The Tiebreaker: How many times will the judges use the word “pitchy”?

[Grisgra]

You poor pathetic bastards, watching that show week after week, just to try to make some cash . . . and yet, here I am, coming to you for advice.

I've already lifted a top-12 list from here for the office Idol pool, but I need an answer for the tiebreaker -- 'How many times will the judges use the word “pitchy” throughout the season?'

Anyone want to take a shot?

PS My list has already been praised by the local Idol fangirls as very sharp, so thanks, guys!

(FYI


12. Haley Scarnato
11. Sanjaya Malakar
10. Gina Glocksen
9. Brandon Rogers
8. Stephanie Edwards
7. Phil Stacey
6. Blake Lewis
5. Jordin Sparks
4. Chris Richardson
3. Lakisha Jones
2. Chris Sligh
1. Melinda Doolittle
)

[GrannyMae]

starting from the beginning, or starting now?

you have to expect at leat 4 'pitchies'/show, so do the math from when you want it to start.

[Grisgra]

[ QUOTE ]
starting from the beginning, or starting now?

you have to expect at leat 4 'pitchies'/show, so do the math from when you want it to start.

[/ QUOTE ]

Starting now -- there's one elim per show, right? So figure 44? Or 60-70, if it's 'at least' 4 pitchies?

[GoRedBirds]

Honestly, I think it goes down and is used less toward the end of the season. Maybe busted out only a couple times in the last 4 or 5 eps. And Randy is the only one who consistantly says it. I'd bet that's a high estimate. I'd say ~30. Great question though. Someone on here needs to keep track.

[smbruin22]

agreed that it will go down as time goes by....

slight adjustment, but i'd just limit it to randy. more fun that way... simon never says it, although sometimes paula, but not as fun as when randy says it.

feel stupid, but what does pitchy mean?? i actually don't know what pitch means. does it mean it went on/off key??

[GrannyMae]

[ QUOTE ]
agreed that it will go down as time goes by....

slight adjustment, but i'd just limit it to randy. more fun that way... simon never says it, although sometimes paula, but not as fun as when randy says it.

feel stupid, but what does pitchy mean?? i actually don't know what pitch means. does it mean it went on/off key??

[/ QUOTE ]


the funny thing is that being pitchy is not something easily defined, and can also be subjective. i know professional musicians that say 'huh??' when they hear the term. they say it was rarely used until idol.

[GoRedBirds]

They use it to mean not singing the correct pitch (pitch = specific frequency of a sound wave... for a particular note (i.e. F above middle C), there is a corresponding f). The difference between two adjacent notes (i.e. F and F#) is measurable, and if you miss a note, you can fall in between those notes ("in the cracks" (of the piano)), either higher than the intended note (greater frequency -> "sharp") or lower (lower frequency -> "flat"). A poor singer will miss these slight differences in frequency. Someone had a really cool thread with a link to a test for tone-deafness a few weeks back that will let you see firsthand how close these pitches can be, yet still be noticeable to those with good ears.

That was my dump post tying 7th grade choir and 11th grade physics together (with an absurd overabundance of improperly-used parentheses).

[GoRedBirds]

Forgot to throw in there... vibrato (that shaky up and down that singers use during sustained notes) provides a small range of frequencies, and is used by musicians in general - violinists, for example - to ensure that their pitch is in tune with the rest of the music. A slightly off-key note is vastly more noticeable when it is a pure tone, rather than a rapidly shifting range of frequencies.

[Analyst]

[ QUOTE ]
Forgot to throw in there... vibrato (that shaky up and down that singers use during sustained notes) provides a small range of frequencies, and is used by musicians in general - violinists, for example - to ensure that their pitch is in tune with the rest of the music. A slightly off-key note is vastly more noticeable when it is a pure tone, rather than a rapidly shifting range of frequencies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your last sentence is correct, however your first is not quite as correct (at least not among good musicians, though many may use it for such). Generally vibrato is used to add tone color and to keep sustained notes from becoming "boring" as they are held. It is very common among singers and instrumentalists to start a long note without vibrato, then add more and more as the note is held.

[GoRedBirds]

Trudat. I was just addressing the "It was pitchy at parts, Dawg" thing. There's certainly a lot more to singing than pitch.