Music

I've been so caught up by the sloth monster these days that I can't function properly like a person who's supposed to have my exams in less than a month time. Sigh... I think I'll wake up early tomorrow for a run.

Just watched a video on this taiwanese guy with a vocal range of whitney houston.

Reminds me of many singers and sing enthusiasts out there these days. The quality of music seems to be deteriorating. Plenty of people out there seems to like songs without realising that sometimes the lyrics are totally nonsensical. There's also alot of people out there who desired to learn singing cos they wanna be well-known. And there are also some who idolises and try to follow in footsteps of people who execute very difficult vocal techniques.

Music, is a form of expression. The producer of music (ie. Singer, music producer, lyricist, instrumentalist, etc) adds meanings to a song, produce a combination and sequence of music notes, decides on the arrangement of various instruments, and decide on the appropriate usage of vocal techniques. The final product is something that appeals to people, because people can understand the song on the level of meanings, both understood from the lyrics, and the instrumental arrangements that brings out the mood. The listener could be touched/excited/inspired/energised/depressed/angry, depending on what the song wants to bring out.

When the lyrics make no sense, listeners are only listening to the music arrangement, which the singer might as well be absent from. As for people who's into the music industry or learned singing only for fame's sake... the music they typically tried to reproduce typically would lack a touch of meanings. A copycat. Watch youtube, and it shouldn't be hard to find many wannabes like these. Amazingly, some of these people have excellent vocal techniques, but somehow the songs seem to leave their vocal chords lacking sincerity.

With regards to vocal techniques, more does not equate good. It's like... cooking. You don't add too much pepper if you'll just trying to flavor a broth. If you're making curry, you should be adding substantially more spices than what a broth would need. Also, people ought to consider if their voice suits using certain vocal techniques. I know of some guy friends who seems to think that anything that is sung as high as possible with skill sounds good. The fact isn't. Everyone is unique in one way or another, even their voice. Being able to do the same, doesn't means being good in the same way. I think that people have to find their own voice, rather than living in others' shadow. There are singers out there, male or female, who have very small vocal range and belongs to the lower range of the scale, or that they use very little vocal techniques, but their music still inspires/touches people. Eg. Amy Winehouse, Norah Jones, Eason Chen, etc.

I've said my 2-cents worth on what I think good music is. Time to get back to the fight with the sloth demon!