Photo: WENN
A new, incredibly detailed scientific study has proven what we all already knew - Freddie Mercury had a pretty much unparalelled speaking voice.
The study, which was conducted by a group of Austrian, Czech and Swedish researchers, presents “an acoustical analysis of his voice production and singing style.”
They made a number of interesting discoveries about the late Queen frontman, though things were, of course, made a little more challenging given that he’s not still around to provide new vocal samples.
Instead, alongside six interviews and isolated vocal tracks, they used a contemporary rock singer mimicking typical sounds produced by Mercury. They discovered that, despite the fact he’s generally considered a tenor, he was probably a baritone with a huge range.
The study also concluded that Mercury likely used subharmonics to create his distinctive growls and vibratos - which is where the ventricular folds vibrate along with the vocal folds. It’s a method usually only used by Tuvan throat singers.
They also measured Mercury’s vibrato at 7.04Hz, and discovered that he had a better sine wave for vibrato than Luciano Pavarotti.
It’s pretty dense stuff, but you can read the full study here.
