Vocal ranges

[seismo!hplabs!weitek!sci!daver (Dave Rickel)]

I'm not too sure that i understand all this stuff about vocal ranges.
When you state that <x> has a range of 8 octaves, are you saying that
<x> has a range larger than that of a piano?  That he can sing lower
than a piano and higher than a piano?  This seems a bit unreasonable to
me.  My max range seems to span about three octaves, going from growl
to screech (it might be greater than that, but i'm at work and don't
want to embarass myself too awfully much).  My useful range might be
about an octave, for what it's worth.

Anyway, i listened a bit last night to _The Whole Story_, trying to
get an idea of Kate Bush's vocal range.  As far as i can tell, she seems
pretty suited to the soprano cleft.  The ranges i have marked are from
a G3 (the G below middle C) on The Dreaming to an A5 flat (the A flat
above the A flat above middle C) on Wuthering Heights (that's a bit
debatable--she scooped up to somewhere around there, or maybe a bit past).
She gets up to a G5 on some other songs (Breathing, Wow, Sat in Your
Lap).

The comparisons of Kate's voice to a Stradivarious are interesting.  Her
low seems to be about the same as a violin, although the violin can
get perhaps an octave higher (actually, it can get quite a bit higher,
but stops being musical at about that point).

Anyway, her vocal range seems to be a bit more than two octaves.


david rickel
cae780!weitek!sci!daver