![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shizuna posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bmsgOn August 24, 2022, popular YouTuber and BESTY KANJI uploaded a video on his analysis of BE:FIRST's vocals.
He is a vocal trainer by day, and has done various reactions to BE:FIRST and other BMSG artists' vocals prior to this, so I went ahead and translated this video in particular, because he goes pretty in-depth into each member.
KANJI's BE:FIRST vocal analysis video link here!
Note 1: KANJI's analysis was done in August, 2022. As seen in live reports and their TV performances, BE:FIRST has evolved and improved vocally since then!
Some vocal / singing terms before we start:
- Range - refers to to a spectrum of notes a singer can produce
- Register - refers to certain set of tones a singer can produce consistently to a certain quality
- Resonance - Is the projection, volume, of a singer's voice when they are singing powerfully and clearly
- Natural voice - a singer's true or natural, most comfortable, state when they sing. In JPN, or in KANJI's case, he used "clear" in his four axis graph to refer to this (under the cut).
- Mixed voice - when a singer balances between the use of chest and head voice to produce certain notes; it's called mixed because it's the "mix" of a singer's natural voice and their falsetto
- Falsetto - is a vocal technique that singers use in order to hit high notes
- Whisper - I've only seen this term exclusively used when JPN vocal coaches analyze vocals, the closest term to this in English I'd say is falsetto, but even then it doesn't really describe what the whisper voice means in JPN. Whisper voice contains an array of different techniques, but the umbrella term, "whisper" refers to when a singer uses more breath in their voice to vocalize high notes.
And without further ado...
Some main points:
- He says that all members are good vocally
- Each member has a distinctive personality (to their voice)
He did a four-point graph that looks like this:
Click to enlarge picture!
Kanji first begins with RYUHEI
(The colours for them on the graphs are KANJI’s member colours for them)
- Bass
- More breaths in his voice; well suited for “sexy” parts; rich in sound; and adds a bit of elegance to his lines
- KANJI put RYUHEI’s vocals round the lower register but says RYUHEI can hit pretty high notes too
- He made RYUHEI’s graph from breathy to natural voice long due to RYUHEI’s line in the final chorus of “Shining One”, he was using his natural voice most of the time for that song and his line in “Scream” [“I wanna hear you scream / Ao!”]
- Though we know RYUHEI has said that he was using falsetto rather than natural for the original SO
- Although KANJI finalized RYUHEI’s graph this way, he says there may be other aspects of RYUHEI’s vocals we haven’t seen yet due to the kind of songs BE:FIRST gets and how RYUHEI may adjust and modify his techniques.
- RYUHEI’s talent lies in his ability to colour a song in his own way – hence why his vocals are often used for transitions, or to help draw the listeners into the song’s universe (re: the slow-down in “Scream” and “Betrayal Game”, opening “Move On”, “Gifted.”, “Shining One”...)
- With RYUHEI passing his voice-changing period, KANJI thinks he’ll be able to hit some high notes
- Pretty much the opposite of RYUHEI, RYOKI has practically zero breaths in his voice; his vocals kind of strikes through; voice is very distinctive and recognizable
- Similar to JUNON, he can hit pretty high notes with his natural voice (plus mixed, sometimes) [KANJI uses RYOKI’s line “We’re just gifted” as his example]
- He had a separate bar for [Martin] because RYOKI can sing pretty low (baritone) and compared to his natural+mixed voice, his baritone is sweeter [KANJI uses Ryoki’s opening in “Betrayal Game” and his lines in “Grateful Pain” as examples]
- KANJI feels RYOKI can switch between any of the two vocally
- "Why’s RYOKIs graph blank in the middle, KANJI?!" –- Kanji thinks other members (MANATO) fill up that part, not that he doesn’t believe RYOKI can’t do it, he thinks he can but for a song, Ryoki has a lot of power and impact in his voice, so vocally RYOKI is best used in parts of a song where the hype must be emphasized – KANJI’s examples: RYOKI’s rap in BGB, “shirane!” in “Move On”.
- RYOKI’s vocals are definitely a weapon for BE:FIRST [much like what boss told him in THE FIRST]
- Kanji can tell RYOKI is still changing and evolving vocally; a definitive feature of his voice.
- Baritone to tenor; a nice balance; sweet; familiarity [I presume familiarity to other Jpop artists or Jpop vocals idk]
- His voice has range and he can change / modify his runs easily (SO’s “mou tomaranai / shining one~” [it took RYUHEI way more time to master the “woww woow~” in SO in THE FIRST while Juju made it look very easy, for example😂] and “Be Free”)
- Falsettos are good too (chorus of BGB)
- His voice is versatile and he’s able to use it skillfully and freely – he can be soft, sweet (Nanairo Holiday; Be Free) or he can put some strength into his voice (opening of Brave Gen; Scream) to suit the needs of the song
- JUNON’s most distinctive feature vocally is his higher tones and falsettos in many of BE:FIRST’s songs, esp.BGB and Gifted.
- Although KANJI thinks RYOKI also can hit high notes too, he thinks JUNON is just a bit higher than him
- His vocals also have very few quirks / habits to them, so it’s very easy on the ears and gives the impression of “Wow, this person/group sings good!” by placing him in the chorus and giving JUNON key lines in a song
- JUNON’s skills and techniques are already good, but he’s also willing to try new things (rap), so he thinks there may be more sides to JUNON to see. [KANJI goes in further depth regarding JuJu’s vocals in a different video, so you can watch that if you’re interested, aha]
- Wide range; balanced; very stable
- Has gotten better at high notes since debut
- Voice has resonance (projection, volume) no matter which parts of the song he gets
KANJI feels he’s using his natural voice more (ex. “Brave Gen” and “Scream”) compared to pre-debut / THE FIRST
- Similar to RYUHEI, MANATO is used for transitions in songs [BTG for example]
- His voice is easy on the ears; additionally he is very skilled, consistent, and stable so he is often given the pre-chorus or outro, but he is good for any part of a song
- Breathy voice that has range, and is soft
- Why KANJI leaned LEO’s graph closer to whisper / breathy – LEO’s distinctive feature vocally is his high falsettos, they’re clean and pleasant
- His high falsettos are on the soft side (ex.) “Let me glow in your eyes” in Gifted.; “reisei ni nante sase nai” in Scream)
- A nice contrast to JUNON’s falsettos that are sharp and edgy
- However, LEO’s natural voice that’s cooler in “BF is..” and “Brave Gen” is used a lot more since debut. KANJI thinks there’s a lot of strength in LEO’s natural voice so he thinks LEO’s graph will extend more in the natural voice range soon
- LEO’s breathy voice is very boyish; male (compared to other breathy vocalists)
- LEO is often used when a high, softer vocal tone is needed in a song
- SOTA’s block on the bottom right refers to his rapping voice; the block on the top left refers to his singing (!!) voice
- Vocal tone is the cool, baritone / bass?ish voice
- KANJI’s surprised at how sweet SOTA’s singing voice sounds
- SOTA’s singing voice – breathy, soft; similar to MANATO; completely different from his rapping voice
- He thinks SOTA’s singing range has widened with the higher notes he’s been given (ex.) the last “kowarerugurai” in Scream; “finally founnnddd” in Don’t Wake Me Up, so he thinks more options would open up for SOTA and the rest of BE:FIRST, and SOTA’s singing block on his graph will likely change because of that
- KANJI mentions how there is the “Rap Line” and “Vocal Line” in Kpop groups, but none of that applies with BE:FIRST since JuJu – a classic member Kpopers would put in the vocal line – is doing rap
- Kanji: “When SHUNTO oshis see this graph, a lot of you must be going, ‘yeah, I totally see it’.”
- A very unique, distinctive voice out of all the members; not similar to any other vocalists
- KANJI explains that when you hear the other members’ voices, you can understand their music background & the essence of what they listen to comes through in their singing / rapping (ie.) RYOKI likes BIG BANG, his vocals show that influence; MANATO really likes iri so his voice illustrates that stylish, RnB tone; RYUHEI likes Jimin from BTS who is known for his edgy and sexy voice, etc. but SHUNTO is ???
- Undeniably a very skilled and talented vocalist
- When SHUNTO is singing in bass: more breathy (compared to recordings, you hear it more during lives, KANJI uses SHUNTO’s line from “Move On” that he heard [yogoreta kikusu ni hotsureta T syatsu as his example])
- SHUNTO’s “edge voice” is a mix of breaths+edge voice = creates roughness and sexiness; not gentle but not on the weighty side.. Something only Shunty can do
- However, SHUNTO’s natural voice is the complete opposite, not breathy at all that you wonder, “Hmm? Is this the same person?” (ex.) Shunty’s “I know~ you know~ We know~ Fumange na sekai” in Brave Gen, it has a bit of growl and pierces through; he also sounds more youthful when singing this way
- KANJI’s own opinion: “Can you believe it? How can someone be sexy and youthful when they sing?”
- While RYOKI also has zero breaths in his mixed / natural voice, KANJI doesn’t think SHUNTO is that similar to RYOKI, KANJI thinks SHUNTO’s natural / mixed voice for high notes is somewhere between RYOKI and JUNON
- Has a wide range, so similar to RYOKI, SHUNTO is given parts of a song where impact is needed and building up the excitement
- Since SHUNTO’s bass is pretty good too, he’s able to rap and sing
- Often sings the chorus
- Also given lines that only SHUNTO can do (ex.) “Go or stay” in BTG, “gera~” in Move On
- Isn’t it such a good balance?
- No one is too similar or too different from the other
- Each member somewhat overlaps with another member to expand the overall vocal range of the group
KANJI's vocal role breakdown:
The balancer - JUNON & MANATO: Often given the chorus, so their coverage on the graph is pretty large
The balancer #2 - LEO
High notes: JUNON, RYOKI
Baritone to bass: SHUNTO, SOTA
Natural / mixed voices: RYOKI, SOTA
Breathy, soft voices: RYUHEI, LEO
SHUNTO: In both of those (natural / mixed & breathy)
- You have members who are vocalists and rap
- Members who have a wide vocal range (high notes / low notes)
- If this was a Kpop group, vocal lines will be in the high notes range of his graph; rap lines will be in the low notes range (ie.) a rapper who, like RYOKI can do rap in natural / mixed / higher notes & a rapper who is lower such as SOTA and SHUNTO [aka the GD + T.O.P formula]
- Although the members’ vocal colours overlap, and their voices are distinctive; their voices do not take away from a song but instead act as support to keep a song going
- Rather than showing off their personality or making each member stand out in a song when it is their line, the members help to build the transitions and link an entire song together smoothly through their parts
- Even though there are members with very different voices, you don’t get tired of listening to their songs
- The songs themselves are good
- Plus a group of well-balanced members, they are able to explore various genres of music
- Even if a group is given a “good” song, if there are no members who can deliver that, then the point is moot. The same can be said if the situation is reversed (well-balanced members, but the song ain’t good)
Important note:
Kanji thinks all the members’ vocal graphs will change / expand as they build their career and expand their skills and techniques vocally
Hope you enjoyed this!
Please note I translate these for free and I'm not a professional, so they may not be super perfect.
Retranslations or sharing of the summaries is fine! For retranslations, please notify me beforehand and credit once posted!
If you like my translations, you can consider tipping me on Ko-Fi!
He is a vocal trainer by day, and has done various reactions to BE:FIRST and other BMSG artists' vocals prior to this, so I went ahead and translated this video in particular, because he goes pretty in-depth into each member.
KANJI's BE:FIRST vocal analysis video link here!
Note 1: KANJI's analysis was done in August, 2022. As seen in live reports and their TV performances, BE:FIRST has evolved and improved vocally since then!
Some vocal / singing terms before we start:
- Range - refers to to a spectrum of notes a singer can produce
- Register - refers to certain set of tones a singer can produce consistently to a certain quality
- Resonance - Is the projection, volume, of a singer's voice when they are singing powerfully and clearly
- Natural voice - a singer's true or natural, most comfortable, state when they sing. In JPN, or in KANJI's case, he used "clear" in his four axis graph to refer to this (under the cut).
- Mixed voice - when a singer balances between the use of chest and head voice to produce certain notes; it's called mixed because it's the "mix" of a singer's natural voice and their falsetto
- Falsetto - is a vocal technique that singers use in order to hit high notes
- Whisper - I've only seen this term exclusively used when JPN vocal coaches analyze vocals, the closest term to this in English I'd say is falsetto, but even then it doesn't really describe what the whisper voice means in JPN. Whisper voice contains an array of different techniques, but the umbrella term, "whisper" refers to when a singer uses more breath in their voice to vocalize high notes.
And without further ado...
Opening
Some main points:
- He says that all members are good vocally
- Each member has a distinctive personality (to their voice)
He did a four-point graph that looks like this:
Click to enlarge picture!
Kanji first begins with RYUHEI
RYUHEI
(The colours for them on the graphs are KANJI’s member colours for them)
- Bass
- More breaths in his voice; well suited for “sexy” parts; rich in sound; and adds a bit of elegance to his lines
- KANJI put RYUHEI’s vocals round the lower register but says RYUHEI can hit pretty high notes too
- He made RYUHEI’s graph from breathy to natural voice long due to RYUHEI’s line in the final chorus of “Shining One”, he was using his natural voice most of the time for that song and his line in “Scream” [“I wanna hear you scream / Ao!”]
- Though we know RYUHEI has said that he was using falsetto rather than natural for the original SO
- Although KANJI finalized RYUHEI’s graph this way, he says there may be other aspects of RYUHEI’s vocals we haven’t seen yet due to the kind of songs BE:FIRST gets and how RYUHEI may adjust and modify his techniques.
- RYUHEI’s talent lies in his ability to colour a song in his own way – hence why his vocals are often used for transitions, or to help draw the listeners into the song’s universe (re: the slow-down in “Scream” and “Betrayal Game”, opening “Move On”, “Gifted.”, “Shining One”...)
- With RYUHEI passing his voice-changing period, KANJI thinks he’ll be able to hit some high notes
RYOKI
- Pretty much the opposite of RYUHEI, RYOKI has practically zero breaths in his voice; his vocals kind of strikes through; voice is very distinctive and recognizable
- Similar to JUNON, he can hit pretty high notes with his natural voice (plus mixed, sometimes) [KANJI uses RYOKI’s line “We’re just gifted” as his example]
- He had a separate bar for [Martin] because RYOKI can sing pretty low (baritone) and compared to his natural+mixed voice, his baritone is sweeter [KANJI uses Ryoki’s opening in “Betrayal Game” and his lines in “Grateful Pain” as examples]
- KANJI feels RYOKI can switch between any of the two vocally
- "Why’s RYOKIs graph blank in the middle, KANJI?!" –- Kanji thinks other members (MANATO) fill up that part, not that he doesn’t believe RYOKI can’t do it, he thinks he can but for a song, Ryoki has a lot of power and impact in his voice, so vocally RYOKI is best used in parts of a song where the hype must be emphasized – KANJI’s examples: RYOKI’s rap in BGB, “shirane!” in “Move On”.
- RYOKI’s vocals are definitely a weapon for BE:FIRST [much like what boss told him in THE FIRST]
- Kanji can tell RYOKI is still changing and evolving vocally; a definitive feature of his voice.
JUNON
- Baritone to tenor; a nice balance; sweet; familiarity [I presume familiarity to other Jpop artists or Jpop vocals idk]
- His voice has range and he can change / modify his runs easily (SO’s “mou tomaranai / shining one~” [it took RYUHEI way more time to master the “woww woow~” in SO in THE FIRST while Juju made it look very easy, for example😂] and “Be Free”)
- Falsettos are good too (chorus of BGB)
- His voice is versatile and he’s able to use it skillfully and freely – he can be soft, sweet (Nanairo Holiday; Be Free) or he can put some strength into his voice (opening of Brave Gen; Scream) to suit the needs of the song
- JUNON’s most distinctive feature vocally is his higher tones and falsettos in many of BE:FIRST’s songs, esp.BGB and Gifted.
- Although KANJI thinks RYOKI also can hit high notes too, he thinks JUNON is just a bit higher than him
- His vocals also have very few quirks / habits to them, so it’s very easy on the ears and gives the impression of “Wow, this person/group sings good!” by placing him in the chorus and giving JUNON key lines in a song
- JUNON’s skills and techniques are already good, but he’s also willing to try new things (rap), so he thinks there may be more sides to JUNON to see. [KANJI goes in further depth regarding JuJu’s vocals in a different video, so you can watch that if you’re interested, aha]
MANATO
- Wide range; balanced; very stable
- Has gotten better at high notes since debut
- Voice has resonance (projection, volume) no matter which parts of the song he gets
KANJI feels he’s using his natural voice more (ex. “Brave Gen” and “Scream”) compared to pre-debut / THE FIRST
- Similar to RYUHEI, MANATO is used for transitions in songs [BTG for example]
- His voice is easy on the ears; additionally he is very skilled, consistent, and stable so he is often given the pre-chorus or outro, but he is good for any part of a song
LEO
- Breathy voice that has range, and is soft
- Why KANJI leaned LEO’s graph closer to whisper / breathy – LEO’s distinctive feature vocally is his high falsettos, they’re clean and pleasant
- His high falsettos are on the soft side (ex.) “Let me glow in your eyes” in Gifted.; “reisei ni nante sase nai” in Scream)
- A nice contrast to JUNON’s falsettos that are sharp and edgy
- However, LEO’s natural voice that’s cooler in “BF is..” and “Brave Gen” is used a lot more since debut. KANJI thinks there’s a lot of strength in LEO’s natural voice so he thinks LEO’s graph will extend more in the natural voice range soon
- LEO’s breathy voice is very boyish; male (compared to other breathy vocalists)
- LEO is often used when a high, softer vocal tone is needed in a song
SOTA
- SOTA’s block on the bottom right refers to his rapping voice; the block on the top left refers to his singing (!!) voice
- Vocal tone is the cool, baritone / bass?ish voice
- KANJI’s surprised at how sweet SOTA’s singing voice sounds
- SOTA’s singing voice – breathy, soft; similar to MANATO; completely different from his rapping voice
- He thinks SOTA’s singing range has widened with the higher notes he’s been given (ex.) the last “kowarerugurai” in Scream; “finally founnnddd” in Don’t Wake Me Up, so he thinks more options would open up for SOTA and the rest of BE:FIRST, and SOTA’s singing block on his graph will likely change because of that
- KANJI mentions how there is the “Rap Line” and “Vocal Line” in Kpop groups, but none of that applies with BE:FIRST since JuJu – a classic member Kpopers would put in the vocal line – is doing rap
SHUNTO
- Kanji: “When SHUNTO oshis see this graph, a lot of you must be going, ‘yeah, I totally see it’.”
- A very unique, distinctive voice out of all the members; not similar to any other vocalists
- KANJI explains that when you hear the other members’ voices, you can understand their music background & the essence of what they listen to comes through in their singing / rapping (ie.) RYOKI likes BIG BANG, his vocals show that influence; MANATO really likes iri so his voice illustrates that stylish, RnB tone; RYUHEI likes Jimin from BTS who is known for his edgy and sexy voice, etc. but SHUNTO is ???
- Undeniably a very skilled and talented vocalist
- When SHUNTO is singing in bass: more breathy (compared to recordings, you hear it more during lives, KANJI uses SHUNTO’s line from “Move On” that he heard [yogoreta kikusu ni hotsureta T syatsu as his example])
- SHUNTO’s “edge voice” is a mix of breaths+edge voice = creates roughness and sexiness; not gentle but not on the weighty side.. Something only Shunty can do
- However, SHUNTO’s natural voice is the complete opposite, not breathy at all that you wonder, “Hmm? Is this the same person?” (ex.) Shunty’s “I know~ you know~ We know~ Fumange na sekai” in Brave Gen, it has a bit of growl and pierces through; he also sounds more youthful when singing this way
- KANJI’s own opinion: “Can you believe it? How can someone be sexy and youthful when they sing?”
- While RYOKI also has zero breaths in his mixed / natural voice, KANJI doesn’t think SHUNTO is that similar to RYOKI, KANJI thinks SHUNTO’s natural / mixed voice for high notes is somewhere between RYOKI and JUNON
- Has a wide range, so similar to RYOKI, SHUNTO is given parts of a song where impact is needed and building up the excitement
- Since SHUNTO’s bass is pretty good too, he’s able to rap and sing
- Often sings the chorus
- Also given lines that only SHUNTO can do (ex.) “Go or stay” in BTG, “gera~” in Move On
The graph with all the members
- Isn’t it such a good balance?
- No one is too similar or too different from the other
- Each member somewhat overlaps with another member to expand the overall vocal range of the group
KANJI's vocal role breakdown:
The balancer - JUNON & MANATO: Often given the chorus, so their coverage on the graph is pretty large
The balancer #2 - LEO
High notes: JUNON, RYOKI
Baritone to bass: SHUNTO, SOTA
Natural / mixed voices: RYOKI, SOTA
Breathy, soft voices: RYUHEI, LEO
SHUNTO: In both of those (natural / mixed & breathy)
What makes BE:FIRST different (according to KANJI)
- You have members who are vocalists and rap
- Members who have a wide vocal range (high notes / low notes)
- If this was a Kpop group, vocal lines will be in the high notes range of his graph; rap lines will be in the low notes range (ie.) a rapper who, like RYOKI can do rap in natural / mixed / higher notes & a rapper who is lower such as SOTA and SHUNTO [aka the GD + T.O.P formula]
- Although the members’ vocal colours overlap, and their voices are distinctive; their voices do not take away from a song but instead act as support to keep a song going
- Rather than showing off their personality or making each member stand out in a song when it is their line, the members help to build the transitions and link an entire song together smoothly through their parts
- Even though there are members with very different voices, you don’t get tired of listening to their songs
BE:FIRST’s biggest appeal (according to Kanji)
- The songs themselves are good
- Plus a group of well-balanced members, they are able to explore various genres of music
- Even if a group is given a “good” song, if there are no members who can deliver that, then the point is moot. The same can be said if the situation is reversed (well-balanced members, but the song ain’t good)
Important note:
Kanji thinks all the members’ vocal graphs will change / expand as they build their career and expand their skills and techniques vocally
Hope you enjoyed this!
Please note I translate these for free and I'm not a professional, so they may not be super perfect.
Retranslations or sharing of the summaries is fine! For retranslations, please notify me beforehand and credit once posted!
If you like my translations, you can consider tipping me on Ko-Fi!
