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The vocal ranges of the greatest artists of all time

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Re: The vocal ranges of the greatest artists of all time

#12
If you're interested in this sort of thing, there's actually an internet forum of geeks who are quite dedicated to collecting and reviewing the ranges of many, many singers:

https://therangeplanet.proboards.com

Here's the Dimash Kudaibergen page, for example:

https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/30/dimash-kudaib...

Re: The vocal ranges of the greatest artists of all time

#13
post #6
post #3

https://youtu.be/JEz1qGS0T1Q Dimash Kudaibergen is a rare combination of uncanny natural ability and a hell of a lot of training. If you are interested in vocal range, I don't know anyone with a greater set of vocal texture. Opera musicians aren't on this list, but wide vocal range is table stakes for that genre.

A range of 6 octaves is positively superhuman. Even Yma Sumac, who is often cited when it comes to the widest vocal range, was just barely short of 6 octaves. Since I've just looked this up: Tim Storms ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Storms ), the current world record holder when it comes to vocal range, has one of 10 octaves (with the lower end extending into infrasound, i.e. being inaudible to the human ear)!

Mike Patton from Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/Tomahawk supposedly has a range of 6.5 octaves, but some people say it doesn't count because it includes screaming. He does a lot of weird stuff but he's one of my favorite vocalists. Regardless of whether or not his range is 6.5 octaves it is definitely extraordinarily wide.

Tim Storms is an interesting case, I've heard of him before but honestly before I heard his music I would have thought it would be impossible to have the widest vocal range in human history and at the same time make music sound so boring and lifeless.

I'm not into Christian music at all but even still Amazing Grace is a legendary song. However, Tim's rendition of it makes me want to fall asleep.

The deepness of his voice is interesting, but out of all the clips of him singing I haven't heard anything that made me feel like he was a world class talent.

Which is quite different from everyone else mentioned in this thread. I don't particularly like the work of many of the musicians mentioned here but their performances are often astonishingly good.

Re: The vocal ranges of the greatest artists of all time

#16
post #7
post #5

WTF Pat Benatar? This list is just so many promises in the dark without her.

I think you could say they just tried to hit you with their best shot.

Unfortunately, Pat Benatar and her guitarist husband went on some kind of holy war against their record label, which diverted their artistic energy.

Another mistake was the title and lyrics to her song "Hell is for Children" - her label should have asked for more precision, since it confused a lot of radio stations and listeners (is she pro or anti?). I can only imagine the drama in the Bible Belt over that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Benatar

I remember when she was one of the top acts - a real trailblazer in rock.

Re: The vocal ranges of the greatest artists of all time

#17
post #5

WTF Pat Benatar? This list is just so many promises in the dark without her.

Damn, now I have to listen to that again. You're a real tough cookie.

Now, I'm missing Ann Wilson here. I've had friends decide they want to try singing Heart songs at karaoke, and I have to warn them: danger! You do not have that much range.

And honestly, Luciano Pavarotti? Frank Sinatra? Frank wasn't known for his range, but kinda strange to leave him of a list of "greatest singers".

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