2009年3月4日 星期三

gym, vocals, vocal gymnastics, castrato,

. Auto-Tune: Why Pop Music Sounds Perfect

By Josh Tyrangiel

Why do pop vocals suddenly sound perfect--or intentionally imperfect?






I've always loved the kind of novels that offer an alternative view of the present, where the plot is predicated on one key event in history playing out differently. For instance, there's Kingsley Amis's The Alteration , set in England nearly five centuries after the Protestant Reformation didn't take place. The Catholic Church is unchallenged in its authority, and castrati still sing in the choir.


If we degenerate and allow to continue to degenerate the approach to the vocal art so that it only becomes vocal gymnastics, then because there is no longer the element which is essential (which Beethoven articulated when he said, "I write from the heart to the heart") if that element is totally missing, and if we write from the ear to the ear, if we appeal to the audience through nothing but mere vocal gymnastics, if those gymnastics and that technical ability does not serve the higher meaning, the more profound understanding, the revelation of human emotion with which the great composers are concerned, then we are going to lose our audience just as certainly as the castrati was done away with. Why? Because they were no longer capable of projecting a true human emotion. They became only the emperor's mechanical canary.


Definition

gym PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Hide phonetics
noun
1 [U] gymnastics, especially when done as a subject at school:
a gym skirt
gym shoes
Class 3 do gym on a Wednesday afternoon.

2 [C] a large room with weights for lifting, horizontal bars and other equipment for exercising the body and increasing strength:
I go to the gym twice a week.

3 [U] US FOR physical education



vocal (OF THE VOICE) PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Phonetic PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Hide phonetics
adjective
relating to or produced by the voice, either in singing or speaking:
a piece of vocal music
The six principal roles in this opera have an average vocal range of two octaves.

vocal PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Phonetic PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Hide phonetics
noun [C usually plural]
the singing in a piece of popular music:
The vocals are shared by two members of the band.
Is that Tamsin Palmer on vocals (= singing)?

vocally PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Phonetic PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Hide phonetics
adverb

vocalist PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Phonetic PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Hide phonetics
noun [C]
a person who sings, especially with a group who play popular music:
She won the Grammy Award for Best Female Vocalist in 1976.

vocalize PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Phonetic PhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhoneticPhonetic Hide phonetics
verb [T]
to express feelings or ideas in words:
Most patients find it very difficult to vocalize feelings of shame.

gym・nas・tic


━━ a. 体操の, 体育の.
gym・nas・tics ━━ n. 体操; 訓練; 体育(科).


vocal artist vs vocal gymnastics


castrati 複數
《閹人歌手(Castrato)的興盛與衰亡》,可以在《老實人 12 老婦人遭遇的下文》讀到:「我生在那不勒斯,那兒每年閹割二三千名兒童,….. 有的因此得到一副比女人還美麗的嗓子,還有的將統治國家。」
*****

Nautilus Recalls Bowflex® Home Gyms Due to Risk of Injury

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of product: Bowflex® Ultimate 2 Home Gyms

Units: About 78,000 (about 68,000 home gyms were recalled on December 6, 2007)

Importer: Nautilus Inc., of Vancouver, Wash.

Hazard: The home gym's horizontal seat rail is designed to be latched in a vertical position for storage. If the seat rail is not manually latched, it can fall unexpectedly on the user or a bystander, posing a risk of serious injury.



Picture of Recalled Home Gym


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