-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Singing & Vocalism OT
- Thread starter Mumei
- Start date
- Status
Elvis Presley
I think that something that sometimes get lost nowadays in discussions about his popularity, his affectations, the jumpsuit, his iconic status, his music and influences, his effect on popular culture - all of that and more - is that he had an absolutely phenomenal voice. There are two opera singers - Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo - who called his the greatest voice they ever heard (Kiri) and the one voice from popular music they wish they could have had (Domingo). That is an enormous compliment coming from Placido Domingo in particular. And though I actually disagree with Kiri's comment that the young Elvis Presley's voice was the best - I always have felt as if the voice of his latter years, with that huge size and quasi-operatic quality - was his true vocal peak. But she is right that his voice was amazing even as a young man. Don't is a great example of how warm his voice was, for instance.
But his voice in the 1970s is where he was at his best, for me. He was a mess physically and well past his prime as a vocalist, but the voice was never better. I have links to some of the performances below; he is particularly amazing on Unchained Melody - one of the few examples of Elvis using falsetto, and though it isn't particularly high, it is much better than you might expect given how rarely you here him make use of it. He also has an incredible note on the "Are you still MINE" that is one of the most incredible things I've heard in pop music - and it isn't the one at 1:08, though the way he brings that down is gorgeous. He's one of the more subtly talented singers out there - he does these little diminuendos in particular that maybe aren't something you'd pick out at first, but are really impressive if you notice them. His performances of Hurt and Rags to Riches also have similarly impressive A4s and B4s.
Elvis also has this tremendously versatile voice. He doesn't really change how he sings all that much - but his voice has this quality where it seems to fit into whatever genre he sings. Of course, this is related to the fact that all of the genres - gospel, rock n roll, rockabilly, blues, country, and so forth - are highly influenced by one another and are often simply offshoots of one another. But his voice's ability to fit perfectly into a multitude of genres - even related ones - is a very impressive talent nonetheless.
Listen to: Suspicious Minds, Bridge Over Troubled Water, How Great Thou Art, Hurt, Love Me Tender, Unchained Melody, Rags to Riches, If I Can Dream, Amazing Grace
Maria Callas
"The first time I listened to a recording of my singing was when we were recording San Giovanni Battista by Stradella in a church in Perugia in 1949. They made me listen to the tape and I cried my eyes out. I wanted to stop everything, to give up singing... " - Maria Callas
"With Serafin at the piano, she did her usual repertory for me Gioconda, Turandot, Aida, Tristan. Parts of the voice were beautiful, other empty, and she used strange portamenti. During a pause, she said she had studied with Elvira de Hidalgo, which struck me as curious, for de Hidalgo had been a coloratura. "I know coloratura pieces too," Callas explained, "but I'm a dramatic soprano." "Well," I asked, "can we hear something of a different nature?" So she sang the aria from I Puritani, with the cabaletta. I was overwhelmed, and tears streamed down Serafin's cheeks. This was the kind of singer one read about in books from the nineteenth century a real dramatic coloratura." - Francesco Siciliani
I have been putting her off because I don't think I can do her justice and I don't have a firm enough knowledge of her musicianship to talk about it specifically; I can only say that from what I have read, her musicianship and her musical choices are held in the highest esteem. But at this point I feel like I have procrastinated enough. I think that the two quotes above sum up my experience of listening to Maria, She has a voice with an essentially ugly character and uneven quality, with a mezzo-soprano's lower register, a hollow sounding middle register and an immense top register with naturally harsh, strident sound, particularly when she uses her fortissimo. In short, she can be difficult to listen to at first, because she is not a singer whom you listen to for the sheer beauty of her voice. On the other hand, she is capable of the most stupendous vocal feats of versatility in music and she is awe-inspiring as a complete artist.
Maria was the first opera singer I tried to listen to seriously, after learning that she was considered the best, and unfortunately I simply was not ready for it. When I first tried listening to her, I had no idea what a trill was, what resonance, what any terms for dynamics were - for all I knew "crescendo" could have either referred to a rise in pitch or in volume, how different soprano vocal types differed from one another, or even why roles were written for different types of voices. It is only in the last two years that I have started to hear dynamics consistently, and the experience listening to Maria again it has been almost revelatory. Her dynamics are incredible, perhaps more importantly she never seems to skip anything. There is a lovely interview where she talks about her approach to singing, and she explains that she believes in an approach that she refers to as "straight-jacketing." You are to learn the aria (or lieder, recitative, or so forth) exactly the way the composer wrote it, with every cadenza, every trill, every single element intact; "There is no excuse for not having a trill, for not doing the acciaccatura, for not having good scales. Look at your scores! There are technical things written there to be performed, and they must be performed whether you like it or not. How will you get out of a trill? How will you get out of scales when they are written there, staring you in the face?"
This recent video is not only one of the best demonstrations of her dynamic control on a note as high as Db6; it is also an exemplary example of her demonstrating what she was talking about in the quote above. In the score, over the part that she sang pianissimo "un fil di voce" is written - an idiom for a whisper, or 'a thread of voice.' She captures that requirement perfectly in that recording of Una Macchia with the the most sublimely beautifully floated pianissimo I have heard. And simply singing the aria so that every technical requirement is accounted for is not enough. You must also learn the character and the meaning of the aria so you can perform the aria in a way that is meaningful both in the context of the story and true to the composer's intentions as an element of the aria. It is only when you have mastered the piece to this extent that you may attempt to extemporize upon the piece, and what you do must be suggested by the piece itself. There's a wonderful book I have out from the library called Callas at Juilliard: The Master Classes, which is an overview of her thoughts on the proper performance of a selection of arias. I have only read a few pages to get a feel of whether I would find it interesting, and it looks fantastic.
When I went to listen to her again, it was after I had listened to most of Leontyne's repertoire and I had listened to a few dozen arias in Ingeborg Hallstein's repertoire. I also had had a small exposure to Joan Sutherland and Birgit Nilsson's voices. I had also seen this incredible video (which is periodically disappeared due to copyright issues so see it while you can), but I did not really get in a visceral sense what he was trying to communicate about her achievement as a singer. When you typically listen to coloratura, you hear - if you are listening to the best - a singer like Ingeborg, who possesses an incredibly light, agile, and facile voice that is capable of navigating the most difficult of coloratura and fioritura with effortless aplomb. I would compare it to watching a highly difficult, yet perfectly executed, routine in figure skating or in women's gymnastics where small size - in general - is advantageous. When you listen to a dramatic soprano such as Nilsson, you should be struck by the overwhelming size and weight of her voice. If you listen to enough of Ingeborg, you will notice that she only rarely sings while competing with the instruments, and does not sing over a collection of voices or over an entire orchestra. This is because as a high coloratura soprano - or soprano acuto sfogato - her voice is marked by its small size and limited volume capability in addition to its facility with difficultly ornamented passages. This is precisely the opposite in a voice like Nilsson's, which has tremendous volume and weight, but by comparison with a coloratura - or even a lyric - soprano's voice, lacks the same easy agility.
This is part of what makes Maria so fascinating to listen to. She goes from singing the repertoire of the dramatic soprano repertoire of Wagner to singing the most florid arias of Bellini or Rossini or Lakmé, and while her recording of, say, The Bell Song (a good example can be found at 9:00 into the first video linked in the previous paragraph) does not quite have the laser sharpness of Ingeborg's, it is all the more remarkable when you consider how close she comes with the size of her voice - and she maintains a larger size even on those staccati. And it is precisely the same physical qualities of her vocal folds which allow her to sing dramatic roles that should also immense handicap her ability to navigate the difficult florid music you can hear examples of her singing in that video. And her ability to sing as softly as she did with a voice as large as hers is nothing short of miraculous. I don't know if I can convey the experience of hearing her versatility by explaining it like this, but I do hope that anyone who has any interest will give Maria another listen after they try other singers first.
But I would not actually have her here, in spite of what a technical marvel she is, if I did not actually like listening to her sing. And she is actually wonderful to listen to. I was reintroduced to her by The Very Best of Maria Callas, which I purchased on a whim when I was at Barnes & Noble and an announcement came over the PA that music in the classical section was on a forty percent off sale. There is something very distinctive about the ugliness of her voice that makes instantly recognizable and creates its own sort of idiosyncratic appeal. You can hear the jugged quality of her middle voice in L'amour est un oiseau rebelle, but the way she sings it with that almost swaying quality and the way she phrases it is unmistakeable. She is also one of those operatic singers where she is able to communicate the emotion of the aria to me absent the context of the story and what I ought to be feeling in that moment. I was at my parents' house recently and my father was watching Philadelphia, the Tom Hanks movie, when the opera scene started. I recognized Maria immediately, despite having begun hearing it only after she started singing, despite having never listened to her sing the aria, despite having never seen Philadelphia; my only context being her singing and his commentary, I was moved by her the emotional force of her singing alone. She might have an ugly voice, but it doesn't matter when she can do that.
Listen to: O Mio Babbino Caro, Ritorna Vincitor!, Casta Diva, Vissi D'arte, Ardon gl'incensi! (and 1953 and especially Rome 1952) (the cadenzas with the flute are a highlight), Ah! Non giunge uman pensiero (the high Eb6 and the tumbling descent down the scale is gorgeous), Gloria all'Egito (the Eb6 completely covering the chorus and the orchestra is stunning)
Patti Labelle
I thought I should also have Patti Labelle in this post because my experience with her was similar to my experience with Callas in one respect: She was not a singer that I took to immediately. I actually have to credit Satch and Robido for getting me to listen to her more. I was at first only familiar with her before due to videos about her vocal range, and Patti has a classic dramatic soprano voice with a high, cold and metallic upper register that can sound screamed or strained to a less educated ear when it is actually being properly produced. When taken out of the context of the song and presented all by its lonesome, without the gorgeous tonal production that Whitney or Aretha and particularly Mariah are capable of producing on those pitches, it doesn't sound right. I was also familiar with her - frankly - questionable performance of All The Man That I Need. It is not that she sang it poorly; it is that the song requires at least some degree of subtlety and Patti's voice is designed for - ahem - YAAAAASSS, but not for subtlety. She also has this irritating tendency when she's singing softly to sing in this sort of little baby voice - 0:40 - 0:44 is a good example of that. In short, I did not seem to find her particularly appealing at first.
But Satch and Rob both helped to introduce me to what is appealing about her voice - her ability to combine an incredibly sure technique, particularly in the upper belt and head voice, with a willingness to go all the way in on every single song she sings. She will belt more G5s in a single performance than Mariah and Whitney sang live in their entire careers - and ever will - and she will sound effortless doing it. Her technique is incredible - while she pushes her voice to the limits, she still has a voice at nearly 70 and was in better voice in the late-90s in her late-50s than Mariah or Whitney did a mere fraction of the way into her careers. Of course this is in part due to the fact that one of them had become addicted to drugs and the other had fragile vocal chords that were already damaged from the beginning of her career and were going to decline inevitably - but Patti deserves all the credit in the world for taking care of her voice as well as she does both on and off the stage. Patti is one of those singers whom I failed to recognize how good she was because I was confusing her harsh, strident tone with an incorrect and screamed production - but I've gotten to the point where I can tell the difference between Patti's naturally strident tone but functionally correct production, and the incorrect production of someone like Jennifer Hudson who carries far too much chest up and tends to shriek in ways that Patti avoids.
One of my very favorite Patti Labelle performances oddly enough, is her performance of The Alphabet Song on Sesame Street. Now you might think, "But wait... the alphabet song?" Absolutely! You may not understand how it is possible to go in on the alphabet song as hard as she does, but Miss Patti is here to educate you. She actually sounds especially fantastic considering she's unamplified and is not an operatic singer - I especially love the first "D". She also does a great job of projecting easily over the din of noise the Muppets were making. I also love her performance of Oh People at the Centennial Concert Statue of Liberty at Giants Stadium in 1986. Her performance is so spectacularly over the top, from the hair (though that hair has -nothing- on the You'll Never Walk Alone Patti's hair) to the power walk to the wailing to the belting. Patti actually reminds me a lot of Shirley Bassey in how she approaches singing. Of course, Shirley's brand of over the top is more Broadway diva and Patti's brand of over the top is more gospel, and Patti tends to be the high wailer and Shirley tends to be lower-middle, but they seem like to different expressions of the same basic performance ethos of apparently throwing caution to the wind and giving everything you have in every performance.
Listen to: You'll Never Walk Alone, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Oh, People, Time After Time (duet with Cyndi Lauper), Then My Living Will Not Be In Vain, The Lord's Prayer, Lady Marmalade
I think that something that sometimes get lost nowadays in discussions about his popularity, his affectations, the jumpsuit, his iconic status, his music and influences, his effect on popular culture - all of that and more - is that he had an absolutely phenomenal voice. There are two opera singers - Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo - who called his the greatest voice they ever heard (Kiri) and the one voice from popular music they wish they could have had (Domingo). That is an enormous compliment coming from Placido Domingo in particular. And though I actually disagree with Kiri's comment that the young Elvis Presley's voice was the best - I always have felt as if the voice of his latter years, with that huge size and quasi-operatic quality - was his true vocal peak. But she is right that his voice was amazing even as a young man. Don't is a great example of how warm his voice was, for instance.
But his voice in the 1970s is where he was at his best, for me. He was a mess physically and well past his prime as a vocalist, but the voice was never better. I have links to some of the performances below; he is particularly amazing on Unchained Melody - one of the few examples of Elvis using falsetto, and though it isn't particularly high, it is much better than you might expect given how rarely you here him make use of it. He also has an incredible note on the "Are you still MINE" that is one of the most incredible things I've heard in pop music - and it isn't the one at 1:08, though the way he brings that down is gorgeous. He's one of the more subtly talented singers out there - he does these little diminuendos in particular that maybe aren't something you'd pick out at first, but are really impressive if you notice them. His performances of Hurt and Rags to Riches also have similarly impressive A4s and B4s.
Elvis also has this tremendously versatile voice. He doesn't really change how he sings all that much - but his voice has this quality where it seems to fit into whatever genre he sings. Of course, this is related to the fact that all of the genres - gospel, rock n roll, rockabilly, blues, country, and so forth - are highly influenced by one another and are often simply offshoots of one another. But his voice's ability to fit perfectly into a multitude of genres - even related ones - is a very impressive talent nonetheless.
Listen to: Suspicious Minds, Bridge Over Troubled Water, How Great Thou Art, Hurt, Love Me Tender, Unchained Melody, Rags to Riches, If I Can Dream, Amazing Grace
Maria Callas
"The first time I listened to a recording of my singing was when we were recording San Giovanni Battista by Stradella in a church in Perugia in 1949. They made me listen to the tape and I cried my eyes out. I wanted to stop everything, to give up singing... " - Maria Callas
"With Serafin at the piano, she did her usual repertory for me Gioconda, Turandot, Aida, Tristan. Parts of the voice were beautiful, other empty, and she used strange portamenti. During a pause, she said she had studied with Elvira de Hidalgo, which struck me as curious, for de Hidalgo had been a coloratura. "I know coloratura pieces too," Callas explained, "but I'm a dramatic soprano." "Well," I asked, "can we hear something of a different nature?" So she sang the aria from I Puritani, with the cabaletta. I was overwhelmed, and tears streamed down Serafin's cheeks. This was the kind of singer one read about in books from the nineteenth century a real dramatic coloratura." - Francesco Siciliani
I have been putting her off because I don't think I can do her justice and I don't have a firm enough knowledge of her musicianship to talk about it specifically; I can only say that from what I have read, her musicianship and her musical choices are held in the highest esteem. But at this point I feel like I have procrastinated enough. I think that the two quotes above sum up my experience of listening to Maria, She has a voice with an essentially ugly character and uneven quality, with a mezzo-soprano's lower register, a hollow sounding middle register and an immense top register with naturally harsh, strident sound, particularly when she uses her fortissimo. In short, she can be difficult to listen to at first, because she is not a singer whom you listen to for the sheer beauty of her voice. On the other hand, she is capable of the most stupendous vocal feats of versatility in music and she is awe-inspiring as a complete artist.
Maria was the first opera singer I tried to listen to seriously, after learning that she was considered the best, and unfortunately I simply was not ready for it. When I first tried listening to her, I had no idea what a trill was, what resonance, what any terms for dynamics were - for all I knew "crescendo" could have either referred to a rise in pitch or in volume, how different soprano vocal types differed from one another, or even why roles were written for different types of voices. It is only in the last two years that I have started to hear dynamics consistently, and the experience listening to Maria again it has been almost revelatory. Her dynamics are incredible, perhaps more importantly she never seems to skip anything. There is a lovely interview where she talks about her approach to singing, and she explains that she believes in an approach that she refers to as "straight-jacketing." You are to learn the aria (or lieder, recitative, or so forth) exactly the way the composer wrote it, with every cadenza, every trill, every single element intact; "There is no excuse for not having a trill, for not doing the acciaccatura, for not having good scales. Look at your scores! There are technical things written there to be performed, and they must be performed whether you like it or not. How will you get out of a trill? How will you get out of scales when they are written there, staring you in the face?"
This recent video is not only one of the best demonstrations of her dynamic control on a note as high as Db6; it is also an exemplary example of her demonstrating what she was talking about in the quote above. In the score, over the part that she sang pianissimo "un fil di voce" is written - an idiom for a whisper, or 'a thread of voice.' She captures that requirement perfectly in that recording of Una Macchia with the the most sublimely beautifully floated pianissimo I have heard. And simply singing the aria so that every technical requirement is accounted for is not enough. You must also learn the character and the meaning of the aria so you can perform the aria in a way that is meaningful both in the context of the story and true to the composer's intentions as an element of the aria. It is only when you have mastered the piece to this extent that you may attempt to extemporize upon the piece, and what you do must be suggested by the piece itself. There's a wonderful book I have out from the library called Callas at Juilliard: The Master Classes, which is an overview of her thoughts on the proper performance of a selection of arias. I have only read a few pages to get a feel of whether I would find it interesting, and it looks fantastic.
When I went to listen to her again, it was after I had listened to most of Leontyne's repertoire and I had listened to a few dozen arias in Ingeborg Hallstein's repertoire. I also had had a small exposure to Joan Sutherland and Birgit Nilsson's voices. I had also seen this incredible video (which is periodically disappeared due to copyright issues so see it while you can), but I did not really get in a visceral sense what he was trying to communicate about her achievement as a singer. When you typically listen to coloratura, you hear - if you are listening to the best - a singer like Ingeborg, who possesses an incredibly light, agile, and facile voice that is capable of navigating the most difficult of coloratura and fioritura with effortless aplomb. I would compare it to watching a highly difficult, yet perfectly executed, routine in figure skating or in women's gymnastics where small size - in general - is advantageous. When you listen to a dramatic soprano such as Nilsson, you should be struck by the overwhelming size and weight of her voice. If you listen to enough of Ingeborg, you will notice that she only rarely sings while competing with the instruments, and does not sing over a collection of voices or over an entire orchestra. This is because as a high coloratura soprano - or soprano acuto sfogato - her voice is marked by its small size and limited volume capability in addition to its facility with difficultly ornamented passages. This is precisely the opposite in a voice like Nilsson's, which has tremendous volume and weight, but by comparison with a coloratura - or even a lyric - soprano's voice, lacks the same easy agility.
This is part of what makes Maria so fascinating to listen to. She goes from singing the repertoire of the dramatic soprano repertoire of Wagner to singing the most florid arias of Bellini or Rossini or Lakmé, and while her recording of, say, The Bell Song (a good example can be found at 9:00 into the first video linked in the previous paragraph) does not quite have the laser sharpness of Ingeborg's, it is all the more remarkable when you consider how close she comes with the size of her voice - and she maintains a larger size even on those staccati. And it is precisely the same physical qualities of her vocal folds which allow her to sing dramatic roles that should also immense handicap her ability to navigate the difficult florid music you can hear examples of her singing in that video. And her ability to sing as softly as she did with a voice as large as hers is nothing short of miraculous. I don't know if I can convey the experience of hearing her versatility by explaining it like this, but I do hope that anyone who has any interest will give Maria another listen after they try other singers first.
But I would not actually have her here, in spite of what a technical marvel she is, if I did not actually like listening to her sing. And she is actually wonderful to listen to. I was reintroduced to her by The Very Best of Maria Callas, which I purchased on a whim when I was at Barnes & Noble and an announcement came over the PA that music in the classical section was on a forty percent off sale. There is something very distinctive about the ugliness of her voice that makes instantly recognizable and creates its own sort of idiosyncratic appeal. You can hear the jugged quality of her middle voice in L'amour est un oiseau rebelle, but the way she sings it with that almost swaying quality and the way she phrases it is unmistakeable. She is also one of those operatic singers where she is able to communicate the emotion of the aria to me absent the context of the story and what I ought to be feeling in that moment. I was at my parents' house recently and my father was watching Philadelphia, the Tom Hanks movie, when the opera scene started. I recognized Maria immediately, despite having begun hearing it only after she started singing, despite having never listened to her sing the aria, despite having never seen Philadelphia; my only context being her singing and his commentary, I was moved by her the emotional force of her singing alone. She might have an ugly voice, but it doesn't matter when she can do that.
Listen to: O Mio Babbino Caro, Ritorna Vincitor!, Casta Diva, Vissi D'arte, Ardon gl'incensi! (and 1953 and especially Rome 1952) (the cadenzas with the flute are a highlight), Ah! Non giunge uman pensiero (the high Eb6 and the tumbling descent down the scale is gorgeous), Gloria all'Egito (the Eb6 completely covering the chorus and the orchestra is stunning)
Patti Labelle
I thought I should also have Patti Labelle in this post because my experience with her was similar to my experience with Callas in one respect: She was not a singer that I took to immediately. I actually have to credit Satch and Robido for getting me to listen to her more. I was at first only familiar with her before due to videos about her vocal range, and Patti has a classic dramatic soprano voice with a high, cold and metallic upper register that can sound screamed or strained to a less educated ear when it is actually being properly produced. When taken out of the context of the song and presented all by its lonesome, without the gorgeous tonal production that Whitney or Aretha and particularly Mariah are capable of producing on those pitches, it doesn't sound right. I was also familiar with her - frankly - questionable performance of All The Man That I Need. It is not that she sang it poorly; it is that the song requires at least some degree of subtlety and Patti's voice is designed for - ahem - YAAAAASSS, but not for subtlety. She also has this irritating tendency when she's singing softly to sing in this sort of little baby voice - 0:40 - 0:44 is a good example of that. In short, I did not seem to find her particularly appealing at first.
But Satch and Rob both helped to introduce me to what is appealing about her voice - her ability to combine an incredibly sure technique, particularly in the upper belt and head voice, with a willingness to go all the way in on every single song she sings. She will belt more G5s in a single performance than Mariah and Whitney sang live in their entire careers - and ever will - and she will sound effortless doing it. Her technique is incredible - while she pushes her voice to the limits, she still has a voice at nearly 70 and was in better voice in the late-90s in her late-50s than Mariah or Whitney did a mere fraction of the way into her careers. Of course this is in part due to the fact that one of them had become addicted to drugs and the other had fragile vocal chords that were already damaged from the beginning of her career and were going to decline inevitably - but Patti deserves all the credit in the world for taking care of her voice as well as she does both on and off the stage. Patti is one of those singers whom I failed to recognize how good she was because I was confusing her harsh, strident tone with an incorrect and screamed production - but I've gotten to the point where I can tell the difference between Patti's naturally strident tone but functionally correct production, and the incorrect production of someone like Jennifer Hudson who carries far too much chest up and tends to shriek in ways that Patti avoids.
One of my very favorite Patti Labelle performances oddly enough, is her performance of The Alphabet Song on Sesame Street. Now you might think, "But wait... the alphabet song?" Absolutely! You may not understand how it is possible to go in on the alphabet song as hard as she does, but Miss Patti is here to educate you. She actually sounds especially fantastic considering she's unamplified and is not an operatic singer - I especially love the first "D". She also does a great job of projecting easily over the din of noise the Muppets were making. I also love her performance of Oh People at the Centennial Concert Statue of Liberty at Giants Stadium in 1986. Her performance is so spectacularly over the top, from the hair (though that hair has -nothing- on the You'll Never Walk Alone Patti's hair) to the power walk to the wailing to the belting. Patti actually reminds me a lot of Shirley Bassey in how she approaches singing. Of course, Shirley's brand of over the top is more Broadway diva and Patti's brand of over the top is more gospel, and Patti tends to be the high wailer and Shirley tends to be lower-middle, but they seem like to different expressions of the same basic performance ethos of apparently throwing caution to the wind and giving everything you have in every performance.
Listen to: You'll Never Walk Alone, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Oh, People, Time After Time (duet with Cyndi Lauper), Then My Living Will Not Be In Vain, The Lord's Prayer, Lady Marmalade
Mumei forgot to post the video of my fave, Patti Laballah, vocally clocking his fave, Mariallah Carey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz6CzJ_B-xQ
The magic happens at 1:35.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz6CzJ_B-xQ
The magic happens at 1:35.
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
I'm gonna do one more "harsh vocal" favs of mine and then I'm going post my "These harsh vocalists are bad, here is why."
Harsh Vocal - Favs Part II
James Linkiewicz (The Analyst, The Arnolfini Marriage)
James (second from left) has one of the biggest harsh ranges I've ever heard on a vocalist. He goes lower than just about everyone, goes higher than everyone, and is comfortable anywhere in between. And to top it off, he doesn't run into the main issue that plagues vocalists like Spencer Sotelo: losing power. He has no issues going low or high and still maintains that punch with such easy that I'm almost flabbergasted every time I hear him.
The Analyst - "Summoning the Wretched"
The Analyst - "Nitelife"
Jake Luhrs (August Burns Red)
In the history of ABR, Jake is the third lead singer that they've had. He's been with them longer than the previous two and for good reason; each new singer a step up with Luhrs entering the picture for their two back-to-back masterpiece albums Messengers and Constellations. Like James mentioned previously, his range is massive, though not as big. He loses impact up at the top sometimes, his voice getting very whiny and breaking up in a bad way. But what he has over some others is that he often puts effects or vocal distortion aside and lets the emotion shine through, which can cause a great song to shine even more during their powerful, chanting and often positive choruses. Unfortunately he also has the down side of being sometimes rather weak live and being prone to vocal illness: their live album, Home, was basically ruined by him trying to sing while sick. But he is a very passionate front man, as the live clip shows.
August Burns Red - "Composure"
August Burns Red - "Meddler"
August Burns Red - "Back Burner"
August Burns Red - "White Washed" [Live]
Andrew Schwab (Project 86)
Andrew sits on a very weird spot on the vocalist spectrum. If you listen, it's almost like he's sitting on the three-way vertex between harsh vocals, clean singing, and spoken word. He pitches pop in here and there with ease, his voice slides easily in and out of pitches into screams. His shouts are almost sung as they are yelled, his low growls ride that line sounding like very cryptic spoken word. All these melds with P86's low, crunchy guitars perfectly. To top if off, Schwab is an amazing wordsmith with a knack for very cryptic lyrics to match his unsettling and cryptic voice.
Project 86 - "My Will Be A Dead Man"
Project 86 - "Subject to Change"
Project 86 - "Spy Hunter"
Robert "Rawrb!" Kersey (Psychostick, Evacuate Chicago)
Rob is the vocalist of a "comedy metal" group known as Psychostick (and the more seriously toned side project of the band Evacuate Chicago). He, like some I posted in my first "post your faves," falls into the realm of vocalists who switch often between harsh vocals and clean vocals with ease. He's a pretty darn good singing voice with quite a decent range of both pitch and emotion. Although not a very technically skilled harsh vocalist, he does one thing well better than most vocalists: emote and enunciate, because nothing would kill a joke or a punchline worse than those two and he hones them well. Unfortunately, his rather funny harsh voice just doesn't quite fit EC as it does Psychostick, though his clean singing voice fits just fine.
Psychostick - "BEER!!!"
Psychostick - "Two Ton Paperweight"
Psychostick - "Do You Want A Taco?"
Evacuate Chicago - "Proof of Dark Matter"
Evacuate Chicago - "Deny"
Evacuate Chicago - "Time Lapse Photography"
---
I think I'll do a "post your faves III" after I do my "bad harsh singers" one.
Harsh Vocal - Favs Part II
James Linkiewicz (The Analyst, The Arnolfini Marriage)
James (second from left) has one of the biggest harsh ranges I've ever heard on a vocalist. He goes lower than just about everyone, goes higher than everyone, and is comfortable anywhere in between. And to top it off, he doesn't run into the main issue that plagues vocalists like Spencer Sotelo: losing power. He has no issues going low or high and still maintains that punch with such easy that I'm almost flabbergasted every time I hear him.
The Analyst - "Summoning the Wretched"
The Analyst - "Nitelife"
Jake Luhrs (August Burns Red)
In the history of ABR, Jake is the third lead singer that they've had. He's been with them longer than the previous two and for good reason; each new singer a step up with Luhrs entering the picture for their two back-to-back masterpiece albums Messengers and Constellations. Like James mentioned previously, his range is massive, though not as big. He loses impact up at the top sometimes, his voice getting very whiny and breaking up in a bad way. But what he has over some others is that he often puts effects or vocal distortion aside and lets the emotion shine through, which can cause a great song to shine even more during their powerful, chanting and often positive choruses. Unfortunately he also has the down side of being sometimes rather weak live and being prone to vocal illness: their live album, Home, was basically ruined by him trying to sing while sick. But he is a very passionate front man, as the live clip shows.
August Burns Red - "Composure"
August Burns Red - "Meddler"
August Burns Red - "Back Burner"
August Burns Red - "White Washed" [Live]
Andrew Schwab (Project 86)
Andrew sits on a very weird spot on the vocalist spectrum. If you listen, it's almost like he's sitting on the three-way vertex between harsh vocals, clean singing, and spoken word. He pitches pop in here and there with ease, his voice slides easily in and out of pitches into screams. His shouts are almost sung as they are yelled, his low growls ride that line sounding like very cryptic spoken word. All these melds with P86's low, crunchy guitars perfectly. To top if off, Schwab is an amazing wordsmith with a knack for very cryptic lyrics to match his unsettling and cryptic voice.
Project 86 - "My Will Be A Dead Man"
Project 86 - "Subject to Change"
Project 86 - "Spy Hunter"
Robert "Rawrb!" Kersey (Psychostick, Evacuate Chicago)
Rob is the vocalist of a "comedy metal" group known as Psychostick (and the more seriously toned side project of the band Evacuate Chicago). He, like some I posted in my first "post your faves," falls into the realm of vocalists who switch often between harsh vocals and clean vocals with ease. He's a pretty darn good singing voice with quite a decent range of both pitch and emotion. Although not a very technically skilled harsh vocalist, he does one thing well better than most vocalists: emote and enunciate, because nothing would kill a joke or a punchline worse than those two and he hones them well. Unfortunately, his rather funny harsh voice just doesn't quite fit EC as it does Psychostick, though his clean singing voice fits just fine.
Psychostick - "BEER!!!"
Psychostick - "Two Ton Paperweight"
Psychostick - "Do You Want A Taco?"
Evacuate Chicago - "Proof of Dark Matter"
Evacuate Chicago - "Deny"
Evacuate Chicago - "Time Lapse Photography"
---
I think I'll do a "post your faves III" after I do my "bad harsh singers" one.
<+)O Robido O(+>
Member
Majmun
Member
Such a great thread. I'm not really known with the technically aspects when it comes to singing. But I do have preferences.
I like female singers more. I'm more fan of a soothing voice instead of a loud one. And since this thread has mentioned many of my faves, including Mariah and Beyoncé, I'll be using a totally different example of an artist that can really touch me with its voice.
I've been raised with different cultures. My family is Italian, Turkish and Albanian. And the last two countries are huge fans of dramatic music that I also love.
I said that I like the female voice more, but the funny thing is that one of my favorite singers ever is a man, and his name is Zeki Müren. He's considered one of Turkey's best classical singers ever.
His voice is quite feminine, though. And his looks are very effeminate too, lol. But everytime I listen to his music I get in some sort of trance. His voice is very mesmerizing and the music(which he produces too) is often classical. I'll use some examples...
Agora Meyhanesi
Veda Buseni
Gitme Sana Muhtacim
Annem
My mom is Turkish, and I still don't understand most of the things he says. Some people don't like his voice because of his vibrato, because it is very noticable. But I don't mind it. And I don't need to understand a word. His emotions still reaches me thanks to his great vocal articulation.
And I don't know the technique he's using. His voice is very elegant and smooth. Something that I also love about Bey's and Mariah's voices. I have a lot of other different ethnic faves. Arabic, Turkish and Indian music have some great vocalists
I like female singers more. I'm more fan of a soothing voice instead of a loud one. And since this thread has mentioned many of my faves, including Mariah and Beyoncé, I'll be using a totally different example of an artist that can really touch me with its voice.
I've been raised with different cultures. My family is Italian, Turkish and Albanian. And the last two countries are huge fans of dramatic music that I also love.
I said that I like the female voice more, but the funny thing is that one of my favorite singers ever is a man, and his name is Zeki Müren. He's considered one of Turkey's best classical singers ever.
His voice is quite feminine, though. And his looks are very effeminate too, lol. But everytime I listen to his music I get in some sort of trance. His voice is very mesmerizing and the music(which he produces too) is often classical. I'll use some examples...
Agora Meyhanesi
Veda Buseni
Gitme Sana Muhtacim
Annem
My mom is Turkish, and I still don't understand most of the things he says. Some people don't like his voice because of his vibrato, because it is very noticable. But I don't mind it. And I don't need to understand a word. His emotions still reaches me thanks to his great vocal articulation.
And I don't know the technique he's using. His voice is very elegant and smooth. Something that I also love about Bey's and Mariah's voices. I have a lot of other different ethnic faves. Arabic, Turkish and Indian music have some great vocalists
I don't know how it could have slipped my mind. It is a great showcase of Mariah having a small-medium voice and Patti's size in her upper register.
I actually think the back-up singers did the most work in that particular performance, though.
I tried listening to a couple and I just don't think I'm ever going to get it. I think the roughest I like it is like ... Janis Joplin rough, instead "being beaten with a tire iron" rough.
Such a great thread. I'm not really known with the technically aspects when it comes to singing. But I do have preferences.
I like female singers more. I'm more fan of a soothing voice instead of a loud one. And since this thread has mentioned many of my faves, including Mariah and Beyoncé, I'll be using a totally different example of an artist that can really touch me with its voice.
I've been raised with different cultures. My family is Italian, Turkish and Albanian. And the last two countries are huge fans of dramatic music that I also love.
I said that I like the female voice more, but the funny thing is that one of my favorite singers ever is a man, and his name is Zeki Müren. He's considered one of Turkey's best classical singers ever.
His voice is quite feminine, though. And his looks are very effeminate too, lol. But everytime I listen to his music I get in some sort of trance. His voice is very mesmerizing and the music(which he produces too) is often classical. I'll use some examples...
Agora Meyhanesi
Veda Buseni
Gitme Sana Muhtacim
Annem
My mom is Turkish, and I still don't understand most of the things he says. Some people don't like his voice because of his vibrato, because it is very noticable. But I don't mind it. And I don't need to understand a word. His emotions still reaches me thanks to his great vocal articulation.
And I don't know the technique he's using. His voice is very elegant and smooth. Something that I also love about Bey's and Mariah's voices. I have a lot of other different ethnic faves. Arabic, Turkish and Indian music have some great vocalists
I love his voice and the music. His voice is remarkably feminine, though he's not quite as androgynous as someone like Jimmy Scott. I wish I knew more about singing styles, techniques, and aesthetics for non-western music, though. I sometimes find it difficult to compare.
But I do know that vibrato is a good thing~
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
I tried listening to a couple and I just don't think I'm ever going to get it. I think the roughest I like it is like ... Janis Joplin rough, instead "being beaten with a tire iron" rough.
Well maybe after I post my bad one you'll at least be able to compare and start to hear what is bad.
And my pyf3 is gonna have a lot that are actually great clean singers too, so you can at least critique that part of them.
Per my previous post about Elvis / Callas / Patti Labelle, I have started reading Callas at Julliard: The Master Classes. It is just phenomenal the way she breaks everything down. For instance, for the first selection in the book, "Non mir dir" from Mozart's Don Giovanni:
And so forth. She goes into so much depth about the tone, where to take breaths, where to deviate from the written score, how to approach the acting, how to make your vocal approach and she explains the reasoning behind them. It might be a matter of characterization, of better fitting the flow of the music, of better fitting the composer's intentions, or a simple matter of it being the best way to approach singing a segment from a purely technical perspective. I have discovered that someone has uploaded all of the lectures to Youtube, so I will be taking my sweet time with this.
Maybe! Looking forward to it.
"Mozart is usually sung with too much delicacy, as though the singer were on tiptoes, when his music should be performed with the same frankness and bel canto approach one would use in Il trovatore, for example. Mozart, after all, was a master of bel canto, and a necessity of bel canto is a full, sustained tone and good legato. So sing Mozart as though he were Verdi; there is no difference in the approach.
"In the recitative before this aria, I would not fill in the interval of a third on 'Crudele?' is is traditional:
Remember, there must always be a reason for an embellishment, or don't use one. Here, Donna Anna is shocked that her lover, Don Ottavio, has called her 'cruel.' She repeats the word as though to accuse him in return. The phrase is strong as it stands; with the usual passing tone, it becomes too soft, too sweet. Later, however, I would insert an upward appoggiatura on the word 'desia,' to give it more color when Anna speaks of what 'our soul desires,' and I would use the passing tone with 'Mal il mondo,' because it needs to contrast with the outcry 'O Dio!' which follows:
[...]
"In the second part of this recitative - 'Troppo mi spiace' - you can begin after the orchestra chord rather than with it, as written. This will give the line more breadth and your entry more repose. Do not, however, become tense here; the words must not be rushed - they must flow. Keep the whole mood relaxed once past 'Crudele?' and your colors not too dark
"In the recitative before this aria, I would not fill in the interval of a third on 'Crudele?' is is traditional:
Remember, there must always be a reason for an embellishment, or don't use one. Here, Donna Anna is shocked that her lover, Don Ottavio, has called her 'cruel.' She repeats the word as though to accuse him in return. The phrase is strong as it stands; with the usual passing tone, it becomes too soft, too sweet. Later, however, I would insert an upward appoggiatura on the word 'desia,' to give it more color when Anna speaks of what 'our soul desires,' and I would use the passing tone with 'Mal il mondo,' because it needs to contrast with the outcry 'O Dio!' which follows:
[...]
"In the second part of this recitative - 'Troppo mi spiace' - you can begin after the orchestra chord rather than with it, as written. This will give the line more breadth and your entry more repose. Do not, however, become tense here; the words must not be rushed - they must flow. Keep the whole mood relaxed once past 'Crudele?' and your colors not too dark
And so forth. She goes into so much depth about the tone, where to take breaths, where to deviate from the written score, how to approach the acting, how to make your vocal approach and she explains the reasoning behind them. It might be a matter of characterization, of better fitting the flow of the music, of better fitting the composer's intentions, or a simple matter of it being the best way to approach singing a segment from a purely technical perspective. I have discovered that someone has uploaded all of the lectures to Youtube, so I will be taking my sweet time with this.
Maybe! Looking forward to it.
SecretMoblin
Member
Searched the thread, but didn't find one of my favorite voices mentioned:
Jocelyn Brown
She's widely celebrated in the dance music scene, but has an extensive oeuvre in pop, funk, R&B, and soul. She has a reputation not only as a fantastic singer with a "big" voice but as someone who is great to work with. I grew up listening to her work on Salsoul Records and became more familiar with her sound due to her association with the great band Inner Life.
Her earlier work consists primarily of group vocals on disco projects, most notably the two major Musique hits "In the Bush" and "Keep on Jumpin'". But she really developed a name for herself and became famous for her distinctive sound with artists like Inner Life and Marc Cerrone, considered one of the premier innovators in modern dance music.
Some samples:
Inner Life - "Moment of My Life"
Salsoul Orchestra feat. Jocelyn Brown - "Take Some Time Out (For Love)"
Cerrone - "Hooked on You"
She continued to cultivate a following in the dance scene after being recruited by a wide range of artists as a featured singer. I'm not generally well versed in the technical aspects of singing, but I've always loved Brown's huge range and expressive voice.
More samples, with some (recent!) live singing:
Jocelyn Brown - "Somebody Else's Guy"
A live performance, mostly (totally?) sans lipping. The song is considered her signature, primarily because it was her only Hot 100 appearance as a writer.
Jocelyn Brown & Beverly Knight - "I'm Every Woman"
Live-ish.
Incognito feat. Jocelyn Brown - "Always There"
(Very obviously) lipped performance on Top of the Pops. The performance can still revive several species from extinction, though.
And she's still at it! Hopefully she gets the mainstream recognition she deserves before there's an inevitable "rediscovery" of her work decades from now.
Jocelyn Brown
She's widely celebrated in the dance music scene, but has an extensive oeuvre in pop, funk, R&B, and soul. She has a reputation not only as a fantastic singer with a "big" voice but as someone who is great to work with. I grew up listening to her work on Salsoul Records and became more familiar with her sound due to her association with the great band Inner Life.
Her earlier work consists primarily of group vocals on disco projects, most notably the two major Musique hits "In the Bush" and "Keep on Jumpin'". But she really developed a name for herself and became famous for her distinctive sound with artists like Inner Life and Marc Cerrone, considered one of the premier innovators in modern dance music.
Some samples:
Inner Life - "Moment of My Life"
Salsoul Orchestra feat. Jocelyn Brown - "Take Some Time Out (For Love)"
Cerrone - "Hooked on You"
She continued to cultivate a following in the dance scene after being recruited by a wide range of artists as a featured singer. I'm not generally well versed in the technical aspects of singing, but I've always loved Brown's huge range and expressive voice.
More samples, with some (recent!) live singing:
Jocelyn Brown - "Somebody Else's Guy"
A live performance, mostly (totally?) sans lipping. The song is considered her signature, primarily because it was her only Hot 100 appearance as a writer.
Jocelyn Brown & Beverly Knight - "I'm Every Woman"
Live-ish.
Incognito feat. Jocelyn Brown - "Always There"
(Very obviously) lipped performance on Top of the Pops. The performance can still revive several species from extinction, though.
And she's still at it! Hopefully she gets the mainstream recognition she deserves before there's an inevitable "rediscovery" of her work decades from now.
Pizza Luigi
Member
Bumpybump!
Recorded a couple of songs last friday with a friend of mine on piano. He's mixing them now and he will send them to me somewhere today. Very excited to hear my own voice for real for the first time. Never had singing lessons, don't have any techniques, but still I did some recording. This is weird.
I'll be sure to share them with you all once I have 'em!
Recorded a couple of songs last friday with a friend of mine on piano. He's mixing them now and he will send them to me somewhere today. Very excited to hear my own voice for real for the first time. Never had singing lessons, don't have any techniques, but still I did some recording. This is weird.
I'll be sure to share them with you all once I have 'em!
You should post some of your vocals so we can hear. Bump.
Karen O - Maps Acoustic
She has a beautiful voice IMO and I havent heard much people doing what she vocally does on the genre. (Alt Rock).
Other songs showing her vocals
Sacrilege
Worried Shoes
Zero
Strange Love
She has a beautiful voice IMO and I havent heard much people doing what she vocally does on the genre. (Alt Rock).
Other songs showing her vocals
Sacrilege
Worried Shoes
Zero
Strange Love
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
So Mumei (and anyone else still interested), as I've been promising, I want to present some harsh vocalist that I consider bad or subpar, so you can go back and compare with the favorites I've posted and get a better sense of why. It's not an end-all-be-all list from me, but it should shed some light for you.
Felix's "These Harsh Vocalists Suck"
Dustin Davidson (August Burns Red)
Davidson's inclusion in this list is a little odd because, unlike everyone else I've ever posted or will post in this thread, he is not the lead singer. In fact I posted his band's lead singer (Jake Luhrs) as one of my favorites. Dustin is the band's bassist and backing vocalist and just sucks, point blank. In the past he's been constrained to small solo vocal parts here and there, and adding a little sonic texture to Luhrs's vocals at parts. If they had keep him there, he'd probably stay off my list. But in recent albums, they've put him in the spotlight more and more, and his utter lack of skill at doing harsh vocals is painfully evident.
August Burns Red - "Back Burner" (he's the higher pitched voice in this call-and-response section)
August Burns Red - "Carpe Diem" (comes in on "It's Worthless..." and "What makes you think...")
In studio recording vocals for their currently upcoming album, "Rescue & Restore"
Chris Roetter (Like Moths to Flames, Agraceful, Emarosa)
I could've put a lot of bad metalcore vocalist here, but Roetter, imo, puts on display some of the things I despise in a vocalist the most. He's whiny, all of his screams/growls seem incredibly forced. He doesn't feel comfortable high, low, or in the middle. It's nasaly, too strained, and just sounds weak. On top of that, when he clean sings (mostly just in the choruses) he's not even that good either. He's technically proficient at it, but he's got an incredibly cookie-cutter voice when he does sing melodically.
Like Moths to Flames - "You Won't Be Missed"
Like Moths to Flames - "The Worst in Me"
Like Moths to Flames - "Learn Your Place"
Jonny Davy (Job for a Cowboy)
At a quick glance at my previous favorites, it would seem like I'd love Davy. He's got a vicious tone, is very comfortable on the low growls, can pull off great effects, and his highs aren't too bad...he used to use a ton of pig squeals (to his credit they really are absent in newer stuff) and, this his biggest thing I hate, he is the President and CEO of the "I Don't Need to Enunciate Cause it's Harsh Vocals, Right?" club. Serious, go pull of some JfaC lyrics and read along with a song. He is horrible at it.
Job for a Cowboy - "Entombment of a Machine"
Job for a Cowboy - "Knee Deep"
Job for a Cowboy - "Embedded"
Job for a Cowboy - "Altered from Catechization"
Mitch Lucker (Suicide Silence)
The late Mitch Lucker (passed away in a motorcycle accident in 2012) was another vocalist I disliked. His lows and mids were atrocious and just sound incredibly forced. His one big strength was that his highs, but even that for whatever reason he decided to mask his vocals by recording so they were just so distorted that they just became near unlistenable to me.
Suicide Silence - "Disengage"
Suicide Silence - "You Only Life Once"
Suicide Silence - "Wake Up"
Alex Koehler (Chelsea Grin)
Like Davy, Koehler is a card carrying member of the Anti-Enunciation Club, but lacks the comfort in the highs and lows as Davy. He is almost never in the middle and just goes for pure effect in his vocal extremities and it shows how inexperienced he is there. The wheeze-y, gurgle-y, undesirable forced artifacts in his voice show up like crazy.
Chelsea Grin - "Recreant"
Chelsea Grin - "My Damnation"
Chelsea Grin - "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
Felix's "These Harsh Vocalists Suck"
Dustin Davidson (August Burns Red)
Davidson's inclusion in this list is a little odd because, unlike everyone else I've ever posted or will post in this thread, he is not the lead singer. In fact I posted his band's lead singer (Jake Luhrs) as one of my favorites. Dustin is the band's bassist and backing vocalist and just sucks, point blank. In the past he's been constrained to small solo vocal parts here and there, and adding a little sonic texture to Luhrs's vocals at parts. If they had keep him there, he'd probably stay off my list. But in recent albums, they've put him in the spotlight more and more, and his utter lack of skill at doing harsh vocals is painfully evident.
August Burns Red - "Back Burner" (he's the higher pitched voice in this call-and-response section)
August Burns Red - "Carpe Diem" (comes in on "It's Worthless..." and "What makes you think...")
In studio recording vocals for their currently upcoming album, "Rescue & Restore"
Chris Roetter (Like Moths to Flames, Agraceful, Emarosa)
I could've put a lot of bad metalcore vocalist here, but Roetter, imo, puts on display some of the things I despise in a vocalist the most. He's whiny, all of his screams/growls seem incredibly forced. He doesn't feel comfortable high, low, or in the middle. It's nasaly, too strained, and just sounds weak. On top of that, when he clean sings (mostly just in the choruses) he's not even that good either. He's technically proficient at it, but he's got an incredibly cookie-cutter voice when he does sing melodically.
Like Moths to Flames - "You Won't Be Missed"
Like Moths to Flames - "The Worst in Me"
Like Moths to Flames - "Learn Your Place"
Jonny Davy (Job for a Cowboy)
At a quick glance at my previous favorites, it would seem like I'd love Davy. He's got a vicious tone, is very comfortable on the low growls, can pull off great effects, and his highs aren't too bad...he used to use a ton of pig squeals (to his credit they really are absent in newer stuff) and, this his biggest thing I hate, he is the President and CEO of the "I Don't Need to Enunciate Cause it's Harsh Vocals, Right?" club. Serious, go pull of some JfaC lyrics and read along with a song. He is horrible at it.
Job for a Cowboy - "Entombment of a Machine"
Job for a Cowboy - "Knee Deep"
Job for a Cowboy - "Embedded"
Job for a Cowboy - "Altered from Catechization"
Mitch Lucker (Suicide Silence)
The late Mitch Lucker (passed away in a motorcycle accident in 2012) was another vocalist I disliked. His lows and mids were atrocious and just sound incredibly forced. His one big strength was that his highs, but even that for whatever reason he decided to mask his vocals by recording so they were just so distorted that they just became near unlistenable to me.
Suicide Silence - "Disengage"
Suicide Silence - "You Only Life Once"
Suicide Silence - "Wake Up"
Alex Koehler (Chelsea Grin)
Like Davy, Koehler is a card carrying member of the Anti-Enunciation Club, but lacks the comfort in the highs and lows as Davy. He is almost never in the middle and just goes for pure effect in his vocal extremities and it shows how inexperienced he is there. The wheeze-y, gurgle-y, undesirable forced artifacts in his voice show up like crazy.
Chelsea Grin - "Recreant"
Chelsea Grin - "My Damnation"
Chelsea Grin - "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
So, well, it's been awhile since anyone posted in this thread, but I think I'll do another Fave Posting. This one will mostly have vocalists who are skilled in both clean, harsh vocals, or both.
Felix's Favs Part III
Ashe O'Hara (Tesseract)
THe most recent vocalist replacement for the british band, Ashe has such a silky smooth voice that just melds perfectly with Tesseract's very layed and shining sound. Kid has some great range and vocal tibre. No harsh vocals here.
Tesseract - "Exiled"
Tesseract - "Nocturne"
Tesseract - "Singularity"
Justin Broadrick (Jesu, Godflesh, Final, JK Flesh)
Justin's is the multi-istrumentalist mastermind behind a metric fuckton of musical projects and his voice is angelic, deadpan, droning, and....just utterly lonely. The is just such a resigned despair in his clean singing voice. And to top it his harsh vocals are unhinged and just so powerful.
Jesu - "Homesick"
Jesu - "Friends Are Evil"
Godflesh - "Crush My Soul"
Aaron Turner (ISIS, Old Man Gloom, Lotus Eaters, Split Cranium)
Aaron is very much in the vein of Justin Broadrick as a vocalist and for good reason. Fronting a similar style band, he's got a less deadpan but still just so lonely clean singing voice that has popped out more as ISIS's career went on and harsh voice that is so gritty and animal-like: Perfect for the highs and lows of post-metal.
ISIS - "Pliable Foe"
ISIS - "So Did We"
ISIS - "20 Mintues/40 Years"
Jeffrey Christian (City in the Sea)
I found City in the Sea rather recently, as they're a new band just starting out. And while they're nothing all that special yet and are still I think seraching for a sound that is all their own, I found myself admiring guitarist/clean singer Jeffrey's voice more and more. It fits their sound well and he's a very proficient vocalist, but he has just this right amount grit and snarl in his voice that keep him from become a cookie cutter lead singer and keeps the choruses fun to listen to.
City in the Sea - "Dead Beliefs"
City in the Sea - "Convoluted"
City in the Sea - "Discovering Oceans" (feat. Ben Bruce of Asking Alexandria)
Tyler Dennen (Sworn In)
While Sworn In's lyrics and subject matter can jump often and from juvenile to poetic and back, Tyler's viscous, character driven voice, often inter-played with a heavy dose of insane, menicial laughing and spoken word, is something to behold. He can struggle down low but the ease at which he screams and the way he does with such an authentic level of pain and frustration is great. He's also got crazy good enunciation and lyrical speed that would put rappers to shame.
Sworn In - "XIII" [Intro]
Sworn In - "Snake Eyes"
Sworn In - "Death"
Sworn In - "Opportunist"
Dallas Taylor (Maylene & Sons of Disaster, ex-Underoath)
Dallas is a fitting name for the lead singer of southern metal band. He's got the twang, he's got the snarl, he's got the swagger, he's got the rage, he's got the voice. Not so much when he was in Underoath, but they moved on into a different style after him.
Maylene & Sons of Disaster - "Step Up (I'm On It)"
Maylene & Sons of Disaster - "Darkest of Kin"
Underoath - "The Last"
Felix's Favs Part III
Ashe O'Hara (Tesseract)
THe most recent vocalist replacement for the british band, Ashe has such a silky smooth voice that just melds perfectly with Tesseract's very layed and shining sound. Kid has some great range and vocal tibre. No harsh vocals here.
Tesseract - "Exiled"
Tesseract - "Nocturne"
Tesseract - "Singularity"
Justin Broadrick (Jesu, Godflesh, Final, JK Flesh)
Justin's is the multi-istrumentalist mastermind behind a metric fuckton of musical projects and his voice is angelic, deadpan, droning, and....just utterly lonely. The is just such a resigned despair in his clean singing voice. And to top it his harsh vocals are unhinged and just so powerful.
Jesu - "Homesick"
Jesu - "Friends Are Evil"
Godflesh - "Crush My Soul"
Aaron Turner (ISIS, Old Man Gloom, Lotus Eaters, Split Cranium)
Aaron is very much in the vein of Justin Broadrick as a vocalist and for good reason. Fronting a similar style band, he's got a less deadpan but still just so lonely clean singing voice that has popped out more as ISIS's career went on and harsh voice that is so gritty and animal-like: Perfect for the highs and lows of post-metal.
ISIS - "Pliable Foe"
ISIS - "So Did We"
ISIS - "20 Mintues/40 Years"
Jeffrey Christian (City in the Sea)
I found City in the Sea rather recently, as they're a new band just starting out. And while they're nothing all that special yet and are still I think seraching for a sound that is all their own, I found myself admiring guitarist/clean singer Jeffrey's voice more and more. It fits their sound well and he's a very proficient vocalist, but he has just this right amount grit and snarl in his voice that keep him from become a cookie cutter lead singer and keeps the choruses fun to listen to.
City in the Sea - "Dead Beliefs"
City in the Sea - "Convoluted"
City in the Sea - "Discovering Oceans" (feat. Ben Bruce of Asking Alexandria)
Tyler Dennen (Sworn In)
While Sworn In's lyrics and subject matter can jump often and from juvenile to poetic and back, Tyler's viscous, character driven voice, often inter-played with a heavy dose of insane, menicial laughing and spoken word, is something to behold. He can struggle down low but the ease at which he screams and the way he does with such an authentic level of pain and frustration is great. He's also got crazy good enunciation and lyrical speed that would put rappers to shame.
Sworn In - "XIII" [Intro]
Sworn In - "Snake Eyes"
Sworn In - "Death"
Sworn In - "Opportunist"
Dallas Taylor (Maylene & Sons of Disaster, ex-Underoath)
Dallas is a fitting name for the lead singer of southern metal band. He's got the twang, he's got the snarl, he's got the swagger, he's got the rage, he's got the voice. Not so much when he was in Underoath, but they moved on into a different style after him.
Maylene & Sons of Disaster - "Step Up (I'm On It)"
Maylene & Sons of Disaster - "Darkest of Kin"
Underoath - "The Last"
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
You're probably going to hate me for this, but I wasn't all that impressed with 2:22. It's not that they were bad, really, but for a tenor belting notes in the high fourth octave I expect a bit more power. It didn't have that sort of resonance and sounded sort of pinched and shouty to me, I guess.
I did enjoy it overall, though!
On the note of Radiohead, I've always liked this performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GH2uXeI_t0
To go from the really warm voice, to the amazingly gritty sound at 2:30 onwards is just awesome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GH2uXeI_t0
To go from the really warm voice, to the amazingly gritty sound at 2:30 onwards is just awesome
T
Transhuman
Unconfirmed Member
Whenever someone mentions they're in a band, forming a band, or can play an instrument, I mention I'm a vocalist, but never any bites. Now I know how Barry in High Fidelity feels.
SonofdonCD
Member
Man, I gotta learn to not accept gigs sight unseen!
So I was asked to sing for this celebration of MLK day next month. The person asking me is a friend and fellow chorister, and really didn't give me too many details about what I was going to do. I said yes, as I'm wont to do. I just got the music, and while I guess it's not too late to decline, I see that this is an operatic duet (no problems yet; I have sung plenty of operatic pieces) for a soprano and tenor (!!!). Now I've been singing tenor in this same choir that the person that got me the gig sings in. So I'm assuming he thought I could handle it. But I am a baritenor at best. This piece has a high B (or B5) which is true tenor range! I just can't do that note with classical vocal production. I could croon it falsetto, or belt it like a pop/soul singer. But it won't necessarily sound pretty, and if operatic singing can be described as anything, it would be pretty.
I had a first rehearsal. It started okay, but got rough when I got to that part of the song. The killer is that (while she wasn't at the first rehearsal) the soprano and tenor parts are in unison there, so we are both singing the same notes, just in our own range. She will be screaming out these notes, and for the most part, a soprano at the top of her range will drown out any other voice type at the top of their range. So I will so be overpowered there. I was surprised when the one organizing it came in and listened, and still wanted me for the job. I was totally ready and almost hoping they were not going to be satisfied with me.
I know the easiest thing to do would be to turn it down. I'm not going to hurt my voice but I'm not going to be satisfied with the performance. I will of course work on it between now and then, and will get it to the best I can make it. But I just cannot train my voice into becoming a true tenor in a month and a half.
All that said, it's money. I need it, and it's theirs to use (or waste) as they see fit. It's also exposure for myself and my craft. Though I will certainly not be displaying myself at my best.
Lesson learned, I guess.
So I was asked to sing for this celebration of MLK day next month. The person asking me is a friend and fellow chorister, and really didn't give me too many details about what I was going to do. I said yes, as I'm wont to do. I just got the music, and while I guess it's not too late to decline, I see that this is an operatic duet (no problems yet; I have sung plenty of operatic pieces) for a soprano and tenor (!!!). Now I've been singing tenor in this same choir that the person that got me the gig sings in. So I'm assuming he thought I could handle it. But I am a baritenor at best. This piece has a high B (or B5) which is true tenor range! I just can't do that note with classical vocal production. I could croon it falsetto, or belt it like a pop/soul singer. But it won't necessarily sound pretty, and if operatic singing can be described as anything, it would be pretty.
I had a first rehearsal. It started okay, but got rough when I got to that part of the song. The killer is that (while she wasn't at the first rehearsal) the soprano and tenor parts are in unison there, so we are both singing the same notes, just in our own range. She will be screaming out these notes, and for the most part, a soprano at the top of her range will drown out any other voice type at the top of their range. So I will so be overpowered there. I was surprised when the one organizing it came in and listened, and still wanted me for the job. I was totally ready and almost hoping they were not going to be satisfied with me.
I know the easiest thing to do would be to turn it down. I'm not going to hurt my voice but I'm not going to be satisfied with the performance. I will of course work on it between now and then, and will get it to the best I can make it. But I just cannot train my voice into becoming a true tenor in a month and a half.
All that said, it's money. I need it, and it's theirs to use (or waste) as they see fit. It's also exposure for myself and my craft. Though I will certainly not be displaying myself at my best.
Lesson learned, I guess.
... You can belt a B5? I'm impressed; I mean it is only a semitone below a soprano's high C and I've heard very few male B5s that maintain even a somewhat belt-y quality.
And hey, there isn't a man alive who can sing above F5 using correct modern operatic production (and even above C5 is a rarity, frankly) so I don't know why that note was written for the tenor. Even in the days before Duprez popularized the covered high C, and men used mixed voice or falsetto for their top notes, men weren't singing that high.
... Is it really a B5? It would make more sense for you to be singing a B4 and her to be singing a B5, I think.
Oh, this topic just likes to die for months at a time. But i's back! Maybe. Hopefully. I'll enjoy it while it lasts, anyway.
Do you have anything we could listen to?
It's very nice of you to say, but I'm hardly an expert; I've just read a couple books! Oh, and tried to get better at listening critically.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
I actually have no clue about singing. I'll be taking my first ever singing lesson next week to learn. To my untrained ear, however, that sounded awesome.
But I'm hoping I'll be able to pick on stuff like this once I develop a real understanding of the technique.
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
Well, I did try to keep it alive...
Fourth Storm
Member
Didn't realize that there were other vocalists on GAF. I'm a hard rock singer myself with some operatic training (Italian Swedish school). Need to find a band again. It's tough to find a group you can mix with. Even tougher since I'm at the ripe age of 30 so I'm kind of in the middle of alot of these younger bands (lots of hardcore kids around here) and the old timers, with their nonstop Zeppelin and Sabbath.
Voice feels crappy lately though. I gotta get it back into performance shape.
Voice feels crappy lately though. I gotta get it back into performance shape.
SonofdonCD
Member
I think you might be confused a bit. Remember that the next number signifying a higher octave starts on the A. So it goes from A B C D E F G, then start on A again. A true bass typically has a range of (from lowest note to highest):
C2 D2 E2 F2 G2 A3 B3 C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 A4 B4 C4 D4 and E4.
C4 is middle C. I'm talking about the B above middle C, which is B5. The tenor high C is C5, and the soprano high C is C6. On a good day (which today isn't!) I can sing (well, growl is a more accurate term!) a bass low C, or C2 up to maybe A6 (with falsetto and only very briefly).
From Wikipedia:
You might be using a different notational system than I am used to, which is scientific pitch notation. In scientific pitch notation, a piano would have a range of:
A0 B♭0 B0
C1 C♯1 D1 E♭1 E1 F1 F♯1 G1 G♯1 A B♭1 B1
C2 C♯2 D2 E♭2 E2 F2 F♯2 G2 G♯2 A B♭2 B2
C3 C♯3 D3 E♭3 E3 F3 F♯3 G3 G♯3 A B♭3 B3
C4 C♯4 D4 E♭4 E4 F4 F♯4 G4 G♯4 A B♭4 B4
C5 C♯5 D5 E♭5 E5 F5 F♯5 G5 G♯5 A B♭5 B5
C6 C♯6 D6 E♭6 E6 F6 F♯6 G6 G♯6 A B♭6 B6
C7 C♯7 D7 E♭7 E7 F7 F♯7 G7 G♯7 A B♭7 B7
C8
"Middle C" is also C4 there, but the octaves start with C and end with B; a typical bass in this system would have a range of E2 - E4 (bolded) or a soprano would be C4 - C6 (highlighted):
A0 B♭0 B0
C1 C♯1 D1 E♭1 E1 F1 F♯1 G1 G♯1 A B♭1 B1
C2 C♯2 D2 E♭2 E2 F2 F♯2 G2 G♯2 A B♭2 B2
C3 C♯3 D3 E♭3 E3 F3 F♯3 G3 G♯3 A B♭3 B3
C4 C♯4 D4 E♭4 E4 F4 F♯4 G4 G♯4 A B♭4 B4
C5 C♯5 D5 E♭5 E5 F5 F♯5 G5 G♯5 A B♭5 B5
C6 C♯6 D6 E♭6 E6 F6 F♯6 G6 G♯6 A B♭6 B6
C7 C♯7 D7 E♭7 E7 F7 F♯7 G7 G♯7 A B♭7 B7
C8
In the link you provided, it actually shows basically the same scale:
B♯ / C
C♯ / D♭
D
D♯ / E♭
E / F♭
E♯ / F
F♯ / G♭
G
G♯ / A♭
A
A♯ / B♭
B / C♭
Though in scientific pitch notation, "B♯", "C♭" and "E♯" never seem to be used.
god i always kill my topic
Mm. For me what has really helped is listening to point-counterpoint examples, where someone says, "This is a bad example. This is a good example," and then explains what they are listening to that indicates that it is good or bad. I think the learning curve is that a lot of it is vague aesthetic descriptions about roundness, velvet, tonal qualities, and so forth.
So I guess I'll post some examples of what I wanted to hear! In that moment, Thom was belting an A4. In this segment, through 5:40, Luther belts four or five A4s (and many more G4s) with power and resonance. This moment earlier in the song is also a good example. Or for an example a half step higher, Jackie Wilson's Bb4 here and here are both excellent. And for one full step up, this is my favorite non-operatic B4. You'll know it when you hear it.
Those notes have a roundness or depth to them, and you can hear the way that they "cut" through - Luther's voice particularly seems to bloom when he hits those A4s. For me the hardest thing to learn was that "power" and "volume" were not really the same thing - that someone who sang more loudly than someone else was not (necessarily) singing more powerfully. This didn't really make much sense - every person who I've ever heard described as a powerful singer is someone who I'd describe as being "loud." But what they were really doing is differentiating between someone whose volume came naturally, and someone who was shouting to achieve volume. A person with a bigger voice will be louder than someone with a smaller voice if they are both singing properly. A great example of this is this clip of tenors singing the exposed Vittoria! high note in Tosca. Bjorling is a lyric tenor who has a small-ish voice; Corelli is a spinto tenor (with a steely dramatic edge) with a very powerful voice. They are both singing the same note and are both achieving optimal production for their voice - but Corelli will always be bigger on it.
A person who is shouting and/or has poor placement can achieve a great deal of volume, but they'll lose the other qualities and the sound that results will be thin and lacking in resonance. Even if you do have a big voice, someone singing properly can overpower someone with a bigger voice who is singing poorly. One of the best examples of this is Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé's medley performance at the Oscars. Jennifer is notorious for having a very loud voice. She also happens to have a rather sizable and heavy voice, and as a dramatic soprano her upper register should be able to easily overpower a light mezzo-soprano like Beyoncé. But when they both go up for the same note, Bey cuts right through, and Jennifer is only audible in the brief break between Bey's note. JHud should have been able to do this; that she didn't says as much about her technical issues as it does about how good Bey was. Jennifer Hudson has similar issues in this clip comparing her to Whitney; while she does achieve power on the mid-belt especially, she is inconsistent in her placement throughout, and as she ascends she becomes significantly thinner. I think you can hear the difference between Whitney's power (yayyy) and JHud's (throaty, forced, thin, and generally all things 'boo')
So! To me, the Yorke note sounded like he was shouting loudly, and while he was able to hold it out for an impressively long period of time, he wasn't producing much resonance. I think you can hear this if you compare "good" female belts to "good" male belts, and then "bad" female belts to "bad" male belts and compare the qualities.
Mm. For me what has really helped is listening to point-counterpoint examples, where someone says, "This is a bad example. This is a good example," and then explains what they are listening to that indicates that it is good or bad. I think the learning curve is that a lot of it is vague aesthetic descriptions about roundness, velvet, tonal qualities, and so forth.
So I guess I'll post some examples of what I wanted to hear! In that moment, Thom was belting an A4. In this segment, through 5:40, Luther belts four or five A4s (and many more G4s) with power and resonance. This moment earlier in the song is also a good example. Or for an example a half step higher, Jackie Wilson's Bb4 here and here are both excellent. And for one full step up, this is my favorite non-operatic B4. You'll know it when you hear it.
Those notes have a roundness or depth to them, and you can hear the way that they "cut" through - Luther's voice particularly seems to bloom when he hits those A4s. For me the hardest thing to learn was that "power" and "volume" were not really the same thing - that someone who sang more loudly than someone else was not (necessarily) singing more powerfully. This didn't really make much sense - every person who I've ever heard described as a powerful singer is someone who I'd describe as being "loud." But what they were really doing is differentiating between someone whose volume came naturally, and someone who was shouting to achieve volume. A person with a bigger voice will be louder than someone with a smaller voice if they are both singing properly. A great example of this is this clip of tenors singing the exposed Vittoria! high note in Tosca. Bjorling is a lyric tenor who has a small-ish voice; Corelli is a spinto tenor (with a steely dramatic edge) with a very powerful voice. They are both singing the same note and are both achieving optimal production for their voice - but Corelli will always be bigger on it.
A person who is shouting and/or has poor placement can achieve a great deal of volume, but they'll lose the other qualities and the sound that results will be thin and lacking in resonance. Even if you do have a big voice, someone singing properly can overpower someone with a bigger voice who is singing poorly. One of the best examples of this is Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé's medley performance at the Oscars. Jennifer is notorious for having a very loud voice. She also happens to have a rather sizable and heavy voice, and as a dramatic soprano her upper register should be able to easily overpower a light mezzo-soprano like Beyoncé. But when they both go up for the same note, Bey cuts right through, and Jennifer is only audible in the brief break between Bey's note. JHud should have been able to do this; that she didn't says as much about her technical issues as it does about how good Bey was. Jennifer Hudson has similar issues in this clip comparing her to Whitney; while she does achieve power on the mid-belt especially, she is inconsistent in her placement throughout, and as she ascends she becomes significantly thinner. I think you can hear the difference between Whitney's power (yayyy) and JHud's (throaty, forced, thin, and generally all things 'boo')
So! To me, the Yorke note sounded like he was shouting loudly, and while he was able to hold it out for an impressively long period of time, he wasn't producing much resonance. I think you can hear this if you compare "good" female belts to "good" male belts, and then "bad" female belts to "bad" male belts and compare the qualities.
I'm sorry I ramble. It's a disease.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Wow, fascinating insight, man! I really appreciate it. Came back from my first singing lesson ever. I have experience with intense vocal training but I've never actually tried to use it for singing. Thought I would fix that. Anyway, the instructor (recommended by a friend) was really cool. Went through a brief warm-up and jumped right into a song of my choice (Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush") just to apply some of the warm-up, and he had me sing along while he played on the piano. I've never sang for anyone in my life so that was a pretty scary experience at first. He told me that while I have a very good vocal instrument, I need to fine-tune it lots more. Basically, I can project extremely well, but I lack experience with tone and pitch and all that stuff. He also determined that I'm a baritone ("high baritone"). We practiced in the G/G-flat keys.
Speaking of Creep, I recently watched this cover and was pretty blown away.
Could you give me some further advice on really getting my voice to resonate? Right now I feel it hard to do that without projecting loudly.
Speaking of Creep, I recently watched this cover and was pretty blown away.
Could you give me some further advice on really getting my voice to resonate? Right now I feel it hard to do that without projecting loudly.
That's great! I'm curious, though: What sort of vocal training did you do that isn't related to singing?
And this is probably going to sound silly after that previous post but.... I can't sing. Like, at all. I mean I can sing but it is this uncontrolled and out-of-tune mess. I would like to give you practical advice, but I really can't. I did find this video pretty interesting, and this video (also posted in the OP) is a very thorough look at what resonance is. I don't think that you should worry too much that you have trouble projecting at lower volumes; maintaining resonance and projecting at low volumes actually requires superior breath energy and control than doing so at loud volumes.
SonofdonCD
Member
It wouldn't make much sense to do so, as B# and C natural are enharmonic notes (as are Cb and B natural and E# and F natural) and mean exactly the same thing. If you use the keyboard, it's a lot easier to visualize C natural than to visualize B#. It's redundancy. You won't see B# being used unless the scale calls for it, like in C# major (every note is sharp).
I wouldn't try to encroach on whatever your voice coach is planning to do with you in lessons by giving a potentially contradicting piece of advice. Just have fun, and know that if it hurts, STOP! Cause you're doing it wrong. Lastly, ask your voice teacher for some tips on vocal health, as some people neglect that part of the deal. (Like for instance, singing a gig at a loud bar or club and afterwards talking and hanging out for the rest of the night while the loud DJ music is playing. You can very easily lose your voice, not from the singing but from talking over the loud music. It has nearly happened to me a few times, so I leave the bar almost immediately after I'm done.)
There's one thing I've always struggled with and can't get right as a singer, doing runs. I love how riffs and runs sound but I just can't replicate them, I mean I've been practicing and I can get pretty close and can do some pretty simple ones, but if I want do a fast run mid verse, it just won't come out, I don't have the muscle memory yet for them or my voice type doesn't lend itself to them, I guess all those Mariah, Beyonce, Whitney songs should be out of my repertoire *sobs*
SonofdonCD
Member
A lot of people never think to slow things down when they practice. Make sure you can replicate the run. If you know the run, note for note, then try singing the entire phrase (run included) at a much slower pace. Do it until you get it right. Then make sure you can repeatedly get it right (let's say, for instance, five times). Then speed it up slowly, again making sure you can get it correct repeatedly. Until you are up to the correct tempo.
This is useful for anything, really. Vocalists or instrumentalists. Any trouble spots you may have.
This is useful for anything, really. Vocalists or instrumentalists. Any trouble spots you may have.
I think MrOogieBoogie should answer that himself, in order to give his own, personal experience, but I do remember that he's an NYC based actor. Public speakers (like broadcast journalists), actors, and singers share so many similar techniques for obvious reasons.
I've posted Natalie Weiss's Breaking Down the Riff's here before, and I would share it again in a similar situation. She applies everything SonofdonCD posted so you don't have to, shall we say.
Breaking Down the Riffs Ep. 1
I think she has eight (or more, I'm not sure) of those little tutorials on her YouTube page, and I know she's producing some new ones for BroadwayWorld.com
Speaking of great vocalists, Beyoncé sounds just phenomenal on this new album. I don't think she's pushing herself very hard, but there's certainly a lot more (vocal) variety than I've heard from her recently.
This makes a lot of sense, and it echoes what I've read before about vocal agility. You have to be able to do everything perfect when things are slow before you start making things more complex, after all. If you can't maintain support and sing in tune while going slowly, how are you going to manage it while doing even more complex vocalizations or at a faster tempo?
This makes a lot of sense, and it echoes what I've read before about vocal agility. You have to be able to do everything perfect when things are slow before you start making things more complex, after all. If you can't maintain support and sing in tune while going slowly, how are you going to manage it while doing even more complex vocalizations or at a faster tempo?
So glad this thread is still going. *.*
My technical knowledge of music isn't very advanced, but I've never heard of this notation. Typically, B above middle C is B4.
Again, my technical knowledge is limited, but here's two simple tips that helped me immensely:
1) Open wide. A lot of singers refuse to do this because it looks "cartoonish" or just isn't habit (this was certainly the case with me), but opening my mouth wide really helped me improve my natural resonance. Opening your mouth wide isn't a cure-all, and seasoned vocalists can achieve great resonance even with their mouths in a more neutral state, but for a young singer just starting out opening your mouth wide really enables you to take note of your vocal placement, and helps you make a more conscious effort to place your voice in the mask.
2) Keep EVERYTHING relaxed (especially your throat and lower jaw). Tension is the mortal enemy of resonance. Keep the throat relaxed, the shoulders relaxed, the larynx low, and the jaw slack (while at the same time opening wide). The less obstruction between the air in your lungs, the vocal chords, and your mouth, the better.
My technical knowledge of music isn't very advanced, but I've never heard of this notation. Typically, B above middle C is B4.
Again, my technical knowledge is limited, but here's two simple tips that helped me immensely:
1) Open wide. A lot of singers refuse to do this because it looks "cartoonish" or just isn't habit (this was certainly the case with me), but opening my mouth wide really helped me improve my natural resonance. Opening your mouth wide isn't a cure-all, and seasoned vocalists can achieve great resonance even with their mouths in a more neutral state, but for a young singer just starting out opening your mouth wide really enables you to take note of your vocal placement, and helps you make a more conscious effort to place your voice in the mask.
2) Keep EVERYTHING relaxed (especially your throat and lower jaw). Tension is the mortal enemy of resonance. Keep the throat relaxed, the shoulders relaxed, the larynx low, and the jaw slack (while at the same time opening wide). The less obstruction between the air in your lungs, the vocal chords, and your mouth, the better.
Mammoth Jones
Member
I really need to take voice lessons. But I'm scared to death. =(
It's important to combine the two - open wide, but remembering to keep the jaw still relaxed. Don't open so wide you give yourself lockjaw.
Great example. So relaxed. So perfect. *sigh*
This is fascinating. The High F is in falsetto, and it's really interesting hearing a male opera singer use falsetto in performance. I think it may actually be head voice, though. When I'm reading people write about opera, I have to pay attention to see whether they differentiate between falsetto and head voice. I sometimes see the two differentiated as essentially the "untrained" version of falsetto (weak, airy, lacking substance, disconnected, having volume only in the upper reaches) and "trained" (more condensed, connected with the rest of the voice, dynamic control, etc.). I'm leaning more towards calling it head voice at the moment, at least the way I use the terminology.
I've only heard William Matteuzi really do justice to that note while singing in a modal register. The note is essentially a throwback to an earlier era of the tenor voice, before the advent of bigger orchestras and a darker, more covered tone, when it was acceptable for tenor voices to make use of falsetto or a mixed voice. Most tenors dodge it entirely or go for a High D. The High F is pretty thrilling, though.
I've only heard William Matteuzi really do justice to that note while singing in a modal register. The note is essentially a throwback to an earlier era of the tenor voice, before the advent of bigger orchestras and a darker, more covered tone, when it was acceptable for tenor voices to make use of falsetto or a mixed voice. Most tenors dodge it entirely or go for a High D. The High F is pretty thrilling, though.
This is basically The Best Book Ever.* I talked more about it here. This is also a good book on taking care of your voice, though it isn't really about learning, per se.
* That is about the history of vocal pedagogy and the science of the voice.
Thank you so much for the fast answer. I just picked up the first book by James Stark for my Kobo. After I finish it I'll out the second one.
Thank you so much for the fast answer. I just picked up the first book by James Stark for my Kobo. After I finish it I'll out the second one.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Falsetto is a fundamentally different part of the voice, more like a whistle. The vocal folds are held taught and don't vibrate against each other, whilst air rushes past.
Here's a fantastic tenor that I've had the pleasure of seeing live, nailing the Credeasi Miseri high F in modal voice.
An(other) example of tenor falsetto in opera (according to Juan Diego Florez) is the 11 high Cs in Ah Mes Amis! from La Fille du Regiment. The Cs at octaves were supposed to be in falsetto for a yodeling effect, as the character is from the alps, but once someone did it in full voice, everyone else had to or risk looking like a wimp.
Cool thread. I can't add much, I am a terrible singer. My favorite rock singers are Bowie and Freddie Mercury.
Can't say I have every been an opera fan, but I loved Freddie's album he did with Montserrat Caballé.
Barcelona - Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé
I used to go around the house and sing out BARCELONA!!, my wife thought I was nuts....
I will add this tidbit I just found out, Samuel Ramey, a world renowned Opera singer, grew up and went to High School in the little town in Kansas where I was born in, and lived in until I was 6 years old.....my Dad was the only doctor in town, if Mr. Ramey every had throat problems as a kid, he probably went to see my dad....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Ramey
Samuel Ramey / The Impossible Dream
Can't say I have every been an opera fan, but I loved Freddie's album he did with Montserrat Caballé.
Barcelona - Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé
I used to go around the house and sing out BARCELONA!!, my wife thought I was nuts....
I will add this tidbit I just found out, Samuel Ramey, a world renowned Opera singer, grew up and went to High School in the little town in Kansas where I was born in, and lived in until I was 6 years old.....my Dad was the only doctor in town, if Mr. Ramey every had throat problems as a kid, he probably went to see my dad....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Ramey
Samuel Ramey / The Impossible Dream
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
- Status