PREMIUM COURSE

Kimbra: Vocal Creativity, Arranging, & Production

Learn from Grammy-winning pop artist Kimbra how to harness the full creative potential of your voice in your music.

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"Settle Down," "Top of the World," "Somebody That I Used to Know" — these are just a few of the songs that introduced Kimbra's imaginative, innovative, and genre-defying approach to singing and vocal production to the world. From the timbres she employs to the melodies she writes to the production techniques she harnesses, Kimbra utilizes her voice in a much larger role than most pop singers even dare, imbuing her music with power, feeling, and energy. 

But you don't need to be a critically-acclaimed artist to tap into the unending potential of your voice, anyone can make use of Kimbra's techniques and strategies to produce more exciting musical performances.

A two-time Grammy Award winning star and world-renowned artist and songwriter, Kimbra is opening up her creative process to students for the first time in this comprehensive course. Explore how she finds inspiration, improvises over an idea, pinpoints the focus for a song, and expertly produces compelling tracks with her innovative approaches to singing, arranging, production, and more. Whether you're an aspiring vocalist yourself or a producer interested in treating the voice as one of many tools in your creative shed, this one-of-a-kind course will help you develop new methods for making compelling music. 


Kimbra

Singer, songwriter, producer, & pop artist

New Zealand-born pop star Kimbra is a musical force innovating the shape of pop today as a songwriter, musician, producer, and adventurous performer. Kimbra’s 2011 debut, Vows, bowed at No. 14 on the Billboard Top 200 and was certified platinum in Australia and New Zealand.

Kimbra exploded into the public consciousness that same year with “Somebody That I Used To Know,” a duet with Gotye that earned her two Grammy Awards for “Record of the Year” and “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.” The song topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 2012 and was the best-selling song of that year in the U.S. It has sold more than 13 million copies. In 2014 she released the highly acclaimed album, The Golden Echo, recruiting artists as diverse as Thundercat, Omar-Rodriguez Lopez of The Mars Volta, Bilal, and John Legend to highlight her eclectic musical style.

Since her sophomore release, she has moved to New York, continuing to innovate her sound, performing with The Roots and David Byrne at the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in tribute to David Bowie and also appearing at the Prince tribute at First Avenue in Minneapolis performing with his band, The Revolution, in September. Alongside releasing a stand-alone single called “Sweet Relief" with producer Redinho, she released her third LP titled Primal Heart last year, which she co-produced with Grammy Award-winning producer John Congleton (St Vincent, Goldfrapp) before embarking on a worldwide tour performing with acts as diverse as Beck, Odesza, and David Byrne. As if that weren't enough to keep her busy, during this time Kimbra also released an additional version of the first single from Primal Heart featuring rapper Snoop Dogg, a new take and video for the standout track “Version of Me” featuring DAWN, and an EP entitled Songs From Primal Heart, Reimagined. The EP featured acoustic versions of four songs from her acclaimed full length released earlier that year.

2019 brought more touring for Kimbra including performances of intimate, unplugged versions of her songs to accompany the release of the Reimaged EP. Kimbra is now working on her fourth album and preparing to star on New Zealand's popular TV series "Pop Stars" as a mentor to some of today's aspiring song writers, further solidifying Kimbra as one of the most unpredictable and genre-defying mavericks in music.

More About Kimbra
Less About Kimbra
singing
songwriting
song analysis
arranging
melody
rhythm
recording
audio effects
plug-ins
inspiration and creativity
pop music
kimbra
production
composition
structure
form
lyric writing

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Take this course for as low as $12/month with a Soundfly subscription, and get access to all the creative courses we offer, and much more. Cancel anytime.

Want to work on this course with 1-on-1 support from an expert mentor? Request a mentor through our
custom mentorship program here.

Watch Kimbra's Trailer

One of the things that makes Kimbra's music so unique is her creative use of vocals. From the way she performs them to how she arranges and produces them, Kimbra unlocks all sorts of new creative possibilities in the human voice. 

Watch the trailer video to learn more. 

Unlock Your Vocal Creativity

Learn from pop pioneer Kimbra as she shows you how to sing, write, arrange, and produce your vocals in new creative ways.

Develop Your Singing

Discover new timbres, personalities, and positions to support your voice.

Write Interesting Melodies & Lyrics

Learn how Kimbra approaches melody and lyric writing with tips and techniques.

Use the Voice as an Instrument

Learn how to do much more than just lead vocals with your voice, adding complexity and interest to your arrangements.

Produce Beautiful Vocal Tapestries

Learn how Kimbra treats and effects her vocal parts to create thick vocal stacks and creative flourishes.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY

Course Outline

  1. Preview
    Section 1

    Introduction

  2. Section 2

    Learning & Listening

  3. Section 3

    Creative Process

  4. Section 4

    Singing

  5. Section 5

    Melody & Lyric Writing

  6. Section 6

    Arranging Vocals

  7. Section 7

    Production

  8. Section 8

    Conclusion

MORE INFORMATION

Who is this course for?

This course is for anyone interested in singing, writing, arranging, or producing vocals, and anyone who wants to dive deeper into the art of songcraft. If you're a singer yourself, this course will give you the tools to approach your vocals in new and innovative ways. If you're a composer, writer, or arranger, it will help deconstruct and address the trouble areas in your creative process. And if you're a producer or beat maker, it should help you make use of the voice and vocal arts in your tracks in new and exciting ways.

What will I learn in this course?

You'll learn how Kimbra approaches learning new things, writing songs, performing her vocal parts, arranging vocals into her tracks, writing melodies and lyrics, and producing vocals. The overall theme of this course is pushing the voice into new, more unexpected territory to unlock its full creative potential, and getting you thinking outside the box about the role voice can play in your music. 

This course was filmed and created at the beautiful Outlier Inn retreat and studio in Woodridge, NY. 

Are there any pre-reqs?

There are different sections in this course that might require slightly different levels of knowledge, but overall, you can start the course with just your voice. 

There are also many production tips and lessons in this course, so we do recommend that you have access to a digital audio workstation (DAW) like Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, or something else. If you need help learning the basics of your DAW, check out our Intro to Making Music in Logic Pro X course or Intro to Music Production in Ableton Live course to get started. 

How long does this course take?

This course was designed for you to go through at your own pace. If you wanted to do all the content linearly from start to finish, there are six big milestones in the course and a final challenge, that could be done over the course of six or seven weeks, assuming about a section a week. You're also welcome to just skip around to the lessons and sections most relevant to you and your music.  

Is there a specific start date?

You can start the course anytime. If you'd like more accountability, and guided feedback from a professional, you can request to work through the course and your own goals with a Soundfly Mentor for four or six weeks, and get a more personalized experience for a specific period of time.  

Learn more about custom mentorship here.

How many lessons are there?

This course includes 64 lessons, including videos, graphics, text, activities, demos, creative prompts, downloadable tracks, stems, and much more. 

What do I get if I enroll as a subscriber?

As a subscriber, you'll get unlimited access to all courses on Soundfly.com, including this and all our other premium courses, to go through at your own pace. This includes all the videos, tutorials, demos, quizzes, activities, downloads, and other materials within our full suite of courses.

You're also entitled to a 25% discount on our custom mentorship program, you will be invited to join our exclusive community Discord group, you'll be able join subscriber-only Study Groups, artist Q&As and workshops, annual contests and giveaways, and you'll have access to a growing list of exclusive discount perks courtesy of our partner brands. Cancel anytime.

You can find out more about subscribing here.

What is your refund policy?

Our mission is to support musicians, not to rip anyone off. If you realize after subscribing that it's not what you wanted, email us as soon as you can with your reason for cancelling. Our policy is to issue refunds within two weeks of a purchase, for either a monthly or annual subscription, if the courses didn't meet your expectations.

Note that we cannot offer refunds on monthly subscription payments beyond a single month of payment because of the residuals we pay out to our instructors and artists.

Can I take this course with a mentor?

Yes, absolutely. If you would like to go through the course with support, accountability, feedback, and guidance from an expert, you can request a mentor by filling out this form. A Soundfly staffperson will reach out within 48 hours to learn more about your goals, your music, and your skills level, and pair you with a mentor who can help you achieve your next musical milestone. Our mentorship program is our science-backed learning model designed to help you learn more efficiently and effectively. Your mentor will tailor the course to your experience and interests, offer detailed weekly feedback on your work, answer any questions you have, help you blow past obstacles, and keep you on track to accomplish your goals.

You can find out more about mentorship and our expert mentors here.