- Hello, I'm Robert Lunte
from the Vocalist Studio.
I'm the author and producer
of a popular vocal
technique training program.
It's called "The Four Pillars of Singing."
It's a book and an
online coursework system.
And this is my How to
Sing Like Bowie video
that goes with the two performances
that I did of some classic Bowie songs.
I did "Life on Mars,"
and I did "Space Oddity."
Be sure to go out and take a look at them.
Now, I wouldn't otherwise
do David Bowie songs
if I hadn't been asked here in Seattle
for a special project to do David Bowie.
Now don't get me wrong, I
think David Bowie is brilliant.
I actually really enjoy the music,
in particular the early
Ziggy Stardust content,
which is fortunately
what I was able to sing
for this particular project.
And I thought, well,
since it came out so well,
I would go ahead and add two points.
I'd make this video and share
with you guys two things
about these performances
that helped make it sound
a bit like David Bowie, all right?
Number one, to get a good sort
of David Bowie sound color,
you do not want to
typically dampen the larynx
or get too much larynx
manipulation involved.
If you dampen the larynx
and anchor too much,
get too much musculature,
belt musculature,
involved inside David Bowie,
it can tend to get the larynx down.
And that in turn tends to
make the sound color too dark,
too warm, almost too sort
of Iron Maiden belty, okay?
Which is a great sound,
and I've done a lotta that
in my career, but I understood
that in order to get
sort of a lighter, floatier,
prettier David Bowie sound color,
larynx manipulation, or larynx dampening,
was not gonna be the ticket.
So, you'll notice that when
you watch me sing these songs,
those of you that are
familiar with my voice,
it sounds a little bit brighter,
a little bit lighter,
a little bit floatier.
Well that's on purpose,
and one of the main things
that I did to keep it lighter, brighter,
and floatier is to keep my larynx more
in a neutral position and not dampened.
Now the other thing that really helps
capture that David Bowie,
or maybe the illusion of
a British artist singing,
is to take care on making
the diction of the lyrics,
I like to say, more persnickety
or more detail oriented
or using more Shakespearean finesse
on the diction of your lyrics,
the way you say your lyrics.
For example, on "Space
Oddity" there's this lyric
that goes like this: Ground
control to Major Tom,
take your protein pills and
put your helmet on, all right?
Now if I were to just sort of sing that
in normal American diction, it would be:
♪ Ground Control to Major Tom ♪
♪ Take your protein pills ♪
♪ And put your helmet on ♪
Now, a lotta people
would sing it that way,
but I'm here to tell ya,
if you sing it like that,
it's a missed opportunity.
It doesn't give the refinement
that a David Bowie song needs.
It might be great for country music or,
say, something like Lynyrd Skynyrd
or any number of other artists.
But for David Bowie, I
recognize it has to sound
a little bit more articulate,
a little bit more theater-y of course.
For sure, the early David
Bowie stuff was very theater-y.
So, watch how I articulate
all of the text in these two performances,
but just for this video,
instead of it being
♪ Ground Control to Major Tom ♪
♪ Take your protein pills ♪
♪ And put your helmet on ♪
That sucks; better to go,
♪ Ground Control to Major Tom ♪
♪ Take your protein pills ♪
♪ And put your helmet on ♪
Notice what I do with the tongue
on the Ls of pills and helmet.
♪ Take your protein pills ♪
Don't take your pills; take
your pills, your pills.
And don't put your helmet on;
put your helmet on, put your helmet on.
♪ Take your protein pills ♪
♪ And put your helmet on ♪
You see, it's a little more theater-y.
It's a little bit more
Shakespearean so to speak.
It's all helping to give the
illusion that it's British
and a little bit more refined,
and I think it's just cool that way.
So that's my advice for any of you
that are doing David Bowie,
in particular the early stuff.
Don't try to get the larynx down.
Go for a lighter, floatier sound color.
And two, practice very, sort
of, persnickety articulations.
Really lean in on the tongue
and be theater-y with your articulations.
That'll help you a lot to
get some cool David Bowie.
Now, go out and check out "Life
on Mars" and "Space Oddity,"
and if you enjoyed the
video, be sure to subscribe.
I'll be making and publishing
a lot more videos as time goes by.
And thanks for watching,
gimme a thumbs up.
And, you guys, if you have any
questions about your singing
or David Bowie or how to
train, be sure to contact me,
because that's what I'm
here for is to help ya.
Have a good day.
