The mystery of his voice...
 

One thing that attracted my attention:
We all know, that Meat got a great and powerful voice. But one thing i cant underständ:
He can sing the most voluminous notes if he´s sitting. If he want to reach a higher volume, then he even bows himself forward!
I don´t know much about the physics of singing, but when i want to reach a voluminous note, then I try to be as big as i can. I want to reach a very big capacity of my loungs, a high resonance.
If I whould do as Meat does, I whouldn´t get one right tone!
Could somebody explain that to me?
R.

Frankly, I can't understand how Meat does it.:??: I have had classical voice training, and you are right - to reach the volume and higher notes, you need to be straight up and brace yourself as you take a full diaphragm-centered breath for supporting the notes you are about to sing. Meat does the exact opposite and gets the same results. That would be a good question to ask him someday.

Quick off-topic. I just noticed that we're neighbors. NY or NJ?

Ok...at the risk of sounding dumb as a stick...this is my theory...he stands perfectly straight when he just belts the songs out...he bends over when he puts an emotion into his singing. I think you can sing as powerfully as you can standing straight but to squeeze real heartfelt emotion out, you do have to lean forward...this is just a theory anyway...I actually tried it...yes...I am THAT bored...

And I think I actually saw it before when singers put real emotion into the singing they lean forward - I just never thought about it...

The man must have huge lungs anyway, I remember when I first saw him live, it all fell totally silent when he belted out the first note and I could hear his voice six rows back louder than the speakers.

Did You notice, that it is always at the end of Bat out of Hell?

Probably...most good opera singers are either heavy or at least top heavy...just like ML

And also, he inevitably has a mouthful of chewing gum and/or throat lozenges. It should not be physically possible to sing like that: bent over and with a full mouth. :shock:

Yes, I've read him saying that he always has gum in his mouth when he sings...

He gave an explanation, too, but i dont remember.

Did he? I don't remember either? You're much more attentive than I am. He just blows me away and I can't think of any details. It's like my brain explodes.

I guess it's something to do with me being a female...

It was on the commentary of the MSO DVD or in to hell and back. I will look it up the next days.

Must have been to Hell and Back...

I think I figured it out. He definitely mentions gum in To Hell and Back but might be explaining why he is chewing it on MSO DVD which I haven't seen yet...

I´ll look tomorrow, now i´m too lazy.

But for getting back on topic.
I tried to sing BOOH like he does, and i don´t get it! I got the best result if I stand like pavarotti does, i think you know what i mean.
When I´m singing with emotion, i have to contract every muscle and something like... getting power and then when it´s over i have to explode, i think that you know what i mean.
R.

You're all right. Opera singers do have large lung capacities. And you are inclined to lean over for an emotional part. But if that happens to coincide with a high note and/or extra volume, bending over quite a bit can make the process difficult, which is what Meat does, and is hard to understand.
I'm in NY.

Part 2: he chews gum to keep his vocal chords from drying out; has done so since the late 70's/early 80's.

I know what you mean...for me it's not a problem - I can't sing at all...

I have to pay more attention...so far I was paying more attention to his singing rather than his performance. North Jersey here

Alright...that makes sense...although it's still doesn't explain how he actually does it.

Meat said in Classic Albums - BOOH, that he taught himself to sing, experimenting with sounds and production. And I did read somewhere that back in the 70's, he was offered free operatic training, but refused because you couldn't have a dual career in opera and rock like you can now, and he couldn't deal with not being able to improvise. Considering all the wear and tear he has put his voice through with the 3 and 4 hour shows too many times per week that he used to do, it's a bit of a miracle that he sings so tremendously well today. You can't argue with success, but how he does it, is beyond all vocal training I ever had; it is still a question to ask him.

Interesting thing to note that ML sort of has a Russian counterpart - this one a woman singer. She was actually classically trained as an opera singer but crossed over to the "dark side". She had an amazing range too but what is more interesting that she acted out every song too...she didn't just stand there singing or shaking or whatever like many do...she actually created these little stories out of the songs and acted them out...like ML she was in movies too. Interesting...something made me think of her. I think it is something that makes them theatrical actors before singers. That doesn't explain mysteries of their abilities to sing while acting, sometimes in strange, seemingly uncomfortable positions...but probably nothing does. Sometimes you just can't explain phenomena and you can just enjoy and marvel.

I experienced something similar at Liverpool in 2002. At one point he was nowhere near a mike yet at about thirty rows back I still heard him shout "Yes!":shock: :lol:

I remember way back in 1987 I saw Meat at Newcastle City Hall.

During Paradise he threw the mic onto the stage and sang the line "I can see Paradise by the dashboard light" unamplified. You could hear him clear as a bell throughout the auditorium.

I would have thought that he bends over more as he gets tired throughout the set? Hense him being almost horizontal at the end of BOOH!?

As for the chewing gum, I thought it was because he has acid reflux disease?