yippie
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He's on FIRE!
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Post by yippie on Jul 31, 2011 23:58:43 GMT -5
I sent the YT of OoL to my cello teacher with the comment that some folks (points at Atopers!) feel a cello accompaniment would be lovely. Here is her reply: Very nice song! Lots of room for a cello solo to grow gradually throughout and do something appropriately soaring toward the end.I'm nowhere good enough to play something like that, but maybe someday!  |
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Post by Craazyforadam on Aug 1, 2011 0:16:54 GMT -5
And so many additional and belated and heartfelt and colorful and wonderful well wishes. Thank you so much, esp. midwifespal, seoulmate, lindag23, kapsiz, flowergirl, adamrocks, littledarkangelpf, postfestumpf, aurora. Wiga Happy Birthday too you too - belated by now as well, it is past mid-night here. I hope you have a wonderful day!
Completely overwhelmed by all the goodness provided by all. Thank you so much!
Midwifespal, of course I know 'Viel Glueck und viel Segen...' its a round, so I'll just follow you, if you don't mind, just don't start it too high, please....no Adam Lambert here...luckily this song has not much range...
Talking about range: Cassie, I don't hear the B2 either and his C3# is thin enough that I don't think he presently has the ability to go much lower than that..at least not on a day where he is also belting in the upper ranges. Perhaps, when he warms up well and lays off the high notes for a few days, he technically may have it in him, but generally, I don't think going lower than even Eb3 is all that effective for him. He loves singing in that key, presumably because it is a warm sounding one, so I don't think we will get a lot of lower notes. And why anyways? Just to prove a point for somebody wanting to claim the 3 octave range? Also, I think that his Bb5 was not really all that great either in that video. Isn't it normally necessary to hold the tone for it to count? Though in this case I think Adam probably would have it in him if he wanted it.
But to be honest for me there are other things that fascinate me much more than that range topic:
i.e. in OOL when he sings "They say we'll rot in hell, but I don't think we will": for the third time, he is belting this out and setting it apart from the rest of the song, which is sung very lyrical, crystal clear almost operatic in style. The fact that Adam can switch back and forth like that within a live performance, just amazing.
Also, his vocal impressive / expressive /atmospheric style - not sure what to call it:
Example: The whole song allows for many different arrangements and interpretations, and 'knowing' Adam we will get to hear them over time. In this version though, the melody is sung in such a way that a pleasant but also overpowering sweetness is covering the whole song which stands in poignant contrast to the lyrics, almost like a perfume that is a bit too overpowering.
Maybe - The experience of existing laws and restriction/discrimination expressed as a lonely voice of concern or anguish in a sea of overpowering consensus that believes everything is already oh-so-ok with gay rights?
Just one way to interpret it, but he creates a mood that is so meaningful and he does that most often with his style of singing, in this case rich and melodic as compared to for example the falsetto sounding thinner voice during TOMT or Loaded Smile.
That just fascinates me so much more than range, he just has so many more tools in his toolkit than most other singers and that just makes it so exiting. Really wonder how this song will sound on the album, probably totally different, but also interesting.
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Post by cassie on Aug 1, 2011 0:48:43 GMT -5
Talking about range: Cassie, I don't hear the B2 either and his C3# is thin enough that I don't think he presently has the ability to go much lower than that..at least not on a day where he is also belting in the upper ranges. Perhaps, when he warms up well and lays off the high notes for a few days, he technically may have it in him, but generally, I don't think going lower than even Eb3 is all that effective for him. He loves singing in that key, presumably because it is a warm sounding one, so I don't think we will get a lot of lower notes. And why anyways? Just to prove a point for somebody wanting to claim the 3 octave range? Also, I think that his Bb5 was not really all that great either in that video. Isn't it normally necessary to hold the tone for it to count? Though in this case I think Adam probably would have it in him if he wanted it. But to be honest for me there are other things that fascinate me much more than that range topic: i.e. in OOL when he sings "They say we'll rot in hell, but I don't think we will": for the third time, he is belting this out and setting it apart from the rest of the song, which is sung very lyrical, crystal clear almost operatic in style. The fact that Adam can switch back and forth like that within a live performance, just amazing. Also, his vocal impressive / expressive /atmospheric style - not sure what to call it: Example: The whole song allows for many different arrangements and interpretations, and 'knowing' Adam we will get to hear them over time. In this version though, the melody is sung in such a way that a pleasant but also overpowering sweetness is covering the whole song which stands in poignant contrast to the lyrics, almost like a perfume that is a bit too overpowering. Maybe - The experience of existing laws and restriction/discrimination expressed as a lonely voice of concern or anguish in a sea of overpowering consensus that believes everything is already oh-so-ok with gay rights? Just one way to interpret it, but he creates a mood that is so meaningful and he does that most often with his style of singing, in this case rich and melodic as compared to for example the falsetto sounding thinner voice during TOMT or Loaded Smile. That just fascinates me so much more than range, he just has so many more tools in his toolkit than most other singers and that just makes it so exiting. Really wonder how this song will sound on the album, probably totally different, but also interesting. Note: I found this great resource for pitches on the internet. Go to www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/appendix/pitch/pitch.html The yellow key is C4, or middle C. Click on it to hear how it sounds. I will reference this page to talk about Adam's range. I think people talk about range being the end all be all determination of a great singer because it is objective and measurable. Perhaps the equivalent of talking about an excellent car by discussing how fast it can go from 0=60 or something. I agree with you that there are so many other characteristics or qualities of a great singer. First of all, let's talk about USABLE range. Where one can sustain a note with consistency and clarity, and sing it repeatedly on different songs on different nights. For Adam, he hit that C#3 (the fifth black key below the yellow key) several times every night in Aftermath. I agree, that is just about his lowest usable note. Maybe a C3. (the white key just to the left of the C#3 you just found.) But that is less consistent. I can hear a "break" in his voice at about a G3. (3 white keys below the yellow one) Below that, he is very chesty and less powerful. A few notes below that he can still get a rich, caramel tone, like the bottom Eb3s (the fourth black key below the yellow one) in OoL. On the top, he consistently pitched the songs on tour to hit an F#5. (the eighth black key above the yellow one) On one offs, he can belt up to the A5 (the twelfth white key above the yellow one) with ringing clarity. The Bb5, (the black key to the right of the A5) a half step above he has only touched very briefly and very occasionally. So, I would say usable range is C#3 to A5. Damned impressive, but not quite 3 octaves. ( Just for fun, check out your range. Start with the yellow key and sing that pitch. Then walk down each white key to the left, singing each. What is the lowest you can comfortably and clearly sing? Then, go back to the yellow key, and walk up each white key, until you can't go any further. How high can you sing? Can you match Adam's range?) More important than range, tho, as you pointed out, is tone or timbre. You are right, that Adam can shade his voice with so many "colors" and textures. Rough and raspy, light and airy, light and crystal, powerful and clear, with a rich vibrato, with a straight tone. That is an important quality of a great singer. A great singer also exhibits great control of his instrument. He performs consistently, from show to show, song to song, and phrase to phrase. I am thinking of Durbin, here. He has range. Sometimes he has good tone. Sometimes he has vibrato. Sometimes he is on pitch. But, it is unreliable. Unpredictable. I cannot listen with comfort, because I don't know when he will lose control and sing something that sounds like fingernails on chalkboard. A singer can have great technique but not be able to move us emotionally. To be great, they need to sing emotionally, in a way that touches us. In this, Adam excels. He is able to interpret a song in a variety of ways by changing his delivery. You make very good points about how he chose to sing so delicately in OoL, when the lyrics are harsh and hurtful. But these qualities are not measurable. They are not logical. They are things we experience and feel. So, they are often set aside for nit picking discussions about absolute range. Thanks for pointing that out. I agree with your entire post. |
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Post by Q3 on Aug 1, 2011 1:32:40 GMT -5
Cassie great post.
Thanks.
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Post by stardust on Aug 1, 2011 2:40:39 GMT -5
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