That snippet doesn’t sound a lot worse to me than some classical Arabic music.
Not that I’d pay money to listen to either, mind you.
Was there any expectation that the answer would be “No, Chinese speakers never sing.”? :dubious:
The question has already been answered. Zompist is a good site for linguistics information, especially for the smart, educated perspn who has a flair for linguistics but lacks formal education in the discipline. This is the best site I know for that purpose. Think of it as a mini-Straight Dope specializing in linguistics.
Looks to me like Rosenfelder is saying you’re both right! Mandarin speakers ignore the tones, while Cantonese try to work them into the melody, which sounds dreadfully tricky.
How I would explain Chinese Opera:
Take all the bad singers from a given season of American Idol. Record them all singing the same song at the same speed. Play all the various tracks simultaniously until your ears bleed. Then turn the volume up to 11. :eek:
My MIL watches that stuff over via satellite. It has driven me out of my own house on more than one occasion. A lot of the pop stuff is very boy-bandish. What kills me is when they are singing an English/American song in Chinese and then they will sing the chourus or refrain in English. Just the chorus or refrain. And not really in English either. They kind of just make the same sounds.
Ex:
chinese chinese chinese chinese;
You so vain;
chinese chinese chinese chinese.
He was no Carly Simon either.
To be fair, this happens pretty often in western music, too. I’m a punk rocker and I couldn’t tell you much at all about the lyrics of some of my favorite songs.
It is an old song, though I do not have the cite handy. And I agree…every time I’ve sung in Chinese, we have just ignored the tones.
Really? Out of curiosity, may I ask how old you are (or which age group, if you prefer) and which culture you identify with? I’m not doubting that you like it, I’m just genuinely surprised 
I’ve never known ANYONE that liked it except really old Chinese people in Asia – and I’m talking OLD, like 80+.
And what do you like about it? If you wanted to teach someone to appreciate it, what would you say?
I’m 17, and I would say… it’s not a bug, it’s a feature 
If you want to hear the cast of “Throughly Modern Millie” do a Chinese rendition of “We Wish We A Merry Christmas,” here you go
I saw a group of young Chinese people doing rap music. It might have meant something to the target audience; the only word I recognized was “niggas,” which came at the end of every other line.
When I was in graduate school, my neighbors in the married student housing were a couple from China. The wife sang classical Chinese opera and the husband played classical Chinese music on several instruments. They were both getting their doctoral degrees in music. They put on concerts and I went to one. The woman performed a Chinese operatic aria, “A Walk in the Garden,” accompanied by her husband on Chinese instruments. She had precise vocal control, refined melodic ornamentation, and a charismatic style. I loved it. Maybe it helps when there’s a human connection.
My MIL is a big fan of Chinese operas, so I’ve occasionally experienced them. I wouldn’t call myself a FAN, but do find them oddly entertaining.
Perhaps it helps that i’m hearing-impaired
Apart from that, the only Chinese operatic piece I can say I’ve listened to is “Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).” Brian Eno’s English version of it, that is. It was definitely more tuneful than the old stuff everyone’s complaining about. Red Detachment of Women was an even bigger hit during Chairman Mao’s era, but I never got to hear it because no eccentric British experimental rock geniuses ever covered it. How else an American could have heard Red Chinese opera during the Cold War, I don’t know. A guy I knew in college who was an Eno fan actually had the original cast recording of Taking Tiger Mountain from Peking. I wonder how he was able to obtain it in America in the 1970s.
But yeah, now I can recall hearing somewhere what you’re talking about: vocal timbres that are not produced in Western music. Although I think some sort of East Asian vocal timbre was borrowed by Stephen Sondheim in his music for Pacific Overtures (set in Japan). I remember hearing some of it on the radio and thinking I’d never heard anyone sing like that. Why was the singer making his voice like that?