singing and athleticism

[VideoHere]

hi folks,

i'm doing a little survey here.

i'm asking what aspect of singing do you find the most physical?

for me it's controlling the release of air on a powerful full voice high note.....letting the air out in a controlled manner against the pressure that as built up in the belly is a tough part of singing.

what's yours?

[ronws]

Pretty much the same as yours. Air pressure control.

[Matt]

The way Im singing at the moment, speech level-ish, involves no physical athleticism at all. In fact, if I want to try to reach a B, the only possible way I know is to relax as much as I possibly can and just speak it. The only other way I might reach a B is by roaring it which shoots my throat in half a song.

Theres probably 100 different methods that Im unaware of though.

[chele1000]

keeping my voice steady and vibrant while running and jumping around on stage! I guess I should start jogging and singing at the same time and build up some muscle momentum eh? ;)

[ronws]

In the early 80's, after Mick Jagger sobered up, the Rolling Stones were putting on monster arena sized shows and tours and Jagger had an assistant clock him on stage. With all the dancing and running he would do, he was covering 6 miles. So, he started joging 6 miles a day to maintain physical endurance.

[Snax]

Mine is the same as yours Bob... Controlling the flow of air against the pressure inside is the most physical aspect.

[Freddie]

Belting ala Paul Stanley in the upper mids for sure.

[VideoHere]

there's a lesser known song that foreigner did called "blinded by science" (sadly,not on youtube).

if you google it, there's a link to play it.

gramm hits a part in his upper range at the end with such power that i can actually feel the breath support he must have needed to sustain those notes. as we all know by now (hopefully not ad naseum) i study him a lot, and i can see now one of his biggest strengths was his breath support. it's what gave him that "punch" and "kick" to his vocals.

that's one of my goals, to get that "punchy" power.

[Freddie]

there's a lesser known song that foreigner did called "blinded by science" (sadly,not on youtube).

if you google it, there's a link to play it.

gramm hits a part in his upper range at the end with such power that i can actually feel the breath support he must have needed to sustain those notes. as we all know by now (hopefully not ad naseum) i study him a lot, and i can see now one of his biggest strengths was his breath support. it's what gave him that "punch" and "kick" to his vocals.

that's one of my goals, to get that "punchy" power.

Cool to actually hear that someone listens to those forgotten Foreigner songs. I really like that one. I am, like you, a real fan of his sound...I think its really something to die for.

[VideoHere]

Cool to actually hear that someone listens to those forgotten Foreigner songs. I really like that one. I am, like you, a real fan of his sound...I think its really something to die for.

oh man, freddie, of the all the rock singers i've ever sung, he is without a doubt theeeeeee most difficult, especially if you intend to sound that way. just when you think you can, the next verse or a high note around the bend just throws you for a loop. so you say to youself, okay, i'll lower the key, and it's still a bitch.

have you ever heard this one: un%$@believable!! let me know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwuB2Oaekc4

[Freddie]

Yeah Shadow King...some nice songs in that catalog but a bit of a dissapointment I would say. Much talent - Little outcome

For me the most difficult thing is to capture his tone...well not HIS tone ...just that kind of tone. I either end up sounding too pinched or too dopey but Im getting closer!

[Matt]

I dunno...I dont think hes necessarily as loud as he sounds, maybe youre trying to be louder than him? I think he's got a great hard rock voice and I have a personal connection to foreigner through the original drummer who was a very kind and talented jazz drummer originally (now a sculptor), and I also think blinded by science is a good song, but I was going through The Definitive Collection the other day and IMO they turned out quite a few meal ticket tunes. I also dont think Lou is all that exciting outside of hardrock - the chain of fools vid at youtube for example - while he sounds bluesy and soulful when he does hard rock he doesnt sound soulful when he does soul. Not that I can sing a single song her ever sang.

[VideoHere]

I dunno...I dont think hes necessarily as loud as he sounds, maybe youre trying to be louder than him? I think he's got a great hard rock voice and I have a personal connection to foreigner through the original drummer who was a very kind and talented jazz drummer originally (now a sculptor), and I also think blinded by science is a good song, but I was going through The Definitive Collection the other day and IMO they turned out quite a few meal ticket tunes. I also dont think Lou is all that exciting outside of hardrock - the chain of fools vid at youtube for example - while he sounds bluesy and soulful when he does hard rock he doesnt sound soulful when he does soul. Not that I can sing a single song her ever sang.

i hear ya matt......to me he is very soulful singer but then again i've listened to every y.t. post out there. lol!!!

just being able to do chain of fools is an accomplishment to me. as far as how loud he gets, i can only guess but i would say pretty loud on some of those high notes. i think the reason gramm was always leaving foreigner was because mick jones wanted to stay with the pop/commercial sound and gramm wanted to go more towards hard edgy rock music.

i love his black sheep singing......again it's the "punch" and the tone the guy has. to me he's got a "chick magnet" voice.

[VideoHere]

Yeah Shadow King...some nice songs in that catalog but a bit of a dissapointment I would say. Much talent - Little outcome

For me the most difficult thing is to capture his tone...well not HIS tone ...just that kind of tone. I either end up sounding too pinched or too dopey but Im getting closer!

you said it freddie.. and the "punch" i can't think of too many singers that have such a punch.

[Matt]

i think the reason gramm was always leaving foreigner was because mick jones wanted to stay with the pop/commercial sound and gramm wanted to go more towards hard edgy rock music.

I think that was always the case. To me he was like an ad agency guy that was smart enough to surround himself with better musicians. The only not all that accomplished a musician in foreigner was Mick. I seem to remember some unplugged affair where he sang his usual style to acoustic guitars ad I got the feeling that his volume wasnt huge in that gig, but he has a very good piercing frequency that although it cuts through the wall of sound, it still retains a nice tone quality. I could well be wrong though.

[VideoHere]

To me he was like an ad agency guy that was smart enough to surround himself with better musicians.

good analogy matt..lol!!!

gramm has real strong "eee's" and "iii's" i know when i try to sing his stuff, if you don't have sufficient support, even line for line in a stanza, you'll never get the chords to vibrate.

in urgent, that line "got fire, in your veins, burnin hot, and you don't feel the pain, your desire....i'm hoping one day gets a little easier...what can i say...the guy's an idol of mine.

who's your idol?

[Matt]

I think 'eeees' indicate curbing, e.g. putting a crying tone in your voice which is good for going up higher. Dunno who I prefer. I'd say Lou was at the top level along with dio, rodgers etc, but I think nowadays I should check soul singers out a little more, some of them are really good.

[VideoHere]

I think 'eeees' indicate curbing, e.g. putting a crying tone in your voice which is good for going up higher. Dunno who I prefer. I'd say Lou was at the top level along with dio, rodgers etc, but I think nowadays I should check soul singers out a little more, some of them are really good.

interestingly, rodgers was an idol of freddie mercury and gramm. rodgers, oh man yeah, again that blusey ballsy "chick magnet" voice...lol!! now dio (although great) was a little too much on the vibrato for me, same with le brie.

another 2 greats were joe lynn turner and jimi jamison

[Matt]

I think rodgers was the first white guy to bring some real bluesy soul to full voice hard rock vocals and every ones been influenced since then. He's the only white guy iirc that won an award at those harlem music award things, as the guy who brought soul to rock.

[VideoHere]

I think rodgers was the first white guy to bring some real bluesy soul to full voice hard rock vocals and every ones been influenced since then. He's the only white guy iirc that won an award at those harlem music award things, as the guy who brought soul to rock.

no kidding, he's great....so is farnham...he can go in that direction too. rodgers has that enviable "black" tone....jimmy barnes too now that i think of it.

[Matt]

In fact:

After his appearance on TV's Late Show with David Letterman in New York, he met and jammed with B.B. King. Rodgers said: "The thrill was definitely not gone... for me. B.B. is a blues giant." That same year, Paul Rodgers, Jimmie Vaughan, Levon Helm, bluesmen Hubert Sumlin, Johnnie Johnson, James Cotton and others performed a sold out concert in Cleveland as a Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters.

Rodgers was invited by The Four Tops to be part of their fiftieth anniversary TV/DVD concert celebration at Motown's Opera House and performed alongside Aretha Franklin, Dennis Edwards & The Temptations Revue, Sam Moore, Mary Wilson, Ashford and Simpson and The Four Tops. "The call from The Tops' Duke Fakir just about knocked me out. I've been a fan since I was a boy and had no idea that they even knew I existed!" exclaimed Rodgers. For years the media and fellow musicians have referred to Rodgers as "The Voice"'. But The Four Tops' Duke Fakir said, "Paul Rodgers is the soul of rock!"

[VideoHere]

wow, interesting. do you know the name of the dvd, i'll buy it.

[Matt]

I just wiki'd that, so no, sorry.

However: (not one of his better performances though)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1rD6XEmaIA

[anonimuzz]

Breath support by itself is challenging, but doing so while dancing/jumping/running/moving around constantly is the biggest physical challenge, I think.

[VideoHere]

Breath support by itself is challenging, but doing so while dancing/jumping/running/moving around constantly is the biggest physical challenge, I think.

i found out that robin byrd has the american idol people run in place while singing.

how about those breathing devices expand-a lung, and powerlung and all those..are they worth trying?