K.Will’s Vocal Analysis

0. MB Vocalists: Mid-range belters, Companies: Starship Entertainment, Soloists, Tenors, Vocal Analyses, Vocal Ranges: 3 Octave Ranges, , , , , , , , ,

Vocal Range

G2 ~ C6 (3 Octaves, 2 notes and 1 semitone)

Supported Range

D3/Eb3 ~ G4/G#4

Voice Type

Tenor

Strengths/Achievements

  • Support is clean and consistent
  • Able to produce resonance
  • Maintains a stable larynx with good support up to G#4
  • Lower range remains supported down to D3
  • Vocal runs are well separated at times
  • Able to use a connected head voice
  • Capable of holding down his harmonies well
  • Trills are usually very good rhythmically and pitch wise

Points for Improvement

  • Sounds tight and whiny above G#4 most of the time
  • Head voice isn’t consistently supported
  • Runs can often be very pitchy and lack control
  • Tends to be whiny and nasal
  • Questionable stylistic choices that cause a lot of tension
  • Head voice can be very throaty
  • Tends to sing with a very tight and squeezed throat most of the time
  • Tends to sing outside his comfort range more often than not
  • Tongue tension sometimes present within his supported range
  • Uses only an unhealthy laryngeal vibrato

Registers

  • Lower register: The lower portion of his chest voice tends be actually quite nicely developed in terms of tone production. Even where support isn’t present, tone isn’t completely lost. However he tends to become airier, while his larynx loses its neutral position below D3 most of the time.
  • Mixed register: His mixed voice is where he tends to sing most of the time. Unfortunately K.Will has a tendency to oversing and sing way beyond his comfort range because of how extensive his mixed voice is. Support is present with resonance up to G4/G#4, but above that he tends to sing with a high larynx.
  • Upper register: His upper register is a mixture of both a falsetto and a head voice. Most of the time K.will actually tends to use a head voice, but the support isn’t always present. Generally strains his head voice when singing louder or in the fifth octave.

Agility

K.Will seems to draw a lot of influence from American male R&B vocalists from the 90’s in his singing style. 90’s R&B made the idea of melismas a lot more mainstream, so naturally he would also be influenced to attempt vocal runs quite often. Earlier in his career, K.Will would often add vocal runs throughout many of his vocal performances. However rarely were they ever clean and precise in pitch. Rhythmically speaking K.Will is able to divide notes well and most of his simple and quick trills come out quite precisely, as heard in “Without You” and “나만 몰랐던 이야기.” However the longer, faster and more complex runs become, the messier his overall approach is. The more complex the runs are, the less precise his sense of pitch becomes. On top of that, he used to attempt vocal runs more often than not, causing many of his earlier vocal performances to be compromised almost entirely of pitchy and sloppy melismas. This can be heard in “Nobody“, “One Last Cry“, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas“, “Lately” and “그녀에게 전해주오.” More recently however he seems to have become less inclined to add vocal runs to his vocal performances and now adds more simple runs only occasionally to embellish his vocal performances, as opposed to making them the highlight of said performances.

Overall analysis

K.Will is a solo artist who originally debuted under Big Hit Entertainment in 2007, an entertainment agency which was then home to many ballad groups and singers such as 2AM, 8Eight and Lim Junghee, but later joined Starship Entertainment in 2008. He rose to fame for his high notes that earned him the nickname of “Korea’s Male Mariah Carey” during the early stages of his debut. Naturally speaking, his voice may be bright and light enough to be a tenor, but it has more of a fuller and more mature quality in its sound, which could potentially indicate that he’s more of a full lyric tenor than anything else.

The lowest part of his chest voice is mostly very muffled and cloudy in quality. It lacks connection between his vocal cords and development of his thyroarytenoid muscles, which in the end cause him to lose tone and not support properly the lower he goes. Down to D3 he has shown very good moments of chest placement with proper support and connection, such as in “사랑했지만“, “목포의 눈물“, “하루“, “When I First Saw You” and “가을을 남기고 간 사랑.” Occasionally he has shown some support down to C3 as well, as heard in “기억의 습작“, but this support has proven to be inconsistent even within the same exact performance. This happens because above D3 he does have a good enough development of his muscles while being able to connect muscle memory with proper breath support to project his lower chest voice notes. Below C3, he tends to only be able to use a more airy quality in tone and even though some tone quality is present, he still lacks development and projection. This can be heard in the C#3’s in “눈의 꽃“, C3’s in “꽃이 핀다“, B2’s in “가을을 남기고 간 사랑“, “나만 몰랐던 이야기“, Bb2’s in “이별“, “민물장어의 꿈” and A2’s in “사랑 그 쓸쓸함에 대하여“, and his G2 in “기억의 습작.”

His mixed voice is the part of his range he’s most known for and where he sings in most of the time. In terms of mixing, K.Will has developed his muscles to allow him to sing very high without transitioning into his head voice. However contrary to common belief, singing high is not the same as singing well. Even though he’s able to sing very high, he has developed his vocal cords under the influence of bad vocal habits which create a lot of tension in his voice. Most of the time he is able to mix very high for long periods of time by simply tightening the swallowing muscles in his throat around his larynx, which pull it up and, while adding more air pressure from his diaphragm, allow him to sing very high. This is the improper way of singing high notes, as a vocalist shouldn’t manipulate the movement of their larynxes nor tighten the throat when singing higher. All this tension can potentially damage his voice by forcing his voice to sing notes that aren’t comfortable for him, as he tends to strain most of the notes above A4. Examples include the A4’s in “사랑했지만“, “목포의눈물“, “하루“, Bb4’s in “I’m Not The Only One“, “이별“, “민물장어의 꿈“, “가질 수 없는 너“, B4’s in “내 곁에“, “한 사람을 위한 마음“, C5’s in “뛰어“, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas“, C#5’s in “세월가면“, “그녀에게 전해주오“, Eb5’s in “My Heart Will Go On“, E5’s in “귀로” and F5 in “그녀에게 전해주오.”

That is not to say that there isn’t a part of his mixed voice where support is absent. On the contrary, K.Will is able to use proper breath support and placement in his mixed voice in order to produce resonance and allow him to sing with a relaxed throat and a neutral larynx. He has done so on many occasions where he maintains just the right amount of air pressure against his vocal cords while remaining more relaxed, creating better produced notes overall such as the F4’s in “Lately“, “사랑 그 쓸쓸함에 대하여“, F#4’s in “가을을 남기고 간 사랑“, “When I First Saw You“, “아침이 밝아올때까지“, “오직 너뿐인 나를“, “Whenever You Call“, G4’s in “왼쪽가슴“, “End of the Road“, “Endless Love“,  “쌈바의 연인“, “Endless Love (2014 stage)“, “기억의 습작” and G#4’s in “꽃이 핀다“, “뛰어“, “한 사람을 위한 마음“, “Love Blossom“, “피“, “이별“, as well as one quick resonant A4 in “I’m Not The Only One.” Although resonance is produced, he tends to lack true pharyngeal openness which minimize the sound of his resonance. He tends to sound very small as he sings above G#4, where his throat quickly closes and his voice becomes squeezed and thin. His mixed voice even within his supported range is mostly head dominant, as he opts for a brighter mask placed and lighter cord approach lessening vocal strain.

His upper register mostly seems to consist of a head voice with improper development. Although he’s able to mostly connect his vocal cords together consistently well in order to produce a true head voice, as opposed to a falsetto, he tends to lack true control of his head voice. In order to compensate for the lack of control, he tends to use a very mask-placed head voice with a lot of air pressure which helps him get the sound out, but ultimately causes him to sing with a high larynx even in his head voice. Most of the time he’s unable to sing comfortable with a stable larynx in the fifth octave or when singing loudly in his head voice, as heard with the D5’s in “One Last Cry“, E5’s in “귀로“, “세월가면“, “울고 싶어라“, “목포의 눈물“, F5’s in “Love Blossom“, “그녀에게 전해주오“, F#5’s in “왼쪽가슴” and C6 in “I Still Believe.” When singing more softly he is actually able to maintain a stable larynx and support, although not always consistently. This can be heard in “My All“, “My Heart Will Go On“, “꽃이 핀다” and “나만 몰랐던 이야기.”

Musically speaking, for a good amount of time of K.Will’s career he seemed to lack a of sense of style and would mostly emulate the sound of 90’s R&B singers such as Brian McKnight. The issue with that style is that most of the time these vocalists would favor singing with very bright tone qualities while closing their throats and sounding very tight. This can work for certain vocalists stylistically, but when it’s done all the time it can be a damaging bad habit. K.Will does have a good sense of pitch and support for the most part, only occasionally showing issues with pitch outside of runs. He does tend to sound a lot smaller than his voice naturally would allow him to, also tending to place his voice in nose quite often. This could be argued to be a stylistic choice, as he’s also shown the ability to produce resonance quite often. Another issue he has is the tendency to use a laryngeal vibrato, where breath support isn’t fully happening so the vocalist manipulates the larynx movement up and down in order to produce a forced vibrato.

Overall as a vocalist K.Will is skilled enough to handle singing songs that many young tenors would struggle with. However over the years his biggest weakness lies in his overall delivery of songs, where he mostly chooses to sing much higher than it’s comfortable for him. He has made a name for himself a high belter and because of that it is almost always expected of him to sing vey high. This seems to be less of a problem now, as he focuses somewhat more on musical delivery now. For the future, learning to truly open up his throat to minimize throat tension would help him get through many of the high passages that tend to exist in the songs he sings. This could help him avoid any major vocal damages overtime.

Musicianship

K.Will is known mostly as a solo vocalist, but also is quite reliable as a duet partner. He can control his volume and not overpower other vocalists when singing with them, while also being able to hold his part in harmonies and blend his voice very well with his partners. Examples include many of his duets with Sistar’s Hyorin, such as “Endless Love“, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Whenever You Call“, as well as his special performance with Huh Gak and Na Yoon Kwon of “End Of The Road.” As for his vocal performances, most of the time K.Will tends to stay more true to the original melody of songs, while not truly being able to execute all the vocal runs written for said songs. Instead of trying to simplify them, many times he will make them more complicated which can end up with him delivering very sloppy and messy performances overall in terms of pitch, as well as performances full of tension where he chooses to go much higher than his comfort range.

Label (Type of Vocalist)

MB Vocalists: Mid-Range Belters

Vocal Range Video(s)

Coming Soon!

Best Vocal Performance(s)

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Analyzed by Ahmin (Kitsunemale)

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60 thoughts on “K.Will’s Vocal Analysis”

  2. thanks alot for this analysis, it really made my day!!! a little disappointed that hes only an above average vocalist oh well, sort of expected it anyway. :/
    You did mention that he only uses a laryngeal vibrato, doesnt he use a natural vibrato?? like the one in the mariah carey video, isnt it faster than usial larynx vibratos?? sorry im just a bit confused
    looking forward to park hyo shins analysis as well!!

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    1. A laryngeal vibrato isn’t necessarily slow, actually many times it’s too fast. His vibrato always sounds tense in the glottal area, so to me from what I’ve noticed he only uses a laryngeal vibrato or at least most of the time he does.

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    2. No, he’s a top Korean singer who is better than white vocalists.
      I can hear as much as I can.
      Most of the time, there are vocalizations that we think are different in common sense.
      Those sounds are out of the basic category, but there are parts of vocal individual physicality that are well received by most audiences: consistently optimizing sound.
      It’s not just a good song to sing in a stable voice.

      I want to ask the vocal trainers. Steelheart –
      She’s gone. as good as good as Kwill.
      Can you sing “stevie wonder For Your Love” perfectly with ad-libs?

      Do you dare to analyze the songs of singers who can’t even sing?
      Sound can only be recognized through the experience of that sound. It means the sound texture changes.

      I talk to the audience. The only thing heard in real-live is the truth.not recording

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      1. Do you happen to be korean? The way you talk reminds me a lot of self proclaimed “professionals” on youtube comments. If not, apologies

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  3. I thought that he might be better and can support higher, I guess I just didn’t bother to check the notes he was singing and start to struggle lol are u making his vocal range video by any chance?

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  6. Yassssssss lol I knew you he said he most likely would be competent but listening to those examples for strain I understand 100% lol. I honestly didn’t listen to F5 idk if this happens to you but my throat started hurting from imagining me doing that but thank you for the analysis

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      1. Actually I misrated MBLAQ’s G.O., so when Seulgi’s analysis comes out they will still be tight. I wish I had another average tenor with enough material to analyze..

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  7. woohoooo our first full lyric tenor analysis finally done! congratulation! i always remember him as a high belter tenor. but actually his lower range is quite pleasant to hear. it has that deep full round voice, just like other full lyrics and baritones. anyway, his high notes, i often hear like he sing with his nose pinched. you know, the same sound as your nose got flu and blocked with that sticky thing (i cant find the right word, sorry). is his high notes always sound that way? like his nose closed?

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    1. He tends to place his sound in his mask and push it out with too much air pressure, which causes his throat to be tight. That can cause a whiny quality but he does tend to be nasal too, which makes it whinier.

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  8. 🙂
    He was slightly higher than what I was expecting, I love it when that happens. He’s got a lovely voice.
    Is he the blog’s first full lyric tenor? Is that an uncommon voice type?

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  11. Thanks for uploaded another analysis! I was looking forward to K.will. I also thought he was going to be better. I have a question, is it possible to change the tags on top? To put them where they used to be before the site was revamped? Because honestly, when a new analysis comes out, I get excited and then I see the tag spoilers and I became disheartened. I kind of lose the desire to read them :\ (I still read them of course, but I enjoyed trying to figure out the rating while reading them). I’m not trying to be rude or obnoxious or anything I just think it would be nice to find a better place for them. I also feel like I’m not the only one who thinks this. Thanks and I hope I’m not coming off wrong.

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    1. No no I understand your request but that’s part of the theme we are using and unfortunately we can’t change the place where they appear. I wish we could as well.

      Liked by 2 people

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  12. thank you for this analysis even though the result is quite disappointing,
    I’m waiting for jung dong ha’s, I hope he will be at least a competent vocalist 🙂

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    2. Dongha, I believe, is at least good. He has support from D3 to A4. I’m not too sure if his Bb4-B4 is supported because there is some degree of pushing but his C5 is definitely strained, as what I have heard in A Goose Dream. Moreover, he has a really good head voice. He has support and resonance until G5.

      Dongha is really good. He is not my inspiration to sing. “The Flight” is my favorite. That 13-sec resonant G#4 blows me away ^_^

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      2. he can do more than that i believe. and G#4 isnt it too low for him? just check his singing ‘i miss you’ or ‘if you’re like me’ he blows my mine

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      3. I thought his Bb4’s are mostly consistent with on-and-off consistency on the B4 depending on his condition. He’s supported his head voice up to A5 before. I’m putting my money on at least Good-to-Great.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. I agree that G#4 is too low but a 13-sec optimally resonant is just nerve-wracking. LOL.

        I’m not really sure with Bb4 because I think there is some degree of pushing, so I cannot say if it’s supported.

        What songs did he support A5? :O OMG. Would that mean he has the most developed head voice among male tenors?

        So, technically, it’s D3-Bb4/B4-A5? Then, consistent resonance with his mixed and head voice; great musicianship and musicality; great control with his stylistic approach and vocal dynamics; decent agility; great vocal stamina…

        and he’s quite good-looking. ^w^

        I have heard that Naul, Park Hyoshin and he are considered the best tenors in SoKor >_<

        I'll bet for Great vocalist, then. LOL

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  13. You mentioned how earlier in his career he would use stylistic choices (adding runs, tension) but that it seems to be less of a problem now, as he focuses somewhat more on musical delivery.
    Are there any two particular videos listed in the analysis that could be an examples of this for comparison?

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    1. There’s a slight difference in passaggi for men and there’s a difference in tone quality and vocal weight. Full lyrics have bigger and more mature sounding voices.

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  15. You said “he tends to use a very mask-placed head voice with a lot of air pressure which helps him get the sound out”
    I always thought mask-placed head voice is good, but it seems that it’s not good at all. Where should I place my voice when I sing head voice?

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    2. Mask placed isn’t good and it isn’t bad, it just is. Having a mask placed head voice can help but a pushed head voice is not a supported head voice, so the main point isn’t the placement here, but instead the air pressure. Head voice can be chest, head and/or mask placed.

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      2. Chest placed head voice is usually a mix of mask and chest placement, it emulates the sound of a mixed voice. I do that a lot, I can’t think of many examples of people who do it though.

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    1. That one is not as strained as the ones after where he adds more throat tension to create more volume, the stretch isn’t bad but there’s a high larynx.

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  19. hello newbie here

    Real quick, now that Hyolyn is gone do you think K.Will is the best vocalist left in starship?

    Anyway… when you say he’s whiny/tight, do you mean like this video at 1:10 and after? To me he sounds like he’s… screaming almost? and trying to sound higher by tightening his throat? Is that what you mean?

    Whereas in this video, I guess since it’s in a more comfortable range I don’t hear him doing that… I guess I’m having a hard time hearing what you call straining/not supported/etc

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    1. That is exactly what we mean, as we used some of these clips on the analysis. I mean we use time stamps and video clips in the analysis, if you click the links they will show you what we mean. In the second video, he didn’t sing high at all. He didn’t sing even slightly high for him, the range was very comfortable so yeah, there’s no strain nor lack of support. You’re not having a hard time at all, you’re hearing it completely right. Do try to check the videos in the analysis though.

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      1. Well, those two were two extremes 🙂 You have vocal background I don’t… I won’t hear what it is you’re hearing, point being expertise alters perception.
        Accents is another example of this. (Some people have trouble distinguishing Australian vs New Zealand accent, others Canadian vs American, …) This is why I’m trying to understand exactly what it is you’re saying in the doc 🙂

        Ex:
        In this one at 3:02 I think I hear what you meant by him tightening his throat?

        But this one I don’t seem to hear it that. I don’t know, the two kinda sound… different. The one above sounded more… scratchy? I don’t know how to describe it XD

        But these two were the ones you linked two right next to each other, so

        1. you meant “movement of their larynxes” for one but not the other
        2. Or you heard same tightening in both

        But I’m not hearing them…what am I missing here? 😦

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      2. Yes it’s an interesting comparison that I should’ve made a long time ago and yet I didn’t. lol If you’re not very familiar with accents, you might not detect even the slight differences, which is very similar to hearing singing habits.

        The thing is I hear slight different things, yes you are right. The first one is a tighter vowel shape, so the sound is a bit thinner and smaller, but his vibrato at the end is very wobbly and a bit unnatural, whereas the second one is more opened, a bit more relaxed but there’s tongue tension and a push happening as well. The thing is K.Will right on A4 is not very drastically straining, it’s not full support, but it’s a quality that’s passing but as he goes higher, it becomes more and more obvious. So I do hear different types of strain and tension in both, so I can see why you’d confused since they’re not the same type of strain indeed. Since A4 is the semitone right above his highest supported note, G#4, the strain is still going to be gradual in intensity as he goes up higher.

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  20. Hi, new person here! So, nice to meet you and thank you for the analysis! 🙂

    If it’s not a bother, I have a question. Which American singers is he below, above, and the same rank as? Thank you. 🙂

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