covers, covers
Jul. 23rd, 2025 04:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistleingreyOne may conclude that the KPop Demon Hunters OST has splashed in South Korea, specifically, by the range of individuals who've uploaded covers of "Golden" to YouTube, the better to ride a potentially global wave of publicity.
The cover by An Yujin of Ive has been produced, despite the short turnaround time. Clean phrasing, and almost boring in how effortless An makes it seem (she's worked very hard already).
The cover by Kwon Soon Il of Urban Zakapa isn't effortless, but he's done really well, including in the falsetto notes between his comfortable range and the belted G and A.
More than a dozen other professional performers have also uploaded covers to YouTube, she said blandly, not naming them. Most of those reveal that it's not all that hard to get to high G, even the topmost high A, if you're already sop-range or if you just throw some air at the phrases. I mean, if I wanted to wake up the smallest neighbor napping next door, I could still get that G on a good day. (Not the A, though! Not since I was ten or so. I think "Defying Gravity" in Wicked goes only to an F?---been a while since I checked.)
What seems hardest is to have enough reach for the high notes without sounding strangled, while also carrying all of the song's lower notes (which are comfortably middling for my current range; Kwon's falsetto overlaps mine). Props to Ejae, the lead song-writer and performer, for making an excellent pop vehicle several ways, including as an implicit showcase for her voice.
Here's the official Sony video for "Golden," with lyrics. Formally it's sung by a trio, but the other two voices have a pair of lines apiece---mostly they're backing vocals.
(Will reply to comments later, sorry!)
ETA Short interview with Ejae in Korean, uncorrected eng sub (subtitles---as people used to say for kdramas).
The cover by An Yujin of Ive has been produced, despite the short turnaround time. Clean phrasing, and almost boring in how effortless An makes it seem (she's worked very hard already).
The cover by Kwon Soon Il of Urban Zakapa isn't effortless, but he's done really well, including in the falsetto notes between his comfortable range and the belted G and A.
More than a dozen other professional performers have also uploaded covers to YouTube, she said blandly, not naming them. Most of those reveal that it's not all that hard to get to high G, even the topmost high A, if you're already sop-range or if you just throw some air at the phrases. I mean, if I wanted to wake up the smallest neighbor napping next door, I could still get that G on a good day. (Not the A, though! Not since I was ten or so. I think "Defying Gravity" in Wicked goes only to an F?---been a while since I checked.)
What seems hardest is to have enough reach for the high notes without sounding strangled, while also carrying all of the song's lower notes (which are comfortably middling for my current range; Kwon's falsetto overlaps mine). Props to Ejae, the lead song-writer and performer, for making an excellent pop vehicle several ways, including as an implicit showcase for her voice.
Here's the official Sony video for "Golden," with lyrics. Formally it's sung by a trio, but the other two voices have a pair of lines apiece---mostly they're backing vocals.
(Will reply to comments later, sorry!)
ETA Short interview with Ejae in Korean, uncorrected eng sub (subtitles---as people used to say for kdramas).
