VOCAL MELISMATICS IN DISCOURSE OF CONTEMPORARY POPULAR MUSIC

Abstract

Melismas, which have been used by vocalists for quite a long time, have a special place among the vocal techniques of artistic expressiveness, related to expression and emotional relationship, and this trend is also preserved in contemporary popular music in today's conditions. The article contains a conditional definition of the terms "melisma", which denotes melisma as one or two notes used both in the composition of a word and in a non-verbal sound; "melismatic riff", which means that the notes of the melisma are repeated with each performance; "melismatic runs"), which means the absence of repetitions and the possibility of using two or more notes. The article gives a few examples of songs by famous artists in which they use different melismas, but only the pop-rhythm-andblues ballad ("Never be the same") from the album "Beautiful", performed by the Australian singer Jessica Mauboy in three versions, is subjected to a thorough analysis: original sound recording of the single; a session album posted on the iTunes service, which J. Mauboy recorded in 2014; "live" performance in "Nova's Red Room", posted on the "YouTube" streaming service. It is argued that the differences between the three versions of the song "Never be the same" are minimal, since most of the "runs" are identical to each other, which is obviously explained by J. Mauboy's desire, first of all, to convey the main meaning of the song to the listeners, but the singer's ability to add subtle melisma to the listeners is emphasized in the form of melismatic riffs that use only two or three notes. It is concluded that in contemporary popular music, vocal melismas can be used both to deepen the emotional content of the song and emphasize its meaning, and to demonstrate the vocal mobility and technical vocal and performing abilities of the singer.