Michael Buble's accent bugs me.

[Fabricated]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AJmKkU5POA

Not a bad song but he sounds like he's singing with his teeth gritted the whole time and it bothers me.

[Musashi]

There should be a rule that says you have to be cool to croon.

[Bunk]

While we frequently feel the need to apologize for Celine Dion, Nickelback, and that Beiber thingy - we actually like Buble. How can a guy who appeared on American Idol on few hours notice and performed obviously shitfaced not be considered cool?

[NiX]

While we frequently feel the need to apologize for Celine Dion, Nickelback, and that Beiber thingy - we actually like Buble. How can a guy who appeared on American Idol on few hours notice and performed obviously shitfaced not be considered cool?

This. Not to mention the rest of his music is keeping alive a dying style.

[SurfD]

Anyone who can make the classic spiderman theme song bearable is ok in my books

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP6ReiSZmew&feature=related

[sickrubik]

I don't really know much about him, but he was great in a skit on SNL this past season with Jonn Hamm.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/124873/saturday-night-live-hamm-and-buble

[Musashi]

Ha ha ha ha.   Canada!  I didn't even know.  Explains everything.

[RhyssaFireheart]

That Spiderman theme was awesome, IMO!  I love Swing.

I vaguely remember him from Idol last year (?) and yeah, he did seem to be plastered or something when he performed.

[Jeff Kelly]

Buble is doing something that's called 'oversinging' in the vocalist community.

It's basically using power instead of technique.

It's unfortunately mostly a matter of socialization. Too many aspiring artists grew up with overproduced and overcompressed music and assume that volume equals power and that power equals good sound.

A proficient vocalist however doesn't need raw power to be loud and sound great. I'm an amateur vocalist myself and the secret to a goof sounding voice is efficiency and learning how to use the natural resonance chambers of your body effectively.

Efficiency means using the least amount of air necessary (which is the antithesis of power) and is all about controlling your diaphragm and breathing suppport muscles. In a way that works against the natural breathing reflex. Breathing is getting the most amount of air in and out quickly, using too much air however kills your singing voice because it leads to the vocal chords no longer opening and closing correctly (airflow is to high and to powerful).

Using your natural resonance chambers is basically making sure that the flow of air is unimpeded on it's way from your lungs to your mouth, that the muscles involved are relaxed (especially the muscles around your vocal cords), where to project the voice to (breast, head, nose) and how to form the phrases that make up the lyrics. Singing a song is different from talking because many sounds have to be created in a different way for song as you would normally while talking.

For example most singers don't really sing 'i' they sing 'ai' instead because a,o,u are better suited for singing (resonates in the breast) compared to i (resonates in the head).

Lastly you don't really use your tongue as much while singing as you would while talking and compensate by using your lips and mouth muscles more.

That's why many aspiring singers have a period where they sound weird because they are in the process of changing the way they create sounds but haven't fully internalized it yet.

A vocalist that's really technically trained doesn't have to use power to be loud and clear. A pro opera or musical singer can hold his/her own against a whole orchestra without a PA (and had to before the advent of stage amplification).

Also you can only transport the full range of emotions if you use technique instead of raw force because the dynamic of your voice and whether you are tense or relaxed plays into the mood.

If you sing in an angry way you will always sound angry and oversinging is the equivalent of being tense and angry. You tighten up in places that should be relaxed, you use too much air, you overextend your diaphragm and breathing apparatus (the power has to come from somewhere) and you'll always sound a bit like you're singing through gritted teeth or like a bike tire that's leaking air (if you use really too much air you'll hear a slight hiss from the air that escapes through the chords that can no longer close completely)

Oversingers don't project their voice into one of the internal resonance chambers (breast, head, nose) but outside their body.

Depending on the skill you can even see the neck muscles tightening around the vocal chords (very bad sign) or the vocalist breaking out in sweat and getting a bright red head due to the strain.

I call it the American idol syndrome because you can most often see it at casting shows.

If you compare it to the archetypal crooners like Sinatra or Dean Martin you can spot the difference easily.

[Sky]

That Spiderman theme was awesome, IMO!  I love Swing.

I vaguely remember him from Idol last year (?) and yeah, he did seem to be plastered or something when he performed.

We fast forward shit like that on Idol. The DVR is the only way to make that show remotely palatable. I like the audition shows, but by then the fiancee is hooked and wants to watch the entire season

Wish there were a video of Kruno doing spiderman, it's an amazing version (gypsy jazz guitar virtuoso). Unfortunately, the stupid song gets stuck in my head all day, so I usually skip the track in the truck. Thanks, it's in my head now. Dammit Buble you hack.

As a singer, I'm having a difficult transition. I'm not a good singer, but I could do some decent metal vocals, kind of Phil Anselmo, not cookie monster. I'm trying to use the grit of the metal vocal as the basis for a gritty blues vocal. When it works, it's awesome (Warren Haynes is my target style, within my own limitations). Then I slip and sound like James Hetfield cheese.

[Jeff Kelly]

Hetfield is an extraordinarily good example of how you shouldn't do it. Thanks Sky.

You can actually hear how he constrains his voice.

[Fabricated]

Heh, speaking of Hetfield.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/time-warp-james-hetfield-sings.html

Watch him do it wrong at 2000fps.