Hi Mike ! Remember Bart, Karen's beloved home-truths monger ? Well, I'm back on track ! Discordant voicings, mordant rejoicings, and so forth...
All right, but seriously now : my fueling the controversy you launched.
Indeed, I'm on your side.
Seasoned comedians, orators and preachers do sustain "high" ringing vocalic pitches, as Opera singers do. Only the purpose differs. In that respect, 1930's and 1940's radio "speakers" (not to mention sadly notorious nationalist leaders of that time) are worth lending an ear to. Singing then was not that alien to everyday life, as in today's couch potatoes' vocal fry world. Soldiers, marines, scouts, schools, orphanages, congregationnists, unionists, film crews... many areas were rife with liveliness bursting out in a carefree, resonant voice. Sure, there were still individuals considered to be vocally better-endowed than their neighbours, yet not necessarily by modern "voice-quality" standards. First of all, the real cursed ones were the out-of-tune ones (litteral ignorance of music due to pauperism, meaning then pianos, radios and phonographs were luxuries). Secondly, breaking lucky at those Dark Ages of Media meant displaying a fairy-tale-like multitalented artistic personnality (acting, singing, dancing, looking good, beeing funny, performing tricks...), hence the happy (?) few filmo/discography did keep track of, overshadowing their numerous contemporary vocal peers. Let alone originality as a prerequisite to stand out from the crowd : namely coming out with a very special, recognizable timbre, as a rung above the mere ability to sing and ring well many then had. Before WWII, when Opera was still proper entertainement, a failed tenor's high note was all too often successfully oversung aloud by an anonymous spectator !
So come to think of it, this Art of Singing and Ringing (true ?) musn't be too unnatural to the human race... but to the unfortunate many who let doubt come in the way, allowing misconceptions to hamstring self-confidence. It's one thing to pay a reasonable tribute to those mediatic myths and legends one grew up with, another one to credit them with vocal dispositions beyond compare noone could ever dream of coming close to. And by the way, it's Okay not to be the best athlete, but it's lame not to even attempt running, springing, and dancing as a non-handicapped human beeing.
Now, singing may not be everybody's cup of tea. So singing for the wrong reasons (such as allmighty vanity) is bound to bring about characteristic personnality assessment linked troubles in the middle run (who am I, compared to X who can go that high or ring that much, how come I can't reach as high and ring that much, and why, and so on...). Hey there ! How about dusting it all off for once ? Breather needed there, baby. Sometimes it's definitely best to sing, swing and spring without rime or reason. Without a voucher. Full stop.
Bart.
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