Best Singer in Hello!Project History
So on Wota in Translation there was a post about who the greatest member of all time for Morning Musume.
I created a long detailed response and my browser would not let me post it on henkka’s site, so I’m gonna turn it into a Blog. I do not know what “greatest means, but I’m going to talk about the best singer.
Disclaimer: I’m not a 15+ year fan.
In Morning Musume there have been 3 idols in my opinion who really stood out as vocalists for the group, Goto Maki , Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina. Oda Sakura will be added to that number when she graduates, but her story is still being written. We will see if her vocals improve to the point that she add a characteristic to Morning Musume Songs. At the moment, I think she doesn’t.
Before I start, everything is relative, so these girls are excellent for idols, but may not have the vocals to cut it in, opera, enka, traditional Japanese Music (think kabuki, although I’m linking to Geisha for female voices), or even to some extent contemporary theatre (Takarazuka).
I’ll post a song highlighting each of the girls.
Goto Maki - Daite hold me
I’m a relatively new fan. So I heard this song when Maa-chan covered it at her birthday event. I’ve heard a couple girls sing it, but her version is probably my favorite to watch.
Takahashi Ai - Onna to otoko no lullaby game
Posted for truth, this is one of my favorite Morning musume songs and has Ai-chan wailing like a banshee. I’m all the way there!
Tanaka Reina - rock no teigi
Reina’s graduation song.
Musically speaking, I think Tanaka Reina is the greatest member of Morning Musume, which is why Tsunku (and the musical Maa-chan) have an affinity for her. Her rhythm is good, and her vocal ability is very good for an idol. I rarely hear intonation issues with her, she has range, she uses vibrado, plus her diction is great. Her covers of the "Thank You, Too” MM songs are superior to the original versions, in my opinion.
Intonation is easy to hear, but range may be a bit harder to realize. So for a comparison, someone like Fukumura Mizuki can sing on pitch and has a decent voice, however, she has limited range, so when you push her outside of her comfort zone she has less and less control over her voice. A singer’s range is the number of steps between the lowest note they can sing and the highest note they can sing. The more steps the higher the range. So in this video you can hear Mizuki both within and outside of her range. In the beginning its comfortable, but in the chorus its past her limit and she can no longer control her voice and is basically just shouting, which leads to some intonation problems. Here is the original, sung by Bueno. Bueno had some of the best vocalists in Hello Project history, so its not really a fair comparison, but they do not have the intonation or range issues (and to boot the song was written with their ranges in mind. Here is Reina singing in both her lower register (bottom of her range) and higher register (close to the top). Here is the original version that Reina covered. Her vocal performance is superior, in my opinion. But I still prefer the original, that instrumental is something serious!
Oda Sakura will certainly end up being one of the most important vocalists in Morning Musume, but she has not blossomed yet and her story is still being written. And like Takahashi Ai, she has weak rhythm. I’m cheering for Sakura to best Reina, but I don’t think it will happen.
I love all the girls in the group. I’m a Tsunku wota and am not taking sides, just my non-fanboy opinion on the greatest Morning Musume vocalist of all time.
Musical Citations:
Tanaka Reina vs Goto Maki (was gonna use daite hold on me, but I wanted to link to Tsunku singing for the fans…)
Reina - Do it! Now
Laser Beam Vocals Goto Maki & Smoking Bod Tsunku - Do it! Now
A little T&T (Takahashi Ai and Tanaka Reina) - Medley
Reina Tanaka & Riho Sayashi - Silver No Udedokei
I created a long detailed response and my browser would not let me post it on henkka’s site, so I’m gonna turn it into a Blog. I do not know what “greatest means, but I’m going to talk about the best singer.
Disclaimer: I’m not a 15+ year fan.
In Morning Musume there have been 3 idols in my opinion who really stood out as vocalists for the group, Goto Maki , Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina. Oda Sakura will be added to that number when she graduates, but her story is still being written. We will see if her vocals improve to the point that she add a characteristic to Morning Musume Songs. At the moment, I think she doesn’t.
Before I start, everything is relative, so these girls are excellent for idols, but may not have the vocals to cut it in, opera, enka, traditional Japanese Music (think kabuki, although I’m linking to Geisha for female voices), or even to some extent contemporary theatre (Takarazuka).
I’ll post a song highlighting each of the girls.
Goto Maki - Daite hold me
I’m a relatively new fan. So I heard this song when Maa-chan covered it at her birthday event. I’ve heard a couple girls sing it, but her version is probably my favorite to watch.
Takahashi Ai - Onna to otoko no lullaby game
Posted for truth, this is one of my favorite Morning musume songs and has Ai-chan wailing like a banshee. I’m all the way there!
Tanaka Reina - rock no teigi
Reina’s graduation song.
Musically speaking, I think Tanaka Reina is the greatest member of Morning Musume, which is why Tsunku (and the musical Maa-chan) have an affinity for her. Her rhythm is good, and her vocal ability is very good for an idol. I rarely hear intonation issues with her, she has range, she uses vibrado, plus her diction is great. Her covers of the "Thank You, Too” MM songs are superior to the original versions, in my opinion.
Intonation is easy to hear, but range may be a bit harder to realize. So for a comparison, someone like Fukumura Mizuki can sing on pitch and has a decent voice, however, she has limited range, so when you push her outside of her comfort zone she has less and less control over her voice. A singer’s range is the number of steps between the lowest note they can sing and the highest note they can sing. The more steps the higher the range. So in this video you can hear Mizuki both within and outside of her range. In the beginning its comfortable, but in the chorus its past her limit and she can no longer control her voice and is basically just shouting, which leads to some intonation problems. Here is the original, sung by Bueno. Bueno had some of the best vocalists in Hello Project history, so its not really a fair comparison, but they do not have the intonation or range issues (and to boot the song was written with their ranges in mind. Here is Reina singing in both her lower register (bottom of her range) and higher register (close to the top). Here is the original version that Reina covered. Her vocal performance is superior, in my opinion. But I still prefer the original, that instrumental is something serious!
Oda Sakura will certainly end up being one of the most important vocalists in Morning Musume, but she has not blossomed yet and her story is still being written. And like Takahashi Ai, she has weak rhythm. I’m cheering for Sakura to best Reina, but I don’t think it will happen.
I love all the girls in the group. I’m a Tsunku wota and am not taking sides, just my non-fanboy opinion on the greatest Morning Musume vocalist of all time.
Musical Citations:
Tanaka Reina vs Goto Maki (was gonna use daite hold on me, but I wanted to link to Tsunku singing for the fans…)
Reina - Do it! Now
Laser Beam Vocals Goto Maki & Smoking Bod Tsunku - Do it! Now
A little T&T (Takahashi Ai and Tanaka Reina) - Medley
Reina Tanaka & Riho Sayashi - Silver No Udedokei
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