Name: Abby V
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Nationality: Canadian-Indian
Current release: Abby V's Aarambh is out via Sufiscore.  
Pure Vocal Music Recommendations: Some Carnatic and Hindustani classical renditions from the 1970s to 2010s are unedited and unprocessed - completely raw. These are available on YouTube - one example being: O Ranga Sayee | M.S. Subbulakshmi | Tyagaraja | Carnatic Classical Music.

If you enjoyed this Abby V interview and would like to find out more about his music, visit him Instagram, twitter, and Facebook.   
 


Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in your voice and singing? How and when did you start singing?

My dad sings very well by passion (not by profession) and hence I grew up listening to him sing at home all the time. Naturally, I took keen interest in music seeing his passion for it and started singing like me - and the interest grew when he started exposing me to fascinating topics like Ragas and Bollywood music.

I found all of this so fascinating and began taking music very seriously - it was no longer just a hobby but very much a part of my everyday life.

If you're also playing other instruments, how does the expressive potential of these compare to your own voice?

I play a little bit of piano and guitar (I must admit that I’m not very good, however). I’ve always identified as a vocalist - my voice has been my primary instrument and somewhere, I began to assume that it is my sole instrument.

The potential of external instruments is huge and there are so many emotions that can be conveyed through the dynamics of that particular instrument. A piano, for instance, is able to convey such varied emotions through its dynamic range. The voice, however, has the power to connect straight to your soul since it’s so relatable. I guess that’s why I’ve always geared more towards vocal music.

And of course, with my dad being a great singer at home, I naturally took to that primarily.

Singing is an integral part of all cultures, and traditions. Which of these do you draw from – and why?

Yes - singing is a very integral part of all cultures, especially the two that I strongly identify with: Indian and North American. As a child, I was in choir lessons and used to express music regularly in a band as a school kid.

At home, I was put in vocal music lessons to keep up with my Indian roots. Music has brought me closer to my ethnic roots, specifically, because it’s a great way to connect with people who associate with that style of music.

My knowledge of ragas or Bollywood music, for instance, is a great topic of discussion with other people of South Asian heritage who relate to that kind of music. And I absolutely love that music helps me do that.

What were some of the main challenges in your development as a singer/vocalist? Which practices, exercises, or experiences were most helpful in reaching your goals – were there also “harmful” ones?

I was born with a naturally flexible voice, and I have to thank my genes for that. But a challenging time was during puberty, when my voice was changing. I found it a struggle to sing in my newfound voice and had very little agility - it felt like I was trapped when I was trying to sing.

Thankfully, I met a couple voice therapists and Hindustani music teachers who helped me during those situations and expanded my vocal range and helped bring back the vocal flexibility.

Some exercises I still fondly remember are octave slides (which bridge the different vocal registers) and kharaj exercises (which is a form of strengthening your base notes in Hindustani Classical Music).

How do you see the relationship between harmony, rhythm and melody? Do you feel that honing your sense of rhythm and groove has an effect on your singing skills?

The three go hand in hand completely. South Asian Classical music places very heavy emphasis on melody and rhythm, and Western Classical music has taught me the importance of harmony and polyphony.

Admittedly, my sense of rhythm and timing was not the best growing up, but I truly worked on it quite a bit in my teens. So much that I feel my sense of rhythm, timing and beat association is one of my biggest strengths today.

Strong sense of rhythm is crucial for any musician because every musician (and not just the drummer / percussionist) is responsible for keeping time in music.

What are the things you hear in a voice when listening to a vocalist? What moves you in the voices of other singers?

I’m moved by emotion in a voice. Technical brilliance, impressive range, spot-on pitching - all of these are important and definitely add to the appeal of a vocal performance. But beyond all this is how it connects to you and makes you feel.

When the emotion is there and complements technical prowess, that’s when the music goes to a different level and that’s what moves me every time.

How would you describe the physical sensation of singing? [Where do you feel the voice, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or tension etc …]

I’ve always felt that my voice is produced from a combination of many places in my body, including my diaphragm, brain and throat. It’s the partnership of these different parts that helps my voice sound the way I want it to.

There is a sense of tension and release in the most beautiful way - when there’s an emotional cadence, there’s a release that occurs after a string of technical phrases.

What kind of musical settings and situations do you think are ideal for your own voice?

I truly enjoy musical settings of all kinds. I do the huge stadium / outdoor shows with tens of thousands of people, and I’ve also done the extremely intimate, mehfil, shows.

I feel my voice is able to adapt to the different situations and deliver - and I enjoy all of these experiences.

We have a speaking voice and a singing voice. Do these feel like they are natural extensions of each other, ends on a spectrum or different in kind?

I do feel both are quite different, at least for me. Singing requires a different energy, a different emotion from within than speaking does. I perceive sound differently when I’m singing versus when I’m speaking - and I can tell even when I hear recordings of when I speak vs. sing.

I think this has to do more with the conditioning of the mind than biology, perhaps - and hence could be subjective!

From whispers to screams, from different colours to dynamics, what are the potentials and limits of your voice? How much of your vocal performance can and do you want to control?

My voice is softer compared to a lot of other male singers since I’m trained in singing very regulated music, like Carnatic Classical, Hindustani Classical and Opera. All of these require your voice to be in a certain dynamic range and not cross certain dynamic boundaries.

Hence, I usually prefer not to increase my vocal levels beyond a certain level of loudness because my body doesn’t feel very comfortable doing so - nor does my music sound pleasing in that manner I feel.

The potential of the voice, however, is expansive as it can deliver different emotions, styles and genres across my dynamic range and authentically communicate what it’s trying to.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

Absolutely. Words fit like a glove with a voice and that’s just a representation of the artistry. Every artist has a sound, a style - and words are an extension of that sound and style.

Some phrases, some style of words work beautifully for some, and not as well for others. We as artists are intuitive about these things and try to stay authentic as much as possible.

With regards to singing someone else’s songs, I’m all for it and I apply the same ideology. I choose to sing songs of those artists whose music and lyrics I relate to - so that there’s a level of comfort and belongingness when I present that song.

Strain is a particularly serious issue for many vocalists. How do you take care of your voice? Are the recipes or techniques to get a damaged voice back in shape?

I try to not overdo my singing and push it beyond boundaries.

Of course, singing regularly and keeping your voice moving with exercises helps!

How has technology, such as autotune or effect processing, impacted singing? Has it been a concrete influence on your own approach?

I’ve grown up with tech (especially music tech like DAWs, Melodyne, Autotune, etc) and I’ve always embraced it. There’s no avoiding technological advancements in any industry and music is just the same.

Autotune helps as an effect - and when used right, it can sound beautiful. It also has the ability to make someone completely tone-deaf sound musical - so we must be ethical in its usage of course.

For recording engineers, the human voice remains a tricky element to capture. What, from your perspective, makes voices sound great on record and in a live setting?

I think the rawness of the voice should always be encouraged and captured. Raw emotions always connect - and if we can capture that, nothing like it.

For singers, it’s very important to be comfortable in the setting they are singing in. Hence, making the atmosphere, whether in a studio or a live setting, as comfortable and welcoming as possible is very important according to me.

Motherese may have been the origin of music, and singing is possibly the earliest form of musical expression, and culture in general. How connected is the human voice to your own sense of wellbeing, your creativity, and society as a whole?

The human voice is able to connect with us in ways that only our bodies can experience; it’s sometimes beyond comprehension. Some melodic lines, some lyrics, some notes just make us feel an emotion we could never otherwise experience.

It’s the same for me. I derive so much joy, bliss and even inspiration from the human voice and vocal performances and I’m grateful to be able to comprehend it from the perspective of a vocalist myself.