SoYou’s Vocal Analysis

0. M Vocalists: Mid-range vocalists, 0. ML Vocalists: Mid-low range vocalists, Companies: Starship Entertainment, Soloists, Sopranos, Vocal Analyses, Vocal Ranges: 2 Octave Ranges, , , , , , , , ,

Vocal Range

C#3 ~ Bb5 (2 octaves, 4 notes and 1 semitone)

Supported Range

G3 ~ Bb4

Voice Type

Soprano

Strengths/Achievements

  • Second strongest vocalist in Sistar
  • Able to support her notes up until Bb4 with relative consistency
  • Voice is normally stable and well controlled within her supported range
  • Is able to oftentimes produce fuller notes down to G3, with nice projection
  • Falsetto is often relaxed and easily accessed
  • Able to produce a healthy, steady and supported vibrato
  • Possesses enough skill in musicality to add different onsets and dynamics to her singing
  • Intonation has made considerable improvement since debut

Points for Improvement

  • Her voice lacks any true flexibility and agility
  • Notes above C5 often sound pushed, shouted and strained
  • Notes below G3 become quieter, less projected and lose consistency in tone production
  • Voice is often shallow in terms of tone production and lacks any depth
  • Placement isn’t very optimal and the voice does not often ring
  • Nasality is a very present part of her singing
  • Airiness is present in most parts of her voice, but specially in her falsetto

Registers

  • Lower register: The voice contains a very good amount of control and connection down to G3, often being able to stay supported and relaxed with a neutral larynx in this register. Sometimes consistency issues may occur and the voice will sound overly quiet, airy and unprojected, which more often happens below G3.
  • Mixed register: Notes above C5 are often strained, however she has stability and consistent support up until above Bb4/B4, with a stable larynx and a clean relaxed sound, occasional support happens up to C5.
  • Upper register: Although relaxed, this is her least developed register. For the most part, the voice is in pitch but is overly airy, unsupported and lacks a true color and tone.

Agility

Soyou’s voice is light and quite airy. Due to the lightness that her voice employs, her voice should find more ease in vocal ornamentations. The proper technique for vocal agility requires a slightly lighter tone production but oftentimes singers mistake lightness with airiness and let too much air go through their vocal cords, causing the voice to lack support and control. Due to such techniques, Soyou’s voice isn’t as agile as it could be. She’s shown improvement from her debut days with pitch, in general, therefore fixing the way she’d slide through runs in a clumsy kind of manner, such as in “Stand Up For Love“, to a more connected and corrected ability to go through easier thrills, such as in “Hurt” and vocal runs, such as in “All I Want For Christmas Is You“, although still lacking the true feel of bouncing through notes in an agile and flexible manner, resulting in a more pitch accurate performance but with a slow delivery of runs.

Overall Analysis

As the lead vocalist of Sistar, SoYou’s vocal skill would most likely often be compared with the main vocalist of the group, Hyorin. The difference in vocal skill between both vocalists is quite large, however so SoYou still has her own unique charms and is often a popular duet partner for many male rappers and vocalists, due to the airiness of her voice and style that make her singing quite popular. Her voice is light, bright and sits most comfortably in the light lyric soprano fach.

The bottom of her range would perhaps be where her voice finds its highlight in terms of development and support. Her voice can at times show significant support and connection even as low as D3, E3 and F#3, such as in “If I Ain’t Got You“. Due to her lack of consistency, however, it is more safe to say she starts supporting her voice properly around G3 and G#3, where her voice is better projected and supported, such as in “Crying” and “All For You“. Although she may be able to support her voice partially on F#3’s at times, such as in “사랑하기때문에“, her voice still feels less connected and supported than it should, lacking in terms of placement and projection. Her voice seems comfortable down to F#3, but there’s less consistency of tone below A3, where connection may be present from F#3/G3, but support isn’t necessarily present. Notes below F#3 however, although improved, will show a less consistent column of sound, become airy and unprojected, such as in “거위의 꿈“.

Her mixed range would be the second most developed register of her voice, where she used to produce relaxed and somewhat supported Bb4’s, since before her debut, such as in “길에서“. As time went by, Soyou’s breath support improved considerably allowing for her to properly project and stabilize her voice on her mixed range, even as high as C5, such as in “Hurt” and but mostly on the Bb4/B4 range such as in “미녀와 야수“. The problem then comes as she ascends above B4/C5, where her voice will sound shouted, constricted and with a small passage of air through the throat. Her throat and vocal tract shaping usually end up with her voice being heavily placed in her nose and sounding small, lacking projection. Her soft palate does not really show signs of being lifted, causing the space for her higher notes to be small and her to raise her larynx and strain, such as the D5’s in “You Like Me, I Like You“, the C#5’s in “I Think I” and the F#5’s in “Loving U”. Her mixed voice also lacks the true usage of chest overtones to create a well balanced mixed voice, often relying more heavily on a head-dominant mixed voice. Her mixed voice is not well placed in her mask nor her chest, sounding quite small for the most part.

Her least developed register and ironically, her most famous and used register, is her falsetto register. SoYou’s voice generally becomes quite nasal for most of her singing and also, her vocal cords lack proper connection, causing a lot of air to come through. This becomes even more apparent as she ascends into her falsetto register, never showing the true connection and ability to create a properly placed head voice. Her voice is often disconnected, unprojected and soft, which stylistically may be very appealing, but never really shows the skill to become anything other than airy and weak. Examples include her many duets, such as in “Stupid In Love“, “Some” and “틈“. Her falsetto is, for the most part, relaxed, but still can’t be called supported nor is it properly connected to her voice, causing irritation to her vocal cords and abuse.

From debut until present day, Soyou’s support and intonation have improved considerably, such as in compared performances like “Stand Up For Love” to “If I Ain’t Got You” and “Hurt“. Her voice has improved in stability, support, control and pitch, allowing for her to stay in a relatively comfortable one octave range with good intonation and control. The biggest problem with her vocal delivery, however, still is the lack of true connection between her vocal cords and the improper placement of her voice. Resonance or even an open throated sound are never really shown with SoYou’s voice, because her mixed voice, lower range and falsetto are generally placed in her nose with an overly airy sound. Not only that, her tone production still lacks true depth and roundness of tone, often sounding shallow, small and unprojected. Although improvement is seen in “Hurt“, the contrast between the size, resonance and projection of SoYou’s voice and Hyorin’s voice is so apparent that her voice is unable to truly shine and overpower anybody else’s voice and when brought up outside of her supported range, the sound becomes thin and produced with the help of the throat as opposed to diaphragm support.

Musically speaking, SoYou’s understanding of dynamics and vocal delivery is limited to power through strain and a softer airy tone. Although she is able to support her voice and sing in tune, her voice is unable to create much difference in her performances and even with some difference in volume, her voice just isn’t technically skilled enough to handle the high notes she hits with enough breath support. Regardless, her voice still shows enough skill to handle easy songs within her supported range with airy vocals and soft dynamics.

As a vocalist, SoYou’s voice and style are easily recognized. Both Hyorin and SoYou are known for airy vocals, something that may be a result of her training and whoever their vocal coach may have been. Her skill may still lack, but she has come a long way with a good consistent improvement in her register and breath support. Although her improvement is not as noticeable as Hyorin’s, her voice still has a signature style often sought by duet partners. For a long lived career as a vocalist and soloist, her first and most important thing to develop would not be support nor range, but instead proper placement in her voice to allow for a more projected, rounder and cleaner tone. Connecting her vocal cords and allowing for her voice to be placed in her chest, head or mask instead of her nose would then allow for her to achieve a full resonant sound and fully develop the potential of her voice.

Musicianship

Soyou’s musicianship is not a very developed part of her musical delivery. She’s yet to fully master the control of her own instrument, so she lacks the true ability to use her own definite vocal style with properly added notes, rhythms and musical ideas. For the most part, she will stick to the original song and deliver a similar performance to the original performer of the song, such as in the acoustic version of “Touch My Body” and a cover of Rihanna’s “We Found Love“. Her style and musicianship would best be described as airy and soft, for the most part.

Label (Type of Vocalist)

M Vocalists: Mid-Range Vocalists

ML Vocalists: Mid-Low Range Vocalists

Vocal Range Video(s)

video by: Viettien81212

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Analyzed by Ahmin (kitsunemale)

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94 thoughts on “SoYou’s Vocal Analysis”

  1. I disgree with her being a average vocalist, she’s definitely deserves to be in the 4 category, her airy notes are good and sound which not many people can do. I also dont see that huge difference between hyorin and her, yeah hyo is better but not by a lot. but thank u for this.

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    1. You mean a competent vocalist? She would have to match the criteria for a competent vocalist, then. She matches the average vocalist criteria, sorry about that. Airiness is actually not hard to do, but even if it were the fact she is always sings with an airy and doesn’t show any other textures to her voice shows a limitation in vocalization. The analysis basically explains why she’s an average vocalist and if you compare her to other competent vocalists, she most certainly does not compare. I’m sorry about that. >_<

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  2. Yes!!! I am so glad that you did this. I always thought of her as above average. Now that this is released, everything you wrote makes so much sense. Good work (again)

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    1. Oh she’d need consistent use of resonance and support within her supported range, which she doesn’t have at all. Haha im glad it makes sense!!

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  3. Yeah you finally made her! I’m just wondering why she’s not average to above average. I know her falsetto is really bad and her mix is not developed but for some reason I thought she was better than Tiffany on average to AA. I understand anything! It’s just sometimes the fans and my friends convice me to well lol

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    1. She might be better than tiffany but minzy is better than she is. Her placement and lack of developed registers is what keeps her from being higher in rating.

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  4. Nice analysis. I always thought she was very average as a vocalist and depended too much on the back track during her performance but I keep hearing her fans say that she is better than most main vocalists of other groups.

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      1. I keep seeing star1s saying Soyou is better than main vocals like Luna, Minah, Soyeon and Taeyeon, do you agree?

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      2. Well Soyeon and Minah aren’t good at all, they’re not far from SoYou in terms of vocal skill. Taeyeon and Luna are far superior, however. Hyorin is better than both Luna and Taeyeon, but SoYou is far inferior, the gap between her and Hyorin is large.

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  5. thanks for the thorough analysis! >M<

    I have a random question – can vocalists improve? or are they usually stuck as the same kind of vocalist for their life? if they can improve – how would they do so, besides practicing singing daily? or is that bad for their throat?

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    1. No of course they improve! Soyou was weak to average before, she improved. Hyorin was like competent or a bit lower before, she improved. Practicing is the only answer haha

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  6. Wow soyou. Thank you 😀 well, i had feeling that she is an average or at least above average, cause in indonesia, we have a singer that use the same style like her. So i’m not really suprised. Even thought she is a average, i still like her voice. 😀

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  7. Hmm, I think the reason that some people perceive her to be better is because of the success of her songs. If she was competent or above average, she would at least be a little close to Hyorin in skill. Forgive me sistar fans but i haven’t heard any of their song which showed this. As you said, some fans say that her airy voice is her trademark which is all well and good to be unique but doesn’t really mean that she’s good imo. Their songs however are always in my playlist. ^^

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      2. lol not that many. They are quite close to each other. Is there any distance with Soyeon from T-Ara too, cause I always think that she’s just the samewith these girls.

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      4. I guess she’s around these girls since she has a stable mid range and low notes but her habit of using falsetto instead of belting those high notes with a small volume is kinda annoying to me.

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    1. I feel bad for Tiffany and sometimes if the rank was higher then they used Taeyeon. I know Tiffany was bad in Live because she sings more and way back before she got a surgery in her voice so that she is more in nasal today. But in Pre-Gee era her falsetto was great, connected and best falsetto in SNSD.

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  10. Random question.. Which one is a better singer, CL or Bom? I believe Dara is the worst one in 2ne1, right? Also do you think a sub vocalist in debut can improve and become a good enough singer to be the main/lead vocalist in his/her group? Thanks!

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    1. I would say Dara has better legato but her support is so weak, like her voice isn’t even there basically that I would agree with her being the weakest vocalist in 2NE1 and yeah CL is better, but not by a whole lot. Oh yes of course they can! Just look at Taemin~

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    1. Of course, she’s part of the future projects ^ ^ She is a bit overrated actually, from what I’ve been seeing and she used to be better when she was in 2NB, sadly.

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  13. I used to always think she’s a very Average vocalist. and if she were to improve in the near future she’ll be Average to AA at best. When I started reading the analysis and saw her supported range G3 ~ B4/C5 I thought, oh so she is Average to AA. Oh her lower range is quite nice. Oh she’s better than I thought. Oh I should listen to her more. I read and read then, at the bottom, the rating part, she is, Average vocalist :”D you broke my heart go away goooo haha anyway thank you so much for this 😉 I’m sorry if anyone asked this before but what exactly keeps her from being higher? Why she is still average when she has G3 ~ B4/C5 ?

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    1. The supported range isn’t the most important part when deciding whether a vocalist is average or not. The main reason she was put as an average vocalist is her tone production and placement. She’s usually airy and nasal, even when she supports her voice, nasality is too strong and her voice sounds shallow in terms of production. She might have no tension around B4 and her G3’s might be connected, but they’re poorly projected and placed so even with that supported range, her technique in itself is still pretty average, sadly. It’s okay to ask, I actually wondered myself why I felt she was average with that supported range but then I had to realized I shouldn’t let supported range decided the final result since other factors weight in as well. Haha sorry that I broke your heart! >_<

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    1. Suzy is not getting an analysis but if you want to know she’s a weak vocalist. Luna was analyzed and Lovelyz debuted in 2014 so we’re not going to analyze her yet.

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    2. I don’t know lol she’s a rapper, I don’t listen to rappers singing. If you mean good as in our “good”, most definitely not but I don’t know her well enough to tell you if she’s average or weak or something. She wasn’t singing with Hyorin, she just rapped. I don’t know, we have analyses on both Hyorin and Soyou, Dasom is weak.

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  20. seeing those comments above, did you move up minzy to A to AA?

    i actually think that tiffany is better than soyou since she has more to show. soyou is like a safe vocalist, singing in those narrow range with airy tone and soft output volume. while tiffany shows more, like fast pace singing, semi agile, low notes and high notes, and more vary output volume. but with those placement and consistency and nasality and other technical vocal, i guess i have to accept that soyou is better than tiffany 😀

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  21. So is she Average because of her nasality and airness? because supported range wise she has a supported range like jessica or even some AA vocalists

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    1. I meant to correct this analysis. C5 shouldn’t be part of her supported range. Nasality, inconsistency, pushing, airiness, all of those factor in her being average.

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  23. I’m kind of confused.In your analysis for Taeyeon you said she’s competent while for Hyorin you said she’s above average which means that Taeyeon is better than her.However,now I read a comment where you said that Hyorin was better than Taeyeon.Was the comment old or you have changed your mind?Which one is better?

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    1. Actually she sounds really throaty, a lot more so than before but that’s because she is singing quite high for her own comfort range.

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    1. Sometimes because of Soyou’s airiness, I questioned her sense of support or my perception of it at the time of her analysis, but she does support pretty consistently, it’s just the underlying airiness that keeps her from being cleaner with her support. 0:47 the A4 was quite nice for her. 0:56 1:03 C5’s I’m afraid even here she sounds pretty throaty, so no she can’t really support above B4. 1:20 2:53 3:09 D5’s and the 3:39 Eb5, those are all just yelly and throaty. There’s absolutely no support at all, just a lot of closed throat and tension. The highest supported note in this song for her was Bb4, from what I’m noticing.

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      1. I’ve been asked about this performance already I believe. She was VERY rough and very throaty anywhere above Bb4 on her King of Mask Singer performances.

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    1. Vocally this song is no different than everything that Soyou and Baekhyun have sung. It’s Soyou’s classic airiness and Baekhyun’s usual singing. The vocals are irrelevant to a song’s success, I mean Soyou’s singing is the same as it was in “Some” and that song was very popular.

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    1. I’m not sure I understand your question. Do you mean “did she regress?” She didn’t regress, I overshot her support but I think there was a slight decline on B4.

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  32. I know that it is not good to send you an Instagram video but you dont need to rewind and watch the video again. I just want to say that from this Some performance i believe Soyu has used mixing instead of using falsetto like in the original. Do you think it is a better choice for her to do that ?

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      1. Sorry , i have mistaken. However, compared to her usual live performances i think she took a much less airy approach .

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  33. Morning! 😀 Could I ask for help identifying these notes Soyou is singing? Having a bit of trouble identifying them.
    4:35 on “yeah yeah yeah” are those C5’s or C#5’s? 4:40-4:48 “Let” “All” “Everybody” “All” are those Eb5’s?

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    1. You’re having issues cause she’s singing in between C5 and C#5, she was off key. I think it’s supposed to be C#5, but to me she’s closer to C5. Let All Everybody and All, those are also in between E5 and F5, I think Everybody and All were closer to F5 though.

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      1. Hi, not the admins, here to help until they arrive. The B4 sounds, to me at least, supported. It was brief, short, sweet, and hopefully not taxing on her. If I’m not mistaken, that E5 has better connection because of the ooh vowel, but I would say it still lacks enough connection to be called a head voice.

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    1. 2:47 E5 3:21 E5 for him, she hit B4 actually. He did the higher harmony here. 3:25 the head voice was placed well cause of the Ooh vowel, but she’s still not connecting fully, the E5 was strained and the B4 is hard to hear cause it’s harmonized.

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  36. How is her support for this song? Eb5, C#5, C5, B4’s tenses / resonant / supported?

    What about this one? How’s her low range? What was her lowest note? D3? What is the lower note supported? What about her mix? B4 supported?

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      1. Hey, I don’t know how new you are, but whenever we ask the admins video questions, we give time stamps because they are super busy and every little bit helps.

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