Vocal Type: Full-Lyric Soprano
Vocal Range: 2 Octaves 5 notes and a semitone (Eb3-C6)
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses: Being a product of the classical world, Charlotte Church has received vocal training that has allowed for her to manage and understand the inner workings of her instrument. With this knowledge comes a voice that is confident, assured and skilful in its delivery. She would also have been taught about breath control, and this is shown in practice by Church’s ability to hold notes and navigate long phrases, often through registers, without losing breath or the correct support. It also affords the singer excellent mastery of dynamics; being able to begin a phrase loud and projected, but end it gentle and soft [Hear:Breach Of The Peace].
The lower range isn’t particularly extensive- beginning in the third octave- but the control here means that Church is able to produce tones that are substantial and without the fogginess many Divas exhibit in the lower extremes of their range [The Rise]. Her voice leads seamlessly in tone and timbre into the midrange, and both share a distinct and identifiable character.
Church is primarily a midrange belter, being most comfortable at the upper end of the fourth octave and lower end of the fifth. This being so, the singer produces a tone that is weighty, full and resonant. As her head voice overlaps the chest voice- being heard as low as a B4- the singer is often heard jumping between the two parts to create interest in the vocal line. However, she is capable in either register.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Church’s range is the head voice. Having honed it during her early years in the Classical world, the Diva exhibits a skill in this part of her voice that allows for impressive tonal variety. The voice here can be light and airy [Hear:Lasts, Or Eschaton ], thick and operatic [Sparrow], or balanced so brilliantly with its chest voice counterpart that it skirts the line between the two, never sounding quite like either.
Being so capable in her head voice and her mix, Church has no problem transitioning through the range; making it sound as if there are no breaks to be found in the voice at all. To further polish her notes, the singer is able to add a balanced and controlled vibrato that can either sound operatic or contemporary depending on the how she chooses to apply it
Vocal Negatives: It would be impressive if Church worked further on her fifth octave belting, while simultaneously developing her lower range.
G#3 (0.03) Breach Of The Peace
G4 (0.06) Breach Of The Peace
G4 (0.09) Glitterbombed
C5-C#5(0.11) Breach Of The Peace
B4 (0.21) Sparrow [Head]
Eb5 (0.24) Breach Of The Peace [Head]
E5 (0.27) The Rise [Head]
F5 (0.30) Glitterbombed [Head]
G5 (0.34) Remains [Head]
G#5 (0.38) The Rise [Head]
B5 (0.43) Sparrow [Head]
C6 (0.48)Crazy Chick [Head]
Thoughts?
Had to do this. Saw her last week and she was AMAZING! Vocally on point throughout the gig.
ReplyDeleteyes i've been waiting for a new profile, it has been decades LOL, though i was expecting more relevant artist, but hey the girl can sing! though i have note in the 1st paragraph shouldn't it be "skillful" then isn't it "she has been taught" rather than "she would have been taught"? anyway im not really a native speaker of English, so please disregard my comment if it's wrong
ReplyDeleteShe's AMAZING!! Thanks DD =D
ReplyDeleteI LOVE CHARLOTTE CHURCH. I saw her two weeks ago and she was, undeniably, fantastic.
ReplyDeleteQuick-Question: I know this has nothing-to-do-with-anything but... Can somebody please explain to me why Celine Dion is classified as a "Lyric Soprano"?
I had always assumed that she were a "Full-Voiced- Lyric Mezzo-Soprano" or "Coloratura- Mezzo-Soprano" with an extremely strong/bright Upper-Register (partially because of her classical training) thus, at times, giving the allusion that she may be a "Soprano" (Spinto) perhaps?
Thank you Guys.
"skilful" is the correct English spelling (your suggestion is America spelling) and "she would have been taught" is also correct since it was preceded with "Being a product of the classical world" in the previous line to which that was a reference.
ReplyDeleteLOL I have no idea who you are but...THANK YOU!!! I had given up even asking for those.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah...I second that request wholeheartedly. :-)
That's actually quite simple - a soprano has a bright voice with their best voice coming out in the top and middle of their voice, as opposed to a mezzo, who is centred in the lower middle range. Sopranos tend to have lighter, much 'girlier' voices, but can still (as Celine has shown) produce powerful and piercingly strong notes. Think of it like this - a soprano has a voice like a funnel - their biggest and best notes (not to mention the notes they could sing all day) come out at the top, narrow a bit in the middle, then narrow and grow smaller and weaker still at the bottom. That more or less defines Celine, who skates around G5 and A5 like they're breathing to her. Even an incredible mezzo belter (such as Anastacia, Beyonce, or Barbra) couldn't pull that off, much less at Celine's age. Plus, she's never had a strong low range - it all tends to die out around F3 not due to bad technique, but simply due to not long enough vocal cords to sustain good sound any lower than that.
ReplyDeleteEven though I am a native English speaker, I don't know what I'm writing half the time- so I'm not one to hold to any kind of standard! Lol. As long as it's vaguely understandable I call it a triumph! I am a little embarrassed I spelt "Skilful" in the Americanised way, though, but I blame that on the Chrome spell checker! ;)
ReplyDeleteLOL! I've just been Really lazy! I will try and post some more profiles soon! It's just the more albums someone has, the harder it is for me to get my S**T together. http://25.media.tumblr.com/6f387143b77e0a112a506178a3b48328/tumblr_moda8jK6va1qhd8sao1_500.gif
ReplyDeleteLOL! It's you, isn't it!!
ReplyDeleteShe was SOOO good, right? I'm glad I got to see her at an intimate venue, made it that little bit more special. As for all those little descriptives before the soprano/mezzo/contralto, i prefer to leave them off. I usually only add them if people are adamant that they fit the singer.
ReplyDeleteUhm no you did not! You spelled it the proper English way. Also as far as I can tell, your writing is usually excellent bar some brainfart type of spelling errors.
ReplyDeleteI was afraid people would go there but hoped they would realize quickly I am A: not a game player like that. B;not that desperate and C: would not be that transparent if I was a game player like that.
ReplyDeleteIn fact...my second thought was that somebody was playing a game on me by deliberately making it look like it's me but trying to hide that fact...which just goes to show how devious my mind could work and why I'd not be that transparent.
It's all getting very ...meta LOL
In short...no, it was not me. I only post under Opie Ever.
No DD, this isn't Opie. I am just one of your many readers. Been reading your blog for an year or so now. And I have to say I just LOVE it. I have never learnt so much about music and artists ever in my life from anywhere else. But the only reason I keep coming back to your blog is because of your style of writing...zero bias and near-perfect objectivity. Please keep it up 'cos you are doing a FANTASTIC job!
ReplyDeleteAnd btw, I am familiar with some of the frequent posters here. Opie (who I know is an Anouk fan, if I'm not wrong), Arthur, Reiko, BlackRobin, that little troll Luiz and few others.
And on the subject of re-posting updated profiles, I recall re-reading profiles of Patti Labelle and Ellie Goulding. Really good job there. I just wish not to miss out on such opportunities if you guys choose to re-do profiles.
Can someone explain to me why many people claim she has damaged her voice?
ReplyDeleteit totally slipped my mind about the English Brits use, i apologiSe for that :)). but i stand by my 2nd correction, "She WOULD have been taught" is incorrect since normally if you use a conditional tense which is an action of the verb would happen only if a certain condition were met, so there should have been "if" or a contradiction, but there's not (see I'm already using it). then again i think DD used "would" because he's not certain 100% that Charlotte received breath control training, so maybe instead of "would" "might" should have been used.
ReplyDeleteDD, this is a great profile!! Hahaha, I don't listen to her much but she sounds like one of those "less is more" singers, which are nice for a change.
ReplyDeleteCan I make a request for a Sara Bareilles profile? She's a really talented lady, and she definitely deserves a profile. :)
It also sounded like a mixed voice to me. She has a pretty voice, I guess I'll have to check some of her work :3
ReplyDeleteShe's a lyric soprano.
ReplyDeleteYeah, she is.
ReplyDeleteno i disagree. the usage of "would" was unnecessary. first DD was sure "Charlotte Church has received vocal training...." then suddenly there was the "would" in another clause so there was a shift of mood, therefore the sentences are not consistent. plus DD backed the "would have also been taught..." with "this is shown in practice by Church’s ability to hold notes..." so DD was sure. :))
ReplyDeleteLike I said, maybe you should ask a teacher or something if you don't want to believe me Josh. Frankly, for you to simply disagree when you show as little understanding of English as you do in your own writing is just coming across...foolish.
ReplyDeleteDue to your not understanding, your reasoning is equally flawed.
If she ever did a duet with Amy Lee the world would end in gigantic explosion of magic and beautyness...
ReplyDeleteIt appears from previous recordings that she's got better since when she first ventured into pop music - her voice was deeper and huskier, her breath control was inconsistent, her belting was limited and she barely used her head voice. I guess she's probably taken lessons in recent years to repair the damage smoking (which I hope she's stopped) had caused and has got back into being a vocalist who does care for her voice.
ReplyDeleteSeriously Josh?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you are still in school but if you, are I suggest you ask your English teacher if you don't want to believe me. :-)
DD's first sentence states the fact of Charlotte classical world background and the kind of training she would have had in that environment and speaks of what we can conclude would be the resulting understanding.
"would also" refers to yet another conclusion we can draw from the fact stated in the first sentence.
DD is making assumption because he is not sure exactly what her training entailed.
To state "has been taught" would imply one does know for a fact.
"might" expresses a possibility. "would" implies logical conclusion/assumption
Thank you so much "Ethan.A"... I understand now. : - D
ReplyDeleteNot a single new post in 6 days or so, I knew something was cooking. Thanks so much for this profile DD. Been looking forward to this for a while now. Now hurry up and give us Alison Krauss and Anouk's too!
ReplyDeleteOT: one request, when you update vocal profiles, please make a post or re-post the article on your home-page, if that's possible.
That E5 kinda sounded like a good mix than head. I really like her voice.
ReplyDelete