Live data from Hacker News

The vocal ranges of the greatest artists of all time

concerthotels.com

101–110 of 113 posts

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

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ooor instead of responding only to people's emotions and trying to control them, you could respond to the content of their post and admit they have a point. We all have choices. Saccharine positivity is ruining HN. In the past few days I've seen HN posts that: 1. Said a company's behavior only looks immoral, but it's actually not their fault, because they're just following incentives. 2. Said volunteerism isn't neede…

> you could respond to the content of their post Not so sure what your rant has to do about my post, really.

The target audience for my post seems pretty sure what it has to do with your post. I'll be happy to clarify if you're actually asking for clarification, but it seems like you're making a statement rather than asking a question.

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

#104
post #97

"Greatest artists of all time" Mostly American pop singers.

I guess we could ask, what is the metric of greatness for art? Quality of work? Popularity? Is the artist who does something perfectly exquisite that profoundly impacts anyone who sees it, but ends up only being seen by a small handful of people more or less great than the artist who's work is ok quality, and a bit inspiring, but is known to billions?

Log-scaled popularity (number of listeners) multiplied by the average inspiration felt by each person who hears it

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

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's one of my favorite movies ever, that scene included - love the song! Why do you skip it?

It's the visuals. I really have a difficult time with that costume. You can actually see the rubber in the inflated "tentacles."

I'm generally OK with the scene, but I know what you mean. For me it's the scene after, when Korben takes the stones out of the Diva, and the illusion breaks down: https://i.gifer.com/1ObZ.gif I consider that one the very rare imperfect shots in an otherwise perfectly crafted movie (I don't even remember off the top of my head which are the others).

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

#106
I'm highly skeptical of the lower ranges. Typically, a professional bass has a range down to around C2, and can hit a loud E2. There are some exceptionally low voices, especially in Russian choirs[1] that routinely hit B1s, maybe even a little lower.

To say that Axl Rose can hit an F1, is simply a mis-characterization of what vocal range is. "There was a time" simply doesn't contain any vocals in that range. Barry White did have an exceptionally low voice, but F#1 is similarly unbelievable.

David Bowie growls out an atonal "Well..." in "I took a trip on a Gemini spacecraft". How anybody assigned that a note value is beyond me.

The women have similar problems. Nine Simone hits an E2? That's an octave below where contra-altos normally operate.

It seems "range" in this article means that the singer once produced a noise that had a vague resemblance to a sung note that was interpreted by some article writer. As opposed to say, something that could actually be written down on sheet music and sung. Which is a shame because this list does include some with exceptional ranges.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJWihxRM9bU

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

#107

I find singing to be boring. You are either born with the talent or not. It’s nearly impossible to practice your ass off to go from tone deaf to the voice of an angel. On the other hand, you could pick up a guitar be tone deaf, practice your ass off, and eventually be a virtuoso. That’s much more impressive than being born with an ability to sing.

Good luck if yoy think that anyone can become a virtuoso on the guitar. I believe you do not really understand what this expression means. And on the singing thing, it's just like playing an instrument, you are born with a baseline hardware (your pipes) and software (your ears). It's a little bit more limited, in terms of how much you can improve from this starting point, than with an instrument, but you can for sure get better through practice.

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

#108

Does "The Singing Vacuum Cleaner" from The Fifth Element count? Despite the rather ludicrous costume given the actress, the singer behind that piece is actually quite good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inva_Mula

"The Singing Vacuum Cleaner"? That's Diva Plavalaguna for you. Show some respect! Green?

Super green

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

#109
post #20

Ann Wilson. Also, dudes have an advantage in falseto.

How so? Both men and women have a falsetto register.

Men can sing in lower registers, women cannot.

Men reach way into female range by virtue of falseto.

I submit: Axl Rose, at the top of the charts as an example.

Post reply on HN