Showing posts with label soprano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soprano. Show all posts

Thursday, 25 August 2011

Eva Cassidy- Vocal Profile/ Range



Vocal TypeSoprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves 3 notes B2-E6
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: Incredible control, and technique, means all parts of her range sound healthy and effortlessly accessed. Her chest voice is piercing and robust, with a slight smokiness to it that gives way to a clarity as it ascends. The head voice is large with it extending up to E6, which is usually whistle note territory.
Vocal Negatives: Suggestions?.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Monica Naranjo - Vocal Profile/ Range



Vocal TypeSoprano
Vocal Range: 4 Octaves and a semitone 7 notes D3-Eb7
Whistle Register: Yes
Vocal Pluses: Strong, full, robust voice with brilliant control and support demonstrated throughout the registers. Has a dark, heavy midrange belt that is a marked contrast to her bright, light and higher range mixed belt which allows her incredibly to sing up to a C6. Her head voice is warm, thick and strong, with an operatic quality to it.
Vocal Negatives: Voice struggles a little on the lower notes.

Saturday, 11 June 2011

Lara Fabian- Vocal Profile/ Range



Vocal TypeSoprano
Vocal Range: 2 Octaves 7 notes  D3-C6
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: Strong, powerful,clear belting range, that has a dark, heavy timbre.
Vocal Negatives: Belting (chest) voice can become overbearing due its power.

Monday, 18 April 2011

[Vocal Profile ] Kylie Minogue


Vocal Type: Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves 2 notes and a semitone (D3- F#6)
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: An overall nasal quality is prevalent throughout much of Kylie Minogue's catalogue and as such, most see it to be a trademark of the Australian Diva's voice. It's not present in her lower notes, due to her placement, and here the voice is rounded with a warm sound and a seductive ease [All The Lovers]. But this changes quickly as Kylie climbs the octaves.

The nasal twang, as mentioned above, is what most have come to associate with the singer [Can't Get You Out Of My Head , Fever]. However, she can mitigate, or choose to forgo it entirely in her midrange; demonstrating its use being a stylistic choice rather than due to any limitations of the voice. To eliminate it, Kylie often lightens the voice, giving it a breathier and sweeter timbre [as heard in the verses of Come Into My World and All The Lovers]. As well being able to remove it, Kylie can include it to varying degrees: modifying it to being faintly present [Aphrodite], or making it so strong that the voice gains a metallic, almost computerised effect to it[Speakerphone]. This versatility and control allows for Kylie to create interesting and compelling harmonies, with the contrasting textures layering well upon one another.

Kylie's technique means she can belt into the fifth octave without any issue, all whilst retaining the character of her voice. She has  produced some surprisingly resonant notes in this part of the range [Here] that show that the voice has a power that isn't often (if ever) illustrated by her choice of singles. Kylie can also vary the quality of the notes here depending on how she mixes her chest and head-voice [Here], which once again illustrates just how technically capable a singer she is.

The head-voice is strong and robust and can be operatic and dramatic [Sound Of Music Intro, Your Disco Needs You ] or soft and breezy [Confide In Me]. Her voice seems to have no problem switching to this register, or singing notes here, which further points to her placing in the soprano fach.

Vocal Negatives: The nasal tone is where most find fault in Kylie's voice and though it is clear from a wider listen to her catalouge that this is more an artistic choice than anything else, it still remains that most of her biggest hits are recorded using this tone.

Saturday, 12 February 2011

[Vocal Profile] Kelly Clarkson




Vocal Type: Spinto Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves and 2 notes (E3-G6)
Whistle Register: Yes
Vocal Pluses: Clarkson is known for her expansive vocal range, technical skills, emotive delivery as well as having a strong sense of musicality. Her extensive list of cover songs, on not only American Idol but as part of her Stronger tour, display this perfectly; with her being able to take a song and add a personal stamp to it via her vocal delivery [Can't Let Go/ Give Me One Reason/At Last]. She is also able to sing complex melisma and hold notes without any issue.

Clarkson's lower range can be described as breathy and more difficult to control and deliver upon, being slightly less audible to that of the rest of the range [Star Spangled Banner]. However, this part of the range tends to be well supported, displaying a raspy and husky texture.

The mid-range is delivered in an extremely confident and technically sound manner, with her technique, in this area of the range, being far superior to that of the lower range. Yet it still retains an earthy and grounded quality making her voice extremely identifiable [Since U Been Gone]. Due to this mirroring of characteristics in the lower and mid-range, it gives the two parts a fully connected sound.

Clarkson is known more for her superb belting range, for which she possesses a strong and expertly placed range between that of E5 and a soprano C6. This part of her voice contains a powerful slicing tone, which is not only able to easily cut through the heavy instrumentation of her backing band but also that of an orchestra [Hear:My Country, 'Tis of Thee]. Clarkson's upper extremes of the range, as well as the head voice, contains the characteristics of a full lyric soprano. However, the entirety of the voice is of a grounded nature, containing a powerful and incisive upper register, which would place her voice in the spinto category, due to her lack of full dramatic power.

Whilst her head voice is slightly disconnected from that of the rest of the range, this is an area that Clarkson truly blossoms. Some have claimed her head voice and falsetto to be that of the most beautiful in contemporary music- with it being known to be clean and potent as well as fulsome [Ave Maria (live)]. Whilst Clarkson can belt up to a C6 her head voice is known to commence around the A5 region. Again her technical virtuosity has displayed her vocally as both direct and solid [Invincible (live)] but also gentle and breathy [Because Of You], depending on the artistic choices of the material she delivers.

The whistle register is known for having a full and piercing nature [Hear: Natural Woman] or soft and gentle (Honestly - Stronger), although this is an area of the voice known to be underutilized.

Vocal Negatives:Critique has been levelled at her voice sounding slightly hoarse at times- which is probably due to her extensive touring schedules creating vocal fatigue. At times her voice can sound pushed, particularly in the chest range. As previously noted her whistle register is underutilized, although this could possibly be more due to artistic choice than physical ability.

Wednesday, 5 January 2011

Sarah Brightman- Vocal Profile/ Range




Vocal Type: Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 octaves and 1 semitone Eb3- E6
Vocal Pluses: Flexible voice that is suited to both pop/contemporary music and opera.
Vocal Negatives: There are arguments amongst opera fans as to whether she should truly be considered an opera singer due to the lightness of her voice and her technical abilities.

Friday, 12 November 2010

Regine Velasquez- Vocal Profile/ Range


Vocal Type: Lyric Soprano
Vocal Range: 4 Octaves 1 semiton B2-B6
Vocal Pluses: Regine Velasquez is able to reach low notes with relative ease, due in part to her good technique and understanding of her voice. The bottom notes are dark and heavy, and are connected nicely to the range meaning she can utilise them in vocal runs that start higher in the range. Regine Velasquez' midrange is noticeably lighter than the lower half of the range, but is solid and stoic, with a characterful quality that makes it identifiable as belonging to her. The Belting range is bright, pure and elastic, being able to reach an impressive B5 with the aid of mixing with the head voice.The sound can be made fuller and more resonant, without mixing, but the voice becomes less palatable as it travels up the fifth octave. The head voice is sharp, bright and punchy with a weight to it.


Regine Velasquez' low, mid and head voice can all have their timbre and tone manipulated to produce a sweeter and softer sound that has a lyrical, expressive and slightly breathy quality to it- see Fallin'.

The voice is dexterous and athletic, able to sing complex vocal runs, throughout the range, as well as to hold a note, on pitch, for impressive periods of time without problem-see Regine's cover of All By Myself.



Vocal Negatives: Notes after a E5 tend to sound like shouting, especially when not mixed or placed correctly or having vibrato applied to them . Also, Regine Velasquez' vocal styling seems to be influenced too much by western Diva's meaning she has not defined a sound of her own.





A2-I can't make it out so haven't included it- Bb2, B2, C3, C#3, D3, Eb3, E3, F3:


A selection of F5s:





C6, C#6, D6, Eb6, E6, F6, G6, G#6, B6:





[Vocal Profile] Katy Perry



Vocal Type: Light-Lyric Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octave ( D3-D6)
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: As a whole, the voice is characterful and youthful with a soft and sweet upper-range and a punchy, attitude infused chest voice. Katy Perry has the ability to hold notes [The One That Got Away (live)] and sing melisma [Whip My Hair (Live)], but her material doesn't often call for such vocal skills to be employed. As such, she is moat likely to attempt these feats in a live setting.

The Diva's lower range is cloudy and of mid-weight, but solidifies, brightens and lightens significantly as she ascends the third octave. Recent years have seen gains in the confidence exhibited in these lower notes, with them becoming fuller in sound.

The Diva shows the most resonance when belting in the fourth octave, loosing weight, colour and taking on an incisive quality as she moves towards and up the fifth octave. Occasionally she employs a slight rasp to these top notes- particularly when singing live- but its not usually heard in her recorded work, where the notes remain clean, clear and bright. Perry is also able to sing melisma in this part of her range [Walking on Air] but it's not something she demonstrates often.

Vocal Negatives: Criticisms have been leveled at her vocal ability when live and recorded vocals are contrasted.

Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Nina Hagen- Vocal Profile/ Range

Vocal Type: Soprano
Whistle Register: Yes
Vocal Range:3.1 Octaves. D3- F6 (approx)
Longest Note: 11 seconds
Vocal Pluses: Glorious soprano highs and amazing tenor like lows and a voice that is able to scream in a rock wail or be soft as any balladeer. Versatility is key to defining the voice of this lady. I would be very surprised if she is not classically trained.
Vocal Negatives: Nina's flexibility may not be to everyone's taste and it's likely the extreme way she uses her voice will turn many listeners off.

Wednesday, 11 March 2009

Mary J Blige - Vocal Profile/ Range

Vocal Type: Mezzo-soprano (voice has deepened with age)
Range: 3 octaves. 2 notes A2- C6
Longest Note: 12 seconds .
Vocal Pluses: Soulful voice that has a unique, husky texture. Has a solid midrange, that has a dark, weighty timbre and a lighter chest range that is able to mix well to belt higher into the fifth octave. Dexterous voice that is capable of complex melisma, as well as the stamina to be able to hold sustained notes. Able to use the voice to convey the emotions of the song exceptionally. 
Vocal Negatives: Voice sometimes sounds strained

[Vocal Profile] Beyonce


Vocal Type: Coloratura (Light-Lyric) Mezzo
Vocal Range: 4 octaves. F2-F6 (approx)
Whistle Register: No
Longest Note: 14 seconds - 'Flaws And All' (live)
Vocal Pluses: A technical singer who has trained their voice into one of the strongest in the industry. Her incredible vocal flexibility and dexterity allows for pin-point accurate, and quick melisma that can traverse through the registers [Link]. In addition, her exceptional breath and core support means Beyonce can hold notes, vocalise long phrases and dance with little decline in vocal quality. She is also in possession of a variable vibrato that is considered one of the best in the business [Link ]. She often adds this to “polish” notes and negate any shrillness that may be present.