09-28-2009, 12:02 AM | #301 |
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I'll have a bit more to say tomorrow about singing, but just wanted to say don't worry about the sleep aid .
As far as I'm aware it's not addictive (it's just an over the counter, not a prescription), and it definitely does not knock you out and keep you out... I woke up a few times last night like I've been doing the last few weeks so it doesn't "keep you under", but the thing is I didn't have to lay in bed for an hour before I finally drifted off, it happens very, very quickly. |
09-28-2009, 03:47 PM | #302 |
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I finally feel like I have about 80/90% of my voice back today. HOORAY!!!
You know how sometimes you just have to hear something over and over and over, and think about it, and then hear it again, then see it in action a few times before you get it? Well, I -finally- understand how to study my music. Watching those people perform at the Met. auditions was truly something to behold. The girl who tied with my friend for first place, the 27 year-old soprano, was SO amazing it sounded like she should've been at the Met already. I'll be honest, I didn't think my friend was up to it vocally. But today I realized something... my friend didn't win just because of his potential, it was because of the absolutely perfect musicality of his singing. I feel stupid for not realizing it right away, but -because- my friend works so hard he is just musically perfect when he sings... the emotion, the vowels, the vocal coloring, the phrasing and the total passion with which he sings. I think that's why he must have won. So today I got in a practice room and spent 30 minutes working just one phrase from my new Quliter piece (Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal, which I LOVE to death ) and lo and behold I can now sing it pretty well, and the more I sing it the more tiiiiiny little glitches that I find and fix... and as each one gets fixed, the phrase is taking more shape. I did the same thing with the second phrase this afternoon, and then putting them together, etc... I think I'm starting to understand how to do this . Maybe I'm just fooling myself, but I think my voice has actually improved from working this way. I sang the second phrase better than the first right away, even though it's "trickier", because I had already worked out some little glitchy things in my voice for the first phrase. The singing 'tiny' thing is working SO well for helping to save my voice, and get it placed. I can hear things better in my voice now. I know I'm being totally conceited... but even though my first thought at hearing the auditions was, "Oh my God, this is too hard, I will never sound like that... I give up," the more I thought about it, the more I felt like maybe that CAN be me in another five or six years. We'll see. Pray for me . Either way, if I can work this way up until NATS in November I think I really -will- be prepared to the best of my abilities . Although at this point I still think I'll be lucky to make simifinals. |
09-28-2009, 05:07 PM | #303 | |
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So if you're learning new techniques for correcting yourself, that's great! It's interesting to follow your diligent work. 30 minutes - for one phrase? That's dedication
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09-28-2009, 10:46 PM | #304 |
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Tessar, you are not conceited! Just because you are hearing good things as a result of your hard work, is only an honest assessment. That's very different from saying "Listen to me, aren't i GREAT, i should be singing at the Met right now!" Now that would be conceited.
You only need to worry about that if and when you hear yourself on a recording and think it's the best thing since sliced bread, without hearing any of the flaws. Then you will have lost touch with being able to objectively assess your own work, and i'd hope that at that point you would have the presence of mind at least to come here and get yourself blasted back into reality. But i don't see that happening with you anytime soon. That said, i'm so glad to hear that you mostly have your voice back! It's hard to make any progress when your voice is out of commission.
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
09-29-2009, 12:30 AM | #305 | ||||
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One thing that bothered me was that every day I hear my 'peers' singing and I think, "great, they get to sing this stuff while I'm back at square one," but today I was really listening and I realized that they make the same vocal/technical mistakes I do... the ones I'm now in the process of fixing. So I guess I'm not really behind . The only difference is that their teachers are letting them sing the harder stuff while mine is keeping me on some simpler things to make it easier to work out my technique. Quote:
Maria Callas was considered one of the greatest singers ever by a lot of people... and although I can't stand her voice, her artistry is absolutely breathtaking. It's because supposedly she would sometimes go into a room and work for three hours, then come out only having worked on one or two pages of music. According to all of the stuff I've read about her, conductors said she was the closest thing to a 'perfect singer' as it's possible to be because of how hard she worked and the way she learned her music. If such an incredible musician can work on a page for three hours, thirty minutes is the least I can do for a phrase . Quote:
No kidding! My voice teacher has cut me a lot of slack lately because of all of the hard Pirates work, and my voice being out. But after two practice sessions today, singing a little in choir (I'm mostly lip syncing though! O_o shhh!), and then the Pirates rehearsal my voice still feels great. So YAY! I'm being very careful, and gentle, to make sure that doesn't happen again! Last edited by Tessar : 09-29-2009 at 12:34 AM. |
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09-29-2009, 03:42 AM | #306 | |
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I won't say anything about the lip syncing in choir That's actually not a bad idea for saving your voice, especially on those days that are very singing-intensive (and don't all music departments schedule all those things on one day? You can tell a singer didn't make those schedules!).
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-29-2009, 12:28 PM | #307 | |
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Well, to quote a great mentor of mine (the woman who helped me get ready for my audition to enter the school of music), it's not all about the high notes. Musicality and great performances are above all of that . If you can sing an amazing Lascia then that's -fantastic-. Like you said, just because you have the high notes doesn't mean you need to perform them. Keep the high notes in shape because it's always fun to pop in an aria every once in a while which shows off your crazy vocal capabilities, but if you actually shine in other rep then you need to sing that other rep. I knew a woman who was a great teacher and wonderful soprano... and when I asked her what kind of a voice she had, she said that she could sing high soprano but felt like she shined in more middle-range stuff. i.e. she would sing Quando Mien Vo (which is one of my most favorite arias ever in the history of ever ) and things like that. More lyric rep, although I did hear her singing some stuff from the Doll Aria from Tales of Hoffmann one time, so it's not like she didn't have the notes. On the other hand, I met a woman over the summer who has a gorgeous, rich voice and she sings stuff like Glitter and Be Gay... so sometimes even voice coloring isn't a perfect indicator of where your voice will shine. |
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09-29-2009, 01:12 PM | #308 | ||||
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-29-2009, 03:31 PM | #309 |
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Could you be more of a Sumi Jo, potentially?
I know she's a coloratura but where I passionately love her voice, and would do her bidding if she sang it at me, is the more lyrical stuff. Her Faure Pie Jesu for example... nothing particularly high in that, but she sings the CRAP out of that piece. I just love her lower lying stuff. Or like my good friend, who is Mabel in our show. I -adore- her whistle notes (some days she has that C7), but they're not the only exciting thing about her voice like you find in some coloraturas. She's got a beautiful middle and lower register. In fact at the workshop some people actually thought she was a mezzo because she's unafraid of flipping over into her chest voice to add drama to her lower notes, and she's perfectly happy to mix through her middle range for that same dramatic effect... definitely -not- a lyric soprano though. Much lighter than that. Renee Fleming actually has/had(?) a G6 in her youth. I forget what aria it is, but she does some melizma up to it, touches it, then comes back down off of it... which is -extraordinary- in a voice that 'thick'. Of course I don't usually like her much... I hate how she scoops and makes all of her vowels really dark... but on some stuff, I think she is indisputably the best alive. I had a good lesson today . My voice is a little icky again from allergies and barely getting any sleep last night, but nothing major if I can remember to be smart tonight at rehearsal. I can either be smart and it will be no problem, or I can be dumb and forget to monitor myself... if I do that I'll probably 'lose' my voice again. So I'm going to try to be smart . One interesting thing we found while singing the Quilter is that if I'm singing as legato as I possibly can, I can jump from a middle-range note up into my high register without even a tiny hint of 'gripping' in my throat. But at the moment it's completely impossible for me to start in that high range without grabbing, and if I try to do the jump without the best legato I can make, it grips. So it's an air thing, and a tongue tension thing, we think. My teacher surprised me today by saying that I've got almost all of my old 'volume' back. Which is great. I'm singing almost the same volume with only a fraction of the 'effort' . This 'tiny' sound is doing -awesome- stuff for me, and I think as time goes on it will continue to serve me really well. My palate is still being problematic. I just can't always tell when it's up, and even some times when I focus on keeping it raised, it will only rise about half way... so that's frustrating -but- it's much better than it was a few weeks ago. What's also frustrating is that I apparently just have this completely warped idea of vowels. To make an 'ah' like in 'can', I have to be literally trying to sing an 'a' like I would for 'cat'. Of course the frustration is that when my palate slips down a little it -does- become that over-bright a, but when my palate is raised properly it comes out like a proper 'ah'. On the plus side, I'm trying to give up setting 'static' goals for myself as far as technique and such are concerned. I would try to set things in my head like, "a month from now I'll have mastered how to keep my palate up!" and that was stressing me out. So now I'm trying to be very specific as far as my musicality goals (i.e. I will have this piece memorized by Friday, and I will work this phrase today), but I'm sticking with, "I will try my best to do x-skill," rather than, "I will have x-skill mastered by y-date." |
09-29-2009, 11:29 PM | #310 | ||||||||
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I've never heard her singing this kind of stuff but i'll have to try to find that now, because i'm curious. Quote:
My lower register isn't anything to write home about, though. It sounds as if this girl has a huge range, in both directions, which is common in true coloraturas. And if she's singing Mabel, hats off to her. My voice hates Poor Wand'ring One. (And the feeling is mutual. ) It also doesn't possess the right timbre for Mabel. It sounds like her voice might be quite different from mine. Quote:
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-30-2009, 10:08 PM | #311 | ||
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And is there a difference between the ah-vowel in can and the one in cat? Or is that only my British prejudice - I studied English in England - shining through? (Btw, I once talked to a Japanese who couldn't hear the difference between 'fast' and 'first' ...)
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09-30-2009, 10:39 PM | #312 | ||
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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10-01-2009, 12:02 PM | #313 |
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I did the exact same thing. I must have repeated them a dozen times before I decided that can was a bit more drawn out, a bit "harder" than cat.
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10-01-2009, 01:13 PM | #314 |
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I say can with a little bit of 'ah' like 'father', although maybe not that drastic... 'father' would be a better example. I have to sing 'a' like 'cat' to get 'a' like 'father'.
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10-01-2009, 02:04 PM | #315 | ||
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My next question would have been 'what is the difference' - but then we'd be over at youtube
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10-01-2009, 02:49 PM | #316 | ||
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ETA, as for "singers who can", that was the case with the afforementioned Mozart aria. His sister in law, Aloysia Weber, was the person he wrote that aria and several others for. All of 'her' arias have notes above the soprano high C (C6). Handel and other earlier composers didn't write above high C, generally. Aloysia had an extraordinary whistle range, according to accounts of the day.
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline Last edited by Voronwen : 10-01-2009 at 02:53 PM. |
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10-01-2009, 05:31 PM | #317 | |
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My teacher says that modern composers tend to be extremely demanding... for instance even baritones are being asked to sing A#4's in modern compositions, and that's much rarer in regular operas. I believe, although without any solid evidence, there's something of a modern 'fad' for high voices and there is less being written that involves low notes. I think a lot of modern composers aren't singers, where as many of the old opera writers were also singers (although not always professional). Also modern singers are required to perform much more strenuously and frequently than they used to be. |
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10-02-2009, 01:12 AM | #318 |
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As I understand it, Handel's soprano roles, for the most part, don't even get that high. I hear that Gioacchino Conti was an exceptionally high soprano; the fact Handel often wrote high C's for him was adduced as proof. Is this true? That is, that Handel's soprano roles often don't get to high C's?
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10-02-2009, 09:05 AM | #319 |
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It's difficult to say whether or not the High C and above were considered standard for singers to perform.
It's possible that it was 'understood' that a singer would interpolate extra high notes as a part of their artistry, or it's also possible that many singers did not have the technique... or maybe nutrition to support the extra top notes. I know that sounds like an odd thing to say, but it's quite possible that without a proper, healthy diet many singers would have had a smaller vocal range. I know during my freshman year when I wasn't eating enough my vocal range diminished and I was less able to control my voice. I also imagine less sanitary living conditions would've left many people prone to more frequent illness, and even with good technique you can't always utilize your highest notes while sick. So possibly the lower notes were more of a safety measure? Or potentially it was just not considered fashionable to sing that high. Maybe they just thought it was screaming . Everything I've written is pure conjecture, and I have no idea if I'm even on the right track . |
10-02-2009, 11:01 AM | #320 |
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Oh my Gosh, I feel totally crappy O_o. I thought last night that I would be okay to go to class today, but then I was laying in bed and I thought, "I'd better skip my 8 a.m. class. No point in getting up at 6:30 just to be exhausted later." So I slept in, and got up around 7:45... then I was okay for a little while, and I thought I'd leave the house around 9:30... but I am so exhausted.
I think I'm going to drive to school, because I need to return some library books and pick up the tickets for my family, but then I'm coming back home. My throat isn't in great shape, either. It's really weird. :-/ It feels simultaneously dry and yet is covered in phlegm. I'll have to be -very- careful with my voice tonight, because I have a feeling I wont have a whole lot to play around with. The last time I had steroids it was a pack of pills, and it actually gave me more energy. But something in those shots must have zapped me pretty good. I actually feel more tired today than yesterday. |
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