BtoB’s Vocal Analysis: Changsub

0. M Vocalists: Mid-range vocalists, Companies: Cube Entertainment, Groups, Tenors, Vocal Analyses, Vocal Ranges: 3 Octave Ranges, , , , , , , , , , ,

Vocal Range

F#2 ~ C6 (3 octaves and 3 notes)

Supported Range

D3 ~ F#4/G4

Voice Type

Tenor

Strengths/Achievements

  • Second strongest vocalist in BtoB
  • Support is consistent up to F#4/G4, issues with consistency due to vowel shaping
  • Support is present in his lower range down to D3
  • Pitch is consistent throughout his range
  • Transitions into falsetto are often smooth and clean in pitch
  • Voice is flexible and possesses the correct flow and bounce in vocal runs
  • Able to produce a head voice in the lower portion of his range

Points for Improvement

  • Tends to not drop his jaw low enough
  • Nasality is often present in his singing
  • Notes above G4 become very squeezed and thinned out
  • Lower range below Eb3 becomes very airy and quiet
  • Issues with tension even within his supported range on closed vowels
  • Vocal runs lack precision in pitch and are often sloppy
  • Tends to get pitchy when not properly warmed up

Registers

  • Lower register: Generally supported down to D3, but below D3 his voice becomes softer and quieter, although tone may be present. At times he also lowers his larynx in order to project in his lower range or stylistically.
  • Mixed register: Support is very consistent up to F#4 and even G4, although he shows issues with vowel shapes. Above G4 he often sounds squeezed with a high larynx.
  • Upper register: At times may be able to produce a head voice in the lower part of his range, but most of the time upper register is whiny as he gets into the fifth octave and he becomes pushed.

Agility

As a vocalist, Changsub actually makes an effort to add vocal runs a lot more often some songs may require. His voice is more flexible than his precision, so in the process of doing runs he shows a good understanding of the rhythmic bounce between one note to another, where his voice is clear in his runs. With that said, he is not able to translate the idea of the run in his head into his voice, so the more complex and longer runs are, he tends to perform with relatively good rhythm but often inaccurate pitch accuracy. So his main issues aren’t so much of his inability to sing proper vocal runs, but more of a lack of preparation and a careful thought-process behind his musical ideas. His flexibility but also pitch inaccuracy can be heard in songs such as “With Me“, “그녀에게 전해주오“, “니가 싫다“, “Good Luck“,” 가로수 그늘 아래 서면” and “With Chocolate.”

Overall analysis

Changsub debuted as a member of BtoB, and has been part of the vocal line as a lead vocalist for as long as the group has been together. As such, Changsub often takes more challenging lines and has more of a highlighted overall focus throughout their repertoire. His voice is naturally light and bright, with a very youthful quality. His voice lacks in weight and would most likely fall under the light lyric tenor fach, alongside fellow other tenors in BtoB, such as Eunkwang, Minhyuk and Peniel.

His lower range is one of the less developed parts of his range, but support is present there nonetheless. He’s able to sing with slightly better support than the average tenor and has shown good development of his lower range down to D3, as heard by the E3’s in “지친 하루“, “사랑의 시“, Eb3’s in “그녀에게 전해주오“, “소녀“, “With Me“, and D3’s in “어제보다 슬픈 오늘“, “지나간다.” He often chooses a stylistic airiness in his lower range, causing him to often produce softer and less projected notes even within his supported range. However one can hear that below D3, his overall tone becomes much quieter and his muscles lack development to stay connected and project, as heard by the F#2’s in “가난한 사랑“, G2’s in “잊혀진다는 건“, A2’s in “Nothing Better“, “어제보다 슬픈 오늘“, B2’s in “지친 하루“, C3’s in “가로수 그늘 아래 서면“, “여기 있을게“, “후회한다“, “너를위해” and C#3’s in “삼오야 밝은 달.” At times Changsub may show the tendency to lower his larynx and strain his voice in order to better project in his lower range, as heard by the B2 in “Hello.” This seems to be more of a stylistic choice and has not been shown to be a bad habit of his though.

His mixed voice is relatively relaxed and maintains a good sense of breath support up to F#4 and G4 quite consistently. He has never really shown many issues below F#4. The only true issue Changsub has within his supported range is that at times he produces more nasal and tight notes depending on his jaw position and throat shape. He tends to have issues producing more relaxed notes when singing with closed vowels such as Ee (이), Oo (우) and Eu (으). He often tends to have a more closed throat on these vowels even within his supported range and due to not opening his mouth properly, his voice tends to become stuck in his nose, as opposed to projecting through his mouth with a lifted soft palate. However so, Changsub has been able to show multiple times that on more opened vowels he can produce a more opened and clean tone in this range, as heard by the F4’s in “아버지“, F#4’s in “하늘을 달리다“, “듣는 편지“, “어제보다 슬픈 오늘“, “With Chocolate” and G4’s in “사랑 그놈“, “가로수 그늘 아래 서면“, “무조건” and “거짓말.”

His mixed voice above G4 however is where he has a lot more issues. Most of the time his mix becomes brighter and head dominant as he ascends above G4, where his throat also closes as his larynx raises. As a result, the sound of his voice becomes very blocked and squeezed, with an added degree of tension from his throat muscles. This can be heard as many times Changsub has to sing in a higher and more demanding range even within his mixed voice. As heard in the G#4’s in “후회한다“, A4’s in “별“, “매듭“, “겨울이 오면“, B4’s in “With Me“, C5’s in “괜찮아요“, “서울의 달“, C#5’s in “L.U.V.“, “Mirotic“, D5’s in “집으로 가는 길“, “YOU“, Eb5’s and F5’s in “Bolero“, as well as E5’s in “나비무덤.”

His upper register has been shown to mostly be done with a falsetto, or a connected head voice with somewhat shallow support. At times he may be able to transition into a soft head voice in the lower portion of his range, as heard in “사랑의 시“, “삼오야 밝은 달.” However most of the time, he tends to sing with a falsetto and the higher he sings, the more vocal pressure he adds to his vocal cords. In order to compensate for the lack of support in his upper register, Changsub tightly pushes his vocal cords together, closes his throat and adds excessive air pressure in order to sing higher and higher, often singing with a very piercing and sharp sound in his falsetto, as heard by the E5’s in “거짓말“, F#5’s in “Hello“, “울어도 돼“, “With Chocolate“, G5’s in “천일동안” and in their practice room, and C6 in “Mirotic.” Below E5 however, he can often sing with a more relaxed and softer approach in his falsetto even if tension may still be present, as heard in “서쪽하늘“, “忘れないで“, “You’re My” and “Nothing Better.”

Musically speaking, Changsub has a very good ear for pitch and overall dynamic changes within a song. He’s able to stylistic choose between airiness and tone, as well as how to manipulate his larynx position for style. The main issue with his singing is not a lack of skill, but a lack of practice. It’s been known that Changsub often warms up by singing songs that are very high before a performance. This may warm up the voice quickly but he also tires his voice out in the process by singing very demanding songs without taking the time to warm up his voice slowly. Also although cracking may be commonly perceived as a lack of vocal ability, it truly has a lot more to do with lack of warming up or being tired. He only has performances where he cracks and sounds pitchy when he’s not well warmed up and did not take the time to practice the song carefully beforehand.

Changsub’s main issues as a vocalist don’t necessarily lie on his lack of vocal talent or even lack of practice, but lack of good work ethic. He has a natural aptitude for singing and has a lot of potential in range, and has shown great improvement when compared to his pre-debut singing. However since he doesn’t practice the right way he’s unable to progress vocally as much as he potentially could. He has more or less been stagnant since debut and that’s caused by not addressing most of his technical issues. For the future, working on his vowel shaping, as well as monitoring his larynx position and evening out his mix as he gets higher in range will help him further develop his overall singing technique. If he were to fix his diction issues with vowels and maintain a more opened approach in his overall singing, he’d be able to sing with much better placement and produce actual resonance in his overall singing.

Musicianship

Changsub is one of the tenors in the main vocal unit of BtoB. As such he often takes the lead parts or upper harmonies, where he’s able to blend his voice well with fellow tenor Eunkwang, as well as the other baritones in the group Hyunsik and Sungjae. He has shown that he’s a skilled vocalist in terms of acapella harmonies and blending, as shown by BtoB’s live radio “Christmas Medley” and “A Song for Mama.” As for melodic changes and rhythmic changes to songs, he does at times take the liberty of making a song his own, but the result may not always be favorable as issues with strain and pitch are still present, such as in “괜찮아요“.

Label (Type of Vocalist)

M Vocalists: Mid-Range Vocalists

Best Vocal Performance(s)

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Analyzed by Ahmin (Kitsunemale)

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88 thoughts on “BtoB’s Vocal Analysis: Changsub”

  2. hey ahmin 🙂 i only found this blog about a month ago and i’ve been waiting excitedly to see what you had to say about changsub!! thanks for putting in so many examples – even though i’ve watched all of these too many times to count lol it really helps to solidify in my mind the things that i’ve noticed before.

    i’ve always thought that changsub has avoided working on his voice though, and that he knew he had a lot of room for improvement. but what i’ve wondered about was if it’s just him being lazy/not caring, or if it’s some confidence thing? i’m usually prone to thinking that he knows and is sure of his potential to control his voice better but just refrains from doing so for whatever reason. but then i also sometimes think that the whininess in particular is holding him back mentally? just from the way he jokes about it/his general character when he seems to think he sounded bad. i wonder if maybe he’s under the impression that he can’t fix it and therefore just gave up working on his voice at all..? idk lol we’ll never know ofc but it’s pretty clear that the voice cracks bother him. if he would just take care of his instrument better smh.

    aside from the technical side of it he’s got a charming voice! so it’s a shame. also makes me wonder how much vocal training they actually get at a place like cube lmfao can we buy him a special vocal trainer since cube ent has about 2 cents to spare at the moment??? also some kind of confidence trainer for sungjae (and for changsub if it’s not just laziness) hahaha

    anyway….. thanks for the hard work ahmin!!! thanks for putting your time into another awesome analysis!

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    1. It’s a shame if he practices vocal regularly but aimlessly. I wonder if what he practises is actually associated with how to maintain his tone only because fans love his tone. And I kinda agree about confidence issue with Sungjae and Changsub. I don’t like the hierarchy system inside BTOB.
      I think Cube isn’t really focusing in training vocal technique because their vocalists mostly had previous lesson in an academy for years (Eunji was trained by his mother tho).
      Hope they both soon find a good trainer so they can utilize their potential to the fullest.
      Thanks for the detail analysis Ahmin and the KVA team!

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      1. yeah, it’s sad. :-/ i really do wonder what his reasoning is. his tone is one thing he has naturally though, so i don’t think they’d be training him in it 🙂 it really seems like he barely practices officially. i would say that all of them probably just do basic maintenance and don’t do anything explorative honestly.

        i don’t particularly like the rankings either, just because they’re way too simple/generalised, but they’re only really a problem because they rank sungjae as last when he’s at least equal with hyunsik. anyway 🙂 yeah we’re lucky to have a vocal line that’s all already studied music at college (except for sungjae who is enrolled/planning to and changsub who i think isn’t finished yet). lets hope that since cube’s putting more money/effort into btob now that they might invest in some new training!!

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      2. Oh no Sungjae is a lot better than HyunSik, HyunSik just has an extensive mixed voice range. But yeah I don’t like their ranking either.

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      3. ahaha omg…….. i concur, sungjae is a lot better 😂 i was just thinking of any of the hyunsik fans who might have already been upset by him not being analysed and toned it down a little lol. though it’s a bit unfair to bring sungjae down when he’s realistically a lot better… the rankings are pretty redundant in the way that they use them anyway though lol.

        sorry for rambling all over the comments lol, it’s not even about changsub in particular anymore haha 😅 thanks for the hard work!!

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  5. Thank you for analyzing subbie hehehe

    So technique wise, his technique not that bad, but lack of vocal warm up makes his voice often crack. He really bother alot by it tough. As far as i know he really trained alot, he always trained the longest. Thats why he often got sleepy, and sleep before the perf. Maybe thats why his vocal not warmed up enough…
    and maybe lack vocal trainer who can teach him how to trained his vocal the right way ^^

    About the ranking, except for eunkwang. Nowadays there’s no ranking between the rest of the member. They all the same ranking, vocalist of the group ^^

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  7. Musically speaking I really don’t know alot so I had to search quiet a few things op to fully understand what you were saying(Which was ok:)). I just enjoy listening to music, and in particularly to Changsub his voice is one of my favorites, I listen to him quite often before sleep. So thank you alot for the analysis, I love it.

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  8. and I’m happy the videos I suggested (무조건 and 가난한 사랑) are used in the analysis~
    (i dunno if you found those videos on your own tho ;p)

    I wish Changsub can read this analysis maybe with Peniel’s help…

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  9. Thank you for the analysis! Not gonna lie, I stan the guy but I was fully prepared for a less than favourable rating in light of all the cracks and the strain. Nice to know those are the exceptions and not the rules. That he hasn’t improved since debut is sad to me though. Afaik, dude actually practices pretty hard because he’s insecure as a vocalist. That he remains stagnant leads me to think that’s he’s not training properly 😦 I hope Cube gets these boys better teachers! It’s the least they could after promoting them as vocal powerhouses.

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    1. They did just fine, there’s nothing new to point out about Changsub. One of these songs was sung before and was included in the analysis actually.

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      2. People have already asked about this performance before, and I concluded there was no change to his technique. 0:20 Bb2 still dropping support in the second octave. 1:24 strained C5 to Bb4, 1:26 supported up to G4 just as before. 1:37 G4’s again, could be more opened. Just as before, he sounds supported throughout up to G4 and strains above that but keeps his mix bright and so it makes it easier for him to mix higher. 2:34 G4 then 2:36 C5 B4 and 2:38 A4, where his mix becomes more forward again, though there’s strain above G4 as usual. 3:03 resonant G4. Subjectively, I love his voice and I think he sounds beautiful, but technically I don’t hear any improvement.

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  11. Save for Sungjae, most of the vocalists in the group did not seem to improve at all by much since debut, when they are supposed to. Cube people must have thought that their kids do not need to be trained anymore as they are already good enough as “idols” even without extra training. The same can be said with the other Korean idols too. So much wasted potential out there just because management wants to lessen their spending as much as possible.

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  12. Thank you for doing a wonderful job with all this information! It is really interesting to see an informed insight into their vocal ability! I remember before in 2015, you posted a vocal ranking? I really enjoyed it and was wondering if this is something you may be doing again at some point?

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    1. Oh we have never posted a vocal ranking, but we will. We will once it’s been finished, it wouldn’t make sense for us to post rankings without having every vocalist in said ranking analyzed first. If we did, the ranking wouldn’t be reliable enough.

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  13. AHHH I LOVE CHANGSUBS VOICE SO MUCH. But since I listen to him so often, even though I don’t know exactly what it is, I do hear his nasal voice sometimes and he voice cracks quite often. He has such a soothing voice though. Also thank you for spending so much time and effort for this. It must be kind of tedious to find multiple samples of his vocal range and pinpoint his strengths and weaknesses… I hope Peniel somehow finds these and shares them with his fellow members so they can improve.

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  14. Thank you again for choosing Sungjae and Changsub for your vocal analyses. I think Changsub problem was on the way he practice not that he doesnt practice at all, changsub was very hardworking and he practiced the longest. The next problem was he always sleep before the perf. Most of the time when he do that he cracks on the actual performance. All in all thank you for your analyses. Hope cube ent. Will give them proper training for taking care of their voice.

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    1. It’s a nice song, since you’re not asking a very specific question, I’ll be very general and say there’s nothing new to say about this performance.

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  16. Hi Matheus,

    So BtoB’s sub-group just released this song:

    What do you think about this performance ? Can you rank who did the best and who did worst?

    Also, few comments regarding Hyunsik’s technique would be nice lol.

    Another thing… these guys’ voice REALLY confuse me, especially Changsub and Sungjae. I know that vocal color isn’t everything and that even people who look and sound like Baekho can be considered Tenors but… isn’t it Changsub= High Baritone/Baritenor and Sungjae= Tenor? Both have extensive range up to C6 and their lowest notes seem to be the same, though Sungjae seems to be more comfortable than Changsub in the lower register. That being said, it’s not the same for every Tenor VS Baritone right ? There are Baritones who neglect their lower range (V) while some Tenors’ (Onew) are better developped.

    If Changsub is a Tenor than lol I guess you could say that he’s the Tenor version of Kangin because he sounds EXACTLY like Kangin, I still think he’s either a High Baritone or Lower end Tenor though.

    As for Sungjae, the dude always sounded like a Tenor to me, boyish, although he’s definitely thicker than Changsub, which might mean in the end that CS = Tenor ; SJ = Tenor

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    1. Well I remember him saying that tone can help with identifying specific fachs like lyric,spinto,dramatic and so on but the best way to tell voice type is to see where their voice is more naturally placed in range and where they sing. It’s hard to with pop singers since so many like Hwanhee and Hyunmin force themselves to sing higher (even with good technique) but they still can’t change that their voice projects more naturally. Like Sungjae has better projection and more comfort in his lower range than he does in his mix while even though Changsub isn’t that good he still has a more natural ease and his voice is higher placed but yeah that’s what I understand form it

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    2. They sound fine, they always deliver good vocal performances as a vocal unit and harmony group. Of course we already know their natural issues as vocalists, so I don’t see a use in ranking them based on one performance when we already three of them and made it clear what Hyunsik’s rating would be as well. 2:28 tight falsetto for Sungjae. After that Hyunsik was singing through his throat the whole time he sang above C4/C#4.

      Now as for your questions regarding voice type, there are a couple of issues here. First listen to these:

      Like Demitri said, tone will only be useful to tell you about someone’s specific fach but to tell a baritone apart from a tenor, you need to hear where their passaggi are. “Boyish” is already a bad term to make you think of a tenor because boyish is more related to lyric voices than it is to a tenor. A mezzo soprano can sound girly if light and lyric. Beyoncé is a lyric mezzo and compared to someone like Jennifer Hudson who is a spinto soprano, Beyonce may have a lower voice but she sounds lighter and less “womanly.” Jennifer Hudson is a big voiced woman but she’s a soprano and has a higher voice than Beyonce with a darker tone, so tone will tell you what their fach is, not their initial voice type.

      Now I don’t know why you think Changsub sounds like a baritenor or high baritone because without even listening to his passaggi, you can just hear how high his voice is. Just listen to him sing, there’s no weight, he’s light, bright and high. He is singing in a naturally high range for a tenor and is handling it like a tenor as well. Now range as in how high and how low they can sing, that’s irrelevant to voice type because I can sing C6 and I’m not a Soprano so it’s irrelevant to say “both can sing C6” yes but that doesn’t tell us anything about who is a baritone and who is a tenor.

      Now if you just listen to Sungjae when he sings BtoB songs, it can be confusing. For a tenor and a baritone to sing in the same exact range and the baritone doesn’t have the technique to handle the higher range, usually we will sound much lighter and thinner than tenors. So that may give you an impression that when they sing in the same range, Sungjae’s voice is “lighter” or “thinner” and therefore “higher.” A baritone with average technique singing F#4’s and a tenor with average technique singing F#4’s, the tenor will sound much fuller and stronger than the baritone just because that note isn’t as high for him as it is for a baritone. Now if you listen to the video I posted here, it’s very clear how much lower and thicker Sungjae’s voice is when he sings in a baritone range.

      Now let’s talk about range and passaggi. The dead giveaway for baritones vs tenors is where they mix. We lyric baritones don’t mix until B3, but lyric tenors don’t mix until D4/Eb4 so if you hear a baritone singing and it sounds like they’re belting/mixing, check what note they’re singing. Then do the same for a tenor. A tenor is not gonna like have a big belty part in a song with an Eb4 or E4 or even F4. That’s too low for them to sing a powerful belt. A baritone can have a lot of fun belting that, a baritone could potentially “belt” D4’s but a tenor would start the belting process around F#4, which is where they’re close to their second passaggio. So looking at where a baritone and a tenor are singing and mixing will help a lot.

      Truthfully they both sound youthful and boyish because of course not only are they both lyric voices, they’re young men. They’re not fully formed adults with matured voices yet. I can see why you’d be confused about Sungjae maybe being a tenor if you’re not a baritone yourself and if you’re unfamiliar with the differences between baritones and tenors. Now the one thing that confuses me is you thinking that Changsub sounds like Kangin or that Changsub is a high baritone or lower end tenor. Like…I don’t get what makes you think that Changsub has a low voice, he sounds very light, bright and highly placed in terms of range. I just don’t hear how you think he has a low voice.

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      3. Actually I’m pretty much fooled very frequently by the timbre when trying to find out which voice type this person’s voice belongs to lol. Not only that, appearrance also influences my thought lmao. Generally, I’d associate “boyish”, small, nasal, whiny singing to Tenors, and most of them sound like a young 25 years old man to me, and they don’t look “manly”, they’re less robust, kind of like a teenager lol. For Baritones, I’m usually fooled by looks such as Baekho, and I usuall qualify dark and husky voices as Baritones (I first thought Baekhyun and Yesung were Baritones). This is why Changsub seems like a Baritone to me, he looks “wide” lol, for me, big faced people always supposed to be Baritone lol, and also the HUSKINESS, my god that gets me the most.

        So the easiest place to know whether you’re a Bari or Tenor is the passagio between chest and mix? Also belt ??? I don’t know in which register you belt lol, for me it’s the volume output being louder. As for the mix register, yeah, I’m extremely confused by that, I don’t know what mix is for sure, my guess is that it sounds like a not whiny and supported falsetto ? And isn’t the head voice more powerful for belting ?

        Wow Ahmin so your full range is C2-C6 ? I’m so jealous. As for me, I’m not sure about myself lol, at best I can reach D2 through normal singing, and reach G#5 with a decent amount of efforts, my lower register sounds less “manly” than Sungjae, I don’t have a husky voice, sounds like a typical Tenor for me, just a very underdeveloped higher range. My support generally goes from B2 to F4/F#4.

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      4. I also thought Baekho looked kind of like a baritone but I think Hyukjin of 100% looks a LOT more like a baritone than Baekho. I don’t think either of them sound like baritones, even though Baekho is much chestier. I’ve heard some say Baekhyun sounds like a baritone which I don’t understand too well, but if you don’t know the difference I can kind of get it. Yesung is usually one who fools lots of kids. I don’t think Changsub is husky, he has such a light and clear voice…aside from his throatiness. I don’t think he looks like a baritone either? lol But I get your way of thinking now.

        Well belting is mixed voice, so yeah just passaggi. Recognizing the second passaggio is harder so just hearing where they mix helps a lot. Head voice isn’t used for belting. Belting is a chest-dominant mixed voice. Just check ALL the links for the mixed voice section of our analyses and you’ll hear what a mixed voice is. It has nothing to do with falsetto or even head voice. My range isn’t consistently down to C2 lol You’ve learned to support? Because that’s a pretty wide range of support for either a tenor or a baritone if you’ve had no training before.

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      5. Actually, I do support, at least I know that I’ve always been trying to work on my breathing now. Everytime I sing, I kind of force my belly down the most I can, sometimes I get the feeling I overdo it. My support can go down to B2 but it’s very weak, I do it with “Mo” or “O” since those syllabes are the easiest for me to project fully my voice. At C#3 it starts to become weak and I can’t hold the note very long as for D3. For the upper range, support can extend to F4, yes, but then again, it’s weak from D#4 onward. So I guess the range in which I can support without getting tired is D3-D4 lol.

        As for the mixed register, I’ve managed to distinguish it: The mixed register sounds lighter and may have sometimes a hint of breathiness. It sounds brighter than the chest register too and it feels less “tight” in the belly, it feels like the chest register is a solid round ball and then the mixed comes in in the shape of dust and wind (synesthesia lol). I’ve also noticed that I can only mix from B3 onward, though the true moment when I mix rather unconsciously is from D4, even though I can bring my chest up to F4 ! From F#4 onward I have to use a mixed voice.

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      6. Getting tired is not a sign of support. If you can support properly, your voice shouldn’t get weak nor tired. It shouldn’t really be right in the belly, you should not contract your abs when you are singing because that’s harsh of a push of air for the vocal cords. Mhmm interesting observations you’ve made.

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      7. It’s kinda strange for me speak English to a Vietnamese but that’s for Ahmin to correct me if I’m wrong ^^
        Since I’m also Vietnamese, I think I can somewhat understand your situation, which is pretty much similar to mine, Minh Duc Le. I used to force my belly down as well because I thought it would give more support to the voice. But after a long time doing this, I felt like it just created more tension in my belly and that was not good because singing should be as effortless and relaxed as possible. Also when I take exercises, I can have a deep breath, but I can’t really apply it to my singing because of a lack of breath control. Therefore, I still can’t support. What I’m trying to say here is even if you can force a really deep breath, that doesn’t guarantee that you can support, especially if you feel tired, there should be something wrong.
        I also think you might be confused about chest voice and chest-dominant mixed voice because a lot of Vietnamese are as well. I have heard a lot of Vietnamese claim them as vocal students (even the admins of a popular facebook page for DIVA’s singing) and say something like Whitney uses chest voice up to F5, Ailee uses chest voice up to around D5 (and they still call her a mezzo-soprano), which are very wrong. This is an example of a B4 and C5 that are called chest voice by them: https://youtu.be/a7fRjenfLao?t=56s but I’m pretty sure they are mixed. It seems like Vietnamese tend to call a chesty/balanced mix as a chest voice while a mixed voice is used to call a heady mix (imagine Seohyun’s)
        As for your voice, if you can mix from B3 then it is a possibility that you are a baritone. Also you said you can bring chest voice up to F4, which is kinda uncommon because a male shouldn’t really bring their chest voice up to F4 (tenor’s first passaggio is around Eb4). I think your mix starts around B3 and then up to F4, which is close to a baritone’s second passagio, you start to use a headier mix and think that is the start of your mix.
        I could be wrong without hearing your singing but this is my conclusion because it seems like our voice types are the same from what you describe ^^.

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Oh hi một người Việt 😀 ? Bạn bao nhiêu tuổi lol. Anyway, back to english now to not confused Matheus hahah.

        My teacher always tell me to support with few tension, as I always do. I seem to not have been able to do what he said though. What he told me is to take the air down to the area just below the place where you usually attach the belt, and under the belly button. He also told me that I shouldn’t force too much… Nowadays, I still kind of contract my abs, even though I do know that I shouldn’t do that…

        As for my first passagio (i.e. the chest –> mix for male if I’m not mistaken), I don’t think it’s from B3. Like I’ve said, I have the tendency to mix automatically from D4, I notice that for B3, C4 and C#4, I have to find a way to mix, whilst D4 is very natural ! And the difference between C#4 and D4 is shocking, I can chest clearly and naturally and while everytime I freestyle melodies, D4 is always the starting point for a lighter, slightly airier voice I think is mixed.

        My range speaks Baritone to me, aswell as the clarity of pitch that is present in the lower register, but sense of support I have no idea hahahah, only understand it when there’s my teacher around. I usually sing in the medium interval, agility and melismas are not good mid-low though. I think I’m a Baritone who has a Low Tenor tessitura and a “typical” Tenor timbre (Possibly Lyric, Light or Full I don’t know yet, still only 18 years old). My weight and color speak absolutely no Baritone to me hahahahahah even when I get to A2. I seem to fry around F2.

        My mixed voice is quite chesty from B3 to F#4/G4, onwards I don’t feel the sharpness of the head voice yet, it’s only at A#4.

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    3. Hahah, maybe one day I’ll be able to show what I can do to you 😉

      Anyway, back to BtoB now, lol. I’ve just heard this cover from Minhyuk, and I do wonder if he can be considered a better singer than Hyunsik.

      I think he is definitely a Light Lyric Tenor, considering his vocal weight and his acceptable runs heard in this song, pitches are not always that clear but you can hear some separation at times.

      At first, I don’t know if he can considered Average or not by only taking this cover, but with headphones on, and listening to Eunkwang singing right after him, it’s very clear that he’s at best Weak to Average, his support is just slightly there, the rest seems airy.

      What do you think of him ? He also seems to know how to project well, just not really good support.

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      1. He’s not average. No other member of BtoB is average. Minhyuk is a tenor yes but he has a very their based technique. Comparatively HyunSik strains more because he sings higher for his voice type, Minhyuk doesn’t mix that high. He doesn’t support properly, but he can get the projection out. He pushes with his throat.

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      4. He is singing with the same technique as before. Also a studio track isn’t reliable enough to be sure of improvement regardless. 4:20 strained A4, most of the song is within his supported range.

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  18. wow is this music students learn? amazing haha. but i know about tenor and baritone a little bit. guess why i’m here? i like tenor singer.

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  19. sorry for asking.
    1) what is difference between light tenor and full tenor?
    2) what is the difference between, above average & good, and proficient & great?
    3) is the rating based on facts? well, i kind of agree most of that and i think this site is the most facts-opinion because im sick of non-analyze ranking on the other sites.

    and last question- why changsub cannot be good to great at least? im agree he not proficient as i thought it belong to eunkwang.
    no offense. haha

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    1. Hi! Not an admin but:
      1) The two are just two different voice types. IIRC they are both tenors so the passagi should be the same, but a full tenor sounds, well fuller. For example, most male idols like Kyuhyun Chen Jonghyun etc are light lyrics but Jung Dongha, K.Will etc are full lyrics. Voice type has nothing to with vocal skill.
      2) They are the different ratings in the criteria of this blog. Of the four you mentioned best to worst would be: Great, Good, Proficient, Above Average.
      3) This blog aims to be objective and based solely on technique. So yes, it is based on facts.
      4) As you can see in the analysis, Changsub has issues with nasality, diction and certain vowels, and tension in his mix above G4. He also has problems with agility and occasionally intonation. As such, he is rated Average-Above Average or 2.5 out of 7. Objectively, Changsub could improve in many ways, and there are many vocalists who are far closer to Good-Great (5.5).

      Proficient is worse than Good to Great, above Proficient from what I understand is actually very difficult to achieve.

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      1. sorry my mistake. i got wrong order. thanks for answering. i mean not good to great, but why not above average to proficient. lol as i mention eunkwang is proficient why changsub must top on eunkwang when it is obvious eunkwang better…just my opinion and i like this site the most (num 1). but not agree with a slight arrangement of singers only (about rating)…

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      2. Honestly I don’t know what you mean because Eunkwang is rated much higher than Changsub. He has a better mix, less nasality, more consistent resonance. You leave a lot of comments about why a certain vocalist is rated where they are. Try reading the Criteria and you’ll see the vocalists are rated where they should be.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. 1. A light lyric tenor has a smaller voice with slightly less volume, less weight, less thickness.
      2. Well the answer for two and three are on our front page “about and our criteria.” The ratings are explained there and all the terms as well, read it first just to make sure and then if you still don’t understand, ask me again with more specific questions.

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      1. alright. thanks. 🙂
        btw i think this site has most similar analyzing with my opinion on vocal. video that upload rankings on youtube rating by their bias is illogical. lol..

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    3. Hi! I’m not an expert, but I really hope I can explain the answer of your last question. Please correct me if I’m wrong.^^
      First, If you see the criteria of rating posted in the main page, you can find that changsub’s supported range is as/almost as wide as the criteria of above average vocalists, and not wider plus other criteria. Second, he can’t even be considered above average yet because if you notice his strengths, It’s not stated that he can produce resonance consistently or maybe often yet, and that’s one of the criteria for a vocalist to be rated at least above average. Also, although his mix can be nice and clean, it doesn’t happen very often as he still have issues with his nasality, throat shaping for certain vowels,etc. In other words, he is not as strong as an above average vocalist should be based on the criteria, yet.
      If you want to rate changsub as a above average to proficient vocalist, his supported range and his strengths and weaknesses have to be closer to the criteria of the proficient rating, right? ^^

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    1. 0:16 B2, very breathy. Otherwise everything above that was hit without tension and with relative ease, despite the stylistic airiness kind of getting in the way. 0:42 He sounds slightly throaty around some of his E4’s, which seems to be kind of like phlegm. 1:00 Eb4’s are fine as usual. His head voice transitions are quite nice, there’s only a bit of air that seems to escape through his vocal cords. His G4’s and B4’s in head voice are nicely connected with some support actually. 1:45 again that sort of phlegmy quality. 1:58 there’s some throatiness for his G4’s, I’d say it can also come from fatigue, he is pushing with a voice that’s not 100% in condition. 2:16 the larynx raising around the A4’s. 2:25 better placed and more connected, he is kind of going back and forth with the throatiness. 2:41 really pushed and somewhat shouty, but not badly placed. 3:28 B4’s and C5’s, very shouty bright mix. 3:42 pushed G5 in more of a falsetto. I don’t hear any real considerable changes to how he’s always sung. His technique seems to be about the same, there’s no improvement from what I’m hearing. What is the improvement that you noticed?

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  23. Hi Ahmin thank you for the interesting analysis.
    Since Im not a singer nor understand vocal techniques, I can’t leave any good comment haha. I solely want to express myself.

    im actually kinda scared seeing your “He’s not average. No other member of BtoB is average. Minhyuk is a tenor yes but he has a very their based technique. Comparatively HyunSik strains more because he sings higher for his voice type, Minhyuk doesn’t mix that high. He doesn’t suppprt properly, but he can get the projection out. He pushes with his throat.” comment and see that there is still no Hyunsik’s analysis.
    and this too “These are from June, they don’t show any improvement in skill I’m afraid.”

    I hope Hyunsik and everyone will get even better.

    I’ve suscribed your youtube and will follow your blog, thank you for being so informative

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    1. Any comment you leave IS a good comment, so don’t say that! I love it that you’re leaving a comment and we highly appreciate it! Thank you so much and don’t be afraid, I’m sure at the end of the day they’ll all be fine even if they don’t improve. Damage would only show later in their 40’s, when most of them have already stopped singing and have families to take care of…

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  24. Hi ahmin, i’m just an ordinary person who don’t know anything about music. But i really want to ask you about this video https://youtu.be/xSNiCWEo-M0
    Did changsub strain his voice?. I really curious about someone who strained his voice because i cant distinguish which one that strained. And could you give your opinion about their perform. In your opinion, which one is better, this one or their to my love performance one?

    Ps. I’m sorry if you cant understand my question because of my broken english

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    1. Your English is fine, there’s no reason to apologize! 1:34 this is strained for Sungjae, for an example. It’s a pushy kind of sound. 3:04 this is very strained for Hyunsik. 3:09 Changsub is closing his throat around G#4 here, it’s not full on strain but it’s not supported. 3:35 strained, with the tongue going back into his throat. Why are you asking about To My Love specifically? Because they won in that one? I don’t know, they are both good performances with good moments vocally and not such great vocal moments. I’m not sure how to compare them when 4 vocalists are there with such different vocal levels.

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      2. btw, may i ask one more question? in that immortal song stage, did eunkwang strain his voice in his high note?

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      3. Most of the higher notes were sung by Hyunsik for some reason, so unless Eunkwang went above A4, he didn’t necessarily strain per se.

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    1. Yes of course, we add information to every analysis when there’s a change to one’s technique, be it improvement or regression.

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      1. The admins will get to the question. Please remember that they answer lots of questions often. Don’t worry. By the way, if I’m not mistaken, Changsub’s last Ab4 was tense. The first two I’m unsure about.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I’m not sure yet, it’s for the time being but I’m not sure what’s gonna happen in the future yet.

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