I have a question music at Mass. There seems to be a consensus that melodies should be sung very low. Why is this? It confuses me. I cannot hear how this makes the melodies more beatiful. It just makes singing more difficult. What is this all about? Is there a special beauty when people sing low? It frustrates me and I avoid watching Mass online. As a non-Catholic I have no Mass obligation although it is very good to attend Mass when you want to become Catholic.
Not really sure what this means, other than perhaps people who aren't used to singing much will typically sing in a lower register than they really have to.
If you mean chant, I love the heavy bass of Byzantine chant but most Gregorian chant as found in the western church is sung higher.
Do you mean low volume or low pitch?
I don't know much about music, but I think some songs have a wide range of notes so people sing at a lower-than-normal pitch, in order to be able to sing the high notes more easily.
Another possibility is: since you say you were watching it online, maybe it's just that the audio is of poor quality? This could be due to many things--cheap microphone, bad placement of the microphone, insufficient sampling rate or bit depth, incorrect EQ settings, etc., also, perhaps bad speakers or headphones on your side. This could all affect pitch as well as volume.
There is a standard joke in the UK that Catholics don't/won't/can't sing - 'I'm Catholic I can sing quieter than you' - maybe its just by comparison to the vigorous hymn singing of our Anglican neighbours - or maybe a hangover from penal times when it would be dangerous to be heard :) Doesn't seem to affect our congregation - even though 'communal singing' is prohibited at the moment quite a few people seem to 'forget'.
Americans can't/shouldn't sing and they certainly can't say the Rosary together.