Vocal Range
E2 ~ G5 (3 octaves, 1 note and 1 semitone)
Supported Range
E3 ~ E4/F4
Voice Type
Tenor
Strengths/Achievements
- Able to switch comfortably into falsetto register
- Voice is very light and sits comfortably in a one octave range which he sings in mostly
- He is able to support a bit of his lower range down to E3 and D3 at times
- Notes up until E4 and F4 are oftentimes relaxed and not very squeezed
- Able to stay mostly in pitch with his falsetto
- Intonation has improved from debut, as well as falsetto register
- Lower range isn’t exactly breathy
Points for Improvement
- Nasality is a very present part of his singing, unwanted unintentional uncontrolled nasality
- Intonation is still a problem and can many times become flat and pitchy
- Vocal runs aren’t very smooth or produced through separating every note, pitch isn’t precise either
- Tends to raise his larynx and squeeze his throat very low in his range
- Unable to correctly support his voice, notes above F4 are often strained and whiny
- Narrow supported range
- Underdeveloped vocal registers
- Falsetto is often breathy and disconnected
- Lower range is often quiet and not a well explored register
- Instability at times present in his voice
- Absence of vibrato
- Breath support isn’t very evenly controlled
Registers
- Lower register: Very unstable lower range, with a lack of extension on that part. Notes around E3 and below lose volume but not exactly cord connection. Although that’s a plus, the volume drop and lack of projection is quite evident on notes below E3.
- Mixed register: very underdeveloped overall. His larynx has the tendency to shoot up very low in his mix, he will often squeeze his throat and project his mixed register through his nose, straining through most of his range. However so, he does not tend to try and sing much outside of his comfortable mixed range, ending around F4 to G4, which does not hurt his voice as much.
- Upper register: Breathy and not well controlled, at times he will be able to smoothly transition into his falsetto, but many times his falsetto will be either very unprojected and breathy, or just very nasal and thin. His control of his falsetto often becomes unbalanced in pitch due to how squeezed his throat is when singing in this register. However so, he’s been able to produce more well placed falsetto notes than in other registers, such as his F#5’s in “Love You To Death”.
Agility
His voice is that of a tenor, which in theory should allow for easier vocal runs to come about. Taeyang draws a lot of influence from R&B music and hence often sings vocal runs, but they lack a lot in terms of note separation and pitch accuracy, often hitting flat or off key notes, or simply sliding through notes in a vocal run without actually emphasizing each individual pitch in his vocal runs. This area is one that needs most work due to the style of music he chooses to sing, which requires vocal agility and ornamentations.
Overall analysis
According to YG entertainment and fans alike, Taeyang is Big Bang’s main vocalist. As such, he’s also been given many chances to go solo and has had a very successful and popular career as part of Big Bang and as a soloist. Taeyang’s voice is very smooth and light, often showing that his influence is R&B, since his tone sounds very R&B-like, such as Ne-Yo, Chris Brown and Usher. He is a tenor, therefore his voice is supposed to be able to handle higher ranges and sit more comfortably in a higher area than where he usually sings in. Following the YG formula, however, Taeyang shows more artistic freedom and feels more like an artist and dancer than a vocalist who focuses on vocal technique. He explores his musical side, but his vocal skill limits itself to his specific style of singing and has not changed much since debut until now.
Taeyang’s lower register is a very under-explored register overall. On notes in between E3 and B3, his voice seems to sit very comfortably and it’s usually as low as he sings. On occasion he will sing lower and hit notes below E3 down to C#3, but most of the time his volume will drop and his voice will sound shaky and unsure. He lacks control also in pitch the lower he goes, which can be caused due to the lack of breath support and the vocal runs that descend into his lower register. He doesn’t go lower than C#3, which isn’t very low for any male, which may show a lack of confidence and comfort in that register. His voice, as a tenor, however sits slightly higher in range and although the natural tenor tessitura should be able to handle C3 and above, those voices start to shine more into the upper third octave and mostly when they hit the fourth octave.
In his mixed register, Taeyang often sings very comfortably and often around C4 to E4 and quite constantly will hit notes around F4 and G4 in more dramatic climaxes. One of Taeyang’s biggest issue here is how his voice isn’t properly supported and how he intakes breath too often in very short periods, not allowing for his diaphragm to fully expand and support his voice to create a better produced and fuller tone in his voice. Taeyang’s larynx also tends to go higher on F#4’s and G4’s, losing tone and starting to sound quite strained. Anything from G4 up to C5 is often very strained and squeezed with his swallowing muscles and throat closing around his vocal cords. However so, he doesn’t often go that high because his songs don’t require him to and he seems to know his voice well enough to know where he can comfortably sing and where he can’t. It’s quite hard to find songs where Taeyang actually belts and sustains high notes. Examples include his belted Bb4’s in “하루하루”, his A4’s in the bridge of “Fantastic Baby” and his G4’s in “눈, 코, 입”.
The falsetto register is more often used than the belting register and it feels like a safer, more comfortable register for him. Notes in this register are often more relaxed and confident, but lack in terms of production and projection. Throughout the years he’s been able to improve his ability to more smoothly transition into this register, but has yet to learn to explore the fullness of this register. For the style of music Taeyang sings, the thinner more nasal falsetto often feels like a better stylistic choice, but by the sound of the tone produced, the throat being squeezed can clearly be heard. His falsetto can at times be cleaner and more well placed than his other registers, but still lacking in terms of support and resonance. He can also sound slightly uncontrolled and flat in this register, more often than his other registers.
Taeyang’s biggest flaw as a vocalist is his nasality. Nasality, breathiness, throatiness and such, can all be vocal effects done depending on the genre of music one sings, however those can only be considered stylistic choices when they are, as mentioned, choices. In other words, singers choose to sing that way but can also choose to sing differently if they like. Taeyang’s never shown the ability to control his nasality, which along with his lack of breath support, directly affect his lack of ability to produce fuller, better placed resonant notes. Most of the times Taeyang projects and sings through his nose, one of his most noticeable vocal flaws, which causes his voice to be very thin and small in tone overall as well. Another flaw that shows a lack of ability to relax his voice and support it properly is the absence of vibrato, which is just not there in his singing. Vibrato is often produced by the relaxation of the vocal cords along with proper breath support, both inexistent in his singing. Another flaw is his pitch which will at times go off in many performances. An example would be the live performance of “You’re My“, where his transitions into falsetto and back brought him off key and off pitch.
Overall, Taeyang is much more of an artist than he is a vocalist. He’s learned to use his voice comfortably in a narrow supported range which is used effectively to sell and promote his music. He does not heavily try and promote himself as a vocalist, instead, focusing more on a the performance side of his music, often by dancing and giving a good show. He is an artist who’s very successful in Korea and even though he not be the most technical vocalist, the direction his music takes isn’t about being the most vocally capable vocalist out there, but instead a smooth sexy R&B performer focusing on choreography, which he will always deliver very effectively.
Musicianship
Taeyang most of the time will not change much of the melody of his songs, but will add energetic movements and runs through the stage by screaming and bringing the energy up. On ballads, however, he will at times try and add different vocal runs or change the melody, but it will be mostly flat or feel out of place. However so, most of the time he tends to sing without changing much or taking too many risks, which helps his music be delivered more effectively to his audience.
Label (Type of Vocalist)
C Vocalists: Commercial Vocalists
S vocalists: Stylistic Vocalists
Vocal Range Video(s)
Video by: 2NE1Bang
Best Vocal Performance
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Analyzed by Ahmin (Kitsunemale)
(Originally analyzed by Chung)
K-pop Vocalists' Vocal Analyses 
I always think Daesung is the only person in YG who can sings very well, I know Taeyang but his vocal is not that dominant in him .-. He’s dancer that’s all in my mind XD
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I wouldn’t say Daesung is necessarily the only person in YG who sings well (AkMu and Lee Hi are rising, Se7en, etc.), but I agree with what you (and ahmin3) said about Taeyang…
I love Blue but every time I listen to it and he squeezes out the E-flat at the end of the bridge I cringe. I know it’s actually not that bad and it’s just one note (like why would I notice one note out of the entire song), but I guess since the rest of the song is so perfectly smooth and mellow, just that one note disturbance always gets me every time. It’s the same with a lot of his other songs… Still love BIGBANG’s songs though!
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Well by singing well, being Average to Above Average isn’t exactly the level one should be aiming for their best vocalist to be in within a company. Se7en honestly from what I’ve been hearing doesn’t seem to be that much better but I love him so I’ll look more into that. Gummy was one who made YG look like they did care about vocal ability, now with her gone, nope.
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Wow, that was a quick reply! That’s probably true, I can’t really give an accurate judgment on how well they sing except going off the general consensus (which isn’t that reliable in the first place lol). In the first place though I wasn’t a fan of YG because of their vocal talents but rather their songs and musical style 😀 (and their composition skills, aka GD and Teddy, etc.)
Random question, out of curiosity, do you ever stop liking a group or singer because their vocal abilities aren’t good? Or do you ever like a group/singer even when their vocals aren’t that good? Thanks again!
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No that’s okay don’t worry bout the judgement part lol Of course, I don’t mind people loving YG’s music, I just feel slightly upset when people claim YG is about talent and SM is about looks, when in terms of vocal ability, YG has almost nothing to fall back on and SM has many vocalists who do sing considerably better. Oh it depends, I don’t stop liking them, I just don’t enjoy listening to performances where they mess up a lot. I love them regardless but I’d rather listen to someone actually singing the song well, like sometimes the original artist or something. I don’t dislike the groups though, I love them all the same lol
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Haha thanks for replying again~ It always feels weird when you post a comment on a forum and someone actually replies xD
Yeah that’s actually a good point, I think both agencies have equally good groups (or at least they have different strengths)… I guess then the only thing I would compare SM and YG with is not the idols, but the agencies themselves. Although again I don’t really know the inside stories so I can’t really make a fair judgment on SM’s policies (and clearly I am biased towards YG cough cough username) but I feel like if Super Junior, TVXQ, and Exo all went through the same problem there’s something wrong with the management. But anyways, this is going away from vocal abilities and I feel like I’m broaching into dangerous argument territory so…
Another random question! (Only if you feel like answering) Do all of you guys writing the analyses know each other in real life, or did you just find a common interest and decided to start this blog? I think it’s cool that even kpop now has people doing things like vocal analysis, if in the future kpop fans got together and started like kpop mashup communities or other things like that it’d be a testament to how much kpop has grown.
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U think so? I always try to reply lol like I like to acknowledge people who acknowledge me lol Well I don’t agree about the management, I feel it’s just if you really pay attention, they probably take away your money at most and people who are greedy wanna leave, but they also lack talent. I mean I was with Hankyung wanted a normal life until he became a singer in China and Im like u greedy bitch, U just wanted money for yourself but you can’t even sing. Same goes for Kris and JYJ well why did they leave and Homin stayed if SM was that bad? That’s personal greed from those specific members, that’s the reality of it. I don’t love them any less, I love Junsu, but a company can’t be terrible if people are being left behind. This is a dangerous territory, you’re right LOL No we only know each other online, we’ve never met online since we live so far away from one another lol I really hope this grows tbh and that people acknowledge us in a more positive way lol
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Hahaha we called it! XD let’s stop before the point of no return… Yeah, I hope your guys’ blog grows (anything that helps spread kpop!), and I’m sure as you guys continue you’ll gain more recognition for the hard work and time you put into it 🙂 Anyways, fighting!
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Thank you, the recognition we’ve gotten so far is already amazing anyway and I’m very happy ^ ^
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I’m sorry ahmin but I think a good deal of your comment is wrong. I’m not saying that JYJ did not want to be paid better, lol of course they did, but how is that greed? Especially when they upheld their end of the bargain and SME decided “Guess what? I won’t follow through. Go fuck yourselves”
Homin admitted that they also wanted to address the issue so this was also a concern the entire group had not just JYJ. Does that make Homin greedy? I don’t think so. The difference was the approach. JYJ filed an injuction (not a lawsuit) to put TVXQ activities on hold to force SME to address the issue because conversations behind the scenes were just a bunch of “yes yes we will pay you a bonus if you do this so quit bitching” and no follow-through. Then it became a full-fledged lawsuit and later it became about “OMG! Homin are better anyways. JYJ are just greedy and SME forever!!!!!!!” and not about the main issue. Why are idols so inadequately paid?
People yack that it isn’t true but look JYJ just released 2 full fledged albums as a group and they have managed to acquire a very good standard of living. Why isn’t it like this for groups that supposedly have outsold them and are so~ much better? Even after management fees are paid. Cause JYJ have CJes for management and the cost for production and management are very likely the same so why this difference???? How does that make sense?
It isn’t normal or healthy for 5 grown ass men to be sharing a dorm (and rooms too) in Japan AND Korea and flying back and forth between those two countries following a brutal schedule and no good pay to compensate for it way after they reached fame in Japan. It isn’t made up either. There are many videos where the DBSK members were doing some random interview in a Japanese show and then another and they are wearing the same clothes. Meaning that they had been travelling around Japan for a whole day giving interview after interview. Good for them because they are getting themselves known right? Well guess what? That was the only “payment” they got. That is right!!! The courts proved that DBSK was not paid for any of these interviews as they were deducted from DBSK’s pay as “promotion fees”
Come on now! Talent or no talent that is just fucked up.
Fly to the sky, The Grace (they have been fucked over so many times. One of the most talented groups and how much do they have to show for it?), f(x), Jessica, Exo-Kris/Luhan, Trax (who became a joke after Rose left and show so much “loyalty” to SME who reward them with shitty back-track appearances.) H.O.T. and Shinhwa. Not to mention Min Ho You, Ji Hoon Kim etc I wish you would do some research into these groups/members/individual’s background and come back so confident that SME has such great management.
Lee Soo Man has had orders of arrest against him that he has managed to evade. Instances of sexual harassment against idols, accounting omissions in financial reports AKA fraud, etc. I’m not saying that JYJ experienced ALL of this, (thank god) but that comment you made about “good management” is so wrong on so many levels regardless of whether you “hate” or “love” Junsu. That isn’t the issue with SME, not even close.
I won’t ever post such a long comment ever again but this is not something I can read and just cross my arms like it is nothing because these assumptions are what have helped allow SME to get away with their shady practices for too long.
You know what you are talking about when it comes to evaluating vocal technique but not about the practices of idol companies especially SME’s history. So I will respectfully disagree with 95% of your post.
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Well greed on someone’s sides and not everybody of course, some want artistic freedom and some want other opportunities to do other things… I think it’s true, not on Kris’ side or Hankyung’s side, but on JYJ’s side that they wanted to manage themselves better and be more independent on their own but I also am not a supporter of the whole “FUCK SM” campaign. People, it’s the business world, it’s real world of music, it’s like this everywhere and I’m not saying it’s right but it’s not wrong either. Exploitation is bad but it’s sometimes not that extreme. JYJ wanted to be more independent and I appreciate that but to full on hate on SM and HoMin as a contrast from JYJ leaving is just as stupid and immature as thinking JYJ are wrong and just plain greedy. I don’t really think solely that and I just think both sides have bad and good intentions and we can only hope they both find happiness in their individual decisions, instead of picking a side and hating on the other… yknow what I mean? I’m not sure about being healthy or normal, they’re a group afterall..bands live together after years and stuff.. of course they might move out…but it’s also a normal part of being a musician..
I do appreciate and I also apologize for saying that they were greedy, I didn’t meant it that as being all I thought it was, I just think there are a bunch of reasons as to why one would wanna stay and one would wanna leave and some are fine with such conditions and some are not and like I said, I just don’t think “Fuck SM” mentality works because at the end of the day, it wasn’t the whole group that left anyway but I do understand that a lot of SM is brutal, but it’s just many companies when managing their singers, in the US, or Korea or whatever, they try and take over their lives for money and treat the artist as a product and forget they’re human too and that’s also wrong. I also don’t think that SM has great management, I never said that, but I’m saying it’s not so black and white and one side can’t be 100% right and the other side 100% wrong, I just think there are conditions in which one can endure certain things and where one can’t, and I respect their decision to leave but I don’t think I should hate on SM as a whole because of that either. I mean JYJ are actual musicians, I don’t personally respect Kris’ decision to leave nor Hankyung’s, it’s been two years for EXO and he’s already swinging on the SM fame to become something bigger in China, smth he wouldn’t have been able to do without SM’s fame for him first. Hankyung is not a good singer, he’s not that handsome, he was not talented enough and he said he wanted a normal life, I’d respect that, but then he became a celebrity in China which completely goes against his first statement of wanting to lead a normal life.
Also Imma say again, Im only very slightly offended and Ik Im not supposed to be and I understand your POV and you were very respectful with your statements, but I do know of SM’s history very well, I do know of K-pop very well and I’m familiar with all of the acts and what happened to them. Ik also what happened to Isak N Jiyeon and Dana as a soloist, it’s all business decisions and it works in a business model, but humans are humans and you can’t treat them like products 24/7. I just wanna defend myself by stating that I NEVER said SME had “good management”, I just didn’t think it was completely bad management either. As a business model, they’re very successful and have a great business model to lead them towards financial success but of course, humans are humans and you can see what’s going on now by seeing how many issues SM has been having, the business model can only work for so long and it seems to be crumbling down. Oh and the comment about Junsu is because people assume if you take SM’s side, you hate JYJ, if u love JYJ then u gotta hate SM and their artists, that’s also very wrong. Also if I say something that’s not 100% positive about Junsu, then I’m instantly a hater, SM fan, biased and whatnot..which isn’t the case.
So conclusion is, I don’t think JYJ are wrong for leaving, but I also don’t think that it’s 100% right or wrong either for both sides. There are good ways to look at it and there are bad ways and bad decisions from both sides. I do apologize for carelessly using the word “greedy” when referring to the issue, I meant that mostly for certain other people because honestly I don’t think very highly of Luhan, Hankyung nor Kris considering their lack of actual musical passion/talent/ability and their quick change of mind to simply go on with such a life but in a different country. If they’re happier cool, but I don’t think they’re the same as JYJ. I respect JYJ as people and musicians, them I don’t know if I can considering the contradictions.
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Having read your statement thoroughly I think I’m more placated. I still think SME is a shitty company because many of their decisions are inhumane and are are harmful to people’s lives. If this were some dumb thing like you picked an embarrassing video for one of your groups to promote (Balloons) or you stated that one of your talents wasn’t dating (some SNSD members) and then insulting fan’s intelligence when the evidence is clear that they were etc. Those are minor things that are even entertaining but not exploiting your workers and being caught multiple times doing activities that are Human Rights abuses. That is not something that you can afford to view in shades of gray because then you start tolerating and even justifying this behavior like many SME apologists do.
I am aware that you stated that you see both the good and bad in JYJ/SME/Homin’s decision. TVXQ! is free to do whatever they want. What annoys me is that many of their fans act like they were happy when in fact they themselves admitted that they still have issues with the company and what they didn’t approve of was JYJ’s way of going about it. JYJ’s reasons were valid. I don’t even include “artistic freedom”. I mean being paid fairly for your hard work. People act like it is a crime or something. They act like SME was right and they weren’t! You promise payment if a certain goal is reached and then you say, guess what no?. That isn’t right period.
Anyways I apologize because putting words in people’s mouths isn’t right.
And I conclude, SME does have a reason for what they do but that doesn’t mean it is right and they can’t use people and discard them and have “But they are a company, that is what companies do” as an excuse. Corporations have screwed so many people all over the world and continue to do so and while I don’t believe we can change this overnight the least we can do is normalize their shameless behavior.
I’m glad you took the time to read my comment. Kris/Hankyung are a can of worms. I don’t think that thier personal wrongdoings free or justify SME of its’ bad behavior but it certainly makes their case harder to establish and I feel sorry for that. You should look up those other people though. When you are bored and have nothing else to do. Research in Korean is your best bet because many English sources can be misleading.
Thank you~
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Oh I included artistic freedom because as an artist, I can feel as though that’d be a major thing for them too and they did find lots of artistic freedom through their final decision and move. No it’s okay, you’re like one of the smartest, most respectful and level-headed people I’ve ever had the pleasure to talk to so I’m immensely thankful to your kind words and the way you talk. ^ ^ Idk if honestly one can say SM is the only one that does this, I’m pretty sure other companies do this as well, like not YG or JYP from what I’ve seen, but smaller companies can be much worse at times with really bad management.. (I’m a ChoColat fan so it’s a sad life to lead LOL) Oh no I already know of most cases, the only one I didn’t know much about was Trax cuz I didn’t realize they had lost members and I didn’t really look into it, but I knew of the rest. Again thank you for understanding ^ ^
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Ahmin, às vezes você se mostra um hater da YG.. você é hater da YG? Quero dizer… em muitos comentários você critica a YG descaradamente por não treinar seus vocalistas tão bem quanto a SM, mas, venhamos e convenhamos que a SM trata seus ídolos como escravos e depois demitem eles e jogam um processo, você deve saber que a YG não é uma agência focada no vocal dos seus ídolos… YG é uma agência de rap e de dança, e sem dúvidas é a melhor agência e atualmente as ações estão maiores que as da SM, quase todos os ídolos da SM estão saindo de lá com um processo, isso faz com que a SM perca fãs, em uma análise eu vi que Lee Hi era a melhor vocalista da YG, mas a Minzy não fica por pouco muito atrás delas, eu só queria pedir, e sem dúvidas o Daesung é o melhor vocalista masculino da YG, e é claro que a melhor vocalista feminina é a Lee Hi, e você negou isso lá embaixo, e eu também não concordo com “YG é talento e SM são olhares” – ambas são talentos, aliás os melhores vocalistas estão na SM, mas os melhores ídolos estão na YG, eles podem não ter uma boa capacidade vocal, mas eles expressam suas emoções nas músicas, conseguem cantar e dançar, fazer rap, e eles são sem dúvidas os mais talentosos, talento nem sempre se resume em cantar, aliás temos bandas coreanas que nem têm vocalistas, enfim.. desculpe se eu pareci rude, eu só queria saber se você é um hater da YG e porque você sempre desvaloriza os ídolos de lá… mas na verdade eles são muito talentosos – não sou profissional como você mas disso eu sei.
Obrigado novamente, acho que você já está com raiva de mim, pois todo dia eu pergunto algo. 😀
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Eu não sou um advogado e eu não sou testemunha de abuso, então não tenho razão para me meter em conversas que não sejam relacionadas à técnica vocal. O que a SM faz não relacionado à técnica vocal não é da minha área, portanto eu não tenho nada para falar sobre eles aqui em público.
Agora quando o tópico é técnica vocal, eu tenho razões para falar da YG, porque nessa área eu possuo conhecimento. Eu acho que muita gente da opinião onde não deve mesmo sem ter conhecimento nenhum e eu não sou uma dessas pessoas. Meu problema é que você diz que a YG não é focada em vocal, mas seus fans acreditam que a YG só se preocupa com talento mas para uma compania de talento, o departamento de vocal tá mal. Além do mais, como profissional do ramo, eu não posso perdoar aqueles que negligenciam a saúde vocal de um cantor. Isso é um pecado para mim.
Quase todos os ídolos da SM estão saindo de lá com processo? Quem? 3 membros chineses do EXO? A YG perdeu a Minzy e a Lee Michelle. Nenhuma agência é perfeita no mundo de business mas isso aqui é um blog de técnica vocal e nada mais então tentemos manter-lo assim. Talento é subjetivo e mais uma vez, isso é um blog de vocais, não de rap, dança, songwriting ou “emoção”.
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I see biggest problem with idols is that those who are good singers have bad songs where they can’t to show and to use everything what they have and plus dancing… Whats is your opinion about that?
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Are you talking to me or SNSDBaekhyun92? I am not sure I agree since I notice a lot of idols with good vocalists go on many TV shows that show off their singing, even if their title songs might not show them off. People just don’t pay attention.
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this was a good read. i’ve noticed that comparing taeyang when he first debuted versus now, he sang in a lower tone/register like in “ma girl”. it would’ve been nice if he further developed his vocal technique, but as you’ve pointed out, he’s more of an artist/performer than a vocalist. and even though he’s considered a weak vocalist, it doesn’t really take away from his success and achievements as an artist.
also, i’ve always been a sucker for vocalists that have impressive lower registers, e.g. michael mccary, avi kaplan, tim foust. i’ve always wondered if there was anyone in kpop that can reach those bass notes consistently, or is that low register something that kpop artists can only dream of hitting?
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Not much lower though, he’s always sung in that one octave of supported range he has, which I find is smart of him. Most of the time when he performs, it’s very choreographed and not much is sung lol Im not familiar with these vocalists, Idk if they’re basses.. I just looked them up and I knew … My personal opinion on them and I actually know Avi and Michael, not Tim, they’re really more like baritones or bass-baritones, not sure if I’d call them real basses, because many of the low projected notes sound like they have lots of vocal fry to them so I can’t be sure. I don’t believe there are any acapella singing groups with males singing very low in K-Pop, I remember once somebody showed me a group of 2 men 2 women O believe and one guy was a baritone and hit F2 at some point, but I don’t know of any true basses in Pop music in general..maybe in country lol
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Taeyang is the same level of Key, Yunho and Donghae?
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I’m not sure it they’re the same but about the same like around average and weak …
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who is the weakest and strongest among them?
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I can’t tell you for sure. Key is a baritone, yunho could be one I’m not sure and he’s resonated before. Donghae and Taeyang share similar issues, they’re not too far apart lol
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Can it be classified as Key/Yunho > Donghae/Taeyang then?
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I can’t say for sure
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I don’t whether you do requests or not, but could you please analyze IU’s voice? Thanks! 😀
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Yes in the future projects section lol yes akisame will do IU ❤
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I think daesung is better than taeyang
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Did you read both Taeyangs and Daesungs analyses? ._. Cuz then yeah you’re right, Daesung is an average to above average vocalist whereas Taeyang is weak to average, so yes Daesung is better
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can I request K.will ?
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Yeah sure lol
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hmm I’ve always considered Taeyang a slightly better vocalist than Seungri. Thanks for the update!
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I believe Seungri may be slightly better but not sure lol
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Would there be a review for him some time since he’s better, or not because hes not a vocalist.
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who’s sings better Junsu JYJ or Taeyang?
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LOOOOOOL sorry I’m sorry I really shouldn’t laugh but is this a serious question? Cuz if so, well.. Junsu is far far better at singing than Taeyang.. in case you were wondering though, I’ll be redoing Junsu’s analysis soon so u will be able to read about his level and whatnot ^ ^
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I thought Taeyang had no sense of diaphragmic breathing
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About seungri, no because he’s not a vocalist and we have other people who are not only better, but are actually vocalists to analyze. Do you mean because he should not have any supported range? I mean he might not but the notes are still not strained and come out without tension, they’re relaxed so they’re somewhat supported.
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thanks for doing Taeyang’s analysis! you must be spending a lot of time on these lately! when you say he is Big Bang’s weakest vocalist, you mean out of him, Daesung and Seungri, right? I mean GD sings a bit but I don’t know if he is considered a vocalist
your list of requests must be very long so I’m resisting the urge to request any more for now 😀
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Yes I do mean out of them, good job! Lol thank you, yeah I had a break so I wanted to get these done lol oh if you request something that’s been requested already it’s not so bad!
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I have few questions-
1) so the vocal rank in bigbang – daesung>seungri>taeyang?
2) is lee hi a better vocalist than minzy? and who’s better between cl and bom?
3) who do you think is the best vocal group as a whole among kpop idols? ppl always mentioned db5k, bigbang, shinee, 2am and brown eyed girls but which is the best really? and do you mind rank the mentioned ones? ><
4) what rating do you think fx's luna will get?
ok I am the most curious about the third question. sorry for asking too much :^3
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Yes to your first questions. Yes to number 2, CL is better than Bom. Well I can tell you for sure that Big Bang is far from being the best vocal group, DB5K as a whole are pretty high in average but individually nope. SuJu KRY, SHINee and 2AM do quite well as males, BEG, SeeYa, Davichi and yeah.. Lol ranking isn’t my thing… But Uhm maybe 2AM > SHINee > DB5K >>>> Big Bang and BEG maybe better than 2AM as a whole… And Luna is either competent or in between competent and good.
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wow I don’t know Luna is that good eventhough I know she’s the best in f(x) and a lot better than krystal~ anyway thank you ^____^ I really like all of your analysis 😉
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Thank you!! I’ll be posting her analysis soon~
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May I know who else you’ll be posting and in your personal future project list?
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Junsu, Jaejoong, Woohyun, Sunggyu, Luna, YeEun in the future and maybe Krystal for now.
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I know that the analysis of Woohyun is coming but can advance me a question? HAHA. I took a look at their lives and believe it to be Above Average to Competent Vocalists. Is this correct?
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I believe he’s just above average IMO. He’s really similar to onew and Sunye in technical terms
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what about Sunggyu? I guess he’s an Above Average. what do you think? and also, as stated, most of kpop male vocalists are lyric tenor and most of male rappers are baritone. do you know who else baritone among kpop idols that also can sing?
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I believe Woohyun is Above Average and Sunggyu is either average or in between average and above average. Oh right that’s kinda true.. a baritone, although some people in this website might think Park Hyo Shin and Yesung are baritones, to me they’re dark types of tenors. Key of SHINee I believe to be one, Hwanhee of Fly To The Sky, the vocalist of Busker Busker, John Park.. These are the baritones I know of.
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Done with Sunggyu go check it out!
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Ah really ~ I hope there will be an analysis for a baritone in the future ^^ Is SHINee’s Minho also a baritone? What about BTS’ RapMon and Suga? If you don’t listen or know about them, sorry ><
p/s : I've read Woohyun's analysis 😀 thank you! Sunggyu's are following right?
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I believe so for minho idk bts well enough to say. Awww yes it is!
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are u really expert in music?? i am not but sorry to say.. you seem to give YG artist not so good rating (i’m not yg bias but i like a lot of their music). your review pure based on their musicality right?not because you personally dislike them or their company??
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No not because I dislike their company. I don’t dislike YG at all, I actually loved Big Bang’s music back in 2007/8 but not so much now, too electronic for me but still some songs are cool. Same for 2NE1, some songs are cool. YG is not a very vocally powerful company, their best vocalist was Gummy and she’s gone and from what I’ve seen this one girl called Hannah who’s supposed to debut in YG’s new girl group is better than Daesung and Minzy vocally… so no, like I said I would never give a review that’s negatively biased… Regardless if I like someone or not, I can admit that they’re good. Now yeah I’m not an “expert”, I’m still young and learning but I can objectively share the amount of knowledge I have in vocal technique to safely say YG artists don’t exceed vocally.
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I feel that a lot of the new YG recruits are amazing vocally. LeeHi has already surpassed Gummy in terms of support, technique and musicality, imo. Her voice gives me chills. And I see good things in the future for that girl in AKMU.
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I disagree but I’m not entirely familiar with Gummy. AKMU are definitely not strong vocally but one of the girls from Kpop star who might be in the new YG girl group seems to be pretty much the best one so far in YG.
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Hi. I know this is out of topic. But back then, last month maybe, I read Baek Yerin vocal analysis, but why now there is nothing of her? or am I wrong? thank you~
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No it’s just the author decided she wanted to redo that analysis. Just wait and see, and she’ll repost it ^ ^
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Hello! Do you mind giving an analysis or your opinion on Lydia Paek? (Sorry to comment on something unrelated to this analysis, but I can’t seem to find the future projects page anymore…) Thanks!
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No it’s okay we should have like a shout out box smth anyway Lydia baek to me seems better than Minzy vocally but I haven’t heard enough, she has a more stable and better vocal control and styling but not a lot of range or development in range to work with ..
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Ahh ok, I’ll probably wait until she has more material to work with… Thanks!
P.S. Could you send me a link to the Future Projects page? I really can’t find it
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oh sure here it is http://kpopvocalanalysis.wordpress.com/future-projects/
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Taeyang’s close to Soyu, or Sooyoung?
Sooyoung is weak or weak to average? I saw on another blog that she was below average, but we don’t have here. 😛
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Dunno tbqh Sooyoung is probably around the same as Taeyang though. Soyu is definitely better
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Has Taeyang ever achieved resonance?
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Yknow when it says “supported range”? I kinda mean really the range where he isn’t hurting himself to sing it… cuz he doesn’t properly support his voice much anyway and he is singing through his nose the whole time, I’ve never heard him ever being resonant at all. If you can’t support and you’re nasal, resonance is not gonna happen…
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Quando o T.O.P canta, ele é barítono?
Nessa música ele canta em 1:02 e 1:10.
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MHmm certeza que ele é um barítono, ela até tem uma voz parecida com o Rain.
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Mudando de assunto… Você tem alguma dica para que eu possa diminuir minha nasalidade? x.x
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Bocejando.. Ai você levanta a soft palate e desse jeito você pode controlar a nasalidade, mas também você pode tentar focar o som da sua voz nas maçãs do rosto, ao invés de deixar-la cair no nariz, sabe?
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T.O.P é Baixo, toda minha família sabe, e somos profissionais em técnica vocal !
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Mhmm poderia me dar razões? Ele pode até ser baixo-barítono mas ele não tem a cor e timbre pesado suficiente para ser um baixo de verdade.
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Hi.I love all your analysis and a big thank you for taking time to analyze so many kpop idols, and thanks for the info too. Can I ask if you guys would do TVXQ’s Yunho? I know he’s not a good vocalist, but if we compare him to Taeyang, who is better? Thanks. ^^
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I think Yunho could be better than Taeyang lol sadly but yeah I wasn’t really gonna do Yunho because, even if average means most people would be in the average area, I’d rather not analyze all the average sub-vocalists and average main vocalists and give priority to people who are more interesting to listen to~
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Hi I’m new here, I read the whole review, but from 0 to 10 as Taeyang deserves?
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Desculpe, aqui não usamos números. Nossa escala não é de 0 à 10, é quase como se fosse de 1 à 7.
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Please … is very important … You have no idea how much he deserves? Even if from 0 to 7? 😦
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What do you mean he deserves? ._. But if you look at the website, he already has a number..? If 0 means you are not a singer, like Goo Hara, then Taeyang is 1.5/7 if we put him in a number scale..
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LOL Taeyang is weak to average vocalist and he won best vocal performance at MAMA2014. Wut? Is that even legit? I mean, don’t you need AT LEAST competent vocal to make best vocal performance? Hmm, weird, whatever.
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I mean it’s not like the MAMA’s are about actual vocal ability… they’re popularity awards, so Taeyang is hot, cute, popular, has good songs, has good stage presence, charisma, has a voice people like, dances and whatnot..so his fans voted for him… it doesn’t matter how good or bad he is, just how popular he is …it’s life
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Yes, I agree. Voting takes only 10-20% of a finale result, there are other criterias like judges and stuff (at least that’s how they say..). That’s why I was surprised
It still doesn’t feel right, cause category is called “best VOCAL performance”, but yeah, as you said, it’s how life works. All that glitters (and looks hot or cute xD) is not gold.
Thank you for your fast reply and keep it up, you guys are doing an amazing job, it’s very interesting to read a professionally stated opinion! ^^ 파이팅!! ^O^
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Only that much really?!! lolol But I mean, it’s the world of pop music, thank you! Promise to always keep up the work!
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woah woah woah, hold on there mate. I know this site doesn’t acknowledge them, but there are MANY more elements to a brilliant performance than just vocal technique. Things like stage presence, charisma, the tone of your voice, emotions and how you connect with your audience also matter you know? Just boiling everything down to how high or low your larynx is, or how well you breathe etc, is kind of shallow and takes away from the real purpose of what music is. Music is art and something you feel through your heart. It gives hope to hopeless, happiness to sad and brings people together. That’s the power of music. Yeah Taeyang might not have the perfect robotic technique required to label him a “good vocalist” but that doesn’t mean he is popular for nothing. The way you were describing how Taeyang is “hot, cute popular, has a voice girls like, dances and whatnot”, gosh, you’re making it seem as though he is one of those idols who’s only famous for his looks. You might not acknowledge it, but songwriting, composing, connecting with your audience on an emotional level, and being able to make the listener feel your emotions is also talent you know. Taeyang, and Big Bang, are by no means popular for any of what you have described above, leave that to SM and JYP idols like Yoona, Sulli and Suzy. Big Bang, and Taeyang included, are ‘popular’ for being different, for their weirdness, for writing and composing each and every single of their song. They are famous for owning the stage with their powerful charisma and emotional performances. Not everyone looks for impeccable vocal technique to be able to enjoy a musician. I don’t mean to be rude since I know you put in quite a lot of handwork in these analyses, but I hope you realise that your comment was extremely patronising and belittling in the sense that you were saying that fans only voted for him because of superficial qualities such as looks and not any of his other talents. You’re also generalising all of his fans and painting them in a superficial manner that they only voted for their beloved “oppa” regardless of his talent. As I’ve already mentioned, there are other qualities of Taeyang as a musician that his fans love him for, and his musical capabilities as an artist, stage presence and the ability to connect with his audience surpass everything you wrote as what makes him ‘popular’. His fans don’t love him for looks -__- And lol, might as well throw it in, but in Big Bang, TOP is usually the one who drives fans crazy with his “looks” the most xD I don’t mean for this comment to come across in an aggressive or bashful manner, so if I, in anyway come across like that, then I apologise as that isn’t my intention. I just thought that the particular line “it doesn’t matter how good or bad he is, just how popular he is” crossed the line of constructive criticism and dismissed other aspects of musical talent. Tbh, they seemed like the kind of words that would come out of a jealous EXO-L or ARMY fan (which I know is probably the last thing closest to how you’re really like).
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This isn’t a blog about brilliant performances, it’s a blog about vocal technique. This website doesn’t acknowledge charisma, stage presence, the tone of your voice and “emotions” because those are subjective to each person’s personal taste and opinions. If you like something, nobody can tell you you’re wrong or right. I don’t know why people feel the need to attack vocal technique simply because of a lack of understanding of it. Having good technique doesn’t make you robotic. Was Whitney Houston robotic? Mariah Carey? Sohyang? Even Ailee or Kyuhyun? Being able to touch someone’s heart comes from being able to sing with dynamics and expressing things with the voice. Having underdeveloped technique limits the range, the placement, quality of sound and volume control of a vocalist, so having underdeveloped technique actually limits interpretation which limits “emotion.” The emotion aspect is an overused excuse that serves no purpose in an argument because many of Taeyang’s songs aren’t vocally challenging. They’re dance tracks with also some pretty ballads. I never denied him being a charismatic talented songwriter nor dancer, but he didn’t win that award, did he? He won for best vocal performance, which insinuates that he deserved to win based on his vocal ability and truthfully speaking, he doesn’t sing with good technique. So vocally, he doesn’t sing well. Having an appeal, “connecting with your audience” that’s not the name of the category. So I apologize for phrasing things carelessly, but I stand by my point. On the category of vocal performance, it should be about vocal ability but it isn’t. It’s a popularity contest, for all the awards. If you have many fans and they vote for you, you’ll win, not if you’re objectively the best. That’s my point. You misunderstood my point, I wasn’t saying they voted for him because of superficial reasons, I’m saying they voted for him because they like him, not because he’s necessarily good so it all comes down to popularity, for whatever the reason. Again you’re focusing way too hard on looks, I mentioned dancing, I wasn’t thinking of looks. My point was popularity, so please calm down. Again it wasn’t an award for best composition, most charismatic performance, most stage presence, it was for best vocal performance and he won because of popularity, because he’s liked and his fans wanted him to win for whatever reason, not his vocal ability. Good vocal technique does not make one robotic, so don’t attack the concept of it because you don’t like what I said. I again apologize for being careless with how I worded my response. Those are very specific fandoms you’re picking on, and you’re right, that’s the last thing that’d describe me. I’m speaking from an objective point of view that award shows don’t award people for their specific categories nor abilities, if fans like them, they’ll vote them. You ARE picking on a comment from like 2014 yknow..
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I just got the impression that you altogether dismissed Taeyang’s musical talents outside vocal technique and viewed him as an undeserving ‘idol’ who only wins because of his popularity. You’ve made it clear that that isn’t the case (or at least I hope xD), so I guess it’s good.
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That wasn’t where I was going with that at all. I don’t have any prejudice against idols, if I didn’t I wouldn’t analyze so many of them favorably. Being an idol doesn’t take away from ones musical talents and abilities. He is popular for many reasons, but being popular is why anybody wins in these things, not just him.
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on a more cheerful note, thanks for your hardwork 🙂 🙂
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And thank you for your comment and reading our blog!
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2NE1 won best vocal performance by a group back in 2011 for “LONELY”. And the best vocalist is Minzy and she’s like Average to Above Average. And I think IU won best vocal performance too (couldn’t remember what year) and she’s like Average. So yeah, MAMA isn’t all about techniques. Probably popularity/ votes sales.
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It’s all based on popularity for the most, the definitely aren’t considering technique.
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He has been ranked as third best vocalist of Korea once, or was it second? I don’t remember now. HaeRi was first place. Even though this ranking was made by music experts, i don’t believe it. I saw somewhere that some of the criteria was musicianship, timbre and other subjective questions, and still i don’t believe why Ailee or other great vocalists weren’t in the ranking. So, it was probably a popularity ranking. HaeRi often appears on Immortal Singer 2, so she must be very known there. I wish those rankings were serious, because fans believe too much on them and get tricked by those. Which vocalists would also be weak to average?
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Not only that but they have like no analysis or explanation but fans love the fact they’re in the news and their biases are mentioned like ugh lol idk maybe Krystal maybe Jiyoon… I really don’t know off of the top of my heart for sure..
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Hi,
I really don’t know what is that ranking but I agree that there’s something wrong with that. I’m a fan of Taeyang (actually, he is my second favorite male vocalist, next to Daesung) but I believe that his vocal ability is not really that impressive (I like him because of his vocal style and stage presence). There’s a lot of better vocalist than him. Daesung, Jonghyun, Ryeowook, Chen, DO, Naul, Wheesung, name them. @_@
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There is something wrong with what? ._.
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can tell me about iKON or Winner? =))))
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I can briefly say from what I’ve heard they all use very throat-based singing techniques, with little breath support, their tone production is mostly very shallow and weak….their tones are nice and all, but apart from seungyoon, none of their vocalists seems to have a lower range, a non-strained falsetto and a support in their mix. Seungyoon still barely uses his voice, I don’t know THAT much about them but I’ve heard enough to know they’re not too different from the rest of YG’s vocalists. Again iKON has barely any material so I can’t judge them for sure or how much they’re willing to improve but I can give you a bit more detail on WINNER, Ik that Seungyoon was on SuperStar K, I didn’t listen to him at that point but from what I’ve seen his problems are just the lack of roundness in his tone, strain early in his range and his nasality (Not too much of it though). They know how to harmonize together, Taehyun and Seungyoon that is.
Vocally, they’re a better unit than Big Bang. Individually they’re not too great. Not to be mean or anything but regardless of Taehyun being deaf on his left ear, he shows basically no signs of being impaired at least with pitch, which is the major thing being deaf would do. His real problem is he doesn’t support his voice properly and he doesn’t possess a lot of vocal flexibility in tone and in agility, his runs aren’t too fast and his voice is generally bright and nasal. His higher notes tend to get strained and I’m thinking he’s a tenor, his C#3 and D3 sounded nice but his higher notes sound unsupported and he needs to work on how to place his voice. Both are better than Taeyang, Seungyoon might be as good as Daesung, considering his lower range is better and Daesung’s falsetto is possibly quite better. Daesung may be better by a little bit? Taehyun is just average but they’re good at harmonizing.
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OFF-TOPIC: Woah! I never thought Taehyun is hearing impaired, too. (I’m experiencing the same problem, except both of my ears can’t hear very well but my former music teacher assured that I’m not tone deaf since I can differentiate notes very well). He just gave me hope that one day I can sing. 😀
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what do you think about BTS? I mean, they are average or weak? they seem to be on Taeyang’s level.
Jungkook 0:50~1:11 – 0:03~0:10 – 3:51~3:56
Jimin 3:34~3:52 – 1:22~1:26 – (3:15~3:32 falsetto)
Jin 2:52~3:16 – 1:12~1:16
V 2:11~2:28 – 3:16~3:20
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I’ve been answering questions about them since yesterday haha sorry I can’t watch the video right now but yes they mostly have quite weak vocal technique. Jungkook has some agility and support, jimin and Jin are nasal, high larynx singing and lots of tension. Jungkook is not much better though.
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the video did not show up sorry.
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It did show up for me lol I just can’t watch it right now
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Okay I gave this video a listen now. I’d say they’re all poor with support and placement. Their pitch was mostly fine, Jungkook wasn’t that tight here but he seems slightly airy and nasal. Jin was quite tight and his larynx shot up high on his F#4’s and he’s quite nasal, his voice is mostly coming out of his nose really. V was okay, he is really better than both Jin and Jimin to me. There’s no big difference, they’re all really close together. Jimin was quite nasal, tight and a bit pitchy with his runs in falsetto.
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omg i know this is really far in your memory but what are v’s strengths and weaknesses roughly?
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I really can’t remember. This is the one time I analyzed V:
”
V was singing fine for the most part well with support in the lower range, very relaxed and in pitch. The chorus is full of F#4’s, being hit consecutively. Jimin has a lot of tongue tension and he was barely supporting his voice at all, sadly. Junggook was surprisingly tight, thin and had a lot of tension on his F#4’s. Jin’s F#4’s were also very high larynxed, pushed, nasal and strained. F#4 is a VERY easy for a tenor, it’s not that big of a challenge at all. For them to have such high larynxes on F#4 is a bit sad. All of them had tension and lacked support, V was the only one with an actual tone but even he had some tension in his F#4’s and his tone was kind of shallow. Apparently he could be a baritone, I’m not sure if he is but that gives him an advantage. Then Jimin’s A5 and F#5 at the end, pure tension and high larynx, no support at all. They’re not a very vocal group are they? I think the rap thing is their biggest thing. Also Jimin sounds a lot like Taeyang, which explains a couple of things.
Someone asked me about the ranking for BTS, I’m thinking all of their vocalists are weak to average or weak vocalists. Maybe average at most or Junggook but I’m not sure.”
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hey, can you please add some winner/ikon members? or lee hi/suhyun? i really look forward to it^^ because nowdays YG artists topped the chart because they called “skillful-dol”
i’m glad to read your analysis, esp for kyungsoo luna and minzy ㅋㅋㅋthey’re my bias:3
but i hope you will analyze seungyoon, taehyun and junhoe. because sy used to be a soloist (rocker) before and now he’s singing ballad i wanna know how great is his ability. junhoe too compared to his kpop star days he seemed improve so much… taehyun too YG trainer said that he has wide range. and after read some of YG analysis, it’s hard to say i agree but you’re right. minzy had improved so much and now she even better than bom unnie.
i’m sorry because my bad english>w< but i reaaallly hope that you will analyze YG artists because i'm so new to YG and my bias is winner and lee hi. thank you thank you:)))
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Actually they’re included in the future projects list, so I’m going to analyze Seungyoon and Taehyun I believe, I don’t know Junhoe. I have heard these vocalists and apart from Seungyoon who is mostly okay, I wouldn’t say anybody stands out as vocally impressive in YG generally. Your English is completely fine haha Lee Hi is coming out soon though ^ ^
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1)Interesting, this list according to vocal abilities is final or it can change? 2)How often do U refresh these analyses? 3)Is it possible for a singer to take higher position?
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It can change if the vocalist changes. I only update analyses if the vocalist has improved considerably enough for there to be a change in the analysis, which is sometimes the case. A vocalist can take a higher position if they improve, like Taemin of SHINee who was like….weak..or close to weak and suddenly he learned very good technique and became capable of using a mix.
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Big Bang is gonna come back on the first of April. I’m waiting for changes of their vocal skills.
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If they change their vocal skill to the point where the analyses would no longer be valid, changes can be made. It hasn’t happened in years though.
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I think im doing what Taemin’s doing… i kinda feel something in my mask when mixing (im confident i hv improved a lot lol), but i just dont know whether its nasal or not, because the sensation is really close to the nose… My range gets shorter and my head voice sometimes is produced with airy tone after singing in mixed voice for awhile… is it the right track in mixing for beginners?
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Your range gets shorter? That shouldn’t really happen…nor should your falsetto get airy or anything…
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Form above comment i don’t have any knowledge about voice but i think talent doesn’t mean good vocal or good technique.
By the way, Taeyang does’t have any good perf enough? T^T I like him so much and feel a little sad. XD
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Like best vocal performance? Actually I watched one these days that I could add ^ ^
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can you update taeyang 2015? I feel like there has been some difference but not a big one
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Videos please.
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There is a way taeyang is singing I’ve never heard him sing before. It may just be me because its because the last time i heard him sing was a few years back. I’m not a kpop fan but im a korean american so i hear the song Loser, If You, and Bang Bang Bang everywhere. Can you also do a zion t analysis?
Happy Halloween!
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I apologize I couldn’t reply properly earlier and all I said was “videos please”, that was kind of rude. Happy Halloween you too! So after checking this, there’s no real considerable difference from this and from his earlier years. It feels like he is trying not to sing as high but Taeyang was never much of a show off vocalist, he never tried much vocally…he didn’t really do much with power, big high notes or very low notes, he’s just a light smooth singer, he sings with an airy nasal voice, this video showed me him switching into falsetto back and forth, all pretty thin and nasal. Not anything different from before, but if you have any reason why you feel he sounds different with more details, you’re welcome to expand on it. About Zion.T, yeah sure! We have considered him already, he’s not an idol who’s debuted before 2012, so he’s not a priority for now but he will be analyzed, I just can’t promise when.
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Thank you! and its fine, no offence taken. Also in his song 1am, it seems like he is singing a lot in E2 without much struggle, so wouldnt that be in his supported range? The note might not even be E2 so it may just be his voice or it may just be my bad ears. Also, straining your voice doesnt mean struggling to sing it right? BTW Love this blog! Least amount of bias here!
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What E2’s? The lowest note I can hear in this video is a bunch of E3’s so maybe you confused the octave. 1:34 you hear those F#4’s? Those are strained/tight …and in other words, he was struggling to sing them so yeah they’re the same thing more or less. Thank you btw! It’s good to know people who live close by know we exist! haha
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You guys should make a youtube or something, like do analysis and review artist, groups, songs or reactions.
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Oh no LOL I have a YouTube for singing, vocal tips and vocal range videos, one vocal analysis video. Reactions? No no LOL
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after watching a bunch of big bang’s live performances 2015 and comparing them to 2014 live performances, i feel like taeyang should be put in average or higher. I cant back this up however because i have no knowledge or training in singing. I think taeyang is just really nasal, and thats what brings him down a lot. Taeyang definitely has a vibrato but he doesnt use it much. Also his breath support somewhat improved. I dont have any videos because i dont know which i got this from. I love ur Youtube channel btw
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Thank you so much! See I don’t mind the fact you’re saying this but in order to agree or disagree we’d need to be able hear what you hear by watching examples and videos. So if you have a few, one or two even would be enough to hear if what you’re saying is true or not.
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This is the only one I remember, but this video does really show his vibrato
Another one fuzzy in my mind is hearing Taeyang less nasal than normal in a performance in sober or let’s not fall in love
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I mean having a vibrato or not isn’t really going to do much for him. 0:34 his larynx is high on that G4, 0:42 glottal tension on the aye vowel, 0:43 high larynx on the G4. 5:11 G4’s with a high larynx, he really gets easily thin above F4…well okay his voice is thin and tiny in general but he really thins out above F#4, his voice really goes on a tight high larynx mode. 8:34 A4’s very yelled, Daesung yells them out too but Daesung’s are heavier because he uses more chest voice in his mix. What part would you point out that highlights his vibrato? I didn’t really notice anything worth noting. 12:02 he still sounds pretty tight on those F#4’s too, he cute though. lol Being better than average I wouldn’t say so but with a bit of work, he could work his way into being average without much time.
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lol i meant it doesnt. Thank you for your reply
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thank you for such a quick response. You are really good at analyzing such a long video.
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I skimmed through cause there’s a lot of rapping actually haha
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haha lol, thats what i wouldve done!
One last thing (sorry if bothering), what does taeyang need to do to become a better vocalist, like get out from the weak to average group?
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Well he would really need to work on learning more proper technique from scratch, something YG doesn’t do. They focus on style, on sounding a specific way, he’d have to be able to use better breath support, open up his throat, relax his jaw, his tongue, his throat, keep a stable larynx, learn to lift his soft palate and to develop his mixed voice muscles in order to have a more balanced stronger mix. If you mean get out as in be what we consider “good”, it’d be a long way to go, just listen to Sandeul and compare it to how Taeyang sings. Taeyang could not handle an IS2 song Sandeul’s performed.
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i agree, though i wonder how yg artists are so good live. I listened to one of their live performances mr removed and compared it to exo’s mr removed performance and bb was way better. To be fair exo was moving around a lot but bb also had a choreography. I think YG focuses way more on performance and freedom way more than anything else.
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Good as in their stage presence or…? Yeah YG doesn’t focus on singing well, they just focus on performing well and they’re great performer, just not very good vocalists. EXO… well the 3 vocalists from EXO can handle much harder songs, such as the recent performance of 살다가, or their IS2 performances.
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Okay, so i was kind of busy past few days, but i looked at some of big bangs loser live performances and it sounds like he is straining his voice at around 2:20 to 2:30 but he hits the note with ease and hits it every performance https://youtu.be/y8H6Ba_l1WI?t=150
Is he straining his voice or hitting the note with ease?
Oh BTW for a preview of zion t’s future analysis, is he a good vocalist in general?
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Some people are used to vocal strain so they strain through high passages without showing too much effort, because it’s normal to them. If you watch him, his jaw is very tight, his mouth is not opening wide, his head and neck are always pointed upwards. You can argue that these are for stylistic reasons or performances reasons, but really he is just singing with a high larynx, tight throat, closed whiny sound and that’s just how he’s trained himself to sing so although it’s improper technique, he’s used to it so to him it might not feel that uncomfortable. However you can tell he’s not singing “effortlessly”, he’s definitely trying, quite hard.
If Zion.T is a good vocalist, if by “good”, you mean our rating “good”, from what I’ve heard I don’t think he’ll be rated that high but I don’t believe he’s a bad vocalist. He has an attractive voice, very nice style and he has an overall attractive sound, he’s a stylistic singer, not much of a technical vocalist from what I’ve noticed.
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So is taeyang a good singer for his supported range? I know he can’t really high notes and doesn’t have the best technique, but when he usually sings in his “comfortable zone” he is pretty good.
I also think singers like Zion T and Taeyang arent really good vocally, especially taeyang, is because taeyang was trained to be a rapper and switched to vocals and Zion T was interested in hip hop before singing. I think taeyang had more training in rapping more than singing. Maybe thats why he wasnt really trained vocally and doesnt have the best technique.
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Mhmm I mean if you enjoy how he sings, you’re welcome to call him a good singer or well your favorite singer. One doesn’t have to be technically good to be an appealing singer or to be enjoyable. I enjoy people’s singing regardless of their technique, if the way they sing goes well with the music they’re singing, yknow? Taeyang is quite weak as a vocalist because of how underdeveloped his voice is as a whole, how he hasn’t truly developed the potential of his voice. However so if the way he sings is enjoyable to you, then it’s good you shouldn’t worry if his technique is good or not.
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I want to ask.. if his biggest problem is his nasality, would it ruin his voice after a long time singing with his nose? Because i saw ur comment that he is actually supporting his singing and not straining.. is nasality that bad? Because considering many people love his singing, isnt it quite possible he stays right where he is until he quits singing?
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Nasality just makes his voice small and monotonous dynamically but it does not damage his vocal health. His straining problem isn’t too bad because he doesn’t try to sing higher than he should often.
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Oh my gawd I didnt get the notification of ur reply.. so sorry and thx for replying!
So, he will not improve and just stay right there where his range is comfortable while singing, is it? What about him in “eyes nose mouth”? I think the notes are quite high there… does he strain a lot? (In studio n live versions maybe)
But yeah, everyone has their taste… ppl really worship him for always singing ‘flawlessly’, but i guess he is just right being in the HipHop-ish track where theres no high vocal technique requirements, as long as ppl enjoy his music …
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Eyes Nose Lips is mostly sung up to G4, only the last chorus has some G#4s or A4’s, Im not sure but the G4’s are just tight and the strain isn’t so bad tbh. They’re not that high but he does strain them and has tension on them.
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Second oh my gawd, so theres a long explanation actually in the overall analysis of his range… sorry to bother…
I read the analysis when i post the first comment, so i kinda forgot.. sorry
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Airiness is what damaging the chord, right?
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It does damage the vocal cords over time if you do it excessively and you don’t hydrate well.
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Taeyang’s vocal performance in the recent album of BB freaks me out… he didn’t seem to improve at all. Even Daesung. Meanwhile, Seungri became more nasal. >_>
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At 3.23 did he use head voice? It doesn’t sound like falsetto to me…
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It could be kind of, it sounds more connected but still quite nasal. It wasn’t fully connected for a head voice.
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At least he kinda almost made it lol… and thanks for the best vocal performance video, I didn’t know it was there until someone said so lol i never watched that performance b4 and i’m kinda impressed for my untrained ear because he sounds like he’s actually trying lol XD and there isn’t too much straining like other performances and his mid to high register seems to be more connected than before.
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But On Live Performances Taeyang always sings well.
Better than the other members. So your analysist just make me laugh.Do u really watch his Recent performances or not?. or you’re just criticize his OLD SINGING . Cause he definitely Amazing. kkkk .
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I think you should read carefully. If you don’t understand what it says it’s okay ^ ^
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What do you think about Seungri? And what’s your comment if Seungri compare with Taeyang?
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I am not familiar enough with him but he has some understanding of support and is able to create certain connection and strength in support in his middle voice but it doesn’t extend very high. Above E4/F4, he doesn’t necessarily have bad placement but he gets pretty yelly. He isn’t very different from Taeyang technically.
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how many songs did you listen to make this analysis?
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Usually I listen to about 20 to 30 live performances throughout the years, plus hopefully vocal range videos that could help.
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yeah they do!
Whats your fav song from big bang this year and fav taeyang song from tis album last year?
Mine is Loser and This isnt it.
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I didn’t follow them much this year so I didn’t have one except Bang Bang Bang is fun lol
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yeah, the chorus is very different from the song. lol
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You should listen to this isnt it, its a nice song
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Bang Bang Bang is indeed a good song. LOL. Even my non-K-pop fan friends liked that song.
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Wait, when did Taeyang hit E2? o.O
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I don’t remember but it was a backstage video, I sent it to my friend who’s finishing up his vocal range video.
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OH. I can’t wait to see that. LOL
By the way, just a random question. What can you say about Taylor’s vocals in this video? Does she have a better support now? And also, why does her voice sounds darker. Is she lowering her larynx or her mixed became chestier now?
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She has some support. I consider Taylor a singer-songwriter, not a vocalist. She’s pretty airy but it’s stylistic, it’s fine. It makes sense musically. 3:06 ~ 3:16 she got more nasal in that section, she wasn’t as noticeably nasal before. The range so far before the bridge is like A3 ~ F4, too easy for anybody. Then she starts hitting G4’s in the bridge. She better support G4, I mean she’s a Soprano. 4:01 glottal tension, throaty C5’s. I don’t really notice her voice sounding darker than what she’s sounded like since..ever. Her “Teardrops On My Guitar” voice sounds about the same, maybe she was just younger and less mature vocally. I like what she said about what the song is about, I like the imagery of being out of the woods, that’s cool.
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LOL. So technically, her musicianship is what saves her from falling below weak/weak to average? As for the tone, I really don’t know but it really feels somewhat darker (like by 10%) than her usual tone. Or maybe it’s just my imagination XD
Anyway, I have heard before that she was considered to be a part of Les Miserables. Sadly, she didn’t pursue it. If ever, her vocals might have gone better to at least average. >_<
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I don’t know what her rating is but it ain’t good lol
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By the way, this better is really better than the original/studio. The latter is full of tensed notes in the fifth octave (I think I heard some Eb5 there)
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How did iKON’s Junhoe here? Especially in 3:30. (L)
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He is pretty throaty, his falsetto is shrill and pushed. From what I’ve heard of Mix & Match before, none of these guys know how to support their voices at all. I am not sure if he’s a baritone but he pushes his voice through his throat constantly, I don’t understand what YG means with “vocal training will ruin your unique sound”. No vocal training will allow you to keep your voice healthy. At least his pitch is not bad, though his transitions are a bit sloppy but his pitch is still okay.
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Taeyang vs Henry?
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Taeyang is a better vocalist than Henry.
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Isn’t Henry the weakest vocalist of SuJu? Or is it Donghae?
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Henry is possibly the weakest in Kpop entirely.
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This was 2007 taeyang, was this vocal performance really bad?
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0:23 oh that run. He isn’t that bad, he is singing through his nose like the usual. He is just a bit throaty and tight when he gets high but the style and song suits him because he sings like this usually. 1:25 those falsetto runs are always flat though. 1:36 his breathing is really improper, it’s really in his throat. This is in a comfortable range for him for the most part, lots of singing around E3 ~ F4. He really seems to breathe into his chest, just from hearing it feels like he’s not breathing into his diaphragm at all. He didn’t do the G#4, I was expecting it.
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Henry is somehow have similar voice with Justin Timberlake. is it possible that both have similar technique too?
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I never noticed truthfully so I don’t know what to tell you haha I know Justin doesn’t have very good technique either.
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I don’t think YG doesn’t want to train their singers well. It seems like YG’s vocal trainer is just bad, and YG trusts the guy. Isn’t it funny though how Ailee loves Tae Yang and his voice? I mean I like his voice since I’m not a music expert or anything, but wouldn’t Ailee find his vocal not really good?
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Knowing how to sing doesn’t mean you know what good singing is. Also it might just be a taste thing, since she usually fangirls about him too lol
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When did Taeyang hit an E2?
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In this video lol
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Never mind,I saw someone made the same question and you answered.
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Thoughts on Taeyangs vocal performance here?
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Nothing really new. His pitch was nice, he sounds thin, places his voice in his nose, the falsetto is nasal and the higher mixed notes like at 0:31 are really strained, so yeah… this is pretty short.
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I’m curious of what you think of Mino’s singing here XD XD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heG68YIrnRI
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seunghoon seems pretty good too.
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He sounds shallow and thin, isn’t he a rapper though? It doesn’t say he’s a vocalist.
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Pitchy, shallow, thin, strained. He’s a rapper though, so.
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I mean it is a pretty big change since 2012
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I guess so, that was very rough.
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Please do an analysis for Seungri
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I’m sorry but we won’t. We analyze only half the vocalists in a group and for Big Bang, we analyzed more than necessary. We analyzed ⅔.. Considering the average vocal skill in Big Bang, there’s no reason to analyze Seungri.
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Shouldn’t Taeyang be a smart vocalist because, like Kyuhyun of SJ (who is obviously better than taeyang), he doesn’t do things he can’t do based on your analysis. If he is a smart vocalist, shouldn’t it be on the strength list?
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He’s not smart cause he adds a lot of runs and falsettos even if he can’t do them well.
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I see…
Thanks for the quick response 🙂
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In his defense however, isn’t Taeyang mainly an rnb artist which calls for runs?
I do see where you are coming from though. I like your blog and I hope you keep up the hard work!!
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Well yeah but him choosing to sing R&B songs that are more run heavy or writing songs with runs he can’t do right isn’t very clever.
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What do you think about Taeyang’s new performance on Fantastic Duo?
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there has been no change, just same old taeyang.
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It was posted here but the user didn’t post it on this analysis, which would’ve made more sense. The only difference was that he was attempting to sing much higher than he usually tries, but technically he was still really tense and whiny in that upper range and showing a lot of vocal strain.
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How did the girl do which sang together with taeyang?
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I wasn’t focusing on the girl so I don’t remember. Is she a professional singer? If so, could you post the video here?
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Here is the video:
I really don’t know if the girl is a professional singer, but based on one youtube comment her name is Lee Seo Jin and she is probably a fan.
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I assume she’s a singer too, she portrays herself as a singer. She has much better placement than him, she pushes around C#5, but for the most part this was in a low range for her so she wasn’t challenged. Really nice melodic changes from her, nice harmonies, she’s not bad at all.
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What Taeyang save him from a weak vocalist?
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He can support to an extent and up to F4, which is enough for him to not fall under weak.
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Hello,
Why do you class ‘nasality’ as a bad thing in your analysis of vocalists ? I mean, some people like it and find that the sound is more unique, some singers do it on purpose (to make their voices more unique, or just because they find that it suits their style of music). I never heard about damages caused by nasality on one’s voice. Is it because it does not allow one to have a nice projection or resonance, something that a vocalist, in your criterias, should have ? Or something else ?
Thanks for the answer.
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See the fact that you’re saying “like it” already makes it very subjective. Liking something doesn’t make something good. Some people like raspy vocals, some people like throaty vocals, some people like airy vocals. They’re all damaging and when done excessively, they can damage the voice. Now you’re right, nasality is not damaging to the voice but it hinders one’s projection and ability to be more versatile. They can’t produce a sound that’s as big, as powerful or even as loud as someone who knows how to manipulate their vocal tract and placement well. Now like anything, we don’t consider nasality, throatiness, raspiness or airiness to be labels of someone who’s a bad vocalist. If those things are done on purpose and as stylistic devices, then it shows that the vocalist has even more control of their instrument. Now if a vocalist sounds like that ALL the time and is unable to show any other way of singing, then that shows a lack of control of their instrument. So nasality on purpose is fine, IF it can be proven to be done on purpose. In other words, if a vocalist chooses to be nasal in certain genres and then is not nasal in others, like Infinite’s Sungkyu who tends to be nasal on his own music, but in musicals he is able to eliminate that nasality, that shows skill. Taeyang is unable to fix his nasality, he only sings through his nose. Suzy is unable to sing with connection and support, she only sings with a airy disconnected tone. That shows lack of development of their voices, lack of the understanding of how to manipulate their vocal tract and how to place their voices in different places when singing different genres. So yes doing it on purpose is fine if it suits their music, but only if it’s something they can turn on and off at will, like Bada.
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I actually agree with the points pointed out and I have already noticed Taeyang’s voice is underdeveloped. Despite liking his songs, I can immediately hear his weaknesses. I guess it also lies with YG’s philosophy on vocal training which I saw in the BB documentary (YG prefers performance vs. vocal technicalities). In the same documentary, Taeyang was scolded for not improving in singing and was criticized because his sense of pitch was off. If Taeyang undergoes better vocal coaching, probably he could be an above average vocalist.
On a lighter note, I find it funny that even when he is trying to alter his voice to hide its characteristics, the nasality prevails (he’s the one who played the drums). Haha
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When you say “He is Big Bang’s weakest vocalist”, you mean among all members or just the vocalists (Taeyang anjd Daeseung)? Thank you!!
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Just between him and Daesung.
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Hi! I just want to point out that Taeyang’s position is the lead vocalist, while Daesung is the main vocalist and Seungri the sub-vocalist. ^^
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As far as I know or well when I first heard about Big Bang, I always saw Taeyang being referred to as the main vocalist and Daesung as the lead, at least it was that way when they debuted, no?
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If I recall, Taeyang and Daesung were called “main vocal” before debut (in their documentary), although by position/parts Daesung gets the highlight or main vocal parts compared to Taeyang. However, Daesung’s parts gets lesser recently, because of his throat problem (and keeps postponing his surgery) that’s why Taeyang covers most of the vocal parts.
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Mhmm I see, I always saw it officially being Taeyang as the main and Daesung as the lead, I apologize if that’s incorrect.
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Nah, there’s no need to apologize. The main and lead are often interchanged to the point that I may have confused myself. If we search the net, Taeyang and Daesung had been called both lead and main interchangeably, but I guess it all boils down to how the members distribute their parts in a song.
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That is true, yes yes. ^ ^
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