base talk Is Taylor's vocal mediocrity intentional?

[Cruel Summer]

22 minutes ago, Soda Pop Queen said:

There y'all go. Always throwing Madonna somewhere in a comparison with Taylor, even when the respective climates/traits don't even match  look at who you named as Taylor's competitors that she is so-called a better singer than and then look at Madonna's. Madonna tried harder because the bar was way higher then. 

 

But let's play comparison if we must. Madonna's voice was and still is full of character, character that I think Taylor lacks. Madonna will be the first to tell you that she isn't the greatest singer of all time but whether she was flat or sharp on a note, people believed what she sang because she always sang with conviction. 

So it seems really clear that their comparing Madonna to Whitney and Mariah was an example in response to this very thread comparing Taylor to vocal powerhouses contemporary to her, namely Beyoncé, Ariana, and Gaga. Literally the first line of the OP. It likely wasn't meant as bringing Madonna up for no reason and then inexplicably setting up an incredibly uneven comparison. Madonna actually makes a lot of sense as a comparison in having received similar vocal criticism throughout her career and pushing past it to use her voice in a way that suits her and, clearly, appeals to listeners en masse, helping her become the biggest artist of her time; whether you personally find Taylor's voice less impressive than Madonna's or not, she's done the same.

[Dante Silva]

7 hours ago, Soda Pop Queen said:

There y'all go. Always throwing Madonna somewhere in a comparison with Taylor, even when the respective climates/traits don't even match  look at who you named as Taylor's competitors that she is so-called a better singer than and then look at Madonna's. Madonna tried harder because the bar was way higher then. 

It's obvious why they get compared but go off whilst you intentionally misinterpret my post as a character assassination.

[4Real]

21 hours ago, Mariya Takeuchi said:

Taylor Swift's success isn't because she's a genius, a visionary, or the greatest singer-songwriter of our time. Nope. Taylor Swift is the musical equivalent of vanilla ice cream;

Vanilla ice cream is delicious and a classic for a reason

[icandoitwithabrokenh]

OTHs being this pressed 

[Eternium]

Taylor Swift is the queen of midtempos and lyrics. And a lot of that comes from her relatability and her vulnerability. I personally believe that her vocal, while not technically perfect, is perfect for selling these relatable, midtempo, emotion-driven songs.

 

Sometimes a perfect technical voice comes across as too cold and it doesn't convey emotion like it should.

[Yes, AND]

It has to be. Like on Christmas tree farm her engineers dont even try to attempt to tune her. And the vocal spans one octave. 

[Mezik]

As someone who has followed Taylor since the beginning of her career, her vocals have improved tremendously. 

 

Even if you look at the performances at the beginning of the ERAS tour vs. the end, it's clear even then she showed improvement. 

 

She isn't a powerhouse vocalist, but the songs she sings she sings well. Not everyone is a Kelly/Beyonce/Adele level vocalist, and that's okay.  

[ArtDeco]

I've always considered her a songwriter / lyricist with a mid vocal range type. I have not and never have noticed any high level vocal range from the woman, sadly.

 

I had heard the mic feed for one of her Paris shows from the Eras Tour and girl.. Whatever they use to edit her voice or make it sound better worked. No shade but the tour kinda seemed like an attraction rather than an actual concert. I did have the time of my life tho.

[longjohn9898]

Taylor's voice is mediocre. She doesn't have a choice to be intentionally mediocre or not because she's…mediocre. 

[Theluckyone]

One doesn't have to be a loud singer with extreme high octave ranges and belting vocals to equate to being a good singer. Taylor shines in the fact that she writes her own songs, hence being able to tailor her songs to suit her voice. And her voice shines through in her songs- with beautiful emotions conveyed. She became such a huge superstar by her own merits. 

[Letemtalk]

On 12/29/2024 at 4:48 AM, Popboi. said:

She did 3+ hour shows for 2 years straight without damaging her vocal chords cause of a bad technique, vocal coaches help you with that, they don't transform you into Aretha

I'm sure she got better over the years, but how much actual singing did she do in those Eras tours shows?

 

Edit, can't be bothered to post all the analysis, but there were a lot of pre-recorded vocals and others tracks that might have been live, appear to have been heavily auto-tuned.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wings+of+pegasus+youtube+taylor+swift+miming

[skeeyee]

On 12/28/2024 at 6:03 PM, Dante Silva said:

Receipts?

vocals Taylor could only dream of. Like saying she is on Madison level is CRAZY. 

 

 

 

 

 

I would love to see the Taylor receipts that show she could even attempt this. ❤️

extra: staying on key and having vocal power:

 

 

 

[Polgg48]

this topic doesnt need a thread to discuss...

 

 

ot: at least she isnt on cursive vocal group, im... fine

[skeeyee]

1 hour ago, Letemtalk said:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=wings+of+pegasus+youtube+taylor+swift+miming

So she lip synced those basic vanilla vocals? Tragic. Atleast J LO would get a vocalist with power (kidding both are trash) 

[dumbsparce]

It's not like the songs she makes demand huge vocals though. She knows her limits, stays within them and doesn't pretend to be someone she's not. That's literally the key point to her "relatability" 

[gr33dy4Ari]

26 minutes ago, skeeyee said:

vocals Taylor could only dream of. Like saying she is on Madison level is CRAZY. 

 

 

 

 

 

I would love to see the Taylor receipts that show she could even attempt this. ❤️

extra: staying on key and having vocal power:

 

 

 

That's why I cannot take some of these swifties seriously. Imagine saying she outsings Madison LMAO. That's a legitimate Ari daughter and will sing circles around Swift with EASE.

[skeeyee]

1 minute ago, gr33dy4Ari said:

That's why I cannot take some of these swifties seriously. Imagine saying she outsings Madison LMAO. That's a legitimate Ari daughter and will sing circles around Swift with EASE.

Thank you 😭💀 I wasn't even gonna reply in this thread but seeing one someone say Taylor is "basically on the level of someone like Madison" really sent me 😭😭

[MattieB]

On 12/28/2024 at 3:44 PM, jadeabove said:

Well painters can use different brushes for their strokes. Same goes for singers. Taylor could choose to follow a classical training in singing, but will it serve her songwriting that she honed and developed for decades? That remains to be seen. All in all, if it doesn't fit on the canvas why learn it?

 

What sets Taylor apart from her peers is that she can probably write a song from A to Z by herself… which is more to say than 90% of her pop peers. Most of the industry receives a premade demo that they rework and that is not comparable to creating a song from scratch.

She DOES NOT create songs from scratch 

[Wicked]

I'm confused why y'all think good vocals = "big", "huge" vocals. 

[MissedTheTrain]

1 hour ago, MattieB said:

She DOES NOT create songs from scratch 

She does actually!  When it comes to the top line/lyrics, she's always a part of it from the very beginning.  And sometimes she writes the entire song by herself with 0 co-writers involved.  That's why she literally wrote her entire 3rd album Speak Now from scratch with 0 co-writers to prove to her nay-sayers that she could (despite solo writing a bulk of songs from her previous two albums).  Every one of her albums has solo written songs (bar reputation, but even with most of those songs, she started them by herself).  Most recently, TTPD has a handful of solo written songs (meaning she wrote them from scratch).   One of my faves:

 

 

 

 

 

 And even when she does have co-writers, she often starts the song by herself:

 

 

 

But sometimes if she's working with a producer/writer like Aaron Dessner, they'll send her instrumental tracks without any top line melody or lyrics and she'll write the song on top:

 

 

 

[Buffy]

1 hour ago, Wicked said:

I'm confused why y'all think good vocals = "big", "huge" vocals. 

That's what I'm wondering too. Why is there any expectation at all for Taylor to have big vocals like Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey? Her songs are not made that way. She has her own vocal delivery and her fans love her vocals for the way they are.

[Eternium]

3 hours ago, longjohn9898 said:

Taylor's voice is mediocre. She doesn't have a choice to be intentionally mediocre or not because she's…mediocre. 

I know you didn't downvote my post only to post something as stupid as this. Everyone can improve through training. Like literally every single person. It's common knowledge.

24 minutes ago, MissedTheTrain said:

She does actually!  When it comes to the top line/lyrics, she's always a part of it from the very beginning.  And sometimes she writes the entire song by herself with 0 co-writers involved.  That's why she literally wrote her entire 3rd album Speak Now from scratch with 0 co-writers to prove to her nay-sayers that she could (despite solo writing a bulk of songs from her previous two albums).  TTPD has a handful of solo written songs (meaning she wrote them from scratch).   One of my faves:

 

 

 

 

 

 And even when she does have co-writers, she often starts the song by herself:

 

 

 

But sometimes if she's working with a producer/writer like Aaron Dessner, they'll send her instrumental tracks without any top line melody or lyrics and she'll write the song on top:

 

 

 

The fact that you had to explain this like this isn't common knowledge to anyone with minor knowledge of the music industry or how songwriting works. What happened to the smart girls of ATRL and where did they go?

[MatiRod]

On 12/29/2024 at 7:53 PM, MattieB said:

She DOES NOT create songs from scratch 

She absolutely does? Like, it's not that hard to write a song, no shade. She has tons of songs with no other co-writers.

[MerveAksak]

First of all Tay's vocals got so much better in years. Second of all, I dont understand the obsession over vocals. Someone can have amazing vocals but if their songwriting sucks I wouldn't listen to them for example. There are different areas each artist differ and thats what makes them unique.