Haley Reinhart's Voice

[Miguel]

The thing I love most about Haley is that, like all of my past favorites (Kelly, Carrie, Allison & Crystal), you can recognize her voice immediately. She has her own unique sound that makes her so distinctive. Like everyone else on here, I can’t wait for her album!

Comment by Cheryl – June 20, 2011 01:26 PM PDT

---

Even her speaking voice is so damn sexy…

Comment by Matt – June 20, 2011 01:14 PM PDT

---

Remember that quote from Beyonce – “I think Haley is a Rock Star. Haley has a presense. Even when she’s not singing, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone like her.” then directly to Haley: “Your tone is so warm. Your’e raspyness is so natural. It’s not forced. You’re Incredible”

Comment by whynotcanada – June 20, 2011 08:15 PM PDT

---

Oh man, I just listened to my entire Haley library on my iPod (including Moanin) and then, of course, that made me need to go to YouTube to see the Moanin performance, including the standing O and judges comments. Haley’s voice is just amazing and I can’t get enough of it. Hearing Haley sing makes it very difficult to enjoy some other singers that I used to love. She has that extra something that puts her head and shoulders over other singers and can make them seem boring in comparison. I have been put under a spell and, man, does it ever make me happy!

Comment by Swansteel – June 20, 2011 04:43 PM PDT

---

[Miguel]

Haley's vocal coach had this to say when elaborating about HOTRS:

Jimmy Iovine said in one of the sessions — I don’t know if it aired — but he said, ‘People don’t understand what a good singer you are.’ It just bothered him. ‘People really don’t understand you’re an amazing singer here.’ I was so happy he said that.

---

Another comment from her AI vocal coach:

(What is and What Shall Never Be) The music supervisor, Robin Kaye, sent Robert Plant and Jimmy Page a clip of Haley singing and they said, ‘Yes, absolutely, we’d love for her to sing our song.’ And that meant a lot to her. She was very honored because she really wanted that song.” …”(Rhiannon) It was an interesting choice for her. It was one of the songs that was on her list a while ago. The fact that it became a choice from Jimmy, it was like easy peasy. I applaud Jimmy because it gave us a chance to pull it down. I’ve heard people say they don’t like her growling all the time. I think it showcased her very well — she has a softer side and she doesn’t have to rip every single song she sings.”…”Alanis has a lot of yodeling. It’s very deliberate, Alanis’s vocal. In rehearsal Haley can sing all that stuff because she did sing ‘Blue,’ where she yodeled earlier on. And I said, ‘You don’t have to bring as much yodel as Alanis does. They want to see how you hear yourself as an artist, so bring that.’ A little sidebar: Carrie Underwood was always looking for a week where she could yodel. It makes me smile when I hear Haley do it because I remember Carrie looking every week, and she just didn’t get around to it.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/05/19/americ...3-coaches/

---

A different AI vocal coach after she sang Blue:

I loved her; the judges, not so much. I think it’s really hard to do that with your voice, just to switch between that falsetto voice and your chest voice like that. That’s such a talent; not everybody can do that. For her to sing it so perfectly every time, I thought she was great. I felt bad that the judges did not appreciate it as much...I remember my favorite thing, we did the sing-for-your-life performance after Hollywood week and after Vegas, and she did ‘Lady Marmalade’ with a bass player. I just love her.

---

[Miguel]

Former classmates:

When she came in and we heard her sing, we were just blown away by her talent," said Wheeling senior Nathan Lichtenberger, 18, the drummer in the ensemble. Though the band had the occasional guest singer, when Reinhart tried out, they knew they'd found something special. Haley had been a staple of the school's variety show and choir and was well-known for her singing abilities, but Lichtenberger said it was her maturity that really left a mark on him.

"When she sings jazz, it really shows off her abilities," he said. "She has that nice, smooth sound to her voice and that raspiness that she can also use when she wants to."

...Another Wheeling senior who was in jazz band with Haley, sax player JT Teichert, used to perform in variety shows with the singer and said even though she was a renaissance woman who dabbled in acting and poetry, it was her singing that always turned heads. "When she was singing with soul, you could tell she was really connecting with the music," he said. "You could tell that she was committing and devoting herself to the piece in a way not all singers do."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664150...isit.jhtml

[Miguel]

Adam Lambert: (after hearing HOTRS)

“I love the sound of her voice, the texture of it. Musically, her choices are incredible.” “I don’t even think people are realizing the things that she’s doing vocally. I think it’s because she’s so effortless about it.”

Comment by whynotcanada – June 20, 2011 08:39 PM PDT

---

How does such a big voice come out of such a little body?!?! It’s amazing!!! Her talent is undeniable and Haley is one idol whose musical journey I will follow for as long as it lasts!

Comment by Emma – July 19, 2011 01:14 PM PDT

---

Lauren Alaina:

“I’m sorry guys (looking directly at Scotty and James), Haley has the best voice on this show and she gets the most criticism.

Comment by whynotcanada – June 20, 2011 08:42 PM PDT

---

[Miguel]

Found this description of Haley's vocal abilities posted by Slyver on IF back in June.

Generally when people say range what they mean is the range of your chest register. This is certainly what Randy meant. Haley's chest register range is above average, but nothing special. Its ~ 2.5 octaves give or take from what I have seen. In comparison, I think Adam Lambert is over 3 and Kurt Nilsen is over 3.5, I think pushing almost 4.

Different vocal registers are called such because you change your physiological state to produce sound in them. If you add up all the notes Haley can hit in a controlled manner I think it is over 4 octaves, which is none too shabby, but isn't ZOMG either.

Haley also does not have the most powerful voice. While she is well above average in this area, compare it to say, Whitney Houston, or even Pia and you will see that that is not what sets her apart either.

Haley's strength, in addition to the incredibly rich rasp in her voice, which makes her very uncommon by itself, is really a combination of many things:

-- She is pitch perfect all the time
-- She has above average range in her chest register
-- She has a very powerful voice
-- She has a decent lower register which is super sexy, as long as she isn't trying to live there (YOK)
-- She has a great head voice which gives her another octave of very usable notes
-- She has a whistle tone which is one of the best I have ever heard
-- She can yodel
-- She can growl
-- She can TRILL FFS. NO ONE does this well, but Haley does it perfectly
-- I think I have even heard her do a little throat singing, though I'm not 100% on that.

And here's the real kicker. She moves between all of these modes effortlessly. The average person wouldn't even notice the transition its so smooth. It's like there is a master pianist in her throat playing her vocal chords like there is no tomorrow. I've never heard anything like it.

On top of having possibly the most versatile and controlled voice I have ever heard, she also has an excellent sense of what works, emotionally, musically to make people feel, and that's just a gift you can't quantify.

Basically, you like her voice because she's f*cking AMAZING!

Seriously, amazing.

Someone asked what a Trill is and he responded:

A trill is an extremely quick alternation between two adjacent notes. Any decent pianist can do it on a piano. Very few people can do it with their vocal chords. Its a little like a vibrato, but the notes are clearly distinct and separated exactly by a tone or semitone.

See the live version of "You've Really Got A Hold On Me". The last 15 seconds she goes into a trill. Right after that she fluidly goes straight into this yodel that's like, she's picking through a basket of wonderful notes, tossing them left and right, searching for the perfect one. Then, she finds it. She picks it up and just hangs it out to dry.

I was a big fan of her's before this moment, but after she did that I was like, "She did NOT just do that!?!"

I really don't know how many times I watched that back. I kinda took on a worship mentality after those 15 seconds.

[Shela]

Thank you again Miguel. That was a very interesting technical information.
It´s gonna be real good to watch all over these videos with that in mind. No wonder why everyone who really knows of music have nothing but praise for Haley´s vocal skills.

[My Alter Ego]

I saw this earlier today on Idol Forums as well. While generally I appreciated the comments/explanation/knowledge that Slyver provided, I was very surprised to see the comment that "range" only refers to the chest voice (a popular, layman description). In my years of being musically involved, range means the full range of one's instrument -- whatever that is, from top to bottom (or vice versa). Again, I thought that this was a limited definition.

Generally when people say range what they mean is the range of your chest register. This is certainly what Randy meant. Haley's chest register range is above average, but nothing special. Its ~ 2.5 octaves give or take from what I have seen. In comparison, I think Adam Lambert is over 3 and Kurt Nilsen is over 3.5, I think pushing almost 4.

Different vocal registers are called such because you change your physiological state to produce sound in them. If you add up all the notes Haley can hit in a controlled manner I think it is over 4 octaves, which is none too shabby, but isn't ZOMG either.

[Miguel]

From a recap of the Detroit Idols tour show by Megan on MJ's blog:

Haley. Never ever did I consider myself a Haley fan…until her final performance of Bennie and the Jets the night she was eliminated. I just loved that version. But last night she may have finally won me over. I don’t know that Haley is a real person. Her voice live is haunting and gut wrenching. Bennie and the Jets was like a religious experience. She definitely won me over.

"Gut-wrenching" might not have been the right adjective. I'm gonna pretend she said "stirring."

[Miguel]

Review of Haley's performance of Rollin' in the Deep (AI Top 7) by Melinda Doolittle:

This girl can just flat out sing. I was watching the show last night with some of my favorite singers and we were in awe of what her voice can do. She can go from a raspy tone to one that is as clear as a bell in a matter of seconds. She has the vocal flexibility of a singer twice her age. She is amazing.

[Miguel]

Casey Abrams in US Weekly Interview:

Her voice is incredible. The tone of her voice is like nothing I've never, ever heard before. Never ever. I wish you knew how serious I was about this. Like, it's never going to be replicated, and it's never been done before.