San Diego Scene: Carolyn Hawks

Staff Writer

"Some of my favorite songs to sing will always be ones that mean something personally to me, so they can change from week to week. In fact, if I listed all the songs I have done in the past three years you would be able to tell exactly what was going on in my life at the time!"

Questions for Carolyn: Welcome, fellow singers! As a Vocal Instructor and Coach who finds the Karaoke scene a wonderful venue for practice and genuine fun, I would like to discuss a bit about the basics of singing and tone production in this first column. From now on, though, this is YOUR column.

"Why Can't I Hear Myself on Stage When I am Singing?": This question does not have a patent answer. Stage acoustics are subject to a myriad of problems. It could be something as simple as the KJ didn't recognize the mix (volume levels on the CD vs. your mic) was poor and didn't turn up the gain (volume) on your mic, or you didn't use good mic technique.....to something as complicated as monitor speaker placement vs. stage layout.

"How Come the Pitch Change on My Song Isn't The Same on Every KJ's Machine?": The industry standard for pitch changers is in increments of half-steps. A half-step is one physical piano key (black or white). Each time the button is pushed on a pitch changer the song is raised or lowered one half step from the original pitch. Sometimes a KJ will have a machine that is calibrated in increments of a quarter step or a whole step. If you are in doubt about the pitch change, ask the host if their machine is in quarter, half or whole steps.

When You Karaoke at a New Club: Heading for Yuma on the 4th of July is asking for trouble if you want to karaoke while you are there, nothing much was going on.

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About Carolyn Hawks

Carolyn Hawks describes herself to be a stubborn, dogmatic, passionate musician who says, "I know when the crowd is with me and exactly when I've lost them entirely." Due to her extensive musical training Carolyn can sing and play all styles of music. However, when she's out to have fun she sings Country.

She's gone through two marriages (to the same man), and raised his four children and her "brother's" own two. She chose to not have any of her own.

On the subject of men Carolyn says, "I'm neither against men nor especially enthralled with them. Each one is a different individual, walking his own path and deserves to be accepted on his own merit. I tend to stay out of their way unless they ask me to come along."

If you want to get on her good side, don't lie. If you want on her bad side, hurt a child or an animal.

Her values are "country". Make her proud of you, she'll shake your hand. Make her suspicious, and she won't be around long enough to even look at you sideways.