Why was the voice of Freddie Mercury, singer of Queen, so special (according to science) – BBC News

You may not need the science to find out, but just in case, a team of researchers has tried to find out why the voice of Freddie Mercury, singer of the band Queen, was so special.

When you read the note, we recommend that you listen to the a cappella versions of "We Are the Champions" and " Bohemian Rhapsody " who clearly indicates

The head of research was the Austrian biophysicist Christian Herbst, a specialist in the physiology of the voice of singers and the physics of vocal mammal production.

For their study, Herbst and his colleagues badyzed the voice of Mercury through interviews, solo records of traces of his voice isolated from the rest of the group in the songs they have recorded and they even relied on a professional singer who imitated his style.

A Voice Tremor

The voice of Freddie Mercury was generally badociated with a tenor, however, this study indicates that in reality corresponds to that of a baritone that is to say in a serious tone.

In one of the tests, Herbst badyzed 240 notes maintained in 21 mercury records . a cappella .

The idea was to badyze his vibrato which corresponds to the oscillation between the sounds used by the singers when they hold a note.

Thus, Herbst concludes that Mercury possessed a "surprising" irregular "vibrato" at 7 Hz. The usual is that a vibrato is between 5.4 Hz and 6.9 Hz. The tenor Luciano Pavarotti for example, had a vibrato at 5.7 Hz.

In short, the strings The voices of Mercury moved faster than other singers, which gave an oscillating and unstable voice that experts call a "vocal tremor."

"He had incredible control over this one – voice, even when I was almost on the brink of losing control," writes Brandon Weber in The Portal The Big Think .

"It's like he's taking his voice to the absolute limits Of what he was physically capable of, he went through those limits, but without overcoming them."

Another discovery is that Mercury sang using vibrations "subharmonic"

These vibrations are not very common and much like the songs for the throat that are played in Tibetan music traditional.

Another reason, though it may seem obvious, that fans follow an idol of the greatest rock stars