Karaoke Forums

Though his tessitura is indeed baritone, in actuality Travis is as close to a bass as exists in popular music. He rivals Josh Turner in his low range. Again, I suggest that you listen to "It's Just A Matter of Time". He hits the C two octaves below middle C in a very profound way.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Not Pop/Rock at all...or current...but when it comes to deep voices don't forget Lou Rawls!

I still do "Lady Love" or "You'll never Find" sometimes for fun.

Listen to Bring It On Home To Me!

Sam Cooke (tenor) and Lou Rawls (baritone) singing together in the early days before overly processed and produced vocal tracks!

I have sung almost every song suggested here.

I am surprised that no one has suggested David Bowie, especially his stuff from the 80's.

"Let's Dance" comes to mind.

The single version of"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" was released as karaoke, but the single was different from the original (on the movie soundtrack) because MCA Records refused to license it, as Giorgio Moroder (co-writer and producer) was under contract to them at the time, and they were not about to let a competing label--EMI America—to use a song by one of its artists on their project (Bowie's "Let's Dance" album). I prefer the sound of the original. The re-recorded version just doesn't do it for me, but I'll sing it by request

I've always loved the intro to that one: "Say these eyes so green..." and I often use it as a vocal warmup when I know I'm going to be pushing a "bottom note" in a song. That being said, the note he hits on the word "gasoline" in the first transition can be a real challenge. I think that makes the song fun to sing.

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Never the same show twice!

What about "fasche"

I mispelled it - should be "Fach"

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fach

At least by opera definitions Travis is definitely a bass. Anybody who can sing a good loud low E qualifies and Travis definitely goes below that on "It's A Matter Of Time"

I like this quick and dirty chart...
The (classical) vocal ranges from highest to lowest with examples of popular singers who can roughly be classified as such:

Soprano: C4 – C6 (Mariah Carey, Jewel, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood)
Mezzo-soprano: A3 – A5 (Sheryl Crow, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Faith Hill)
Tenor: C3 – C5 (Keith Urban, Gary LeVox, Steve Perry, Chester Bennington)
Baritone: F2 – F4 (Chris Daughty, Chad Kroeger, George Straight)
Bass / Basso: E2 – E4 (Barry White, Josh Turner, Randy Travis)

I wouldn't recognise baritone if it bit me on the backside and I could not spot a tenor even if you pointed one out to me in the crowd, I'd probably be looking for a tenner on the deck.

For low songs though I usually go for Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division, An End Has A Start by Editors or Wicked Game by Chris Isaak (even though it does have some higher points).

The Joy Division track doesn't have much range so I tend to use it case a warm up track (though not a vocal one) in that it is easy and I have done it so many times, I am comfortable with it and I can even use it as a sober karaoke track.

Yeah, I admit I sometimes still get the shakes a bit if I haven't had a beer before I get up on stage. Sober karaoke is intense karaoke.

Wicked Game is good fun and you can seriously inject some emotion into it.

The lead singer of The Editors has a strange, low voice that seems a bit out of place the first time you hear them. An End Has A Start, for me, is probably one of their more enjoyable songs to sing as there is less repetition than most of their stuff. I have only tried this one, All Sparks and Munich though as they are the only songs of theirs that my regular KJ has in her library.

That is about as far as my personal expertise goes though.

If so, only just. Grab a listen to Trace Atkins or even deeper with Junior Brown. Of course, we are still talking about lead singers. I think that some of the Bass men in the groups could start a sympathetic earthquake due to harmonics...

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Lots of good basses in country music, but give this Russian contra bass a listen.
Russian Basso Profondo: The Lowest Voices: http://youtu.be/6WpD2Cspn6g

Most voices can be characterized by, their tessitura which is much more narrow than their range. It is rare to find a Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, or George Strait who can reside in a wide range with grace and ease.

What is pretty clear is that the typical male voice in rock and modern pop is tenor, while in country it's baritone. The fact that 80% of male voices are baritone is, I think, one of the main reasons country is so popular in karaoke. I know it is why I learned country music, which I had never known until I started doing karaoke in 2006.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

The "oktavists" on You Tube are a hoot - sounds like Lurch from the Addams Family singing. I can "fry" out some of those notes, but the ease and sheer volume those guys get is amazing. G an octave below the bass clef isn't unusual in Russian choral music.

Try some Rick Astley.