Hi everyone,

I have recently taken some time off to write some new music. It's been a much needed retreat from everything as most of you know what my schedule was like before. Workaholic doesn't even do it justice.

Over the last 2 years I spent so much time performing and recording that KI neglected my writing. It's been a whole lot of fun to sit on the back of my truck, in the yard, in my bedroom, or whereever, just simply writing music and playing my guitar. When the pressure is off, it's so much fun. Now I know everyone is going to want to hear the new stuff so all I can say is please be patient.

On top of all he writing, we have also been building a story board for "The Meaning Of The Word". We originally announced that we'd be doing a video for Silent Movie, but last minute idea's have encouraged me to change songs. We should have that done withing the next month.

Also, I'd like to hank the band "Outland" for pulling together to back me during 2 shows coming up. Here are the dates.

July 26th - 6:00pm - Paetec Park (Rochester Soccer Stadium)

August 9th - 8:00pm - Bergen Harley Davidson Festival

The guys in Outland have been incredible and a big thanks from me to them is in order. I hope everyone can make it out to one or both of those shows.

Live Studio Sessions - Have you all been watching? Check out the new website at www.livestudiosessions.com. The schedule is posted there and you all need to check out one of my shows on the site. Im also adding quite a few new featues to help promote my friends.

Anyways, it's getting very late and I need to go to bed. This singer needs to rest:) Have a great week everyone...

Paul C

Hey Readers,

We have some cool new things happening around here, and I'm excited. We are now going to open up our mail list, so you no longer have to come back here and see what's new...we will e-mail you instead. Next, you may have noticed on the main page of our website, it now tell you when the last page was updated, so there's no searching. We're trying very hard to give you all thebest possible experience when you visit my web site.

On to music business. The CMA Fest CD is DONE!!!! it was a long hard road, but we finally nailed it and can relax for a week before Fan Fair. Take a look at the cover below...

Let's all hope and pray that we can make something happen with this one. Last night, while sitting up in my office, I wrote a BLOG post on my Myspace page and I'd really like to share it all with you. I wish you could comment on it, but we have been hit with Spammers so we had to shut the commenting down...all it takes is a few losers to ruin for everyone. If you'd like to comment on it, please do so on my myspace page.

www.myspace.com/pauljcummings

When It Comes To Recording Vocals

By Paul Cummings

Vocals in studio are some of the most overworked sections of a song and it's obvious in most cases. Have you ever wondered why your favorite singer always sounds terrible when they're live? You can thanks today's recording standard for that. When a singer walks into the studio on the last few days of production, he/she will literally sing a song 25 - 100 times, or even more. 1 SONG!!!! After the singing part is complete, engineers break every workd apart, and piece all the tracks together to give you a product that is perfect. They will adjust tempo, pitch, and tone. Tell me, is this what music is suppossed to be like? What happened to needing talent?

I often wish music could travel back in time to the 50s and 60s. To the days when you had a band, and when you went into record, it was in a live environment. They didn't have computers, nor did they have ANYTHING digital. Everything was recorded in analog, and everything you heard on the record, was what you would hear live. Today's music, well that just isn't the case anymore, and half the time, the band you hear on the CD is not the band the artist uses on stage.

With all that being said, we approach our work in the studio a little different than most people do. I want my music to sound good, but at the same time I don't want it to be fake. I want to be able to go on stage and sound as close to the CD as possible. We spend most of our time in studio making sure the music is solid, then we venture into cutting my voice.

When I start a new song, I take it home and make any changes I want to there. I analyze how I sing certain words, and work on my pitch and tone. I also spend a great deal of time on dynamics. Coming from a background playing the sax in jazz bands, I learned how important dynamics were at a very young age. I don't go to bed, or take a break until I am comfortable with how I sing the song.

Usually the next day we hit the studio to lay the vocals down. I take 2-3 warmup runs as my producer Pat gets the board set up. We record the warmups so we can analyze the sound of my voice. Once we're happy, it's time to go to work. I believe in recording no more than 5 vocal tracks. All the singers reading this right now are probably saying in their heads, (Bullshit). BUT, im not lying. To me, that is the breaking point. After 5 takes, all the natural emotion is gone, and the feeling is gone, and it simply becomes a routine and quite honestly, boring. Not to mention, it makes for a miserable post editing session because there is a LOT to listen to. If I can't nail a song in 5 takes, I should NOT be singing it. Most songs however, only take around 3 takes.

After im done singing, we immediatly post edit the song. Unlike most singers, NO PITCH CORRECTION OR FILTERING IS USED ON MY VOICE. I strongly do not believe in that, it's terrible. Some of the most popular singers today rely on this crap even when they're on stage, I won't mention any names.

Here's how it works. We listen to each take one at a time. We listen closely for errors and at the end we rate each track. We sort from Best to Worst and begin our process. Some of the digital tools we take advantage of are cutting and pasting, but at a minimum. The finished product is a result of large pieces from 2 or more tracks, but completly raw. We literally start recording and 2 hours later have a finished product (unless Im also recording my own backup vocals that day). What you hear on that recording is something you WILL hear at my live show which makes me more confident when people comment on the music, saying it's good...why do I become more confident? Because that's me, and not a computer clone of my voice.

Now, I have never been one to care for the way my voice sounds, but most singers feel the same way. Any singer that tells you they are 100% in love with their own voice is either lying, topped out, too confident, or what they hear on CD is SO enhanced they can't hear themselves in the song anymore. I have just learned to accept my voice, but everytime I hear it, it makes me want to work harder so next time maybe I will enjoy it. I never usually end up enjoying it, so now you know why Paul Cummings here has turned himself into a workaholic, it's a circle.

Many of my peers I hate to say, sound 10 times better on their CD's as they do live, and many of them who read this will be upset with me because they know who they are. There are a small percentage out there who keep their heads screwed on and actually have talent outside the studio without all the fancy computer tools. Those people don't allow their voices to be turned into diamonds...their philosophy is, this is what I am, this is what you get. If you like it, GREAT...if not, sorry to hear that. Any artist I ever promote will be of this mind, and they are true to their music...

Thanks everyone for reading this today, be sure to check out the music we have posted in the music section. Thanks!

Paul C