing.
I know some would say well I'm not trying to be a professional, I just like to sing. Why does this matter? When people hear me they are blessed. So I'm just going to sing by letter , "Open up my mouth and letter fly". When I hear this lame excuse. I wonder if that person has ever stopped to think about what Christ did for them. He gave His all for each one of us. He was the only perfect man who has ever lived on this earth. Because of our imperfections, which are born in us because of Adam's sin, we need to strive to make our ministry for him as perfect as we possibly can. We can never repay all that He has done for us, but since He gave his best, shouldn't we strive to give our best for him in the ministry that we are involved in. I say that the answer is A HUGE YES, YES, YES.
I feel that ,because God gave His very best to us in the form of His son Jesus, I should work to make myself the best that I can and give to Him all that I am. I should try to improve the things that are in my power to improve to give back to Him. This is not done to earn salvation. It is done out of my love for Him and my desire to honor Him before others. If I just get up and sing without trying to improve myself in the things in my control, then I feel Iike I am not showing my love in the way that I should for all that He has done for me.
Lastly in this article I would like to address ARTICULATION. All singers in a group should try to articulate the words that they are singing in the same way.
Case in point, in my last rehearsal with The Prophets, we were singing an ending on a slow, and very spiritually moving song. I was trying to do all the things that I have mentioned in this article up to now, and I thought that the blend was out of whack. I stopped things and mentioned to the guys I didn't like the way that I was blending. I asked the lead singer to sing his last word for me. When he did that I immediately understood why the blend was not right. It was because he was pronouncing the O sound in the word more clearly O than I was. My sound was between O and AH. I changed my articulation or pronunciation of the O sound and the blend was just right. Sometimes when we hear something that is not right, It is our own fault. That's when we need to admit our fault and change what we are doing. Because I believe that I am supposed to match whoever is singing lead in my articulation of sounds, especially vowel sounds, I was able to correct this situation quickly and the result was the ending of the song sounds really good now. None of us are above learning, or making changes in what we do at a given time, in order that we can strive for doing our best for our Lord.
When things don't sound right check your TONE PLACEMENT, VOLUME, AND ARTICULATION, AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE ALL LISTENING TO EACH OTHER IN YOUR MONITOR. These things will get your blend straightened out and you will be able to improve your presentation, to bless the people, and to bless the Lord.
That is all for this month. I pray that God will richly bless each and everyone of you. Remember that Psalm 118:6 says; "The Lord is on my side". He is on your side too.
Until next month may God's richest blessings be with you.
In His service
Bill Baize
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Written: 11/01/2008 
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