What Are Your 🎶Music Endeavors Right Now?

[Andromadus the Invictus]

I just finished my first studio album!
DM me if you want more information or would like a copy!

 

[Ent]

Is there anything you can tell us all publicly about this, @Andromadus the Invictus - like what sort of stuff is on the Album, any special things you learned while in the process of doing a studio album, what you particularly enjoyed or disliked about it, etc?

 

[Andromadus the Invictus]

Is there anything you can tell us all publicly about this, @Andromadus the Invictus - like what sort of stuff is on the Album, any special things you learned while in the process of doing a studio album, what you particularly enjoyed or disliked about it, etc?

Absolutely!
The album follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins, and contains the following tracks.
Of beginnings: The Greatest Adventure
Of Hobbits: That's What Bilbo Baggins Hates
Of Dwarves: Diggy Diggy Hole
Of Erebor: Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold
Of Valhalla: Valhalla Calling
Of Goblins: Down Down to Goblin Town
Of Dwarves (Reprise): Diggy Diggy Hole (Metal)
Of Endings: Bilbo's Last Song (At the Grey Havens)

I have entitled the album Mohlander's Of Middle-Earth.
I wrote the music for at the grey havens.
The album was recorded using my fine studio equipment ( cheap microphone and YouTube karaoke, but at least it sounds good) 😂
My backup singer is my brother, who has a slightly higher baritone voice than me.

 

[Andromadus the Invictus]

The titles reflect Tolkien's Silmarillion chapter titles.

 

[Ent]

Oh, it WOULD be about middle-earth, wouldn't it..!! sigh. I shall be PMing you...!
I will also have an additional question when I do.

 

[Ent]

OK so I had 3 additional questions, sorry..! 😁

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

My voice teacher just started me on this Gilbert and Sullivan song, "Sorry Her Lot."

I love singing G&S. It's often silly and melodramatic, yet vocally challenging. This one will be a challenge as it has a Bb5 in it, and I haven't sung that high in a song before. But my teacher showed me some exercises to get my voice to gradually work up to it.

She also told me she believes I'm a lyric soprano. There are all these vocal sub-types in opera, such as lyric soprano or dramatic soprano, lyric tenor or heroic tenor, etc. A lyric soprano has a warm tone and a light voice, not as big a voice as a dramatic soprano. I'm glad to finally have an idea of my opera voice type!

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

In my voice lessons of recent, my teacher and I have been working on “All the Things You Are” from the musical Very Warm For May, and also on an Italian song called “Se Florindo é fedele” by Allesandro Scarlatti.

“All the Things You Are” is such a lovely romantic song, sung between the two main love interests in the show. However, I sing it all solo from the female’s perspective as I have no man to sing with. There is also an adapted solo version out there, but it’s not the one I have. As such, I do not sing those higher vocalizations during the reprise of the second half of the song, but just sing the lyrics as they are. Still a beautiful song, nonetheless!

The Italian song, on the other hand, is very upbeat and goes all over the place in its notes. This one give my voice an extra opportunity to use its richer qualities, which is fun.

Also, today my teacher told me she thinks I’m a dramatic mezzo soprano! I was a little surprised, but it makes sense, because I do have a large, full, and rich voice, particularly in my mid-ranges. I had previously been unsure of what I was, maybe more of a lyric mezzo soprano, but she believes otherwise.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Also, today my teacher told me she thinks I’m a dramatic mezzo soprano!

Very cool! I wouldn't have guessed this, but as I said, I'm not an expert in these operatic voice types. You definitely have a bigger voice than me, though I wasn't sure if that's just because you're a mezzo.

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

Very cool! I wouldn't have guessed this, but as I said, I'm not an expert in these operatic voice types. You definitely have a bigger voice than me, though I wasn't sure if that's just because you're a mezzo.

I think being a mezzo mainly just has to do with my range, but dramatics are known for their big, rich voices, which I do have. Reading up on a basic description, I can’t say I can sing over a full orchestra (I should think not), but perhaps this would be something I could grow into. It also says they typically have a darker timbre, but I don’t know what exactly that means for me.

My teacher said she’s a lyric soprano, and her voice is definitely different from mine, not just in range but in tone quality.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

My understanding was that a bigger voice box generally corresponds to a voice that sits lower (which would explain why mezzos seem to be able to belt higher than sopranos), but that might not be entirely correct.

What I do know is that the mezzo vs soprano classification is not necessarily just about your range, because mezzos often can hit the same notes as sopranos. But it's more so about where your voice feels the most comfortable, which seems to be in the middle range for you, and the higher range for me. And then I was under the impression that mezzos, in general, have a bigger/richer/fuller sound than sopranos, regardless of range. But like I said, I'm only just starting to learn about the more specific opera vocal classifications, and there is also an element of subjective judgment to it.

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

My understanding was that a bigger voice box generally corresponds to a voice that sits lower (which would explain why mezzos seem to be able to belt higher than sopranos), but that might not be entirely correct.

What I do know is that the mezzo vs soprano classification is not necessarily just about your range, because mezzos often can hit the same notes as sopranos. But it's more so about where your voice feels the most comfortable, which seems to be in the middle range for you, and the higher range for me. And then I was under the impression that mezzos, in general, have a bigger/richer/fuller sound than sopranos, regardless of range. But like I said, I'm only just starting to learn about the more specific opera vocal classifications, and there is also an element of subjective judgment to it.

You are correct, I am more comfortable in my middle range, so me being a mezzo is certainly not in question. And yes, I do recognize there is an element of subjectiveness to determining the quality type of a person’s voice. Your teacher said you and I have a flute-like timbre, but when I mentioned it to my teacher today, she sounded a bit skeptical. I don’t know what else she would classify me as, though. As she puts it, she loves it when I use my richer, fuller voice because it sounds “yummy.” 😂

Mezzos can also be classified as lyric, dramatic, coloratura, etc. too, though I don’t know how the differences would sound compared to a traditional soprano, aside from where they’re comfortable singing range-wise. Perhaps we can ask Paul and Simon on the Discord thread for their thoughts.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Right. And by the way, just to be clear, I'm not disagreeing with your teacher. I'm just trying to refine my understanding of these vocal classifications.

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

Right. And by the way, just to be clear, I'm not disagreeing with your teacher. I'm just trying to refine my understanding of these vocal classifications.

No no, I understand. I don’t fully understand them myself, and it makes it more confusing when different people have conflicting opinions of information on this kind of stuff. 😅

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

People in the music world rarely agree on things, lol. When I was more seriously into violin and I visited other teachers besides my normal teacher, they all had different opinions on what I should have been doing with my technique or whatever. Some people thought I was an amazing violinist and some people thought I sucked. And you know how our choir director wanted to place me as an alto, and meanwhile here I am having an awesome time with my book of Gilbert and Sullivan Soprano Arias. And then the party princess people said my voice isn't loud enough, while Ent described my voice as powerful.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

In my voice lessons of recent, my teacher and I have been working on “All the Things You Are” from the musical Very Warm For May, and also on an Italian song called “Se Florindo é fedele” by Allesandro Scarlatti.

“All the Things You Are” is such a lovely romantic song, sung between the two main love interests in the show. However, I sing it all solo from the female’s perspective as I have no man to sing with. There is also an adapted solo version out there, but it’s not the one I have. As such, I do not sing those higher vocalizations during the reprise of the second half of the song, but just sing the lyrics as they are. Still a beautiful song, nonetheless!

The Italian song, on the other hand, is very upbeat and goes all over the place in its notes. This one give my voice an extra opportunity to use its richer qualities, which is fun.

Also, today my teacher told me she thinks I’m a dramatic mezzo soprano! I was a little surprised, but it makes sense, because I do have a large, full, and rich voice, particularly in my mid-ranges. I had previously been unsure of what I was, maybe more of a lyric mezzo soprano, but she believes otherwise.

I haven't heard those songs before, but they are both very nice. 🙂

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I'm really excited: my voice teacher told me she thinks I'm ready to learn some real opera arias! She's thinking of starting me on an aria from a Mozart opera! This whole time, I've only worked on classical art songs, which are easier than real operas, and musical theater songs. Gilbert and Sullivan is typically considered "operetta" or light opera, so that has sort of been preparing me for real opera, I guess. And the reason this excites me so much is, my voice teacher does not give people opera arias until she thinks they're ready. She doesn't agree with how many voice teachers give opera music to beginner voice students. So, who knows-- I'm thinking I might finish one of my two songs fairly soon, and then I very well may start to learn something from a Mozart opera!!

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

Awesome!! I’m very excited for you, with your teacher now thinking you’re ready to begin learning real opera music! An impressive accomplishment indeed. 😄

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Christine? Is that you girl?!

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Christine? Is that you girl?!

My hair is past hip length now, and I'm getting stronger and stronger as a soprano every day, so... perhaps soon, my transformation into Christine shall be complete! 😂 Just gotta get my E6 solid and finish making her costumes!