Kate Bush- Vocal Profile/ Range

Kate Bush

Vocal Type: Dramatic Soprano
Vocal Range: 4 octaves G2#-G6#
Vocal Pluses: Incredibly versatile, rich and emotive voice that has a dark, weighty timbre. The midrange is solid with a  warmth and sweetness. The belting range is clear and robust with a fiery passion and connects seamlessly to the head voice. This part of the range is bright, resonate and has the flexibility to sound operatic, contemporary or even able to mimic birdsong. Expert control over the voice means that notes can be sustained effortlessly- with or without vibrato- and pitched perfectly.
Vocal Negatives: Unique and individual singing style is not to everyone's taste.

Jill Scott - Vocal Profile/Range

Jill Scott

Vocal Type: Soprano
Vocal Range: 4 Octaves  C3-C7
Whistle Register: Yes
Vocal Pluses: Powerful voice, that has a rich, deep texture through out the range. Voice is tremendously versatile and emotive. Technically brilliant singer.
Vocal Negatives: Suggestions?.

LeToya Luckett (Original Destiny's Child member)- Vocal Profile/ Range

LeToya Luckett

Vocal Type: Lyric Soprano
Vocal Range:  2 Octaves 3 note D3-G5
Vocal Pluses: Latoya's strength lies in her strong chest voice. It's well supported and maintains an impressive tone in its upper reaches ( D5 to G5) that is further polished by the application of her striking vibrato.
Vocal Negatives: Limited range in the extremities of her voice.

[Vocal Profile] Florence Welch

Florence Welch

Vocal Type: Mezzo-soprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves 1 note D3-E6
Whistle Register: No
Longest Note:24 Seconds (see end of final video below)
Vocal Strengths: Emotive voice that can go from warm cooing whispers to solid and defined in a heartbeat [How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful]. Florence Welch is capable of singing complex vocal runs, through the registers, and hold notes for periods of time without wavering in pitch or tone [Pearls and Noizies]. Ultimately, she is in possession of a strong individual vocal styling that has been called "soulful" "bluesy" and "powerful".

Chrisette Michele- Vocal Profile/ Range

Chrisette Michele

Vocal Type: Contralto

Vocal Range:  2 octaves 4 notes and a semi-tone (Approx). D3-Bb5

Vocal Pluses: Beautifully dark, textured, expressive voice.

Vocal Negatives: Limited range. 

Charice Pempengco- Vocal Profile/ Range

Charice Pempengco

Vocal Type:Mezzo Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves 2 note C3-E6
Vocal Pluses: Charice Pempengco’s lower register is powerful and darker than the other parts of her range and is relatively easily accessed, except at the lower extremes. The mid range is solid, rounded, and smooth and she is capable of complex melisma from this point upwards.

Charice Pempengco has a strong, expansive chest voice that can reach up into the fifth octave (G5). Even at higher frequencies the belting range maintains a similar, powerful resonance to that of the lower part of the range.

She has the skill and stamina to hold upper notes for long periods of time with or without her impressively emotive vibrato.

Vocal Negatives: Charice Pempengco sometimes uses bad technique in order to retain her fuller tone at the lower and higher parts of her range; pushing her larynx down, when attempting the lower notes and pulling it up, creating a strained tone, to hit higher notes

After her debut album, Charice reverted to singing in a way that was more in line with her natural range, creating a more healthy sound.

Amy Lee (Evanescence singer)- Vocal Profile [3 Octaves/ Lyric-Mezzo]

Amy Lee

Vocal Type: Lyric Mezzo Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 octaves and 1 semi tone (Eb3-E6)
Vocal Pluses: Instantly recognizable voice, with its smooth and sweet colouring, that is well supported and technically good. This helps Amy Lee hold belted notes for periods of time, without wavering in pitch, and produce a consistent tone.

Amy Lee's midrange is delicate, and with a smoky timbre and sensitive disposition- My Immortal.

Belted notes are resonant, rounded, and mixed well when pitched at the upper extremes of this part of the range. The tone produced is impressively darker than the rest of the range and has a piercing quality that can be softened by the addition of her pleasant and quick vibrato.

The head voice is warm, powerful and resonant until E6, where, at this point, they become shrill and sharp.

Vocal Negatives: Higher belting, which forgoes mixing with the head voice, begins to strip the voice of character. Also Amy Lee's lower register can be weak and lack resonance if reached with improper technique.

Monica- Vocal Profile/ Range

Monica

Vocal Type: Contralto
Vocal Range: 3 octaves B2- B5
Vocal Pluses: Voices strength comes from it's dark, thick low to mid range.
Vocal Negatives: Vibrato sounds unnatural and forced on the higher chest notes, and her head voice is somewhat limited.

[Vocal Profile ] Kylie Minogue

Kylie Mingoue

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.

[Vocal Profile] Kelly Clarkson

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.

[Vocal Profile] Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Vocal Type: Mezzo soprano
Vocal Range: 3 octaves B2- D6 2 notes
Vocal Pluses: Meticulous control can be heard on every note, no matter how low or high, nor at what volume. Such control implies excellent support, breath control and understanding of her instrument- which may go some way to explain the longevity of her voice [2014 Medley].

Being an actress has given this Diva an emotiveness that is almost unparalleled amongst Divas. An example of this can be heard in the climax of Don't Rain On My Parade, where grunts, growls, swift changes in dynamics and tone are all employed to create a vocal that is as exhilarating as it is perfectly in sync with the narrative of the piece.

Fergie - Vocal Profile/ Range

Fergie

Vocal Type: Contralto
Vocal Range:2 octaves and 4 notes. C#3- G#5
Vocal Pluses: A distinctive character that is present throughout the registers. Her midrange can be punchy, and full of attitude or soft and breathy. Versatile chest voice that can have a heavier rocky rasp to it when sung through the throat or a thinner, lighter more elastic tone when mixed with the head voice.
Vocal Negatives:Voice becomes harder to control the higher she belts, and the tone can become unstable.
Longest note:19 Seconds

[Vocal Profile] Ke$ha

Ke$ha

Vocal Type: Mezzo Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 Octaves 1 note and a semitone (C#3-E6)
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: Ke$ha employs a talk/singing/rapping style for the most part of her music. The voice generally is used in its midrange and is characterful and able to effectively communicate the mood and tone of the lyrics. Her skill in manipulating her delivery allows for Ke$ha to project a variety of different emotions: from obnoxiously bratty [Hear:Blah Blah Blah]; to cool and relaxed [ Hear:VIP]; to soft and melancholy [Hear:Dancing With Tears In My Eyes]. However there is an identifiable marker of nasal placement that runs throughout the range, as well as a characteristic teenage petulance.It is possible for her to somewhat temper this, singing with a timbre that is contrastingly warmer, softer and airier [Hear:Blow (Deconstructed)], but it's not used often.

Ke$ha's belting range is surprisingly wide- starting at a B4 and extending up to an F#5, [Hear: Dirty Love]. The quality of the notes produced here are bright and piercing but thin and somewhat biting. The tone, timbre and texture of the notes is consistent right through from the lower belting range to the higher notes. An unusual feat when contrasted with most singers, who find their belted notes thinning and changing in quality the higher they sing. Still, Kesha doesn't sound to be carrying any tension in her voice, even up at the top, which suggests a good technique and the possibility that she can go above what has been shown. She is also able to sing for sustained periods in this part of her range without issue [Hear: Supernatural (Deconstructed) or the held F5 in Crazy Kids/ E5 in C'Mon ]

Vocal Negatives:Ke$ha's use of autotune has led many to question whether her ability to sing is pure fabrication, rather than due to a stylistic choice.

Keri Hilson - Vocal Profile/ Range

Keri Hilson

Vocal Type: Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 octaves. C3- C6
Vocal Pluses: Sweet, soft agile voice.
Vocal Negatives:Lacks power and weight.

This Video is by Angelfully

Michelle Williams- Vocal Profile/ Range

Michelle Williams

Vocal Type: Mezzo-Soprano
Vocal Range:3 octaves 7 notes A2- G6
Vocal Pluses: Strong throughout all registers and a nice vibrato to the belted notes.
Vocal Negatives: Voice becomes thinned and nasal as she ascends her chest register.

Nicki Minaj - Vocal Profile/ Range

Nicki Minaj

Vocal Type: Soubrette
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Range: 2 octaves, 4 notes  D3- Bb5
Vocal Strengths: Although classed as a rapper, has demonstrated the ability to carry a melody aptly. Her voice is full of character and energy: able to switch between a thick and heavy timbre to a light and bright one quickly providing brilliant contrast. Her midrange is solid and her chest is capable of hitting the fifth octave.
Vocal Weaknesses: Her chest voice is thin and becomes weaker very quickly as it gets higher.
Recommended Listen: Super Bass, Fly

[Vocal Profile] Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

Vocal Type: Light-Lyric Soprano
Whistle Register:No
Vocal Range: C3-D6 (3 Octaves 1 Note )
Vocal Pluses: Janet Jackson is a Diva who knows her instrument, working its strengths and weaknesses to best effect. The voice has an overarching sweet and warm timbre that carries throughout the range, which works beautifully to create layered harmonies [Discipline/ What's It Gonna Be].

The lower-range isn't often used by Janet, being mostly weaved into harmonies[Take Care]. When she does showcase it, it sounds to be comfortable, dark and surprisingly solid [Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)].

The mid-range is where Janet's voice begins to shine, and is where she finds herself most comfortable. Here Janet shows her versatility, being able to play with texture and weight to create contrasting tones. Most often used is a soft, breathy and warm colouring [Rock With You], but she she can also solidify the sound, adding attitude and character to her delivery [Black Cat]. Both styles can be heard used brilliantly in tandem in domestic abuse song What About.

[Vocal Profile] Aaliyah

Aaliyah

Vocal Type: Light Lyric Soprano
Vocal Range:G2-E6 (3 Octaves 5 Note ) ( E3-G5)
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: This Diva possessed a remarkably smooth and seductive tone that carried through much of the range. Never considered a "powerhouse" vocalist, the strength in this voice lay in the texture, phrasing and canny use of the different registers to impress. [Listen as she creates drama in I Refuse without falling back on the cliches of power or increased dynamics to do so.]

Aaliyah possessed a solid lower range that was dark and warm. Slightly smokey, the voice was always well supported here, resulting in a sound that was clear, strong and free from the fogginess many Diva's suffer at the bottom of their voice [Death of A Playa].

[Vocal Profile] Nicole Scherzinger

Nicole Scherzinger

Vocal Type: Lyric Soprano
Whistle Register:Yes
Vocal Range: D3-G#6 (3 Octaves 2 Note and a semi tone)
Vocal Pluses: A trained singer, this Diva is comfortable singing in a variety of styles [Jazz: Feeling Good/ Theater: Phantom Of The Opera / Classical: Io Ti Penso Amore ] Along with control and power, Nicole is able to sing complex melisma throughout her range, expertly alter the dynamics of her voice mid-phrase and, thanks to excellent breath control, hold notes effortlessly [all demoed  here].

This Diva's mid-range is versatile and can be manipulated to add character and emotional colouring to a vocal. For instance: Nicole gives her delivery attitude and aggression and an icy, slightly gritty tone in Poison; while softening, aerating and warming her tone in Happily Never After. Whatever choices she takes with her mid-range, the character of Nicole's voice is retained making a song easily attributable.

Present is a flexible and elastic belt that is expertly controlled. The lower half is dark and rich [Right Now] with a suitable volume to it. As it climbs the fifth octave the voice takes on a nasal placement causing it to thin and and take on a metallic timbre. It's due to this shift that Nicole is able to impressively hit, and hold, upper fifth octave notes (even with with a measured vibrato) [Club Banger Nation]. It should be noted that Nicole can add a rock edge to her belts by "pulling up" her chest voice [Run Live].

Nicole's head voice has a dual aspect to it. In a contemporary setting the Diva is able to produce a soft and sweet head-voice that can be harmonized and remains unobtrusive to a song's backing [Heartbeat]. However, it can be made to sound impressively resonant with a theatrical quality to it. In this styling her tone is full, warm and measured, and the Diva is able to add a controlled vibrato, play with volume and crescendo beautifully [Io Ti Penso Amore ].

Vocal Negatives: Belted notes can sometimes sound harsh and more akin to shouting due to improper placement of the voice, especially when it forgoes vibrato.

Yma Sumac-Vocal Profile/ Range

Yma Sumac 

Vocal Type:  Soprano

Vocal Range: Bb2-c#7 (4 Octaves 1 Note and a semi tone)

Vocal Pluses: Strong  soprano voice, with a wide range. Unique technique.

Vocal Negatives:   Unusual vocal style may not be to everyone's taste.