Vocal Type: Light-Lyric Soprano
Whistle Register:No
Vocal Range: C3-D6 (3 Octaves 1 Note )
Vocal Pluses: Janet Jackson is a Diva who knows her instrument, working its strengths and weaknesses to best effect. The voice has an overarching sweet and warm timbre that carries throughout the range, which works beautifully to create layered harmonies [Discipline/ What's It Gonna Be].
The lower-range isn't often used by Janet, being mostly weaved into harmonies[Take Care]. When she does showcase it, it sounds to be comfortable, dark and surprisingly solid [Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)].
The mid-range is where Janet's voice begins to shine, and is where she finds herself most comfortable. Here Janet shows her versatility, being able to play with texture and weight to create contrasting tones. Most often used is a soft, breathy and warm colouring [Rock With You], but she she can also solidify the sound, adding attitude and character to her delivery [Black Cat]. Both styles can be heard used brilliantly in tandem in domestic abuse song What About.
The overall lightness of her timbre, and her head dominate mix, allows the Diva to hit chest notes with relative ease, though the resonance/power achieved isn't very strong. The tone produced is sweet, rounded warm and free from strain, even in the mid-fifth octave. As she climbs the octave her voice seamlessly transitions into her head voice [ Love Will Never Do (Without You)].
The head voice is perhaps the most resonant part of the Diva's voice, being punchy, bright and of some thickness [He doesn't Know I'm Alive]. Though under utilised, the Diva sounds to be comfortable and free singing in her upper register.
Vocal Negatives: Janet Jackon's voice lacks power and has a nasal quality.
Thoughts?
You were one of my favorite singers RIP, sing with the angels now
ReplyDeleteThis article is bull,aliyah transitioned from a soubrette to a dramatic soprano in her life time
ReplyDeleteshe always been a soprano from the begining, her release music is her singing in her style falsetto with breathy tone thats why they consider that mezzo soprano
ReplyDeleteI think the Vocal Negatives, is, she lip syncs a lot & doesn't match the quality of her studio recordings live. I say that because that's what a singer should be able to do. & this whole vocal range post makes her seem like a great vocalist overall, but it's really only in studio.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the mid-range especially, like on I Get Lonely, nice work
ReplyDeleteJanet can sing live. Fact. And she is a great vocalist. As the post above states, her voice is sweet and warm, she can hit high notes with ease, and her voice is recognisable and unique. She can manipulate her voice with relative ease to achieve effect - and this is why her ballads are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI'd take that over a monotone, two octave Adele.
Janet's always been underrated as a singer. Anyone who thinks she can't leave behind that wispy alto misses those aggressive growls she unleashes on songs like Nasty, Rhythm Nation, and Black Cat not to mention those wonderful, near-contralto notes in "You", "Love Will Never Do Without You" and "You Ain't Right" from All For You. She's always been a wonderful singer.
ReplyDeleteWrong Jackson 0:)
ReplyDeleteJanet is a Mezzo Soprano ???? Oh gosh, please dont to that!! Correct this mistake immediately please. Laughing my ass off! xx
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge fan of her music, but I think Janet's heavy use of 'soft' or 'breathy' vocals is more of an artistic decision than a lack of ability to sing with more volume.
ReplyDeletethe highest notes on the video are falsetto.. everybody can have like 5,000 octaves doing falsetto
ReplyDeleteNot that anyone's going to notice, but I think it's a bit unfair to suppose that a singer 'should' be able to match the quality of studio recordings live; many live performers throughout history have purposefully done drastically different versions of their studio recordings live, or manipulated the existing structure to produce a different effect/work around somatic conditions. Furthermore, I've watched videos of Janet live, and for the athletic, highly technical dancing she does, it's no wonder that she finds it necessary to lip sync at times. If she were doing very basic dance moves (hip shaking for lack of a better example), it would be much easier to sing and dance at the same time, but I don't think 'basic' is in Janet's dance vocabulary. Furthermore, I've noticed that she sings over a backing track far more often than she lip syncs, which, again, might be best because her harmonies, calls and responses, etc. are so intricate that they're hard for back-up singers to duplicate pleasantly (I've heard many try on the live videos, they tend to over-sing or miss her nuances).
ReplyDeleteCase in point, here's a video where she's singing live and dancing, and while the vocals may not match the studio version, they're quite pleasant considering the complexity of the routine:
In sum, Janet's voice may lack power, but she more than makes up for it in emotiveness. Besides that, she knows her voice and kept it well, which is more than can be said for some of the vocal powerhouses.
Oops, the link didn't work properly:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7WloYmdTJM
Her range lies within the expected confines of a mezzo-soprano, as does her tessitura. Furthermore, most women (if they sing) fall under the category of mezzo-soprano. And to be fair, it's not as if the author classified her as a full blown soprano, or hid the fact that Janet's voice is very light.
ReplyDelete