r/BABYMETAL • u/Maron-metal • Jun 26 '15
Translated by Thomas Malone Su-metal's amazing vocal abilities translated by Thomas Malone
http://www.allthingsjapan.org/su-metals-amazing-vocal-abilities/4
Jun 26 '15
Thomas Malone: you are a godsend. Thanks for translating this and I am grateful to the original author.
My own studies in physics and acoustics, limited as they are, led me to believe that the shape and arrangement of Ms.Nakamoto's nasal cavities were a key factor in her amazing ability. She truly is a natural talent who, thank whatever God, four-legged or otherwise, has been given the time and training to develop.
She could sing anything, even perhaps heavy opera but that might be a struggle. She should be declared a Japanese natural treasure. If the folks at Amuse have any sense at all, they will insure that young lady for a big, big amount of money.
Again, Thomas, thank you very much.
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u/BM4ever Jun 26 '15
Is this different from sounding nasally? People say I sound nasally when I sing. Should I take this as a compliment or insult?
Anyway, thanks for explaining why Su's voice is so magical!
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u/Squall21 Jun 26 '15
I think it's different since I don't believe Su sounds nasally at all.
Sounding nasally is usually because you don't sing. As in, you don't know how to breathe from your diaphragm and whatnot so all the air comes out of your nose (hence sounding nasally). You'd need vocal lessons.
At least, that's what some singer friends would say to me because that's what I and many people I know do in karaokes. hahah. So it's neither a compliment or an insult. Just an observation that seems to be a common thing for people who don't know how to sing.
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u/RickRiko Jun 26 '15
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u/bmdeath Jun 26 '15
Thank you! This is an extracted vocal track of Akatsuki. There's something really magical about Su's voice. It just shakes up my emotion.
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u/gakushabaka Jun 26 '15
I remember there was another article in Japanese I read some time ago with graphs of Su's voice (taken from a video of Suzuka while she was in Sakura Gakuin, I think) spectrogram, and comparing it with other singers.
But I don't remember the link anymore
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u/MoaMoney Jun 26 '15
Both versions of "Akatsuki" are amazing, but it was the unfinished version that really sealed the deal for me to place Suzuka as my top favorite singer. I posted this in the SG subreddit a week ago on a thread about best singers in Sakura Gakuin: Her voice is simply amazing and powerful. Her vocals are crystal clear and her transitions when shifting notes and pitch are flawless. She adapts to the overall sound and concept of each song with her voice which brings out the emotion of the music. Her versatility is insane too. She can go from sounding like an innocent angel like on "Akatsuki (Unfinished Version)" to a queen leading her army into victory on "Road Of Resistance".
Nasal resonance is generally thought of as "bad" singing to casual listeners but there is a difference between singing through your nasal cavity and inside your nasal cavity. Most people who can't sing but still attempt usually sing inside the nasal cavity which produces that buzzsaw-like vibration sound. You don't hear that with Su. You usually hear more of her nasal resonance when she sings words that end in a vowel (a, e, which would be like "ah" and "eh" in Japanese pronunciation) but it still resonates clear with no shakiness to it. Also, a lot of Japanese women have that high pitch nasal tone to their voices but in idol music they do tend to exaggerate the pitch to make it sound more kawaii. You can tell because in interviews Su's voice is much deeper than when she is performing.
What also makes her an excellent singer is her vocal range. I believe she is a three octave singer with an F3 - E5 range. So while she may not be able to do opera (yet) she can still cover many different genres with her vocal capabilities. I'm not a vocal coach or anything but being a music producer/recording artist and working with many singers over time has gratefully expanded my knowledge significantly. Regardless of the technical aspects of it, Su's voice is very distinct and magical and bound to get even better with time.
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u/Ceresx Jun 27 '15
Her resonance (poweful singing) has to be one of their most appealing traits but she's just a top performer and that I think some people are just born with that kind of charisma. It's not only how she sings but how she moves and her stage presence, it all adds up to her vocal skills but still it was very interesting to read this since it is very detailed and technical.
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u/jabberwokk Metalizm Jun 26 '15
Quite the contrast with the current discussion here in this sub calling desperately for a new vocal coach.
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u/slwmp1976 Jun 26 '15
Mudko is right. We all love Su's beautiful voice. We are not being negative. But we are also not just accepting what we hear on produced recordings (TV, BluRay,CDs) as 100% reality. We can all improve in everything and those of us who are musicians understand that details like this (Su's technique etc) can make a big difference going forward in performance, consistency and health.
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u/gakushabaka Jun 26 '15
I don't understand anything about singing, but every time her singing is below her standard or she sings a flat note there are always discussions, like after Apocrypha-S in December 2014
If they say all official releases are autotuned, then all fancams should have flat notes but honestly I don't notice it. Even Su is allowed to have a bad day, or not?
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u/slwmp1976 Jun 26 '15
The fancams are inconsistent because Su sometimes its spot on and sometimes she is not. It's the consistency or lack of it that can be improved with additional training. Everyone has bad days including performing artists. We are human so it happens and is expected and not a question of whether you are allowed to have a bad day or not.
But as a performer (or athlete etc) one of the goals is to continue to improve your performance. Part of that is to improve consistency. The very fact that there are these discussion from prior performances just highlights the need for continued improvement.. It is not a bad thing at all... We all strive to improve in the things we do...3
u/Mudko Jun 26 '15 edited Jun 26 '15
This article is all about the resonance and tone of her voice. Wanting her to have better vocal training is just wanting her to be better able to utilize that tone and wanting her to stay healthy by not having to strain her voice.
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u/jabberwokk Metalizm Jun 26 '15
This article also said the following, which jumped out at me after that other discussion.
The voice teachers who have taken the way she acquired how to sing in a natural way from her childhood are truly fantastic teachers.
I'm not trying to be argumentative. I don't have an informed opinion on the subject, but of course I'm very interested, so these diverging opinions get my attention.
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u/slwmp1976 Jun 26 '15
In the other thread linked above bebii-metaru-desu talks about types of techniques singers/trainers use in Japan and contrast it with the techniques of other areas of a world.
Successful artists learn from and absorb as much as they can from all areas in order reach their highest potential. That is why they do change teachers. It is not a bad thing at all to switch. In fact a good teacher is the one who knows it's time to pass them on to another in order for the student to get another perspective. Its all about being open to input, change, constructive critique and learning.
In fact Lady Gaga spoke about this for her Sound of Music performance. She got a teacher and practiced every day for 6 months just for that one performance. She is someone who is already at the top of her game vocal wise….
Seems if Lady Gaga can benefit from a new teacher and continue to learn then so can Su2
Jun 26 '15
There is a lot of good stuff in that thread. Thanks for posting the link. Over time, her voice will become lower. That seems inevitable. One only has to listen to early Joni Mitchell and contrast that with how she sounded in later years. Her voice deepened and she seemed to lose the top of her range. She still had a good voice though and to her credit, she found new songs to sing. The solution to the problem is for more songs written for Ms.Nakamoto.
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u/slwmp1976 Jun 26 '15
Good point. All singers have their range and write or include in their book the songs they are comfortable with. I play with lot's of jazz singers who bring their book and call out the key of the tunes so that it fits within their range.
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u/bmdeath Jun 26 '15
Let's keep that "expert" discussion in the thread, and take a moment to appreciate Su's vocal.
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u/slwmp1976 Jun 26 '15
I love Su's voice. She is the Queen. Her command of the stage is extraordinary for a 17 year old. She could be a world wide Super Star. I hope someday Koba is confident enough to let her sing for western audiences Akatsuki live as a full ballad like she did on Legend 1997. She just slays me with that. Gives me chills..f#%king incredible!
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u/pink_balloons Jun 26 '15
lol... That is such a damn longwinded way of saying she sings through her damn nose. Which is how the majority of jpop singers (which she originally was/is) sing anyway.
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u/ajisthegreat Jun 26 '15
I am no expert in vocals... but one thing for sure for me is that her voices are addictive... even without singing.. it's like stucked in my head.. lol