David Singleton's Diary

The Curse of the non-singing songwriter

A wonderful few days in the studio arranging songs for Songbook #2. Always a slightly nervous time, leaping into the unknown, praying that you have still "got it" (whatever "it" may be). But also one of the most exciting parts of the process - starting the day with a blank canvas containing just a melody and a harmony, and ending with an orchestration. Sadly, I can’t work at quite the rate of the Beatles - as I was reminded recently by a Paul McCartney interview in which he remarked that it had taken him a while to learn that Beatles process of rehearsing and then recording a new song in a couple of hours was in any way unusual (slightly longer post-Revolver).

Once I have finished the arrangement, I am then faced with the "curse of the non-singing songwriter": finding the right singer. This is slightly akin to some form of dating process. There is a mysterious and unpredictable magic about matching the right singer and the right song.: one that will hopefully be helped by the "Be The Singer" campaign (our version of internet dating, which now accounts for something like a quarter of relationships if their guff is to be believed).

I will upload the new track with my own extremely poor guide vocal in the next couple of days - if nothing else it will certainly establish beyond any doubt the reason why I am not a singer songwriter! (although conversely there is a huge freedom in writing sings that you yourself will not sing, as you are not limited to melodies that fit your voice and range). At present the song is an entirely ’midi’ arrangement with sampled instruments. I can only record the real instruments once i have the final vocal and the correct key. So sadly a process that takes weeks, not a couple of hours.

Anyway, enough of such artistic talk. What else is stirring within the world of DGM? We creep towards the end of the THRAK boxed set (from which I was playing snippets on my "tour" of the West Coast), and it seems likely that I will be returning to do a similar tour of the East Coast in October. Anyone who has thoughts on suitable venues - shops, coffee shops, colleges, radio stations - please get in touch. I am also considering visiting all the UK cities coinciding with the forthcoming KC dates, either in the venue a couple of hours before the shows or somewhere nearby. Open to suggestions!