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Friday, June 25, 2010

99. "Venu la Klaun (Send in the Clowns)" by Alberta Casey




Yes, it's a karaoke backing track... I had to spend most of my time on this track learning to sing it in Esperanto! Which led down a number of blind alleys. I had Casey's original as a roadmap, but in order not to screw it up-- which seems only fair, since I pronounced yesterday's dada poetry correctly-- I took to the series of tubeses in search of an Esperanto translation engine. It was easily found, but offered translations from English into three different variants of Esperanto, which, for a supposedly universal language, isn't really a good sign. Good job, opposing Esperanto-speaking factions!

But anyhow, none of the translations of the lyrics to "Send in the Clowns" looked anything like what Casey was singing, so it was back to transliteration in the end. And I also learned that singing along with an orchestral backing track is way harder than it might seem, timing-wise. The tempo slides around a lot. It's not just the lack of drums... it's something else, and it gives me a bit more appreciation for singers who have a sharp enough feel for phrasing to do this kind of thing on regular basis.

Personnel:
Backing Track ~ Avid Entertainment
Vocals ~ Rex Broome

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