Talk:Happy Rhodes

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[edit] Vocal Range

I added short sound files to illustrate Happy Rhodes' vocal range. Xenussister 04:05, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Separated out the section on her vocal range and added examples of her highest and lowest notes. Also included links to Mp3 files of the songs, with express permission of the artist.K8 fan 23:32, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

i removed the following:

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in a live performance of the Queen song "Lily of the Valley"[1]. 

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although it's not out of the question that she can hit a d6, this sound file doesn't demonstrate it; it's only a d5. a d6 would sound **much** higher (think mariah carey squeak range). Benwing 02:32, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

btw the low note given in "charlie" is indeed correct (a2, not a3 as originally written). for the two other songs, the range in "when the rain came down" is d3 to f5, and in "winter" it's b-flat2 to g5. Benwing 02:49, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

I think I understand the problem. We're using scientific notation where middle C is C4.K8 fan 14:09, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

I have proof. Here is a screenshot of Seventh String Software's "Transcribe" program displaying the note in question:

You can download a 30 day trial of this program and download the file and check it your self. In the absence of any proof to the contrary, I'm going to re-insert the claim.K8 fan 04:16, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Vick, the link is broken. And I dunno how to put in the citation to source HR's highest note from your picture. Assuming that's enough evidence to back it up. SummonerMarc 04:40, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

It appears to be actual evidence. The Mariah Carey page just has anecdotal assertions, no actual measurements - "some claim" rather than a listing of songs and notes. The Kate Bush page is better, but still not accurate (I'll be fixing that). Even the Yma Sumac page doesn't cite songs. The Minnie Ripperton page is better, but still doesn't accurately describe her claimed range. Happy is singing the note, but possibly the note has more overtones than the same note sung by a true soprano. K8 fan 07:47, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

k8fan, your link on this page goes to Transcribe's home page, not to the screenshot. The way you say "Here is a screenshot..." makes it seem like you didn't intend to give the link you gave. The link on the Happy Wikipedia page is correct. Xenussister 06:32, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

SummonerMarc, the link has been fixed.

Benwing, you seem to know a lot about music, but I think you're wrong. I'm sure it's a D6 she's hitting, not a D5. Are you sure you listened to the right clip? A video of her singing the song can be found on YouTube (I'm not sure if we're supposed to link in Talk so just search for Happy Rhodes Possessed). I've been asking other people and they agree it's a D6. Mariah's whistle range would be up in the D7 or D8 range. In any case, please don't delete the sound clip. That is the proof for whatever the note is. Xenussister 06:28, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

I added screenshots of the two notes in question to the section. We need clarification about this by trained singers. Middle C is C4, but is the B immediately to the left of C4 on the piano keyboard B4 or B3, given that octaves are counted from "C" to "C"?K8 fan 14:39, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

One other thing adding to the confusion is that some MIDI programs call Middle C "C3" rather than C4.K8 fan 19:10, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

i am a trained singer and have perfect pitch. you can also use a piano to know where a note is, but if guys don't have vocal experience, you're not going to be able to tell which octave a note is in. pitch programs you download off the internet (in fact, such programs in general) can easily get confused as to which octave a note is in. d6 is more than two octaves above middle c; this is a piercingly high note of the kind that would break glass. listen to her singing and you'll hear that when she hits the d5, she jumps up from an octave below, and that lower note is in chest voice, clearly in the lower part of her range. if this were a d6, then even the note an octave lower would sound quite high, too. (note: mariah carey's whistle range is around c6 to g7. g#7 is the highest recorded note on her part.) as i mentioned earlier, the other clips of happy rhodes have her singing above the d5 in this clip; listen and you'll clearly hear this. if you claim that this note is a d6, you'll need to claim that the other notes are f6 or g6. (see my comments above.)

note that technically, all judgments of musical range by you, me, or anyone's pitch program are original research. disagreements about judgments of this sort are exactly why original research is considered a Bad Thing in wikipedia.

K8fan, the note directly below middle c is called "b3". "b2" is one octave below that, and the a2 that happy rhodes can hit is an astoundingly low note for a woman. even most low contraltos can't get below c3 (unless maybe they have a cold, which lowers your vocal range by several notes). Benwing 06:56, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't claim to be a trained singer or to have perfect pitch. But I do have 30 years experience as an audio engineer. I started in the days before automated feedback suppression and had to quickly and accurately identify the frequency of a squeal and adjust the parametric equalizer to notch out a specific frequency. Anyway, I generated a tone in Adobe Audition at 1174.66 Hz, which is D6 according to the Piano key frequencies page. 1174.66 Hz pasted into the left, upper channel, the note in question in the right, lower channel. It is pretty clear that these two waveforms are the same frequency, and therefore D6. K8 fan 09:33, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Added biographical information

I've translated the biographical information into a hopefully POV-free form. Added information about her name, and the Wikiproject:Musicians infobox. K8 fan 04:47, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

We've added a considerable amount of additional detail.K8 fan 06:20, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

VICKIE MY ONE DARLING TRUE LOVE. What an excellent job. But the monster from Rhodes 1. Aice? Spelling mistake or is it meant to be Aice? Alice? :S - Summoner Marc 23:07, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Marc! Shhhh, my husband will find out! Sorry about that typo. Thanks for fixing it but Wikipedia marked the picture of Alice for deletion anyway, so I just took out the code. It's not copywrited but I wasn't sure I should upload it as fair use, so it had the wrong tag on it. I'll have to see if I can get Happy to upload it herself. Xenussister 02:47, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

What he doesn't know can't hurt him... Anyway, I'm /very/ pro-Alice picture, so get Hapster to do that. I think it adds a good perspective to the article, without over doing it too much. Just right. You never talk to me anymore Vickie, where's the love? - Summoner Marc 23:32, 25 February 2007 (UTC)