Paul Sonnenberg part 1
This is part one of a two-part interview with singer, guitarist, songwriter Paul Sonnenberg. The interview was conducted over several weeks in late January, early February 2010.If you don't know who Paul is, an introduction is in order. Here he is singing "Sigh Heart, Don't Break," which he wrote.
From the easy manner in which you sing and play, a person watching on You Tube probably wouldn't guess how much effort goes into each song. Do you really do 20, 30, 60 takes when filming a video, until you get a performance that you like?
Many songs do require that many takes, particularly bossa nova songs that I've recently learned, or that I'm just learning to sing in Portuguese. But in those cases most takes crash and burn early, and are a minute or less. Less challenging songs or songs I'm more familiar with go much more quickly.
What's an average number of takes?
I would say 25 or 30 takes is about average for a challenging song. Otherwise, 3 or 4.
Describe the process you use. Do you, for instance, have a method of identifying each take, as in "Suzanne, take 12" and so on?
I practice a song a few times to finalize the arrangement, structure, etc. Then I just turn on the camera and audio recorder and play until I screw up. Then I almost immediately hit record again and try again.
Do you save the bad takes or just stop the camera and start over?
Once I feel good about a take, I almost always just stop there. There are rarely multiple takes to consider. All earlier takes are thrown out immediately, unless I have reason to believe I might need to grab a snippet from one to paste over a flubbed chord or mispronounced word.
You seem not too concerned about the quality of the video, compared to the audio. What camera do you film with?
I use whatever camera is at hand (I have several). Usually it's a Canon A630. Sometimes it's just the built in camera on the 'downstairs iMac'. Generally speaking, I'm not crazy about videotaping myself playing. If I had more time, I probably would do videos to go with the songs that didn't involve staring at my ugly mug.
You appear to be recording both voice and guitar with a single mic in a single take. What mic do you use?
I either use my Zoom H2 portable digital recorder, or a Samson C01 condenser mic. Then I process the sound in Garageband and synch it up there with the video file.
When you say 'process the sound,' what do you mean?
I use some of the standard settings within Garageband, and tweak them a bit (EQ, mastering presets, reverb, compression.)
How does recording the videos differ from recording the MP3s? Are the MP3s simply the audio from the vids, or do you record again?
Virtually all the MP3s come from videos.
You have chosen to make the mp3s of your performances, even of your own songs, available for free. Even the CDs you've recorded are available for free download. With the number of views you get on You Tube, and the following you have, surely you could charge and make good money for your recordings. Why have you chosen not to do that?
First of all, I really don't believe that I could charge for my music in a way that would actually bring more than a pittance in. So why bother? Also, while I haven't investigated the question fully, I don't think that you can release cover versions of other people's songs commercially without paying for the privilege. And most of what I do are covers of some description.
Finally, as my translations are unauthorized, they themselves would most likely be considered illicit, as would my recordings of them (derivative works, etc).
And also, I take much more pleasure in giving it away and having it hit the mark than I would in selling it.
Did you sing much as a child?
I don't remember singing being a big part of my life before age 16 or so. I loved to listen to music, and I'm sure I did sing along, but I never really performed.
Then, about the time I started taking guitar lessons, I joined an Eastern religious cult. I began to play write and sing songs in that context, and found that very rewarding. It also helped me formulate my 'inward looking' songwriting voice. Very importantly, after the nightly meeting of the group, we sang a 20 minute devotional song at the top of our lungs.That's where I found my singing voice.
Do you exercise your voice, or can you sing or not sing and have the pipes respond at will?
I sing when I have something to express, and I sing with the voice I happen to have at that moment. I do tend to find that my voice is there when I want it. I'm much more concerned with the quality of the expression than the quality of my voice. I suspect that I am not a very accurate singer, and that, were I to find myself before a panel of American Idol judges, I would be among the humiliated.
What is the range of your voice - from what note to what note?
I haven't a clue! I do find myself surprising myself by singing what seem to be some very high notes from time to time.
The vocalization has to support the quality of the personal expression. That's part of why I'm so enamored with capos. I can just throw one on and everything changes. Often when I'm struggling to find my performance of a song I do throw on a capo just to see where that leads me. I go by feel, and try to find my vocal 'sweet spot' for a given song.
I've noticed that when you cover a song, you may pay homage to the original, but you are not tied to it. For example, I listened to both your recordings of Famous Blue Raincoat, and both times you sang it at a tempo somewhat faster than I've heard Leonard Cohen, or anyone else for that matter, sing it. What are your thoughts on covering well-known songs? Are there things you try to do and not do?
Usually it happens by feel. Sometimes by ignorance, by accident. I like accidents.
The idea that a given song should always be played at a given tempo or with a particular rhythm is as foreign to me as an idea can be. First: I absolutely must have a deep connection to the song. Then, I have to feel that connection while I perform it. Ultimately when I'm working out an arrangement, I'm just lining things up until that sense kicks in. Then I could care less about anything other than being in that connection and expressing it. Often, sadly, it's the listeners who have their own deep connection to the original version who find my versions most objectionable.
( Click on the triangular play button to hear Paul sing Famous Blue Raincoat.)
Before a gig, do you warm up your voice?
I usually sing in the car on the way. Most often my focus is on practicing any Portuguese lyrics I've memorized. The warm up is a side benefit.
Have you made efforts to change your voice, in range or timbre or in some other way?
I took a few lessons to deal with what I perceived as pitch issues. The teacher didn't see a problem. We had fun though.
The most common comment that I receive is that people love my voice. That's a very odd thing to hear over and over. But the fact is, I also love my voice.
I came to the realization recently that I record these songs primarily for myself, that I am my audience. If anyone else listens and likes it, that's awesome, but not necessary. When I'm happy with the results of a recording, I could listen to it a hundred times in a row without tiring of it, and sometimes I do. That sounds deliriously egotistical, but it's true.
It's like the experience of chanting. There's a vibration in one's being that occurs, and it carries you away to a beautiful, warm, loving place. That's how I feel when I sing, and that's how I feel when I listen to a recording that I'm satisfied with of myself singing. And yet, as I think about it, it really does make me very happy when my music takes someone else to that place as well.
You mentioned capos. Tell me about your guitars.
I own five guitars:
A Cordoba FCWE Gypsy King model thinline acoustic electric flamenco (nylon strings of course; a pawn shop acquisition),
A mid-eighties Alvarez-Yairi DY75 steel string dreadnaught (purchased for me as a gift by friends about 25 years ago),
A standard Yamaha classical (it's an odd model number, about which there's little info online; I'll try and get it for you; cheap but very satisfying to play, more full-bodied than the Cordoba; bought from Craigslist),
A Danelectro Dano '63 short-scale electric bass (a Craigslist trade).
I just acquired a Breedlove AC250/SM12 12 string. Also a pawn shop acquisition.
The first three acoustic guitars have John Pearse Armrests installed. As I'm a very quiet player, keeping my forearm off the soundboard with an armrest to avoid additional muffling seems like a good idea.
I won't put an armrest on the 12 string, 'cause it's already too loud for my usual singing style (I solved this on the video I posted last night by strumming without a pick). I'm using D'addario light guage strings on it.
I'll also be getting a Tacoma Papoose for my fiftieth birthday in a few weeks (also bought on Craigslist). That's a small steel string guitar, strung with standard strings, but tuned up as if there were a capo on the fifth fret of a normal guitar.
Which is your favorite and why?
The Cordoba is far and above my favorite. Through six years or so of learning to play bossa nova and three years of weekly bossa nova gigs, it's like a part of my body. It's extremely small and light. Being a flamenco, the action is very low and the neck very playable. It amplifies wonderfully (especially with a Fishman Aura mixed in). The nylon strings are perfect for my approach to accompanying vocals: low key, mellow and unobtrusive.
My first instrument was the bass guitar. I keep one around mostly out of nostalgia. Occasionally, I do use it to add a bass part to a recording. I've never in any way been interested in playing electric guitar. I had a jazz box once, but even with that it just didn't click.
Do you only play finger style, or do you play with a pick, as well?
I play with my fingers, though I'm not sure what I do qualifies as finger style. When I strum the dreadnaught or play leads on any guitar, I usually use a medium pick. I use my fingers to play bass.
Do you play instruments other than guitar?
Not really. I fool around with keyboards and recorder-like wind instruments. I'm hopeless on percussion.
Did you have formal musical training, either in guitar or voice?
Virtually none. A year or less of guitar and bass lessons when I was 16. A few weeks of voice lessons this past summer. I can read music if I have to, but it takes forever. Usually I don't have to.
What brand and type of stings do you use?
On my nylon string guitars I use D'Addario Pro Arte hard tension composites, though I don't use the extra composite G string they come with.
On my Alvarez I use light guage; sometimes John Pearse, sometimes Martin Marquis. It doesn't get used a lot so I don't change them a lot.
On the bass I like polished flatwounds.
Do you care for your right hand nails in a regular fashion?
When I was gigging every week I watched them very closely. Now that I'm not gigging at all, it's more often the computer keyboard that sends me to the clippers than the guitar.
Is the shape of your nails something you can describe?
Just a little amount of normally shaped growth on the right hand. I barely use them (I use mostly the finger pad with just a little 'bite' of nail), but I notice when they're not there. I also can't abide very much growth if any on the left hand.
What happens to your playing if you break a nail?
I can't play if my right hand nails aren't all the same length. But if one breaks I usually just trim them all down to that length and play more quietly until they grow back.
Now that I'm not gigging, I usually just switch styles and play around with strumming the steel string for a while if something dramatic (a cut, an ingrowth) happens to my finger tip or fingernails.
Do you have a daily practice schedule of scales and such or is your performing your practice?
If I'm holding a guitar, I'm either playing a song, learning a song or writing a song. I never practice otherwise. I never practice scales or other technical routines unless I'm bored to extremity. When I was gigging, I'd regularly run through my large repertoire of bossa material at breakneck speed as practice, mainly to ensure that I didn't forget the chord progressions. I had about 3 hours of that material memorized.
Do you tune by ear or do you use an electronic tuner?
I use an electronic tuner or tuning fork.
It was the mention of capos that started this part of the conversation. What kind of capo do you use?
Shubb. It's the only one I've ever used, and I love them to pieces. When I was gigging I made sure I had 3 or 4 Shubb nylon guitar capos in various gig bags and locations, because I'm very reliant on them. ("A bossa guitarist with a capo! Shame!" Whatever.) I have the standard dreadnaught version for my Alvarez.
How do you go about arranging the guitar part to a song?
Guitar playing has always been and will always be secondary to vocal performance for me. I see myself as a vocalist and songwriter first and foremost. Though I've been playing guitar for almost 35 years, my focus has always been learning and playing only what I needed to learn and play to get the vocal performance across.
My guitar arrangements are always very minimal, and are usually strictly rhythmic (unless I add a simple lead on an overdub). I tend to rely on a very few picking patterns. Occasionally, a song demands more (if, say, the 'known' version has prominent recognizable guitar) and so then I buckle down and spend more time on the arrangement. But only if my usual minimal approach fails me.
In learning to play bossa nova, I had to enter a whole new universe on the guitar, for both the left and right hand. But even then (and I'm sure that any bossa nova guitarist worth their salt would agree) I have not taken the time to really master the style. I do the minimum that I must do to support the vocal performance, and only stretch outside my comfort zone to try new things if my minimalist approach fails me.
What made you decide to learn bossa nova?
I had given up the guitar for about 10 years between 1994 and 2004. I was bored with it, and despaired of an audience for either my originals or covers. Also, I felt like I had nothing to say.
I had heard bossa nova music over the years, and it had made an impression on me. The songwriting, both musically and lyrically, was of a caliber that I found to be unmatched. The idea of playing and singing these songs got me excited about music again.
Here is Paul's version of Esquecendo Voce (Forgetting you), by Tom Jobim. English lyrics by Paul Sonnenberg.
Once you made the decision, how did you go about learning, what for many here in the states, is not so common a style?
I sent away for 'conventional' Jobim songbook and started fooling around with that, with only modest success. Then, I discovered a set of songbooks produced in Brazil. They were published by Lumiar. The editor was the late great Almir Chediak. He worked directly with all the major bossa nova composers to identify and write down the chord voicings that they used, not the conventional voicings found in books like the one I'd purchased. In bossa nova rhythm playing, one rarely plays more than one bass note and three treble notes. These voicings presented only the notes to be played, and made this complex music infinitely more accessible.
I learned to play many of the easier songs with English lyrics, and then, despite no exposure to Portuguese whatsoever, began painstakingly translating others. To date I have adapted/translated 36 songs by Jobim and others into English.
In addition to the books, I undertook an obsessive study of all the recordings I could find, learning to emulate the guitar rhythms, and to pronounce the Portuguese lyrics. Through these efforts, I developed a 'vocabulary', both musical and in Portuguese, which made it easier to learn, sing and translate new songs.
But ultimately YouTube was the thing that kicked my learning process into gear. To sit and do 35, 45, 60 takes of a song in front of a video camera until I got it right was a real trial by fire, and the supportive comments of the YouTube viewers kept me inspired to keep trying. To this day, I receive about 2000 views a day on YouTube, along with a constant stream of almost entirely supportive comments. It's really a remarkable thing to connect with people like that with my music.
In Part 2 of this interview, Paul talks about about songwriting and about his musical collaborations.
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