If you dare...Listen to the Bates family sing together.

[oscar]

While individual members of the Bates family may be talented, and while they may enjoy making music together, I find these videos pretty off-putting in an, "If your crap is Christian, I'll eat it" way. (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4061)

That said, I really dislike the notion that making music is only for those who excel at it, because diverse musical experiences can be meaningful in all kinds of different ways to different people. But while I like to participate in this style of country-church singing, I'm not at all interested in sitting back and listening to it, either as an audience member or on a recording. My sister, who perceives absolute pitch, can't be present for this kind of performance at all, because it is physically painful to her.

If someone enjoys consuming this kind of performance, it is clearly not because the quality of the music is objectively good. Rather, I suspect that listeners must be suspending their critical faculties in order to take pleasure in other positive associations this kind of music entails for them. I don't mean to imply that's a bad reason to listen to music, but I think it's both limiting and insulting if one only lets oneself enjoy music in that way.

[TheJewAmongUs]

Reminds me of forcing my family to watch me perform in the living room. For which I sincerely apologize.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

sounds like cats having sex.

bwahahhaaahah :lol:

Gothard really, really loves family's who sing together. And, since they are the new Duggars they'll have to trot around singing a lot.

I'm not going to give an opinion on their singing--they're doing what the top brass tell them too. None of them has any choice in the matter as far as I can tell. That's the joy of ATI.......Those speaking engagements they get depend on compliance. And speaking and singing generate "love offerings" which help pay their bills. You do what you have to I guess!

[3 is enough]

It sounds like the vocal equivalent of the Duggars' violin playing.

[WonderingInWA]

Holy crap! Where are the howling dogs? Yikes.

[Guest Anonymous]

sounds like cats having sex.

My little Charlie just told me he resents the comparison. He says his standards are higher than that.

[MamaJunebug]

:shock: Hoo, boy. Big Daddy Junebug used to think it was funny to turn on Sunday morning gospel music and wake us all up. The ole rascal had fresh donuts for us if we crawled out of bed, and somehow my palate always won out over my need for sleep.

Any hoo, I thought for sure I could listen to anything after having grown up with that ... I was wrong. These folks give southern gospel a really bad name, and that's goin' some.

[Markie]

Incidentally,Erin,Alyssa and Tori are out of the country-Another mission trip?

I read on the Bateses' website that they are in Romania for a week on an ATI mission.

[O Latin]

Question for singers-Say you have an amazing voice and want to sing something other than old time country or Bluegrass, maybe Broadway or Opera-How do you work with such heavy,twangy accents?

A lot of it has to do with how you shape your vowels, which you can learn to do no matter what accent you have. I have the standard newscaster accent, but I still sing with a different "accent," if you want to call it that, than I have when I speak.

Usually I don't think the Duggars, Bateses, etc. are terrible musicians. They've got a lot of young kids, which kind of limits the level of music you can do if everybody's going to sing/play together. But when the four older Duggar girls play violins by themselves, I think they sound reasonably proficient (not that I know that much about the violin). They probably would be better if they had received more professional training, but I don't think they're heinously awful.

The Bateses on these videos, however, do sound less than awesome.

[clibbyjo]

Erin sounds like she is trying to sing like Dolly Parton. She is no Dolly.

[Annette]

They're just very East Tennessee. That kind of singing goes on at little country churches all over America. That didn't look like a small country church, so I guess they were visiting.

Yes, I was going to say that it sounded just like what I hear on Sunday morning when visiting my husband's family in north Alabama, which is very near east Tennessee. I counted once, and there were a total of 30 people in attendance...and the Bateses sounded muuuch better!

[Annette]

That girl can play the piano, however.

I think it sounds weird and choppy when she hammers on the keys like that.

[3 is enough]

I read on the Bateses' website that they are in Romania for a week on an ATI mission.

Those trips aren't cheap. No insurance for the little ones, unhealthy horses, and yet, off to Romania they go.

Unless Lawson funded the trip...

[moreorlessnu]

Actually, I don't think Tory sings badly. They have her doing the lower (alto) parts, and she seems to be fine in that range. Alyssa isn't *too* bad. I think the reason why Erin sounds so bad is because the parts she's singing are too high for her, so she sounds screechy. Hard to tell if Erin is off because she, well, can't hit a note, or if it's because it's out of her range. Some of the notes were too high for Alyssa, too. Alyssa might sound better if she sang in the Tory range. She doesn't sound too bad in some of the parts.

[Guest Anonymous]

They sound like a lower elementary class. Think K5! Good lord! I turned it off after they all joined in. I think I need a after that.

[Buzzard]

They have the harmony right, so they do have a pretty impressive set of ears. That being said, they'd really do themselves a favor to get a real vocal coach. They are WAY too nasal and thats something thats really easy to fix. A little bit of blending help and vocal control and they'd be decent.

[Linnea]

One of the related links that came up on Youtube is actually pretty good . . .

[marmalade]

How can Erin up and go to Romania when she's supposedly taking a class or two at Crown College? I thought I remember reading through their info that attendance was very strictly monitored. I guess the Bateses get special treatment wherever the fuck they go, even the ER. *eyeroll*

And this caught my eye from the blog. A poster asked whether the girls would use the internet as part of THEIR ministry (in addition to those fug gift cards, as I read it). Kelly's response:

Dear Nan,

Between school work, music lessons, hobbies, church, friends, and other ministry opportunities… time on the internet would steal their higher priorities, so at the moment none have showed an interest. Love, Kelly

Talk about double-speak! Truth is, you won't let them use the damn internet (and I doubt they have as many computers as the Duggars in the first place). I can't believe people fall for this utter bullshit, which is very similar to her responses regarding the horses. I'm no saint, but man, just about everything that utters forth from these people's mouths, or fingertips in this case, is carefully put through the Gothard filter and comes out about as honestly as his "biblical" teachings.

PS: They can't sing. The guys were especially awful. Not much piano playing in bluegrass so I don't know how Zach will participate in "Southern Raised" other than duets with his future wife....IF she's allowed to continue in the band and not go live in that little house I saw behind the trampolines in the unedited version of the Bateses' episode of 19 Kids and Holding.

[3 is enough]

19 Kids and Holding

Love it! :clap:

[Daenerys]

Marmalade, as of a few years ago the Bates family didn't have internet at home. Lawson mentioned in an interview (it may have been on 19KAC though I'm not sure) that sometimes his mum and sister went to the library to use the internet, but it didn't sound like the rest of them used it at all.

[alphaeta08]

A lot of it has to do with how you shape your vowels, which you can learn to do no matter what accent you have. I have the standard newscaster accent, but I still sing with a different "accent," if you want to call it that, than I have when I speak.

Usually I don't think the Duggars, Bateses, etc. are terrible musicians. They've got a lot of young kids, which kind of limits the level of music you can do if everybody's going to sing/play together. But when the four older Duggar girls play violins by themselves, I think they sound reasonably proficient (not that I know that much about the violin). They probably would be better if they had received more professional training, but I don't think they're heinously awful.

The Bateses on these videos, however, do sound less than awesome.

Agree. I've heard worse (I did used to play for elementary school choirs!), and fixing those accents would be a 200% improvement. Still, at that level, they shouldn't be performing for anyone other than members of their own enormous family. But hey, if people want to listen, I won't stop them. :| Really though, those accents can't be real; they're ridiculous! Even if they speak that way, what makes them think it's appropriate to sing that way! :lol:

[marmalade]

Marmalade, as of a few years ago the Bates family didn't have internet at home. Lawson mentioned in an interview (it may have been on 19KAC though I'm not sure) that sometimes his mum and sister went to the library to use the internet, but it didn't sound like the rest of them used it at all.

I believe they got "wired" when the house was remodeled. Kelly recently stated that her homeschool includes internet curriculum and they're downloading hundred of pictures and blogging from SOMEWHERE. That somewhere is probably the kitchen table.

[ophelia]

Those trips aren't cheap. No insurance for the little ones, unhealthy horses, and yet, off to Romania they go.

Unless Lawson funded the trip...

Maybe Bill Gothard paid for it on his own, since they are the new Duggar/ATI royal family..

And since it is a mission trip, Erin might have been giving the oppurtunity to miss some classes.

[sea_gale]

One of the comments on those videos:

ALL WHITE FAMILIES SHOULD HAVE THIS MANY CHILDREN!

God bless you guys, an inspiration for every white family man.

saptemai 16 hours ago

Creepy...

[Avalondaughter]

One of the comments on those videos:

Creepy...

I felt the exact same way. I even made my own comment about that on YouTube. That disturbed me more than the bad singing.