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[ComputerMKII]

Holy shit, Kyo actually made it to the list, and Devin Townsend too!

 

[jay]

They posted an update.

Turns out Mike Patton, and not Axl Rose, is the greatest singer of all time

I called it.

 

[AzureSkies]

Enjoying the Metal love in this thread.

Michael Kiske of Helloween fame would be interesting to see on this list. I've heard higher voices, but he has an impressive low register as far as the style goes.

Kiske definitely has an impressive low register, it sounds great.

 

[methane47]

Here's a good example of what is meant by "connected"...

Sounds like a very good switch to falsetto does that still count as connected?

Dear lord jesus these vocal cord video's are out of this world...
Four part harmony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XGds2GAvGQ

Looks like a walker from Last of us.

 

[TheRagnCajun]

I understand why they used 'captured in studio' as a metric, but its flawed. There is really nothing more disappointing than hearing an artist wimp out on the high notes of a live performance.

 

[Kazerei]

This is what it actually looks like!

Yes, that is in your throat.

Edit: Oooh, slow motion.

Interesting vids but practically NSFW :lol

 

[teruterubozu]

I understand why they used 'captured in studio' as a metric, but its flawed. There is really nothing more disappointing than hearing an artist wimp out on the high notes of a live performance.

I agree. Even prior to voicing technology, if you had the right mix of cocaine, JD shots and a tight enough codpiece any young buck could belt out the high notes in a studio. Doing it on tour is another story.

 

[Damaniel]

These types of threads are what make OT so awesome sometimes. I learned a bunch of new things today about vocal range and singing in general.

 

[lenovox1]

Sounds like a very good switch to falsetto does that still count as connected?

Because modal voice and falsetto are produced differently, usually the listener will hear a "click" when switching from one method of vocalization to another. There's also some resonance more characteristic of her head voice. But in some singers, especially as you approach soprano C, you can never tell the difference either way. Oh, well, no big deal.

But, anyways, to actually answer your question, yes, that's what is meant by the term. That there is smooth and consistent sound throughout each part of a person's singing voice. As opposed to this mess. I sound like an automatic gear shift.

 

[Mumei]

Because modal voice and falsetto are produced differently, usually the listener will hear a "click" when switching from one method of vocalization to another. There's also some resonance more characteristic of her head voice. But in some singers, especially as you approach soprano C, you can never tell the difference either way. Oh, well, no big deal.

I think it's harder to tell the difference in popular music because of the use of microphones, and with men in particular because their voices naturally sit an octave lower than women's do. The main difference between falsetto and head voice is that in falsetto the folds are not vibrating to their fullest and produce a lower closed quotient (>40% versus 50% for the modal register), whereas in head voice they become fully adducted (though this effect does not occur below E5).

With women it tends to be easier to tell the difference below C6, because you can hear the airiness and the tone lacks a certain cohesion to it; with men it tends to be difficult through the fifth octave, and I think this passage from Bel Canto: Principles and Practices helps explain it:

As long as the falsetto is preserved in its pure form with a minimum of coordinate action with the chest register, it will present, in addition to being flexible, the widest possible extremes of intensity. Starting in the lower portion of the pure register (D, E, or F), the tone is at best soft, breathy, and incapable of swelling.

Ascending the scale, the intensity of the pure falsetto register mounts with increasing rapidity until by the time the top line of the treble staff has been reached a full forte has already been attained, after which the volume continues to increase until the very highest tones have been reached.

On all upper tones of the falsetto the singer is usually able to swell and diminish with fluency, but once the lower middle and lower tones have been reached this is no longer possible and the singer must be content to conform to the natural contour of the register outline until such time as the proper conditions have been established for increasing its volume. Once the register has been properly joined this vocal limitation is overcome."

You can hear that sort of thing by listening to Christina hitting a falsetto G#5, and then gain volume as she moves higher in the scale, because air is being forced through a thinner space. With men's voices, that process happens about an octave lower and it starts to become more difficult to tell when a man is singing falsetto, head voice, or sometimes even in a mixed voice because of that, and it's worse if they're in a genre that makes regular use of vocal distortion or employs roughness or straining for effect (or just because they suck; I'm sometimes not ... sure).

But, anyways, to actually answer your question, yes, that's what is meant by the term. That there is smooth and consistent sound throughout each part of a person's singing voice. As opposed to this mess. I sound like an automatic gear shift.

This is what he's talking about. Bottom to top to bottom in one breath, very smoothly and without any apparent breaks or unevenness.

 

[EulaCapra]

I wonder how Adam Lambert would have fared.

 

[lenovox1]

This is what he's talking about. Bottom to top to bottom in one breath, very smoothly and without any apparent breaks or unevenness.

Yeah, I tried to post a counter example. My transition into falsetto isn't actually that bad. :-/