Duong Cam shares frankly about the singing voices of Ho Ngoc Ha and Hoang Thuy Linh

"Dang Duong's mark but Duong Cam's soul"

- You have just been the Music Director for the live show “The Fatherland Calls My Name” celebrating 30 years of Meritorious Artist Dang Duong’s singing career and received many compliments from the audience and experts. What does this success mean to you?

I got to do a lot of things, decide everything that was heard on stage in the live show " The Fatherland Calls My Name" by Meritorious Artist Dang Duong. That made me proud and respected. A month before that, in my sleep, I dreamed about everything that happened in the live show, the sound of the opening song, the lighting, the audience. And when I ran the program, everything was exactly the same.

I am very happy that the concert left many emotions in the hearts of music lovers of many generations. Many professionals sent their congratulations, with compliments of 'Dang Duong's mark but Duong Cam's soul'. Dang Duong continuously sent his thanks, which made me very grateful and touched.

Musician Duong Cam and Meritorious Artist Dang Duong.

- Remixing and refreshing songs is Duong Cam's specialty. However, do you think that with old songs that have vitality, "rehashing" them again under the pressure of the two words "creativity" is risky?

I have given a new look to red music, revolutionary music. The program of 30 songs in nearly 3 hours, revolutionary music does not make the audience sleepy, the music leads the audience by bringing them to the boiling rhythms then there will be sudden twists, calm down.

Many people still think that when they hear red music, revolutionary music, they immediately think of marching music and cheering with intense sounds, but to me it also contains a lot of beauty of lyricism and romance. Therefore, in the live show Dang Duong The Fatherland Calls My Name, the romance in the works is highlighted and fully exploited.

I use the sounds of the symphony orchestra and choir to describe the magnificence and grandeur of the country and the great war of the Vietnamese people. In addition, the harmonious combination with traditional instruments such as bamboo flute, zither, monochord opens up poetic scenes of the homeland, giving the audience both familiar and strange feelings. I also know that it is a double-edged sword. When I do it, I accept that I will receive compliments and criticism because everyone has the right to speak their mind.

If they find it good, they will accept it. As a young musician, it is my mission to revive famous songs. At the concert, I introduced to the audience the young talents of Background (musician Duong Cam's band). They did a great job, making us proud of the generation of quality musicians.

- In “The Crossroads of Time” - a song renewal program, you had to work with many singers with different personalities. As a straightforward person who often gives compliments and criticisms, did you encounter many difficulties?

Up to now, I have been lucky to work with all the famous singers and singers, from old to young, everyone has given me respect and love. That probably also comes from the fact that I am a very serious person at work. From the beginning, I was a fastidious and meticulous person, I required everything to be arranged and calculated. But there will be many problems that arise, when working directly, I always listen to what they want and I will balance out the most harmonious result.

I understand the pressure a singer feels when standing on stage singing live. When they are worried, I always tell them: "Whenever you are worried or wondering about something, turn back to me. I will help you remember the song, remember the story, solve problems and handle them quickly on stage so that the singer can be confident and sublime on stage."

Musician Duong Cam: "Many singers refused to participate because the program required singers to sing with a band and sing live."

- As you said, singing live is very stressful when doing a show. So on the scale of a live concert, how important is that?

If you are a singer and organize a live concert, the scale of the program is very large. In front of thousands of audiences, the singer needs to prepare himself with a strong mentality to be able to face many things and incidents that may happen on stage. The singer himself must have the ability and courage to organize his own live concert.

- The owners of million-view, top trending hits think that they have charisma and that doing a live concert with them is not a big deal?

In Vietnam, I see many singers who are quite daring. You may be very successful with audio versions, MVs with tens of millions of views that are well received, loved by the audience and widely spread. But that does not mean you can step onto the stage to perform your own live concert. That is completely different!

I have worked with many music programs and events, and there have been many singers who refused to participate because the program required singers to sing with a band and sing live. There were singers who wanted to sing on beat, but they refused because they could not meet the requirements.

In some special programs, if the audience accepts it, it's okay, but in a live concert, you obviously have to give it your all, you have to be a real singer.

- Are you trying to differentiate between a real singer and a studio singer?

The audience is very smart now, they know who can sing and who can’t. Social media singers, virtual singers, technology singers are different from real singers. Just because you can sing doesn’t mean you’re a good singer, you have a voice but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a good singer.

Voice is a natural gift from God, but you have to learn to develop it, learn and think from it so that you can turn it into your weapon.

There are many cases where at first you have no voice or sing poorly, but over the years, you know your weaknesses and practice until one day you appear on stage and surprise everyone.

To me, Ho Ngoc Ha is an admirable role model. Because she studies piano and plays music, she has a good sense of music, but at first her singing voice was only average.

Up to now, after a period of very persistent practice, Ho Ngoc Ha's voice has changed. Performing live concerts with lots of choreography, Ho Ngoc Ha's voice is still good and creates many surprises. This is a model that I think young people and young singers should follow.

- In fact, among world artists, some do not sing live at all in their concerts, typically Rihanna, Britney Spears or Madonna... And there is a point of view that, when holding a concert, the owner brings the audience a sumptuous musical feast, not just focusing on how to sing live, is it excellent? What do you think about this?

Some genres of music today still require Backing Vocals (pre-recorded parts) to create more interesting effects, but not all songs use that element. Musicians should not take advantage of those effects too much to cover up the vocals.

For example, when BlackPink came to Vietnam to perform, they also used many effects with Backing Track and Backing Vocal (pre-recorded background music and backing vocals) to support their performance.

Or like Rihanna's performance at SuperBowl LVII Halftime show also used this effect. No one would bother to organize a live concert and then lip-sync. With today's performance technology, we agree that we will allow overdubbing to a certain extent or if there are songs that require too much special choreography, the singer is allowed to lip-sync a few parts but it is unacceptable from the beginning to the end of the show.

If you use lip-sync like that, it means you are deceiving the audience and I think Vietnamese audiences do not completely accept that.

Musician Duong Cam is looking forward to seeing Hoang Thuy Linh sing live in a live concert.

- Some people are asking how Hoang Thuy Linh will sing live in the upcoming live concert, what do you think?

Recently, the music of Hoang Thuy Linh and DTAP has caused a stir when stepping out of the domestic music market, spreading to surrounding countries. As someone who values singers singing live, after much information from public opinion, I am waiting to see how Hoang Thuy Linh sings live, how the crew will handle the music in the live concert.

I hope Hoang Thuy Linh will prepare good health and a clear mind. Because a singer who organizes a private concert must prepare very carefully to sing in a real space, in a real world. I really look forward to it because if it is successful, it will be a boost for the Vietnamese music industry.

Being in the position of a live concert of such magnitude will be a huge pressure for the whole crew, especially Hoang Thuy Linh. Although I am not in the crew, I honestly feel a bit worried.

- Why are you worried when Hoang Thuy Linh sings live?

No singer is completely confident and certain that he can perform well live on stage in front of several thousand people.

Musician Duong Cam

No singer is completely confident and certain that they can perform well live on stage in front of thousands of spectators. Not only Hoang Thuy Linh, I think all the top Vietnamese stars such as: Tung Duong, Ha Tran, My Tam... are also worried.

It depends on many factors around you like how you are feeling that day but these problems are just a little psychological at first. If you are a talented singer, you will completely overcome that, if you are not steady, it will be a big obstacle.

- You used to have a point of view that you did not consider Chi Pu a singer because of her live singing voice. Now that Chi Pu has succeeded from the TV show “Beautiful Sister Who Makes the Waves”, have you changed that point of view?

The shows Chi Pu participated in were mostly lip-synced and focused on performance, which did not prove Chi Pu's live singing ability. But here I acknowledge her and her team's efforts to take a new step forward when they were invited to participate in a foreign TV show to promote and enhance their image and position, which is also the pride of the Vietnamese people.

As for the singer, I have not seen any improvement in Chi Pu's voice.

(Source: Vietnamnet)

Source