Singing Backwards and Mirror Messaging 2.0
“Sing the song as usual – but the lyric sheets are printed in mirror format.”
A colleague was explaining that she wanted to use the Mirror Messaging window on the MR Website to create singing lessons in reverse. Could she?
Why would she?
She’s a vocal student, talented, curious. She wants to learn about her own melodic choices under mild stress. Because?
Doing so can reveal areas for closer attention and specific trainings. And make room for creativity.
She records herself singing, later listening for minute hesitations and pitch adjustments. She notices nuances and explores blindspots in tone and projection.
Her first choice: Louis Armstrong’s classic, “Wonderful World.” She was already familiar with the melody, but not all the lyrics.
Problem – MR Messaging 1.0 was limited to 140 characters – perfect for quick emails, FB comments and nametags, not long blocks of song.
So we got to work – and with a few fluid keystrokes of a genius (not me), and a couple of other tweaks, we are pleased to present Mirror Read Messaging 2.0! Not just for musicians.
Many websites falsely claim to reverse text (elpmaxe rof), but merely change the order of the letters, ignoring their orientation. It’s not the same.
MR Messaging provides a precise horizontal mirror-reversal of text blocks, with font and colour options. For free.
My musical friend, and anyone, can now find choice lyrics online, copy and paste them directly into the MR Messaging window and choose Download. This function transforms a body of text up to 250 words into a photo (.jpg) that is easy to view on a portable devise, and print.*
I’m no musician, but I was willing to try it if I didn’t have to sing loudly. I soon realized that while I can hum the tune to “Wonderful World,” I didn’t know many of the words. My first attempt to sing the mirrored lyrics while maintaining the melody was laughable. There were definite pauses in the latter stanzas as I struggled to enunciate the rhymes.
The second time was much better – I remembered where I had self-corrected, and was even on pitch for a couple of bars… Third time? (consolidates learning) I was able to focus on the images and enjoy the lift of the song. But I’m under no illusions about my own progress – such activities can enhance, not create, talent.
Backwards Karaoke would be very funny.
I too believe that understanding how humans acquire knowledge is still rudimentary – we can become more insightful about our personal processes of learning through open-minded, good-humoured self-study.
Care to try? Go HERE.
All you budding voices: When you sing backwards for yourself, please let us know about your experimental observations! Shelagh@mirrorread.com
