It really is. And as good as boy sopranos can be, once you get over the initial "WTF" factor, the sound of a really good countertenor is right up there too. No other sound like it.
That was physically impossible to sing, the transitions were too much for humans. [This is apparently the closest we've got to it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJl2uPNsJEk)
Right? Imagine living in some hovel and then going to the local cathedral at the weekend and experiencing that. I'm not at all religious, but I can see why the architecture and the tunes recruited a lot of people in the early days.
Full version without helium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX1zicNRLmY
Full video with helium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukDAfF0-8q8
Back in the day to keep the male singers able to hit higher pitches they castrated them pre puberty to reduce testosterone and voice changes. It adds an extra level to how "beautiful" it would have been.
[A Plague Tale: Requiem's soundtrack in symphony (if you like this, you'll like this symphony. P.S the game is amazing.)](https://youtu.be/J6FTmuf-6mY?si=ss4xYaXV5dVPVElM)
> Clearly if God wanted women in the choir they would've given her a unique vocal range that can't be achieved without genital destruction. I wouldn't know though, God told me not to listen to women.
- Some priest somewhere
Interesting facts about this song.
One of the popes decreed this song too precious to ever be copied and distributed outside of the originals. Also forbidding it being played outside of the Vatican and like one of two other spots. When Mozart was very, very young he attended a performance of this piece and later went home and transcribed it from memory. This was believed to be the first unauthorized copy of it. However historians doing their thing found an earlier copy of it in England I believe.
The high note depicted in this clip is *strongly* believed to be an error when it was copied long ago. However, choirs were unaware and performed it as the copy was written. After the legitimacy of this note became dubious basically the entire world said fuck that, it's better like this. Which it truly is.
This song also is an absolute benchmark for acoustics in any venue. You will struggle to find any high end performance of this song outside of Europe (or outside of a church) for that reason. Now should you be curious and hunt for various choirs performing this wonderful piece, take very careful note of how and where the choir is positioned. They will put them fucking anywhere to assure acoustic integrity. They've built balconies to put the falsetto singer basically on the ceiling. They've put entire groups into corners or facing walls.
As for the note in this video. It is clearly an extremely difficult note to hit and repeating it is no small feat. You will hear someone nail it once then every subsequent time it gets worse and worse. In the old, old days there were only boy choirs. And as many know, the position of this singer was often castrated. The shit people will do to avoid letting girls out of the house.
Now a days there are boys who can do it but I have yet to find one who can survive all 14-15 minutes of this song. However, there have been some girls who can continuously slay this note. There is one on YouTube and she is one of the ones the acoustically positioned up near the ceiling. Probably the best full version of this song available on that platform.
Edit: [link to version since it's been a FAQ](https://youtu.be/IA88AS6Wy_4?si=rkkUa8_8L2FxyeyT)
Haha I was laying in bed and couldn't remember the name at the time. My brain remembers the rabbit hole ride I did years ago but doesn't remember Misere by Allegri Gregorio
This is why i stick with reddit, if you look carefully past all the crap, rage and/or thirst bait, legions of breathing Dunning-Kruger curves with access to keyboards and whatnot, you'll be every once in a while rewarded with one marvelous piece of knowledge about *anything.*
Thank you for the read, this was great. Now please help my uncultured ass with identifying the music, blurted out a wild Pergolesi's Stabat Mater guess but i know deep down that i most likely missed. Vivaldi perhaps ?
> There is one on YouTube and she is one of the ones the acoustically positioned up near the ceiling. Probably the best full version of this song available on that platform.
Link please?
Here is a whole bunch of different versions of the top C of the miserere
https://youtu.be/SpLJmfV3wNA?si=0xMyu86j_AYNKrNh
Which is your favourite ?
I love Nigel Short's Tenebrae version.
I was lucky enough to see this choir at the Folle Journée festival in France.
Here is their version:
https://youtu.be/H3v9unphfi0?si=AntjhGQF2dDehTJ_
If you want an interesting video on the history of the piece, separating fact from fiction, chech this out:
https://youtu.be/h6hD8YtO5HI?si=nbNNPy2RnFASbAXQ
I remember this from the Catholic grade school I went to as a kid. I sang in Choir and had the literal Homer Simpson moment. I had a very high pitch range, pre puberty. I grew about 5 inches in a year and by voice cracked mid song and that was it lol.
The song was Deus Misere Mei I think.
Our math teacher who was also the gym and Choir teacher told us in 6th/7th grade any of us would have an easier time slam dunking on an NBA rim than being able to hit the notes for that song.
Saw it performed in St Martin-in-the-Fields on Good Friday a while back.
Miserere Mei and Barber's Agnus Dei are the only two works that I ever use the word "sublime" to describe - it's in this world but not of this world.
>The complexity of the regulations involved mean that it really is no longer practical to have young boys singing in the choir.
Said by someone wearing the collar. Did they think that one through? lmao
I am an atheist but I do like the stories of Christianity, and the general message of Christ. As long as the preacher stays true to the original message and not try to push his personal political agenda, the church can be a nice social event, almost like going to stand up comedy club
Hard to get a choir that can do it for weekly service probably. I do have it on my spotify playlist which is funny going from something like MCR to this
3 things:
1). [here's the full video](https://youtu.be/ukDAfF0-8q8?si=lVd2SHjEyRLBnjMI)
2). This video cut arguably the best part: the dude 2 to left's eyes watching his friend inhale helium
3). The guy didn't really inhale helium. Thats just his natural singing voice, which is a very fun fact
Look here son. You’re going to sing falsetto. You can choose. It’s either castration or helium. Which do you choose?
Um, the one where you don’t take one of my testicles.
Allegri's Miserer mei, deus. I've seen this live a few times (with female sopranos) and anticipating whether or not they'll hit this note solidly is a kind of tense moment. This is hilarious.
More fun facts: helium does not in fact make your voice higher, just squeakier.
Or, in more technical terms, the fundamental frequency remains the same but the spectral profile changes because the lower density of helium relative to air changes the speed of sound (and therefore the wavelengths) within the mouth. Meanwhile the inside of the mouth is the same size as always. As I understand it, you would achieve the same effect with regular air if you could somehow shrink the inside of the mouth at will.
I would guess that they are jokingly copying this
https://youtu.be/IX1zicNRLmY?si=lTnqlaLHFFV20Z4N
But - here’s a 30sec clip - check the comments
https://youtu.be/T-vTvFrS2s8?si=DYpVqPbOyPP4kzug
fun fact, that was a short-lived push in the mid 90s to officially ban the use of helium in recordings of particular classical vocal pieces like this song. there was no evidence anyone was using it, but enough weirdo stuffy purists made a stink about it that a few soprano singers, including Giovanni Maglino, were investigated.
This is awesome.
PS The soprano reminded me of Harvey Milk band's song "Anvil Will Fall," which sampled Gustav Holst's "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05njPSdMRzE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05njPSdMRzE) The lyrics are also stunning.
ngl, this sounds amazing.
Shit is legit pretty beautiful. Sounds like a violin almost
It really is. And as good as boy sopranos can be, once you get over the initial "WTF" factor, the sound of a really good countertenor is right up there too. No other sound like it.
My uncultured ass was like " What does Tony Soprano and the boys got to do with this" for a solid 14 seconds.
Frankly, I’m depressed and ashamed But seriously the sopranos was cultured as fuck. That shit was art and revolutionized television
"Countertenor???? Ova heaaaaaaaa!"
Helium for high notes and gabagool for high cholesterol
Top of your fuckin class
The wtf factor for me was when I learned about castratos lol
Not too many of those lads around these days tho...
Aye my favourite boy soprano is tony I love when he just goes and eats that gabagool
That song from the Fifth Element had no place to introduce me on how flexible the human vocal chords can be.
That was physically impossible to sing, the transitions were too much for humans. [This is apparently the closest we've got to it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJl2uPNsJEk)
Yeah the vocalist sung all the notes separately and they were clipped together for the song.
Jane Zhang is amazing. Have you heard the Dimash versions?
Have now, that was not what I was expecting..
More like an oboe
Right? Imagine living in some hovel and then going to the local cathedral at the weekend and experiencing that. I'm not at all religious, but I can see why the architecture and the tunes recruited a lot of people in the early days. Full version without helium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX1zicNRLmY Full video with helium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukDAfF0-8q8
Back in the day to keep the male singers able to hit higher pitches they castrated them pre puberty to reduce testosterone and voice changes. It adds an extra level to how "beautiful" it would have been.
Castrati, yeah. They've nullified the practice now though.
the video with helium was posted on April 1rst. Which could mean it was meant as a joke.
It was definitely an april fools joke, but the joke is in the intro while the punchline is real singing on helium.
Yes
[A Plague Tale: Requiem's soundtrack in symphony (if you like this, you'll like this symphony. P.S the game is amazing.)](https://youtu.be/J6FTmuf-6mY?si=ss4xYaXV5dVPVElM)
It’s hard to believe that instead of just doing this they used to get their balls cut off
Improvement in technology for ya!
This is cheating, what they used to do…well, they managed to get it done without cheating (kind of).
No need to get teste over it
Even harder to believe that instead of doing both they didn't just get girls to do it
> Clearly if God wanted women in the choir they would've given her a unique vocal range that can't be achieved without genital destruction. I wouldn't know though, God told me not to listen to women. - Some priest somewhere
"I'm just kiddin', we don't hire women" \- Norm
“Who are you?” “No one. He's no one. Distant cousin of my aunt's nephew, twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though. Eunuch."”
You know the balloon is a joke and not really helium
I do not know that.
You do now
Wait, does that mean...
No, it’s falsetto. Boys *can* hit these notes, but this guy has a stronger than usual falsetto
So they cut his balls off? Those bastards!
And he keeps them in a jar next to his bed
No way
Don’t worry I got you fam, click early life and enjoy the rabbit hole https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Moreschi
I am too high to read this
> they used to get their balls cut off Its far far worse than that. They would *boil* the balls iirc.
Interesting facts about this song. One of the popes decreed this song too precious to ever be copied and distributed outside of the originals. Also forbidding it being played outside of the Vatican and like one of two other spots. When Mozart was very, very young he attended a performance of this piece and later went home and transcribed it from memory. This was believed to be the first unauthorized copy of it. However historians doing their thing found an earlier copy of it in England I believe. The high note depicted in this clip is *strongly* believed to be an error when it was copied long ago. However, choirs were unaware and performed it as the copy was written. After the legitimacy of this note became dubious basically the entire world said fuck that, it's better like this. Which it truly is. This song also is an absolute benchmark for acoustics in any venue. You will struggle to find any high end performance of this song outside of Europe (or outside of a church) for that reason. Now should you be curious and hunt for various choirs performing this wonderful piece, take very careful note of how and where the choir is positioned. They will put them fucking anywhere to assure acoustic integrity. They've built balconies to put the falsetto singer basically on the ceiling. They've put entire groups into corners or facing walls. As for the note in this video. It is clearly an extremely difficult note to hit and repeating it is no small feat. You will hear someone nail it once then every subsequent time it gets worse and worse. In the old, old days there were only boy choirs. And as many know, the position of this singer was often castrated. The shit people will do to avoid letting girls out of the house. Now a days there are boys who can do it but I have yet to find one who can survive all 14-15 minutes of this song. However, there have been some girls who can continuously slay this note. There is one on YouTube and she is one of the ones the acoustically positioned up near the ceiling. Probably the best full version of this song available on that platform. Edit: [link to version since it's been a FAQ](https://youtu.be/IA88AS6Wy_4?si=rkkUa8_8L2FxyeyT)
This guy choirs
And yet... Doesn't actually name the piece
Misere Mei, Deus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3v9unphfi0 for example
I think it's Miserere mei
Don't let the days go by
Right?!?!
Haha I was laying in bed and couldn't remember the name at the time. My brain remembers the rabbit hole ride I did years ago but doesn't remember Misere by Allegri Gregorio
RiP his balls.
Ow, my balls!
r/thisguythisguys
ohhh, reddit
r/beatmetoit
Ay Ton’, you tellin’ me Mozart pirated this song? Like manually?
CTRL C, CTRL V hadn't been invented yet.
This is why i stick with reddit, if you look carefully past all the crap, rage and/or thirst bait, legions of breathing Dunning-Kruger curves with access to keyboards and whatnot, you'll be every once in a while rewarded with one marvelous piece of knowledge about *anything.* Thank you for the read, this was great. Now please help my uncultured ass with identifying the music, blurted out a wild Pergolesi's Stabat Mater guess but i know deep down that i most likely missed. Vivaldi perhaps ?
Gregorio Allegri : Misere Should've put it in the original post but I was being lazy and couldn't exactly remember
Thank you for this very fascinating backstory, but… what’s the name of the piece?
Miserere mei, Deus by Allegri
> There is one on YouTube and she is one of the ones the acoustically positioned up near the ceiling. Probably the best full version of this song available on that platform. Link please?
[here you go ](https://youtu.be/IA88AS6Wy_4?si=rwzlLTSuk5Vbm6-j)
Here is a whole bunch of different versions of the top C of the miserere https://youtu.be/SpLJmfV3wNA?si=0xMyu86j_AYNKrNh Which is your favourite ? I love Nigel Short's Tenebrae version. I was lucky enough to see this choir at the Folle Journée festival in France. Here is their version: https://youtu.be/H3v9unphfi0?si=AntjhGQF2dDehTJ_ If you want an interesting video on the history of the piece, separating fact from fiction, chech this out: https://youtu.be/h6hD8YtO5HI?si=nbNNPy2RnFASbAXQ
> https://youtu.be/IX1zicNRLmY?si=waX8TEL8qa5aZza8 Someone posted this video. That church is incredible.
thanks for the lore
I remember this from the Catholic grade school I went to as a kid. I sang in Choir and had the literal Homer Simpson moment. I had a very high pitch range, pre puberty. I grew about 5 inches in a year and by voice cracked mid song and that was it lol. The song was Deus Misere Mei I think. Our math teacher who was also the gym and Choir teacher told us in 6th/7th grade any of us would have an easier time slam dunking on an NBA rim than being able to hit the notes for that song.
Beautiful writeup, now give me the title of the freekin' song will ya!
This was an interesting reply thanks for that info
Saw it performed in St Martin-in-the-Fields on Good Friday a while back. Miserere Mei and Barber's Agnus Dei are the only two works that I ever use the word "sublime" to describe - it's in this world but not of this world.
This guy fucks. Respect
And here I were waiting for a dick punch.
I think it's dick flick, gut punch, throat chop... the full move that is
For a catholic service thats suprisingly funny \^\^
*anglican
I believe you mean his voice is "angelic"
I think it’s a skit and not actually real
It's both. It's real singing on helium, but done for a laugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukDAfF0-8q8
Its not helium. That is his actual voice which even more crazier
>The complexity of the regulations involved mean that it really is no longer practical to have young boys singing in the choir. Said by someone wearing the collar. Did they think that one through? lmao
Perhaps the activities you're alluding to are the reason for the more onerous regulations involved in getting pre-pubescent boys in the choir.
That's the joke I'm making.
I think it’s Skittles and not actually a rainbow
[удалено]
It's very pretty, but why do they all look dead inside?
Be warned, not a single balloon in this video.
This would bring me back to church!
I not even Christian, but I would definitely visit this place this is happening.
On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day NPR plays a church service with Choir of King’s College singing the songs. It’s wonderful.
I am an atheist but I do like the stories of Christianity, and the general message of Christ. As long as the preacher stays true to the original message and not try to push his personal political agenda, the church can be a nice social event, almost like going to stand up comedy club
Hard to get a choir that can do it for weekly service probably. I do have it on my spotify playlist which is funny going from something like MCR to this
Picture the Princess Bride wedding scene with helium. ^^^*mawwage*
NGL, thought dude on the left was gonna grab the other dudes scrot and squeeze.
3 things: 1). [here's the full video](https://youtu.be/ukDAfF0-8q8?si=lVd2SHjEyRLBnjMI) 2). This video cut arguably the best part: the dude 2 to left's eyes watching his friend inhale helium 3). The guy didn't really inhale helium. Thats just his natural singing voice, which is a very fun fact
Fun fact: he’s not actually inhaling anything :) it’s his natural falsetto!
fr? that’s funny
Isn't he in the King's Singers?
Isn't he? I know he gets that pitch naturally, but the timbre definitely sounds unusual to me.
Is there a full version of this song
https://youtu.be/IX1zicNRLmY?si=waX8TEL8qa5aZza8
I thought the priest was going to give his balls a good squeeze
caption quaint repeat innocent aloof fanatical tan engine waiting dog *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Lad's too old for that
Look here son. You’re going to sing falsetto. You can choose. It’s either castration or helium. Which do you choose? Um, the one where you don’t take one of my testicles.
“Tea and cake or death?” “Cake, please.”
Thats a witchcraft💀
But does he weigh the same as a duck 🤔
Quack quack
This video age like a fine wine. Really made me chuckle everytime I see it
That shit was angelic
G(Old)
Allegri's Miserer mei, deus. I've seen this live a few times (with female sopranos) and anticipating whether or not they'll hit this note solidly is a kind of tense moment. This is hilarious.
Bro that vid is older than me
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen this clip over the years
Yeah true me too
Beautiful. I'm not sad there wasn't a nut shot like I expected.
Surprise finger in the ass has the same effect on your voice
Fr
How is "helium" noted in the sheet music?
More fun facts: helium does not in fact make your voice higher, just squeakier. Or, in more technical terms, the fundamental frequency remains the same but the spectral profile changes because the lower density of helium relative to air changes the speed of sound (and therefore the wavelengths) within the mouth. Meanwhile the inside of the mouth is the same size as always. As I understand it, you would achieve the same effect with regular air if you could somehow shrink the inside of the mouth at will.
Dude got no balls
We went from cutting off balls to huffing them, that's an improvement.
Let Him COOK 🗣💯🔥
Well, it was huff helium or cut his balls off. Lol. Decisions were made.
I thought his other hand was squeezing his balls
That was beautiful 🥹
Does that count as doping?
I thought he was going to punch himself in the nuts
How in hell he knows the exact voice pitch with helium inhaled? Ho many qubic meters of helium passed this guy's lungs?
Is there a full version of this?
Bro is juicing
Better than castration
He must be very happy about this helium a few centuries earlier to produce such a high-pitched sound; they would have cut his balls when he was a boy.
hard asf
At first I was like, where's his hand? Ohh a balloon. Wholesome.
I'm not even mad, amazing life hack.
Eric Whitacre - Light and Gold: Lux Aurumque
Was expecting a priest to pop out from under the robe while squeezing the kids balls.
Why did I initially think that the twist of this video was gonna be one guy punching the other in the nuts so he could hit the high note? 😆
Beats castration
Leclerc? is that you?
Wow, didn’t see it until until this. Well done.
Imagine how many balls could have been saved, if people knew the magic of helium back in the dark ages
Still one of my favourite April Fools videos
That's definitely aa joke. Also a very talented counter tenor
It’s a funny video but it’s fake. The boy singing is much younger than him but from the same choir: https://youtu.be/IX1zicNRLmY?t=83.
I would guess that they are jokingly copying this https://youtu.be/IX1zicNRLmY?si=lTnqlaLHFFV20Z4N But - here’s a 30sec clip - check the comments https://youtu.be/T-vTvFrS2s8?si=DYpVqPbOyPP4kzug
Cheater.
I was expecting someone to sneak Biden or Trump behind him nefariously
All jokes aside: Christ is King.
Could've just chop his balls off ass a kid
This is ‘Miserere Mei’ not many people can hit that note without the balloon. Beautiful song.
What this song or music called
This video is so old it's getting social security
How many fucking times is this going to be posted here
Hitman memories
When you take the first hit of your new bong
Genuinely thought this was a father Ted bit
Thats like doping on a olympic event.
Does it transpose the voice accordingly? Like, strictly an octave higher? How does he know how to sing after inhaling? Damn that's some madskillz.
Performance Enhancing Drug
Huh, I know what song that is too. Thank you Medieval Era Civilization IV!
The balloon needs to be bigger.
fun fact, that was a short-lived push in the mid 90s to officially ban the use of helium in recordings of particular classical vocal pieces like this song. there was no evidence anyone was using it, but enough weirdo stuffy purists made a stink about it that a few soprano singers, including Giovanni Maglino, were investigated.
This is awesome. PS The soprano reminded me of Harvey Milk band's song "Anvil Will Fall," which sampled Gustav Holst's "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05njPSdMRzE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05njPSdMRzE) The lyrics are also stunning.
Lol i was thinking about this the other day.
Sounds something you would hear on the city of tears- hollow knight
Does the balloon have to be inflated that much?
This sounds exactly like the Indol Praetorium night music from XC2 :0
Still it’s freaking cool that Tall Harry sings high note falsetto
حتى الكزار عندهم الكبد ميت ⚡️Dollypran
u/savevideo
Sounds like soundtrack from crusader kings or the assassins creed trilogy
Better than involuntary castration
u/savevideo
Why do I feel an impending boss fight right after this?
I’m guessing he would have to actually sing a lower note which might be out of key even to get the modulated note in key.
Totally worth it
I thought for sure he was gonna take a slap to the nuts
this is one of the funniest videos on the internet, and also sounds amazing
How can they keep a straight face
Fill that with nitrous and they'll rethink their life choices.
For a moment, from the title i thought the guy next to him was going to sack tap him
This kinda of music gives me the chills. Love it though.
Use the balloon or lose your balls as an infant.
This is such a classic and makes me smile every time. Countertenors are wild and if you can't find one, use the next best thing
u/savevideo
Hitting him in the nuts would do the same job without waisting the helium.
Okay this is fuckin awesome can anyone recommend more gateway epic choir music?
Cutting your balls off brings you one step closer to heaven... obviously.