Lmao, I still don't know how to judge idols' singing ability

[windy_dayy]

I find myself ignorant every time people compare one idol to another, saying one has better vocal range, stability, chest voice, nasal voice, and head voice than the other. I was like "Oh no please stop, I don't know anything lol".

For me I just pick those who have the most pleasant voice to my ears and that's it. I find Rosé, Eunha, and Nayeon's voice pleasant to hear, even though they are not the best vocalists. On the other hand Taeyeon's voice is a bit harsh to my ears, despite her being praised by most people. And I can't even tell why exactly Eunji is a better vocalist than Namjoo, to be honest.

What about you, how do you judge idols' vocal ability?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by windy_dayy

[love]

well, at the end of the day, we listen to vocalists we like, however they appeal to us.  there are singers like adele who are loved by MILLIONS even though, from a technical perspective, she has a lot of flaws that have ultimately done a number on her voice.  but you aren't listening to "25" critiquing her glottal fry or whatever unless it's your job or hobby to do that.

most people prefer emotive singers who perform feelings rather than perfect vocalists.  some people like the opposite.  there's no right answer.

[lighterxx]

I can judge someone is amazing vocalist but only if its already very obvious lmao 

Basically i do nothing listen King Seokmin and cute Seungkwan

 

 

 

[Nelkoya]

I don't know either haha

I just listen to whatever sounds good to me

[BlueNose]

i can usually tell when there's a big difference? but when the difference is small it's kinda useless to say who's better and who isnt. as long as they sound nice to me. there are a few singers that get hype for tone that i cant stand, and a few singers that get hype for good ability that i cant stand. just listen to who u like 

[deliriousness]

For most people, it doesn’t really matter. Usually you need to study vocals in order to tell a singer’s skill level. Nowadays having an irresistible tone is more important than excellent technique. 
 

For me, my favorite artists happen to be some of the best vocalists in pop, so I use them as my standard.

[Ksoo9]

I tell by how smooth they are to my ears. Idols that are known for very bad singing tends to hurt my ears when i listen to them. I think they sounded too rough or sharp? 

 

[satoori]

I mean, I can tell the difference between a really really good vocalist. Especially when singing live. However, at the end of the day, all that matter is vocal color - what sounds good to our ears. When people first listen to the audio our ears are all attracted to certain sounds. 

 

e.g. Blood Sweat and Tears is still one of the most iconic intros vocally in Kpop.

[Reipaca]

lmaoo same girl, altho i can sometimes definitely see when someone is a strong vocalist, i don't really know anything about vocals or techniques whatsoever

[Reipaca]

36 minutes ago, lighterxx said:

I can judge someone is amazing vocalist but only if its already very obvious lmao 

Basically i do nothing listen King Seokmin and cute Seungkwan

 

 

 

ugh seungkwan has to be one of my fave kpop singers

[lighterxx]

1 minute ago, Rei-chama said:

ugh seungkwan has to be one of my fave kpop singers

He is so GOOD i love his vocals T^T and he is constantly improving i cant even imagine what his vocals will be like in 10 years rip

I especially love i hope cover tho, it suits his tone so well ;-;

[Jollux]

It doesn't matter, because independent of how bad or good they are, for fans the delusion will always prevail.

 

They want to believe so bad.

 

[jasmin]

it all comes to taste when you're not an expert in the topic... there are some voices that even if you don't know about vocals, you can agree they're good but that does not mean that you'll like them. so yes! for me i love joy, seokmin and jihyo's.

[Shinki]

Most people can't and most people don't really care, but when someone's bad at singing it just sounds off. Before I even started studying/reading about singing and getting used to a few sounds I usually could tell when someone was just straight up a bad singer, but that's not the norm at all. For idols it's usually harder to tell anw

[canis lupus]

pitch is the most basic and important to me so it's hard to appreciate Rosé's vocals when she goes flat so many times when singing live

[felidae]

I have no vocal expertise so I only use my ears. 

Singers are either great singer, good singer, okay singer, need improvement but it's still likeable singer, bad singer, or is this a singer. If I want to judge seriously I'd listen to/watch live performance. But I'm always for the songs so as long as they please my ears, live lip sync, or studio version

╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)╭

[Adlo]

Personally, I played musical instruments growing up, so I have enough of a musical background to judge some basic technical things. I can tell when singers are too flat or sharp, using vibrato, etc. Being open-minded let me learn more singing specific skills from just online, like support, and it helps that I love listening to the 90's divas that allow me to hone in on their vocal techniques. You start picking up on these little things and then suddenly, listening to a Whitney song versus a run-of-the-mill vocal makes it feel like night and day. 

But just like our 'some-of-yall-bout-to-be-real-mad-at-me' queen said, the difference is perspective. It's so universal in concept and applicable to almost everything in life, I'm not sure why this is even a thread to be honest. A sommelier will tell me the wine I chose has notes of secondary aromas, aged in an oak casket where the grapes were picked from a South American vineyard where it never rains, while I will do my little faux-swirling, sip it, and go 'yea, it's alright.' It's the same wine, but we're judging it from two vastly different perspectives. It's nuanced in that while I won't take the expert's opinion without my own critical input, I won't wholly dismiss it and I won't consider wine experts elitist either. 

At the same time, there can/do exist things that are judged subjectively yet are universally praised/panned. Good filmmaking is subjective. But why is the Avatar: The Last Airbender movie universally hated? Would you defend it for the sake of moving series-to-film adaptations forward? Is that what we want for all future adaptations?

 

[Usagi.]

I only care about the vocal color, tbh if I don't like someone's voice then they can have the best technique in the world and I still won't like to listen to them at all. Like, I know Ailee has a better technique than Taeyeon and IU but I still like their voices way more and always listen to their songs. If we talk about members from the same group, I know Wendy technique is better than Seulgi's and Joy's, but I still find their voices more pleasant to listen to in their songs.

[Adlo]

1 hour ago, Usagi. said:

I only care about the vocal color, tbh if I don't like someone's voice then they can have the best technique in the world and I still won't like to listen to them at all. Like, I know Ailee has a better technique than Taeyeon and IU but I still like their voices way more and always listen to their songs. If we talk about members from the same group, I know Wendy technique is better than Seulgi's and Joy's, but I still find their voices more pleasant to listen to in their songs.

That's fair, if we're talking about what you like to listen to. I'm just interpreting the OP's question to judge 'singing ability' in that literal sense - that singing ability should be static and we be reasonably objective in trying to identify it to the extent we can. I might not like Mariah's vocal color that's not as resounding as Whitney's, but I'm not going to deny that Mariah has great singing ability - on par with Whitney - on the basis of her voice that she mostly can't change.

Still, I get what you mean. I think it's just a difference of interpretation.

[Mrs. Morale]

Everyone on here is a trained vocalist, let them be the judge (for you).

[Sataengist]

When you listen to really good singers you start to get a good ear for it