Up and running!

Glad you listened and liked that cassie. Jimmy Messina wrote that when he was 25 years old. I doubt it was ever played on the radio (maybe indie or college stations). They were famous for You're Mama Don't Dance as far as radio play (you probably know that).

ETA: I love classic rock and usually love those guitar solos, but on Pathway I find myself saying "alright, enough guitar already".

I know this is vocal masterclass, not musicians, but just wanted to post once more. This one kind of goes into celtic type music.

Be Free

youtu.be/LfMK3i7WNI4

I posted this in the daily thread for June 27, but also wanted to include it here so it will not get lost.

About whether Adam was/is damaging his voice.

I chatted with Angelina Kalahari, the UK opera singer, today. We always get wound up talking about his voice. I mentioned the rasp in his voice that we all heard when he sang Aftermath on Idol. I told her that I had read some folks commenting on that and in general, saying that Adam could no longer sing as he did in CTMBTM because he had damaged his voice singing the rock styles. I said that I thought the rasp was intentional and stylistic, and did not indicate any vocal problems.

Well, gang, the expert with years and years of professional opera singing and teaching agreed with me 100%!!! She thinks he is totally capable of singing CTMBTM with the purity he did at 22, but thinks it would be richer and more moving now than then because he has matured so much as an artist. We both said that at 22 he sang it as a boy, and now he would sing it as a man.

I probed a bit more, and asked if Adam continued to use that rasp as he does in some songs, and did it on a regular basis, if it would cause damage. She responded with a definite "No." She says that he produces the rasp with a different mechanism from other untrained pop/rock singers. Where they squeeze their vocal cords tightly to get that gravel, Adam uses his powerfully developed muscles in his throat to squeeze the sound. (You can see the muscles work in that silly video with Nikka.) Therefore, there is no vocal cord strain, and no possibility of damage. She explained that she can hear the difference between the production of the two different types of rasp, and reassured me that Adam was taking very good care of his voice in that respect. WHEW!!!! She added that it was her opinion that Adam was "code switching" a little because he was singing for Steven Tyler, and incorporated a bit of Tyler's style into that rasp on Aftermath. Interesting thought.

We also discussed how Adam makes different genres fit HIS voice, rather than altering his voice to fit the genre. How he consistently keeps his classical base of technique, but, with instinct and years of attention and practice, has found additional "tricks" to make the different genres sound authentic when sung with HIS voice.

So, for all of us out there who tend to worry and fret over Adam protecting and preserving his extraordinary instrument, we can relax, knowing Angelina's expert opinion that he is only getting better with age and experience.

I wondered if anyone here has been watching 'The Glee Project'. It's on 'Oxygen' seems to be repeated a lot and the new episode is on Sunday's at 9.00p.m. ET.
It's a competition to find new 'Glee' stars with the winner getting a guest appearance on Glee. All the contestants are extremely talented but the stand out for me is Alex Newell. He reminds me a lot of Jacob from the last season of AI only he does sing in key and has much better control. He can sing the soprano parts and sounds like a girl and I would love to hear him going head to head with Mercedes in a 'Diva Off'.
Last night he ended up in the bottom 3 as I think the producers wanted to humble him. I think he needed that but I still love him. We got to hear him sing 'I will always love you' and it was phenomenal and no he didn't go home. I can't find a youtube video to link.
There is no voting and it's the producers who decide who goes home each week.
This really is a must watch for all Glee fans!

I just learned about "The Glee Project." Never really got into the show, but, this looked interesting, so I went on line to watch the premiere episode. I really enjoyed it and recommend it. A different take on a reality competition.

What I found interesting from a vocal perspective was the recording sessions vs. the completed video. When they showed the kids working on their lines in the studio, the sound was a dry feed. No tricks, no reverb, no enhancement. The kids sounded much different when you heard the finished track on the video. Sound production can truly enhance, and even create a good sounding voice where it didn't exist in real life.

It makes me again appreciate how incredible Adam's voice is, that when we hear clips of him without any of that sound production, his voice sounds so rich, full, ringing, and on pitch.

Check it out while we wait for new Adam music.