Vocal Range

G2 ~ G#5 (3 octaves and 1 semitone)

Supported Range

D3 ~ F#4/G4

Voice Type

Tenor

Strengths/Achievements

• Second strongest vocalist in Infinite
• Vocal runs can at times be clean and pitch accurate with good separation of notes
• Resonance and good placement can be achieved at times
• Notes down to D3 can be supported with a nice stable cord connection
• Falsetto switches seemingly well with a relaxed sound
• Falsetto is generally relaxed up until F#5
• Has learned to support and to control his voice, better placing it and reducing nasality
• Biggest improvement from debut till present amongst Infinite members

Points for Improvement

• Nasality and whininess are a clear characteristic of his upper mixed voice
• Lacks consistency with controlling artistic and stylistic choices
• Support drops on notes below D3, letting the tone be slightly airy and only thicker with the use of vocal fry
• Inconsistent placement and support on notes such as G#4 and above
• Notes above G#4 are just generally strained
• Falsetto can be nicely produced and well controlled but at times slightly flat in tone production
• Breath control not yet controlled due to excessive push of air, causing sharp notes at times
• Vocal runs still lack flexibility and true agility

Registers

• Lower register: Most developed lower register amongst Infinite members with the most consistency. His voice can show a clean well developed chest full sound down to even D3’s, but generally that support and placement is lost on notes below D3. Clean control of this register most of the time, with notes below being breathy or excessively using vocal fry to produce a fuller tone

• Mixed register: Able to switch back and forth between a fuller and more well-rounded tone to a thinner and almost whiny tone, at times causing strain to his voice and inconsistency in support. Notes as high as G4 are generally consistent with support and at times resonance and has shown the ability to support G#4, but not consistently. Notes above G#4 are generally whiny and not yet well developed in terms of the balance of head voice and chest voice in his mix voice

• Upper register: A slightly whiny quality is present in his falsetto, he can choose to make it breathy and thinner or a bit fuller and purer, however so not consistently able to control it 100%. The tone is generally relaxed and able to control it up to F#5, though not being truly flexible and fully developed yet.

Agility

Sunggyu’s voice is probably the most agile amongst Infinite members. When it comes to vocal runs and ornamentations, Sunggyu seems to be the only one with interest in that area of his voice, truly allowing for certain developments in his voice and in agility over time. Back in the day when Infinite performed “With You” by Chris Brown, his vocal runs lacked note separation and true clarity of tone, sounding messy and unbalanced however so overtime he’s shown that he’s been working on his vocal runs, most notably when he sang “As Long As You Love Me” by Justin Bieber, where he accurately hits added run notes with good separation and yet connected smoothly in a line. The speed of his runs is still quite slow, showing that he’s taken time to improve his accuracy but still needs to further develop the true agility of his voice to be classified as a vocalist with an actually agile voice.

Overall analysis

One of Infinite’s main vocalists, Sunggyu possesses a lighter less creamy voice than Woohyun. His voice is a little younger-sounding and due to the sound adopted in Infinite songs, more whiny and nasal, a quality mostly present in his higher range and Infinite songs. Sunggyu possesses a fuller voice than mostly used, where he is able to fully showcase the true tone of his voice which, although still boyish, is still richer in quality and more genuine. One his biggest accomplishments is how much he’s been able to improve throughout the years from debut until present as a main vocalist in Infinite, showing the most improvement amongst any of the members.

His lower register is where his voice mostly keeps its true color and tone. He is able to vocalize with a fuller and cleaner tone in this range, more often than in his mixed range. He shows consistency in tone production and support with a fuller and more supported chest voice down to D3’s, where his voice is able to show a richer tone overall. On notes below D3, he tends to let the support drop somewhat and the vocal cord connection isn’t as present. On notes such as Bb2’s and A2’s, he will either sound very quiet or use a slightly excessive amount of vocal fry to vocalize in this area of his voice. He’s been able to better learn to support his voice, whereas he’d be breathy and shaky on notes as low as F3, now he’s able to sing lower with better support.

As a lyric tenor, Sunggyu possesses a very youthful and clean boyish voice, which is most notably heard in his mixed register. Overtime he’s learned how to fully use his voice and be able to support it properly. On earlier years, covers such as “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and “Wherever You Go” Sunggyu wold excessively use his throat to sing notes even as low as E4, which for a tenor are not supposed to be much of a challenge at all. He used to rely too much on his throat to support his voice and wouldn’t be able to produce a fuller quality sounding tone.

With training and better placement, Sunggyu is now able to vocalize full and resonant G4’s, F#4’s and notes below, with a nicely lifted soft palate, a forward placement and a clean tone. He has improved considerably with the use of his breath support and relaxing his throat. His mixed range, therefore, has also shown great improvement, with a fuller tone and better quality notes. However so he still lacks true consistency with keeping his voice supported through his range and controlling his breath support. At times, most recently in his musical “Dracula”, he would use a bit too much air and push notes sharp instead of hitting them in pitch. Not a huge concern, though, since in this musical he’s been able to consistently show a supported sound and resonance up until G4, with occasional supported G#4’s. Notes above G#4 are still achieved with too much throat tension and too much chest voice, not allowing the true mixing of the head voice to enable a transition and development of his mixed voice further up in his range. He shows clear strain on notes such as A4 and above, where he will still retain a squeezed, whiny quality to his voice without fully allowing for the support to let his throat relax and produce the true tone behind his voice.

Despite his improvements for his musical in 2014, he has shown a considerable decline in good vocal habits over the years. Instead of suffering any form of vocal decline, instead he simply never remained consistent with his improvement as time passed by. Even though he is able to occasionally produce resonance, it doesn’t happen often and notes above G4 are rarely ever supported. With such inconsistencies in support and the production of resonance, it is safe to say Sunggyu remains still on a developing stage when it comes to controlling that aspect of his voice. Examples of him producing tight G#4’s and A4’s which too much throat tension, while not keeping an open throat even on F#4’s to produce resonance include Infinite’s recent 2016 comeback with “One Day.”

Sunggyu’s falsetto is a well used and more developed register which he’s been able to control better overtime. He’s now able to switch more smoothly into his falsetto with a fuller and cleaner tone and almost always staying in pitch with a clean cut sound and a definite relaxed throat. His range is supported and relaxed, although the quality of the falsetto can be at times too breathy or too whiny. On notes around A4 ~ F#5, he’s able to show a soft breathy tone that translates well as he ascends, however on notes above F#5, his voice may at times be too squeezed and whiny and cause the true quality of this register to be lost. This register, although controlled and relaxed, shows a lack of agility and flexibility overall, not showing much of what he should be able to do with this register overall.

What’s most surprising and almost sad about Sunggyu’s singing is the quality of his voice. In the lower parts of songs he’s covered, such as “One Late Night in 1994” and his solo “Only Tears”, Sunggyu would have a distinctively different sound in his lower range than in his higher mixed range. Whereas his lower tone is a cleaner and more true singing sound, his higher upper mix would suddenly adopt a thinner and whinier nasal quality. This may be due to directions he’s given when singing Infinite songs, which causes his throat to squeeze and tighten and his sound to be damaged due to the lack of a true full tone. More recently in his musical “Dracula”, he’s been able to show just how much he’s improved in learning how to breathe properly, place his voice properly in his mask, lift his soft palate and produce clean and full mixed belts with a nicely supported healthy vibrato. This however is yet to be a consistent factor, since it only happens when he adopts certain styles of music, as opposed to a consistent sound he uses in most of his songs. In other words, it’s like instead of having an even column of sound throughout his voice, at times it sounds as if he has two different voices in his lower chest and then mixed range.

Sunggyu is a vocalist who’s shown clear interest in improving himself as a vocalist, as an artist and as a performer. According to him, he generally focuses on the message of the song he sings when he performs, rather than technique. That is the right path and way to think, one’s technique should only be addressed and focused on during exercises, warm ups and rehearsals so that they become second-nature and habits, as opposed to conscious thoughts. He’s then able to better evoke the correct interpretation needed for songs. Although not extensive, Sunggyu possesses interest in being a versatile vocalist and is working to improve on many areas of his singing, in many different genres, exploring R&B, Indie and musicals as well as Pop. He’s shown great potential and work ethic over the years and is able to musically explore the meaning of a song with a decent amount of dynamics and interpretation, all which will only improve as he develops his voice over the years. He’s yet to truly develop a full mixed voice, a head voice, a consistent use of his support and control of breathing, as well as the way he places his voice to be more full as opposed to a whiny untrue tone he’s used to singing as an Infinite member and even in his solo songs, these being all areas he should mainly focus on in his technique development.

Musicianship

Sunggyu’s musicianship is one that is notably more explored than other vocalists. He is a risk-taker and likes to fully explore all his voice is able to do, even if not just yet. He has many musical ideas that he wants to explore and tries to vocalize them, however so not always correctly, he shows interest and an ear for what sound he wants to portray. His vocal runs are yet to be fully precise, his melodic changes and overall effects used according to each genre he sings still are in the works, and with time he’ll be able to fully explore and perfect the different sounds one’s voice needs to be able to learn how to make when switching between different genres.

Label (Type of Vocalist)

M Vocalists: Mid-Range Vocalists

Best Vocal Performance

Vocal Range Video(s)

video by: HDPomegranatz

videos by: 변한석

—

Analyzed by Ahmin (Kitsunemale)