Vocalist.org archive


To: "'VOCALIST'" <vocalist>
Subject: RE: Sarah Mclachlan/Maria Carey (just my own totally subjective v
iew)
Date sent: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 12:55:38 +0100
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Well, I welcome your totally subjective view. I don't think it's subjective
either: you give reasons for each of your opinions, and, I'm sure, could
cite specific instances of each point you make as evidence.

All in all, you've given certain of the listers (self included) an object
lesson in how this list should be used.

Regards / vriendelijke groeten

Laurie Kubiak
Commercial Analyst - Europe & Africa SMMS
Sales and Contract Support, Shell Services International
Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA
Telephone: +44 171 934 3853; Fax: +44 171 934 6674
Mobile: 07771 971 921: E.mail: Laurence.l.Kubiak-at-is.shell.com
Office: LON-SC 631



-----Original Message-----
From: SingErato-at-aol.com [mailto:SingErato-at-aol.com]
Sent: 28 January 2000 09:42
To: vocalist
Subject: Re: Sarah Mclachlan/Maria Carey (just my own totally subjective
view)


I absolutely fell in love with Sarah's voice and I finally figured out one
reason why I enjoy listening to her. She sings with pure vowel sounds more
often then the majority of contemporary singers. Her diphthongs are not so
pronounced they are distracting. The warmth of her instrument lends itself
very well to the material she sings. She has a purity in her voice, a
mellow
mezzo/alto range and she does use dynamics. Another thing is that the sound

just comes out less "manufactured" sounding, it has a "sincere" ring to it.

I prefer her to many, many of her contemporaries. Also, her lyrics lend
themselves to the flow of her voice as she sings those words. Not an over
abundance of sharp consonants.

For my taste, Mariah "breaks" up her vocal line so much, it's distracting.
For me, listening to her singing isn't as enjoyable because of all the vocal

manipulation she does. Her natural vibrato becomes absolutely obliterated
because of all the stop, starting glottal attacks instead of the words.. it

reeks of over embellishment and dilutes the impact of the actual voice, of
which I'm sure she has, if only she'd let it shine through once in a while
instead of giving in to what's currently "trendy" in the pop field. I would

love to hear her sing a song straight through without the "trademarks" she
relies on. Just as any singer singing one way all the time, once you're
used
to hearing, "oh, she can really hit the high notes" or "wow, what
flexibility", the overuse of these "tools" seems to limit her. The
embellishments are used so much, they lose their effectiveness. If she were

interested in another field of singing and sang in that other style, it
would
probably make her even more versatile. I believe it takes away from the
listening experience for me. I also can't stand this real "breathy" sound
that's out there, using that to create the effect of "softness" or
"lushness". It seems to dull the sound.