Rod Stewart "I'm Losing You" Song Analysis

Reader Chris Benedetto requested an oldie but a goodie, a song from Rod Stewart's first solo album Every Picture Tells A Story in 1971called "I'm Losing You." The song featured all of the members of The Faces, Rod's, band at the time, but the credits were vaguely listed because of contractual reasons. "(I Know) I'm Losing You" was actually a hit for The Temptations in 1966, but Rod and The Faces version is a much more energetic, rockin' cut. Like all song analysis, we'll look at the song form, the arrangement, the sound and the production.

The Song
You can tell that "I'm Losing You" is basically a live cut in the studio due to it's looseness and the fact that not everyone hits the cues on time, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have an interesting form. The song looks like this:

Guitar/Bass Intro, Song Intro, Verse, B Section, Chorus, Bridge, Solos, Drums, Guitar/Bass Intro, Verse

The song is basically a jam based around a song and very much in the spirit of be bop jam where the head of the song is played, there's a lot of soloing, then the head is played again at the end. In this case, the basic sections of the song are stated at the beginning, but only the very intro is returned to at the end.

The Arrangement
There's not much of an arrangement, since there are no real set parts and everyone is playing more or less free form. Here's what the arrangement elements look like:

The Foundation: The drums, tambourine during the drum solo

The Rhythm: Bass, guitar, piano

The Pad: None

The Lead: Lead vocal

The Fills: Piano, guitar

The Sound
The Faces were known for some pretty thin-sounding recordings, but this is not one of them. The drums are very full sounding and recorded in stereo, as is the piano (something not found much in 1971 recordings).  

Ron Wood's guitar was always kinda thin sounding until he joined The Stones. Here's it's panned to the left a big with a nice long reverb wash. Ronnie Lane's bass does sound very thin and distorted and is panned slightly to the right, and instantly disappears in the mix when all the instruments enter. Rod Stewart's vocal is clear and not overly compressed, with a touch of the same reverb as on the guitar. Ian McLagan's piano is very dry and in your face, which adds a nice layering element to the recording.

The Production
Rod was the producer of the album, but as was many the case back then, that probably meant more of selecting the take and getting the feel rather than directing the show like it is today. That's pretty much what happens when the recording is built around a jam.

Send me your requests for song analysis.

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An Excellent Nashville Adventure

Ken and Bobby at RCA Studio B and their excellent piano.

Let me tell you about an excellent adventure that the esteemed producer/engineer Ken Scott and I just returned from. We were invited to speak at the TI:ME Conference in Louisville over the weekend, but the trip was extended to include engagements at Belmont University and SAE in Nashville on Monday and Tuesday. Although we usually each give separate presentations, we decided to combine what we both do because of the time restraints. In three of the sessions, I interviewed Ken about his past work with The Beatles, Bowie, Supertramp and more. On the other session, Ken interviewed me about my various books.

Amp stands in Studio B so the musicians didn't play too loud.

We gave two presentations in the lovely city of Louisville (home of the Kentucky Derby), where one night we were treated to an excellent concert by the US Army Field Band. It certainly makes you proud that a service band can be composed of so many great musicians, and their big band music was the equal to any great concert by just about any band today, bar none. Good music is just good music, no matter the genre.

On Sunday we drove up to Nashville, where we were met by studio designer Carl Tatz and multi-platinum engineer Bob Bullock (I absolutely love the Shania Twain records that he's done). Carl took us to a home studio that he built that features his Phantom Focus System. This turned out to be an incredible treat. Carl's system is more about the interface and tuning of the speakers rather than the speakers themselves and the results are tremendous. I've never heard such pin-point panning in the stereo field, or depth of field. You've got to hear a PFS system to believe it Everything else pales in comparison. We spent of a lot of the afternoon just listening to music for the sheer enjoyment of it. When was the last time that happened?

After that we had a great Indian dinner with award-winning film composer and former LA native Chris Boardman. I think it's very safe to say that he does not miss the City of Angels one bit.

On Tuesday it was off to Belmont University were they drowned us in southern hospitality, first with a lunch with their music and recording faculty, then off to a tour of the their excellent studio facilities. Belmont is lucky to have an endowment from Mike Curb to buy up some of the greatest studios on the planet rather than see them turned into parking lots.  First we were off to Owen Bradley's former studio "The Quanset Hut," home of such classics as Patsy Cline's, "Crazy", Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" and Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet." Then it was off to the former RCA Studio B, where we were amazed to see the same room and gear that Elvis, Roy Orbison, Ernest Tub, Porter Wagoner, Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins used. Wow! Then it was off to see the church turned studio at Oceanway. That's a full day in itself, but there was more.

The cabinet that Elvis kicked and broke (and refused to fix).

At 5:30 we addressed a packed house of students at Belmont and unfortunately, they had to turn a few students away due to fire codes. That said, it was really great to feel their energy and enthusiasm, and we both really enjoyed their questions and interactions. Belmont has a truly wonderful program that touches so many facets of the music industry (I could go on and on about how impressed I was), but a college is nothing without it's faculty, and it was great to see the high caliber of pros that the program employed. Thanks to all for a great time and your hospitality, especially Professor Flo (Mark Volman, of The Turtles, Zappa and Flo and Edie fame) for arranging our visit and Sara Cates and Jim Kaiser for facilitating our tour and talk. One thing that was interesting though - there were more females than males in the audience (which is highly unusual in the audio business), probably thanks to Ken's animal magnetism.

Ken, Bob Welch, Bobby

That night, we were lucky enough to have dinner with former Fleetwood Mac singer/writer/guitar player and solo artist Bob Welch. "Ebony Eyes" has always been one of may favorite songs so it was a treat to finally meet him. But wait, there's more.

On Tuesday we started the day off over at Mayfair Mastering, where the legendary (and new AES Fellow) Glenn Meadows played us some choice Steely Dan cuts in his fine new room. If you know Glenn, then you know that everything he touches can only be excellent.

Then it was off to SAE to speak to more inquiring minds. SAE is different from most recording schools in that it's a fast track program designed to get students on their way into the business in a minimum amount of time. Once again, it was great to have the opportunity to address a great group of future professionals. You could just see the hunger to learn in their eyes. Thanks to Crystal Armentrout to facilitating our talk and Alan Shacklock for the great introduction.

Then it was off to the airport and back to LA and business as usual. Thanks Mike Lawson (my champion) for all your help and being our tour manager, and to Alfred Music Publishing for sponsoring our trip. Nashville, I have a feeling we're going to see you again soon.

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6 Steps In Avoiding A Conflict

If you're in the music business in just about any way, shape or form, you're creative on some level. And let's face it - if you're creative, you have a vision. That vision can be about how a song should be written, how the music should sound, how your project is marketed, or any of a million other similar things.

But whenever creative types get together, sooner or later the sparks may fly as those visions come into conflict. That's why it's essential to have a strategy in place to deal with the head butting as it arises. Here's an excerpt from Chapter 11 of my book The Music Producer's Handbook that covers just how to handle those inevitable disagreements.
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"Being in any relationship requires at least some compromise and working with a group of musicians is no different from what you’d expect between family, friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbands, bosses and co-workers. There are times where you just have to bend in order to keep the peace. 

While compromise is easy for some people, others have a personality that would never allow it and a conflict occurs. Here are some effective steps that you can take to state your case in a way that should resolve or mediate the conflict.

1. Cool off first - Conflicts can’t be solved when emotions are running hot. Take some time to get away from the problem for a bit and brainstorm on exactly what the conflict is, how it was caused, and most important, a possible solution.

2. Present accolades, support and respect - The first thing to do is acknowledge the person’s accomplishments and talent. Something like, “I want to start by saying that I think the tracks we’ve captured are really great, and you’re playing your parts way better than I ever thought possible.” 

3. Analyze why the problem occurred - If you give a clear explanation of why you think there’s a problem or why the problem or conflict has occurred, you set the initial groundwork for solving the conflict. If the other person knows exactly what your side of the story is, you might find more often than not that you’re both on the same page, but on different sides of it.

4. Take responsibility and use “I” messages - If you have a part in a conflict that you’re aware of, take responsibility and own up to it, but make sure that everything is from your point of view. For instance, it’s best to say, “I think you were really flat on that part,” rather than “Everybody knows that you always sing that part flat,” or worse, “You’re singing sucks, man.”

5. Describe what I or we need so the problem doesn’t happen again - This is the solution from your point of view. “We really need you to be here a half-hour before the session so you have time to warm up. That way we won’t waste any studio time, which is costing us money.”

6. Support their success - Tell him that you want him to win, because if he wins, so do you. “The better you sound, the better we all sound,” or “Do you know how great this is going to sound once you get that part down? It’s going to kill!”

To read additional excerpts from this and other books, go the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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If Songs Were Programmed

This one comes via my buddy Gary Myer. Imagine if songs were programmed the same way as software. We'd probably have something like what appears on the left.

If this doesn't make sense, go here to have a listen to "Hey Jude" and take special note the lyrics.

As a brief aside, former Beatles engineer Ken Scott told me an interesting story about "Hey Jude." The song was actually recorded at Trident Studios instead of Abbey Road because Trident had a 8 track recorder while Abbey Road was still 4, and The Beatles felt they needed more tracks for the song. After the mix was completed, it was brought back to Abbey Road for mastering where they found out that there was absolutely no high frequencies on the mix because the speakers at Trident were so hyped on the high end, making it sound muffled. Ken, George Martin and the boys frantically spent the next day EQing to try to save the mix, and the final version that we now all know is the result. There's more to the story, but you'll have to wait for our upcoming book, Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust, to read the whole thing.

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6 Tips For Auditioning For The Tour

It's the dream of many musicians to get a gig with the touring band with a major artist. I wrote a book called The Touring Musician's Handbook that covers the ins and outs of what it takes to get that gig, so I thought it might be a good time for an excerpt. Here's a bit from Chapter 5 - "Becoming A Touring Musician."
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"Depending on how you look at it, an audition can be really fun or so stressful that it makes you want to loose your lunch. The more prepared you are, the less likely you are to do the latter, so here are a number of things to help you through the process.

1. Know The Material
You can be a great player with chops that came from Mount Olympus, but the only thing that the artist or MD (musical director) cares about is if you can play the artist’s material well show after show. If you go into an audition thinking that you’re going to wing it, you’re wasting everyone's time, in which case you should be prepared for a very short audition.

First off, I want the person auditioning to play the music exactly like the record. I don’t want to hear them improvise, and I don’t want to hear their take on it. I want to hear them play it exactly with the right feel, just like they were playing Mozart or Beethoven. I want them to respect the music regardless of if it’s Pink’s music, or Cher’s or Janet Jackson’s, I want them to play it exactly as you hear it on the record. Then if I ask them to change it, they’re changing it from a place where I know that they know what it is so they can take their own spin on it after the fact.
Paul Mirkovich

Go-to guys like guitarist Peter Thorn (Melissa Etheridge, Chris Cornell, Jewel, Don Henley) will learn as much of the artist’s catalog possible before the audition, going as far as to dial in the tone of the parts as well. It’s a lot of work, but if you’re up against another guy that did that and you didn’t, who do you think will get the gig?

The other thing is that you have to be not only better than everyone else, but you have to be different. It’s basically a sales pitch. In five or ten minutes, you have to prove to them that if they hire you, they’ll get more for their money than hiring anybody else.
Ed Wynne

2. Don’t Be Late
This will just about eliminate you right from the start. Being late indicates that you have a reliability problem, which is the last thing anyone wants on the road. There are a lot of great players out there, and most of them are punctual and reliable. Who do you think they’re going to pick?

3. How You Look Counts
Not only does clothing and grooming make a good first impression, but it’s important to see how you visually fit on stage with the rest of the band. It’s possible to fit the bill perfectly as a player but still not get the gig because of the way you look.

As an example, an accomplished touring player that I know recently got a gig with a major artist that lasted one day. He went back to the hotel and received a call saying, “We’re good. Don’t come back to rehearsal tomorrow.” They just didn’t like the way he looked against the other players in the band.

You might get rejected because you have a shaved head and so does the artist or another player player in the band and they don’t want two people on stage with that look. Or you might have blond hair and so does the artist. Or you have facial hair and no one else in the band does. Nothing personal, sometimes you just don’t fit in.

I always felt that if someone is auditioning players that he’s not already aware of, it’s a clue that he’s looking for something else besides the way you play or the gear that you have. It’s a good tip that they may be looking more at how you look or at your age. I’ve seen that a lot.
Mike Holmes

4. Your On-stage Demeanor Also Counts
If possible, get a DVD or watch a video of the artist and her band playing live and take notice of the on-stage demeanor of the players. A lot of people get gigs because their physicality is right, which means how they look when they’re playing the music. Maybe the artist wants energy on stage and really likes it when a player is so into it that he’s moving all around. On the other hand, some artists just want you to stand there and play, leaving any showmanship up to them. You’ve got to know your place, so you have to tailor your demeanor to the artist.

5. Bring The Right Gear
You’ve got to tailor the gear to the gig. If you were auditioning for the job as the Strat player for Lynrd Skynrd, it wouldn’t be a great idea to bring a Les Paul or what some perceive as a metal guitar like a Jackson. If you were auditioning for the touring band of 50 Cent, you wouldn’t bring a drum kit with the snare tuned up high for reggae or ska. Can the artist or MD imagine how you’d play with the right gear? Sure they can. But once again, if everything were equal between two players, the one who will get the gig is the one that has the right sound at the audition. That way, no guessing, imagining or wondering come into play. Remember, what the artist wants most is security and one less thing to worry about. Whoever can provide that gets the gig.

6. Be Nice To Everyone
It’s important that you’re nice to everyone, including the crew, while you’re at the audition. If these people are going to spend months on a bus with you, they’d prefer that you didn’t have an attitude of superiority and were very easy to get along with. Remember, if it’s a toss-up between you and someone else, the one who will get the gig will be the one that everyone believes they can live with."

To read additional excerpts from this and my other books, go to bobbyowsinski.com.

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David Gilmour's Recording Studio

Here's what the money from Dark Side Of The Moon will buy you, as we look at Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's houseboat studio. The album stayed on the charts for 741 weeks (that's 15 years) and sold 50 million copies world-wide. I think I'd buy something like this as well. The show this is from is kind of wacky, but it's a look at his studio that few have seen.

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James Brown "Cold Sweat" Song Analysis

Today's song analysis is a classic - James Brown's "Cold Sweat," which is considered by many to be the song that originated the modern funk genre. Although "Cold Sweat" was supposedly done in one take, I found a different version where you can hear the engineer slating "Take 2" that also had a different horn mix. For this analysis, we'll be looking at the first version that everyone knows.

An edited version of "Cold Sweat" was released as a single on King Records and immediately became a #1 R&B hit, and later reached number seven on the Billboard Pop chart. The complete 7 minute version was later included on the album Cold Sweat. Like all song analysis, we'll look at the song form, the arrangement, the sound and the production.

The Song
The song form is unique in two ways. First of all, it's based around a bass and horn riff (which became the signature of all of Brown's funk songs), and the form is somewhat random, as James shouts orders to the band when to change and when to hold the form. On the full 7:26 version of the song, the form looks like this:

Intro (4 bars), Verse (16 bars), B Section (10 bars), Chorus (4 bars), Intro, Verse, B Section, Chorus

That's where the single version ends. On the album version it really gets interesting as this is what follows:

Intro, sax solo, drum solo, drum and bass, Intro, Verse, B Section

This is where James directs traffic, calling for tenor sax player Maceo Parker to play a solo, letting him go for a random length, then asking the band to "Give the drummer some" which turns into a short drum solo (played by the great Clyde Stubblefield), then James calls the bass in. He then counts the band back into the verse, but tells them to hold on the B section, and that's where the song ends. Only James Brown could do this and have a hit, thanks to his legendary band discipline.

The Arrangement
The James Brown Orchestra was a gigging machine in those days (1967), so every arrangement was created to play live, which is why they could do the song with no overdubs (according to James' band leader and co-writer Pee-Wee Ellis), but I think that they probably only recorded on a mono or two track machine anyway. The arrangement elements look like this:

  * The Foundation: Bass and drums, with an electric guitar doubling the bass

  * The Rhythm: The 2nd guitar playing "funk chunks" along with a baritone sax answering the sax riff.

  * The Pad: None

  * The Lead: James Brown's vocal, Maceo Parker tenor solo

  * The Fills: The horns playing the riff line in the verse, and again answering during the B section and chorus.

The Sound
"Cold Sweat" was recorded in May 1967 at King Studios in Cincinnati. Recording wasn't that sophisticated at that time, especially in a non-media center in the middle of the country. That said, a number of things stand out. First of all, the balance between all the instruments is great, especially the horn section. Second, there's a very long reverb on the vocal, and later on the sax solo (who was probably using the same mic, just like during their show). Everything else is dry. The you have the drums, which sound okay until the solo when he begins to play the toms. They sound separated from the rest of the kit, which makes me think they were miked separately. Finally, the song is very light in the low end, which was a trait of most music until about the late 70s.

The Production
The production of "Cold Sweat" is all in the arrangement and the direction of James Brown during the song. There are no overdubs, so there was no layering, and either the band got it or they didn't. It's obvious they captured something that still works 45 years later.

Anonymous suggested the following video of the song, which is the long album version that we know followed by the 2nd take. I also included this short clip from a concert James gave in Zaire in 1974, which shows him at his glorious peak. The arrangement is different from the original though, which is often the case with all James Brown songs. He changed them a lot the more the band played them.

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Rare George Martin-Beatles Footage

If you're a Beatles fan, you're going to say "Wow" many times as you watch this video. It looks like it was recorded directly off a television, but it also looks like most of the footage are personal home movies. Regardless, this is footage that is so rare that I doubt most fans have ever seen it.

You'll see a completely at ease George Martin telling stories at home, a walk through Abbey Road Studio 2, the Beatles original demo tape - and that's only in the first 2 minutes! What I loved the most was George Martin, Paul and Ringo discussing Ringo's drumming, and Cilla Black in the studio.

Enjoy this before EMI gets wind of it and has it taken down (although it comes from the "colorful" Clive Worth, and I have no idea how he's connected to George or The Beatles).

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5 Tips For Memory Card Care

Now with solid state memory becoming more and more the norm, it's important to realize that it can occasionally also be at the root of some problems as well. Although it doesn't happen that often, some nasty crashes can be avoided with a minimum of maintenance.

Here are some tips for memory card care from Scott Bourne (he has a photography great site called photofocus.com) that I've adapted for audio instead of a camera. You can read his original article here.

1) Always format your card after you have downloaded files from it rather than erasing them one-by-one or taking them to the trash. This cleans up the file system and greatly reduces your chance of a crash.

2) Try to keep you memory cards dedicated to a single device. That means you shouldn't share it between different recorders or your camera. This can cause a crash since the other device may attempt to write a system, desktop or file of unknown format to the card.

3) Stay away from the super large cards until they have been on the market for six months to a year. 90% of memory problems come from these cards because they use gimmicks or acceleration routines that may or may not work in your recorder, but possibly can cause instability. They are also really expensive so that’s plenty of reason to avoid them anyway.

4) The very large (and expensive) cards, are prone to far more File Allocation Table (FAT)-like errors. For ultimate safety, stick with cards that are at least one size smaller than the largest available until later, when they will be down in price and up in reliability. Besides, you can store plenty of audio on a standard and inexpensive 8 Gig card that are remarkably cheap these days.

5) Do not remove your card, or power down your device while the card is writing. This can cause critical data loss. In fact, always turn your device off before inserting or removing a memory card, just to be safe.

By the way, you may see memory cards that are designated by classes going from 2 to 10. Remember that the higher the class, the faster the operation. In other words, a class 10 card is the fastest, although that usually won't make much of a difference for just two channels of audio.

Memory cards are very trouble-free these days, but you can increase their reliability even more if you follow these tips.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

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Building Britsh Grove Studios

Former Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler owns one of the finest studios anywhere, and I've already posted a few clips of him using it in the past. We're going to start the new year off with an interesting movie showing how his British Grove Studios was constructed.

Take notice how well this studio is built, with cinder block and concrete walls rather than the usual drywall in order to get the best isolation possible.

Although you get to see the finished studio, the only thing missing in the video is a shot of the studio with all the gear in it. You can get a look at that in this clip of Mark and Engineer Chuck Ainlay that I posted a few months ago.

If you're interested in learning more about studio construction you can check out The Studio Builder's Handbook or read a few excerpts here.

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7 Music Production Predictions For 2012

It's time for some predictions for the new year. Here's what I see happening in 2012. The good part is that we'll see just how accurate I am on some of them by the end of January after the CES and NAMM shows. For a few others, we'll have to wait awhile. Here we go.

1. Tablets take off for music production. For such a relatively new class of products, tablets like the iPad have quickly become a must-have device. While we've had some great music software available for it in 2011 (Garageband is insanely good for only $5), 2012 brings us the serious I/O and accessories needed to take advantage of it's portability.


2. Plugins hit the wall. When DAWs and plugins were fairly new, pro engineers complained that they didn't sound like or as good as their hardware counterparts. I don't remember exactly when it happened, but it seemed like someone flipped a switch and the pro world not only accepted, but suddenly loved the latest batch of plugins with no reservations. Yes, plugins sound great these days but that's the problem. Where do you go from here? When all the great analog hardware is successfully digitally duplicated by multiple companies (and even surpassed in some cases), it's harder and harder to come up with something new. Add to that the fact that the market is saturated, and you'll see some software companies falling on hard times in 2012.


3. Pro Tools weathers the storm. Computers are really fast these days and Pro Tools can now operate natively and talk to hardware other than Avid's, which is why a chorus of "Why do we need Pro Tools anymore?' began to rise from DAW users everywhere in 2011. I have to admit that my new i7 iMac runs circles around my old HD1 rig for way less money. So while it may seem like this is the time when the Pro Tools hold on the audio industry is finally broken, let's not get too hasty. It's still the standard of the music and post business, and the pros (especially the big facilities) can't afford to make any changes now even if they wanted to (and they don't). If the pros use Pro Tools, than those aspiring to be pros must use it as well. We very well may see a new contender to the throne in 2012, but don't expect any big industry changes.

4. Studios make a comeback. In all the major cities, the number of major studios has dwindled in recent years to just a handful. Even these were just barely hanging on in 2010 and the beginning of 2011. That all changed during the summer, as major studios have been booked solid (and some even ahead a few months) ever since. There are a number of factors as to why this happened (some looser label budgets for one), but a big one is the re-found appreciation of what a real facility brings to the sound of project. There's just nothing like tracking and mixing in a real studio with tuned acoustics, and great mics and signal path. Finally gear owners everywhere are beginning to realize that just owning the gear isn't the key to great sounding music (although it can be if you know how to use it, so keep buying those books, please) and the benefits of recording in a real studio. Look for the trend to continue in 2012 with even some new facilities coming online.

5. SSD's are everywhere. I predicted this last year, but it was a bit premature. In 2012 you'll see the beginning of the end of the spinning mechanical hard drive and the inclusion of solid state memory in just about every newly designed piece of music gear. Add to that the fact that hard drives have actually gone up in price thanks to the recent floods in Thailand while SSDs (solid state drives) have continued to fall, and you'll find that you might have bought your last ever mechanical hard drive.

6. Apple gets into the television business. This isn't directly about music production, but it does apply in a round about way. It's been rumored for a while that Apple will be introducing their own branded television soon, and that seems inevitable at this point. The bigger rumor is the fact that the user interface is every bit as groundbreaking as just about every other Apple hardware or software product. As a result, the digital living room will finally come pass in 2012. Virtually every other product that the company has released has affected music production, from their desktops to the Macbook Pro to the iPod to the iPhone (have you heard some of the music recorded on it?) and iPad. I predict that elements of the user interface of the iTelevision (or whatever it's called) will find it's way into the gear that we use to produce music, making things simpler and easier in the process. And this will happen in 2012.

7. EDM breaks out in a big way. Electronic Dance Music is the biggest trend that the mainstream music world still doesn't know about, but not for long. 2012 will be the year that it finally breaks out, although the process started already in 2011 with the big time success of LMFAO.

Let's see how these predictions turn out. I'll have a review at the end of January to see just where we're at. In the meantime, have a happy, artistic, and musical New Year!

If you liked these predictions, you might want to check out my 12 music business predictions on my Music 3.0 blog as well.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

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5 Tips For Performing In Cold Weather

Anyone who's have had to play a gig outside during the winter knows just what kind of hell that can be. Forget about just being cold, what really makes it bad is when your fingers are freezing and they won't move, or every time you open your mouth to sing you get this huge gulp of icy cold air that dries your vocal chords out.

That's why this article for CD Baby's DIY Musician blog is so apropos to the season (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere). Here are their 5 tips for performing in cold weather:

"1) Get to the gig early and let your instruments acclimate to the temperature. Radical shifts in temperature (both up and down) can damage your equipment. So I recommend bringing the instruments in their cases, leaving them on stage IN their cases for a while, and then taking them out.

Once they’re out of the cases, don’t play them yet. Give them more time to settle. That direct contact with the air might make them tense up again. Finally, allow yourself enough warm-up time before the performance begins and the crowds arrive so you can play the instrument, tune it, play it, tune it, play it, and tune it.

Oh, and if your instrument is your voice, go easy. Warm up slowly, first in the car, then outdoors.
Be sure to cool down and load out in the same way.

2) Warm up your amps. The same advice above could be applied to the amplifiers. Let them adjust to the cold. THEN put them on stand-by for a while. Once your guitar is tuned, fire up the amp and let it sing.

3) Wear fingerless gloves (or drummers, where gloves with grip). This may not be possible for every musician, depending on the instrument and style of music you play, but I’ve gotten away with wearing fingerless gloves on a few cold occasions, especially at gigs with limited lead playing, complicated chord comping, or right-hand palm-muting. So if its your typical rock, folk, or pop show,… try fingerless gloves. But try it at practice first!

4) Limit your set time. Don’t get stuck entertaining Jack Frost for 3 hours while the hungover bassist catches hypothermia. I’d say that 30-45 minutes in the cold is more than enough. If the event planner or promoter wants more music, they can hire an additional band and you can work out the backline details together ahead of time.

5) Construct your sets so each player gets some relief. Space out the songs where Sarah’s gotta belt out those high notes. Let a different player carry the lead on the next song. That way, when the spotlight and pressure are on someone else, you can take a minute to tune-up again, warm your hands, whatever else you need to do to keep rockin’."

I hope you don't ever have to do a gig where it's freezing, but in the event that you do, remember to use these tips wisely.

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

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