Originally Posted By: B.D.Thomas
Originally Posted By: Janice & Bud
BTW, what we have yet to hear is a convincing example of blues or soul with melisma, i.e., bending a syllable into several notes. The focus seems to be, not surprisingly, on pop at this stage.

Melismata are no problem at all, you can make a whole song with them over one syllable.
For me it's more of a problem to write a real blues with bluesy lyrics because I don't have the blues, I'm in an air-conditioned room.


Hmmmm ... No doubt you could do that but when I think of a melismatic singer my notions are of how well the bends enhance the melody at certain points (not sustained screams smile ), how well the choice of bends enhances the "soul" of the sound and how well it brings to life the actual word.

Maybe this helps explain my ill attempts at writing it out. Janice has been a melismatic singer all her life based on a love of early Black gospel, blues and jazz. When we posted this years ago it was criticized by a forum member as being too much vocal dancing. What do you say to that ... nothing but it's the way she feels it. But the song ended up being licensed a couple of times so we felt better about it. So back to my point I haven't yet heard any synth vocals in this style ... again not saying it can't be done just curious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M0fEB6iWnQ

Bud

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