Changes in Emily's voice
Mary Post
Hello,
I have noticed that Emily is really using the full range of her voice
now and it is so much stronger than "strange fire" and "closer to fine".
I guess I feel like she has really developed as a vocalist where at the
beginning her vocals were pretty lower in key. Not too sure how to
explain what I am talking about but has anyone else noticed the new
richness in her voice?
Mary
JAFFA C
recordings than on the earlier ones and I don't get the sense that she is
stretching to hit some of the higher pitches as I feel she does on a few places
in earlier recordings. I'm sure she has worked very hard at expanding her range
and being able to sing through it with a full, connected voice. Of course it
could also be that they are now using $10,000 mics in the studio, whereas
before they might have had to go with a cheaper option!I'd love to know what
vocal mics they use. Does anyone know?Are there any studio engineers lurking
out there who can tell the difference in tone between a Neumann, Telefunken or
an AKG??
However, I think that it is Amy who has gone through a striking vocal
transformation, particularly on SOTS. For example on "Get Out the MAp" she is
using a 3 octave range...the lowest point being the young of " love is good and
young" (I think- this is from memory) which is the lowest note I have ever
heard her sing and the highest being the "I'm gonna" of "I'm gonna love you
good and strong". When I first heard that I could not believe that it was
Amy..it was so high! I thought maybe Sara Lee had taken a shot at that bit..I
could tell it wasn't Emily, because she has more power and expression up that
high but Amy?? Then I saw them live and yes it is Amy up there. She has
definitely expanded her vocal "style" on this album..I notice a change on Shed
your skin and Cut it out.
Also, I think their harmonies live are getting tighter..I'm sure it all depends
on the venue and the night, but when I saw them at the Warfield in San
Francisco their harmonies were really tight. HAving seen them outdoors at
Berkeley, there were a couple of spots (only a couple which is amazing) where
they weren't quite on. I am amazed at the complexity of their harmonies and how
well they manage to reproduce them live. Its one thing to do it in a studio,
when you are recording the vocals and guitars separately, but live to sing
those harmonies and play guitar at the same time is simply amazing, especially
as they are relying on monitors to hear themselves . However they had their
vocals mic'd at the Warfield...well, it was a beautiful thing. Amy was dead on
pitch all night.( I've never heard Emily sing off pitch).
I found it fascinating to read in the "Acoustic Guitar" interview that Amy used
to have a real problem "hearing" harmonies and her parts were devised as their
own little independent melodies. That is why so many of the earlier parts were
counterpoint as opposed to parallel harmonies. She says that she has since
trained her ear and finds it easier now, but it wasn't natural for her. Emily I
think just has a natural gift for harmony. I wonder how many of Amy's harmony
parts are actually written by Emily?
What I love about the Indigo Girls is how different their vocal styles are yet
how amazing they blend together. It amazes me how much presence Amy has in her
voice...often lower parts can get lost underneath higher parts, but not Amy,
oh no, when she sings - wow do you know it. It is very difficult to get that
much brightness and focus on those low parts but she does it so well. I think
Emily has a better voice "technically" and is probably better intonationally
but Amy has such an emotional voice it almost moves me to tears. She is the
most expressive singer in pop music today, no doubt about it. I'd love to get
other people's comments on the vocal styles of the girls. Their vocals, esp.
the harmonies are such a huge part of who they are yet there haven't been too
many discussions on that specifically. What is it you like about their voices
and why? Whose part do you listen for primarily? Do you tend to sing the melody
or the harmony? with Emily or Amy? These things fascinate me.
>
>
D 28IF
>From: jaf...@aol.com (JAFFA C)<BR>
>Date: 5/4/98 8:39 PM Eastern
> However, I think that it is Amy who has gone through a striking vocal<BR>
>transformation, particularly on SOTS. For example on "Get Out the MAp" she
>is<BR>
>using a 3 octave range...the lowest point being the young of " love is good
>and<BR>
>young" (I think- this is from memory) which is the lowest note I have
>ever<BR>
>heard her sing and the highest being the "I'm gonna" of "I'm gonna love
>you<BR>
>good and strong". When I first heard that I could not believe that it was<BR>
>Amy..it was so high! I thought maybe Sara Lee had taken a shot at that
>bit..I<BR>
>could tell it wasn't Emily, because she has more power and expression up
>that<BR>
>high but Amy?? Then I saw them live and yes it is Amy up there. She has<BR>
>definitely expanded her vocal "style" on this album..I notice a change on
>Shed<BR>
>your skin and Cut it out. <BR>
Amy's high notes on GOTM was the first thing I noticed when I heard them live
on local radio during their practice tour before they recorded the album. I
thought it was great, too.
>I wonder how many of Amy's harmony<BR>
>parts are actually written by Emily? <BR>
>What I love about the Indigo Girls is how different their vocal styles are
>yet<BR>
>how amazing they blend together. It amazes me how much presence Amy has in
>her<BR>
>voice...often lower parts can get lost underneath higher parts, but not
>Amy,<BR>
>oh no, when she sings - wow do you know it. It is very difficult to get
>that<BR>
>much brightness and focus on those low parts but she does it so well. I
>think<BR>
>Emily has a better voice "technically" and is probably better
>intonationally<BR>
>but Amy has such an emotional voice it almost moves me to tears. She is
>the<BR>
>most expressive singer in pop music today, no doubt about it.
Your last observation about Emily and Amy's vocals just about hit it on the
head for me, too. I adore Emily's voice in everything she does (except for the
Indigo Girls album [don't hurt me, everyone] cause it sounds like she's too
breathy), but Amy's vocals pack a punch unmatched, IMO. Even on songs I don't
care for too much, there's no denying her intensity and emotion when singing.
Rizpahhh
Dec. 1st in Columbus, Ohio at the radio station performance Emily said that
she recently stopped smoking.
Martin J. Slover
Mary Post (mbp...@ibm.net) wrote:
: Hello,
: I have noticed that Emily is really using the full range of her voice
: now and it is so much stronger than "strange fire" and "closer to fine".
: I guess I feel like she has really developed as a vocalist where at the
: beginning her vocals were pretty lower in key. Not too sure how to
: explain what I am talking about but has anyone else noticed the new
: richness in her voice?
Some of it comes from vocal training that they have gone through since
they first started to record. Also...with age the voice will change. They
have both expanded a lot on what they do with the wonderful instruments
they use...voice and guitar.
Max...
--
Max Slover |"Some people are so narrow minded that they can look
Ind...@crl.com | through a keyhole with both eyes at the same time"
| --- Zig Ziglar---
D 28IF
>From: rizp...@aol.com (Rizpahhh)<BR>
>Dec. 1st in Columbus, Ohio at the radio station performance Emily said
>that<BR>
>she recently stopped smoking.
Thanks for the info. I always wondered if either of them smoked. I'm always
surprised at musicians/singers who take their work seriously yet still smoke.
Davisan
> I always wondered if either of them smoked.
I have heard that amy does still smoke...anyone know if that is true
also...maybe that accounts for the certain "amy voice"
Cathy
JAFFA C WROTE:
What is it you like about their voices and why? Whose part do you listen
for primarily? Do you tend to sing the melody or the harmony? with Emily
or Amy? These things fascinate me.
I love the "gritty-ness" of Amy's voice. And the best description I've
ever read was that Amy provides the "sandpaper" to Emily's "silk."
Brilliant. I don't think I've ever heard two voices more suited to
sing together. And neither Girl would be as amazing without the
other -- they feed off each other and build up the other's energy, it's
so visible when you see them in concert -- it's incredible!
My voice is more like Amy's, deeper, so I tend to sing along with
her, whether it be melody or harmony. But I must admit that sometimes
I just sing the part that's flat out more fun to sing. Like in Galileo
when Emily get's to sing "Gooooooood rest his soul!" I have to
abandon my dear Amy to sing out loud and proud with Em!
My half-dollar,
Cathy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I looked up at this sign in the sky and it said 'Chickenman,'
and I said 'Oh my god . . . I feel better.'" --Amy Ray
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello Dali
>I have heard that amy does still smoke...anyone know if that is true
......she used to , but I have been told that she has stopped.
"The difference between myself and a madman is I'M NOT MAD!" - Salvador Dali
"....or a MAN!" - Hello Dali
Ajmoon74
i particularly love the melody/harmony interaction on "ghost"...
especially the bridge during "can you hear it, a cry to be free.....i'm forever
under lock and key".....while emily holds out the "freeee" amy sings a 3 octave
part that really blows me away.........
they are my favorite band today and i believe their harmonies even outdo simon
& garfunkel........................their "ghost" in LA at the universal
amphithatre last week was phenomonal!!!!!!!
----Ajmoon