Up and running!

You're right, of course!  Still, I feel that if you want to sing a song in a foreign language, it's a must to translate the lyrics and try to grasp the meaning of the words. If not, why sing it when you won't be able to deliver a good interpretation? You would fare better singing in your own language, right? And yes, the phrasing can be difficult if you're not fluent in the language of the song you're singing. But I thought that guy's phrasing was okay, and I also thought his accent was good.  :-/

And yeah, Gregory's story is very moving. The disease he had is a tough one.  :-[

I missed talking about performances and vocals with all of you guys. This thread is one of my favs on Atop. 

Very good performance.  He hasa the right voice type to sing Queen, IMO.  Lots of energy.  Good technique and control.  I have been spoiled by AFL, of course, and miss the depth of the resonance Adam produces when he sings this number, but, this guy acquits himself very well, indeed.

Does he sneak in a breath?  I cannot tell for certain either.  There is a little drop out around 5:10, but with the cast and audience singing along, it is not clear.  Doesn't really matter, tho.  This is good.  Even if he doesn't do a crazy assed riff up to an F5 at the end like another singer we know.

Well, this is a household name. I brought his video here is because I've seen some people compare his vocals to Adam's. Of course they've got different types of voices. What's funny is that today whenever and whoever a male singer sings high, then most likely our BB's high notes will get to compared to his... #sigh...



I found he's pretty strong in mid range all the way to the low high. Some people think that his A4-D5 is stronger than Adam's. Their reasons are that MB's wilder and more powerful.

Personally, I don't really like this type of voice.

Ummm.  Yeah.  No.  I don't get it.  At. All.  What are they supposed to have in common vocally?  Very different sounding voices, produced very differently.  Okay, they sing in similar ranges.  They both sing with vibrato at times.  And?  So?  

Michael Bolton is typical of a specific pop sound.  He sings from his chest with almost no head resonance.  There is a lot of breath in his tone and very little ring.  You can hear him "push" his voice thru much of the song.  It is the opposite of "effortless" to me.  One of the problems with this type of singing is that you can't do a lot with dynamic range from soft and tender to strong and forceful.  If you back off the breath, nothing comes out.  If you push it harder for more volume, it it's likely to crack.  You also cannot sustain long notes and phrases, because it takes a lot of air to push out the sound.  So, you can't get a lot of different colors to your voice.  It ends up sounding "one note" to me.  Some folks hear this type of voice and find it very emotional.  I guess because it reminds them of singing thru a constricted throat when you are fighting back tears and emotions?  Because they are expending such effort to sing to you?  Because we associate the sound of a push or strain on the voice with the exersion of great power?

To use an analogy, Bolton sounds like he is singing with his voice stuck in second gear, revving the engine to go faster than it was designed to do in that gear.  Adam's voice is soooooo different.  He rarely, if ever, pushes it where you hear it strain. Instead of pushing up to the notes, Adam floats on top of them.  He focuses the sound into his head for that pure, ringing tone that can go from angelicly soft, to operatically powerful.  He shifts gears so that the engine, instead of revving, hums.  He somehow taps into the ring of his head resonance even when singing in his low chest register, which gives his voice that round, full, 3D sound.  He maintains that resonance all the way up and down his range, moving from chest to mixed to head voice. 

We talk about Adam having a third lung because of how long he can sustain a note or phrase.  Part of that is because, if you sing correctly, using your body's resonance and relaxing your throat, face, and chest and finding that "sweet" spot to float on top of the notes, it requires much less air.  You are pushing or forcing nothing.  

Singing "correctly" may sound like I am making a value judgment about which style of singing is right or better.  Perhaps it would sound more objective to say singing with classical techniques.  These are techniques that have been refined over hundreds and hundreds of years to maximize the projection of the voice, the control, the ability to sing pianissimo to fortissimo, the ability to sing long, lyrical phrases, the ability to float your voice on top of an orchestra with no amplification and be heard in the rear of the second balcony, all the while causing no damage to the vocal cords.  The more resonance a singer can create in his body, the more the sound can vibrate and resonate and bounce off the objects and walls of a concert hall, creating more layers of harmonics.  

Now, whether the listener LIKES that type of sound is a matter of personal preference and experience.  I don't argue with anyone who says they like Bolton's voice more than Adam's.  That it sounds "better" to them.  Some people like coke better than a fine champagne.  Some people prefer to watch hip hop rather than ballet.  Some people would rather watch football than gymnastics.  

I prefer Adam.