What makes a great singing voice?

What makes one vocalist sound better than another, and can you improve your recorded voice?

If you have the ability to accurately pitch notes in tune, then you are a singer.

Pitch is the base technical level however, to be a great singer, you must perform, and that requires a mix of skills.

Your Vocal Instrument

The most fundamental technical quality is determined by your instrument (your voice).

The instrument is that unique combination of vocal folds, musculature, and air spaces in your body.

It is often referred to as your ‘gift’. Something you were born with. It is either intrinsically pleasing or it is not. You can't learn it. You've either got it or you ain't.

So, if the resonance and tone of your voice sounds attractive to the majority of listeners then you have a great voice.

But wait, even if you are not a Stevie Wonder or a Whitney Houston doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for you in music.

Plenty of weak voices front some popular bands. You’ve heard loads of them on the radio and online. Coldplay. Steely Dan.

So, there could be a place for you if you understand the following, all of which can be learned and improved with practice.

How to make the voice you have sound better

• Pitch: If you can make sound in tune, then you are singing. Pitching can be improved by learning some breathing and muscle techniques (and practice). There are plenty of videos on how to ‘improve your head voice’ etc. online to help you.
• Dynamics: Singing an entire song in the same monotone voice is boring, your treatment of any song should have light and shade. Modulating volume and intensity for different sections with subtlety and nuance keeps it fresh, this is what you could call musical literacy, musical intelligence, or just plain musical ‘savvy’.  An example of dynamics is Kurt Cobain’s soft/loud strategy that made Nirvana super interesting.
• Resonance & Tone: This means when you create a sound it rings out with a nice clarity and richness to it. It doesn't sound muffled or stuck, it "sounds nice"
• Phrasing: Ever heard a singer and thought "he's hitting the notes in tune and his tone and resonance sounds fine but just something seems off, like he's just speaking through the song"? This is phrasing, and good phrasing is what makes you think "this guy sings with emotion!", Phrasing is how you sing each line, do you put vibrato on it, is there some breathiness in there, are you singing it tenderly or aggressively. Good phrasing is what makes you think of an amazing singer who can make even simple songs sound incredible. It’s the ‘singer not the song’.
• Accuracy:  how well you can do all the above things on command and consistently is vital. A great singer makes less mistakes than others, and the sound comes out how they intended it to come out, more accurately and consistently. Because of this, it frees them up to be on autopilot when they sing, because they can trust that what comes out is going to be accurate. When you can go on autopilot and still deliver very precise singing then this is what I consider a singer who is great.
• High standards:  Amateurs think they are doing all the things I just listed when in reality they aren't. A great singer knows where objectively and has higher standards. This is a strength because it allows them to maintain motivation to improve slight imperfections that often only they can hear. Their audience may think they sing amazingly but they themselves can hear lots of errors and strive to fix them. Conversely, if your audience can hear your mistakes and you can’t, then time to give up! I call this the X-Factor syndrome – no one apart from their mum has ever been honest with the auditioners who think they are a lot better than they are!
• Range: A good voice has approximately two octaves range. By training you can extend whatever range you have. When you develop your range it makes your singing not only sound better, but also makes it easier. There is a certain part of each of our voices in a certain parts of our range that sounds best.  If a song is out of your range, don’t try it, or at least change the key of the song to fit your range.
• Style: Make a song ‘your own.  There are loads of versions of great songs. You may have a favorite version, usually the one you hear first. Only Whitney owns ‘the greatest love of all’ but there can be other great versions. George Benson also does a superb version. If the object of the exercise is to sound the same as each other life would be very dull. Ideally you shouldn’t do well know tunes in well-known styles rather adapt it in your style.
• Confidence: so many intangible presentation qualities define a good voice. Your ability for storytelling, sounding authentic, and appearing confident.

ai

Will we need singers in the future, won’t ai do the job better and quicker?

Short story, Nah! The art of singing is in the phrasing.

Ai cannot form the words let alone string sentences into delivery. Ai cannot emote recognizable human feeling. It cannot express. Yet...

The usual application is making one voice sound like another. These are the current limitations of what Ai voice offers and I have no problem with that. However, you can apply some tone and resonance to your voice BUT that will not magically make your vocal performance pop. It's GIGO (garbage in garbage out). Unless Ai tones are applied to a great performance it will still sound sh*t.

Conclusion

It's all subjective. It depends on what you like. I hate opera so can't stand the bombast even though it's obvious the singer is highly talented.