Spending Time Singing... During the Christmas Period

If I were you, I would think about it seriously. Not bad at all, really! A beautiful light baritone voice.

I agree with Carlos, one of the most difficult things an interpreter should know how to do is make the text understood... even during the first listen, everything arrived perfectly.

You are very in tune and musical and also pleasant to listen to… moreover, I particularly liked the arrangement of Sway as well.

Compliments

Working in a piano bar is a very dignified job if done with conscience; one happens to hear musicians of great talent endowed with great taste and musicality.

The vocal premises seem good to me, so why not cultivate this field?

I think that a true musician must know how to sing, but I don't mean operatic singing or whoever knows what level of training. I have pianist friends who are practically tone-deaf (let's say extremely out of tune) and they struggled quite a bit with the solfeggio exam... but in the end, in my opinion, something will always be missing. Take you, you sing with rhythmic sense, over a backing track, in tune, even pleasant to listen to... if only there were more like that around...

In the conservatory they try to have them do choral exercises, but I don't know how instructive it truly is...

I thank you for the comments... However, in the constructive post I had asked to "destroy me". The sense was more about knowing what is wrong instead of knowing what is right... I am referring in particular to vocal technique, which I do not possess, and my way of singing is indeed very natural, down-to-earth, without having the slightest conception of breath management and emission. Let's just say that in my life I have always been quite in tune, but sometimes, even in these recordings, I am a bit flat. It wasn't intended to be much of a studio production where you sing bit by bit to the extreme, only to then choose and/or compose by cutting and pasting various takes to achieve perfection. In these recordings, I sang from beginning to end without stopping, and sometimes you can really hear the wrong intonation and the voice emission that comes out loud at first and then drops.

Regarding Marta's comment, I strongly agree. It is unacceptable for a musician not to be at least in tune and to have awareness of time and rhythm; by parallel, to push it to the extreme, it would be like a surgeon with the shakes—in short, the minimum basics required to do a certain profession cannot be missing. Of course, being a professional singer is something else entirely; it requires study and a lot of exercise, which is why I was anxious to know the opinion of Thallo and other professional singers who are certainly capable of making more technical observations than ours and perhaps can give examples by comparing them with other figures from the world of light music, who are not all examples to follow—on the contrary, I have heard many live that left me literally shocked! Not in a positive sense, obviously! In those cases, it wasn't just about drops in intonation; they were truly out of tune like bells! Incredible! I wonder how they managed to become famous... If I find any example videos, I will repost them.

I am trying to give my opinion as a non-professional, and I should also preface that this genre is not music that I like. You truly have a beautiful voice, you are very in tune, and you keep time. Perhaps too much time. Let me explain better: it sounds as if you are doing almost a sung solfège with the words. So, when I heard the two songs, I sensed a sort of "mechanicalness."

Take what I say with a grain of salt! You sing very well! If only I had your timbre!

Can I ask you something? When you sing a note, you sing it, but how do you think about it? In the sense that when I sing, my brain tends to make the notes come out a bit flat, and to compensate for this, I sing the note "higher" and it comes out in tune. Does this happen to you too?

But it's no problem, don't worry, in fact I'm glad because it meets my expectations of being targeted that I had requested in the first post. Moreover, as I repeat, singing is not what I do, so you can really let loose, I won't be offended at all. Regarding the discussion about singing in time, honestly, I wouldn't know how to argue back. To tell the truth, I didn't pay much attention to it; I sang as it came to me based on how I knew the song, I didn't even think about giving a personal interpretation—in short, I did pure and simple karaoke, to be blunt, mimicking, as best as I can, Bublé's original interpretation.

When I sing a note, I am already thinking about the next one; this trick (maybe I'm saying very trivial things, I don't know) works for me and I devised it when on some occasions I sang on a stage (evenings with friends, pubs, square events, etc.). Basically, before singing a note, I try to imagine how to position the entire vocal apparatus to reproduce that specific note: mouth, palate, tongue, face, throat, air emission, also thinking about where certain vowels are formed and thus engaging those particular muscles; so 99% of the time when it comes to giving breath to the organ, everything is already in position and the note, usually (barring small adjustments), is already well in tune... I repeat, I am surely saying very trivial things, it's not my field of interest. If Thallo showed up, maybe he would even clarify these statements for us. Claudio, where are you?

It certainly also helps to strive to anticipate the melodic profile of what will immediately follow; I don't find working note by note very effective, or rather, it works with you, but perhaps you could achieve even greater results.

Honestly I don't know, what causes me difficulty isn't so much the melody, which actually perhaps comes to me much more naturally without having to think about it; for me, the difficult part is hitting the first note of a phrase in tune, I don't know about others. It might be that once the system is powered up, it's easier to intervene because you have more control. I am describing my sensations when I sing, and it is never easy to describe sensations; professionals will certainly be much more refined and can surely correct me. In reality, I don't work note by note; I work a lot on the first phrase of a melodic pattern. When I am in the zone, I don't think about it anymore and it comes naturally to me.

aaa wrote:

Being a piano bar performer is a very dignified job if done with conscience; one happens to hear musicians of great talent, endowed with great taste and musicality.

You made me think of this quote from the good Bettinelli

"A kind of intuitive musicality, fascinating and at the same time unexplainable."

And he adds in his book: "Musical Composition"

"What is musicality in its multiple manifestations?

What meaning can be attributed to expressions of a thousand facets that can appear early in, or in those who are totally unaware of musical matters, only to sometimes suddenly disappear without leaving a trace—that is, in the phenomenon of certain child prodigies?

And why is it that many great performers, highly cultured and extremely well-prepared, do not know how to put together two notes of their own invention?

On the other hand, it can happen that a mediocre "piano bar" pianist, musically illiterate, knows how to improvise—along the lines of famous songs, predominantly American or their own—with an extremely refined, surprising, and every time different harmonic taste, which rules out mere rote memorization, as I have been able to observe myself."

""}{

Aside from confirming what has already been told to you, I think that what is most lacking is a "personal" interpretative approach; what do I mean? Someone was talking about mechanicalness—it's not just a rhythmic issue but a lack of expressive research; everything is tendentially pleasantly in tune and blah blah, but there isn't that something that says, okay, it's TheSimon. It's true that only 2 recordings are being discussed, but it immediately gave me the impression of being "impersonal."

I hope I have been clear, proposing a parallelism in your field: when 2 pianists play the same instrument/piece... they should still be recognizable. You will tell me, how can you say that I am not recognizable? You haven't compared my performance with another one. True, but what someone defined as mechanicalness immediately emerges, but which I want to call a lack of personality—let's say that freedom that makes you make the difference.

It remains the fact that there are excellent premises, at least, based on my immediate impression

Sorry for the guilty delay :-)

Mandatory compliments: overall you are very in tune, you have a nice timbre and you know how to sing.

I will move on to more technical judgments, as requested ;-) You approach "Sway" with less personality than a crooner should have. You are very correct, rhythmically and with the English language. But what others consider a merit, the clarity of words, in my opinion ends up becoming a limitation for you. That is, for us Italians, being "clear," in both Italian and English, often means forcing certain vowels. This happens to you with the "e" and the "i" (perfectly normal, it happens to everyone). This leads to a forced effect especially on the high notes, which come out a bit like Gigi D'Alessio—more sung, forceful, and less "confidential," as this genre perhaps should be. Obviously, I am nitpicking, but being a musician, you would probably enjoy playing around with it more. Even at the risk of dragging out a word or a note here and there. Think of Fred Buscaglione; listening to him sing, everything seems recited, dragged out, but once you have the timbre and the intention, this genre is made. And in my opinion, one must desperately seek uniformity of timbre in the high register.

Sometimes listening to Bublé is misleading... at least in my opinion... Bublé doesn't have a crooner's voice; he has a pop singer's voice; he is the Gary Barlow of Take That but with a different repertoire... but he was and is good at frequently changing intention.

"Everything" is, in fact, a completely different genre. A rock ballad, which he sings in a pop-rock way, but which I would hear as a bit simpler. By trying to follow his true vocal style (which in my opinion is not yours—that is, all those flourishes up high don't suit you), it ends up giving a forced interpretation. From Karaoke :-) flee from the temptation to sing high notes with feeling and... low notes with less feeling. The timbre of a crooner or a country rock singer is built on the lows and mids :-) then, once that vocal texture is built, the high notes will be its logical continuation.

And that is the final judgment I feel compelled to give. You are precise, musical, you have a good range and a beautiful tonal texture. But it is on this last point that you must focus more, especially if you like singing these kinds of pieces. I am against technical advice given online; singing is a subject too easily misunderstood, and one can gamble with their health too easily. But as a listener, I would like you to give a timbral sense to what you sing. Charm or irony. You can even decide them beforehand if you want to experiment. Do a "Sway" as a South American moved to New York, one as a sexy fifty-year-old, one as a scrawny twenty-year-old, all to understand how much intention changes the grain of the voice.

Did you know that my father told me this same thing about personality?

Effectively, he doesn't know English very well and has an unbearable pronunciation, but listening to him overall, he takes these liberties and dresses himself with this personality. I want to see if he records Frank Sinatra's My Way and I want to post it for you to hear.

Regarding the "e" and the "i", did you know that you just made me think about it now? It's true, it happens to me especially with the "i". In this specific case, with the "i", I can't reach full voice like with the other vowels; is this thing normal? I don't think so...

In particular, I'll try to give you my sensations: when ascending, I feel the "i" much more in my head immediately compared to the other vowels; I can't send it down into my chest. The other vowels, however, I feel in my chest. Especially the "a" and the "o".

I agree that singing, like all teachings involving sensations, cannot be explained remotely, but here we are doing a lot just to talk about it. For me, singing is a hobby; I don't have even the slightest presumption of thinking I do it for a living, and I leave it, as it should be, to those who have studied for that purpose. I am a "shower singer" and a pub karaoke singer with friends.

Apropos of presumption, there are many improvised pianobar singers who are, to say the least, terrifying. In my opinion, this is not right because they take work away from those who know how to sing and do it professionally. I am referring to those who go to play for 100 euros a night and ruin the market for professionals who move in groups of 5-6 people to get 80 euros per person to play and sing live.

Unfortunately, today there is the phenomenon of MIDI backing tracks, karaoke expanders, and away you go with the evening and the improvised singer. In the town where my father was born (in the province of Viterbo), everyone is a singer now. One person started getting equipment, and now everyone has equipment and does gigs. Some of these—actually, I would say many—are pathetic (in reality, only a couple are salvageable), things they should be ashamed to even offer themselves (out of tune as bells, no sense of rhythm), and they even get paid 200 euros to sing at a graduation party. I even heard them take 400 euros for a wedding. But on what grounds? I wouldn't pay them. 400 euros to break my ears all day? No way... I also have some recordings somewhere, but due to privacy issues I cannot post them; please just take my word for it, you know I don't tell lies.

At my wedding, I wouldn't want people like that; I would want professionals who know how to entertain guests with good live music. Easygoing, likable, and professional people; these seem like minimum characteristics to undertake a trade like the one we are talking about. What do you all think?

I agree with you Simone! Unfortunately, the basics have enabled everyone to "make money."

Then, when I occasionally hear people say: "Some random DJ comes to play..." But a DJ is someone who puts on records, they don't play!!!

Regarding the issue with the "i", you could overcome it by doing a bit of practice with your eyes closed: spend some time (5 seconds or more, depending on you) imagining singing a note with an "o", for example, which is an open vowel. Visualize sending it down so that it expands like in the "o"; as soon as you have done that, open your eyes and immediately sing the "i" abruptly.

Maybe I said something obvious, but it works for me in melodic lines that don't come naturally when improvising on the piano.

Yes, the whole DJ discussion is something that blows my mind too.

I have two DENON decks that are part of my audio setup (I'm starting to have quite a few little things). Paid 600 euros each! When I went to some parties with some friends (we often organized them in my country house as well), I never used the jargon: "I'm going to play". I say that when I perform a concert, not when I have to beatmatch two records. Among other things, I'll tell you it's also really simple. I just can't understand the difficulty of beatmatching two records, especially when with digital decks you can set CUE POINTS and restart from there whenever it's most convenient for you! Mah... They "go to play"...

Regarding the discussion about the "i", I'll try tomorrow, but many times I've tried to bring it down into my chest without succeeding; perhaps it's a matter of where the vowel forms. I think the chest "i" will never come to me because not only do I feel it in my head, but I feel that it forms right up high.

Anyway, anyone else attempting this? Come on, post some sung tracks, let's shake up this section!

The problem with the "i" is common to almost everyone, Simone, don't worry. Always premising that technical explanations online have a limit, and adding that in singing, both lyrical and pop, there are dozens of different techniques often treated like true religions, I would start from speech. The pop voice tends to be natural, not set; building an "i" that is too round probably wouldn't make sense, you should just try to find your speaking timbre and rediscover it in those notes there. When you realize that a vowel comes out forced (it can happen even in the low register), stop, pronounce it in a spoken way with the best pronunciation you can (it's an empirical method, so strive to act like a news anchor or a classical theater actor) and then look for THAT color in singing. If you do it well, you should arrive at a relaxation of the mask (the facial muscles) that could almost lead you to the sensation of pronouncing the "i" with the face of the "a"... but I would have to show this to you to make you understand, and it is anyway a result, not a means, so if it works for you, great; if not, nothing.

The same method of spoken acting, or of a very light humming but with very strong timbral intention, helps you with phrasing.

Thanking Thallo for the expert advice, I am posting as promised a recording I made fresh today of my father with "Fly me to the moon". The English is what it is; I need to try to improve his pronunciation and then, in my opinion, he could be a good crooner, but of course, I leave that to the experts. The important thing for us, who are not singers—I include myself and bring my father into it too—is to have fun when we organize some dinner/karaoke night with friends (Our dinners with friends always involve a number of people ranging from 50 units and up, especially during the summer period). Who knows if this summer a nice pianoconcerto.it dinner in the garden won't be organized... We would need to see how many are willing to come, but it could be an idea. See you soon and, enjoy the listening...

http://www.pianoconcerto.it/condivisione/flyme.mp3

I must admit that I find the performance very fluid ... unlike the first two you proposed... which, as someone has noted, are very "metric"

Quite pleasant