Fred
How did you discover this sheet music project?
Vancha
I discovered Sheet Music Singer in quite an interesting way. I had just re-watched the “Singing Frog” cartoon sketch from Warner Brothers, and was looking up some of the songs featured, including “The Great McCloskey Fight.” I couldn’t find a performance of this piece anywhere on YouTube, except on this channel. I was immediately struck by the decent and straight-forward vocal performance (I dislike it when singers play fast and loose in musical interpretation of older songs). The sheet music on screen was a nice bonus. So I subscribed!
Fred
How do you think of sheet music?
Vancha
Sheet music is in a sense the preservation of a cultural and musical heritage that is irreplaceable and truly unique in form. As someone who double majored in History and Classics (and has been involved with many musical groups throughout life, mainly orchestral and choral), these aspects of your channel are a goldmine for America’s rich legacy of music.
Fred
What does sheet music mean to you?
Vancha
To add a funny tidbit, I discovered a couple of months back that my uncle is also subscribed to your channel. This makes sense considering his major interests: literature (he has a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature) and music (he’s a life-long and skilled musician). Of the 500 or so subscribers this channel had back then out of billions of people, my uncle and I happened to coincide here due to our interests! The music that I’ve played for most of my life is classical. However, my fascination with choral music has expanded greatly in the past few years due to my participation in several different choirs. Solo and accompanied music have always been a personal favorite type of mine, whether violin concerti or solo piano or vocal; and Sheet Music Singer is a valuable resource for accessing this wonderful music. Thanks for all your hard work, Fred! Every day I look forward to your uploads.
Vancha
What’s your background in music?
Fred
I was born a preacher’s kid in the Southern Baptist church in Kentucky. So I was exposed to congregational hymn singing, piano, and organ music from the start. My dad had a classical record collection and my mother was a closet country music fan. We moved to Michigan. In elementary school I played tonette. In junior high I played cornet in band. In high school I played french horn. At this time I sang in church choir. I also got an acoustic guitar and played folk music. Later I got a fiddle and got into square dance tunes which led me to sheet music in the 1990s.
Vancha
Who’s your favorite singer?
Fred
Tony Bennett
Vancha
Is there a particular ethnic music style that’s your favorite?
Fred
I’m amazed that the African-American has more music written by and about them than any other ethnic group.
Vancha
How would you describe your vocal range, technically?
Fred
I have a medium to low male voice. I sang bass in choir. I would pitch folk songs low. Now I need to sing much higher to cover operatic edition sheet music. I learned from Arthur Samuel Joseph’s materials to sing out and sing higher. I have to think to remember to support the sound from the diaphragm instead of the throat when I get up around D, E, and F. I also experiment with high falsetto voice above F. Honestly, each song takes so much time to produce that I can’t afford to obsess over the vocals any more than any other of the steps.
Vancha
What song(s) has been the most challenging to sing/record?
Fred
Many of the art songs have the most details and wider range. Going deep into 1922 has required producing some very long songs. This is a lot of note input and note refining time.
Fred
Do you sing?
Vancha
I do sing. I am currently in three choral groups.
Fred
Do you play instruments?
Vancha
My main instrument is the violin, but I play piano some too.
Fred
How would you improve the sheet music singer?
Vancha
My only complaint is that sometimes you could be more full-chested in your voice, though generally you sound great. I also like that you’re now directly linking to the sheet music sources themselves, which is a tremendous help, since your uploads often inspire me to download and print the music. (One of my favorites is The Siren’s Song, whose lyrics were written by the illustrious P. G. Wodehouse!)
Fred
I have to tell you that my favorites are the well-known sing-alongs like Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Take Me Out To the Ballgame, Fountain in the Park. But I am open to other possibilities. Through the project I have loved Aggravating Papa, Decatur Street Blues, Roll Out Heave dat Cotton, and many others I never even knew existed. “New to me” as they say.
Fred
Do you think we can get sponsors and expand it? What is the future of historic sheet music?
Vancha
The internet is truly a revolution for the preservation, appreciation, and spread of historical music, as this channel demonstrates very well!
Fred
My channel got a strike for hate speech. So, I’m putting all songs with racial references over on a blog. It’s a lot of extra work for me, but it will give a strong result.
Vancha
I just found out about the strike. Typical YouTube authoritarianism. You’re doing the world a service, sir!
Fred
Thank you so much for your input, Vancha. Many listeners will be interested in what you have said here.