Vocal Type: Contralto
Vocal Range: 2 Octaves 3 notes and a semitone E3-Bb5
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: Soft, and sweet timbre to the entire voice. Her midrange is the strongest part of the voice and it's where it finds a solid, and stable tone and colouring. She is able to fluctuate quickly to and fro between the breathy warm, head voice and the other registers with ease.
Vocal Negatives: Chest notes in the fifth octave can sound forced, and strained.
Low notes:
E3
G3
Chest Notes:
D4/C4
G4
G5
Head:
C5/D5
E5
G5
Bb5
This is excellent! Utada has a very distinctive tone (not one singer sounds like her), although technically her slides into her chest and head voice often feel labored, if not completely arduous, especially when a concert takes a toll on her voice (whereas it's common for other, comparably more gifted performers to suffer a slight disparity in their live singing voice). The physical demands also force her tone to be somewhat pinched and nasal. Even when Utada has a capable vocal, her poor technique slackens the consistency of her performances. You really nailed the positive attributes of her voice.
ReplyDeleteShe might have gone lower than E3 right at the beginning of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sipyjia023s
ReplyDeleteHey, the note at the start of that is a G3, so still 2 notes above the lowest note I've found for her.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
ReplyDeleteOh man. ;| I think she can go lower than this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this profile, I love Utada Hikaru's voice. Seeing as you are somewhat open to Asian musicians, would it be possible for you to make an vocal profile/range for Jane Zhang. I lack the technical knowledge to do so, but I would be interested in reading.
ReplyDeleteI know you don't normally include exclamations or "squeaks" in the vocal range, but I'm curious about what note she hits at 3:53 in this song, "Celebrate": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bXfXMZtMCM
ReplyDeleteI think that's a B5
ReplyDeleteIt is!! :) Really hard to find 'cause of the technique which is quite unusual to reach it!
Deletewhat about flavor of life? she uses her lower register quite nicely there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ta0vEnki9E fast forward to 40 seconds isn't that lower??
ReplyDeletewhat about flavor of life? she uses her lower register quite nicely there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... fast forward to 40 seconds isn't that lower??
ReplyDeleteI just had another listen, think its an E6 actually
ReplyDeleteI'll add her to the list of pending profiles! :D
ReplyDelete...Although it's not part of her vocal profile? Still cool..;D
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEl9Stxqvqg
ReplyDeletePuts some more perspective on her range.
Are you positive she's a contralto? Her Timbre reminds much more of a Mezzo-Soprano.
ReplyDeletePassion/Sanctuary are by far one of the best songs I have ever heard in my life. It's why I am so in love with this artist.
ReplyDeleteIf she can, just like it's written, reach the note Bb6 like it's proved in the Do You extract, then she has got 3 octavia and 3 tones... !! Shouldn't that be corrected?
ReplyDeleteOne of the few popular sings that sound great live. I LOVE her voice! But she's definitely not a contralto, that's a gorgeous mezzo :-)!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. After listening, she feels like a classic mezzo-soprano to me. Overall timbre is much too light and there is not enough weight to the voice to qualify as a contralto. Her E3 does sound rich, but her middle range is just much too lightweight. She has an intermediate voice type that sounds best in the middle with some extensions up and down.
ReplyDeleteI don't actually know if she's a mezzo or a contralto. It's hard enough without training, but there are, in fact, lighter alto voices--which she could be, given how easily she goes into head voice on notes that any mezzo could probably sing in full voice--Tokyo Nights, for example, or even Simple and Clean, though maybe that's just a stylistic choice.
ReplyDeleteHer timbre suggests light mezzo. But she could be a light-ish contralto.
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to know which Utada songs these were, I have been searching for a verryy long time, to no avail.
I am looking for the G#5, and both A5 songs.
Thanks for all the help!
"(HD) Hikaru Utada Vocal Range - Studio: Eb3-Bb5 (1998-2010)"
http://vimeo.com/43350744
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteThe G#5 is from Shiawase Ni Narou from her 3rd studio album Deep River.
The A5s are both from her sophomore album Distance, respectively they are: Distance (album tittle song) and Kettobase. I'm a big Utada fan, so I'm pretty sure those are the right songs.
She's not even CLOSE to Contralto, though lol She has a Lyrical Voice. She's unable to sing in the Soprano tessitura so I say Lyric Mezzo. But no, this woman is not a contralto.
ReplyDeleteI was actually thinking "Who does Katy Perry sound like? She sounds like Hikaru Utada."
ReplyDelete