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View Full Version : Male Soprano - It's just wrong?!



Naki Rat
20th August 2009, 11:52
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MisterD
20th August 2009, 12:15
...and on the other side of the ledger

http://static.stuff.co.nz/1250722785/271/2771271.jpg

nudemetalz
20th August 2009, 12:15
Sort of like getting hit in the nackers......
Speaking from an open mind - "very talented".
Not my cuppa tea though. I'll keep my Pink Floyd, ta.

slofox
20th August 2009, 12:25
More commonly known as counter-tenors. Some of them are just mind-boggling....eg this dude...

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Frankly I see nothing wrong with using your voice however you can...

<G>
20th August 2009, 12:56
More commonly known as counter-tenors. Some of them are just mind-boggling....eg this dude...


Frankly I see nothing wrong with using your voice however you can...

This is lovely to listen to.

ManDownUnder
20th August 2009, 13:10
The guy is good (on the Britain has Talent). Not what I expected given his appearance but he's got a bloody talent!

Metalor
20th August 2009, 13:36
Male sopranos really impress me. Outstanding use of head-voice.

The dude on britain's got talent sounds a bit amatuerish to me.

PrincessBandit
20th August 2009, 13:43
In the Baroque period castrati were highly sought after by the ladies; both for their (apparently) beautiful voices and the other side benefit......
Promising boy sopranos were "done" in order for them to keep their soprano vocal range, but with all the power of the male frame.

It used to be a very popular musical form back then, but died out - gee I wonder why? But certainly it was nothing unusual back in those days.

Certainly not what I expected from looking at him; so proof, if ever it was needed, of "don't judge a book by it's cover"!

Metalor
20th August 2009, 14:24
In the Baroque period castrati were highly sought after by the ladies; both for their (apparently) beautiful voices and the other side benefit......
Promising boy sopranos were "done" in order for them to keep their soprano vocal range, but with all the power of the male frame.



Wasn't that because chicks weren't allowed to sing in productions etc? Dunno if that's the right period but in Shakespear days that was the case, woman were in big shit if they got caught.

PrincessBandit
20th August 2009, 14:55
Wasn't that because chicks weren't allowed to sing in productions etc? Dunno if that's the right period but in Shakespear days that was the case, woman were in big shit if they got caught.

From "Baroque Music" by Claude Palisca: "The part of Caesar was written for the famous alto castrato Senesina. Castrated male sopranos and alto were Handel's preferred voices for heroic parts such as that of Caesar. (If operated upon before his voice changed, a boy possessing a naturally good voice, could with age and training develop a powerful, smooth, agile projection, while preserving the high pitch. When Handel could not find a good castrato , he sometimes wrote a youthful male role for a woman soprano, but he usually preferred women for female roles.)" .........[and continuing] "Cleopatra, the prima donna part, first sung by the great Francesca Cuzzoni, likewise has eight arias....."

Shakespeare (late 1500s - mid 1600s) was before the time of Bach and Handel (two of the most easily recognised of the Baroque composers) so the ban on women on stage been just a "theatre-at-that-time" thing or simply superceded by the realism of having women on stage for female roles.

Oscar
20th August 2009, 15:00
Wouldn't a male be a "Soprana"?

More commonly known as countertenors or sometimes sopranists.

My wife is a mezzo-soprano and after years of listening to her and her pals I find high male voices a bit naff.
And that guys choice of the Nossum Dorma is just wrong - it wasn't written for that register (and yes, I know females have done it before, but it doesn't make it right).
He should have sung a female part to show off that voice.

PrincessBandit
20th August 2009, 15:05
Wouldn't a male be a "Soprana"?


Don't know, never heard the term "soprana" before. But I do believe the female counter part of a Sultan is a Sultana. Yum, I like sultanas, especially in cake...

Oscar
20th August 2009, 15:14
Don't know, never heard the term "soprana" before. But I do believe the female counter part of a Sultan is a Sultana. Yum, I like sultanas, especially in cake...

In Italian words ending in "a" are feminine and "o" are masculine.
So - "Prima Donna" (First Lady), which corresponds with the leading male "Primo Uomo".

This has, of course just blown my Soprana/Soprano theory out of the water....:no::laugh:

slofox
20th August 2009, 15:24
He should have sung a female part to show off that voice.

Or, even more betterer, a counter tenor part...

Headbanger
20th August 2009, 15:43
What that needed.....

Was a viking running on stage and performing some axe murder (on the tri-sexual with the bitch voice), and Dimebag Darrells ghost appearing in flames and laying down some more of the most legendary riffs ever ripped out of hell.

FUCCCCK YEAH!!!!!!!

Oscar
20th August 2009, 16:01
What that needed.....

Was a viking running on stage and performing some axe murder (on the tri-sexual with the bitch voice), and Dimebag Darrells ghost appearing in flames and laying down some more of the most legendary riffs ever ripped out of hell.

FUCCCCK YEAH!!!!!!!

- sigh -

Just when I thought this place had some class.....:no:

Mikkel
20th August 2009, 16:16
- sigh -

Just when I thought this place had some class.....:no:

...how naive.

tri boy
20th August 2009, 16:21
Now that was just plain weird.:blink:

Headbanger
20th August 2009, 16:50
- sigh -

Just when I thought this place had some class.....:no:

I'm all class, Just not whatever class your looking for, So, Fuck yes and Hell Yeah.

Now, Back to the scrap-booking, tea in tiny cups, and rodent sized dogs.

Headbanger
20th August 2009, 16:52
In other news, I just ran the clippers over the forest of hair covering my belly, But I need a hand to do my back.

Oscar
20th August 2009, 16:55
In other news, I just ran the clippers of the forest of hair covering my belly, But I need a hand to do my back.

Now that's class - I'll do yours if you do mine... :Punk:

PrincessBandit
20th August 2009, 20:24
But back on track boys....

having listened to him again it sounds to me as though he's singing in a fairly well trained falsetto. There was just enough edge to his sound, as well as comparing tone in his spoken voice, that he doesn't naturally sing like that. A true counter tenor would surely sound not quite so strained? But then I'm an instrumentalist, not a vocalist, so I could be mistaken.

Pussy
20th August 2009, 20:31
But back on track boys....

having listened to him again it sounds to me as though he's singing in a fairly well trained falsetto. There was just enough edge to his sound, as well as comparing tone in his spoken voice, that he doesn't naturally sing like that. A true counter tenor would surely sound not quite so strained? But then I'm an instrumentalist, not a vocalist, so I could be mistaken.

I reckon he got a good swift kick in the goolies immediately prior to getting on the stage.....

ital916
20th August 2009, 20:33
Well, If you are into that sort of music, good on em.

Though I do like all kinds of music, I am mainly a disciple of the cult of ROCK. One day, there will be a band so bad ass it will pave the way to the promised land of AWESOMENESS upon fiery steeds composed of the most BADASS guitar riffs EVER!!!!

All hail the gods of rock :Punk:

Maha
20th August 2009, 20:39
All I can say is ''thank fuck he didnt hop on a Honda and ride off''!

Weird but..OMG darling....:confused:

oldrider
20th August 2009, 20:49
Yuk, that just sounded like an improved version of Tiny Tim! Not for me, clever or not! :no:

Metalor
20th August 2009, 21:26
But back on track boys....

having listened to him again it sounds to me as though he's singing in a fairly well trained falsetto. There was just enough edge to his sound, as well as comparing tone in his spoken voice, that he doesn't naturally sing like that. A true counter tenor would surely sound not quite so strained? But then I'm an instrumentalist, not a vocalist, so I could be mistaken.

I think his voice sounds "too much" like falsetto when it shouldn't. The really great counter tenors just sounds like chicks in full voice.

Apparently my voice quality is that of a counter tenor but I never sing like that, haven't ever. I sing mostly full voice, don't like using falsetto at all, it's cheating! I do use headvoice though...

Owl
20th August 2009, 22:52
Now that was just plain weird.:blink:


Yuk, that just sounded like an improved version of Tiny Tim! Not for me, clever or not! :no:

Not for me either I'm afraid. Perhaps it's a Triumph thing;)