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"Oh, Bwunhiiwda! You'we so wuvvwy!"

Less searchable M0rd4nt

19:34 / 10.11.02

So I've beaten the asthma and I'm back on the singing. It's going to take a couple of weeks before the ol' vocal chords are back on form, but Saveloy's tape may yet be finished.

Anyhow, this is fun. Oxygen high or something. And since 28 is a wee bit mature for rock'n'roll, a not-so-young woman's fancy is lightly turning to thoughts of opera.

Partly I'm fishing for tips as to how to proceed but since there are many musicos at large on the 'Lith, a broad discussion of singing in general seems like a good idea.

So, questions, answers, snide comments. Give.

Char Aina

20:09 / 10.11.02

best thread header.

EVER.

Linus Dunce

20:31 / 10.11.02

I'm no musician, but I reckon you'll need training for opera.

I know someone a good deal older than you doing ballet lessons, so do it!

But don't forget to wear your maggical hewmet!

The Return Of Rothkoid

20:45 / 10.11.02

Spear and magic helmet?
Magic helmet!
Magic Helmet?
Magic helmet!
Pah - magic helmet.
YES! Magic Helmet! And I will give you a sam-ple!

Congratulations. I think go for the opera, but do agree that you will indeed need training of some kind; whether it's intensive or not.

Or you could always go into experimental singing...

Eloi Tsabaoth

21:20 / 10.11.02

Weturn my wuv...
I like to sing. Whether I can or not is up for debate, although I do a good Elvis, apparently. My singing tip: Never sing a song you don't already know all the words to, to avoid tragic Homer Simpson moments...
"Oh when the saints go over there..."

The Return Of Rothkoid

21:25 / 10.11.02

I just couldn't resist.

Sorry.

Rollo Kim, on location

22:05 / 10.11.02

I'm 28 and I wuvv to sing too. I do a top-notch post-rock croon and don't see why the 4uck I should stop just cause I'm 28????

Less searchable M0rd4nt

00:35 / 11.11.02

Y'know, i've got German mates who've never actually enjoyed the wonder that is Bugs'n'Elmer doing Wagner? That's a bad and a harsh thing.

The Return Of Rothkoid

01:26 / 11.11.02

How do they feel about him doing Rossini in The Rabbit Of Seville? Daintily... daiiiiintily.

grant

13:33 / 11.11.02

Sonic Youth are in their 40s.

Rock on.

No star here laces

15:03 / 11.11.02

If you want to do opra, the best thing is to join a chorus and then work your way up to being a soloist. My dad's done amateur opera all his life, and that's mostly what he does. Mind you, his roles don't tend to get any bigger than executioner, butler and what have you, but still, it's a big stage, full orchestra an' all that...

There seem to be loads of amateur opera companies about, so you could just try auditioning for the chorus and then asking where to go for lessons if they tell you you suck...

Saveloy

15:45 / 11.11.02

Hoorah for clean air! Glad your asthma is better, MC.

I'm often overcome by a powerful urge to shout, or bellow nonsense at the top of my lungs in an operatic stylee, but it's a bit anti-social and I'm not a singer. There should be a place people can go just to make noises without fear of disturbing anyone else (or having to impress them). A sort of noise-making holiday resort. Somewhere up in the mountains with huge gongs and drum kits and stuff, that'd be good, wouldn't it?

Murray Hamhandler

16:11 / 11.11.02

I would suggest lessons and learning to sing properly. I "sing" once or twice a week (whenever my band sees fit to practice) and my voice is a ragged mess (if I have a voice at all) by the end of the evening every time. This probably would not be the case, I assume, if I would learn what in the hell I'm doing...

gravitybitch

01:08 / 12.11.02

Y'know, i've got German mates who've never actually enjoyed the wonder that is Bugs'n'Elmer doing Wagner? That's a bad and a harsh thing.

Oh, yeah.... There were a bunch of folks at the university in Sacramento who came up with the casting for "Sweeny Fudd" - I wish I could remember it all, but this was at least 15 years ago....

Less searchable M0rd4nt

17:18 / 12.11.02

Did actually take singing lessons a couple of years back, but chucked them in due to financial embarrassment. There's a pretty good tape that I bought off my then voice coach, and I work through the exercizes on it quite frequently-- so frequently in fact that it's got thoughroughly boring. I bought a teach-yourself-singing thing today, a book with that came a CD, just so I can get another angle and some variation. Not being able to read music properly is a bit of a problem.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

19:38 / 12.11.02

... and Deric: if your voice is that shagged after singing, then you need to get some professional tuition under your belt while you've still got a voice. You could be doing some permenant damage there.

Murray Hamhandler

22:15 / 12.11.02

Yeah, I know all too well, Mordant. I just recently learned all of the lovely details about vocal nodules/ulcers/polyps in my speech therapy class, so I'm a little more freaked now than I used to be. Still, I suppose we could cut the song where I do little more than scream at the top of my lungs out of our repertoire, but how lame would that be?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

16:28 / 13.11.02

It is possible to do the screaming thing without abrading your vocal cords until they look like lollo rosso. A good coach can help you with that.

My old voice coach taught me to do this thing where you sort of howl through your nose, so you sound like a tomcat with his head in an echo chamber and his tail in a mangle. It's great fun.

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