Vocal Type: Mezzo-Soprano
Vocal Range: 2 Octaves 4 notes C3-G5
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: Expressive, soulful voice that manages to maintain these qualities throughout the registers.The lower range has a beautiful cool, smoky tone to it whereas the belted voice is warmer with a gutsy, passion to it. Her head voice is also full, and bright.
Vocal Negatives: The technique she employs to generate grunts and growls, though sounding good and in keeping with her vocal style, can cause problems to the voice if used extensively.
Another big plus is that Ms. Stone plays well with others. Lots of others. I can't wait to hear her new album and then the Super Heavy album.
ReplyDeleteI just found your site. Very entertaining and informative. I've been listening to music for 60 years, but have had no formal training. Can't sing, either.
Do you have a page on James Brown or Marvin Gaye? Smokey Robinson? ;)
JT
Hello JT Thanks for the kind words! I'm also a big Joss fan, and looking forward to the new independent album!
ReplyDeleteAs for male vocal profiles I haven't actually created any ...yet. I may change this soon as it seems to be a very popular request. I've made a little list of male vocal ranges here to tide people over until that day comes.
Thanks again!
I think you're underestimating Joss Stone's recent vocal range. Her vocals have been doin' better than when she just came out. You need to watch the only video from youtube where you can re-decide the vocal range she has. You must STUDY or be a singer to judge the vocal range of an artist that way, WE ALL KNOW JOSS STONE can sing waaaaay better than many other artists you've clasified as WIDER (speakin' of the vocal range) than her. This ain't a comment to start a fight, in fact... I wish I knew about this blog few months ago, it's very interesting. The only thing I needed to do is comment on this thing 'cause I've been spending 12 years of my life studyin' music & I also play saxophone & I dooon't think Joss' vocal range is 2 octaves... I just don't.
ReplyDeletehey Anon, I am by no means an expert, so I take all comments as constructive criticism. lol
ReplyDeleteYes i agree that Joss' - and anyone else's for that matter- vocal range has nothing to do with them being a good singer or not. The only reason I put that as a vocal negative was because I couldn't think of anything else to write. Lame i know. I've amended it as of now having listened to her new new album LP1.
Aw. Thanks for the reply, I think it's a smart step from you to take the criticism as constructive... & yes.. well, the negative point of her vocal style may be the limited range she could deliver... but we all know that in live performances, artists can do much better than in studio. I'm referrin' to the 2 octaves of the vocal range you clasified her. I thinks it's a little bit lower than the one she owns. And yes... of course I'm a huuuge fan of hers and I recommend to listen to LP1. It might be out of her confort zone because of the genres she manages in here, but I think doin' soul with a lil' bit of rock-ish moves can be great on her voice. She's still soulful... and she has a freedom to sing and do whatever the vocal runs she's been usin' since her first album. Take a listen & I'll hope there's some positive feedback from you :) You'll be satisfied what she can do when she sings in her last album :) Enjoy:D & these are live performances when you can re-consider her tooootal vocal range ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLrqSQ6Nx7Q ) & ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeYaQoENLYY&feature=related )
ReplyDeleteI'm listening to LP1 now and I am throughly impressed. I had not heard about her yet, but during a visit to a friend's house, she was in the background, and I immediately fell in love. Thinking that it was older music, I had no idea we still had true artists like Joss Stone out there. I'm replaying LP1 a couple more times, and then I'm buying all her albums. It definitely feels like she's got at least 3 octaves. But it really doesn't matter how many octaves she has - her voice is gorgeous and absolutely unique. Nobody even remotely sings like her. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteAwesome website!!
Andrew
totally agree with your sentiments Andrew, thanks for all your comments!
ReplyDeleteI think Joss is a very understated singer,
ReplyDeletejust because she isn't constantly belting it out and showing off her range.
Her runs almost always have a purpose, she never strains or appears to be singing outside her range and she is comfortable in all her registers.
Only real negative is she gets nasal on occasion.
Many other sites label her a contralto, but again, I find her to be a richer mezzo-soprano matching what is listed here. Belts around Eb5, E5, and F5 are done with quite a bit of force, using her trademark, soulful sound. She tends to keep her belts throatier as opposed to mixing often to accommodate her Delta-influenced vocal style. You can see that in her live performance of "It's A Man's World."
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/UYGsuKD3iec
I really don't know if her voice is fake and forced or not, it just doesn't sound natural to me, like she's making it sound big, deep and rough like a black woman from the deep south (sorry if that's wrong but I think you all know what I mean). I think she's spent many years listening to and copying her idols who were black American singers and that's how she sings as a habit now :/
ReplyDeleteI get what you're saying but I have to disagree. For me, I think that's her natural voice because when she talks, you can hear that kind of dark, hoarse breathing timbre coming from her and when she sings that's how I hear it, the same as her talking voice. You can tell someone's not using their natural voice while singing when their talking voice is WAY different from their singing. For example, Christina's talking voice is very light and soft wheres her singing voice is dark, and deep. Sometimes, if you listen to her carefully, you can hear her natural voice while singing which is very flexible, light while retaining power, and almost Mariah Carey like. You can also tell a person is not using their natural voice while singing when their transitions from Head to Chest, Chest to low, etc. is very timed. Christina when singing using her natural voice can transition really fast wheres when she sings by raising her larynx, it takes time and a second break to transition but since her natural voice honed the ability to transition immensely fast, you can barely catch that second break from one transition to the other.
ReplyDeleteHmm, yeah I see where you're coming from. I think the main thing that kind of throws me off her a bit is the accent she seems to put on when singing and why her intonation makes her sound American. She's done it when talking sometimes too, and I understand she lived there and did most of her recording there, but still just comes across as strange.
ReplyDeleteHer voice is definitely a Dramatic timbre form of Mezzo. Her ability to tap into the soul and feeling of her singing is uncanny yet she never fails to entertain an audience. she's going places
ReplyDeleteDebatable Negative - that faker than fake southern US accent she puts on when singing. Most non-US singers do tend towards a sort of US accent when singing, but Joss really forces it in an obvious way.
ReplyDeleteCome on now, just imagine if she'd sing the kind of music she enjoys singing in a Kent accent. That would definitely sound "off".
ReplyDeleteYou have a point there! lol. But it would be pretty interesting, at the same time.
ReplyDelete