A lot of people are buzzing about how Josh Groban sounds recently. I rate him absolutely terrible on the BBC appearance, ok on America's Got Talent, and ok on Ellen. Mostly, he seems to be in denial that he can't hit those high notes any more.
He sounded better when I listened on my smart phone than he does on the computer that has better speakers. Here are the recent appearances:
I was at the AGT performance and thought his voice sounded clear on the high notes at the time. The video afterwards reveals that he was straining. The live performance was characterized by strange acoustics, and the second part of his performance was drowned out by the background musicians when we were listening live.
Here are some tweets that I wanted to memorialize. These should be read top down, since they are expanded twitter conversations, rather than bottom up like one of my previous blogs where I snapshotted my timeline.
Some comparisons showing maturation of Josh's voice
Here's an early performance of "Caruso"
Here's a 2011 performance of "Caruso"
These are both excellent performances, but you can hear the change in his voice with age.
Here are some more examples
A very early performance of "Gira Con Me"
Here's a wonderful 2011 performance of the same song
Again, you can hear the adolescent voice become that of a mature man
But he's still maturing and I conclude that in 2011 he could still hit those high notes, but now he can't.
David Foster had to talk Josh into singing those high notes way back when, because Josh knew he was a baritone and not a tenor. I hope that David Foster didn't ruin Josh's voice for the long term for short term profit on those early albums.
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Addendum:
On Bad Grobanites, we've been debating the pros and cons of live performance vs videos of the live performances. Some of the other posters were saying that they trust the live performance more. Here is what I just posted there
OK, now I've had this experience. I heard Josh live at AGT and then listened to the YouTube video, and I definitely thought he sounded better live. HOWEVER, I'm not sure the live experience is valid. The amplification adds things to the voice that make it sound better, I think, vibrations of sorts. I could hear high frequency vibrations even when no one was on stage. The overtones of the room can mimic the overtones that Josh should have naturally, but didn't in this performance, because he was straining on the high notes.
Also, in the live performance, he was drowned out by the background musicians in the later part of the performance. When the audio engineers mix the thing, they take out the resonances from the amplification and the room, and they lower the volume of the background musicians.
I heard the country singer (Cami) duet with Gavin McGraw live as well. It was just a deafening cacophony for at least half the time. The audio engineers clean that up so it sounds civilized on TV.
In the case of Cami, the sound got better on the videos. In the case of Josh, the sound got worse.
In both cases, I think the videos probably have the more authentic sound of the singer's voice.
In the case of Josh Page, though, I think there were real overtones to his voice, when he sang "To Where You Are" that were clipped in the YouTube video. He has a very subtle voice. In this case, I think the clipping of the overtones was not authentic.
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Second addendum:
Since this started out as an exchange of tweets with a Jackie Evancho fan, I should mention that I am concerned also that the use of her voice so young may cause damage. It has sounded to me like her lower notes, which are remarkably full, were forced. Some people, who are experts in opera, have said that it's bad for kids to try to force their voices to sound like adult opera singers, that it causes vocal damage.
Time will tell, of course.
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Third addendum:
When I go back and listen to the older recording of "Caruso" in Germany, I hear that he was straining then also. It's just that he was managing to pull it off when he was younger and now he's not. Now he claims that he's been sick, which he is often sick. Though, one friend points out that when he was interviewing on Ellen and on the BBC, right at the same time when he sang, he didn't look or sound sick while he was talking.
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fourth addendum
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fifth addendum:
This excerpt from the wikipedia article about Placido Domingo haunts me every time Josh says he is singing when sick.
As a person with sensory integration issues and auditory sensitivities, there is actually very little music I can listen to. Josh's music has been one of the few things I *can* consistently listen to and enjoy. I think it's partly because he doesn't use auto tune, which messes up the overtones. Also, it's partly because he does not have vigorous guitar strumming, which I can't stand.
Nevertheless, I get bored, when music seems too insipid to me, like some of Justin Bieber's stuff.
I don't really like classical, because it's generally too intellectual, too rational, too unemotional. I like the emotions in Josh's music.
I don't like roughness in voices at all. In the past, Josh said he got that about his fans, that we don't like rough singing. I don't, for instance, like Adele most of the time, and i can't stand Amy Winehouse.
The idea that Josh might keep sounding like this, with rough patches in his voice,which he has done a lot this summer, is especially painful to me, because I don't have a lot of other alternatives.
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sixth addendum:
I got really down last night. Josh seems to think that if he rests for a week he'll be fine for the tour, but he's been having this sort of problem all summer, off and on. I question whether one week is going to do it.
I made this sad collage last night, and changed my avi to the upper picture.
I guess these pix are Renaissance paintings of the Virgin Mary crying at the crucifixion. I"m not meaning that I'm her, for me they're just women crying.
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Seventh addendum: 9/24/13
Josh tweets
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Second addendum:
Since this started out as an exchange of tweets with a Jackie Evancho fan, I should mention that I am concerned also that the use of her voice so young may cause damage. It has sounded to me like her lower notes, which are remarkably full, were forced. Some people, who are experts in opera, have said that it's bad for kids to try to force their voices to sound like adult opera singers, that it causes vocal damage.
Time will tell, of course.
=====================================
Third addendum:
When I go back and listen to the older recording of "Caruso" in Germany, I hear that he was straining then also. It's just that he was managing to pull it off when he was younger and now he's not. Now he claims that he's been sick, which he is often sick. Though, one friend points out that when he was interviewing on Ellen and on the BBC, right at the same time when he sang, he didn't look or sound sick while he was talking.
====================================
fourth addendum
Josh's explanation:
fifth addendum:
This excerpt from the wikipedia article about Placido Domingo haunts me every time Josh says he is singing when sick.
As a person with sensory integration issues and auditory sensitivities, there is actually very little music I can listen to. Josh's music has been one of the few things I *can* consistently listen to and enjoy. I think it's partly because he doesn't use auto tune, which messes up the overtones. Also, it's partly because he does not have vigorous guitar strumming, which I can't stand.
Nevertheless, I get bored, when music seems too insipid to me, like some of Justin Bieber's stuff.
I don't really like classical, because it's generally too intellectual, too rational, too unemotional. I like the emotions in Josh's music.
I don't like roughness in voices at all. In the past, Josh said he got that about his fans, that we don't like rough singing. I don't, for instance, like Adele most of the time, and i can't stand Amy Winehouse.
The idea that Josh might keep sounding like this, with rough patches in his voice,which he has done a lot this summer, is especially painful to me, because I don't have a lot of other alternatives.
=======================
sixth addendum:
I got really down last night. Josh seems to think that if he rests for a week he'll be fine for the tour, but he's been having this sort of problem all summer, off and on. I question whether one week is going to do it.
I made this sad collage last night, and changed my avi to the upper picture.
I guess these pix are Renaissance paintings of the Virgin Mary crying at the crucifixion. I"m not meaning that I'm her, for me they're just women crying.
============================
Seventh addendum: 9/24/13
Josh tweets
Well, I'm certainly glad that there is no permanent injury. That's a relief. Still, that does not mean that he's going to be consistently able to hit those high notes any more.
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