melisma

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 10:53 am

is it just me, or is melismatic singing in popular music getting way out of control these days?

i find it kinda tasteless, but it is huge at the moment.

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 10:55 am

I had to look that one up!

Do you mean like...e.g. Mariah Carey?

All over the shop...

Royston

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:03 am

yeah, hit a syllable, then sing everything you know before hitting the next one

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:21 am

She wouldn't do too well if I was auditioning her:

Royston: "Sing a middle 'C'"
Mariah: "EEAARROHIIIERRRRUUUH"
Royston: "Next!"

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:29 am

it's getting to me - saw a bit of the grammys and some of an "australian idol" concert - AAAARRGGH!

i know - get out of the tv room and back to your DAW, fool:D

anyway i'll stop being -ve now. phew!

paulrmartin · Post by **paulrmartin** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 12:05 pm

Funny that Mariah was the first example cited.

I remember hearing a tune she did with Boyz2Men and thinking "where the friggin' melody?".

I think the melisma phenomenon is part of the disposable music industry. Who the fuck remembers all those notes anyways?

"Look, I'm a great singer because I can sing this syllable forever..." Pop singers of today are so clueless it's scary.

_________________
Paul R. Martin - Are we listening?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: paulrmartin on 2004-02-10 12:06 ]</font>

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 12:13 pm

paulrmartin wrote:

I remember hearing a tune she did with Boyz2Men and thinking "where the friggin' melody?".

What a name for a band

I find some rappers' names pretty funny too...Ice-Cube, Ice-T, T-Shirt, T-Pot, T-Bag, Cup-of-T...

Royston

arela · Post by **arela** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 3:37 pm

Maybe it's a vibrato, that is slowed down signifficant, so they could fill up some empty bars.....just my 2c

bassdude · Post by **bassdude** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 4:17 pm

On 2004-02-10 11:29, wayne wrote:

it's getting to me - saw a bit of the grammys and some of an "australian idol" concert - AAAARRGGH!

i know - get out of the tv room and back to your DAW, fool:D

anyway i'll stop being -ve now. phew!

I know what you mean. It's a little over done sometimes! I've become very cynical lately so I just don't watch that idol stuff! It's just karaoke and marketing (how negative was that

). I wonder how long Shannon will be around for?

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 4:24 pm

Till it gives money to the big fishes, then it's going to be trashed and they will start the search for some other poor idol...

petal · Post by **petal** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 5:01 pm

all though I agree with you guys, I can't help but thinking that I've heard this kind of complaint before............. from my dad.

DOH!
Thomas

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: petal on 2004-02-10 17:01 ]</font>

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 8:50 pm

Well, back in my day......

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:07 am

arela wrote:

Maybe it's a vibrato, that is slowed down signifficant, so they could fill up some empty bars.....just my 2c

Sample and hold input to a pitch modifier, driven off a 1/16th note synched LFO..?

Sounds like a prompt to build a 'Careyfier' modular synth!

Royston

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:37 am

Let me get all conspiratorial for a moment and offer a theory....

Back in the good old days of punk this sort of technical warbling would just have rated a big laugh. It's enthusiasm and energy and emotion that counted.

Bad news for record companies. So after signing up every half-decent punk band then letting them wither, there's been this long-term strategy to return 'popular' music to a more defined technical realm.

Instead of the message people are encouraged to appreciate the 'quality' of a voice, or their technique.

How many times I've heard 'young' people say that latest manufactured pop person X has 'a fantastic voice' as if that's something alone which deserves admiration and money.

So what I say. Gimme the song, the melody, the message, the feeling. Bollocks to the the technical merits and the warbling sustaining burbling string of meaningless sound.

But the more musical appreciation focusses on technical aspects, the more the major corporations have a hold on popular taste.

And that can include how many perfectly synchronised dancers you have on your video clip, or how big your special effect buget is. Reminds me a lot of the glam-rock superband days just before punk...

So there's hope at least

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:16 am

turn, turn, turn.....please!

Immanuel · Post by **Immanuel** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:53 am

I don't realy get, if you are talking about people singing the same note and changing the flavour durring a 15 minuttes out breath, or if you are talking about people sing every not on the piano durring a 15 minutes out breath. I remember Carey did the alst thing YEARS ago - back in the 80s I believe - when she and Houston where the 2 mayor pop chicks, and Janet Jackson was singing hard rock.

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 12:04 pm

i suppose it defines R'n'B today, which used to be something completely different.

Immanuel · Post by **Immanuel** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 12:08 pm

Oh yes, I got quite upset (also quite some years ago), when some slick polished singers where doing easy to digest R&B. As far as I remember, R&B used to be Rythm and Blues. Not much blues left - and rythm, well ...

Post by **Neil B** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:43 pm

Isn't the effect that Mariah Carey achieves less to do with her singing and more to do with the plastic surgery bits vibrating at a slightly different pitch to each other?
Or is that Cher?

skwawks · Post by **skwawks** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 5:26 pm

Didn't someone say you'll never go broke underestimating the tase of the general public . Seems to me overornamentation in any field comes just before the whole thing collapses under the weight of it's own stupidity