voice
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On Michael Jackson’s Vocal Artistry
A real audio gem recently appeared via a blog devoted to Michael Jackson. The gem I’m referring to is a clip of Jackson singing one of his biggest hits, “Beat It.” But it’s not the finished song we all know. It’s a demo of Jackson’s ideas for the yet-to-be song. It sounds like he’s in the studio, Continue reading
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On Ken Dryden’s “The Game”
When my brother and I were kids, we spent a lot of time playing ball hockey in the driveway, taking shots at one another with a fluorescent orange “sting” ball that really did sting when it was frozen from the cold and hitting you in the face. One of our always followed conventions of the Continue reading
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On Voice In The Tour De France
“Why do you watch this? It’s pretty repetitive.” “I just kind of trance out.” “Do you like it because it’s soothing and mellow?” “Yes! It’s all about the scenery and especially the voices.” “Okay..Can we watch Wimbledon now?” *** When July rolls around, the world of professional cycling rolls into our apt, bringing the bright Continue reading
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On Influence And Voice
This is a post about influence and voice. It’s about how each of us is influenced by one another–by other writers, musicians, teachers. By voice I don’t mean our actual speaking voices (though those can have their influence too). I mean that something in the character and essence and presence of each of us that Continue reading
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On Lip Syncing And Musical Authenticity
Like a lot of folks, I watched the music acts perform at the Obama presidential inauguration. The Brooklyn Tabernacle choir, singing “Battle Hymn Of The Republic” sounded fantastic; American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” sounded smooth and polished; James Taylor’s “America The Beautiful” was a reassuring presence; and megastar Beyonce sounded Continue reading
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On The Universal Sense: How Hearing Shapes The Mind
Seth Horowitz’s The Universal Sense is an exhaustive, lucid, and entertaining neuroscientific foray into the many ways hearing, listening, and sound shape the mind–how sound affects the way we think, feel, and act. Horowitz is a professor of neuroscience at Brown University who specializes in studies of comparative and human hearing. He’s also an enthusiastic Continue reading
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On Voice, Authenticity, And Not Being Fake
In a recent online interview excerpted in The Guardian, musician and Portishead member Geoff Barrow discusses the idea of singing with a “fake” voice. Leading the pack in Barrow’s view is the late Amy Winehouse, a white singer who sang, some people say disparagingly, like a black jazz or soul singer from an earlier era–or Continue reading
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On Sounds And Humor
It took all of three minutes, but the guy on the subway was making all kinds sounds with his voice and as I listened to him I couldn’t stop giggling. Verbal Ace is his name and he’s a vocal artist, a human beatboxer, a singer, a sound effects machine, and mimic extraordinaire. Armed with just Continue reading
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On The Sounds Of Justice
A few weeks ago I was part of a jury for a criminal trial. The trial took nine days, and I had ample opportunity to listen–not just to all the legal stuff, the arguments, the evidence, but to the sounds of voices in the courtroom and in the jury deliberation room. Court proceedings are like musical Continue reading
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Free Of All The World’s Heaviness: Karl Pilkington On Sound And Listening
I recently watched a few episodes of the animated HBO series, The Ricky Gervais Show (based on the popular audio podcast of the same name), on which Gervais and fellow comedian and writer Stephen Merchant chat with their perfectly round-headed friend Karl Pilkington on any topic they feel like just to hear what Karl might Continue reading
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