# Low register singing in rock music. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019 "2003-03-13T03:16:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/1 "2003-03-13T03:16:48Z")
Today a radio station played a song from about 10 years back, I believe it’s titled “Mmm mmm mmm mmm” by the Crash Test Dummies. That made me realise that lower register vocals are pretty much unheard of in rock, or if they are heard, the singer and song are pretty much treated as a novelty act and not taken seriously. Perhaps a higher voice just carries better in the context of rock. There are a lot of Robert Plant, Geddy Lee types on the high end, but how many lower baritone to bass singers are heard in rock? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/2 "2003-03-13T04:41:00Z")
Headline News? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/3 "2003-03-13T05:00:48Z")
**Kevin Ayers** is probably the major low register singer in roc-‘n’-roll. Everything he sings is low register. **Leon Redbone** would be even lower, if rock-‘n’-roll was what he sang. When I was young I was inspired by Leon Redbone because I like to sing low register too and wasn’t interested in forcing my voice up high, anywhere near Franki Valli range. (“Walk like a man, sing like a girl…”) ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/4 "2003-03-13T05:16:42Z")
I don’t know if it qualifies, but Mark Lanegan, previously of Screaming Trees sings fairly low. I wouldn’t call him baritone, thoguh. The singer from Crash Test Dummies has an amazing voice. They were actually a great band, it’s too bad they were seen just as a novelty act. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/5 "2003-03-13T06:19:55Z")
**Bowser** from **Sha Na Na**? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/6 "2003-03-13T06:42:49Z")
Billy Idol does his his best singing when he gets down into the lower registers. Ronnie James Dio, on the other hand, is an upper-register kind of a singer. When it comes to female singers, I have a definite preference for the alto over the soprano. Eddie Vedder seems to spend a lot of time in the lower registers, and I love his voice. Really, I can’t understand what seems to be a preference in the pop music industry for singers, both male and female, whose vocal range runs toward the tenor/soprano range, or, if their voices are naturally lower pitched, get the falsetto thing going. God, I hate that Franki Valli/Lou Christie duct tape your balls to the ceiling falsetto. I think that, by and large, the baritone/alto voice projects more power, although Ronnie James Dio, who is pretty much a tenor, probably has the best voice in all of rock. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/7 "2003-03-13T07:34:09Z")
I’m no musical expert, but it seems to me as though the singer for Godsmack sings relatively deeply, especially on “Voodoo.” Same for the singer from Ramstein, especially on “Bestrafe Mich” > [@](#): > > God, I hate that Franki Valli/Lou Christie duct tape your balls to the ceiling falsetto. Dead on, **Thea Logica**. Who the hell decided that this should even happen, much less be commonplace. > [@](#): > > When it comes to female singers, I have a definite preference for the alto over the soprano. Check out Evanescence…the woman has a beautiful voice, and the music’s not bad ---
**Author:** ![Dryga\_Yes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Dryga\_Yes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dryga_Yes)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/8 "2003-03-13T09:05:43Z")
There’s a ton of low register singing in industrial and goth rock. And then there’s The Fuckemos. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/9 "2003-03-13T11:24:01Z")
Yeah, gives me the shits. Cos I can’t sing high except by sounding like a strangled chicken. And nothing is _ever_ in an appropriate key. Anyone need a bass? ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/10 "2003-03-13T13:06:14Z")
Pete Steele from **Type O Negative** is probably the lowest I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/11 "2003-03-13T13:08:15Z")
Thought of something else to add: Most women in rock sing very low (for women). In fact, I have a harder time singing some songs made popular by women than by men for this reason (I’m a mezzo). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/12 "2003-03-13T13:12:03Z")
I think that high-pitched singing stands out above the instrumentation more than lower pitch, because most of the instrumentation in rock is midrange. Doesn’t mean I like it, though. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/13 "2003-03-13T13:23:41Z")
Jim Morrison often sang in the lower registers. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/14 "2003-03-13T13:33:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Morgainelf \* > \*\*Pete Steele from **Type O Negative** is probably the lowest I’ve heard. \*\* You’ve never heard Christopher Lee’s rendition of _I Was Born Under A Wandering Star_, then. (OK, so it isn’t rock - but it’s sure as hell a low register.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/15 "2003-03-13T13:46:07Z")
When you mention low register rock songs, my first thought is that song by the Animals… House of the Rising Sun? You know: There is a house in New Orleans They call the rising sun And it been the ruin of many a poor boy … … and however the rest goes ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/16 "2003-03-13T13:52:49Z")
Seeing your username **Dr. Righteous** , reminded me of the guy in the Righteous Brothers… ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/17 "2003-03-13T16:00:30Z")
Do you want to consider Leonard Cohen’s stuff to be rock? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/18 "2003-03-13T16:09:34Z")
Barry White. C’mon baby, take your clothes off. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/19 "2003-03-13T16:16:28Z")
Issac Hayes - Shaft ---
**Author:** ![Wyld\_Stallyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Wyld\_Stallyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wyld_Stallyn)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019/20 "2003-03-13T16:22:31Z")
I follow **An Arky** around the SDMB (at least for 2 days now), and I agree wholeheartedly with his analysis that the lower vox don’t carry over instruments as well as the piercing power high vox like a Dio or a Bruce Dickinson. Are we considering the growly-type stuff heard in more hardcore metal? There’s a ton of that around, but it’s not really “singing” as much as it is “yelling in key (sort of)”. I’m on the high side of baritone, and so trying to handle the higher vox puts a real strain on my throat; annoying, but that’s how it works. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-register-singing-in-rock-music/161019.md?page=2)