Engineer's Perspective: Maysa Clinic 9/24/07

Clinics at Berklee are often hit or miss.  I always find it interesting and at times disappointing that more often than not the clinics presented at Berklee lack much academic value.  Berklee has built it's reputation on the analysis and understanding of popular music styles.  Seeing as a lot of that music doesn't come from a very academic foundation I imagine it is difficult to find clinicians who can offer a more analytical approach to the music or the musical career.  But this is an academic institution.  Visiting artist should reflect and enhance the education being received.  I recently attended a clinic sponsored by the voice department that didn't reflect the schools level of education but was certainly an adequate representation of clinics put on at the school.  Maysa, an R&B singer popular in the early nineties, came to offer her story of the journey through music and business.  All in all she was a good speaker.  She was very nice to listen to, comfortable, eloquent, personable, and a good story teller, but was she a good clinician? I don't know.   Listening to it I'd say she is no different than any other I've heard. She first spoke of her start in the business singing back up for Stevie Wonder.  Then auditioning for Incognito, which ultimately led to her being signed as a solo artist by a record label.  And aside from some obvious bitterness from being passed over for jobs because of her weight, it was an almost fairytale like the story. Her advice was clichéd and uninspiring declaring such jewels of wisdom as "I do my job and mind my own business" as reason for her continued work, or "Do what ever you can not to sound like everybody else".    She then turned around admitting that she couldn't believe she was giving out advice because she still had so much to learn.  Humble for her to say but also very true. A clinician should be able to offer more.  How did she start? How did she get there? What got her foot in the door?  I could have answered those questions without going to the clinic, hard work, talent and the less often mentioned, luck. Any one who is in the business of making music knows that luck is essential to one's success.  So if there is no formula for success, if looks, talent, and perseverance can't guarantee security, what do you (as a clinician) have to offer me? That is the question that should be asked. What can your story offer me as an aspiring artist?  I always leave clinics disappointed for two reasons.  One is that there is never an enlightening message for me. Not even inspiration at hearing a success story because I know that success is spelled differently for everyone, or not at all for some. The clinician must ask itself "what do I have to offer?"  I believe that Maysa did ask herself that and came prepared to discuss her approach to scatting.  She touched on it briefly but was never allowed to elaborate.  The clinic was interrupted with request for her to sing something, which she was unprepared to do.  Which leads me to my second disappointment.  If the clinician is someone I admire as a musician,  I want to hear a performance.   Unfortunately the clinic leaves little room for performance.  The little I hear is never enough to satisfy.  In the case of the Maysa clinic she was never given an opportunity to offer anything.  Her discussion on scatting was interrupted which then led to a very pathetic story of her "cuss out scat" which when demonstrated was nothing more than a rhythmic scat where she made ugly faces and pointed her finger violently.  I was under-whelmed to say the least.  Now that the ball had been knocked out of her court she was completely at a loss, she awkwardly stumbled through songs she couldn't remembered, and ended the clinic with a forced sing-a-long to the song she couldn't remember.  Who's at fault?  I don't blame the clinician I blame the faculty of department heads for not giving structure and aiding the chaos.  The clinicians should be brought with education and enlightenment as the goal.  A semi successful artist alone doesn't qualify, what does the clinician have to offer? What about their story is significant.  What about their musical approach can benefit the students here? Once you find someone worthy of the audience, act as a guide to both student and clinician.  I'm tired of the same disappointments and I'm sure the students are too.