Well, most of the singers that Denis mentioned do carry tessituras higher
than your normal operatic role.
Guys like bruce dickinson, in his early days, sustain tessituras around the
A4 in a legit sounding voice.
But...and this is the important but...
the tone is not quite the same, and demands less support and opening in the
throat. I obviously can't speak for all of these singers, but the fact that
they sing into a microphone also gives them a 'second diaphragm' so to
speak. Placement is thrown out the window, as resonance is not needed (just
bring the mic closer to your mouth). Some of these singers constrict
(robert plant), and using part of their false vocal cords, get a really high
tessitura happening- it's like you 'lock' the voice into a different
position, and believe me, it's not healthy- I used to do it, and still
sometimes do it as a joke, when we have Led Zep singalongs.
Some of these singers (usually the better ones, such as the ones that Denis
mentions) also work on their 'wail' - the same wail that tenors develop on
their register above their passagio- If you dwell on this area and learn to
sing in it, providing your voice handles it, you can sing in an unbelievably
high tessitura. but it won't sound very operatic- it'll sound thinner-
which technically it needs to in order to stay up there.
When you listen to freddy mercury, you basically have a high-ish tenor, with
'rock' support (that is, very erratic- listen to him breaking up the
ascending phrase support-wise in 'we are the champions' -
True, some of these guys are really high tenors, but have developed their
higher register. The songs aren't written by verdi, they are usually
written by the singers themselves, who know (I hope) how to cater for their
own voice. You can't write in a ridiculously high register if you want your
work to be performed other singers, such as in opera.
Also, there isn't as much pressure on these sort of singers- their audience
isn't as discriminating- they'll mosh at the front of the stage and get into
the vibe, and they won't pick the singers technique apart. Also, rock
singers can transpose easier (there are no scores), they can improvise some
of the higher sections into lower areas, and of course, (an old favourite of
mine), they can get the crowd to sing bits of the songs! (the really hard
bits if necessary). Imagine if during 'che gelida', the tenor gestured to
the crowd and said "Now YOU sing it!" during the phrase with the high C in
it. I'd love to see that. Or during 'Nessun dorma' at the end high B!
"OK, your turn people!"
How cheesy would that be! In rock, these sings are almost expected.
I was listening to a live recording of Steve perry the other day, I was
dissapointed at his tone in his high register- it was quite forced, and
thin. If you took one of these guys next to a working operatic tenor,
singing in the same room, everyone would be amazed at the operatic tenor's
sound and power, and not the rock guy's high wail/schreech, which is based
more on impact, rather than beauty or size of sound.
In music, voices usually imitate instruments (even though the voice did come
first historically): the classical voice imitates the violin, in jazz, the
voice imitates the trumpet, and in rock and metal, the voice imitates the
guitar, which usually has distortion on it, and wails away. So you can see
why these guys have to sing so high- its a stylistic necessity in many
ways- and metal bands with baritones as singers usually don't have the same
impact. Metallica may be an exception, but I think that guy is really a
heavier tenor- he carries quite a high tessitura as well. Not as high as
the others though.
Mirko
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