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Kurt's Singing Voice

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Post  fantastica 4/25/2012, 11:35 pm

thank you CCfan for posting it!
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Post  CCfan93 4/25/2012, 11:40 pm

No problem now..back to studying for finals..ugh....I can't wait for summer....
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Post  Glorfindel 4/26/2012, 7:18 am

CCfan93 wrote:uh Glorfindel I think someone on tumblr is trying to take your job. they tried to do a review or an anaylsis of I have nothing. here's what they wrote-quote-
This is someone who has definitely been reading my reviews. Some of it is almost quoted.
But still, he/she seems to know music and singing, although I do not completely agree.

In “I Have Nothing,” I heard something I’ve never heard from Colfer before: straining to reach high notes. It’s minor, barely noticeable, but the highest notes near the end of that song don’t sound easy when he sings them. A great singer makes it sound easy even though it’s not.
Chris is not straining: he reaches all the notes. You can hear fatigue in his voice, even a little damage done by singing too high too much in the limited rehearsal time, but no strain.
His throat is open when he sings the highest notes.
The high notes don't sound easy, that is correct, but I don't think they are supposed to sound easy in this case: it isn't easy, everyone acknowledges that, so why hide it?

So I checked the note on my piano, and it’s a high F. Yes, the same high F that in Season 1, the “Defying Gravity” episode, Kurt claimed was well within his range and then purposely flubbed in the audition.
It's a high Fsharp, not a high F. And that line is almost the same as mine.

I think no. We’ve seen a lot of physical and puberty-related growth in him over that time, but his voiced hasn’t “changed” in the sense of a boy’s voice turning into a man’s voice. That happened to him at the usual age, and he’s still a countertenor. I think that F is still in his range. It’s at the very top of his range, but that’s perfectly normal for a countertenor.
A countertenor can sing higher, and so can Chris. He's just not that trained and it wouldn't be accepted by the GA. just like IHN is not accepted now, or as 'It's All Over' wasn't.

So why is a note that used to be easy and clear for him now a tiny bit of a reach? I think the answer is that his voice is “changing” in the sense of becoming more professionally developed. I’ve heard him say in interviews that before he was cast for Glee, he couldn’t find a music teacher to work with him, because they were all “waiting for his voice to change” (oops — it already had). But since he’s been on the show, he (along with everyone else) has had top-quality vocal training. So what we’ve heard over three years is his natural, raw talent turning into trained, polished talent.
This is true. His voice timbre became richer and fuller because of his training.

But wait — shouldn’t that make the notes easier to hit, rather than harder? Not necessarily. Since the beginning of Season 3, it’s been obvious that they are heavily focusing on developing Colfer’s lower range. They’re pushing him down to the bottom of his range in songs and he is sounding much more masculine and full-bodied in that range. He’s had very few solos, so you have to pick it out from snippits of other songs (“Love Shack” is an excellent example if you want to go listening, see also “Let It Snow”).
Disagree. Chris has been practicing his lower register more in season 1 and till mid season 2, but ever since then I have the impression that they are making him use his higher register more, emphasizing that (and it's no coincidence that this started happening when Blaine came on the show). Nowadays his lower register has less 'masculine' timbre than he had when he sang 'Rose's Turn'. He just knows how to turn up the 'masculinity' a notch when he sings 'Michael' and 'Loveshack', but in his multi-register songs there is more blending of both voices, and more 'softness' in his lower register. 'I Have Nothing' is the perfect example of that, and so is 'Perfect'.

When you start to develop your lower range, male or female, you learn to bring the chest voice quality up into your middle and head voice notes. It makes those notes sound more rich and textured. But it can also have the effect of limiting the top of your range because you’re trying to pull too much from the bottom. If you keep on training, you’ll learn to control it better and get those top notes back. But in the middle stage of training, it’s pretty common to lose your top notes, or to lose the ease with which you used to sing the top notes.

So, if you noticed the slight bit of strain in Colfer’s voice when he hit those high notes, it’s not because he’s growing up or getting worse. It’s because he’s getting better.-end quote.
This is 100% true. In order to improve your voice you have to 'install' new techniques. Usually these new techniques limits your voice (vocal range) for a while, untill you have them under control.
I've lost students because of this. I always tell them they have to sing worse to become better, but for some of them this temporarily sacrifice is too scary and too much.
Much of that temporarily loss can be compensated by also keeping training those high notes, alongside the chest voice/lower notes development. And I think Chris has done that.

As for Chris: I think he can still hit the highest notes, but because his overall voice, including the lower and middle notes in his high register, have become so much broader and fuller in timbre, the highest notes (where he has not yet mastered his new techniques) are conceived as less full and even shrill. When in truth those highest notes have stayed the same in timbre, only the rest of his vocal range got better, and that causes the contrast. neutre

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Post  Divalicious 4/26/2012, 11:20 am

I always appreciate the in depth analysis of Chris' voice. I love that others love his voice as I do. No one on this cast can project the emotion and connection as Chris does.

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Post  fantastica 4/26/2012, 4:02 pm

thanks Marie for explaining everything. this tumblr poster is a lady who is carrying her child, and has another small child. Yes I went on her tumblr to read what more she can say about chris' voice but apparently she started this account in mid march so there was little info there.
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Post  Buenos 4/26/2012, 9:09 pm

All i can say is daring to sing "I am nothing" in Whitney's key is balls to the wall chutzpah....Just f***ng fearless.

and while Amber arguably would have been more technically proficient singing that song (as her fans understandably wanted her to sing it) I doubt she or anyone else could have brought on the emotional heft that Chris brought to the song.

Sidenote:
I always admired Whitney's voice and singing but I didn't *love* here, there is a sterile technical perfection to her vocal gymnastics that lacked a little bit for my taste. That is why Chaka khan's version of "I'm every woman" is still my goto for that song for all that Whitney technically delievered singing her cover.




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Post  HollyMc. 4/27/2012, 8:46 am

According to Alex Anders, Chris himself asked to sing it in the original key unsure ohmy

www.twitter.com/alxanders

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Post  Jellyrolls 4/27/2012, 9:40 am

HollyMc. wrote:According to Alex Anders, Chris himself asked to sing it in the original key unsure ohmy

www.twitter.com/alxanders

That makes the fact that Chris sang it in the original key all that more amazing! It's great that Chris has that kind of confidence in his high register. He is absolutely amazing! No, he's not Whitney Houston, but he did an fabulous job on the song! Chris really knows and understands his voice better than anyone Smile
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Post  HollyMc. 4/27/2012, 10:02 am

Personally, I could hear the damage Marie was talking about, and I think it was too high for him. He seemed to be using only his head voice for it.
It was a very good attempt, but I feel that it would have been better in a lower key.
If the girls get the keys lowered all the time, why not Chris?
I was very puzzled when I saw the tweets.

As music producers, could Alex and Adam not advise Chris a bit more?
They want to sell songs right? I think the sales would have been much better if the song had been in a lower key.

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Post  Delight 4/27/2012, 10:14 am

^ I couldn't access that tweet you pointed out. Probably the fault of my internet speed.

But this is the first time I hear of a cast member having any direct input into the song arrangements in Glee.

Oh well, if what Anders had tweeted is really true, then it blew my conspiracy theory out of the water.

If this was what Chris had wanted, then I can only feel happy on his behalf. He said he was terrified of singing that Whitney Houston song in the original key and had to do vocal Olympics training to prepare for it. I wonder why he didn't choose to make his own life easier.

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Post  arina 4/27/2012, 10:33 am

I don't know, I think he would sound alot of better on the chorus if they lower the key, so I am not sharing Chris's opinion on this one... At least I don't have to be mad at the producers that they did not lower the key for him when they did it for girls..

I am just sad that now the people who were saying Chris did everything he could with the song, will start blaming him for this choice..


Last edited by arina on 4/27/2012, 10:48 am; edited 3 times in total
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Post  Jellyrolls 4/27/2012, 10:33 am

HollyMc. wrote:Personally, I could hear the damage Marie was talking about, and I think it was too high for him. He seemed to be using only his head voice for it.
It was a very good attempt, but I feel that it would have been better in a lower key.
If the girls get the keys lowered all the time, why not Chris?
I was very puzzled when I saw the tweets.

As music producers, could Alex and Adam not advise Chris a bit more?
They want to sell songs right? I think the sales would have been much better if the song had been in a lower key.

You have your answer. Chris wanted it that way. It's obvious that he loves to sing in his high register--most of the songs that he requested to sing on the show have been songs have been in his high register.

And for Chris, it's not about selling songs. It's about putting power and emotion into the performance. Most of the singers on this show have good to very good singing voices, and that's really all they do. They just sing the songs that are assigned to them. But Chris puts so much emotion and life into his songs, and uses it to enhance the storyline of his character.

I don't pay much attention to how a song charts. I don't think that we can fully know how a song sells unless we know how many copies it sells. The difference between a song that is the number 20 seller, and a song that is the number 40 song could really be as little as 20 copies sold. I would love to know the number of copies of sold for each song instead of the number it reaches on the charts. I'm sure "How Will I Know" sold a respectable number of copies.

Oh, and Holly, you sure are comfortable here fast, calling Marie by her name on her first post. Have you been lurking here long, or are you just addicted to Glee, Chris, and the message boards?
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Post  HollyMc. 4/27/2012, 10:52 am

arina wrote:I don't know, I think he would sound alot of better on the chorus if they lower the key, so I am not sharing Chris's opinion on this one... At least I don't have to be mad at the producers that they did not lower the key for him when they did it for girls..

I am just sad that now the people who were saying Chris did everything he could with the song, will start blaming him for this choice..

Agreed, I don't share Chris's opinion on this at all. The song started off quite nicely, but once he hit the high section (I think it starts at "Don't close one more door") he was out of depth in my opinion. And the highest section at the end? Completely out of his comfortable range.

I guess he just really loves singing high... regardless of what people think and how it sounds.


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Post  Glorfindel 4/27/2012, 11:55 am

I suspected as much that Chris was the one who wanted to sing it in the original key.
*shrugs*
Chris would want to tackle a challenge like that. He gets a bit over-zealous at times and sometimes it bites him in the butt. hapitgh
Well, at least he is true to his reputation of knowing what he wants and going for it all the way. His 'drive' is what got us SBL and LoS, and a big part of why we love Kurt Hummel so much, so.....

It still doesn't excuse the music arrangers from allowing him to do it. They are the professionals in this, not Chris. They should have told him to lower the key. But who can resist this:

Kurt's Singing Voice - Page 2 Tumblr_m2amstAHeO1qe1iaao1_1280

Alex and Adam never had a chance. ptdr

Well, at least I'm glad I haven't made the song review yet. I was about to go all Lima Heights on the Anders brothers. ooppss Smile

And regardless: Chris still did an amazing job with 'I Have Nothing', and he did it his usual Colfer magic way. wub
It's not an A+, but it's still an A-, imo. It's unique and still better than autotuned and techno beat tweeked-to-death remixes.
Haters gonna hate.


Last edited by Glorfindel on 4/27/2012, 11:59 am; edited 1 time in total
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Post  fantastica 4/27/2012, 11:59 am

To some people the sound of a males high register never sounds right. It appears unnatural to them. No matter how well Chris sing in his high register there will be criticisms. His better selling songs r all done in his low register. About IHN I doubt any one who is not a pro can hear any "straining ". But when a note goes so high it sounds "unnatural " if u r not used to it. hence the impression of straining. Chris has been practice for a week. If he cant reach the note he wont sing in that key. To my untrained ears he sounds great in this song.
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Post  HollyMc. 4/27/2012, 12:08 pm

I'm not a vocal coach or music expert, but even my untrained ear can hear that Chris's voice was basically cracking. He was depending on his falsetto, and you could hear the damage/straining very clearly toward the end of the song.

It sounded like it probably hurt his throat.

I think Chris was very very wrong to make this choice. Boy needs to learn to accept his limitations lol. And I'm pretty pissed at Alex and Adam for not setting him right on this.

Chris may love to sing as high as possible, but that doesn't mean he should.

Not that I hate the song, I adore the beginning of it.


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Post  Jellyrolls 4/27/2012, 12:20 pm

Hope you enjoyed your six posts here, Glee Addict. You won't have a seventh.
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Post  fantastica 4/27/2012, 12:23 pm

Gleeaddict: its not chris' voice that's cracking. It's your ears that are cracked

And jelly honey u r way too generous.
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Post  Divalicious 4/27/2012, 1:28 pm

Thank you, I just got up, and got on the forum, and had to read those sad posts. I wondered, why is she allowed this much? Then I see it is already taken care of, muchas gracias tonguue

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Post  Buenos 4/30/2012, 2:18 pm

Chris can sing in a high register and a lower register. He can sing in both, but it's totally an opinion which one prefers as a listener. The one thing is that he can cover that range.

Some folks hate male *falsetto* for example, (Bee Gees and SNF being a prime example) , it isn't a matter if the Bee Gees could sing that high, they obviously could it's whether someone likes that type of sound or not. Another example is Frankie Valii with the Four Seasons.

With Chris Colfer, the fact that he has that variety is unusual for Glee and he stands out from Cory, Kevin, Darren, etc in the show in his vocals. Their voices, as good as they can be on occasion, can blend in and out so people can't always tell who sings what. With Kurt out of the falsettos of "Saturday Nigh Glee" it was amusing to see fans flailing trying to figure out who sang what among the other guys. It's happened several times among the fans of the other singers (cough..cough..Darren..cough..cough) that they have no idea who is singing. Chris uniqueness is not highlighted or "showcased" which is annoying because Glee supposedly celebrates being the best you you can be. When Chris/Kurt sings, you know who is singing and he draws attention.

He doesn't need backup dancers, he doesn't' need major auto tune, he doesn't need production values, he doesn't need the rest of the Glee club swaying behind him or singing backup, he just needs to sing to grab attention and focus.




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Post  Glorfindel 4/30/2012, 4:12 pm

The Saturday Night Glee-ver First Listen Friday was the funniest FLF we've had so far. It took the fandom 2 days to figure out who was singing what. ptdr


I'm very satisfied that a lot of the comments last week on 'How Will I Know' said things like "These are the 4 strongest/best/purest singers of Glee". suure

Kurt's Singing Voice - Page 2 GleeWhitney
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Post  fantastica 4/30/2012, 4:29 pm

^ that's a pure acapella song. no auto tuning. no heavy music to mask any vocal flaws. no studio backups. you can't do it well if you are not a good singer to begin with.
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Post  Glorfindel 4/30/2012, 4:44 pm

^Exactly. hapitgh

*she says smugly*
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Post  Glorfindel 5/3/2012, 10:26 pm

I just finished my review of 'I Have Nothing'. Tomorrow I will post it here, but now I'm tired (it's 3.30AM), and reposting it here will take me another half hour because the format on this forum is different and I'll have to make adaptations.

For now: here is a link to the KSV thread on GF.

REVIEW: I Have Nothing

bisou
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Post  Glorfindel 5/4/2012, 5:23 pm

REVIEW: I Have Nothing (IHN).

After a Saturday Night Fever tribute episode that didn't have Kurt singing a BeeGees song (yes, I'm still pissed about that), Glee immediately followed with another tribute episode, dedicated to the late Whitney Houston. And this time Kurt did not only sing, but he sang in 3 songs (!), which can be counted as a small miracle.
That only has happened 3 times before: in 'the Power of Madonna' (although Kurt only spoke in 'What It Feels Like for a Girl'), 'Journey to Regionals' (although Kurt's line in DSB was cut and he only sang a little backup to Finn in the other Journey song), and 'Extraordinary Christmas' (although he just had one backup line in DTKIC). Hmmm, so I guess it didn't really happen after all in these episodes. Kurt is no 'fighter' apparently. Rolling Eyes
Well, to stay positive: I'd say the Whitney tribute episode was the real deal, because in neither one of the other almost 3-songs episodes did Kurt have a solo and a significant part in the 2 other songs. I'm such a cockeyed optimist today.

As soon as we heard that Kurt would sing 'I Have Nothing' the whole fandom freaked. The Kurtsies freaked because although this is a wonderful song and we've waited for a Kurt solo for soooooo long, we were afraid of the result and the reaction of the rest of the fandom. And the rest of the fandom did indeed freak, because "Chris-should-not-sing-in-his-high-register-and- how-dare-he-sing-a-Whitney-Houston-song-when-Amber-Riley-is-on-the-set." Or something like that.
Yup, been there, done that. dryy
So I geared up and prepared for battle. But surprisingly, not much battle came. Even more surprisingly so because Chris sang IHN really, really high and that would have earned him an immense smackdown by the non-Kurtsies in season 2.
But I guess being the underdog for so long, not having had a solo since episode 2 of the current season, and fated to sit on a stool while his acapella dreamboat boyfriend took over in glee club, mixed with some fandom frustration about the writing and song distribution these days, does pay off. Maybe the Gleeks hearing the feeble attempts of Chris' castmates to sing falsetto in the BeeGees episode helped create some sympathy for his strong falsetto voice as well. tonguue
Instead of scorning him, a large part of the fandom admitted that, though IHN was too high for comfort, it still was a lovely, emotional song and Chris did a good job with it. It even ended up on 2nd place in the poll on Glee forum. That is a big miracle, let's celebrate that for a moment.


The youtube videos:


Whitney Houston :


Kurt/Chris show version :


Kurt/Chris full version :



The Lyrics:

(low register is bolded)

(Verse 1)
"Share my life, take me for what I am
Cause I'll never change all my colors for you
Take my love, I'll never ask for too much
Just
all that you are and everything that you do

I don't really need to look very much further
I don't want to have to go where you don't follow
I won't hold it back again, this passion inside
Can't run from myself
There's nowhere to hide


(Chorus 1)
Don't make me close one more door
I don't wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk a
way from me-e...
I
have nothing, nothing, nothing
If I don't have you, you, you, you you, you

(Verse 2)
You see through, right to the heart of me
You break down my walls with the strength of your love, mm
mooh
I never knew love like I've known it with you
Will a memory survive, oh one I can hold on to-o

I don't really need to look very much further
I don't want to have to go where you don't follow

I won't hold it back again, this passion inside
I can't run from myself
There's nowhere to hide
Your love I'll remember forev
er

(Chorus 2)
Don't make me close one more door
I don't wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk away
from me...
I have nothing, nothing, nothing

(Chorus 3)
Don't make me close one more door
I don't wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk
away from me no...
Don't walk away from me
Don't you dare walk away from me
I have nothing, nothing, nothing
If I don't have you, you, you
If I don't have you, ohohooh"


Colfertenor:

When I was reading some comments about IHN on several forums I came across a few discussions whether Chris was a countertenor or not. Some people argued that a countertenor can reach the high notes in his 'real' voice (meaning low register I guess?), and Chris has to resort to falsetto to get that high, so he's no countertenor.
Well, no, because that's what countertenors really do: sing in their falsetto (in high register). There are very rare men who can sing that high in their low register, and they are not called countertenors at all, but male sopranos.
Chris is not a male soprano (nor ever was, even though Glee promoted him that way), but believe me: Chris is a legit countertenor if he wants to be.
Having said that: Chris does not sing as a countertenor in 'I Have Nothing', nor as (quite obvious) a tenor. Razz

After all the times Kurt and Chris have been accused of singing "like a girl" I'd say that this time that statement is mostly correct: Chris is using pure female vocal techniques in IHN. I think trying to come close to Whitney's style provoked that, but a big part of it is Chris' own unique style of singing: aka his Colfertenor.
Because, although Chris sings like a girl, he doesn't sound like a girl, and there lies the difference (and the core of the discord/schism over his voice in the fandom). Listen to the phenomenal Alex of TGP in Boogie Shoes, and you'll hear the difference in timbre and voice between him and Chris. I think Alex is a male soprano, and he and Chris do not sound alike at all (btw: Alex would have nailed a WH song). neutre

A refreshment course (since it's been soooooo long):
- a male soprano can reach the high notes in his low register, but they are very rare.
- a tenor only sings in his low register.
- a countertenor sings mostly in his high register (falsetto), only singing in low register when absolutely necessary.
- there are men who combine the 2 techniques (tenor+countertenor), but most of the time you can clearly hear the breakpoint (the notes on which he changes register).
- a woman changes frequently between her low and high register, blending them together as much as possible.

Chris sometimes sings as a tenor (4Minutes, Blackbird), sometimes as a countertenor (Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Pure Imagination), but most of the time he mixes both voices up, partly using female vocal techniques. The more confident he gets in using both his registers and switching between them, the more he keeps the middle part of his vocal range a neutral zone: singing the same note one time in low, the other time in high register. There isn't a clear boundary/tone where he always switches (e.g. with Kevin McHale there is a clear boundary above which he sings in falsetto). Chris can switch his registers on more than an octave of notes!!! That is phenomenal, and something most women cannot do, let alone men. Here's a male singer who uses the same techniques: Mandy Patinkin - Somewhere Over the Rainbow. wub

Kurt's Singing Voice - Page 2 I_Have_Nothing


Chris' vocal range:
- low register = blue
- breaking point notes (both low and high register) = black
- high register (falsetto) = red

A2-B-C3-D-E-F-G-A-B3-C4-D-E-F-G-A-B-C5-D-E5-F-G-A-B5flat


The verses:

1-A + 2-A:

(Verse 1-A)
"Share my life, take me for what I am
Cause I'll never change all my colors for you
Take my love, I'll never ask for too much
Just
all that you are and everything that you do

(Verse 1-B)
(Chorus)

(Verse 2-A)

You see through, right to the heart of me
You break down my walls with the strength of your love, mm
mooh
I never knew love like I've known it with you
Will a memory survive, oh one I can hold on to-o

(Verse 2-B)

The first part of the verses (the A parts) are very soft, and Chris sings all but a few words in high register. The melody isn't that high and could have been entirely sung by Chris in low register, if he wanted to. But by using his high register he gets a much softer effect. Here he mostly sings as a countertenor, only going back to the low register when absolutely necessary, on the 2 low notes (G3) at the beginning of lines 2 and 4 in verse 1-A.
However: he also switches back to low register on "…ask for too much" in that verse. This is not necessary technically, and I think he does it to emphasize the words he's singing: to give them more importance and strength in comparison to the rest of the verse.

The similar in melody 2nd verse (2-A) is stronger in emotion, more intense, and by using his low register in those first 2 lines Chris can put that extra emotion in it. The 3rd and 4th line of verse 2-A are higher than their counterparts in verse 1-A. This is another trick to intensify the emotion, only this time of course, that was already intended in the melody when the song was composed.


1-B + 2-B:

(Verse 1-A)

(Verse 1-B)

"I don't really need to look very much further
I don't want to have to go where you don't follow
I won't hold it back again, this passion inside

Can't run from myself
There's nowhere to hide


(Chorus)
(Verse 2-A)

(Verse 2-B)

I don't really need to look very much further
I don't want to have to
go where you don't follow
I won't hold it back again, this passion inside
I can't run from myself
There's nowhere to hide
Your love I'll remember forev
er"

The 2nd part of the verses (the B-parts) are sung in low register (chest voice). Chris can do it easily, because the highest note (without the notes in the runs) is an A4, and he doesn't need to belt.

The first verse (1-B) is completely in low register except for 1 word, and that's where the Colfertenor sneaks in for an instant.
The second verse has a few more words in high register. This is not a tenor's voice. This is definitely Colfertenor.
Changing registers here is not necessary because of the melody, but still Chris does it several times. And it's fascinating how easily Chris switches back and forth, slipping in and out of his falsetto smoothly. We will see this more of him in the songs to come.

And it's new. Not completely new, but the ease and thougthlessness in which it is done is new. Chris is either not aware of it anymore, or he has just adopted it as his personal style. Or more likely it's a combination of both.
So far the rapidly switching of registers of the Colfertenor technique was mainly used to create and support the voix mixte: coloring one register to sound like the other register on notes out of reach of that other register: aka cheating a bit. Smile
But this is different. Chris is not hiding the switches/breakpoints anymore with voix mixte. His voice has become smooth enough to create a homogenous sound throughout his entire vocal range without resorting to voix mixte, and the small differences in timbre of the registers that he doesn't hide anymore behind that voix mixte seem now to be part of his signature, his style. It's like Chris doesn't care anymore that people know he's singing in all his registers, and using vocal techniques that are not traditionally male while doing so if he feels like it: it's out in the open. It is less contrived now, and more his own natural voice, imo.
It is only a tiny difference, and I hope explained it right, but it's as if another layer has been peeled off of Chris's voice. wub


The Choruses:

(Chorus 1)
Don't make me close one more door
I don't wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk a
way from me-e...
I
have nothing, nothing, nothing
If I don't have you, you, you, you you, you

(Chorus 2)
Don't make me close one more door
I don't wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk away
from me...
I have nothing, nothing, nothing

(Chorus 3)
Don't make me close one more door
I don't wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk
away from me no...
Don't walk away from me
Don't you dare walk away from me
I have nothing, nothing, nothing
If I don't have you, you, you
If I don't have you, ohohooh

Well, the choruses was where it all went to Mount Doom for a lot of fans. Darn, those notes are high. blinkk
In the 1st and 2nd chorus Chris sings up to a high F5. And that's the 'Defying Gravity' and 'It's All Over' F. In the 3rd chorus Chris sings even higher, to a F5sharp. That's because between the 2nd and the 3rd chorus the key changes 1 semitone upwards, and so does the high note.
Luckily the high F's are only briefly touched upon, and they are not long sustained notes, but yeah, they are still difficult.

The choruses also have another difficulty: riffs and runs.

Riffs and Runs:
Chris has a traditional Broadway voice. Chris has not got a R&B or soul voice. We all know that by now. Chris is not that stuck in his Broadway voice that he cannot tackle pop music or other styles, but riffs and runs are not his 'cup of tea'.
I myself cannot do riffs and runs spontaneously. I can study them and give a good imitation, but they will never come really naturally to me. Chris has the same problem.

And I think, more than IHN being very high, the riffs and the runs are giving Chris trouble maintaining his warmer and stronger timbre. Singing runs is hard work and the many little notes tend to make you 'slip' off the firm placement of your voice inside your mouth. You can't really 'hold on' to something. That is what is causing the 'haziness' and the loss of power in Chris' voice in IHN. Remember how I explained that the throat/vocal chords are like a balloon: not enough 'pressure', or 'placement' in this case, and the air escapes, making the tone less firm and drying out the vocal chords in the process. The drying out of the vocal chords causes the 'fatigue'.
So, ironically enough, a lot of people kept saying that Chris sounded strained in the high notes of IHN, when in fact it is the lack of strain that is causing his voice sounding 'thin' here.

But here's where Chris' impersonating/imitating talents come in handy. He obviously listened a lot to Whitney singing IHN. You can almost put their versions on top of one another and you'll hear how much Chris copied her timing and enounciation, and the riffs and runs.
Actually: someone really did put the versions on top of one another (thank you). Listen to this and be astounded. ohmy




The Key:

When 'I Have Nothing' was released on FLF I was in shock (and I wasn't the only one): Chris sang an epic Whitney Houston song in her original key. Apart from the last group number in the episode (My Love Is Your Love) noone else in the cast had to do that in this episode, not even Lea or Amber.
At first I was taken aback, because, boy, that was really high, Mr. Colfer.
But I still embraced and loved the song, because Chris adapted 'I Have Nothing' to his own style, without compromising Whitney's R&B's original style, singing it soft, angelic, but still full of emotional power, and his emotions seeped through, making his version as lovely and powerful in spirit as hers, regardless the high key.
And, to stop the haters: despite that the highest notes sounded thin and were not as powerful as Whitney's amazing belting voice, those high notes were pitch perfect, nothing wrong with that.
There was however a 'haze' in his voice, and I recognized that as fatigue and overstretching. This was, as I said above, due I think to having to rehearse this song and all its runs within only weeks (knowing Glee and the shoe-horned in tribute idea maybe only days), and then record it in 1 (!) hour. That will definitely give stress and fatigue to a voice. The Glee cast members work harder than horses, and Fox is a demanding boss. dryy

After the episode aired the news came out that Chris himself wanted to sing 'I Have Nothing' in the original key. Alas, no complot theory was true of Glee setting Kurt up for failure, or "What were they drinking/using that day in the music studio?".
I'm glad I got this piece of information before I wrote this review, because I was about to go all Lima Heights on Adam and Alex Anders. And I stil think they are not off the hook entirely for letting Chris sing IHN in its original key. In my opinion the key should have been lowered by 2-3 semitones. It is not so much that Chris cannot reach the high notes, because he clearly proves he can, but because his timbre in the highest notes is not as rich as a little lower in his vocal range, and….. well it's just darn high.
I have sung IHN myself at a wedding and even though I still have a few extra high notes on Chris (although he's catching up fast hapitgh): I lowered the key 2 semitones. Not because I couldn't reach the notes, but because I don't have a R&B voice like Whitney, and neither does Chris. Lowering the key a bit gave me more 'darkness' and power in my voice to work with, and that would have worked for Chris too.

Now listen good: I did not say that Chris should have sung IHN one octave lower in his low register only, as some people suggested. That is something completely different. I said that the key should have been lowered 2-3 semitones, so Chris could use his warmer timbre in his falsetto. Lowering the key with an octave would have been impossible music wise and Chris would have sounded horribly 'off', not like Kurt, and certainly not like Whitney.

No matter how lovely the end result: I think that Chris made a mistake in singing IHN in its original key; this was one bridge too far. But this is Chris we're talking about: the guy who thrives on challenges and constantly seeks the boundaries of his creativity. If that incredible drive of him gives us SBL, LoS and a new asyllum movie to look forward to, then a bold move that prevented IHN from becoming an absolute perfect Whitney Houston hommage can be easily forgiven. fanny2

Where was I…..? Oh yes, the Anders brothers. In hindsight and as a nagging voice coach who only accepts the best, I'd say they should have overruled Chris and lowered the key. But by giving Chris the opportunity to honor Whitney Houston his way, Adam and Alex (and whoever else was involved in the process) put themselves right on the line there with Chris, and I can only admire and appreciate that very, very much.
They ignored iTunes sales, the tendency of Glee to produce polished main stream music, and they were not afraid to say "scr*w you" to the nay-sayers of Chris' voice. Seeing the backlash and twitter crap they got for that, which led to Alex tweeting that Chris himself wanted to sing IHN in its original key, I can only say: kudos to them, and thank you for making it possible for Chris to have his own voice in this. wub

Kurt's Singing Voice - Page 2 Tumblr_m33cbf39HH1qfi12x


Final remark:

The downside of no key change for 'I Have Nothing', and no whistles and bells like music videos, a glass table or nice short skirts to distract from the performance, was that it set Chris up for a direct comparison with Whitney Houston. And being compared to one of the best voices of her time will not go well 99% of the time. Chris was no exception to that.
But, apart from the puritans that are of the opinion that noone should sing Whitney's songs but her or Amber Riley, a lot of people admitted that Chris came darn close, admitted fans and critics. By several media recappers 'I Have Nothing' got an A-, and that would be my grade also.

By singing IHN the way he does, Chris once again demonstrates that he's just being who he is: not so much blurring the gender lines, but kicking against the rules of them (constraint by society), and ignoring them to fit his own expressions, his own style. Whether that style is considered as male or female or not: I honestly think that this is not his concern or hidden agenda.
I'm not sure if I made this clear, but there is a difference between deliberately blurring/crossing gender rules, or just doing what you want because it sounds right to you and scr*w the nay-sayers who want to pigeonhole you in the 'appropiate' box, in Chris' case either the box of a male singer who should sing "normal", or the box of a gay guy only wanting to sing "girl songs". And that goes for Kurt even more.
(And I'm writing this review knowing what will come for Kurt performing wise in the next episode: Choke neutre ).

It seems like Chris has chosen to be who he is, and the more confident he gets in his career, the more confident he gets in his voice. No more hiding or compromises: Chris defied gravity, iTunes sales and the fandom backlash with his voice, and I love that in him.
Maybe he will make more mistakes with this attitude then when playing it safe (and hearing his comments during his SBL interviews about among other things IHN I think he frets about that a lot), but it allows him to think outside of the box, and that's what got us 'Rose's Turn' and 'As If We Never Said Goodbye'. wub

In that respect some of the lyrics of 'I Have Nothing' ring very true for Chris:
"Take me for what I am, 'cause I'll never change all my colors for you."

Chris wanted to honor a singer he admired very much, and he did it in the way he thought was his best, and in many ways it was.
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