Whistle register

The whistle register is the range of vocal notes above E6. The ability to hit notes in this register is extremely rare.

Definition

The whistle register is really just the highest range of the head register. It is so named because the pitches created mimic the pitches of a whistle. As pitches get higher, the vocal cords are adducted by the side muscles in the throat (similar to a zipper). As this happens, less and less chest cavity is available to "color" the tone; after E6, tones produced are completely devoid of color, or "white". When young children shriek, the noise is usually in this whistle register, singers simply learn to maintain that vocal control while removing any shrillness. Nearly all singers who use the whistle register are coloratura soprano, known and revered for their ability to flip in and out the whistle register, or jump from a note in the fifth or rarely upper fourth octave, to a note or notes above E6 and back to where they were. A properly pitched whistle register tone can shatter glass.

Recording artists

A few recording artists who have exhibited the ability to hit notes in the whistle register are Minnie Riperton, Yma Sumac, Shanice Wilson, Chante Moore, Rachelle Ferrell, Sabrina Johnston, Kate Bush and Sarah McLachlan. Even Blu Cantrell uses the whistle register briefly in "Waste My Time" from her first album. However, the most notable whistle register singer by far is Mariah Carey. While most singers' whistle registers are very faint and unsustainable, Carey posesses an extraordinary ability to sustain these extremely high notes with clearity, ease, and flexibility; So far her highest recorded note was an F7 in the song "Emotions" although in several live performances she has reached higher notes, such as the G7 she hit in a live rendition of "Emotions" at the 1991 MTV awards. Mariah Carey has built her career singing in it. Her vocal performance in the song "Bliss" is performed entirely in this register. She often demonstrates the ability to switch from Chest voice into the whistle range in her songs, most noticably in her live renditions of "Love Takes Time" and "Someday." Another example of the whistle register is Minnie Riperton's "You Take My Breath Away", where she hits an F#7 (F-sharp one and one-half octaves above soprano high C) with such control the note sounds almost instrumental (actually, more mechanical).

Though this ability has been most thoroughly recorded in females, it has been reported to occur in males, but it is much more rare. Singer Adam Lopez of Brisbane, Australia sang back up for Mariah Carey during one of her performances in Australia and, like Mariah, can sing in his whistle register. He currently holds the Guinness World record for the highest note sung by a male.

The whistle register in popular culture

As properly pitched notes in the whistle register can shatter glass, it is sometimes used as a comedic or plot element in books, tv shows or movies.

• In Gunter Grass's novel The Tin Drum, the main character has trained his voice to shatter glass by screaming.
• In Martin, Tisha Campbell's character shatters Martin's crystal by shrieking loudly.