Singing down an octave

[dtpoet]

This thought came to me the other day. Please bear with me while I give you some background.

 

Like Ged, I was blessed/cursed with a more than usually high pitch ("thank you, ma'am, and who am I speaking to today?" "Yea - my name is <insert male name>"). Also, my tune carrying ability is above average and at one point could hit all the Rush 70's notes. At one point....

 

Now I am in the latter half of my forties and those high - high notes are elusive. Ok. They vanished sometime in my thirties.

 

So the other day, I was in my car thinking of the upcoming tour and Ged's voice and his age and what 70's songs he might be able to sing to include in my fantasy set lists. While playing around with different songs, it hit me - instead of tuning down songs, why couldn't he sing some of them in their original key BUT an octave lower? I think it is doable. I played around with say a song like Cinderella Man and I think it would sound just as strong and pleasant.

 

I'm curious to hear your opinions especially those who have musical experience. Thanks.

[Fridge]

This thought came to me the other day. Please bear with me while I give you some background.

 

Like Ged, I was blessed/cursed with a more than usually high pitch ("thank you, ma'am, and who am I speaking to today?" "Yea - my name is <insert male name>"). Also, my tune carrying ability is above average and at one point could hit all the Rush 70's notes. At one point....

 

Now I am in the latter half of my forties and those high - high notes are elusive. Ok. They vanished sometime in my thirties.

 

So the other day, I was in my car thinking of the upcoming tour and Ged's voice and his age and what 70's songs he might be able to sing to include in my fantasy set lists. While playing around with different songs, it hit me - instead of tuning down songs, why couldn't he sing some of them in their original key BUT an octave lower? I think it is doable. I played around with say a song like Cinderella Man and I think it would sound just as strong and pleasant.

 

I'm curious to hear your opinions especially those who have musical experience. Thanks.

 

To be honest,I don't think it would need to be as dramatic as that....I reckon if they tuned everything down a half step then that would be fine.

[dtpoet]

I just thought that it would be more natural and healthier for his voice to sing them at his current range rather than reaching.

 

I guess the question is, is it better to tune it down a few keys or drop a full octave?

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

This thought came to me the other day. Please bear with me while I give you some background.

 

Like Ged, I was blessed/cursed with a more than usually high pitch ("thank you, ma'am, and who am I speaking to today?" "Yea - my name is <insert male name>"). Also, my tune carrying ability is above average and at one point could hit all the Rush 70's notes. At one point....

 

Now I am in the latter half of my forties and those high - high notes are elusive. Ok. They vanished sometime in my thirties.

 

So the other day, I was in my car thinking of the upcoming tour and Ged's voice and his age and what 70's songs he might be able to sing to include in my fantasy set lists. While playing around with different songs, it hit me - instead of tuning down songs, why couldn't he sing some of them in their original key BUT an octave lower? I think it is doable. I played around with say a song like Cinderella Man and I think it would sound just as strong and pleasant.

 

I'm curious to hear your opinions especially those who have musical experience. Thanks.

 

To be honest,I don't think it would need to be as dramatic as that....I reckon if they tuned everything down a half step then that would be fine.

 

Agree with that. Plus, Ged will sometimes play with the melodies a bit so that certain high notes are sung at a lower pitch while the rest of the melody remains the same.

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

An octave seems like a bit much, especially for a song like Cinderella Man. I think he could still do that one without much trouble.

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

This thought came to me the other day. Please bear with me while I give you some background.

 

Like Ged, I was blessed/cursed with a more than usually high pitch ("thank you, ma'am, and who am I speaking to today?" "Yea - my name is <insert male name>"). Also, my tune carrying ability is above average and at one point could hit all the Rush 70's notes. At one point....

 

Now I am in the latter half of my forties and those high - high notes are elusive. Ok. They vanished sometime in my thirties.

 

So the other day, I was in my car thinking of the upcoming tour and Ged's voice and his age and what 70's songs he might be able to sing to include in my fantasy set lists. While playing around with different songs, it hit me - instead of tuning down songs, why couldn't he sing some of them in their original key BUT an octave lower? I think it is doable. I played around with say a song like Cinderella Man and I think it would sound just as strong and pleasant.

 

I'm curious to hear your opinions especially those who have musical experience. Thanks.

 

I would be perfectly happy with that. I have suggested this myself many times, and I'm sure many others have also. But I would only want this to happen if Geddy actually wants to play songs like Cinderella Man, which I suspect he doesn't. The songs won't sound very good if Rush are playing them just to make the fans happy and their hearts aren't really into it.

[EagleMoon]

This thought came to me the other day. Please bear with me while I give you some background.

 

Like Ged, I was blessed/cursed with a more than usually high pitch ("thank you, ma'am, and who am I speaking to today?" "Yea - my name is <insert male name>"). Also, my tune carrying ability is above average and at one point could hit all the Rush 70's notes. At one point....

 

Now I am in the latter half of my forties and those high - high notes are elusive. Ok. They vanished sometime in my thirties.

 

So the other day, I was in my car thinking of the upcoming tour and Ged's voice and his age and what 70's songs he might be able to sing to include in my fantasy set lists. While playing around with different songs, it hit me - instead of tuning down songs, why couldn't he sing some of them in their original key BUT an octave lower? I think it is doable. I played around with say a song like Cinderella Man and I think it would sound just as strong and pleasant.

 

I'm curious to hear your opinions especially those who have musical experience. Thanks.

 

I would be perfectly happy with that. I have suggested this myself many times, and I'm sure many others have also. But I would only want this to happen if Geddy actually wants to play songs like Cinderella Man, which I suspect he doesn't. The songs won't sound very good if Rush are playing them just to make the fans happy and their hearts aren't really into it.

 

Yeah I think I've mentioned him doing this too, and he could do it on quite a few songs. Wouldn't work for everything obviously but there are definitely ways he could manage. He changed 2112 for a while until he stopped singing it all together. I would be glad to hear a song sung down an octave rather than tuned down, which messes with my head.

[losingit2k]

For the higher pitched songs like Hemispheres or Pre-Moving Pictures songs like (Freewill) . yeah! I think it would sound just fine! Anything else..no!

[antiquark]

I think you'll have the opposite problem then... you'll be hitting the bottom end and barely croaking out the notes. So then to compensate you'd be flipping octaves here and there. Might be a bit of a mess!

[dtpoet]

I think you'll have the opposite problem then... you'll be hitting the bottom end and barely croaking out the notes. So then to compensate you'd be flipping octaves here and there. Might be a bit of a mess!

 

That's why he's a professional - so he wouldn't mess it up

[dtpoet]

For the higher pitched songs like Hemispheres or Pre-Moving Pictures songs like (Freewill) . yeah! I think it would sound just fine! Anything else..no!

 

Exactly my thought. It's his voice. He can decide which ones would work better down an octave and which ones he can either perform as is or accept the challenge of their range.

[krlowe]

As a professional musician/choir director I would suggest to keep doing what he's doing now. He needs to decide when he cannot hit the higher notes, and "say" the word. One fine example is the chorus of Tom Sawyer on the high E (E6).

 

The only thing I would suggest is that he focus on hitting the front end of the note slightly more attack, and don't focus so much on the sustain of the notes with the very slow vibrato as he's doing now. In my opinion it appears to put additional strain on his voice during the set. I think even during slower songs he needs to hit the note, and decay quickly. If he sustains the note, try to speed up the vibrato because the slower vibrato is note as pleasant.

 

Lowering the songs 1/2 step even though it doesn't sound like much completely changes the timbre of each song, and really doesn't give Ged any more breathing room. Plus a lot of the keys the songs would change to his voice isn't so familiar with (Eb major vs E major, Ab major vs A major).

 

Having said this the man is 60 years old, he's doing great the way he is.

Edited January 19, 2015 by krlowe

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

As a professional musician/choir director I would suggest to keep doing what he's doing now. He needs to decide when he cannot hit the higher notes, and "say" the word. One fine example is the chorus of Tom Sawyer on the high E (E6).

 

The only thing I would suggest is that he focus on hitting the front end of the note slightly more attack, and don't focus so much on the sustain of the notes with the very slow vibrato as he's doing now. In my opinion it appears to put additional strain on his voice during the set. I think even during slower songs he needs to hit the note, and decay quickly. If he sustains the note, try to speed up the vibrato because the slower vibrato is note as pleasant.

 

Lowering the songs 1/2 step even though it doesn't sound like much completely changes the timbre of each song, and really doesn't give Ged any more breathing room. Plus a lot of the keys the songs would change to his voice isn't so familiar with (Eb major vs E major, Ab major vs A major).

 

Having said this the man is 60 years old, he's doing great the way he is.

I totally agree with that last sentence (as well as the rest), he's just doing it in a way that's possible for him.

[losingit2k]

As a professional musician/choir director I would suggest to keep doing what he's doing now. He needs to decide when he cannot hit the higher notes, and "say" the word. One fine example is the chorus of Tom Sawyer on the high E (E6).

 

The only thing I would suggest is that he focus on hitting the front end of the note slightly more attack, and don't focus so much on the sustain of the notes with the very slow vibrato as he's doing now. In my opinion it appears to put additional strain on his voice during the set. I think even during slower songs he needs to hit the note, and decay quickly. If he sustains the note, try to speed up the vibrato because the slower vibrato is note as pleasant.

 

Lowering the songs 1/2 step even though it doesn't sound like much completely changes the timbre of each song, and really doesn't give Ged any more breathing room. Plus a lot of the keys the songs would change to his voice isn't so familiar with (Eb major vs E major, Ab major vs A major).

 

Having said this the man is 60 years old, he's doing great the way he is.

 

As I too, am a musician/ Choir director I conquer! Whole heartedly. Lately his vowel placement has been on the darker side of the pitch which usually makes him sound more flat. He should brighten up the vowels and place it more of a head tone or into his nasal cavity. This would also help him with his vocal chords!

[EagleMoon]

As a professional musician/choir director I would suggest to keep doing what he's doing now. He needs to decide when he cannot hit the higher notes, and "say" the word. One fine example is the chorus of Tom Sawyer on the high E (E6).

 

The only thing I would suggest is that he focus on hitting the front end of the note slightly more attack, and don't focus so much on the sustain of the notes with the very slow vibrato as he's doing now. In my opinion it appears to put additional strain on his voice during the set. I think even during slower songs he needs to hit the note, and decay quickly. If he sustains the note, try to speed up the vibrato because the slower vibrato is note as pleasant.

 

Lowering the songs 1/2 step even though it doesn't sound like much completely changes the timbre of each song, and really doesn't give Ged any more breathing room. Plus a lot of the keys the songs would change to his voice isn't so familiar with (Eb major vs E major, Ab major vs A major).

 

Having said this the man is 60 years old, he's doing great the way he is.

 

As I too, am a musician/ Choir director I conquer! Whole heartedly. Lately his vowel placement has been on the darker side of the pitch which usually makes him sound more flat. He should brighten up the vowels and place it more of a head tone or into his nasal cavity. This would also help him with his vocal chords!

 

You think it would help if we sent him a Netti pot? :)

[krlowe]

As a professional musician/choir director I would suggest to keep doing what he's doing now. He needs to decide when he cannot hit the higher notes, and "say" the word. One fine example is the chorus of Tom Sawyer on the high E (E6).

 

The only thing I would suggest is that he focus on hitting the front end of the note slightly more attack, and don't focus so much on the sustain of the notes with the very slow vibrato as he's doing now. In my opinion it appears to put additional strain on his voice during the set. I think even during slower songs he needs to hit the note, and decay quickly. If he sustains the note, try to speed up the vibrato because the slower vibrato is note as pleasant.

 

Lowering the songs 1/2 step even though it doesn't sound like much completely changes the timbre of each song, and really doesn't give Ged any more breathing room. Plus a lot of the keys the songs would change to his voice isn't so familiar with (Eb major vs E major, Ab major vs A major).

 

Having said this the man is 60 years old, he's doing great the way he is.

 

As I too, am a musician/ Choir director I conquer! Whole heartedly. Lately his vowel placement has been on the darker side of the pitch which usually makes him sound more flat. He should brighten up the vowels and place it more of a head tone or into his nasal cavity. This would also help him with his vocal chords!

 

I noticed that too, I feel like he is singing with his throat a lot and he needs to bring it more forward and upward. Good to find another Music Educator on the board!