Evanescence - The Open Door

Thanks for the preview Sian! Interesting track I must say.

And I like to add something about Amy Lee's voice. I think the reason we liker her singing cause of her unique color tone and voice, while perhaps some more vocal training will do her good, so far I hardly met many people who can even imitate her voice and the way she projects.

Most people in the end listen to the color tone of the singer's voice in pop music, rather than listening to her training like Opera singers do, cause no one can sing Opera well when they are born, but their voice tone and color tones are born. For example, I take voice training, and my vocal coach says my voice is sweet, so its more suited for songs that young maidens sing in operas, those sweet sounding ones with the high young girl voice rather than the booming Opera larger sounds sung by singers in Carmen. I could TRY to train up for those songs, but my color tone will always prevent me from getting the job of singing those songs, compare to the people who are BORN with that voice and had lots of training.

For Amy Lee, I listen to her unique sound rather than her range in singing, in the end, after all, shes a singer in a band, not some musical actress who has to shift her voice and tone to fit whatever musical she's in. Just like how I listen to Utada and Angela Aki, cause they sound unique from each other. People nowadays get tired of the Britney sounding girls and want something unique, Amy Lee came along and people loved it. And I personally liked the fact she projects better than the quivers most singers have in their voice.

Just my two cents on it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by electric_eye

I like to think that everyone could go about building a unique voice, but you can't disregard the range. Expanding the range usually helps the singer building this voice. I think it's important that she can still work on it and improve perhaps her live performance (one area of criticism). The problem with such a short range is that, there is not a lot of room for expansion for future songs begin to sound alike if you know what I mean.

Is your colour tone got anything to do with your range? As in, if you had the lower range, there will be more of a chest voice coming through or something?

It all depends on what style I'm singing, if its more of a modern song, like say, an Angela Aki song, or one of the songs from Silent Hill, its more of a firmer deeper chest voice and I belt it out. If I'm singing more classical stuff it will be more like, I dunno, Charlotte Church in her early days I guess. I myself tend to imitate different voices while I sing, unlike most singers who have a distinct vocal color. It prob stem from trying to imitate cartoon voices when I was a kid.

Amy Lee should work on her range if she is gonna sing different styles yes, but usually thats more important if you're an actress in musicals or something, when you're in a band or a solo artist in the pop and rock industry, well, people tend to stick to how they usually sound like and rarely go over the edge. I mean, Avril, Michelle Branch, Utada and many others all have distinct vocal colors.

Now unless the band wants to do a variety of styles like some other artists do, I doubt Lee is gonna need to work on her range that much.

What specific range were you referring to anyway? Emotional? Cause thats like acting, and not everyone can cut loose that easily and sing their heart out. I know my weakness is unable to potray emotion when I sing. Vocal color ranges are difficult cause its like doing voice acting.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by electric_eye

Range as in like soprano, mezzo-soprano the like.

As far as singing and voice is concerned etc, I'm on a completely different boat from you, I've never really worked with these color range terms. I don't really know anything about and I suck at singing anyway.

It's hard for me to think of singing as emotional. I see it as coming across as desperate (not strictly), but of course, supposed modern punk would be one example of singing which would not appear this way. I guess it's just what we believe in, I just loathe to say I found a supposed music, song emotional, it's just a no go zone for me, a convenient barrier in my deployment of language.

Probably just ignore what I said. =(

Woah woah woah, if THATS the range you're referring to then wow, your reasons for critising Lee's voice is not exactly that, well, good. Cause not everyone can sing in Soprano. You do realise Soprano is the range of pitch, and that you are BORN with the voice you have, you can't train to be a soprano if you have a low voice and the highest it can go is, well, a E that is two octaves above middle C. I can reach a High A , two octaves above middle C easily because I'm a Soprano.

In other words, whether or not you can be a soprano , or just be a mezzo Soprano, depends alot on what voice you're born with, usually training can't help your voice go higher, and we all know all voices, even women's go lower as they grow older. Really the only thing that can make your voice sound higher is helium. And guys with voices broken are never Sopranos, only little boys get to be Sopranos.

Singing is very capable of being emotional, just look at any musical or Disney song. Scar betrays his evilness in "Be Prepared". "Part of Your world" shows Ariel's wonderment and curiosity with the human world. Even pop songs can emote as well, (If done right.) Maybe you haven't listened to enough range of styles to realise it yet.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by electric_eye

Sorry but I do not feel as if I criticise her because of her range. I know everyone is born with a range and of course a tenor does not deal (unless in the rare case) with songs written for a bass. I know the voice does not go higher but it does not mean it cannot be extended at either end.

I'm not saying she has to sing so high for something new. Anyone could sing within their working range and this is the comfort zone. I have heard her singing live has come into criticism and this is perhaps because of her notes nearer the end of this comfort zone. If she were to keep working on training then maybe she can gain a note and these supposed troublesome notes will fall into the zone. Saying that, I have never heard her sing live but you can look at it as some sort of maintenance.

I think most of Lee's live critisism comes from the fact she doesn't sound as good as the CDs, especially in the more harder rock songers like "Going Under", she sounds better in acoustic songs like My Immortal, but when shes prancing on the stage and tryin to belt it out, she strains her voice. Whether or not she was able to reach a higher note shouldn't be a major issue. I have heard the live album and she was defintly straining at the rock songs, even to the point of going off key.

Though a person is capable of extending their range, it usually doesn't go far enough that you can tell a huge difference.(Unless you're a soprano and had extensive classical training, you can go up to 5 higher notes or more) So again, not really an issue.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?