Saturday, 1 October 2011

Listen to Mariah Carey's ENTIRE 5 octave range, Note by note. Haters doubt it no more!


Now there is no other way to sum up this video other than EPIC! I have wondered, since practically forever, why no one has ever created a video displaying all of Mariah Carey's 5 octave range, note by note. So intrigued was I, that I even contemplating doing it myself, but was just too darn lazy. It seems such a mammoth task was no bother for heroic Youtuber MCLAMB4LIFE1, who created just such a video.

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Maria Callas- Vocal Range/Profile



Vocal TypeSoprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves  F3-E6 (though the E6's vibrato touches an F6, so will count as 3 octaves)
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses:Callas's voice was noted for its three distinct registers: Her low or chest register was extremely dark and almost baritonal in power, and she used this part of her voice for dramatic effect, often going into this register much higher on the scale than most sopranos. Her middle register had a peculiar and highly personal sound—"part oboe, part clarinet", as Claudia Cassidy described it—and was noted for its veiled or "bottled" sound, as if she were singing into a jug. Legge adds, "Even in the most difficult fioriture there were no musical or technical difficulties in this part of the voice which she could not execute with astonishing, unostentatious ease. Her chromatic runs, particularly downwards, were beautifully smooth and staccatos almost unfailingly accurate, even in the trickiest intervals. There is hardly a bar in the whole range of nineteenth century music for high soprano that seriously tested her powers."

Vocal Negatives: Rodolfo Celletti states, "In certain areas of her range her voice also possessed a guttural quality. This would occur in the most delicate and troublesome areas of a soprano's voice—for instance where the lower and middle registers merge, between G and A. I would go so far as to say that here her voice had such resonances as to make one think at times of a ventriloquist. . .or else the voice could sound as though it were resonating in a rubber tube. There was another troublesome spot. . . between the middle and upper registers. Here, too, around the treble F and G, there was often something in the sound itself which was not quite right, as though the voice were not functioning properly."

Note:I am in no position to be a judging a voice like this- you need college degrees and schooling to do that- so I pinched the positives and negatives from Wikipdiea. I am forever in your debt! Read the article here, its fascinating stuff.

Weird: Josh Strickland sounds crazily like Christina Aguilera on track "Last Dance"


Yes its a terrible Photoshop, but I needed a picture.. :D

Sent to a video, via a link, supposedly directing me to a new Christina Aguilera demo entitled Last Dance, I excitedly followed it, eager to hear what direction her and David Guetta- who was credited as the producer on the video- were going to take on their collaboration.

Monday, 26 September 2011

Lady Gaga's touching tribute to fan Jamie Rodemeyer

I had to post this moving performance of Lady Gaga singing Hair at the Iheartmusic Festival this weekend. It was dedicated to a young fan, named Jamey Rodemeyer, who sadly took his own life after being bullied at school because he was gay. Whatever people think of Lady Gaga, something good that has come from her being in the limelight is that she is given a very public, prominent voice to a whole section of society that feels excluded and ostracised by and from it, and credit has to be given for that.

Here's hoping that Lady Gaga's tribute will not only give those who are suffering, like Jamey did, hope for a better future but will more importantly give them strength to persevere through their struggle because it gets better.

School of Mime: Jennifer Lopez performs at Iheartmusic Festival. Live or play back?


Jennifer Lopez wheeled out her surprisingly memorable back catalogue- seriously, I forgot how many hits she has- for her set at the Iheartmusic festival. Now there is no question that Jennifer Lopez's set was anything but A-list and she looked stunning to boot, but many a person were asking about whether it was mimed or sung live.

Lets examine her first performance, which was of Get Right, to get a flavour of things. The dance moves weren't too heavy, or strenuous, so we could logically conclude that this was choreographed with the intention of allowing for Jennifer to sing live. You can clearly hear that there are volumes changes in the vocal, where at some points are voice isn't as pronounced as others- contrast when she goes lower in her range (3.16), to when she makes her exclamations to the crowd. 4.25 also leads me to think it was live as that section of chest notes is intermixed with a shout out to the crowd that maintains the same volume and texture as the chest notes. Finally, at 4.42 Jennifer seems to suffer from a slight breathlessness that would coincide nicely with the rather strenuous movements that had just come before it.

Sunday, 25 September 2011

Lady Gaga performs "Scheiße" and "Judas" at iHeartRadio music festival




Lady Gaga did what she does best and put on a show stopping performance of Scheiße and Judas at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas this weekend. Gaga appeared on stage atop of a motorbike, that can only be described as a piece of modern art, and proceeded to sing and dance the crowd into a frenzy. I can't even imagine how much Lady Gaga spends on these one time set pieces and costumes!

Friday, 23 September 2011

Julie Andrews Vocal Range/Profile (Vocal Prime)




Vocal Type: Soprano
Vocal Range: 2 Octaves 2 notes and a1 semitone F#3-Bb5 (Note: she has claimed to have had a 4 octave range. If anyone knows any lower, or higher notes she has sung, please get in contact or comment.)
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: Classically trained, powerful yet dexterous soprano, with a gorgeous clarity to her tone and a natural vibrato. Seamless transition between registers. Vocal stamina in her youth - she was on Broadway constantly from the age of 20 - 23. Wonderfully expressive phrasing and emotive interpretation of song. Also a superb actor (Oscar-winning) and dancer.
Vocal Negatives: Due to her reliance on classical technique, she struggles with certain styles (ie her 'Jazz Hot Baby' from 'Victor Victoria' isn't really that jazzy or bluesy!). However superb at musicals, operetta and light classical music.

Thanks To Karen V for directing me to the notes, and providing the positives and negatives.