What style of vocals do you prefer in music?

[cardgame]

Time for some more light hearted topics on this forum.

Addendum: Non-generally - that is, specifically - which gender is your favorite vocalist? For extra credit, mention them by name or post music by them, but take it easy, this isn't the music thread.

 

[Synobun]

With these poll options no one can pick Sam Smith.

 

[Ajidica]

Primarily male vocalists, such as Marc Almond (Soft Cell) or, for something completely different, Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys).

Though lately I've been listening a lot to a Russian singer, Sergey Lazarev. He does a pretty good job with both the ballads (or whatever you call it) along with more conventional pop music.

EDIT: For female vocals, I have a soft spot for Bonnie Tyler (Holding out for a Hero) and whoever the singer was in Vice Squad. And strong female vocals in 70's disco of course!

 

[warpus]

I don't judge musicians by their genitals but rather by the capabilities of their lungs and vocal strings and training and what they put into the performance and how good it sounds to my ears.

It seems to me that both male and female vocal ranges can work quite nicely in any musical genre, even black metal or Mongolian throat singing. I am no musical expert but it seems to me that there is a wide musical range in each gender, even when it comes to vocals. There are different things you can do with your voice, and if you are really creative and talented you can do cool and/or unique things and make them sound great, even if you have a tomato between your legs

As for what sort of vocals I prefer in my music.

When I work I like music without vocals or vocals that aren't distracting. I prefer a steady beat and something smooth and silky and possibly funky.. something with some steady bass to beat a drum so I can get in the groove and get in the zone and code.

But the problem is that whenever you find a great mix like that, eventually there is this annoying deep male voice that says "Yeah" or "Feel the vibe" or "Can you feel the bass?".. Yeah I could feel the bass, but now all I can think about is how much I want to punch vin diesel or whoever is doing that voice in the face

Then usually a bunch of women start singing with some less distracting lyrics, but distracting nevertheless.

In all other genres of music I don't care who's singing honestly, as long as it's good. ^^ The above situation is one where I need to focus, so shut up vin diesel

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I prefer female vocalists for the most part, though there are exceptional male vocalists, like Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin and Brice Dickinson from Iron Maiden.

One of my favorites is Shirley Manson from Garbage. See below:

And of course, Dolores O'Riordan from the Cranberries:

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I generally lean towards male vocalists, not because of their genitals @warpus but because I feel a better response to their generally lower tones. That lean isn't too heavily pronounced though, since I had to really think about it to identify it.

 

[warpus]

I generally lean towards male vocalists, not because of their genitals @warpus but because I feel a better response to their generally lower tones. That lean isn't too heavily pronounced though, since I had to really think about it to identify it.

That makes sense.. and maybe I don't understand enough about music, but it seems to me different voices are better suited to different genres and even different types of songs in the genres themselves. and like I said before sometimes you hear something unique or done by a talented vocalist that really works for something specific in a song, whether they are male or female

I guess if it's a Sinatra type song then it has to be male for me. That is another one where I favour one of the genders. But it's very specific

 

[ulyssesSgrant]

I don't judge musicians by their genitals but rather by the capabilities of their lungs and vocal strings

I generally lean towards male vocalists, not because of their genitals @warpus but because I feel a better response to their generally lower tones. That lean isn't too heavily pronounced though, since I had to really think about it to identify it.

First of all you guys are coming off pretty ignorant right now. You can't assume someone's genitals from their gender. And you certainly can't assume someone's vocal range from their gender.

Now that I've exposed your deeply held sexism, I would like to add that for me personally, when listening to a singer sing, the only thing I care about is what their genitals are. If I know the singer has a nice dong, I honestly don't care what they sound like.

Thank you.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Honestly I can't say because for most of my life I exclusively listened to rock where the m/f ratio is pretty heavily in favor of guys, at least as far as popular acts go. However, I've listened to a lot more electronic music over the last 5 years and that skews more female. I've also broadened my horizons in general and I have found myself latching on to female-centric acts (both bands and electronic groups which have revolving lists of female singers rather than the same one on all tracks), so I think I might like female vocalists better. But really I need to keep broadening my musical tastes even further to get a more clear answer.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It should be noted that I prefer singers who can actually sing, rather than shout, scream, or mumble.

It's not enough to say "male" or "female" or "instrumental only". It depends on the genre, and even the song. Some songs are written for a specific vocal range, and you're not likely to find many men who can sing the really high soprano notes or women who can sing the really deep bass notes. Some songs are much better without lyrics.

As to what I prefer, it depends on the mood I'm in. I have an Amazon Prime membership, so I decided to explore a bit to see what's available to Canadian subscribers (it's likely nowhere near what's available to American members). My latest find includes dozens of madrigals, by the King's Singers. I don't understand most of the words, but who cares? It's enjoyable to listen to, and it's relaxing. I just did a YT search, and it looks like bits and pieces of their TV documentary series about madrigals that was shown on PBS in the '90s are around in various clips.

Another style I like (providing the singers are good at it) is a capella. Rockapella did a lot more than the theme music for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and various Folgers coffee commercials.

As for instrumental... let's just say that I never appreciated some instruments until hearing what really skilled musicians can do. As I said in another thread, for me it's not enough to be note-perfect. There has to be emotion involved. And I can appreciate a display of skill and artistry, such as some of the soloists showed in Yanni's "Live at the Acropolis" concert.

There's a music series currently running on PBS called "Now Hear This!" and it's about a violinist who is traveling around Europe to learn about various composers and how they incorporated violin music into their compositions. The latest episode was about Bach, and I've played a lot of his stuff on the organ. It was fascinating to learn about other instruments used.

I've been revisiting some of the songs I liked back in the '70s. There are a couple of videos on YT, showing the same group performing the same song, decades apart. They're still good.

 

[Narz]

I prefer mostly EDM w/o vocals but in general I suppose I prefer male vocals but there are some great female singers as well. Also I hate high-pitched male vocals. And I don't like to hear a dude's voice during sex.

 

[CKS]

I prefer listening to people I can sing along with, which means altos and tenors who sing stuff that isn't too demanding. Anne Murray is my favorite person to sing along with.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

That makes sense.. and maybe I don't understand enough about music, but it seems to me different voices are better suited to different genres and even different types of songs in the genres themselves. and like I said before sometimes you hear something unique or done by a talented vocalist that really works for something specific in a song, whether they are male or female

I guess if it's a Sinatra type song then it has to be male for me. That is another one where I favour one of the genders. But it's very specific

I hadn't given a lot of thought to different genres favoring different voices, but that is almost certainly true. I also have to admit that I favor a good song over a good voice. Thinking of my favorite artists they would predominantly be singer/songwriters that are much more respected for their songwriting than the actual quality of their voice. They have to be capable, but generally they aren't going to be mistaken for an opera singer.

 

[Ferocitus]

It really depends on my mood at the time.
Sometimes I love listening to Morrissey when he was in The Smiths, sometimes Captain Beefheart's vocals on Willie the Pimp, sometimes a damned good scream, e.g. Pink Floyd's Careful with that Axe Eugene, and sometimes "one off" songs like Alexandra Savior's M.T.M.E.

Or someone really belting out a song they wrote when they were young, e.g. Gracie Slick's White Rabbit.
And sometimes complete nonsense, like this Japanese gem:

 

[cardgame]

I generally prefer female vocals myself, but I do think it depends on genres and specific song types; there is also some strange inverse where men going raw and emotional almost to the point of losing control is pretty freaking great, and what inspired me to make this thread today, but women less so (I had the song in my mind when I opened the thread but now I lost my example ) The singer of Disturbed makes a decent case for what I'm talking about in Sound of Silence, final chorus. The converse that comes to me seems to be Adele, and yeah she's talented but I am not a fan of her raw/emotional output. And don't get me wrong, strongly emotional singing is great no matter who it's coming from, but to the point of stretching your control to the max is what I'm talking about. Maybe from another perspective female vocalists are just in better control in this critical phase

 

[Ferocitus]

I generally lean towards male vocalists, not because of their genitals @warpus but because I feel a better response to their generally lower tones.

Sometimes they can be so low only bison can hear them.

Or so throaty that you feel like passing them a lozenge.

 

[Zardnaar]

I like rock and metal so lean towards male singers.

Newer stuff that's good is European stuff though so I like the contrast of duets with the male doing the growls while the females do the clean vocals. Some symphonic metal with female leads I like.

So older metal (90s and and earlier)
male. New stuff probably female.

Example
Kontrust

I like this though.

Garbage-Special

But then you have this from the 90's

Fear Factory Replica

And this.

Alice in Chains I Stay Away

Generally females can't do death growls. Generally.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

They have to be capable, but generally they aren't going to be mistaken for an opera singer.

I'm not sure why opera is considered the elite form of singing. I've heard exactly one aria sung by female singers that I don't mind. When it comes to opera sung by men, there are two people I like: Andrea Bocelli and Robert Picardo (yes, the actor who played the EMH in Star Trek Voyager).

 

[Zkribbler]

I'm not sure why opera is considered the elite form of singing. I've heard exactly one aria sung by female singers that I don't mind.

Make it two.

 

[Truthy]

Not really sure, but I listen to more male vocalists so I used that as the tiebreaker for the poll. Though it does seem when a singer especially stands out to me as awesome, it's usually a woman.