ONE Boy, TWO Voices ...‪.‬ Cormac Thompson

Welcome to episode 3, it's the last one with Mum and Matthew. Next week we have two new guests, more on who they are at the end of this episode.
In episode 3 our chats range from cowboy hats at Nashville's, Grand Ole Opry to the stage at London's equally iconic Royal Albert Hall!
We even cover how some 'Empty Chairs' can lead to 'Country Roads' ....... when we share with you how we choose the songs I sing and how I prepare for recording them as well.

The most difficult part of when my voice changed is in this episode too. The sound I made when I sang was far from pleasant and singing in public during this stage is not something I wanted to do.

You guys all get a mention too 🤗
As we chat about the pull to listen to a young singer, Martin explains just why this can be so appealing to hear. We also touch on, the teenage singer phase that I'm in now, when I'm not so cute and I don't sing so high any more and the challenges that throws up too.

With lots more topics touched on too, please do share this with any young singers grappling with their own changing voice. Our hope is we can help them make sense of it all.
Songs featured this week
Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver, cover by Cormac (youtube.com)
'Empty Chairs At Empty Tables' from 'Les Miserables' (Cormac Thompson Cover) Charity single (youtube.com)

Useful Links
ALL EPISODES SO FAR PODCAST - ONE Boy, TWO Voices .... - YouTube
Cormac Thompson - Homepage
Vocal Stages | Martin Ashley (martin-ashley.com)
Matthew Todd - Scottish Tenor (matthew-todd.co.uk)

Please do check out the related links listed below.
In episode two, we chat about when I performed on Chorister of the Year (October 2021) and Britain's Got Talent (January 2022, it aired May 2022) and what it was like recording new songs with Dominic Ferris and Simon Hanhart. We have linked all these different events back to the changing stage that my voice was at, at the time I did them.
Again, I'm joined by my mum, Alison, who still keeps me right on the order of things and she helps explain what it was like from a grown - up's perspective too.
Professor Martin Ashley, a renowned voice change expert and author of many books on the subject of voice change and Matthew Todd, professional tenor and music educator, join me too.

Getting to do all these things as a very young singer has given me a lot of experience in a very short time for a young boy singer and at the end of last year I realised just what a good position that put me in to try and help other young boys to keep singing when their voices change too.

I'm 15 now, my voice is through the most difficult part of it changing and I'm very fortunate to still be singing. I hope episode two continues to spark your interest in my podcast.

If you have any connection to young boys who you think would benefit from listening to this please share it with them too.

We also thought it would be helpful to define CAMBIATA

"Whilst a boy goes through puberty, his comfortable modal singing range fits none of the conventional SATB choral parts.  Cambiata are specific part ranges based on the principle that "the music must fit the voice, not the voice the music". 
The cambiata 1 part for boys in early puberty ranges from A3 - A4 and shares some but not all notes with treble. The cambiata 2 part, for boys in later puberty ranges from E3 - E4 and shares some but not all notes with tenor."
This is all explained rather well by boys of the National Youth Choir in the film Populating the Parts, available at here:  Populating the Parts | Martin Ashley (martin-ashley.com)

Cormac Thompson - Homepage
Cormac's SECOND album 'A Borrowed Gift' - Cormac Thompson https://a.co/d/0odkjsH
Cormac's first album 'Hear My Voice' https://amzn.eu/d/fLpngxJ


Links to songs mentioned during the podcast
'Arms of An Angel' https://youtu.be/1qIgDDK3J2o?si=LNeeOXvDKhDGpsjw (recorded May 2022)
'May it Be' https://youtu.be/7QI7ExXBRHs?si=DmzlxiKWqILBeK4D
(recorded August 2021)

October 2021 https://youtu.be/U9QFxrnNWS8?si=1eozoiIvNyPkh_hC
Cormac performing 'Ave Maria' in the semi - final on BBC1's Songs of Praise, Chorister of the Year singing competition
All the different times Cormac sang Snow Patrol's 'Run'
Recorded August 2020 (aged 11yrs 5 months) https://youtu.be/KpjcSK0C_ZE?si=oWH_YLaUXJXnM0NA
released as the lead single from the Decca album 'Hear my Voice'

January 2022 (aged 12 years 10 months) https://youtu.be/OzWjG6dvi4k?si=aTeE7Xf-Bf0HkcGx
Cormac singing Snow Patrol's 'Run' live on 'Britain's Got Talent'

May 2022 (aged 13 years 2 months)...

 A very big warm welcome to episode one of 'One Boy, Two Voices'
I've been very lucky. When I sang in my younger boy, high voice, it really did create some amazing opportunities for me.
In episode one, I take it right back to the beginning and we chat about how it all began and highlight how I really wasn't even thinking about my voice changing then. I'm joined by my mum, Alison, who keeps me right on the order of things and explains what it was like from a grown - up's perspective, Professor Martin Ashley, a renowned voice change expert and author of many books on the subject and Matthew Todd, professional tenor and music educator, himself a former boy treble and survivor of his 'breaking' voice as he's still singing but he remembers it vividly.
We also talk about how I was signed by global record label Decca (UMG) when I was just 11, dropped by them when I was 12 and how we kept recording and releasing music for the next few years with no label support at all.
That's a whole lot of experience in a very short time for a young boy singer (and his mum and dad) and at the end of last year I realised just what a good position that put me in to try and help other young boys to keep singing when their voices change too.
I'm 15 now, it's happened and I'm very fortunate to still be singing. I hope episode one sparks your interest for the rest of the story in the next 5 episodes too. It's a fun listen, I promise! there's really no science at all and if you have any connection to young boys who experience this please share with them too.
Cormac Thompson - Homepage
A Borrowed Gift: CORMAC'S STORY - ft. him singing Cinema Paradiso (Se) (youtube.com)
https://www.youtube.com/@CormacThompson
https://facebook.com/Cormac.musicofficial/
https://instagram.com/iamcormacthompson/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5h3EGN6IPU6J9fMWszrNWy
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cormac/1539007742
Vocal Stages
| Martin Ashley (martin-ashley.com)
Dead Composers and Living Boys: how high should boys sing in a
digital age? – Simple Book Publishing (pressbooks.pub)
Matthew Todd - Scottish Tenor (matthew-todd.co.uk)

This trailer tells you all about my podcast - Hello, I am Cormac : - )