Kelli Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 One of the things I really miss is singing. For a long time I held onto listening to praise/worship music and would sing it in the car, even though I haven't gone to church at all in well over a year. I miss the singing. My entire family is musical. My daughters and my wife have wonderful voices. We have turned to singing celtic music, but there's just not a lot out there. I grew up listening to country music until I was "saved" and from there listened almost exclusivly to christian music. I love music with depth and feeling, and I can no longer stomach most country music, especially after spending a few years in the south. Mostly I listen to classical, celtic, 30's/40's big band, jazz and blues, but I just don't enjoy singing like I used to. I used to enjoy being a lyricist as well, but now I don't really know what I would write about. I want that passion back, but just don't really know how. It's just kind of an empty space I don't really know how to fill. I also have a bit different taste in music than most guys. I can listen to and enjoy metal or classic rock, but my very favorite and the kind of music I could write and enjoy singing is music with a celtic flair, like "Some Day" or "Last Rose Of Summer" by Celtic Woman, or just about anything by Nickel Creek. Sorry, just venting and lamenting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 One of the things I really miss is singing. For a long time I held onto listening to praise/worship music and would sing it in the car, even though I haven't gone to church at all in well over a year. I miss the singing. My entire family is musical. My daughters and my wife have wonderful voices. We have turned to singing celtic music, but there's just not a lot out there. I grew up listening to country music until I was "saved" and from there listened almost exclusivly to christian music. I love music with depth and feeling, and I can no longer stomach most country music, especially after spending a few years in the south. Mostly I listen to classical, celtic, 30's/40's big band, jazz and blues, but I just don't enjoy singing like I used to. I used to enjoy being a lyricist as well, but now I don't really know what I would write about. I want that passion back, but just don't really know how. It's just kind of an empty space I don't really know how to fill. I also have a bit different taste in music than most guys. I can listen to and enjoy metal or classic rock, but my very favorite and the kind of music I could write and enjoy singing is music with a celtic flair, like "Some Day" or "Last Rose Of Summer" by Celtic Woman, or just about anything by Nickel Creek. Sorry, just venting and lamenting... I hear ya! I miss the singing something terrible. Last night was really bad. The congregation had good strong voices and there were lots of voices so the volume was right up there the way I like it. But the beat was off. People were not all singing to exactly the same beat like one majestic voice the way I like it. It was as though they started the pronunciation of syllables about three different places. Some were half a milisecond behind and some were half a milisecond ahead, and the rest were in-between. That really bugged me. I just wanted so badly to be back with my own family and former community because their singing is GOOD. It may be old-fashioned abd uneducated but the quality is top-notch. I think I read something somewhere to the effect that there is no music that rivals traditional church music. Or was it evangelical music. I forget the details. Concert halls can't do it. A religious studies prof said religion is where people's passions are. If I put those two items together, the argument could be made that church music is so excellent because people see it as communicating with God. It is the heart and soul of their deepest passions. Put passion, talent, and opportunity into the same person and you naturally get a high level of performance. I've been thinking I should make up new words for some of my favourite tunes so I have something to sing that expresses my true feelings. I love nature. Songs of praise for the beauties of the earth are among my favourite. Except now I would like to have words reflecting the beauty for its own sake. But this does not exhaust the range of possibilities. "God moves in a mysterious way" might turn into something about the wonderful opportunities presented by coincidents for those live with their nose to the wind and ear to the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue elephant Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 Hi EC The one genre you seem to have missed is folk music. There is some good stuff about in folk, which is blending more and more with blues and jazz these days. But i know what you mean. One of my duaghters has become involved in a choir that is "secular" but still sings some real gems of religious music. They just did a Christmas carol concert which included parts of Handels Messiah. How resfreshing it is when these works are sung for their musical beauty rather than to convert people. You say your whole family is musical. Here is an interesting American song I have on a CD. It is called "The Hills of Isle au Haut" by Gordon Bok. My recording is by the Fagans, an Australian band and parts of it are a cappella. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli Posted December 26, 2006 Author Share Posted December 26, 2006 Hi RubySera and Blue Elephant, Thanks for the replies. I hear you about being frustrated when things aren't "quite right." One of the symptoms I was having before I was diagnosed with my heart disease was that the pitch of sounds would go up and down. I would be listening to the radio and hear the song pitch up and down and thought there was something wrong with the radio station's equipment. I would also hear what sounded like stuttering, almost like a very fast CD skip. I drove me completely insane, as I have excellent pitch. When I went to church, it completely drove me up a wall when people were either off key (not people in the congregation, but anyone who had a mic in front of their mouth) or the sound in general was bad, which was nearly always the case. I was heavily involved in music and sound in every church I ever attended regularly, starting at age 13, save one, and that was by design (needed a break from it). My family is very musical. I have one daughter who is a floutist (and a very good one) and sings very well. I have another daughter who sings as good as anyone who has walked the stage of American Idol and I expect that's probably what she will do, especially if her grades continue the way they are. She wants to be an attorney but if she doesn't shape up she'll be lucky to get out of high school. She's the really free-form, undisciplined one of the family. She also does a lot of voiceovers in our audio production, and she plays the keyboard quite well. My two teen sons play instruments in school, trumpet and sax. They live with their mom 180 miles away. My stepson plays the trumpet. My youngest son sings very well for his age, and is also a main voice in our audio production. My seven year old daughter sings beautifully and has also been doing voiceovers for us since she was 2. My five year old daughter sings very well but is a bit shy. My wife sings beautifully and plays the violin. I sing and I dink around with the keyboard (I've played it for our audio productions) and pick the guitar up here and there. I'm mostly a lyricist. Give me a melody and I can put words to it. Blue Elephant, I'd love to hear the CD. Our family has run an unlicensed (but legal) low power radio station for the past six years, save times here and there where we've moved. It was Christian music all day and night and old time radio every evening, but now we're short in the music department because we have dumped or are dumping the Christian music. I've slowly been dropping the more "offensive" songs as I've been adding more celtic music. We ran all Christmas music the past few weeks and I am determined to drop all the Christian music (save for a few decent songs) now that Christmas is over. We do like celtic folk and Nickel Creek is a modern fom of bluegrass, so folk we might really enjoy. I must admit I never really thought about it because I've heard some really hokey folk music. I'm sure there's some great stuff out there, and I thank you for mentioning it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Is there a theater group or something where you live that you could join? I'd think that might be a good way to get music back into your life, especially if you could find a group that did lots of musicals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue elephant Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Hi EC I'll send you a copy of the CD if you can send me details via PM. Needs to be a legal copy to play on a rdi ostation doesn't it? There are lots of good a capella songs on it. In the meantime, here is the website for the album. There ia short MP3 sample of the Isle le Haut track. Fagans Turning Fine CD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli Posted December 27, 2006 Author Share Posted December 27, 2006 Is there a theater group or something where you live that you could join? I'd think that might be a good way to get music back into your life, especially if you could find a group that did lots of musicals. Good idea. We'll definitely look into it. We just moved back to Buffalo this past year after about 15 years absence. I grew up here. Unfortunately all of the intelligent, cultured people have been leaving in droves for the past 30 years. We live practically right in the University At Buffalo campus so they might have something going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli Posted December 27, 2006 Author Share Posted December 27, 2006 Hi EC I'll send you a copy of the CD if you can send me details via PM. Needs to be a legal copy to play on a rdi ostation doesn't it? There are lots of good a capella songs on it. In the meantime, here is the website for the album. There ia short MP3 sample of the Isle le Haut track. Fagans Turning Fine CD Cool. Thanks Blue El. I downloaded two samples from the site. From Australia also. Big plus! (I love Australia though I've never been there, want to some day though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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