ToneGym Hero: Olga Stepanova

From rhythm and groove classes at 24 to mastering extreme vocals, she’s grown into a dedicated singer-producer who sharpens melody and harmony daily with ToneGym. Olga is this month’s ToneGym Hero!

How did you first find your way into making music?

Well, there’s a story behind it for sure LOL, and it’s pretty far from “I’ve been always dreaming about music career”. My shrink (yes, weird opening lines is my second name) once suggested I take a singing class or rent a studio and demolish a drum set just as an outlet. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I was 24 back then. And I started taking a rhythm and groove classes in one of a few vocal schools where they also had coaches for different music instruments. It wasn’t about playing drums during classes, primarily it was about percussion and groove, then rhythm and only then drums and playing on them. Might sound controversial by this brief description but yoooo… one of the most gripping “subjects to learn” in my life.

And as it all took place during the “before-COVID” era everything was happening on a big rehearsals site with studios, live instruments, a lot of people and all of them were “about” music, doesn’t matter if it was a student you bumped into or a session drummer or metalheads or recognized vocalists. And then one day I heard “something” coming from one of rooms and had no idea what part of human body those sounds were coming from or why anybody would summon a bunch of demons on Tuesday… - that was an ongoing class for extreme vocal techniques. That’s it. “I have no freaking idea why I need it but I gotta learn how to scream like this” I thought to myself.

And getting deeper into singing I realized that I wasn’t hopeless and actually was making progress pumping joy and motivation out of it. Oh, yeah, it matters! My vocal coach and any of my friends who are into rock and metal music professionally or recreationally would punch me if I don’t say anything that would help de-demonize extreme vocals and singers: unlike a lot of people may think but extreme vocal techniques are based on solid clear singing. So no, it’s not yelling, shouting or being over dramatic, nope.

And growling isn’t a way to overcompensate the lack of skills that make a singer. One doesn’t work without the other and sometimes both, say styles of singing that genres dictate primary, “help” each other out. My own example: my first class for extreme techniques was devoted to breathing and many months of studying were solely about checking my voice and taking it under control.

Only then my coach taught me how to get this ‘distortion’ sound. And I didn’t start singing Slipknot or Bring me horizon songs right away. Only like a year and some later I was able to add distortion to clean voice controllably. And unforeseen benefits that it all gave me is that mechanics of fry and false cord screams have built and solidified my vocal range and I can mix and belt due to it. I started with like 20 or maybe 22 semitones that I could “cover” and today ToneGym’s devoted feature shows it’s 35. Just because what it takes to make sounds to sing Linkin Park’s songs also allowed me test myself with Adele’s music, LP’s music, the Queen’s masterpieces etc.

Okay, I’m done preaching, where was I? Oh, right! I started writing little by little. Mostly “into desk” still have it but never released much, I mean officially, but it led to learning about music production, mixing I was like “what..?” mastering  “is it Chinese hieroglyphics?” room sound treatment, audio interfaces, RCA and unbalanced TRS cables now I live in a recording studio, I mean literally, we turned the living room into a studio.

I love padded walls especially lol Yeah, I was 24 back then and just got my master degree and was about to change the world building my career in criminal justice system at that time. No, I don’t regret anything LOL

Aside from music, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy?

Hmm. I..I like…I think I have a problem LOL. I like true crime but it comes off bad both as a hobby and as an activity lol Alright, jokes aside. It’s actually a very difficult question… to have a hobby being an adult? I’m literally siting staring at the screen and “Hello darkness, my old friend..” starts playing in the background.

There are many things I enjoy but hobbie.. I guess being an adult isn’t very compatible with having a hobby, is it? Well, I really love driving. I mean not like ‘I’m always down to stay in traffic’. I’m into cars and motorcycles, so I enjoy test driving, we once went to this spot somewhere in New Jersey where you can rent a supercar and take it to a speed track. It was cool, I’m looking forward to doing it again lol 

Oh, amusement parks! Roller coasters and attractions. I’m an adrenaline junkie I guess.  And I’m a grandma to all dogs of my friends. They always leave pets with us whenever they have to leave somewhere, and pups never wanna go back home. So yeah, typical happy time staying with grandparents lol

What’s something you're surprisingly good at that has nothing to do with music?

My mom says I’m virtuose at playing her nerves as strings. And it’s still related to music, right? Well, distantly. 
I’d say learning foreign languages, I mean I don’t speak 11 languages but whenever it comes to it I know it’s not gonna be a struggle for me.

And by the way, what really makes life much much easier in this department ear training. If you ‘hear’ better, it makes it easy for you to build your vocabulary, it’s like you just ‘know’ how to spell words. 

If you could play or create with any artist, who would it be and why?

Right off the top I can name 2: Eminem and Chester Bennington, R.I.P. legend. Why? Well, I’m a number one Stan. I was 6 when I first heard Eminem’s music, the song was “Brain Damage” from the Slim Shady LP. Actually, I can consider Eminem my first English teacher lmao.

I stole the cassette (the Slim Shady LP) from my cousin but she found out later on when she came over to stay at ours and just saw the cassette laying there among the rest of my parents’ tapes. In music what matters to me a lot is lyrics. And Eminem is absolutely beyond as a lyricist and as an artist in general. 

And Chester… it would take me veeery long to name any other artist or vocalist, who’s voice touched me as much. Everything, emotions and sincerity he was getting across, or better say shared, singing… it felt almost real. Honorable mentions to all members of the band as there were not just Chester’s songs that made Linkin Park Linkin Park. His skills were just…wow. Actually, I didn’t know he had such an extended vocal range till I spotted his name on ToneGym (in ‘Discover your Vocal range’ feature)!

P.S. Emily is freakin’ awesome. I attended two of their shows last year and it was GREAT!

What musical instrument do you love the most, and what makes it irreplaceable for you?

Voice. People often don’t even consider voice an instrument. Maybe it’s because we all can speak, so we don’t “value” it skills wise and just take it as “ability”. But it is a musical instrument. Well, a saying “to have a voice” has much deeper meaning, clearly. This is a way or a tool to practice freedom also. You can kill with a word or bless with the same word depends on how you say it.

Also, I believe anybody can sing cause we all have it ‘built’ the same way, only characteristics differ. And in the end it’s all about practice and amount of time you devote to develop, not even your voice, your own skills using it. Singing also very therapeutical, it helped me feel more confident and acknowledge that I could speak up and I would be heard. That’s priceless.

What daily or weekly habits do you have in place to keep you creating?

I take notes of everything that comes to my head. Sounds simple but hardly so. I used to go like “good punchline, I gotta remember it” aaaand it’s gone… So I started using Notes on my phone religiously. It wasn’t easy actually; it’s like we’re always in a rush and disregard a lot of things but some of them shouldn’t be ignored. Same with humming a melody I open a voice memo and record it. And practice. Practice. Again practice.

The more the better! Not necessarily you have to come up with a new song idea every day or finish one project a day or arrange one instrumental a day absolutely not. At least open a project, do a vocal warm-up, listen to a couple of reference tracks, touch just one knob on your gear, do just one training exercise (ToneGym and SoundGym forever) it is already something.

I don’t remember where I read it but there’s a saying that helps me mute negative self-talk when I become Ms. Unproductivity, “if you can’t run after your dream walk, if you can’t walk, crawl, if you can’t crawl just lie down with your head directed towards it”. 

What keeps you motivated to continue making music?

I think it’s noticing my own progress. You hit a note that was out of reach for you or you actually love listening to a track you just finished. Basically, when you see the fruit of your labor, and it is not always about streams or money or other statistics.

Your own smile is a good measuring stick, if what you do at any stage of the process makes you smile you just know you don’t need external motivation.

What song would you choose as the soundtrack of your life?

Oh, the question about hobbies was nothing in comparison to this one lol. We don’t wanna make readers cry, or..? I’m joking but, just in case, I didn’t mean it. I have a song that resonated with me so much I had its lyrics tattooed on my arm, it’s Eminem ft. Sia Guts over fear. Lately, it’s been pretty tough for me, so at this stage or period in my life I can vividly imagine “Popular monster” (by Falling in Reverse) playing in the background lol.

Hard to choose cause my preferences changed or maybe I should say widened, like before I got into singing I was worshiping hip-hop, after rock and British Punk added up to my Spotify and then metal-core topped it all. So When I was 19 I could name ‘Revelation’ by D12, at 26, ‘Lust for Life’ by Iggy Pop and the Stooges, now, I’d probably have to list down around 111946 songs beside those two I already mentioned.

What's your favorite feature on ToneGym, and how has it helped you in your musical journey?

How am I supposed to pick one?! Okay, I can narrow it down to my Top 3. No. 3 goes to ‘Rhythmic Parrot’. It’s very cool! And you can train your ‘inner sense’ of rhythm, finally make friends with a metronome AND curb notes sight reading at the same time. If you just beginning to discover the world of music, don’t contemplate with where you should start: ‘Rhythmic Parrot’.

Second place is taken by Route VI. I couldn’t decipher chord progressions the way I do now when I took music theory and solfeggio classes. This game is a must in my daily practice! Really, this feature made it easier for me to ‘hear’ music differently, like I listen to my favorite songs and I ‘hear’ its structure like from songwriter’s perspective.

And my heart belongs to ‘Melody Jay’. You hear a short sequence of notes and you have to sing it right away, in 4 counts. It took all of my skills up a notch. I sing clearer, it’s so much easier for me to take a melody idea (regardless if it’s mine or anybody else’s’), play it or tap it into LogicPro and *whoosh* an idea just became a real project. The feature isn’t easy but you’ll see your efforts pay off. Highly recommend! 

What’s something exciting you're working on or looking forward to?

Right now me and a good friend of mine are working on her album, I really wanted to try sound recording from the position of a sound engineer. All these nuances, small yet indispensable steps at the very beginning of music making process… I really underestimated its importance. It’s kinda obvious but still not given enough props. 

I’ve been struggling with recording my own songs, partially because of being at pre-k level at it. I was like “I don’t understand why it sounds so… like a reason to apologize to people for possibly hearing this”. Yeah, I gotta admit that I am a pro at self-doubting and falling into “imposter syndrome”, I think I could be THE face of it (the syndrome I mean) lol.

And I know I’m not alone in this silent war with myself, every creative person has to face their inner ‘difficulties’ before they step into publicity, even if they only have their family members following them in social media! Now I’ve conquered one of those ‘demons’ having practiced a completely new thing, gained little, yet crucial experience, in recording vocals and the purpose of it all wasn’t just to help and collab with a friend of mine, it was also selfish (in a healthy way, nobody was hurt at any moment of this adventure lol) desire to incorporate everything I learn for my music.

So the next thing I’m looking forward chomping at the bit, is to record, mix and drop my single. It’s not gonna be my first single but those went through baptism of fire on SoundCloud and Audius. I wasn’t ready to expose them and myself at that point of life. 

 

You can follow Olga on Instagram. You can also listen to her music at Soundcloud, and her latest single that she co-produced!

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