Food For Thought

In pervious classes we talked about the evolution of the microphone and it’s lasting effects on singing and the way people perceive natural projection. We also talked about how kids aren’t singing and using their imagination for entertainment, instead they are bombarded with entertainment. However, this has caused shows like Glee and American Idol to become popular and I think that’s because kids are starving for music and to be able to make music. Either way, modern views on singing are very different today because of the microphone. If one was to go to a rock concert then go to the opera the next night, obviously one would say the rock concert was louder, even if Deborah Viogt was the Diva of the night! Yes, the rock concert may be louder, but I don’t think average audience member takes into account the lack of amplification being used in an opera house. For instance, my boyfriend, who has never been to an opera, decided to take me to see Madame Butterfly last year. I know, so sweet of him! During intermission he made a comment about how well the microphones were camouflaged, which was when that I had to inform him that there were no microphones. I use this as an example because he is a jazz musician and he loves musical theater, so when he found that there were no microphones he developed an appreciation for the demands of operatic singing.

This leads me to another story that my teacher told me during my voice lesson a week ago. We were talking about Sarah Brightman and The Phantom of The Opera and she went on to tell me that her friend was in a production of Phantom. Keep in mind her friend is a classically trained, professional singer and she was cast in a production of Phantom as Carlotta. Carlotta’s character sings higher and louder than Christine’s role at certain points, because of this, the whole cast had to use microphones. Apparently, no one, except the Phantom, was allowed to sing louder than Christine because she was the heroine. So poor Carlotta’s high D was toned down, while Christine’s microphone was cranked up. Hmmmmmmm. Not so sure how I feel about that, but it is certainly some food for thought!