The Voice Of Rock...

    I have a question. Me and my friend works on something like "database" of greatest rock singers and we are looking for informations about best voices and that job would be worthless without The Voice Of Rock!

    We are looking for ranges of the best singers. We founded 3,75 octave range for Mercury, 3,5 octaves for Gillan, and now we are looking for a range of Glenn Hughes :) We already got some basic informations, but we want to know more! :) We checked for beginning song Mistreated on Soulfully Live In City Of Angels for highest and lowest notes, but we were pretty disappointed
    :confused:

    We got this results:

    highest note - Bb5
    lowest note - Db2

     but we are SURE, that´s not definitive! Do you have any "tips" for songs with highest and lowest notes? :thumbup:

    Hmm, I would check out songs like "Live and Learn", recorded with Brazen Abbott. Also the two songs he recorded with an electronic duo called Gorilla (something...the name of the band and the songs escape me). "I Don't Want to Live That Way Again", from the 'Addiction' album...

    If you're looking for the most songs to try, with the fewest albums to root through, I'd suggest Glenn's 'Burning Japan Live' disc, or HTP's 'Live in Tokyo' collaboration with Joe Lynn Turner. Those have some incredible moments.

    Cheers...Todd

    Try the "Feel" album: "Speak your Mind."

    There's a part during that song (time ???)
    where the keyboards come in at the mid-way point,
    then Glenn comes in....MATCHING the sound exactly,
    and when the keys stop, you have just Glenn's voice.
    That's got to be some of the highest notes from GH.

    Or just listen to the last 50 seconds of "The Innocence."
    Whispers, screams, growls, falsetto....you want it, you got it.
    All jam packed into one neat little package.
    But don't blame me if it breaks your "range" meter.

    Blame Glenn.....or maybe God.

    I'm not an expert on range or octaves but when Glenn sings "SEEM REAL" during First Step Of Love, from Hughes and Thrall, his voice is incredibly high! He could give my 5 month old son a run for his money with that note!

    Quote from toadsterama

    ...........Also the two songs he recorded with an electronic duo called Gorilla (something...the name of the band and the songs escape me).
    Cheers...Todd



    You almost had it Todd. Ape Quartet was the name you were looking for :D
    The song was "It's Gonna Break" Parts 1 & 2. Off the album, Please Where Do We Live?

    Chip

    When I try to think of a song that would cover Glenn's total range... I can only think of live performances that he has challenged himself , vamping -putting on a little show- if you will. (As he did in SLItCoA). And I think there is more than one or two boot recordings that have him displaying his range this way. As far as performances I've seen-I think he did the most impressive "vamping" (I call it that anyway) in San Antonio on the Tommy Bolin Tribute Tour. But I am not aware of any recordings- other than the ones the Archives hopefully still have somewhere!

    Interesting topic...
    I am a singer myself (nowadays in a DP/RB tribute band) and i have sang along with all those great singers (mostly not in person) :(

    Only one voice challenges me when it comes to low and high notes, and teaches me how to use my voice in many different ways.
    Only Glenn can hit as low and high without sounding like a pig being torchered.
    What i mean is Glenn SINGS where others scream (for help :lol:)

    And don't forget... studio singing is a lot different from live singing. Almost every singer is live not as good as the studioversion. Glenn is the exception to the rule (with geoff tate, only tate sings with no emotion or what so ever , he is an instrument).

    So when you make such a list of range, be sure to use livematerial only.

    And now... what is your range Glenn? (it doesn't really mater, but hay perhaps it will be a question on Jepardy)

    cheers
    Hiawatha72
    www.burnermusic.nl

    "So when you make such a list of range, be sure to use livematerial only."

    We usually get a "confirmation" of that notes in studio and in high notes too :) For example - Freddie Mercury hit his highest note on live concert (unbelievably high - D6), Gillan hit same note on studio and on live too (B5 - one note higher than Child In Time)...

    Quote from Ptr

    "So when you make such a list of range, be sure to use livematerial only."

    We usually get a "confirmation" of that notes in studio and in high notes too :) For example - Freddie Mercury hit his highest note on live concert (unbelievably high - D6), Gillan hit same note on studio and on live too (B5 - one note higher than Child In Time)...



    What about Gillan on the Black Sabbath album (Born Again)? He sang the hell out of that title track! I know the album did not do that well but,he still killed it!What about Rob Halford? The man is simply amazing!All of his music is great but, one album and one song really stands out to me and that is (Screaming for vengeance) and the song is (Blood Stone). He rocked it!

    Excellent examples here and well worth a discussion. Although I'd add that it's the immeasurable feel of the song that matters. Check out Whiter Shade of Pale where he matches the introductory note for the guitar solo perfectly. He also did this live at the Legends of Rock All these three singers have been undoubtledly able to crash octaves, but sadly (or happily depending on which way you look at it) he is the only one is still doing it....By the way Hiawatha I recently tried to sing Soul Mover live and can imagine that I sounded like that tortured pig!

    a couple other times glenn hits some very high notes are on From Now On on Burning Live Japan and the vamp section on Coast to Coast on the R.O.C.K. bonus disk. Both are live if that's your metric :singer:

    Hi Ptr,

    please keep us posted about your project.
    This is something I wanted to know for years, but I have never had the time to do the proper research!

    Also, could you please post the bit (a small mp3 file maybe) where Freddie Mercury hits that D6 here on the site?
    That I really would like to hear.

    Also check out this topic here
    Scroll down to the very last post (#30) and listen to the mp3 file where Doug Pinnick of Kings X does a scream which he pushes into an overtone, like a flagiolet!!??

    If you're looking for Glenn material singing in lower registers, take Knife Edge on the ELP Tribute album for example.
    The highest notes, you usually get during the mid section in live versions of Coast To Coast (as mentioned earlier in another reply).

    Cheers,
    Christian

    P.S. two more singers that haven't been mentioned yet but are probably worth to be looked at (octave-wise): Steve Walsh of Kansas and..... Meat Loaf. Really. Also that guy (?) from Pavlov's Dog, David Surkamp :D

    Many thanks for your help!!! I´ll check these interesting tips, but I have a problem with time, so I don´t know when I´ll write it here. It could be tomorrow but next week too or even later :(

    For that questions of the highest notes (few bits):

    IAN GILLAN:
    http://www.sweb.cz/maoce/rozsahy/gillan_fman.mp3
    That´s his B4 in Fighting Man - studio (one note higher than Child In Time, that highest notes on Born Again album are "just" A4s :) - same A as in Child In Time)

    http://www.sweb.cz/maoce/rozsahy/gillan_h.mp3
    That´s his B4 live - improvisation in Strange Kind Of Woman

    http://www.sweb.cz/maoce/rozsahy/gillan_range_current.mp3
    That´s his CURRENT range - studio, but on "good" live concerts he hit the same notes.... Highest note here is G4 (one note lower than in Child In Time), lowest is F1.

    http://www.sweb.cz/maoce/rozsahy/mercury_d5.mp3
    Mercury´s D5 - live in 1985.

    http://www.sweb.cz/maoce/rozsahy/hughes_bb4.mp3
    That note which I think that is one of highest GH note. Bb4 - live on Soulfully Live In City Of Angels. If you think that some concrete note is higher, I´d be happy if you would be able to post concrete bit, that would be best! But of course, I´ll check your tips myself too, but this will be slower :)

    * - one comment - there is a bit "misunderstanding" about marking of that octaves. So, sometimes the same notes which you can hear on these bits are marked one octave higher (B5, D6 or F2), but that are same notes. High C is usually marked as C4, but on some forums (for example Digitaldreamdoor if you know it) High C is marked as C5.... So, that´s the "reason" for it.

    PTR i have a question

    Do the singers have to hit such a high note once or do they have to sing fragments in that tone?

    I mean, hitting such a high tone once means nothing (imho) but it makes all the difference when a singer uses it frequently and can use it strongly and beautiful

    btw listen to Glenns parts in DP (the gillan songs) and his first solo album Play me out..

    cheers
    Hiawatha72
    www.burnermusic.nl

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