A little while ago I was singing really loudly in my car to a song I haven't heard in ages. It felt wonderful. I didn't have a care in the world as to who was around either because sometimes, just sometimes I have a great voice day. That was one of them. I have perfect pitch hearing which is a blessing and somewhat not sometimes - off key things can be harmonious depending on what it is (for example a song that is purposefully using flats) but it can also be rather torturous when you use your own vocal chords and what you hear come out your mouth sounds like a dying dinosaur.
The song I was listening to sounds different to me than it does to others who listen to it, because I pick up the harmony chords - not the melody (choral) part. It's kind of sneaky in that song and singing it made me smile. It's almost like the these little pops of colour I very occasionally use in my photos. I like that sometimes there are elements in the photo that wouldn't be paid attention to because they are not the main subject or are somewhat overlooked unless the rest of the image is monochromed/monotoned out.
There was also a suspicion sitting in the back of my subconscious that was bugging me. Is most of the music I listen to really monotone in structure or is it that the harmony is stronger than in other genres?
So I went through an array of songs that I absolutely love, then some that I wouldn't put on my top 10, but are still up there in my favourite playlists.
Monotone AF.
I was really quite surprised to be honest because these songs have so much meaning and deep resonance in/for me (lyrically and musically), but so many people that have given reviews online say things like "low vocal range", "monotone", "drab singer". Some examples:
There are hardly any Industrial bands that are able to actually sing, male or female. Even the futurepop guys who "sing" like Covenant, A23, VNV, Neuroticfish, etc have no range and can't hit notes. If you're trying to do that sort of style than just stick with being as consistently monotone as possible until you take vocal lessons and learn how to do it properly. You won't sound like a good singer, but its come to be expected with that style of music and you won't sound horrible and off key either.
or this one
Can't find it online but a zillion years ago I read an interview with Ogre of Skinny Puppy who said all the processing started out as a way to cover for his natural voice, which he thought was terrible.
I didn't actually know that about Skinny Puppy who I quite enjoy, but hey, I get it, it's exactly how I feel about my own voice about 98,2% of the time.
There are plenty of artists that sing things all over the vocal range that I enjoy, but they don't make up the majority of my playlist choices.
Another thing I noticed is that songs with choruses sang at an octave higher than the remainder seem to excite me more than some others and I love songs that use flats and electronic build ups through the octave.
There's a weird psychological aspect to this whole thing that I had a bit of an epiphany about later on as well which now has slotted in some more missing puzzle pieces. This kind of thing absolutely fascinates me. There's always more to solve of course about what makes us us. Music is a big part of all our lives and I enjoy trying to figure out why certain things make me tick.
What's the most interesting observation you've had about your music tastes?