Why doesn't Tara Strong sing as Twilight Sparkle?

[Adorkable 2,737]

Hi

 

Have you ever wondered why Tara Strong doesn't sing as Twilight Sparkle on MLP?

 

She can sing, there's been plenty of songs I can reference.

 

Here's two:

 

Take My Hand & For a Moment

 

She can sing, and very well at that.

 

So that leaves us with just one question:

 

Why doesn't she sing as Twilight Sparkle on the show?

 

I can understand, I suppose, if Hasbro were looking for something "different" with Twilight's singing voice.

 

But there's a couple of VAs that sing as their characters, so why not Tara too?

 

(Andrea Libman & Ashleigh Ball)

 

I'd at least actually like to hear Tara sing in her Twilight Sparkle voice.

 

So tell me, what do you guys think?

Edited May 6, 2014 by Adorkable

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Because she doesn't want to. Or they'd have to pay her more for it.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

What's really weird is that Andrea Libman is the singing voice for Fluttershy but not Pinkie Pie.

 

I guess sometimes the VAs can't recreate the voice when singing.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Maybe Tara just wanted to be Twilight's voice, but not to sing.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

Oh, I thought of another possible reason. Most of the cast and the recording is done in Vancouver, but she's in LA. So "telecommuting" a whole singing part might be too much trouble.

[Ianpiersonjdavis 513]

I would like to point out that Ashleigh Ball is also a singer/musician and not just a voice actress so she's probably already comfortable singing, the same could be said for Britt McKillip (the voice actress for Cadance).

 

Also, probably this; 

 

 

 

I guess sometimes the VAs can't recreate the voice when singing.

 

[Pastel 7,630]

Twilight's Kingdom.

...Dunno why I said that.

 

Anyway maybe it's hard for her to sing with Twilight's voice?

Edited May 6, 2014 by Blobulle

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

I don't know why they have the singer who sings the theme sing for Twilight Sparkle. Tara should sing her own character's voice. 

[Dattebayo 2,850]

It's most likely because she doesn't want to be associated with just one thing.

That's how archetypes are born. It almost happened to her with Raven, don't you know.

 

Edit: I think I misread the OP...and I still am...

Edited May 6, 2014 by Dattebayo

[Zekromic 1,054]

Oh, I thought of another possible reason. Most of the cast and the recording is done in Vancouver, but she's in LA. So "telecommuting" a whole singing part might be too much trouble.

Indeed, everytime they make a song, they reunite the whole cast for it, instead for each recording their respective lyrics. Since Tara is in LA and the studio is in Vancouver, makes sense they chose Rebecca for Twily's singing voice. I dunno how they made with Discord's song in Three's a Crowd though

[Thrashy 2,800]

Others have listed some fairly good reasons, but I'd just like to put forth that voice acting and singing generally require totally different skill sets. Yes, they both involve the vocals, but that's about where the similarities end.

 

The chief concerns of VAs are being able to emote convincingly and having a wide range of accents and "flavors" that enable them to voice more than one type of character. There's more, I'm sure, but those are the core basics.

 

To sing well, you need to have good breath control (for sustain and volume), pitch control (for staying in key), a decent range (to sing as high or low as a song requires), mastery over your own vocal timbre (for "coloring" your notes differently), and familiarity with the feel of your vocal folds as they resonate with different notes.

 

There's definitely a bit of overlap between the two disciplines, but mastery in one doesn't necessarily guarantee mastery in the other. That said, I haven't heard her singing voice in other shows, but it's possible that A.) she doesn't quite have the range to sing Ingram's songs, or B.) her singing voice just doesn't reflect her vocal timbre when speaking as Twilight.

Edited May 6, 2014 by The Thrashy One

[XxConfusedUnicornxX 834]

Maybe she doesnt want to.

[ReverseFaller 2,484]

I've always wondered this myself. Maybe she doesn't find it that easy to sing using Twilight's voice? Oh well. At least the person they got to sing for Twilight can sing decently enough while still sounding like Twilight.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,320]

From what I've read, and not only about My Little Pony, it's very difficult for a voice actor to keep in character voice while singing. Mel Blanc  could do it, and Tress MacNeille took it to the next level. She has actually sang as her character Babs Bunny doing an impression of Cher.

 

Hi

 

Have you ever wondered why Tara Strong doesn't sing as Twilight Sparkle on MLP?

 

She can sing, there's been plenty of songs I can reference.

 

Here's two:

 

Take My Hand & For a Moment

 

She can sing, and very well at that.

 

So that leaves us with just one question:

 

Why doesn't she sing as Twilight Sparkle on the show?

 

I can understand, I suppose, if Hasbro were looking for something "different" with Twilight's singing voice.

 

But there's a couple of VAs that sing as their characters, so why not Tara too?

 

(Andrea Libman & Ashleigh Ball)

 

I'd at least actually like to hear Tara sing in her Twilight Sparkle voice.

 

So tell me, what do you guys think?

 

While both songs are very good, she is not doing them in "Twilight's Voice". Perhaps she can't. Like I said before, singing and keeping in character is supposed to be one of the most difficult things to do as a voice actor.

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

 

 

What's really weird is that Andrea Libman is the singing voice for Fluttershy but not Pinkie Pie.

 

It physically straining to keep that voice when singing.

 

Anyway, it isn't because Tara can't sing, because she can. She totally and completely can. In fact, she did sing for the first season. Can't completely remember where she said this, but the reasoning behind the change was that Tara didn't sound Disney Princess-y enough when singing.

[Khaoios 1,970]

If I remember correctly, I read that she couldn't do it b/c she mostly records in her own studio and sends the files to the studio up in Vancouver.  In addition, she said "she wanted to spend more time with her kids and if she were to sing as Twilight Sparkle, she would have to fly from LA to Vancouver to have it recorded".   I'll try to find the article, however, I believe she said it on an interview on Youtube, but I'll find it and post it.

What's really weird is that Andrea Libman is the singing voice for Fluttershy but not Pinkie Pie.

 

I know, .   That got me....until i found out Shannon Chan-Kent

[Adorkable 2,737]

While both songs are very good, she is not doing them in "Twilight's Voice". Perhaps she can't. Like I said before, singing and keeping in character is supposed to be one of the most difficult things to do as a voice actor.

 

I know there's the possibility that she may not be able to, but the reason I linked those sings in particular were because she sounds a little bit like Twilight in them. Which come to think of it, her normal voice kind of sounds like Twilight's. Tara can sing, and sound a little like Twilight unintentionally, and then she can sound like Twilight while normally speaking. I don't personally think the case is that she can't, but if she actually said she couldn't, I'd love to hear her actually try it, at least once.

[OtakuBrony 349]

Howdy folks!

 

It would be neat if both Tara & Rebecca Soichet (Twilight's singing voice and the voice of Sunset Shimmer)

 

Sing a duet together at a Brony Convention or a future episiode.

 

Thay would be EPIC to the core

[Justin_Case001 4,907]

This is a pretty common thing with animated stuff.  I reckon more often than not it's one person doing the speaking and another doing the singing with animated characters.  I think the odds are very slim to find one actor than can do it all with just the right voice.  And singing is so difficult as well.  Aladdin is an example.  Al and Jas each have separate actors to do the singing parts.