1.2.15 NYE Links and Goodies

Annala yes!  There are words you used that capture it the way I would have wanted to: "ringing" "powerful" filling the whole space" and yes..."soul".  

Travis @travctd87
Amazing memory from New years eve night, this is my video from it ???????? @adamlambert @queenwillrock youtu.be/dSU6TrgCf_k

An ATopper asked me exactly what I meant about Adam being in control or having superb control. Hmmm. Let me see if I can elaborate. (If you are not interested in singing techniques and voice production, remember scroll is your friend.)

I am not talking about being in control over what is happening on stage or with the audience. I am talking about being in control of his instrument; his voice, and his use of it. Singing well is actually a very complicated physical task involving very fine control of muscles throughout the body.

For example, consider pitch. If you are playing piano and you want to play a C4, you press down on the key that moves the hammer that hits the string that is tuned to C4. As long as the C4 string is in tune and you press down on the correct key, you get a C4. However, if you don't press down with enough percussive force, the hammer may not hit the string with enough force to make the string vibrate. Press the key too forcefully and the note is too loud. You have to have the right "touch" to produce the volume you want. 

If you want to SING a C4, you have to know in your mind what that sounds like. (Your brain and your voice box do not have pre-set tunings for each note.) Then you have to make minute adjustments in the tension and length of vocal folds that are only a total of .5-1 inch long. Your brain and your muscle memory have to know exactly how much to adjust the folds for each different note. There is no key or tab to press.

You have to expel air to cause the folds to vibrate. This involves muscles throughout your torso, not just your diaphragm. Too little air and you get a whisper or no vibration at all. Too much air, and your voice cracks or the note goes sharp. If you are doing crazy riffs like Adam sometimes does, you are changing notes maybe 5 times in one second, meaning adjusting your throat muscles to change the length and tension of your vocal folds and sustaining a consistent exhale of breath from one note to the next. All the while, you are monitoring your production through tactile feedback, through your hearing, and through your brain, making any adjustments necessary.

That all sounds very complicated. But, you say, everybody sings. Maybe not like Adam, but they can carry a tune. That's where the control comes in. Can everyone hit the correct pitch virtually every time? For long sustained notes or for rapidly changing runs? Without their voice cracking or the tone changing? At the consistent volume for each note? And can they hit any note throughout two to three octaves accurately and consistently? Loud or soft? Yeah. That.

And that is just the very basic component of pitch. Then we have tone. And resonance. And clarity. And intensity. And warmth or brittleness. And articulation. And phrasing. And attack. And sustain. And volume. And consistency throughout the range from low to high. All of that requires the singer to control his/her body and many muscles within it with incredible finesse and exactitude. I think of it like cutting a diamond. The least little slip, and the note is ruined, like the stone or the cut is ruined.

When I talk about Adam having control, I am talking about him being able to totally control all the aspects of producing the sound, and the notes  and the words and the phrases of a song EXACTLY AS HE WANTS THEM TO BE, EVERY NOTE, EVERY TIME. (Which is one reason Brian is so impressed with his instrument. That he is able to do any song in their repertoire. They don't have to change any keys, they don't have to change any melodies, they don't have to eliminate any songs. He can handle them all vocally and stylistically.)  It is about having the knowledge, experience and muscle memory to produce the sound exactly as it is in your mind without thinking of technique: what to do with the diaphragm, the back of the throat, the tongue, etc. It is about KNOWING your instrument and technique so well that you KNOW you can do it, can sing it, can go there. Then, Adam is able to set aside the technical thoughts and be free in the moment to interpret the song and interact with the band and the audience. 

More and more we see Adam's confidence, his spontaneity, his personality and his humor shine during performance. I think a lot of it has to do with this ever increasing control over his performance. Remarkable.