I don't know why...

[kyrasantae]

...I sounded so bad yesterday. Maybe I was eating too many nacho chips with salsa con queso.

I said I was going to take a few days' break from recording, but then I realized I'm running out of time - I'm with my parents for most of August, then I move into my new room, and then the school year starts again - to get enough decent material (decent meaning better than the stuff on the first volume (unofficially called "Legacy")) for a second volume of actually good stuff (tentatively called "Strange Secret Hobby") to submit to Arjen-of-Ayreon-Fame. But AoAF is going through some personal issues right now (he just got divorced not too long ago) plus he's moving house and I don't know if it's really a good idea to send stuff right now anyway.


Anyway, I digress. I know I blabber too much.


I know it's the middle of July, but in an attempt to beat the heat, I've been listening to Christmas music. So here we are.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - "An Angel Came Down"

The high note in the improvised middle part is about as I as I can reasonably go (it's a high G#). I'm not sure I could do that note with words though.



(I hope I didn't tick off any of my new neighbours doing that.)



Edit: New version - Right here.

Comments

Whoa!

[the-math-priest.livejournal.com]

Christmas music as a means of beating the heat? I don't know ...

You somehow sound extremely melancholic the first 2 minutes of the song - then your voice becomes brighter. Maybe it's the slight, but noticable wavering (I don't mean your vibrato!), which seems to vanish with the longer notes starting at about 02:05. Let me guess: You sang it for the first time and immediately recorded it? At least it seems to me like the lower part of alto voice is not really what comes absolutely natural to you. I may be wrong there, but that's my impression. There could also be something wrong with my headphones.

Re: Whoa!

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

I usually do a couple of 'rehearsal' tries before actually recording it :p

The 'melancholy' you're hearing is a direct result of the dark tone of the voice... it's the only tone that I can sufficiently rely on to do lower notes like that without cracking. I *can* do it in a brighter tone like in the middle, but I find it's a little weak and less dramatic.

Of course, the middle I have to do in a brighter tone. I can't go that high darkly. That middle part was improvised, so I couldn't really "practice" before recording it, since every time was different. I just did it over and over again (different every time) until I had one where it was decently harmonized/in tune and my voice didn't crap out :P

The part of my range below middle C (down to about the G, sometimes F) uses a lot of breath for me, and can only be done in that extreme dark tone, which is why I'm planning to attempt to switch to second soprano for choir next year.

I mean, I don't mind singing that low, I like my dark tone, but I'd rather not sing in it all the time, though my brighter tone is more prone to being out of tune :P

Well, then ...

[the-math-priest.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a reasonable option, I mean, switching to second soprano.

As for your ratios [voice range <-> ability], well, honestly, it sounds to me as if you could use some singing lessons. ;-p

Re: Well, then ...

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

But we already know that. Tell me something I don't know.


I've just recorded another version of the same song with a lighter tone. I'll upload it in about 15 minutes.

Something you don't know ...

[the-math-priest.livejournal.com]

Hmm, now ... - Consider the lilies... Or the birds... African swallows, to be exact...

Well, as long as there's something you don't know, you better not meet the bridge keeper.

*roflmao*

Sorry, I definitely need some sleep, so it's off to bed for me now - anyway, it's a quarter past midnight here.

Happy recording!

Maybe I can tell you something you don't know after a decent amount of sleep.

Re: Something you don't know ...

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

Nah, it's just that I'm royally pissed off at people who tell me I need lessons. It's the worst thing someone can tell me. I'm so sick of it.

I KNOW I DO. I can't do it now, but I love to sing and I'm going to continue to sing until I do and beyond, no matter how crappy people think it is. Even when I do get lessons I'm going to focus on breath technique, not range and style because I want that to be completely under MY control. Anyway. I just finished mixing it.
Here it is.

'Christmas in July' (revised) (http://www.ualberta.ca/~mmlau/audio/christmas_in_july2.mp3)

Re: Something you don't know ...

[the-math-priest.livejournal.com]

I didn't say, that I deem your singing crappy, and I surely didn't mean to offend you.

I admit, that I wanted to show off my musical analyzing abilities.

On the other hand, I remember you once mentioning, that you don't need people telling you, how great you are, since you know that already.

So the only way of showing interest that I could think of at the moment of posting was an analysis - which is what I do most of the time anyway: I analyze whatever I encounter.

I definitely don't deem your singing crappy. :-)

Re: Something you don't know ...

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

It's not the 'crappiness' that bothers me, it's people telling me I need lessons. Just that part.


It's not that I don't want people telling me how great I am, but one has to do so with some perspective in mind. It's when people say I'm great, just because they can, that I get upset.