Vocal Range

G#2 ~ A5 (3 octaves and 1 semitone)

Supported Range

Eb3/E3 ~ G4/G#4

Voice Type

Tenor

Strengths/Achievements

• Vocalist with the best technique in Cross Gene
• Support is present throughout his mid-range
• Able to mix with ease allowing freedom as he ascends in range
• Support is developed down to about Eb3/E3 in his lower range
• Mixed voice is opened and remains supported up to G4/G#4
• Able to produce resonance
• Able to use a head voice

Points for Improvement

• Lower range is relatively unsupported and quiet
• Head voice is often pushed
• Mostly uses a breathy falsetto
• Transitions into falsetto show a drastic change in volume
• Airflow can at times be inconsistent, causing support to be dropped
• Mixed voice becomes pushed and shouty above G#4
• Vocal runs are often pitchy and sloppy

Registers

• Lower register: Least explored part of his voice but some improvement has been shown in this register over the years. His chest voice has become more consistently connected with better support and airflow.

• Mixed register: Very clean and open approach allowing ease in his mix. Places his sound very forward in his mask, while shaping the throat very well up to G#4 without the need to push. Resonance is produced quite consistently in this register.

• Upper register: Transitions have improved in connection and pitch, but still can come off pitchy and messy. Tends to lack especially when transitioning and often uses a falsetto. Only has shown a head voice occasionally when either singing more an “Oo (우)” vowel or pushed air pressure.

Agility

Seyoung is a vocalist who seems to enjoy the sounds of smooth R&B and neo-soul. As such he seems to have sort of this influence in his singing. It is actually quite common to hear him attempt doing vocal runs quite often. A vocal run usually is a sequence of notes sung within one single vowel sound, or a few vowel sounds. To be able to perform this well, one must be able to keep a consistent airflow from the diaphragm while moving the vocal cords freely without tension, but still remaining tight and at the center of pitch. In this department, Seyoung often has issues due to his inability to sing notes at the center of pitch when doing runs. When it comes to being relaxed, he is quite relaxed in his runs. However he’s slightly too relaxed, as in he doesn’t engage a proper connection between his vocal cords, resulting in his runs often being airy, sloppy without precise separation between notes and his musical ideas aren’t always well thought out, so the runs are more often than not pitchy. However there has been some improvement in this area when comparing runs from earlier on in his career, such as in”Call You Mine“, to more recent runs, such as “달콤해,” and “Café.” However as it stands, most of his runs end up coming out messy and pitchy at this point, as heard in “Café,” “달콤해,” and  “가을꽃.”

Overall analysis

CROSS GENE originally debuted in 2012 with a total of 6 members, 3 who were Korean, 2 Chinese members and 1 Japanese member. Shortly after their debut in 2013, J.G. left the group and his replacement ended up being none other than their new main vocalist, Seyoung. Seyoung could not have been more perfect for the role, as thus far it seems that he is the vocalist with the best grasp of vocal technique amongst the members of Cross Gene. Not only is he a skilled vocalist, but also he is a passionate musician who cares for his craft, composes music and sings with mostly a healthy technique. His voice is light and bright and would most certainly fall under the tenor fach if he were to be voice typed more precisely. Unfortunately due to the lack of promotion and public appearances from CROSS GENE, there aren’t many examples of his vocal ability being shown to the public in shows like Immortal Song 2 nor King of Mask Singer.

The lower part of his range is one where most work seems to be needed. Throughout the years however, some improvement can be noticed. He’s always had a very clear drop of support and projection whenever he would descend into the lower portion of the third octave or anywhere near the second octave. The way Seyoung vocalizes usually revolves around a more mixed voice approach. He rarely ever uses the muscles responsible for his chest voice with more emphasis, the thyroarytenoid muscles. Instead he uses a more balanced approach even as he descends in range. There are advantages to this, because then there’s less stress to his vocal cords as he sings higher. However he’s neglected to develop his chest voice enough to balance the mix better as he descends in range. As such, there’s little to no chest voice present when he sings lower, so his lower notes are quite underdeveloped and often very soft and quiet. In the past, it’d be quite usual for him to drop support whenever he’d sing close to E3/F3 or below, as heard in “Only Human” and “My Lady.” This would result in some pitch issues and breathiness. More recently, it is possible to hear that his lower range seems to maintain a more consistent connection as low as Eb3, with more support being engaged. Thus he is able to maintain vocal cord stretch and projection lower than before. This can be heard in “Stay By My Side,” “장마,” and “한숨.” However as he descends below Eb3, his vocal cords still seem to lack proper development, so support is not quite as present. As heard with the D3s in “Call You Mine,” the C#3s in “Rainy Blue” and the range from C#3 down to G#2 in “한숨.”

His mixed voice, as established earlier, is where he seems most comfortable. He uses a very healthy approach most of the time when singing in his mix. There are times in which a drop of support happens, and he uses air to push his vocal cords to each note as opposed to using a clean connection between them in order to support. However most of the time, he’s able to keep a very clean, relaxed, open and controlled sound up to G#4. He rarely ever seems to struggle or use any type of excessive air pressure within this range. Occasional issues may happen due to some vowels closing his throat, but otherwise his range up to G#4 is easily sung within. He can maintain proper support and carry resonance as high as G#4. This can be heard with the E4s in “좋다고 말해,” “My Lady,” “Rainy Blue,” F4s in “Amazing Bad-Lady,” “달콤해,” F#4s in “Holiday,” G4s in “한숨,” as well as G#4s in “Rainy Blue.” However above G#4, he seems to rely more so on a pushed air pressure approach. This causes his larynx to raise as the muscles in the throat tense up and pull the larynx up. The sound then becomes more shouty, pushed but with a light mix, so the strain isn’t as obvious right away. Even then, the higher he goes, the more apparent this strain is, as heard with the A4s in “누나 너 말이야,” Bb4s in “어려도 남자야,” B4s “나하고 놀자,” C5s and C#5s in “My Lady,”and D5s in “누나 너 말이야” and “My Lady.”

His upper register is one that has potential, but for now does not show signs of proper development. More often than not, transitions up to his falsetto show a drastic drop in projection. As the falsetto register does not employ proper connection of the vocal cords, true support is more or less absent in this register. Thus there are often transitions where not only his support and projection are lost, but also his sense of pitch. Examples include “Only Human,” “장마” and “Holiday.” Recently his transitions seem to have become smoother, as heard  in “좋다고 말해.” There have been times where he’s used a more connected head voice, although still pushing air through each note. For example in “가을꽃,” by using a more closed vowel where placing the upper register becomes easier, he was able to better connection up to G5 in his head voice although the support and development still seemed to be lacking. As well as up to F#5 in “Only Human,” although too much air is being pushed through. His highest note to date seems to be the A5s hit while attempting the high note battle on Weekly Idol. Arguably, not the best example of singing up in this range, as the quality is more of a pushed shouty spoken-like singing, but nonetheless the note he kept maxing out at was consistently A5 with his head voice.

In terms of musicality, Seyoung shows a clear understanding of dynamics. He’s shown improvement in basic things like pitch, consistency in support and airflow, as well as rhythm. His idea of music often relies on smooth singing, while being very careful not to oversing. He rarely ever sings too loud or adds too many unnecessary high notes in songs. However there’s still some work left to be done in terms of his precision, mostly with vocal runs that is. He rarely has issues with placement in his mixed voice, rarely ever goes nasal or does not show an understanding of how to keep a cleaner vibrato, a lifted soft palate, a dropped jaw, or clear diction in Korean.

It is quite unfortunate that, due to the lack of public awareness of CROSS GENE, Seyoung ends up being forgotten when it comes to the mention of skilled male K-pop idol vocalists. While he may not be at the top, he has shown a grasp of proper vocal technique, proper breath support, control of his voice and a skill level that matches that of many other more widely renowned male idol vocalists. While there is work left to be done in terms of his vocal development, he is worthy of praise as one of the better male vocalists currently active and for his artistry, work ethic and the ability to apply healthy technique into his singing. For the future, not only further development good vocal habits, exploring other areas of his voice and becoming more precise in his singing would be advised, but also being exposed. Hopefully being able to appear on more TV shows that focus on singing could give him a chance to prove himself as the skilled vocalist he already is.

Musicianship

Musically Seyoung is accomplished in the fact that he can play piano, accompany himself and write music. As it stands, when it comes to the vocal aspect of his music knowledge and the execution of his musical ideas, he is able to hear the melody of a song or the chord progression and match the pitch. However due to some shortcomings in his technique, mostly with drops of support and underdeveloped precision in his vocal runs, he’s unable alter melodies of songs accurately 100% of the time. He is able to do it here and there, but there’s a lack of consistency due to a lack of mindfulness when it comes to knowing exactly where his musical ideas are going to land in a song and within each chord progression.

Label (Type of Vocalist)

MB Vocalists: Mid-Range Belters

Vocal Range Video(s)

Unavailable

Best Vocal Performance(s)

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Analyzed by Ahmin (Kitsunemale)