{"id":945,"date":"2022-01-07T22:37:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T21:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taractaylor.com\/TCT\/?p=945"},"modified":"2022-05-05T11:58:17","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T09:58:17","slug":"2022-is-here-a-new-year-and-a-new-ep-release-with-a-new-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taractaylor.com\/TCT\/945\/","title":{"rendered":"2022 is Here!\u00a0 A New Year and a New EP Release with a New Sound!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy New Year everyone!<\/span><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I am happy to announce the release of my first tribute EP\u00a0Under the Influence: A Tribute to 40 Years of Depeche Mode<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/b>Not only was this project a tribute to my favourite band; this project inspired my new sound.\u00a0 Gone is the sound of the bluesy acoustic rock singer\/songwriter and here comes the new sound which is a mixture of post-punk\/80\u2019s new wave and electronic dance. To put another way: lots of electric guitars, keys, synths and drums! Click here for links to the various streaming services to have a listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You might be wondering why I chose my first EP release as a tribute to one of my favourite bands.\u00a0 Well, here it goes\u2026.<\/p>\n

As you may recall back in 2020 I was working on recording songs and creating videos for my friend Matthew President\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> Youtube show \u201cWorld is Watching<\/a><\/strong>\u201d and there was a request\u00a0 submitted in the chat box by a viewer to do a cover from Alternative\/80\u2019s artist like Depeche Mode or The Cure. So, based on the request I took it upon myself to cover one of my favourite songs by my favourite band\u2026\u201cEnjoy the Silence\u201d by Depeche Mode (see the\u00a0 <\/span>blog post <\/i>Covering a Depeche Mode Standard: \u201cEnjoy the Silence\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"When the World is Watching\u00a0series ended it\u2019s first season in the summer of 2020 I decided to focus my energy back on evolving my sound, reworking my original songs and releasing my first EP. \u00a0 As 2020 came to a close there was yet another lockdown in Germany and at that point all I could do is hope for a better 2021\u2026<\/p>\n

The year 2021 is significant to many New Wave music lovers because is was the 40th anniversary of all the GREAT music that was released in 1981.\u00a0 For example: The remaining members of Joy Division reformed with the addition of Gillian Gilbert as\u00a0New Order and released their debut single \u201cCeremony\u201d in January 1981, Duran Duran released their self titled album in June and Depeche Mode released their first album \u201cSpeak & Spell\u201d in October.\u00a0 The musical significance of 1981 gave me an idea\u2026 I could do a tribute to 40 years of Depeche Mode!<\/p>\n

\"\"Even though I had covered \u201cEnjoy the Silence\u201d in 2020 I still had to choose songs from my favourite band that are seen as pioneers in electronic music with 14 studio albums and countless B-Sides.\u00a0 This was not going to be an easy task for this project.\u00a0 Since I am an independent artist I realized that I could not spend a lot of money on the project, I decided to go in the direction of a 6 song EP rather than a full album.<\/p>\n

I then realized in order to make my song choices I had to figure out the most important criteria so I could narrow my song choices easier and that criteria was my vocal range.<\/p>\n

I had already done my research on\u00a0 Dave Gahan\u2019s vocal range when I covered \u201cEnjoy the Silence\u201d.\u00a0 As a refresher he is a Baritone. A Baritone possesses a vocal range between G2-G4.\u00a0 I am a \u201cmezzo-soprano\u201d and my range is between G3-F#5 so, I can comfortably sing the Gahan vocalized songs that I can push into my range for example: if Gahan is singing a song in the range of\u00a0 C3-D4 I can sing the song in the range of C4-D5 without transposing the melody up or down.<\/p>\n

\"\"While I was researching Martin Gore\u2019s vocal range I found out that he is a Tenor with a range between C3-A4. I found this discovery incredibly interesting because Gore’s range makes the dynamics, harmonies and layers between his highs and Gahan\u2019s lows incredibly rich.\u00a0 In comparison I have found it easier to sing most songs where Gahan is the lead vocal and more difficult for me to sing al lot of songs where Gore is the lead vocal. Gore\u2019s range is so close to mine and unfortunately his lows are too low for my range. If I want to cover songs like like: \u201cSomebody\u201d, \u201cHome\u201d, \u201cIt Doesn\u2019t Matter Two\u201d and \u201cIt Doesn’t Matter\u201d I would have to transpose the melody up a step or two from it\u2019s original key (FYI – I am not a fan of transposing most songs.\u00a0 I find most songs that have been transposed to fit a range sound (kind of)\u00a0 funny to me. I feel some of the emotion from song is lost when it\u2019s transposed-up from original key the song was written in).\u00a0 <\/i>So, my criteria in regards to choosing songs that are sung by Martin Gore that I would have to be able to sing the song without having to transpose the melody to fit my range.<\/p>\n

The songs I chose for the tribute EP based on my vocal range are:<\/p>\n