So let's begin...
"When it comes to singing you have to be able to deliver a song in a manner that best suits the mood and style of that song, and the way you feel about that song. Your success or failure in doing this depends a great deal on your vocal technique, the way you use your voice. The better the technique, the greater the command you have over your voice. And the greater the variety of material you can sing.No-matter if you sing pop, musical comedy or opera, there is an effective technique that helps you sing more easily and comfortably, many hours at a time, day after day. It’s called speech-level singing technique, or simply, speech level singing.
Speech level singing means no matter how high or low; or how loudly or softly you sing, you never do anything that prevents you from singing with the same, comfortable easily produced voice when you speak.
Even though you use a greater pitch and dynamic range when you sing, nothing should feel any different in your mouth or throat. There should be no tension in your tongue, your jaw, soft pallet or your neck.
If you’ve taken voice lessons before, or have sung in a choir, your voice teacher or choir director has probably instructed you at one time or another to give your tone more support. Sing from your diaphragm. Let your tone resonate. Place your tone forward. Project your voice…and so on.
However, such instruction can be confusing and even dangerous. I’ve seen it destroy many fine voices. Singing technique associated with this kind of instruction can only cause your voice to jam up, and your body to become stiff and rigid.
These kind of instructions have a tendency to talk in result. To explain to you what singing should be, rather than how to allow it to happen. With speech-level technique, you need only concern yourself with one thing when you sing: speech.
Your tone production must remain consistent—or as we say, connected from the bottom of your range—that is your chest voice, all the way into the extended upper range of your head voice.
AND you must coordinate that connection from a vocal posture that is exactly the same as when you're speaking comfortably… that is, your speech level.
With speech-level singing your voice is automatically supported, your diaphragm and all your breathing muscles work the way they should to supply your vocal chords with just the right amount of air.
You don’t need to push, tighten or manipulate anything to have a strong, clear and dynamically flexible voice. With speech-level singing, your voice is automatically balanced with just the right amount of top, middle and bottom harmonic qualities.
You don’t sound muddy, dark, throaty on low tones; or slatey, pinched or strident on high notes.
With speech-level singing your voice only gets better as you get older, there won’t be any loss of range, quality or power; BUT to develop speech-level singing technique you need the training. Or if you’re like most singers, retrain your voice, with the help of special exercises."
I hope that helps. It sure did help me better understand what we're dealing with.
You are the instrument, learn to sing like a pro!
JOETT - Voice Coach & Author
The next installment of Talent Showcase Africa Playlist via Nam Radio Local airs at 1800 CAT on Friday 26th November 2021, with repeat shows Saturday thru Thursday: tune-in at 1600 CAT.
Enjoy a one hour TSA Playlist set, followed by another hour of music from emerging African talents on NRL rotation.
Jean Louis Mbé - Djogane Ma (Cameroon)
Freshh - Pick And Choose (South Africa)
Solidskid - Gimme [Nigeria]
Jerry Kay - Zone [Ghana]
Piper Pipes - Can You [South Africa]
DeetheGeneral - Phum'uphele (ft.e Kay) [South Africa]
Kid Overkill - Envy (ft. Joyce Destiny) [Zambia]
BadBoy Rain - More More [Nigeria]
Creamzy - Bad Girl [Nigeria]
Stéphane Akam - Amour où es-tu [Cameroon]
Marcel - I Know [Zambia]
Shadow - 3Way Deadlock [South Africa]
We will be streaming LIVE at 1800 Friday.
Here's the link: https://music-station.live/public/nam_radio_local
And this is where we've published the Weekly NRL schedule. Please take a look and be sure to SHARE with your fans & supporters.
Here’s the link: https://music-station.live/public/nam_radio_local/schedule
Talent Showcase Africa Playlist on Nam Radio invites emerging talents to submit their music for airplay consideration. You'll find our song submission guidelines here.
The Djooky Music Awards Global Round is here!
The Djooky Music Awards Global Voting Round ends on 28th November 2021! Every Vote Counts! Hurry up and vote for your favorite artists!
Find out who's made it into the Global Round here.
Djooky Africa Team & Talent Showcase Africa
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Talent Showcase Africa in association with Djooky Music Awards is offering African artists the opportunity to get radio airplay in a weekly radio slot on Nam Radio going forward.
To complement our just recently launched Talent Showcase Africa Smash or Pass the Track Podcast, we have created the Talent Showcase Africa Playlist on Nam Radio to air every Friday at 1800 CAT from 29th October 2021.
Send mp3 to Playlist@Nam-Radio.com
And please include the following information.
Artist Name:
Song Title:
Country:
ALSO include a voice note introducing your song on Nam Radio… this will be inserted just before your track airs. In other words, you will be introducing your own track to our radio audience. Fancy that!?
So do a good job, by putting in some energy and excitement into your presentation! SMILE… the audience will love YOU.
And be sure to register and submit your songs on Djooky for a chance to win a weekly cash prize!
“Hello everyone, my name is Jojo, I’m an afrobeat artist from Nigeria and this is my song Play Me. My track is available on all the major music download platforms. Thank you SO MUCH for your support. Please follow me on Instagram @jojo_afrobeat.”
What we’re trying to do is to create a community of artists, radio listeners and fans, and to plug them into an ecosystem connected to online radio, where emerging African artists get to reach a far wider audience; and where music lovers get to discover fresh new music they’ll likely not find on terrestrial and satellite radio channels.
The more this community—artists and listeners alike—share this platform with the world, the BIGGER the exposure for our emerging African artists.
So, until the next edition of our regular newsletter, stay safe, and we wish you all the best in the DMAs Weekly Song Charts.
With best wishes,
Djooky Africa Team & Talent Showcase Africa
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Today I want to talk a little bit about getting your music into podcasts to not only gain traction, but to also get feedback from music experts ABOUT your music.
HOW PODCASTS CAN HELP YOUR MUSIC CAREER
Artistes everywhere are always on the lookout for creative ways to maximize their promotional efforts, and the traditional methods of promoting music are constantly evolving. As the years go by technology has become more sophisticated, the internet has made it easier for emerging African talents to market and share their creations with the world, and most recently, through the strategic use of podcasts.
What we at Talent Showcase Africa have gone and done, is to create Smash Or Pass the Track Podcast for the sole purpose of giving emerging African talents a platform where they can get feedback on their music from a panel of experts, and the much needed exposure their body of works deserve.
Talent Showcase Africa (TSA) is an artiste development platform that has created the Smash or Pass the Track Podcast to invite emerging African recording artistes to submit their music for professional feedback by a panel of experts comprising radio curator, record producer and vocal coach.
The host will play 30 seconds of an artiste’s track with the option to go extra time to 60 seconds, and the panel: Joett, Collin Mogagabe & Delani Makhalima will give feedback on the show.
Selected tracks will be featured in the pick-of-the-day playlist where full tracks will air on the show.
Episode 1 is now available from Nam Radio Podcast, SoundCloud, Spotify, Audiomack, Podcast Addict, Deezer, Podchaser and a host of others. (Or click Podcast widget below).
First of all, thanks to all of you for your overwhelming response and support. It kinda took us by surprise. That being said, we’re still taking submissions for coming Smash Or Pass the Track episodes, so if you’re interested, simply send your track in MP3 format plus some information about yourself by email.
NOTE: if you’ve already submitted your music for consideration for Podcast placement before, please do not resubmit.
Send email to: podcast@TalentShowcaseAfrica.com
DJOOKY NEWS
If you haven’t checked out the latest news items on the Djooky website, here are a couple of interesting items you MUST read.
So, until the next edition of our regular newsletter, stay safe, and we wish you all the best in the DMAs Weekly Song Charts.
With best wishes,
Djooky Africa Team & Talent Showcase Africa
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It was an absolute honor to be invited by my friend and fellow Juror on AFRIMA, Rita Ray, to have a chat with her and her co-host Max Reinhardt on their radio show Mwalimu Express on London's Soho Radio.
You'll get a chance to listen to the entire radio show via the widget at the very bottom of this blog post. But first, let me give you a bit of background on Mwalimu Express and Soho Radio.
From its grass-roots founding in 2014, Soho Radio has grown to be an influential voice and amplifier for music and culture, bringing together people from Soho, London, the UK and globally. They are an online radio station broadcasting 250+ shows a month live from Soho and from New York to the world, featuring two channels: Soho & NYC + Culture.
Mwalimu Express was created in 1997 by DJs Rita Ray and Max Reinhardt. Envisioned as a mythical train travelling the African continent, the original weekly sessions were based at the Bread and Roses pub in Clapham, blending live music, DJs, food and even board games. In 2000 they introduced a film programme, curated by the ScreenStation Collective, showcasing a mix of short films, documentaries and features.
Now held at Rich Mix on the third Sunday of every month from September to May, Mwalimu Express has built a loyal following of all ages and includes dance workshops, market stalls, street food, bar and a pop-up library.
It's always a free entry gig, it's always family friendly.....a splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Mwalimu means teacher in Swahili and it was the title given to the legendary Julius Kambarage Nyerere (13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999), Tanzanian statesman, first President of Tanzania and previously of Tanganyika, from 1960 until his retirement in 1985.
Mwalimu is pronounced Mwah (as in a short kiss), Lee (as in Majors) Moo (a short one, not a moooo!)
To get to the Joett interview segment of the show, just move the cursor forward in the widget to 27 minutes and 37 seconds. Enjoy!
