caio,
in the case of steve perry, i think steve perry uses the same mechanism for his high range that pavarotti uses and, there are occasional notes perry sings that are remarkably similar but generally, the timbre and articulation are completely different. i would compare geoff tate more to someone like ian bostridge (in terms of mechanism). to me, they both sound as if they gained their high ranges by beginning with falsetto and adding weight to it (similar to 'what's his face?' in angra).
while i think that singers like sergio franchi, alessandro safina, andrea bocelli, sarah brightman and charlotte church sing in a way that is much closer to the classical model, particularly the operatic model, there is still a difference between these singers and classical singers. the singers lloyd mentioned (sinatra, bennett, fitzgerald, etc.) are all great singers but, they exhibit a use of the voice that is distinctly different from the classical model.
comparing spectral analyses of opera singers to people like sinatra, bennett and fitzgerald, you can see very different uses of the voice. the vibrato rate of most opera singers is constant and unvarying where vibrato, as used by the others, is varying and not always constant (in fact, varying vibrato is one of techniques of the 'crooner' style). because of the necessity of being heard over an orchestra, the opera singer has a constant presence of activity in the range of 2500-3300hz., the crooner does not. instead, the crooner's tone varies greatly depending on the expression. in the opera singer, legato is constant, like a wall of sound (not to be confused with phil spector's 'wall of sound') where, in the crooner, the articulation varies.
compared to other forms of singing, classical singing uses a far more unvarying tone that is constantly produced. whether this approach is due primarily to the need to be heard under unfortunate circumstances or, if that result was desired for artistic purposes, doesn't matter. that's the style. of all the styles of singing, that i can think of, it is the style that least resembles 'normal' human usage of the voice. crooning is the most conversational form of singing that i can think of. usually, most crooning is done in a relatively low key, bringing the voice closer to the speaking range.
the differences between crooners and opera singers, can be particularly seen in women. female crooners (fitzgerald, day, clooney) sing low, in the conversational range and, the timbre of their singing is nearly the same as the timbre of their speaking. the range that female opera singers sing in is much higher, to the point of necessitating the use of a different mechanism from the one they speak with. aside from the diffrerences i discussed in the previous paragraph, this is almost like using two different instruments.
of course, any such comparison is relative. when comparing opera singers to crooners, it is easy to see the differences. however, if you compare frank sinatra's singing of 'my way' to sid vicious' singing of the same song and ask "which one is closer to classical singing?", the answer would obviously be sinatra's. to make the comparison complete, it would probably be a good idea to include pavarotti and bocelli singing that same song.
mike
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