Emeli Sandé
Vocal Type: Mezzo Soprano
Vocal Range: 2 Octaves 2 notes (D3-F5)
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: Her lower range, which sits just above the second octave, doesn't produce the healthiest of sounds, being foggy and pushed, but it quickly gains a surer footing as it climbs.
Being somewhat of a vocal chameleon, Sandé can change the tone and timbre of her midrange: lightening and imbuing it with a breathy, airy quality [Breaking The Law]; or keeping it fuller, darker and with a maturer quality to it [Read All About It Part iii], all depending on what is needed. Sandé can also play with her intonation to give her delivery a different sound: for instance the jazzier inflections in Daddy contrasted with the more contemporary delivery heard in Next To Me. These qualities work together to give the midrange brilliant dynamics and impressive versatility, all while highlighting the musicality and sensitivity of the singer.
Sandé is equally as comfortable in her belting range as she is in her midrange, with songs like Heaven being sung almost entirely in the belting range of her voice. The quality of her belt is one that is clear, cutting and clearly well supported. Due to her excellent "mix" (between her head and chest voice), Sandé retains a fair amount of weight, character and texture even up to an F5. Her ease within this part of the range shows a brilliant technique is at work.
Her head-voice isn't used for protracted periods but instead Sandé switches to and from it to add interest to her melodic lines. The fact that she can do so at all, apparently with ease, suggests she has the skill to sing in this part of the range, but chooses not to. The notes themselves sound more akin to falsetto, being light and breathy.
Vocal Negatives: Underutilised head-voice, and weak lows. At times the chameleon like quality of her voice, though showing skill, makes it harder to immediately identify- for instance sounding like Leona Lewis here, and Beverly Knight here.
