Trigonometric Identies
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Saturday, August 26, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Connecticut Preview: Mariah in full voice for state visit
Many may try to sing like Mariah Carey, but area vocal coaches and instructors recommend against it.
Those emulating their favorite star can injure their voices if they force hitting those shrill notes, or even low ones below what comes comfortably, experts advise. Aspiring artists should develop their own, individual sound and skills, they say. People aren't just born with powerful voices and the ability to sing regularly and comfortably in whistle range, the highest register of the human voice, as Carey can.
Carey boldly promotes her instrument in the title of her current, 40-city world sojourn, "The Adventures of Mimi: The Voice, The Hits, The Tour," which makes its only Connecticut stop Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Some credit genetics, even destiny, in Carey's fairy tale-like rise to fame. Born to an opera singer mother who named her for Lerner and Loewe's 1951 Broadway song, "They Call the Wind Mariah," Carey later wed, and divorced, Sony Music President Tommy Motolla.
True singing stars like Carey, vocal coaches say, get their chops from a blend of training and their innately pleasing and distinct voices.
Carey's deep, sultry, low notes and seemingly superhuman high-end wailing may seem effortless, but her voice has been cultivated over years -- beginning with coaching from her mother growing up.
"It's just like an athlete. Were you born able to run the 500-meter dash?" said Marianna Vagnini, a Naugatuck voice instructor who has traveled as a professional soprano and will begin teaching students at Waterbury Arts Magnet School this year. "When Mariah Carey came out, she didn't sound like anyone else, which is what made her."
Echoed Richard Gard, a composer, musician, teacher, producer and conductor who oversees the music department at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury: "It helps what you're born with. I'd say more than a good voice, you might be born with a distinctive voice."
Both Gard and Vagnini tutor students to find their own voices, rather than emulating Mariah's, Sinatra's -- or anyone else's for that matter.
Once a singer has found his or her own sound, proper training can expand performers' abilities to span the scale. But not quite to the seven-octave range Carey's publicity handlers have said she can achieve. Several vocal coaches have expressed doubt over the supposed seven-octave voice.
"You'd have to be about 10 feet tall to have that range," said Gard, explaining the capacity for seven octaves as close to a grand piano's capability, from bottom of the keyboard to top. He called a three-octave range both huge and rare.
A Web site that aims to debunk urban legends even has addressed this topic, with the snopes.com entry granting Carey perhaps six octaves. Others are not as generous, estimating Carey's range at anywhere between three and five octaves.
Other artists who have been said to possess extraordinary range in excess of three octaves include Peruvian singer Yma Sumac, whose Web site claims her as at least once capable of five octaves, and Julie Andrews, whose voice has been categorized by sources as in the four- to five-octave range.
"The human voice is a miraculous instrument," said Vagnini, adding that whatever Carey's range, she ranks undeniably among those with voices that impress. "She definitely raised the bar in what people expect to hear in a pop singer. She's certainly a bright light in pop history."
Many may try to sing like Mariah Carey, but area vocal coaches and instructors recommend against it.
Those emulating their favorite star can injure their voices if they force hitting those shrill notes, or even low ones below what comes comfortably, experts advise. Aspiring artists should develop their own, individual sound and skills, they say. People aren't just born with powerful voices and the ability to sing regularly and comfortably in whistle range, the highest register of the human voice, as Carey can.
Carey boldly promotes her instrument in the title of her current, 40-city world sojourn, "The Adventures of Mimi: The Voice, The Hits, The Tour," which makes its only Connecticut stop Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Some credit genetics, even destiny, in Carey's fairy tale-like rise to fame. Born to an opera singer mother who named her for Lerner and Loewe's 1951 Broadway song, "They Call the Wind Mariah," Carey later wed, and divorced, Sony Music President Tommy Motolla.
True singing stars like Carey, vocal coaches say, get their chops from a blend of training and their innately pleasing and distinct voices.
Carey's deep, sultry, low notes and seemingly superhuman high-end wailing may seem effortless, but her voice has been cultivated over years -- beginning with coaching from her mother growing up.
"It's just like an athlete. Were you born able to run the 500-meter dash?" said Marianna Vagnini, a Naugatuck voice instructor who has traveled as a professional soprano and will begin teaching students at Waterbury Arts Magnet School this year. "When Mariah Carey came out, she didn't sound like anyone else, which is what made her."
Echoed Richard Gard, a composer, musician, teacher, producer and conductor who oversees the music department at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury: "It helps what you're born with. I'd say more than a good voice, you might be born with a distinctive voice."
Both Gard and Vagnini tutor students to find their own voices, rather than emulating Mariah's, Sinatra's -- or anyone else's for that matter.
Once a singer has found his or her own sound, proper training can expand performers' abilities to span the scale. But not quite to the seven-octave range Carey's publicity handlers have said she can achieve. Several vocal coaches have expressed doubt over the supposed seven-octave voice.
"You'd have to be about 10 feet tall to have that range," said Gard, explaining the capacity for seven octaves as close to a grand piano's capability, from bottom of the keyboard to top. He called a three-octave range both huge and rare.
A Web site that aims to debunk urban legends even has addressed this topic, with the snopes.com entry granting Carey perhaps six octaves. Others are not as generous, estimating Carey's range at anywhere between three and five octaves.
Other artists who have been said to possess extraordinary range in excess of three octaves include Peruvian singer Yma Sumac, whose Web site claims her as at least once capable of five octaves, and Julie Andrews, whose voice has been categorized by sources as in the four- to five-octave range.
"The human voice is a miraculous instrument," said Vagnini, adding that whatever Carey's range, she ranks undeniably among those with voices that impress. "She definitely raised the bar in what people expect to hear in a pop singer. She's certainly a bright light in pop history."
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