all i can say is 'badassalterego'.... a rousing WELCOME!!! ...your posts along with 'Elsiebear''s are pure gold for me.......i miss this type of input about adam's technique....i always get a kick out of peeps who say that he doesn't play an instrument...the man has the most beautiful instrument in the world........and as to playing...well... we know it reaches the heavens........
I'm so thrilled that this little post I made has become so popular .
Also fantastic to 'meet' :Smile: badassalterego
Singing correctly and all the various styles of teaching is such a massive subject . I've heard people argue for hours about which is the ' right' method . Well don't belive there is just one method . At the end of the day which ever way to get to the end result is very personal , as long as you get there through breathing and placement without putting strain and stress on the voice.
I listen to John Farnham a lot , in fact he is very similar to Adam in quite a few ways (vocally and personality ) And he too is a great example of singing as a controlled rock tenor ... like Adam when he sings it often sounds wild and dangerous but If he wasn't doing it correctly then he would have burned out many years ago but instead he is still as strong today as back in the 70's .
Opera star Alfie Boe often says that the technic learned to perform opera can be applied to all genres of music .... something he demonstrates very well in concert , fillting from opera to rock and roll in a second.its so true because really at the end of the day the things you learn whist studying vocal technic simply give you the core you need to build from . The little tricks we singers use combined with correct breathing etc once learned can then be applied to any situation and style
I will say again though because it's so important to me .... What Adam has is a gift from God and no amount of training could have 'created' that voice . Only built on and strengthened it .He is a very talented and special gentleman who is so blessed . And we too are blessed and love him so much for sharing his talents with us .xx :bleh:
Hi Elsiebear and badassalterego [hello.gif] ....have a question......listening to this Prague WWTLF......adam did some new vocal acrobatics at 1:48 + and 2:33 + ("fingertips")...what did he do here? ...are these semitones???...or ???? and how difficult is it to do this type of vocalization???... ......i was totally blown away....(so love that adam takes these kind of vocal risks).....
'badassalterego' date='Feb 18th 2015, 7:27 PM'
Hi sealuv - I'm running on mobile broadband at the moment as I've just moved house today (phew!) and I'll have to see if I can get a decent fast connection to have a look at the vid. Making a wild guess, he's done a different improvisation and added a few more top notes. You can only improvise when you can feel the harmony of a song in your head, as otherwise it can sound peculiar - or worse.
Adam's been proving he can improvise really well with Brian before they go into IWIA (I think there might be some loops of this on Twitter somewhere, made by some of the naughty gals :D ). To be honest, you can either feel harmony, or you can't - it isn't something you can learn easily. It's actually in his DNA - honestly; there is a gene which makes some people able to feel harmony better than others.
Taking the risk when you're doing that sort of thing is great - you're standing here and basically saying to your audience "I'm doing this because I can!!". Improvisation actually goes back hundreds of years and I've done it when I've sung baroque music, so the idea isn't new, but the harmonies have evolved over the centuries.
I'll see if I can analyse what he's doing when I've had a look at the vid properly. See you soon!
Opera star Alfie Boe often says that the technic learned to perform opera can be applyed to all genres of music .... something he demonstrates very well in concert , fillting from opera to rock and roll in a second.its so true because really at the end of the day the things you learn whist studying vocal technic simply give you the core you need to build from . The little tricks we singers use combined with correct breathing etc once learned can then be applyed to any situation and style
'badassalterego' date='Feb 18th 2015, 6:17 PM'
Hi to elsiebear - I see you're a Brit as well and you live not too far away from me!
That's very true about the way that a classical technique will cross into most styles of singing - the only thing that is really different is the pop/music theatre style that's usually called "belting" - I've never used this, so I have to say I don't know what it feels like to do it. I suspect for me some of this is because I'm a soprano (probably more like a high mezzo soprano these days), so when I've sung cabaret/pop stuff I tend to do it in lower keys, as otherwise you end up in the part of your voice that's automatically too powerful for the style you're singing; or it may be that I just have a voice like a foghorn. :D
There are also classical singers who like to sing pop and rock music too - there is an English Wagner soprano called Jane Eaglen who has said she warms her voice up by singing along with Meatloaf! I've always found Queen's songs really comfortable to sing because they have a much bigger range than a lot of other rock and pop music written for men's voices.
You're right about the basic sound that a singer makes - it can be refined and trained, but it's always that same tone at the core of it. Adam sounds like he is because he is Adam - no two voices will ever sound completely the same as they're like fingerprints. Where Adam is a winner is the sheer range of what he can do - in terms of the notes he can hit, but also that range of colour. He can go from dark to light and everything else in between. He also has the added gift of being able to produce a really "golden" tone, which is interesting given that there is loads of gold on the QAL stage set. Good tonal match there!
Probably, a really stupid question, but from someone who can't sing ONE note on key, do singers like Adam actually KNOW that they're going to hit the right notes? I'm so in awe of his voice... in all these concerts he's done with Queen and given that their songs are basically vocal gymnastics, he hasn't hit one bum note that I'm aware of.
'badassalterego' date='Feb 18th 2015, 7:38 PM'
Helloooooooo
Yep - you know you're going to do it. It's that genetics thing that I was just describing in the post to sealuv. If you've got the gene you can FEEL THE MUSIC :bleh:
Seriously though, some of it is about "muscle memory", which is the same as athletes use. When you've spent years singing, your body knows what it's doing and most of the technical stuff happens on autopilot. You don't need to think about what's going on in the background and you just concentrate on interpreting the song. And when you know the music really well, you can play with it as you feel where you are and know the boundaries of what will work harmonically.
And... it's a sign of how comfortable he feels with the music, and how much he's grown in confidence doing the QAL tour and working with Brian and Roger. In effect, he's had months of masterclass tuition in being a rock god from them and he's getting better with every performance. When you stand up and perform, confidence goes a long, loooong way - when you know you can do it, then you will.
I'd be really interested to know whether he's ever had any issues with performance nerves. I saw an interview about the Kiev concert and he said he had a bit of a fright when he realised how big the audience was going to be. Conquering nerves is one of the biggest things that you ever have to do as a performer, as they can make the difference between success and failure.
Oh, something else... Speaking of harmonies... I am floored, night after night, by the harmonies these 6 men can produce!!!! How hard is it for them to do this?
Hi sealuv - I'm running on mobile broadband at the moment as I've just moved house today (phew!) and I'll have to see if I can get a decent fast connection to have a look at the vid. Making a wild guess, he's done a different improvisation and added a few more top notes. You can only improvise when you can feel the harmony of a song in your head, as otherwise it can sound peculiar - or worse.
Adam's been proving he can improvise really well with Brian before they go into IWIA (I think there might be some loops of this on Twitter somewhere, made by some of the naughty gals :D ). To be honest, you can either feel harmony, or you can't - it isn't something you can learn easily. It's actually in his DNA - honestly; there is a gene which makes some people able to feel harmony better than others.
Taking the risk when you're doing that sort of thing is great - you're standing here and basically saying to your audience "I'm doing this because I can!!". Improvisation actually goes back hundreds of years and I've done it when I've sung baroque music, so the idea isn't new, but the harmonies have evolved over the centuries.
I'll see if I can analyse what he's doing when I've had a look at the vid properly. See you soon!
'sealuv' date='Feb 18th 2015, 8:38 PM'
I'll be interested in what you think, once you have listened to the vid....it's like he goes into #notes when he does the run?...or something...sorry i'm totally a neophyte when it come to this ... :haha: ...that's why it is so great you and Elsiebear are around......
(badassalterego @ Feb 18th 2015, 4:38 PM) *
Helloooooooo
Yep - you know you're going to do it. It's that genetics thing that I was just describing in the post to sealuv. If you've got the gene you can FEEL THE MUSIC bleh.gif
Seriously though, some of it is about "muscle memory", which is the same as athletes use. When you've spent years singing, your body knows what it's doing and most of the technical stuff happens on autopilot. You don't need to think about what's going on in the background and you just concentrate on interpreting the song. And when you know the music really well, you can play with it as you feel where you are and know the boundaries of what will work harmonically.
And... it's a sign of how comfortable he feels with the music, and how much he's grown in confidence doing the QAL tour and working with Brian and Roger. In effect, he's had months of masterclass tuition in being a rock god from them and he's getting better with every performance. When you stand up and perform, confidence goes a long, loooong way - when you know you can do it, then you will.
I'd be really interested to know whether he's ever had any issues with performance nerves. I saw an interview about the Kiev concert and he said he had a bit of a fright when he realised how big the audience was going to be. Conquering nerves is one of the biggest things that you ever have to do as a performer, as they can make the difference between success and failure.
'sealuv' date='Feb 18th 2015, 8:38 PM'
I so agree with you on the comfort that adam feels with these songs......( + the comfort of knowing he has been accepted by the majority of Queen fans/media)......he owns them, now...they are a part of his being......i think once that happens with him.....be it his own music or Queen's .....he really takes on a new level of delivery...a level of risk....or as Brian says "dangerous".
As to adam having pre show butterflies..........from interviews that i have read or watched....he has said he really doesn't get them......i think the Kiev Concert was a double whammy for him....stepping into Freddie's shoes and looking into a sea of 250,000 peeps!...He'd be nuts not to have some nerves.....probably the majority of artists who took on this task would have been hurling in the wings!.. :haha:
I'll be interested in what you think, once you have listened to the vid....it's like he goes into #notes when he does the run?...or something...sorry i'm totally a neophyte when it come to this ... haha.gif ...that's why it is so great you and Elsiebear are around......
I so agree with you on the comfort that adam feels with these songs......( + the comfort of knowing he has been accepted by the majority of Queen fans/media)......he owns them, now...they are a part of his being......i think once that happens with him.....be it his own music or Queen's .....he really takes on a new level of delivery...a level of risk....or as Brian says "dangerous".
As to adam having pre show butterflies..........from interviews that i have read or watched....he has said he really doesn't get them......i think the Kiev Concert was a double whammy for him....stepping into Freddie's shoes and looking into a sea of 250,000 peeps!...He'd be nuts not to have some nerves.....probably the majority of artists who took on this task would have been hurling in the wings!.. :laugh:
'badassalterego' date='Feb 18th 2015, 9:08 PM'
If he doesn't get much in the way of nerves he's very lucky as it can cripple some performers. I know this to my own cost as I started getting stage fright about 8/9 years ago and I don't sing much in public at all, which is a shame as I used to love it. it's funny though as often the best, most outrageous showmen are much quieter in real life. Freddie was evidently a very shy, humble bloke, completely different from the stage persona.
The whole thing about being dangerous on stage is true though, you get a massive adrenaline hit from it. That's probably one of the things Brian and Roger love about Adam, as he just goes out there and owns it!!
(madamimadam @ Feb 18th 2015, 6:31 PM) *
Oh, something else... Speaking of harmonies... I am floored, night after night, by the harmonies these 6 men can produce!!!! How hard is it for them to do this?
'badassalterego' date='Feb 18th 2015, 9:08 PM'
The two main things about singing harmonies are knowing the line you're singing and sticking to it, and then listening to what's going on around you!!
If he doesn't get much in the way of nerves he's very lucky as it can cripple some performers. I know this to my own cost as I started getting stage fright about 8/9 years ago and I don't sing much in public at all, which is a shame as I used to love it. it's funny though as often the best, most outrageous showmen are much quieter in real life. Freddie was evidently a very shy, humble bloke, completely different from the stage persona.
The whole thing about being dangerous on stage is true though, you get a massive adrenaline hit from it. That's probably one of the things Brian and Roger love about Adam, as he just goes out there and owns it!!
'sealuv' date='Feb 18th 2015, 9:48 PM'
this is what is so different with adam...and i'm only saying this from my desk and not knowing him on a one to one.. ...but...what you see in RL is what you see on stage......a man who loves life ...has that joie de vive .....and is a searcher.....owning these qualities.........he says WTF!......"i'm going to take risks."....."i'm going to front Queen"...."i'm going to be who i am and conquer mainstream pop".........in other words...."dangerous" is my drug..
From the vids of Freddie ...he was shy .........but it was also the age of unacceptance...who knows how he would have thrived if he lived now?..bet a lot less shy!........
Probably, a really stupid question, but from someone who can't sing ONE note on key, do singers like Adam actually KNOW that they're going to hit the right notes? I'm so in awe of his voice... in all these concerts he's done with Queen and given that their songs are basically vocal gymnastics, he hasn't hit one bum note that I'm aware of.
'donnamb' date='Feb 18th 2015, 11:28 PM'
This is more a comment than an answer. After some musical exposure to reading music and playing it, maybe singing, you do get to know what the note is. Even if you're sight-reading a score. I mean, I had basic piano lessons as a kid, never participated in singing anything until my adult years when I joined a church choir. Since I'm an alto, I recognize now that I probably transposed singing down an octave to the tenor line, rather than singing up to soprano. As an alto 1 in a choir, I can hit my range now without transposing
If I look at a music score and it starts out as a G (or any other note), I can hit that, and move from there. That's just ear. You know, every choir rehearsal has to have that person saying where do find my note in the third system, second bar. And the choir director has to say, it's the same note that the tenors' sing right before.
Adam knows where he starts from. He knows the harmonics/chords which go along with the root note. For these Queen songs, it is in his DNA, at this point. Might not be automatic if confronted with a completely new piece of music, but he'd quickly assimilate it.
Hi Elsiebear and badassalterego bye1.gif ....have a question......listening to this Prague WWTLF......adam did some new vocal acrobatics at 1:48 + and 2:33 + ("fingertips")...what did he do here? ...are these semitones???...or ???? and how difficult is it to do this type of vocalization???... ......i was totally blown away....(so love that adam takes these kind of vocal risks).....
'hotouthere' date='Feb 18th 2015, 11:44 PM'
I am definitely not a vocal expert! However, I did take 13 years of piano lessons and have a very good ear when notes are not played or sung in tune.
When I listen to this video and the parts you pointed out, I personally hear some bad notes! Adam usually goes for the high notes in these places. I think he made a very last second decision to riff around a bit instead of going all out on the high notes and he actually failed to blend them into a pitch perfect set of notes. This is really unusual for him. I guess that he didn't feel comfortable going for the high notes here. He could still have some residual issues with his bronchitis, the weather and other atmospheric conditions can affect a persons voice, and even though we think he can do no wrong, he could have lost his timing or breath control a bit and just wasn't prepared to go all out. I noticed that he seemed to spend a longer time than usual standing at the mike at first and then hurried over to the walkway and perhaps lost his normal momentum. This is my take on this and someone else here might have a different opinion which is perfectly fine with me. :laugh:
Hi Elsiebear and badassalterego bye1.gif ....have a question......listening to this Prague WWTLF......adam did some new vocal acrobatics at 1:48 + and 2:33 + ("fingertips")...what did he do here? ...are these semitones???...or ???? and how difficult is it to do this type of vocalization???... ......i was totally blown away....(so love that adam takes these kind of vocal risks).....
'hotouthere' date='Feb 18th 2015, 11:44 PM'
I am definitely not a vocal expert! However, I did take 13 years of piano lessons and have a very good ear when notes are not played or sung in tune.
When I listen to this video and the parts you pointed out, I personally hear some bad notes! Adam usually goes for the high notes in these places. I think he made a very last second decision to riff around a bit instead of going all out on the high notes and he actually failed to blend them into a pitch perfect set of notes. This is really unusual for him. I guess that he didn't feel comfortable going for the high notes here. He could still have some residual issues with his bronchitis, the weather and other atmospheric conditions can affect a persons voice, and even though we think he can do no wrong, he could have lost his timing or breath control a bit and just wasn't prepared to go all out. I noticed that he seemed to spend a longer time than usual standing at the mike at first and then hurried over to the walkway and perhaps lost his normal momentum. This is my take on this and someone else here might have a different opinion which is perfectly fine with me. :laugh:
'sealuv' date='Feb 19th 2015, 12:38 AM'
this is why i asked ...to be honest, i felt he was trying to experiment... and he missed the mark...it sounded off........not so much the "fingertips" riff....but the early one, that i mentioned.......it wasn't pleasant to my ears....badassalterego said this can happen......"sound peculiar ..or worse" ..... ..so will be interesting what she thinks after she hears the vid.....bad notes???? or......??
I have an unqualified opinion to this.... He is tapping at his earpiece a couple of times, could it be that he is not hearing himself? (I thought that is important for him to hear himself.) :unsure:
I have an unqualified opinion to this.... He is tapping at his earpiece a couple of times, could it be that he is not hearing himself? (I thought that is important for him to hear himself.) unsure.gif
'BHS9697' date='Feb 19th 2015, 3:06 PM'
Yes, for a singer like Adam it's crucial to hear himself clearly through the earpiece so your theory is definitely a good one :yes:
Also, an unpopular opinion but I'll risk getting stones thrown at me: no matter how good a singer is, there will always be some moments of not quite hitting the right note. I've been at classical concerts, musicals, rock concerts - it's just how live music is. Peace :)
(vampfever @ Feb 18th 2015, 7:53 PM) *
I no nothing about vocal techniques or music in general for that matter...but what current singer is comparable to Adam? I'm not baiting, I genuinely don't know.
(Janika @ Feb 19th 2015, 8:26 PM) *
I'd love to know that too, singing LIVE - who?
'BHS9697' date='Feb 19th 2015, 3:06 PM'
Not quite current anymore but Mariah Carey during her peak years comes to mind.
Hi Elsiebear and badassalterego bye1.gif ....have a question......listening to this Prague WWTLF......adam did some new vocal acrobatics at 1:48 + and 2:33 + ("fingertips")...what did he do here? ...are these semitones???...or ???? and how difficult is it to do this type of vocalization???... ......i was totally blown away....(so love that adam takes these kind of vocal risks).....
'badassalterego' date='Feb 19th 2015, 8:35 PM'
Hi again
I can't get enough speed out of this goddamn mobile internet dongle to listen to this properly. I got a few seconds of the improvisation at 1.48, and it does sound as though he just felt he could get a few more top notes out. It was still broadly within the harmony of the song so sounded OK. I'll let you know about the other bit when I can listen to it. From what one or two other people have said later in the thread, it sounds as though he may have been having a bit of a problem with the headset.
I've never sung with heavily amplified music so I don't know how these work, but I can only guess that they attenuate the sound so that you can actually hear what's going on. They will also stop you getting noise-related hearing loss, which is very common amongst a lot of the older rock stars as they didn't have this technology in the 70s and 80s.
To answer your question, the main thing with doing this sort of improvisation is having the cohones to do it. If you know you've got the notes in your range, and you know the harmony of the song, you can do it as long as you go for it with conviction and concentrate. However, it can be easy to get lost! A lot of singers will have a go at these improvisations beforehand to test them, and then if they feel OK, do them in performance. Often you'll have a number of variations in your head and then you pick the one that you feel like doing at the time.
Classical singers also do them a lot - it's mainly in opera and baroque music that they come up, and they're to do a) because the audience isn't expecting it and B) because it's dangerous!!
Yes, for a singer like Adam it's crucial to hear himself clearly through the earpiece so your theory is definitely a good one yes.gif
Also, an unpopular opinion but I'll risk getting stones thrown at me: no matter how good a singer is, there will always be some moments of not quite hitting the right note. I've been at classical concerts, musicals, rock concerts - it's just how live music is. Peace original.gif
Not quite current anymore but Mariah Carey during her peak years comes to mind.
'badassalterego' date='Feb 19th 2015, 8:52 PM'
Absolutely - it doesn't matter how good you are, or how long you've been singing, you will do the odd bum note every now and then. The main issue is if you don't realise you're doing them!!
(barb4Adam @ Feb 19th 2015, 7:27 PM) *
And just love what he does here, about :27 huggy.gif....
ADAM STORM shared René Aleesias Benninger's video.1 hr · Adam Lambert Who Wants To Live Forever Zurich! Absolutely Breathtaking! https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 3237105916
'badassalterego' date='Feb 19th 2015, 8:52 PM'
I'm going to have to watch this when I've got some decent speed on the web. It sounded heartbreakingly beautiful on the audio stream earlier.
How beautiful is this . I have found quite a lot of his really early things on you tube but I hadn't heard that. I just love his pure sound.
I totally love his rock / gravel voice ,and his queen collaboration is a dream come true it is wonderful to also hear it in its purest form too.
Adam could have gone on to make an amazing life for himself in many other areas of singing if he hadn't gone down this current rock route .The options would have been endless. With pure vocals like that he would have been a huge Broadway musical star . Think of all the roles he could turn his hand too with that voice .... I would LOVE to have heard his take on The Phantom of the Opera for instance . Wow.x
...your posts along with 'Elsiebear''s are pure gold for me.......i miss this type of input about adam's technique....i always get a kick out of peeps who say that he doesn't play an instrument...the man has the most beautiful instrument in the world........and as to playing...well... we know it reaches the heavens........
...your posts along with 'Elsiebear''s are pure gold for me.......i miss this type of input about adam's technique....i always get a kick out of peeps who say that he doesn't play an instrument...the man has the most beautiful instrument in the world........and as to playing...well... we know it reaches the heavens........ 
