Your career as a recording artist hinges on many things from the songs you choose to the musicianship on your records. But the single most important thing for your artist identity is your voice. Your ultimate goal as a vocalist is to sound exactly like yourself. In other words, the more relaxed and confident you are as a singer, the more people will know who you are and what you're about. In reality, it's predominantly musicians who listen to recordings for the musicianship, but the people who decide to buy your music will connect with your voice first and everything else much later.










In today's independent musical environment, it's typically the case that you will play the part of not only the artist, but also the manager, record label and producer, too. The trick when it comes to getting a great recording is to make the most of each of these roles by knowing which role to play and when.


In this role, your job will be to make sure you have a great place to record where you feel comfortable and can do great work.

Acting as manager, you might also decide to invest in your own recording equipment (beware of the learning curve!) to give yourself the added flexibility of recording whenever you want with no concerns about the studio clock. Whether you record at home or in a commercial studio, taking care of the details makes all the difference.

Regarding artist development, an essential task in your role as manager and record label will be to make certain the artist is prepared. The more you rehearse, the better you'll be able to give a great performance when the time comes. By studying your songs and working on the minute details ahead of time, you'll end up with a baseline performance that you can deliver confidently. Then when the light goes red (which can be stressful enough), you won't have to worry about how you're going to approach your technique or interpretation.


Here your role will be to not only find the songs that work best for you as an artist but to help guide the process by keeping an eye/ear on a few very important elements.

The first element is the songs. If you're a songwriter, it's easy to assume that the best songs to sing will be your own, but it's never a bad idea to look for outside material as well. Outside material will not only keep the level of songwriting consistently high but can also add the necessary diversity to a project. In either case, you have to know what you are capable of and make sure the songs fit.

For vocalists, the key of the song is another major consideration. Just because you've always sung a song in a certain key does not mean it might not work better in a slightly higher or (even more surprising sometimes) lower key.


When it comes to the actual recording process, you will have to ultimately make decisions about when things are going well and improving and when enough is enough..

Being engineer and artist is a very delicate balance. Take a short (even 5-minute) break every hour or so and listen back to what you've sung. The temptation is to keep recording because that perfect take is just one take away. In reality, your best take might have come five takes ago and you've been wearing yourself out needlessly.

I am a firm believer in the composite (comp) vocal because it allows the artist to perform the song from beginning to end multiple times going for the performance without worrying too much about the details. Getting bogged down in trying to fix a word or line can be draining and quickly take the life out of a performance. Creating a comp vocal is as simple as recording multiple passes of your lead vocal without allowing your editor/critic into the equation. In other words, sing the song several times (as if you were doing it live) without stopping or redoing anything.

When you're done, put on your producer hat and listen back to each pass while marking on a lyric sheet which pass is good on each line. It's possible to have lines where several passes work. If there are still a few lines that need work, you can go after them then, knowing exactly what you're missing and how to fix it.

The key to this process is to stay out of your own way. Try to prevent yourself from judging what you're doing while you're doing it.


This role is strictly musical. All of the groundwork has been laid. When you step up to the microphone, your only task is to remember that these songs move you. Perform them that way.

For example, when my singers get bogged down, I advise them to think about the words to the song and what they mean. The best singers sound like they're talking to you. You believe what they're saying because they believe what they're saying. Simply put, just tell the story, perform with feeling.

Of course it can be nerve-racking the first few times you record, but the more you do it the easier it will become. Every bit of work you do in advance as your own management, label and production team, will make you that much more prepared to deliver a great performance as the artist you are.





Cliff Goldmacher is the owner of Cliff Goldmacher Music Production with studios in both Nashville and New York City. Make sure to check out his website and better yet,

Download Cliff's FREE eBook
"The Songwriter's Guide to Recording Professional Demos"