Mamamoo’s Vocal Analysis: Wheein

0. MB Vocalists: Mid-range belters, 0. ML Vocalists: Mid-low range vocalists, Groups, Sopranos, Vocal Analyses, Vocal Ranges: 3 Octave Ranges, , , , , , , , , , ,

Vocal Range

Eb3 – E6 (3 Octaves and 1 semitone)

Supported Range

G#3 – C#5

Voice Type

Soprano

Strengths/Achievements

  • Healthiest technique in Mamamoo
  • Most balanced mix in Mamamoo
  • Strongest lower register in Mamamoo
  • Able to support down to G#3
  • Consistent resonance is achieved up to C#5
  • Able to sing in a relaxed falsetto up to G5

Points for Improvement

  • Resonance is often pushed
  • Sings with a high larynx above C#5
  • Loses support below G#3
  • Placement can become nasal when not careful
  • Sings with falsetto rather than head voice
  • Runs can often be sloppy

Registers

  • Lower register: Able to support down to G#3, notes below this become unsupported and airy.
  • Mixed register: On the chesty side. Able to achieve a pushed resonance consistently up to C#5. Notes above this often become strained with a high larynx.
  • Upper register: An airy, disconnected falsetto. Able to sing with a relaxed sound up to G5, above that falsetto gets thinned out and shrill.

Agility

Attempts runs often, but lacks the proper precision and note separation. Much like fellow Mamamoo member, Solar, Wheein’s runs often sound like they are more random than well thought out in musical direction. Most of her runs tend to come out without a single musical idea and her delivery is mostly of sliding through the notes up and down, without any significant musical reasoning to her melismas, often causing them to sound sloppy and out of place. This is also caused by her being unable to properly separate each individual note in her runs and thus not being right at the center of each individual pitch, as heard in “The Way To Sampo“, “Flying Into The Night Sky“, “Backwoods” and “Wait A Minute“.

Overall analysis

As a lead vocalist of one of Korea’s most well rounded female idol groups, it would be of no surprise that Wheein would stand on her own as not only a skilled technical vocalist but also a powerhouse singer. Having debuted in 2014, Mamamoo has already made a mark for themselves by showing off their musical skills that lie on well blended harmonies as well as well polished vocals. Wheein generally serves as the second highest vocal in songs and takes on the upper harmonies in songs, as well as serving as a softer brighter vocalist compared to the raspiness of Hwasa and the power of Solar.

Starting with her lower register, Wheein is able to bring a supported sound down to G#3 and even though she loses support, still has tone as she descends down. Compared to the other members of Mamamoo, she is the member with the least tendency to lower her larynx as she ascends below her supported range, generally keeping a more neutral larynx approach which allows her to produce these lower notes with more ease even if the support might still need to be worked on. Examples of Wheein’s support include the A3’s in “Flying Into The Night Sky” and the G#3’s in “The Way To Sampo“. As she descends below G#3, her tone either becomes airier and lacks clarity, such as the G3’s in “Short Hair“, the F3 in “Backwoods” and the E3’s in “Memory Of The Wind“, or her voice just becomes quieter with less support but still enough chest placement to properly project her lower range, such as the E3 in “Save Me From Myself” and the F3 – Eb3 in “Nothing Better“, where there’s a slight push of the larynx to reach her current lowest note, Eb3.

Continuing on, Wheein’s mix, despite still being chesty, is the most balanced in Mamamoo. Because of this, she can mix even as high as A5. Despite her extensive mix range, support and resonance is only carried up to C#5. Having a brighter mix, however, allows Wheein to have the most relaxed resonance out of the three vocalists in Mamamoo, making her approach to the fifth octave less pushed and more well supported, as heard in the B4’s in “Delilah“, the C5’s in “Wait A Minute” and “Memory Of The Wind” and the C#5’s in “Passion Flower“. Above C#5, she generally sings with a high larynx but is still able to sing up in that range with the least amount of strain and the most brightness in tone, as heard in the Eb5’s in “Passion Flower“, the E5’s in “Short Hair” and “Delilah“, and the F#5 in “Backwoods“. Even above her supported range, good placement is kept even if support is lost.

Wheein’s upper register also happens to be her weakest register. Being a rarely used overly airy falsetto with no actual connection to the body all the way up to E6. Much like the other Mamamoo members, Wheein has not yet showcased the ability to sing with a connected head voice, instead singing with a more disconnected vocal cord approach where the vocal folds don’t come together completely, allowing too much air through. This does not allow her to sing with a true head voice and really explore head resonance in her upper range. This can be heard in “Wait A Minute“, as well as in “쿨하지 못해 미안해” and “Short Hair“.

With a group of three ladies who have very similar vocal habits, similarly developed register and similar supported ranges, it’s the little differences in style that truly help them create individuality while not trying to outshine one another as well. In order to further improve their vocal technique, every Mamamoo member should invest their time into easing up on the chest dominance in their mixed voices, as well as developing truly connected head voices to further take on the K-pop industry with even more powerful vocals. As of now, Mamamoo is one of the female vocal groups with the best average for vocal technique and Wheein stands as the member in Mamamoo with the healthiest vocal technique out of the three vocalists, even if by very little.

Musicianship

As a Mamamoo member, the group and members follow the trend of vocalists who help one another by instead of shining more individually, they learn to make their voices match and blend well with each other through harmonies. All of the members of Mamamoo possess great skills of using different uses of style and learning to correctly understand each other’s voices to match volume, pitch, tone quality and produce clean and well rehearsed harmonic performances, such as in “쿨하지 못해 미안해“.

Label (Type of Vocalist)

MB Vocalists: Mid-Range Belters

ML Vocalists: Mid-Low Range Vocalists

Vocal Range Video(s)

Videos by: Hawaiipups and kpopvocalists

Best Vocal Performance(s)

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Analyzed by Haruko & Ahmin

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125 thoughts on “Mamamoo’s Vocal Analysis: Wheein”

  1. Omg I also thought Wheein had the best technique and ability of the group! I know the difference is minimal but would you rate Mamamoo as Wheein > Solar > Hwasa?

    Hopefully Wheein can improve (esp her falsetto since that’s her weakest). I really like Mamamoo so thanks for all the analyses! I hope you do Shannon Williams soon 🙂

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  2. How Would you compare Solar and Wheein? I was under the impression Solar was more talented but that might possibly just be due to her power of voice standing out above Wheein

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  4. Wow never knew Wheein is a tiny bit better than Solar, especially her lower register. I thought their lower ranges were better and similar, guess not…

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  5. You mentioned in the analysis that MAMAMOO is one of the best-balanced girl groups in terms of vocal technique. What might the other candidates for best-balanced be? Thanks.

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      1. Thanks! I wasn’t sure if there’d be a difference in the groups between “best-balanced average” or “group with the best vocalist.” Probably not, right?

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      4. But Davichi has a huge gap like Good and Above Average, but it’s nice both can sing nicely, aah actually i think same as The Grace lol

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      5. If you were to count TTS, (I know they aren’t a group but a sub-unit,) where would the list stand?

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      7. TTS would be even with Brown Eyed Girls, after CSJH The Grace, Davichi, 15& and then Mamamoo, it would be BEG and TTS.

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  6. Would you say that even though they all sound quite different, the three vocalists of Mamamoo all have really similar techniques with their voice?

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    1. Thank you, we just try to be able to help. ^ ^ She sounds nice, this song is kind of easy for her overall. She did well, she had less chest voice in her mix, she was the one with the lightest approach to her mix from the beginning it seems. She sounds really young…her pitch is good though, she sounds pretty nice.

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  8. Hi! just wanted to say a big thank you for all the analyses. I just found this blog yesterday and been reading alot of the analysis. In fact, I’m trying to learn more about the techniques in singing by watching the videos accompanied with the analysis. (i like how you guys linked to the specific part you are talking about). Can I ask if there’s any example of wheein having a nasal placement? Also what’s a pushed resonance? And also does it mean if a head voice is developed well enough a singer does not use falsetto?

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    1. Nasal placement for Wheein.. A few times in the duet performance, I can’t remember off of the top of my head. A singer can use falsetto even if they have a head voice, they just have two options and a head voice is a much more useful tone than a falsetto. Pushed resonance is like resonance with an excessive amount of vocal cord and air pressure, by pushing air out.

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  9. So basically Wheein is the strongest vocalist in MAMAMOO? Also is Stephanie from The Grace is AA or A to AA?

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  10. Sorry, this is totally unrelated, but I’m a curious brown girl who can’t help but ask Shreya Ghosal’s rating..she’s an Indian singer and I think she has an amazing voice, but I just wanted to know how good she really is. Sorry T.T

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    1. I apologize cause I can’t answer the question since I don’t know who that is and we only focus on K-pop vocalists.

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      2. I’m sorry but we don’t analyze non Kpop vocalists.. We don’t have time the time since we won’t ever write a full analysis for them.

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  11. How do you lose support while still keeping good placement? I’m a bit new to these terms, initially I thought good placement will let you have good support

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    1. Good placement has to do with the direction of air into the resonance chambers, so as long as one maintains the air flow directed into the nasal cavities there will be good placement despite tension or lack of support.

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    1. There’s nothing really new to mention, high strained mixing, resonance in the lower parts, falsetto, pitchy runs.

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  14. Hi! Mamamoo performed their recent comeback song live for the first time through V-APP a few hours ago and someone posted it on youtube

    I’d like to ask about the D5s in the choruses 0:38 ~ 1:14, 1:49 ~ 2:24, 2:56 Solar that I know is off, 3:01 Wheein does a Bb5, that I’d like to ask about. I’m particularly interested in Wheein cause she’s my bias so it’s more difficult for me to pick up on it.

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    1. These D5’s aren’t bad actually. They’re just somewhat pushed, some growling. The approach isn’t bad, it’s not that heavy so the notes are somewhat relaxed. 2:56 when she added more chest, she was pushing and lost support but for the rest when they were being lighter, they sounded okay. 3:01 The Bb5 sounds like a pushed air head voice, it lacks proper stretch and connection so she pushed the air to get the note out. It’s a bit high tbh, so asking her to sing a beautiful Bb5 while dancing is a bit unfair.

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      1. I thought so! So would you agree that she’s on a good track right now in the sense that she’s actually making progress in a good direction in developing her technique? I really don’t mean to drag, but a conveniently located foil would be solar who would have relatively pushed technique with a more noticeably raised larynx on the D5s?

        So she actually used head voice yassss! I’m happy because at least now she HAS head voiced… she just needs to learn how to support in that kind of coordination.

        Thank you!

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  15. Would you say that some of Wheein’s D5s would be considered supported? Also, do you happen to be keeping up with Mamamoo’s performances? If not, would having someone do a compilation of the D5s be better and something you’d be more motivated to listen to?

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  16. So Mamamoo did a high note battle

    @0:50/1:41/2:19 is Wheein’s Bb5 from Decalcomanie, except without the dancing so it’s not as questionable. Would this change the part in her analysis where it says “Wheein has not yet showcased the ability to sing with a connected head voice”?

    @1:28 New top note for Solar with an actually sung G#6?

    @2:37 New top note for Hwasa with her face showing she’s the one singing an E6?

    @2:41 Lol does that count as singing?

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    2. All those Bb5’s that Wheein hit are falsetto so it doesn’t change the part that addresses her not singing with a connected head voice, because it isn’t a connected head voice.

      2:37 strained E6 falsetto for Hwasa for sure, high larynx but definitely sung falsetto, strained. 2:41 C7/C#7 but it’s not singing, I wouldn’t consider it as part of her sung range. But Solar’s 1:28 G#6, I would consider that a whistle register even tho it’s very underdeveloped and lacks complete control, she found the whistle in that moment. We shall count both, not Wheein’s C7.

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    1. If you don’t mind, I’m going to use a youtube link for this. I do appreciate the link you shared, but youtube is just a bit more comfortable for other users as well.

      She started with an F5 in falsetto. 0:07 that slow run was nicely executed, 0:12 this one could’ve been cleaner though. 0:24 nice Bb3’s for Wheein. 0:47 Bb3’s to G#3’s, not bad. There’s a lot of rapping in this. 3:02 strained Eb5 and then I hear strain but I don’t know who’s hitting what note. 3:22 tight D5’s for Wheein. 3:45 again tight D5’s. No improvement in this performance yeah. 3:56 not bad placement on the F5.

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    1. 0:10 whispered approach on her lower range, 0:16 E3’s, no support there. Above that there is a bit too much air. Their harmonies are nice, her runs are a bit sloppy. I’m not sure what you mean by is she on the right track. Because that’s assuming she is actively trying to improve and has been addressing issues but she’s remained stagnant in her technique and so I can’t say she is on the right track, cause I don’t hear an attempt to change her technique at all. 3:33 pushed Bb5 in falsetto. 3:44 I hear strain but Wheein is doing the lower harmony. She is mostly letting her duet partner take the higher notes, so she is not really showing changes in technique.

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  19. Hello! I wonder if you could quickly analyze this performance? I think Wheein handles it with relative ease since it seems much simpler than Mamamoo songs in general. Do Bomi and Hyejeong support at all?

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      3. Lol judging by the companies though it might not that be impressive tho. Only Starhip, and RBW have decent vocalists out of all the companies participating and speaking of Starship if you know Jung Saewon what do you think of him vocally. I think he supports but can get pretty throaty. Like at 1:29

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      4. He sounds really shallow, and really throaty too low for a tenor. Also his accent in English doesn’t help in his diction and placement.

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    1. She has a resonant C#5, but where exactly do you hear a change in her technique? I didn’t quite notice anything different.

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    1. It’s not that similar actually. The similarities are two: 1. They’re both heavy, 2. They both push. But there are other differences. 1. Ailee doesn’t usually sing with a high larynx, Mamamoo does. 2. Ailee pushes with air but also a heavy chesty low placed sound, sometimes with a lowered larynx, Solar and Wheein sing with high larynx and a brighter placement. So although they all push with air, Ailee places the sound lower, while Wheein and Solar are actually quite bright the higher they get.

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    1. I would not agree with that statement because there have not been any significant improvements to their technique after their debut. They’ve pretty much stayed pretty stagnant, which is good as in they’re not digressing in anyway.

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    1. 3:25 I hear resonance but pushed air pressure and a bit of air coming through her vocal cords, which seems like it’s due to fatigue and pushing.

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  27. Hey bro! I think I would like to compare Solar to Ailee as a future model, but how about Wheein? Maybe Younha or Taeyeon or anyone else? And how about Hwasa?

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      1. Er.. sorry for not explaining well, I would like to know that if Solar could become Ailee or her type in the future, and how about Wheein/Hwasa? I think Wheein and Younha may share the same type but not sure. And on idea of Hwasa’s.

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      2. I have said many times I can’t see the future, so I can’t know the answer unfortunately.

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      3. Well maybe you misunderstood me, I’m sure the future cannot be predicted accurately. I am just interested in their type, or which two songs similar

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      4. I don’t mean it rudely, I just don’t think about these things so I really can’t answer when you say like the Ailee type in the future or the Younha type, I don’t see it in any of them and I can’t really answer unfortunately.

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  28. Hello! I wonder if you could analyze this performance (a duet).

    I think her low notes in the beginning are really whispered. Can you tell me what notes are sung at the climax 3:18, and how well it was executed? Is she using falsetto at 3:37 to hit the high notes? How would you asses her duet partner’s singing technique?
    Thanks!

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      1. Oh sorry we just did not have time to analyze full performances without time stamps. The only answers I’ve had had time for have been video questions with time stamps unfortunately. I’ve made it a rule not to analyze full performances unless it’s strictly necessarily so I do apologize.

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    1. It was kind of pushed and closed to me. I’d say Seo Moon Tak’s carried resonance, but there was a slight wide vibrato? I’m not sure, I’d heard something for a second there though.

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    1. A vocal run should be executed with precision, where each note is sung individually at the center of pitch while maintaining freedom in the throat, allowing the placement to shift as the vocalist switches registers and the notes have to be connected with a smooth legato to keep a consistent flow. Wheein’s runs almost always lack in terms of precision, as she more or less sings around the notes but not necessarily at the center of the pitch which causes her runs to lack clarity and definition. That’s what a messy run is. Comparing Wheein’s runs to vocalists like Tori Kelly, Mariah Carey or Naul, you can hear that there’s a drastic different in precision and accuracy. You’re welcome to explain how that information is wrong. Pointing out one part of the analysis as wrong and saying we aren’t trustworthy while providing absolutely no reasoning or explaining as to why only shows a lack of effort on your part to even accept and be open minded about constructive criticism. We are fine and can admit when we are wrong but you have to make at least the effort to explain how.

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  33. Hi Ahmin3, I just have a quick question, since this was posted in 2015 and we’re in 2018, has Wheein improved in any way? This goes for the other members as well. I don’t know much about vocal analysis but i just wanted to know if any of them show any improvement in the areas you said they lack in. Sorry if my question is too broad. 🙂

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    1. Hi! Well it’s okay, but unfortunately as far as I’ve noticed there has been little to no drastic change in their vocal technique over the past few years.

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  36. Hey admins, I think that Wheein hit a D3 in her new song Easy. At the end (at 3:04 till the end of the vid) she sings the “It’s not easy” as E4 – D4 – E4 – A4. I put in earbuds and it sounds like she harmonizes it an octave lower with E3 – D3 – E3 – A3. The harmonization is especially apparent on the last A3. Idk if it could count as her new lowest note or if it’s too unclear/too muffled to be counted, but just letting yall know

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  38. I’m not too sure where to ask so I’ll ask here since she’s a Mamamoo member too.
    Is Moonbyul and mezzo? She doesn’t sound like a soprano to me tbh.

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      1. I hadn’t watched that one yet (rip). I just did. (Hani is a mezzo!?!?!?!?!)
        By the way, would you say Moonbyul supports? I remember watching a video in which Moonbyul (alongside Seulgi and some other k-idols) talked about how she was planning on debuting as a vocalist too but RBW made her the rapper of the group not long before debut. This means she at least must have a decent sense of support, if she was initially meant to be a vocalist too, right?
        I’ve also listened to some of her singing (such as in “Paint Me”) and she’s also able to harmonise with the remaining MMM members, and I feel like she isn’t half bad? Idk, I’d like to know what you think ^^. (Also sorry if you’ve answered this question before, I don’t see it anywhere lol)

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      2. Yes she is. Just because she was supposed to debut as a vocalist doesn’t mean she supports at all. She’s not half bad, she’s just shallow and kind of half spoken.

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      3. Wow, I would’ve never thought of Hani as being a mezzo o.O
        Yeah I do realize that what I said wouldn’t necessarily mean that Moonbyul could support, but I thought it could be the case (regardless she’s a bomb ass rapper so it makes up for it). And the fact that she isn’t too bad is nice too 🙂

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      1. I also dont trust the info from that fb page. They said christina grimmie has a chesty mix which completely threw me off. I heard some random person on the internet commenting on that actually not from the fb(though believing some random person on the internet is also not the best thing.. hehe) im just curios.

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    2. That noob is a lier, he said Joy supports fully A4, Eunha has support, Jessica is consistent on C#5/D5 lol. even Moonbyul support while rapping
      in real singing she even strained, flat on A4 LOL

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  40. Did Wheein do something different for the run in the second vid compared to the original one you linked in the analysis? For some reason the second one sounds better executed, or is that just my imagination?

    4:32

    10:42

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  41. Hi! I’m not sure if you are still checking for comments on this post anymore but I was wondering about a recent (kind of recent, about six months old) performance by Wheein and whether or not she was straining to reach the notes, particularly around 0:54, 2:59, and 3:12. I’ve been trying to learn the difference between strain and supported singing and if I were to make a guess, I would say it was closer to straining but I can’t tell if that’s just her tone. As far as I could tell, notes don’t seem far out of her supported vocal range.

    Thanks!

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    1. B4, A4, Eb5, I feel you thought her occational nasality is strain, LOL, they are just more difficult to project, she still relaxed on them. And the last 3:12 is strained Eb5 with high larynx yes

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      1. I don’t think I hear a C3 at that section. It sounds like a G3 but stylized in an airy way.

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  42. Shouldn’t the gap between wheein and solar be much wider than how the he vocal ranking (that is now deleted) portrayed them to be? It showed them very close to each other, almost equal. But wheein has a much better lower register, more relaxed falsetto and belts her notes much healthier. Reading solars analysis i felt like she gets much more critisicm for her technique and rarely praise, while wheein has much less points for improvement, that i think solar should be ranked lower on the aa category (yes i know you dont rank anymore).

    And apart from their gap in skill, are both of them still above average or have they improved to proficient level already?

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      1. It was not just about the ranking tho. I mentioned both analyses. Wheein got a much more positve review, while solar got lots of criticism and points for improvement. I just imagine solar to be much lower on the “above average” category than wheein, a more noticeable gap.

        And why can’t we bring up the ranking anymore just because it’s deleted? It is still everyhwere on the internet to see. Does you deleting the ranking make all the idols’ positions on it invalid now? Im confused

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      2. You can read about all their reasons to abolish the ranking system on their post about it (NO MORE RANKING SYSTEM?). I think that should explain it well enough 🙂

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    2. G#3 to A3 is not “much better” and Solar pretty much produce resonance “very” consistent than Wheein. Sometimes Wheein goes nasal. Wheein can be chesty and pushed too so no “much healthier”, you are trying to make their gap wider than it is.

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  43. Hi! I know you’re currently busy with your own life and studies and are not taking requests but any chance that all of Mamamoo’s profiles will be updated in the future? I’m interested in seeing how they’ve all improved, if at all.

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    1. I don’t think there’re any noticeable change in their technique, maybe aside from Wheein showing more frequent attempts of a connected head voice.

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      1. To me, they sound different now compared to their rookie days. Is it just because their voices got deeper and maybe some stylistic changes? Or is there something else?

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    2. Someone who is a fan of MAMAMOO here! I wouldn’t say any of MAMAMOO has significantly improved over the years (maybe Solar a bit?), but unfortunately, Wheein has regressed since the blog post about her has made. Compared to the time when the blog post was made to now, Wheein has got a tad weaker in support and coordination (it’s not shallow, but it’s definitely not on-par compared to her prime either) and opted for a lighter and even less connected approach (I would say her mix is more on the headier/lighter side now compared to before tbh). Her nasality is even more prominent than before, and struggles with openness as well, so she definitely lost the resonance she once had before. She used to support C#5, but unfortunately she doesn’t anymore (she only has up to B4/C5, but even B4/C5 are sometimes meh…).

      Compare her in “Mr. Ambiguous” (better coordination, stronger sense of support) or any of their works before late 2020 (or even better pre-2018) to her current works now, and you definitely can hear the difference between her earlier and her now.

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  44. Hi Ahmin in the performance below, would you say that the C5-D5 in 2:16-2:20 are supported ? also is Wheein less opened than usual ?

    Thanks in advance!

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      1. I linked it in my first comment, but I will link it again:

        If this link don’t work then its on 2:08-2:12 here:

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