Male Singers - Round 2/AUTO-TUNE RANT

As I was trying to decide which Broadway singer to use for my second installation of my Male Singers series, I was led to a few clips of Matthew Morrison (most commonly known for his portrayal of Mr. Schuester on the hilarious, Emmy-Award winning, and all-around-great-show Glee). Before Glee, he was hot-stuff on Broadway. He originated the role of Link Larkin in Hairspray, the role of Fabricio in The Light in the Piazza, and most recently played the role of Lt. Cable in the well-received Lincoln Center production of South Pacific. Here is a clip from The Light in the Piazza, which has one of the most gorgeous and intricate scores of any modern, successful Broadway show. The composer is Adam Guettel, grandson of Richard Rodgers (of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Rodgers and Hart fame!)

While listening to his fantastic singing, I couldn't help but be shocked by how different he sounds on Glee - which then leads to these negative feelings I have regarding auto-tuning. I know I'm not just a music snob, here. I think it is an obvious problem and one that I hope the public will get tired of quickly - so the music industry will end the fad sooner rather than later. So, listen to this raw, live recording of Matthew Morrison singing Il Mondo Era Vuoto - all in Italian (he just met Clara and has fallen deeply in love with her even though he doesn't speak English and she doesn't speak Italian).

Now, here are my opinions re: auto-tuning the heck out of everything.

Cons
1. It removes the natural sound of the voice. Consider how vastly different Mr. Morrison sounds here compared to on Glee - and not all of that is just because it is a different style of singing!
2. It cheapens the art of singing by allowing computers to do some of the work. How do you think Ashlee Simpson, Miley Cyrus and various other pop singers have survived even though they clearly cannot sing well? If you watch unedited live footage of them singing, it sounds terrible, but because computers can fix it, they can have a career.
3. The general public now expects perfect pitch singing. This, in my opinion, is the primary reason the Glee producers choose to use auto-tune - because it sounds more mainstream. Obviously with the talent they have on the show, they do not need to use this much, but it sounds more like everything else on the radio and they want to make some money! My other thought about their reasoning behind using auto-tuning instead of going organic is because the cast doesn't have much time to learn the music, nor to spend time in the recording studio. After watching the Glee Project this summer, I now have realized how little time they actually have - this way, they don't have to think about notes, they can just work on "emotion."

Pros
1. It offers a new electronica sound that can be used as a tool to get a certain effect. When Cher first used this in her song "Believe" in the late 1990's, I was rather intrigued by the sound. I liked it in the song - I thought it was interesting and different and it worked! Unfortunately, it has now been incredibly over-used. I think in 20 years from now, people will be able to distinguish music from the previous few years and the following few years based on the auto-tune sound in the same way we can distinguish music from the 1980's based on the use of the synthesizer. I least that is my hope.

Enough auto-tune blathering for now! :)

It's time for male singers!!

Those of you who've been following my blog probably have realized I have a thing for excellent female singers - usually divas, but really anyone who can sing. Well, I decided I need to try and present some male options as well in an attempt to not seem so sexist. So, for attempt number one - I chose my absolute favorite male Broadway singer, Norm Lewis. Norm has been in plenty of things on stage, including the revival of Les Miserables where he played Javert. He also got to sing this role on the 25th anniversary concert in London. He knocks "Stars" out of the park. Even more recently, he was in a Sondheim revue called Sondheim on Sondheim where they used video clips of a Stephen Sondheim interview to help tell the story. The cast also included Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and Tom Wopat. It was directed by Sondheim collaborator James Lapine. Anyway, Norm sang "Being Alive" from Company (my favorite Sondheim musical!) and it is pretty stellar. Here is a video of him singing the song on Seth Rudetsky's Sirius XM show. Sorry for the not-so-great video quality!

Don't Rain on My Parade

This ultimate diva song from Funny Girl is one of musical theatre's best. The role was originated by Barbara Streisand and made popular again on Glee with Lea Michele singing the great role. I've decided to post three versions of it and let me know which is your favorite! I'm choosing the original - Barbara's live television performance from 1975, a 2002 Broadway Cares, Equity Fights AIDS concert with Lillias White (from the How to Succeed 1995 revival and from Once on this Island), and finally the live Lea Michelle performance at the 2010 Tony's... no auto-tuning here! :)

Go about a minute and a half in to where the song starts!

Glitter and be Kristin

Kristin Chenoweth sings one of my favorite songs from Candide (an operetta by Leonard Bernstein). She is, of course, AMAZING!!!!! There is a nice cameo by the queen diva, Patti LuPone here at the beginning. Background on her character: she is being held captive and shared between two men. She knows this is wrong and horrible, but they keep treating her to all of these nice jewels. Candide is a ridiculous farce that is tons of fun. This entire version is available from Netflix and is well worth your time. Not only is it hilariously entertaining, it is also incredibly well sung. The man playing Candide has a voice to melt anyone's cold, hard heart! :)

Amazing, no?!?!

TED Conference

Two summers ago, I randomly watched this documentary on Netflix streaming about the TED conference. It is basically a high profile meeting of the minds, where everyone presents their ideas/creations/projects/discoveries and networks with one another. This year, I was on Hulu and stumbled across this clip. I think it is a fascinating concept and something I think I've believed in and practiced on some level for awhile - now I feel I have full permission to go with this. Thoughts?