Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 February 25

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

February 25

pause in songs

why doesn't a singer sings without pause in the song? A singer lets only a music to go on and resumes singing. why is it so? Learnerktm 10:04, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

A singer sometimes pauses while singing so he/she can take a breath. Not breathing while singing is not recommended because a lack of oxygen may cause dizziness, discoloration of the face and asphyxiation. Singing without breathing can be extremely dangerous when the song being sung is longer than usual, like "Hey Jude" (The Beatles), "Stairway To Heaven" (Led Zeppelin) or "Purple Rain" (Prince). — 37 ^(talk) 11:57, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Also see Phrase (music) which discusses aspects of musical phrasing, which may include how a singer organizes the pauses in their singing. These sorts of things are done for a variety of artistic reasons. --Jayron32 12:41, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Bridge (music) might also be of interest. Rojomoke (talk) 14:53, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

It depends entirely on the song and style, really. A cappella music is entirely singing, with occasional Beatboxing to add Percussion sounds. Mingmingla (talk) 02:43, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Is there a way to sing while inhaling? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:06, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Why dont you try it BB. We'll maybe call an ambulance when you turn blue.--86.187.166.218 (talk) 03:18, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

If I turn blue from inhaling, it's probably too late for an ambulance. Anyway, I was asking the OP that question, not you. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:43, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

It is possible to blow air from the mouth while inhaling, thus producing a continuous tone from a wind instrument. See circular breathing. But at the larynx, as at the lungs, the direction of airflow would be reversing as in normal breathing. --69.159.61.172 (talk) 07:13, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth? Could be. Harder to do with a voice than a woodwind, though. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:07, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

@Baseball Bugs: Yes; see my informative link below. You may not like Jack Black's humor but he's definitely singing in. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:31, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Note that a recorded song can have all the stops for breathing edited out. And a live song with more than one singer can have each breath while the other(s) sing. In a male-female duet, for example, it would be common to have the man sing, then the woman, then both. (See Don't You Want Me for an example.)

But also note that most people like change in their songs. Just as they may change the instruments, volume, and tempo, so do they often change the voice (or lack of voice). StuRat (talk) 05:29, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

How very Western this thread is. I'll point out that circular breathing in singing is common in genres such as Tuvan throat singing. --TammyMoet (talk) 11:24, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Johnny Mathis did a marvelous version of Johnny One Note in which he sings that one note for the entire song without a break. Circular breathing. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 14:59, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Here's Tenacious D illustrating the powers of inward singing [1]. "It makes non-stop rocking possible. Rock singers are only rocking you half the time. The other half they're breathing". (Warning, lots of swearing and screaming at the end) SemanticMantis (talk) 16:29, 26 February 2016 (UTC)