Quote:
Originally posted by Merelyn
I guess they're talking about the high notes Eminem hit when he screams. 
Eminem's range maybe wider than Bruno, but could he hit Bruno's lowest notes without sound pitchy? 
This is why vocal ranges means nothing and can't be used to measure singers' vocal ability. |
I get where you're going with this (that range isn't the end-all-be-all), but I think saying it "means nothing" is a bit much. Vocal range is one of the major aspects in classifying one's instrument, which in turn is about 50% of determining someone's vocal ability (the other 50% being technical application).
The problem with classifying range in pop music is that a lot of people can't grasp the concept of tessitura (your comfortable singing range, the notes you could actually project without the luxury of a mic). As much as I love Mariah, I think her "5 octaves" thing kinda popularized the recent trend of singing well outside of your tessitura to inflate your vocal range, most notably done by Christina, Demi, Jessica, and others. Whitney for example, stood mostly true to her tessitura, so comes out underrated on a list like this which just considers the lowest note you pushed your larynx down to reach, and the highest note you gratuitously squealed into a mic or in the studio. Mariah's 5 octaves are heavily inflated around the bottom end of her range, those second octave notes being pretty clearly forced and unsupported.
Just using the singers I am closely familiar with, if I were to rank their true ranges:
- Beyonce would be something like Eb3-F5-B5(C6 on a good day), lyric mezzo, something like 2.5 octaves.
- Christina would be something like E3-E5-?? (not familiar with her head voice), probably some kind of mezzo, over 2 octaves at least.
- Whitney would be something like F3-F#5-C6(C#6 on a good day), spinto soprano, also around 2.5 octaves.
- Mariah's would be around F#3-G5-D6(again, only counting head voice, not that there's anything wrong with her whistles all the way up to G#7), lyric soprano, nearly 3 octaves (4+ with whistle).
Mind you, these are all being generous considering most standard operatic fachs span about 2 octaves using HEALTHY CONNECTED voice, with some notable singers attaining 2.5-3 octaves. I'm not familiar with Axl Rose's range, but I'm just gonna assume that as a male vocalist, he isn't blasting Bb6s in head voice, certainly not reliably enough to consider that part of his tessitura.
