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Post by toramenor on Feb 11, 2015 15:22:20 GMT -5
I love how microphones just can't handle Adam's voice sometimes, even though it means we don't get to hear it clearly. Why? Because it's proof that sound recording technology still needs to improve before it can keep up with the human ear. Engineers, get on it!  I was just watching this video, and even though the sound quality is not the best, it's still not bad and it's pretty constant throughout - up until the final "love" that Adam sings, when the sound becomes kinda distorted: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-4b6mgxA8 Maybe Adam projects his voice differently on that note when he goes up, and that's what causes the sound recording device to go haywire. What do you think, cassie? |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2015 9:53:47 GMT -5
I figure not many people have listened to this album, but the intro to this is the only time I've heard an acapella choir of Adam overdubs. Totes worth hearing!!
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Post by cassie on Feb 23, 2015 10:40:32 GMT -5
I figure not many people have listened to this album, but the intro to this is the only time I've heard an acapella choir of Adam overdubs. Totes worth hearing!! Cool! Thanks for pointing this out. I actually really like this song, tho I haven't listened to the "updated" "remixed" version. |
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Post by cassie on Feb 23, 2015 10:45:27 GMT -5
I love how microphones just can't handle Adam's voice sometimes, even though it means we don't get to hear it clearly. Why? Because it's proof that sound recording technology still needs to improve before it can keep up with the human ear. Engineers, get on it! I was just watching this video, and even though the sound quality is not the best, it's still not bad and it's pretty constant throughout - up until the final "love" that Adam sings, when the sound becomes kinda distorted: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-4b6mgxA8 Maybe Adam projects his voice differently on that note when he goes up, and that's what causes the sound recording device to go haywire. What do you think, cassie? My apologies for not responding. My bookmark notification did not notify me. Yup, there are certain notes or ranges where Adam's voice can get really "hot" and overpower the microphone. That "DIVA" promo from a couple years back wasn't that far from the truth. In one of the recent "techie" articles, Adam's sound guy says he has to watch Adam's levels closely during performances. The frequencies between 5000-6000 Hz are particularly powerful. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2015 18:26:01 GMT -5
I figure not many people have listened to this album, but the intro to this is the only time I've heard an acapella choir of Adam overdubs. Totes worth hearing!! Cool! Thanks for pointing this out. I actually really like this song, tho I haven't listened to the "updated" "remixed" version. It really is such a shame that Monte and his crew released this music like they did. Several of the songs are really good and if the release had been done above board and timed differently the fans would have eaten it up instead of shunning it. Doing something for spite just bites 'em in the backside. |
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Post by toramenor on Mar 1, 2015 15:20:22 GMT -5
I like the song too! (Haven't heard it before.) Thanks nationalglampoon for bringing it over. The AL "choir" is something I wanna hear more of.... (maybe on TOH? just wishing)
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Post by cassie on Mar 5, 2015 16:05:57 GMT -5
badassalterego from IDF has lots of singing experience and training. She is a recent Adam discoverer, and has written several blogs about him and QAL. I won't quote the whole thing here, because she has her own space, but do check her out. badassalterego.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/singing-101-a-quick-overview/#commentsThat is one blog entry with a comment about the glambulge phenomenon, but there are other Adam-centric blogs as well.
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Post by cassie on Jul 27, 2015 15:28:10 GMT -5
May be considered OT, but I think it applies in general. Very interesting article about the difference between having a valid opinion and simply being right or wrong. It resonated with me because I frequently read a statement on the web that I KNOW is wrong, but the writer finishes with IMO or YMMV, as if that caveat protects them from the point being refuted. www.houstonpress.com/arts/no-it-s-not-your-opinion-you-re-just-wrong-7611752In regards to Adam or other singers, I read, for example, how Freddie is better than Adam because he has a five octave range. Now, whether Adam or Freddie is "better" is a matter of opinion depending on what measurements one considers relevant and what sound one prefers. But, when one bases their opinion on that statement about range, it is wrong. Freddie does NOT have a five octave singing range, no matter how many times his fans repeat that "fact." As you all know, I happen to be deeply in love with Adam's voice. I prefer it to any other male voice I have heard in pop, now or in the past. Still, I shake my head sometimes when I read fans defending their opinions that he is the best singer in the world, across all time, space and genres. They say he has a four octave range. Nope. Or, if he does, he has not demonstrated it on any song he has performed or recorded that I have heard. And I have heard most everything that is public. They say he can hold a note longer than anyone else. Nope. He has wonderful breath control. We have many examples of that. But, singing a 22 second phrase on one breath (CTMBTM) is not particularly extraordinary for a highly trained, classical singer. And, as much as I love his artistry and respect his ear, the man is not pitch perfect all the time. He DOES hit a flat note every now and then (as does even the most acclaimed opera singer). Fans say, "Oh, that's just because you are listening to a video made on a cell phone. It distorts the sound." While poor quality recorders do many things to distort sounds or limit the frequencies and the balance, they do not have the capacity to alter the basic frequency of a note; the number of oscillations per second. Flat is flat. Different people have different perceptual abilities to detect differences in frequencies. A few people can hear the difference between 440 cycles and 441. A few people cannot hear the differences between 440 and 450. But lousy cell phone audio doesn't alter 440 to 445. If some people hear a flat note and others don't, don't blame the recording device; blame the accuracy of their ears. I am writing this (with trepidation) because when Adam sang Wicked Game and TISI at Morongo recently, he hit some flat notes. That's not an opinion. That's a fact. But, tho' I was asked my opinion of both songs, I did not respond. I didn't want to be attacked for my "opinion." (Been there, felt that too many times.) Adam is an incredibly talented, highly technically proficient, vocalist. I hold him in the highest regard. I think it is still possible to love him and recognize that his every performance is not perfect. IMHO (hahaha) |
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Post by cassie on Aug 5, 2015 15:57:30 GMT -5
red panda asked me about the very low notes on TOH from Auckland. As I started analyzing and framing my answer it became longer and more meandering, not to mention technical, so I decided I should either keep it brief or put it in the masterclass thread. Me? Brief? Yeah, not happening. So here it is.
Singing is easy! Anyone can sing. Just open your mouth, activate your voice box, and out comes singing. It is a most natural expression of our inner feelings, thoughts and grooves.
Singing is incredibly difficult to do incredibly well! One basic reason is because you cannot see what your teacher is doing to produce the sound she is making. You can only hear the result. You cannot see what YOU are doing to produce a sound, either. So, how do you match the sound she is making? What is happening internally with her breathing, throat, larynx, vocal folds, muscles, tongue, soft palate and diaphragm to create the sound? Even if she can describe anatomically what needs to happen, i.e. needing to elongate your vocal folds, how the hell does one DO that?
If you are learning to play guitar, your teacher demonstrates the finger placement on the guitar neck, and then strums the strings and voile, out comes an A minor chord. If you put your fingers in the same place on your guitar and strum, you produce the same A minor chord. If you are learning the piano, your teacher demonstrates a run up and down the keys. You see where he places his fingers, which fingers he uses, and even how quickly he moves them. With practice, you can duplicate the run flawlessly.
With singing, not so much! It involves a lot of trial and error. Attempt, fall short, attempt again, sounds a bit better, attempt again, sounds worse, attempt again, oo, that felt good, attempt again, can't remember what you did to feel so good, attempt again, and make a slight gain.... etc. etc.
Another reason singing well is so difficult is that you have to make so many tiny adjustments to the entire singing apparatus, the entire body, in order to sing different pitches, different tones, different volumes. If you sing a G3, then a G4, and then a G5, altho they are the same note octaves apart, how you adjust all the parts of your body to hit the notes cleanly and clearly is different for each.
So, what does that have to do with red panda's question about low notes? I'm getting there. When classically trained singers speak of vocal range, they are talking about USABLE range: notes that they can sing consistently, with strength and resonance and sustain, and that sound good. Classical techniques were developed to make the vocalist able to project his voice over an entire orchestra and to the back of the theater with no amplification.
For this reason, extremely low notes that a vocalist could utter would not be part of his usable range, because they would be too weak and lacking resonance. The audience wouldn't be able to hear them. Falsetto would not be used, because it does not have the resonance and ring to be heard, and because it cannot be sung with force or volume or a range of dynamics. Anatomically, it is impossible.
Adam is a classically trained vocalist who prepared his voice to perform on stage in musical theater, typically without a mic. So, he probably never studied, drilled or practiced how to hit those lowest notes, or how to produce falsetto reliably. It wasn't dependable or usable on stage. Pop singers use mics and amps and sophisticated sound systems, plus electronica to create a sound that is different from classical or theatrical singing. The mic creates reverb/ring, amplifies some frequencies and dampens others to even out the sound of a voice. The mic adds strength to those breathy, weak low notes, and turns up the volume on the falsetto so the audience can hear it. The electronics correct for wobbles in pitch.
I assume Max Martin wanted Adam to explore his low range and falsetto because that type of tone or sound is more "pop-y" and less formal sounding. To folks who grew up on pop music, it is a more accessible sound. In order to do this, Adam had to learn to use his vocal apparatus differently than he has for 2/3 of his life. And he has to learn to modify how he uses the mic and how the sound man modifies it. He is on a learning curve for live performance at this time. Sometimes those low notes sound chocolate syrup-y yummy. Sometimes they wobble weakly. It is a work in progress.
The same for the falsetto notes. They require a very different technique than singing the same notes in full voice or head voice. Even just going for the proper pitch requires a different adjustment to the vocal cords than he has been used to. There, too, he is evolving. (Personally, I see no reason for Adam to try to sound more like other pop singers, or to abandon that one in a billion head voice to a falsetto which is, by nature, not nearly as remarkable, but, Adam hasn't asked me what I think.) Adam will work out the sound and technique he wants, and I predict each performance will improve on the previous ones until he has it down pat.
Okay, that was just the first half of my answer. If you are having trouble falling to sleep and want to read the other half, I'll talk about the different "registers" within Adam's voice in part 2.
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Post by cassie on Aug 5, 2015 16:42:02 GMT -5
Here is part 2 about Adam's vocal range.
A person's vocal range is largely dependent on two things: 1) anatomy, and 2) training
The body's capacity to produce certain pitches depends first and foremost on the length and thickness of the vocal folds, and the size of the larynx. Therefore, a soprano cah drill, practice, hope and pray to sing a G2, but it ain't gonna happen. It is anatomically impossible. Like trying to play a lower note than there are keys on the piano.
However, the vocal folds can do many marvelous things with training. The singer can learn to manipulate them and the muscles in their body to produce notes higher and lower than they could without training.
Adam is a high tenor. In classical singing terms, a leggiero tenor. With training, these voices are remarkably flexible and rangy. And Adam has had excellent training. Typically, a tenor can sing reliably to about a C3 (an octave below middle C). As an example, Aftermath has a low note of C#3, a semi-tone higher. Live, Adam has hit a note one step lower than C3, but only briefly, not sustained. There are notes in studio recordings lower, but, I don't think they are options for a live performance.
Moving up from the C3, I have heard Adam sing up to about an F3 repeatedly. However, he has limited strength and resonance on those notes. It is these that he is now exploring with era 3. He is working to access them with more strength and tone, and learning how to use the mic to best advantage to carry those sounds and fill in some missing resonance.
At about F3-G3, there is a change in register or technique for producing the notes. He is much more comfortable with the notes G3-A4. He gets a lot of richness in tone, and increased strength, tho' he cannot belt them out with a rock wail. (There is another subtle shift abt about the E4, where his voice gets more strength and ring.) Again, this range is determined by anatomy enhanced with excellent training/practice.
As a leggiero tenor, his register naturally shifts at G4-A4. If Adam is singing gently, that is where he shifts into his head voice. There is an extraordinary amount of ring and sympathetic harmonics in his head voice. (Which is why it boggles my mind why he would bother with falsetto for those notes, when he has such flexibility and float with his head voice. But, that is another discussion.) An example is in STL, that long show-off "Somebody toooooooooooooooooooooooooooo". His head voice is round and has depth, where some tenors sound astringent, and brittle. (I adore his head voice.)
But, Adam can also continue to sing in full voice past that natural register shift. It has characteristics of a strong chest voice, with a spice of ringing head voice. This is where Adam can really power it out, and do all the rock star belts. Tenors in your community choruses generally cannot sing in full voice beyond about the G4. They have to switch to head voice (if they know how). The benchmark for a great operatic tenor is the tenor high C (C5). They strive to be able to sing that full voice. It requires great technique, but, still, many just don't have the right anatomy for it.
Adam sings in that full voice on A4, B4, and C5, without sounding strained. Then, he switches into another gear, another register? and keeps going, producing wonderfully powerful, full-voiced ringing D5s and E5s, and even briefly going up to G5s. (Again, on STL, on the last phrase, he sings "love" swooping up to an Eb5, kissing the Gb5, and then coming back to the Eb5). On rare occasions, he might even throw in an A5, or kiss a Bb5 for a half second. Leggiero tenors, the highest of the tenors, are sometimes capable of singing up to the F5 or G5. Leggiero tenors are quite rare, and those notes, the top of a mezzo soprano range, are rarer still. Adam goes above and beyond that.
So, when we talk about registers and range, I can hear a first shift at around Gb3. Another at around E4. A strong one at G4-A4. And a fourth at around D5. Each register requires a different technique to produce the notes. A well trained, classically trained singer (like Adam) can make these adjustments and transition between them with little or no noticeable difference in the tone, unless they want the difference for effect.
Let me say, that is what I hear, based on my knowledge of vocal production. But I am not a pro, and others may hear something different, and know much more about the production than me.
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