Post by temporal on Mar 26, 2016 21:19:21 GMT -6
Critic of Music
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Range: C3 - C6 - G6 (F7)
Longest Note: 11 Seconds
Vocal Type: Light-Lyric Soprano (3 Octaves, 4 notes)
Vocal Rating: Star
Recommended Listenings: Honestly, Invincible, Sober, Why Don't You Try
Positives:
A vocalist with top notch phrasing that makes her an incredible emoter. A top echelon belter, with the ability to access any part of the belting range with ease (see her A5 in rehearsal on "Duets"). The belts are sturdy, supported up to G#5, and capable of reaching Soprano C (C6), with very little to no mixing, though more recently her belts are achieved with a chesty-mixed voice. In this area, her voice can cut through even orchestral and band arrangements (My Country Tis of Thee). The belts are most resonant from Eb5-G5.
Her falsetto is light and gentle, adding soulful nature to her ballads as well as emotional leverage. Her head voice, though rarely utilized until 2015, is clean and full (see Tightrope). Her low notes (below Bb3), though the weakest part of her range, have become more supported over time. These notes have been getting thicker through the years, carrying the previously mentioned smokey tone down to Eb3 (See her cover of Lies), and a dark quality to C#3 (harmony in Good Goes the Bye). Her midrange is full and well supported.
Vocal drives can be executed in all parts of the range, and can be taken out when desired (Compare the F5's in Honestly and Let Me Down). Able to flip through all her registers without the use of melisma, though she is more than capable of using the technique (See Why Don't You Try). Vibrato is a major asset to Clarkson, with the vibrato being wide and rolling (See Honestly and Mr. Know it All country version). She can apply her stunning vibrato to a majority of her voice (she's demonstrated it from F3-C6).
Though her voice is truly 'at home' in rock and pop stylings, her voice can also transcend through multiple genres, including Rock, Country, Pop, Jazz, R&B, Classical, Gospel, and Indie. With this ability to cover multiple genres, she has covered an expansive list of artists on American Idol and on her latest tours. Some of the artists she has tackled include Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Radiohead, Sara Bareilles, Adele, and even Eminem.
Her whistle register, though heavily underutilized is light and maintains a rolling vibrato.
Negatives:
Clarkson tends to push her voice in the upper chest register, creating distortion. This is mostly due to heavy touring, the demanding nature of her songs, and inconsistent technique. In her upper belts were lodged deep in the throat, and sounded very damaged. However a few years of experience, and better technique, lessened this effect (2012-2013). The whistle register is underutilized live and in studio.
Since her first pregnancy, Clarkson's belting voice has been incredibly inconsistent, showing an inability to hold C5's and occasional cracking, while the head voice lacks accuracy in the 6th octave.
Longest Note: 11 Seconds
Vocal Type: Light-Lyric Soprano (3 Octaves, 4 notes)
Vocal Rating: Star
Recommended Listenings: Honestly, Invincible, Sober, Why Don't You Try
Positives:
A vocalist with top notch phrasing that makes her an incredible emoter. A top echelon belter, with the ability to access any part of the belting range with ease (see her A5 in rehearsal on "Duets"). The belts are sturdy, supported up to G#5, and capable of reaching Soprano C (C6), with very little to no mixing, though more recently her belts are achieved with a chesty-mixed voice. In this area, her voice can cut through even orchestral and band arrangements (My Country Tis of Thee). The belts are most resonant from Eb5-G5.
Her falsetto is light and gentle, adding soulful nature to her ballads as well as emotional leverage. Her head voice, though rarely utilized until 2015, is clean and full (see Tightrope). Her low notes (below Bb3), though the weakest part of her range, have become more supported over time. These notes have been getting thicker through the years, carrying the previously mentioned smokey tone down to Eb3 (See her cover of Lies), and a dark quality to C#3 (harmony in Good Goes the Bye). Her midrange is full and well supported.
Vocal drives can be executed in all parts of the range, and can be taken out when desired (Compare the F5's in Honestly and Let Me Down). Able to flip through all her registers without the use of melisma, though she is more than capable of using the technique (See Why Don't You Try). Vibrato is a major asset to Clarkson, with the vibrato being wide and rolling (See Honestly and Mr. Know it All country version). She can apply her stunning vibrato to a majority of her voice (she's demonstrated it from F3-C6).
Though her voice is truly 'at home' in rock and pop stylings, her voice can also transcend through multiple genres, including Rock, Country, Pop, Jazz, R&B, Classical, Gospel, and Indie. With this ability to cover multiple genres, she has covered an expansive list of artists on American Idol and on her latest tours. Some of the artists she has tackled include Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Radiohead, Sara Bareilles, Adele, and even Eminem.
Her whistle register, though heavily underutilized is light and maintains a rolling vibrato.
Negatives:
Clarkson tends to push her voice in the upper chest register, creating distortion. This is mostly due to heavy touring, the demanding nature of her songs, and inconsistent technique. In her upper belts were lodged deep in the throat, and sounded very damaged. However a few years of experience, and better technique, lessened this effect (2012-2013). The whistle register is underutilized live and in studio.
Since her first pregnancy, Clarkson's belting voice has been incredibly inconsistent, showing an inability to hold C5's and occasional cracking, while the head voice lacks accuracy in the 6th octave.
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 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.
The Vocal Vortex
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Vocal Classification: Light-Lyric Soprano
Vocal Range: E♭3 - C6 - G6 (3 octaves and a major third)
Best Vocal Performances: Behind These Hazel Eyes, Honestly, The Trouble With Love Is, My Country Tis’ of Thee, Sober, Walk Away
Vocal Prime: 2010 - 2014 (all of the analysis will be based around her prime)
Lower Chest (B♭3 - E♭3): Kelly Clarkson’s lower register has never really been strong, and to this day, she struggles to go below G3 in a live setting without getting airy. However, she’s managed to cap out at an E♭3 live and in studio (All I Ever Wanted). Since she is a high soprano, there’s no need for her to really use this register, but it would be nice if she would work on the range here. Her support usually caps out at G3 live.
Middle Range (B3 - G♭4): Although this tends to be the least used area in her voice for a weird reason, Kelly’s middle voice, like every middle voice is where tessitura shines the most, with a bright, rich colour. Usually during ballads (or heavier tunes), this is the area of her voice where she’ll sing within (Irvine), but otherwise, it completes its function as a middle range. As it ascends, the voice becomes slowly thinner and much brighter.
Mixed Voice (G4 - C6): Peaking at a Soprano C, Kelly’s belting range is elastic, bright and very well-supported, having been able to support A♭5′s and A5′s before, although this was very early into her career (The Trouble With Love Is). Thanks to her great technique, she’s able to execute solid, resonant and supported belts up to G♭5 and G5 if she truly wants, though her support usually caps out around E5/F5. She’s able to add her vibrato to any note (Honestly), and thanks to her great breath control. Her vocal endurance is top-notch and greatly developed (Behind These Hazel Eyes). However, one big problem lies within this part of her voice: Above B4, Kelly distorts her tonality, giving her voice a raspy, hoarse sound on some of her belts. This causes her technique to not work as well as it could (but it is still remarkable regardless). Above F5, Kelly tends to become screamed and thin and her voice has cracked multiple times due to this issue. However, her belting range is what makes Kelly’s voice unique and distinguished.
Upper Register (A4 - G6): Although she didn’t truly develop her head voice until 2015, Kelly uses head voice, but does use falsetto on some occasions (Someone Like You). Her head voice is bright, fulsome and clean, but can have projection issues if not equipped with a mic (Ave Maria). She even has a whistle register, that is bright and pure-sounding (A Natural Woman), but like her upper register, she doesn’t venture into it often, leaving it underused.
Vocal Ability: Agile and musical, Kelly’s known to execute musical ornamentation, although she doesn’t usually use her agility. She’s known for being versatile and having a voice that can span across multiple different genres, however she tends to lack some musicianship during her covers (most of them sounded like karaoke, but she has shown musicianship before). Kelly also benefits from a large, connected voice and with full support from G3/A♭3 - E5/F5 - B♭5. Overall, Kelly is an accomplished vocalist with a couple of major flaws in her voice, but otherwise, it is well-developed as a whole.
Natural Qualities: Kelly possesses a youthful tone with a bright, yet fulsome timbre with a steady, rolling vibrato (Because of You).
Pros: Fully-connected vocal range, incredible resonating abilities, solid amount of support, good musicianship, great ornamentation, clean head voice, great mixing.
Cons: A tendency to distort her tonality, belts become screamy and thin past F5, a weak low register, likes to raise her larynx past E5, doesn’t utilize her upper registers too often
Overall: A
Vocal Range: E♭3 - C6 - G6 (3 octaves and a major third)
Best Vocal Performances: Behind These Hazel Eyes, Honestly, The Trouble With Love Is, My Country Tis’ of Thee, Sober, Walk Away
Vocal Prime: 2010 - 2014 (all of the analysis will be based around her prime)
Lower Chest (B♭3 - E♭3): Kelly Clarkson’s lower register has never really been strong, and to this day, she struggles to go below G3 in a live setting without getting airy. However, she’s managed to cap out at an E♭3 live and in studio (All I Ever Wanted). Since she is a high soprano, there’s no need for her to really use this register, but it would be nice if she would work on the range here. Her support usually caps out at G3 live.
Middle Range (B3 - G♭4): Although this tends to be the least used area in her voice for a weird reason, Kelly’s middle voice, like every middle voice is where tessitura shines the most, with a bright, rich colour. Usually during ballads (or heavier tunes), this is the area of her voice where she’ll sing within (Irvine), but otherwise, it completes its function as a middle range. As it ascends, the voice becomes slowly thinner and much brighter.
Mixed Voice (G4 - C6): Peaking at a Soprano C, Kelly’s belting range is elastic, bright and very well-supported, having been able to support A♭5′s and A5′s before, although this was very early into her career (The Trouble With Love Is). Thanks to her great technique, she’s able to execute solid, resonant and supported belts up to G♭5 and G5 if she truly wants, though her support usually caps out around E5/F5. She’s able to add her vibrato to any note (Honestly), and thanks to her great breath control. Her vocal endurance is top-notch and greatly developed (Behind These Hazel Eyes). However, one big problem lies within this part of her voice: Above B4, Kelly distorts her tonality, giving her voice a raspy, hoarse sound on some of her belts. This causes her technique to not work as well as it could (but it is still remarkable regardless). Above F5, Kelly tends to become screamed and thin and her voice has cracked multiple times due to this issue. However, her belting range is what makes Kelly’s voice unique and distinguished.
Upper Register (A4 - G6): Although she didn’t truly develop her head voice until 2015, Kelly uses head voice, but does use falsetto on some occasions (Someone Like You). Her head voice is bright, fulsome and clean, but can have projection issues if not equipped with a mic (Ave Maria). She even has a whistle register, that is bright and pure-sounding (A Natural Woman), but like her upper register, she doesn’t venture into it often, leaving it underused.
Vocal Ability: Agile and musical, Kelly’s known to execute musical ornamentation, although she doesn’t usually use her agility. She’s known for being versatile and having a voice that can span across multiple different genres, however she tends to lack some musicianship during her covers (most of them sounded like karaoke, but she has shown musicianship before). Kelly also benefits from a large, connected voice and with full support from G3/A♭3 - E5/F5 - B♭5. Overall, Kelly is an accomplished vocalist with a couple of major flaws in her voice, but otherwise, it is well-developed as a whole.
Natural Qualities: Kelly possesses a youthful tone with a bright, yet fulsome timbre with a steady, rolling vibrato (Because of You).
Pros: Fully-connected vocal range, incredible resonating abilities, solid amount of support, good musicianship, great ornamentation, clean head voice, great mixing.
Cons: A tendency to distort her tonality, belts become screamy and thin past F5, a weak low register, likes to raise her larynx past E5, doesn’t utilize her upper registers too often
Overall: A
