Heaven on their Minds

Clem

Hello,
I've been a big fan of "Jesus Christ Superstar" for some time, and some day I'd like to be able to play the role of Judas. The part is written for a tenor voice, so it's a bit higher than I tend to sing, as a baritone (this would be closer to my comfort zone http://picosong.com/rHzB/ ). But KT is living proof that voice type is not definitive in terms of what range you have to sing in, so maybe someday I'll manage it.
So I've been practicing a few of the Judas' numbers, and trying to lighten my voice to fit the part, whilst still trying to get a bold sound on the notes like A4, which I do in mixed voice to try and get a quasi-operatic sound, except for the last couple at the end, which are supposed to sound a bit more weary than operatic, if that makes any sense. But when I listen back, it just sounds like a somewhat-cartoonish attempt to sound lighter, rather than any kind of real emulation of a good tenor voice. Those all-important A4s end up being weak and nasally too.
This is my recording of "Heaven on their Minds". http://picosong.com/rdUZ/
All feedback and any tips to improve my singing would be greatly appreciated!
- Clem

highmtn

Your A4's sound pretty heavily-covered. That kind of keeps the tone from matching most of the rest of the piece. It would be better to simply shed some of the weight but keep a bright timbre in a chest voice configuraton.

The key is to maintain the chest sound, yet taper the lower component of the tone as you ascend. You'll need a lot of support to refrain from using too much volume.

Clem

Thanks for the advice I can hit the notes in chest, but I can't get that quasi-operatic sort of open, rich tone right at the top of my chest range. Will that eventually come in time, or is mixed voice the only way I'll get an operatic quality on notes that high?

highmtn

You kind of need to train on Ken's exercises for a period of time and work on opening up your sound all the way up, like past C5 so that your A4 will be more open and relaxed without being at the top of your chest range. He trains you on "stretching chest voice" and essentially your secondo passaggio can happen up at a higher location, above the A4, for instance. At that point, and after bringing your head voice down to function towards the primo passaggio, you then can build a mix that can have a very strong chest component in it, or simply choose all chest, whatever you want.

Having that capacity, along with the tapering of the tone I spoke about before, gives you the widest range of choice on the tone and texture you use. This isn't any quickie process, though. It takes time to gradually increase the chest voice range.

The operatic vs modern rock or pop flavor mostly comes from whether or not you use a covered sound on the notes. Covered and dark sounds more operatic, and bright and open is a more contemporary sound.

rkirsner

Clem- I have this song on my "practice list", and I think you are doing well.

In fact, we had A little "sing-along": I sang along with your version.

Are you using the version of the play that comes In an album with an all brown cover (Original Studio Cast)? That's the one I use– but I think there Was a movie version, As well.

Nice job...