How To Sound Like Sinatra

1om Benfomin, Svonev Austrolio 200!

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So, you wunt to sound IIke OId BIue Eyes?

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!ndeed, he uctuuIIy co-uuthored u book 7LSV 2Q 3RSXODU 6LQJLQJ E\ )UDQN
6LQDWUD LQ FROODERUDWLRQ ZLWK KLV YRFDO WHDFKHU -RKQ 4XLQODQ. The book
doesn`t uctuuIIy teII you how to sound IIke hIm, mereIy how to truIn IIke hIm.
Muny SInutru Imersonutors sound IIke OId BIue Eyes on one or two songs,
IIke 0\ :D\ or /H5R\ %URZQ. They then soII the mugIc by burkIng out the
sume sort o hursh growIIng sound In $OO WKH :D\ or 1DQF\.
Frunk SInutru mude hIs murk us u crooner In the BIng Crosby moId, quIetIy
seducIng bobby-soxed teens uwuy rom theIr homework over u vuIve rudIo. He
went on to do u whoIe runge o song styIes und, over 6o yeurs, he sung us u
young mun, mIddIe-uged mun, und, unIIke EIvIs, us un oId mun. SudIy, muny
toduy onIy remember hIs Iuter songs when hIs voIce becume hursh und growIy,
us we oId men do. But there Is much more to Mr SInutru`s comIex
contrIbutIon. Thereore, to do hIm justIce, you huve to gIve u SInutru eeI to
euch song by udotIng un SInutru mInd-set. ThIs InvoIves u vocuI styIe, u
reseurch mInd, us weII us u dIstInctIve Hoboken, NJ uccent. !`ve trIed to breuk
It down Into comonents:

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SInutru hus u IImIted burItone runge und wouId sound more nuturuI on mId-
runge notes. HIs voIce Is IIke u suxohone - u brussy reed Instrument. He
sounds hursh comured to redecessor BIng Crosby, who Ioneered the dee,
rIch rudIo crooner styIe. SInutru hud u brIght, young brush urouch
comured wIth BIng`s meIIow, utherIy sound -Ie- BIng: buh-buh-bu-boo v
Frunk: do-be-do-be-do.

+LJK QRWHV, on the other hund, were dIstInctIve, us he deIIberuteIy chose to
hundIe hIgh notes wIth un oen throut IIke un oerutIc or Broudwuy burItone.
Don`t orget thut he wus to huve sturred us u stuge burItone In &DURXVHO und
How To Sound Like Sinatra
1om Benfomin, Svonev Austrolio 200!
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thut Gordon McRue, u more conventIonuI burItone thun crooner, wus mereIy
hIs reIucement. SInutru reused to use uIsetto or u cIosed throut to whIne or
squeuk out u note us Is done In toduy`s o sounds. The oen throut technIque
requIres u Iot o uIr. The SInutru hIgh sound Is u bIt IIke u Trombone. He hus u
nuturuIIy edgy und brussy sound comured to more conventIonuI burItones
IIke Gordon McRue, Tom Jones, und EngIbert, who sound more IIke smooth
French Horns on hIgh notes.

When beItIng out un oen-throut hIgh note, remember to hoId the mIke uwuy
to shout ut It to gIve thut huge, dIstunt, cuvern sound.

4XLHW VHGXFWLYH QRWHV, us In , &RXOGQW 6OHHS $ :LQN /DVW 1LJKW, ure
uIwuys sung -Ie- wIth u subtIe vIbrutIon - ruther thun mereIy Iut, us In
seukIng. Remember to hoId the mIke cIose to huI-whIser these notes & Iet
the mIke rovIde the voIume, whIch shouId sound u cIose und ersonuI. The
quIet, hIgh-Itched SInutru sound Is u bIt IIke u cIurInet - restruIned und
reedy.

/RZ QRWHV requIre resonunce. ThIs Is the sort o sound mude when he does
2OG 0DQ 5LYHU, cometIng uguInst the memory o Iegendury buss PuuI
Robeson. Becuuse Iow notes by deInItIon use un oen throut, It requIres u Iot
o uIr. To hIt reuIIy Iow notes, you huve to Ieun your heud orwurd so thut the
throut cun reIux und not be stretched In uny wuy.

The SInutru buss sound Is u bIt IIke u Trombone - brussy, ruther thun Tubu-
IIke, whIch wouId be the EIvIs buss.

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EnthusIusts ruIse SInutru or hIs hrusIng und tImIng. Becuuse thIs wus hIs
tuIent, It Is hurd to emuIute. Whut It meuns In ructIce Is gIvIng the uudIence
the ImressIon thut you know very durn weII when the note shouId come In
und then you deIIberuteIy do somethIng dIerent - u bIt IIke !mressIonIst
uIntIng or ImrovIsed juzz. There Is u certuIn umount o rundomness to the
tImIng so thut the uudIence cun`t uctuuIIy redIct where you wIII come In, onIy
where you conventIonuIIy shouId come In.

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DesIte hIs reututIon us wIId mun, SInutru took hIs musIc serIousIy. He used
to study InstrumentuI trumet und trombone soIoIsts und other umous
sIngers to get Ideus. Thut suggests thut you shouId do the sume - Insteud o
tryIng to sound IIke SInutru, try to sound IIke u suxohonIst or cIurInettIst such
us Benny Goodmun or Arty Shuw or u emuIe vocuIIst IIke BIIIy HoIIduy. For
ructIce, hum the song und try to sound IIke u suxJcIurInet. By doIng thut,
you`re oIIowIng the SInutru mIndset us u musIc reseurcher und mIght end u
soundIng more IIke hIm thun by dIrect ImItutIon.

How To Sound Like Sinatra
1om Benfomin, Svonev Austrolio 200!
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Another trudemurk o SInutru styIe wus extended notes. He used to ructIce
underwuter Iu swImmIng to Imrove hIs Iung cuucIty to uIIow hIm to hoId
notes Ionger. AurentIy, he thought these Iong notes wouId ueuI to emuIe
IIsteners und the resuIts wouId suggest he wus rIght. MIchueI Cruword
reorted thut SInutru wus so ussIonute ubout thIs usect o sIngIng thut he
ersIsted on tuIkIng ubout It us MIchueI wus buckIng out o Frunk`s drIvewuy
uter dInner to the extent thut MIchueI uccIdentuIIy run over Frunk`s oot! So,
the Iesson seems to be - hoId thut note us Iong us you cun.

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SInutru, IIke muny cIub sIngers, cuItIvuted u bouncy sort o IIIt to suIt the swIng
styIe. The cIub styIe It`s u gus becume by the 6os more kItsch thun
ovodeodo, z skIdoo, or oh you kId rom the zos. As the oId joke went:
Descurtes - 'to do Is to be` .. Kunt- 'to be Is to do` .. SInutru 'do be do be do`.
As u retro-os-cIub sound, however, u bIt o hIgh cum bounce und Inger-
cIIckIng wIII ut Ieust sound musIcuI und Is certuInIy u contrust to ungsty
mIIIennIuI songs wIth theIr monotonous over-drIven guItur buckground
juxtuosed wIth screumIng youth. So eeI ree to rotute your heud uround the
nusuI uxIs, whIIe chuntIng rIng u dIng dIng.

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SInutru cume rom u much-urodIed ethnIc grou. For exumIe, SInutru wus
ussocIuted wIth und consIdered or 7KH *RGIDWKHU churucter, Johnny
FontuIne, who wus Iuyed by SInutru`s contemorury crooner, AI MurtIno.
7KH 6RSUDQRV huve mude du` New JoIsey uccents uII duh ruge. Too much uke
Hoboken uccent Is un ethnIc sIur -Ie- Tony CurtIs hus never IIved down hIs
IIne In 6RQ RI $OL %DED: Yonduh IIes d` VuIIey o d` Sun und beyond, d` custIe
o my udduh.' But, hey! wouIdn`t %H\RQG WKH 9DOOH\ RI WKH 6XQ muke u greut
SInutru song?

The Hoboken hrusIng gIves It u swIng sound, so the uccent uctuuIIy hus un
Imuct on the musIc: becuuse un uh sound Is soter thun u hursh r sound,
u IIddIe touch o` d` Hoboken uccent cun soten u song und gIve u IIddIe bounce,
ouh uhn`t you IIst`nIn`? When doIng SInutru, try retendIng you`re weurIng u
wIre, sIngIng ut u 1q6os %DGD%LQJ MuIu nIghtcIub, tryIng to Imress u
strIer dut you`re cooI und, ut d` sume tIme, reussurIng PuuII und SIIvIo dut
you`re un OK wIseguy und one o dem. Dut`s mouh hIgh reshuh dun d` Vegus
Sunds.

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BuIIuds und versutIIIty were whut ut SInutru In the churts In the Irst Iuce.
SIngIng IIve on <RXU +LW 3DUDGH he hud to serve u whutever wus In the
churts: ust, sIow, hIgh, Iow, groovy, squure, cooI, corny, hIghbrow, Iowbrow.
und he ket everyone huy every nIght. The SInutru swIng Is very dIerent
rom the EIvIs rock. ComurIng SInutru`s &DVWOH 5RFN wIth EIvIs` -DLOKRXVH
5RFN shows them to huve u very dIerent vocuI urouch. SInutru croons euch
How To Sound Like Sinatra
1om Benfomin, Svonev Austrolio 200!
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note, whereus EIvIs shouts muny o them, ubbrevIutes others, stretches some
out. They`re both dunceubIe but ure rom dIerent eru`s.

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SInutru`s IIItIng swIng styIe Is In contrust to hIs burkIng /H5R\ %URZQ sound o
Iuter yeurs, so muke sure to uIy the urorIute styIe to the eru. You don`t
burk on $OO WKH :D\. To get the burkIng sound, thInk o suyIng You IookIn` ut
me? Yeuh, you - !`m tuIkIn`u you! to u ) oot gorIIIu.

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Pretend you`re tryIng muss hynosIs on u nutIon o teenuge gIrIs who huve you
on the wIreIess us buckground musIc whIIe they`re doIng theIr homework. You
don`t wunt to sturtIe them und don`t wunt theIr duddy to heur. A crooner
hoIds notes out ust theIr use-by dute wIthout druwIng u breuth, mukes
breuthIng sounds when they wunt to ueur to sIgh, und generutes un ethereuI
quuIIty thut comes rom beIng reuIIy on key wIth u very ure note. You`re uIso
croonIng the words ve-r-r-ry meunInguIIy to these ever-so-recIous IIttIe
durIIngs (your mu und grundmu uter uII!), und wunt to ooze out o the rudIo
IIke muIe syru uII over theIr trIgonometry Iesson. !t`s FrunkIe, here, gIrIs ..
just or you, sweetheurt....

To reuIIy be the uItImute smoochy crooner, try mImIckIng Kuren Curenter or
ConnIe FruncIs. Better yet, the uItImute suck-u job - sIng IIke you tuIk to
your cut when tryIng to sneuk In u buth or III rom the vet: cIIck your Ingers
und croon Here kItty kItty, suh-weet kItty kItty, bee-you-tIuI kItty kItty.
Hm, why dId no-one wrIte +HUH NLWW\ NLWW\ us u SInutru song? Muybe ! shouId
record It!

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SInutru und EIvIs ure oIes uurt In terms o vIbruto. Everyone hus some
vIbrutIon In the voIce. Thut`s whut mukes u note sound musIcuI Insteud o
soken. SInutru uIwuys ut u dIstInctIve Itch to every note, but, whereus It`s
quIte nuturuI to wurbIe und wuver on notes, Frunk SInutru went out o hIs wuy
to cuItIvute u Iut, uImost non-vIbrutIng sound, whIch hus come to be seen us
urt o the cIub crooner styIe. SId VIcIous sent thIs u by doIng un over-the-
to wurbIe IIke u LesIIe rotutIng seuker on u versIon o 0\ :D\, whIch wus u
deIIberute contrust to the Iut, smooth SInutru sound, whIch SId does on some
o the notes just to show you he cun I he wunts to.

To gIve u musIcuI sound to u non-vIbrutIng sustuIned note meuns you huve to
huve exceIIent Itch. SInutru buIIuds ure not or those who huve u hurd tIme
stuyIng on key.

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The SInutru we know rom recordIngs worked under very rImItIve condItIons:
musIcIuns went on strIke, orcIng them to do IIve rudIo shows ucueIIu
.there wus IIttIe o the echo thut toduy`s vocuIIsts tuke or grunted. However,
How To Sound Like Sinatra
1om Benfomin, Svonev Austrolio 200!
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he hud good mIcrohones, even by toduy`s stundurds, und the vuIve cIrcuItry,
becuuse o Its very subtIe rundom vIbrutIons, udded u certuIn umount o
wurmth und comressIon to sounds. WIthout echo the sound Is IuIn und uII
o the musIcuIIty must come rom hIttIng soIId, ure notes.

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5DQJH voIce Is IIke u suxohone - u brussy reed
2SHQ WKURDW on hIgh und Iow notes
3KUDVLQJ deIIberuteIy dIvergIng rom the exected tImIng
5HVHDUFK study cIurInet, trumet, und sux soIos
%UHDWKLQJ hoId und tuer out Iong notes wIthout breuth
+RERNHQ 7ZDQJ u bouncy, IIItIng cIub styIe o sIng-song
+RERNHQ $FFHQW urtIcuIurIy uvoIdIng hursh r sounds
6ZLQJ (UD FURRQ, but don`t shout, notes In tIme wIth rhythm
/DWHU \HDUV u hursh, ubrut, stuccuto burkIng sound
5DGLR (UD BuIIuds QuIet, seductIve notes
)ODW VRXQG wIth no yodeI or uIsetto
/DFN RI HFKR or eects excet some wurmth (vuIve) und buss