An introduction: Guest Contributor - John Odom

May 13, 2008 at 5:39 am | In Personal |
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Folsum 1604Hello and thank you for visiting my post here on Skykid’s Blog.

I have been informed that as a guest writer here, I have been remiss in making an introduction. Be it far from me to be the least bit mysterious so let me straighten things out now, for those that are indeed interested.

I live in the Grand state of Virginia in the US. My current occupation is doing corporate theater all over the world. I love my job even after nearly 20 years doing it. I am a well rounded technician who can do most any part of the show from Audio to Graphics to Video. I started my career in theater and at first worked both sides of the curtain. Although I loved acting and was fairly good at it, the pay was steadier backstage. From there I moved into a Hotel and stayed there learning the audio visual industry for the next nine years.

After eight years in the hotel I had an opportunity to learn something completely new. I was offered a job learning to be a Private Detective. I worked my apprenticeship and learned from an old gumshoe who taught me the ways of the street detective, as opposed to the modern day PI who parks their posteriors behind a computer and then complains that they can’t find anything.

After nearly twenty years of doing both AV and PI work I closed my agency and moved back to snow country.

The one constant in my life the entire time was my love for treble music. I was a treble singer for a very short time when I was a child and unfortunately had to give it up because my mother raised the four of us by her self. She worked a menial job at minimum wage without a raise for eighteen years. My singing, for all the joy it gave me, took too much time and too much money to continue.

For the short time I enjoyed it, I remember it as one of the most enjoyable times of my childhood. Once a treble, always a fan.

So I have been very fortunate to have been in on Youtube since it’s early stages and have followed the careers of many trebles. I mentor new trebles on Stage behavior, lens technique and maintaining a fanbase. Many of the trebles I have had the pleasure of associating with have gone on to reach wonderful goals. I am certainly not taking credit for any part of their successes, I will say that it has been wonderful to see them grow and exceed their dreams. If I can delude myself into thinking that I did something, wrote something or said has helped them to be or exhibit their talents better, then so be it. And as I accept no fees for anything I do then I will claim my delusions as payment in happiness.

One of the things that I do with a small group of others is to document, preserve and sometimes restore treble recordings. We archive videos, audio tracks and even artwork so that it will be available for decades to come in the original quality in which it was recorded. The talent has been most co-operative in making this happen and a by product of this relationship is that I get to meet a lot of trebles and their families.

Most of my mentoring is done through the parents or in conjunction with a vocal coach. Parents are pivotal in a treble’s success in any setting outside a cathedral. In the cathedral setting the choirmasters are the parents. And yes, although they know a great deal about voice, they know little about the technical end of it and even less about internet marketing. And make no mistake, Choir sites are popping up all over the internet as this treble explosion takes off and they find another source for funds in an ever and always struggling music department.

So this advantage of having access to trebles and their families has worked well to fulfill another passion of mine. Writing. I have been asked to write articles about trebles so that we can see a little bit more into the lives of the new or contemporary trebles. They aren’t always in a cassock anymore. They come in all genre’s of music and every walk of life. They are also popping up so fast that they can be a star and no one even saw them walk up to a microphone until stardom propelled them into our homes. Then we wonder where the little tyke with the great lungs came from.

My job is to try and stay on top of it and give you an insight into their lives.
Many of my trebles come from referrals from people just like you. If you come across one who is new and has a nice sound to his voice I invite you to email me with a link to them. Even if they don’t sing but they have that crisp sweetness to their voice and might be a treble if nudged that way. Send me a link. I have a couple of video bloggers that are thinking about the possibility of taking up voice because of leads given to me and a letter or email to the parents.

A great resource for information on trebles is The BCSD (Boys Choir Soloist DIrector) I halp out there by adding my kids to their database. (And yes, they all become my kids when we start an association.) I operate on the golden rule. Encourage, praise or shut up. If you are a parent and want to know more about your youngster becoming a treble just drop me a note.

Thanks to skykid for this guest spot. I am truly humbled to have been invited here.
Cheers,bcsd

Send your treble leads to: bagofrats1414@yahoo.com

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