Lydia Salnikova

I hit the ground running – after taking a weeklong vacation. Doing a little bit of everything this week! 😊🎙️🎹










SoundBetter

Excerpt:

“Say you’re a songwriter and would like to create a recording of your latest composition. You’ve got what you believe to be the makings of a hit song. So you’re thinking of hiring some monster session players and singers to help bring your song to life. Maybe even do 2 versions of it – male and female. To ensure that everyone is on the same page, no pun intended, you jot down the chord progressions of the song right there on the lyric sheet. That oughta be enough. Right? Well, maybe.”

To read article in full, visit http://www.vocalskeysetc.com/2015/03/number-charts-introduction/.
[Originally published on AirGigs on 3/08/15.]




AirGigs

Grateful for the kind words! Arranging background vocals can be an art form of its own.🎙️






SoundBetter

New client sent me the most gorgeous song to record! What a joy, to get to do what I do. Thank you David! 🙏🎙️🎹







SoundBetter

New video by Infinitum Ex Machina. A history lesson in this one, to be sure! 🙂 I sang and played piano on the recording.
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Condemned: Epic Sci-Fi Music Video (The Journey of Scientific Pioneers Through Time) Music by: Infinitum Ex MachinaSong: CondemnedCredits:Lyrics, Music and Production: Burkay DondericiVocals and Piano: Lydia SalnikovaMixing Engineer: Nicolas ...

I am humbled by these kind words. Thank you, Paul and Steve!





SoundBetter

Second installment of Infinitum Ex Machina saga. This time, featuring black cats, black crows and black hearts! 🖤 I sang on the project last year. And no, I wasn’t “bored”… 😉
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Infinitum Ex Machina - Bored (Official Music Video) Music by: Infinitum Ex MachinaSong: BoredCredits:Lyrics, Music and Production: Burkay DondericiVocals: Lydia SalnikovaViolins Performance and Strings Enginee...

Been meaning to put together an updated vocal reel, using more recent samples of my work in various genres. Finally pinned down some time to do it! 😊

Lydia Salnikova: studio vocalist reel, 2024 update Book GRAMMY nominee Lydia Salnikova to sing on your next recording project! For more audio samples of her work (including keyboard tracks) and more informati...

Looks like this has been one fast turnaround week, for me. Whew! Don’t hold me to it next week, though… 😂🎙️🎹








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A song from a project I worked on last year, that I’m really proud of. I can totally hear this placed in a dystopian sci-fi TV show, can’t you? ☺️
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Infinitum Ex Machina - Black Hole Music by: Infinitum Ex MachinaSong: Black HoleCredits:Lyrics, Music and Production: Burkay DondericiVocals and Piano: Lydia SalnikovaViolins Performance and ...

Recorded some background vocals today. My voice x 4 = “choir”! 😁🎙️
Thank you for the kind words, Steve.






SoundBetter

Every project with Jeff = an adventure! Looking forward to many more. 🎹🎙️




AirGigs

No offense guitar players, but piano ROCKS! 🎹 Thank you Paul.





SoundBetter

Key Your Song Well!

Excerpt:

“If you’re considering hiring a lead vocalist for your most recent killer song, might I suggest you contact them to find out their preferred key (or keys) for your song, before you have the instrumental track recorded? In other words, have the singer “key” your song first. That can save you a lot of time, trouble and money later on.

Yes, session singers can often boast a wide vocal range. But every note of that range is not created equal; different parts of it have different color, different tone, different texture. Every good singer, who truly knows his or her voice, can attest to that. If you want a relaxed effortless feel, you wouldn’t want your singer to hover at the very top of their range. And vice versa, if you’re looking for power, angst, edge, you wouldn’t want to place your song in a low key where those qualities simply don’t physically live.”

To read article in full, visit http://www.vocalskeysetc.com/2015/02/key-your-song-well/.
[Originally published on SoundBetter on 2/25/15.]

SoundBetter

Made my day! 🎹🎙️ Thank you Jeff.

Finally putting my new B3 sound library to good use. Thank you Mike for this – and for your very kind words! ☺️


Native Instruments

SoundBetter

Productive weekend! Looking forward to a good week ahead.

Second project with Jeff! Humbling, that moment when artistic trust blossoms into creativity… Thank you for that. 🙏
AirGigs

It is a privilege to have artists and songwriters trust me with their music. I never take that lightly. Thank you William!
AirGigs

The Art of Vocal Comping

Excerpt:

“As a child, I attended a classical music school in Russia, where my music theory foundation was laid. As a session singer and musician, I’ve had the privilege of receiving as good of a practical education as one can dream of – by having moved to Nashville TN in 1998 and having worked in various recording studios all across town for a decade or so.

However, this particular subject [of vocal comping] has become the most relevant and important to me only in the last several years, after I set up my own recording studio in my house, where I now do over 90% of all my recording work.

So, what’s so special about vocal comping (short for “composite”), is it good or bad, and how is it different from other approaches?”

To read article in full, visit:
http://www.vocalskeysetc.com/2014/03/the-art-of-vocal-comping/.

[Originally published on AirGigs on 3/10/14.]

AirGigs

I feel peaceful this morning. Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄

Lydia Salnikova - "Silent Night" Sung, played, recorded and mixed by Lydia Salnikova. December 2021. Merry Christmas! 🎄http://www.VocalsKeysEtc.com

Luxury of a 90-minute yoga class at the end of a stressful week? Fabulous.
Hearing one of your songs on your yoga teacher’s Christmas playlist? .
I almost fell out of my crow pose.

P.S. Note to self: in the future, master it a bit hotter, would you? 😂

On Monday, the right side of our trusty 24yo Mackie HR824 studio monitors decided it was time to die, midproject. Farewell old friend and thank you for your faithful service! So I hopped over onto Sweetwater and now a pair of brand new Yamaha HS7s are on their way. With the new speaker setup, a fresh acoustic room correction will be in order, so I figured it was time to upgrade my ARC2 to v3 (comes with a new measurement mic and all). And while I was at IK Multimedia website, I also grabbed that MODO BASS 2 virtual instrument that I’ve been eyeing for awhile – as well as upgraded my mastering rig to T-RackS 5 Max. What about the most recent version 3 of LA Scoring Strings from Audiobro? Gotta have the latest! And to house all that software, naturally a new 2TB SSD was also needed. And did I mention a KALA concert ukulele for my 8yo son? (But shhhh, he thinks it’s Santa.)

P.S. Sorry Keyscape, you’ll have to wait a few weeks now, but I’m sure I’ll get to you too, eventually.

You can always count on a T-shirt to help spell it out. Thanks AirGigs! Now back to working, musician.

What a lovely review for a recent AirGigs project! Thank you Tony Deziel. Looking forward to our next creative adventure.

What a kind review I just got for a recent AirGigs project! Thank you Seavino. ☺️

So this just happened. Never played Carnegie Hall before. I am, how should I phrase this, BEYOND EXCITED! Thank you Guilherme Arantes.

Last January these stats were 75/221/54. Ever grateful and blessed! SoundBetter