NewKerala.com

Babul Supriyo on Male Singers' High Octaves & Arijit Singh's Playback Exit

Singer Babul Supriyo highlights a growing disparity where male singers performing in high octaves force talented female singers to lower their voices, impacting vocal quality. He notes a significant shift in playback singing, with many songs now serving as background music rather than for lip-syncing. Supriyo also addressed Arijit Singh's decision to step away from playback singing, expressing faith in his thoughtful reasoning. He urges fans to avoid speculation and patiently await Arijit's future artistic contributions.

Key Points: Babul Supriyo on Industry Shift, Female Singers, Arijit Singh

  • Male singers dominate high octaves
  • Female singers forced to lower voices
  • Playback singing dynamics changing
  • Arijit Singh's retirement decision respected
2 min read

Babul Supriyo reflects on the changing role of female singers: Male singers sing in high octave...

Singer Babul Supriyo discusses how high-octave male vocals impact female singers and shares his thoughts on Arijit Singh's playback retirement.

"The male singers are singing in such a high octave that sometimes the female singers... are left with no choice but to sing in a low octave. - Babul Supriyo"

Mumbai, Feb 14

Singer Babul Supriyo opened up about the ongoing disparity between male and female singers in the music industry.

During an exclusive conversation with IANS, he shared that the male singers these days sing in such a high octave that the female singers are forced to lower their voices.

When asked about the changing dynamics in the music industry, Babul Supriyo went on to share, "The male singers are singing in such a high octave that sometimes the female singers, who are extremely talented, are left with no choice but to sing in a low octave. In this, sometimes the actual voice quality ends up suffering. Today, there has come a major change in playback singing. For a lot of songs, there is no lip-syncing; it is all playing in the background."

He further gave an example of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic", which is used as background music and not as a playback.

During the conversation, Babul Supriyo further reacted to Arijit Singh's decision to step away from playback singing.

He believes that we should all have faith in Arijit, as he must have put a lot of thought behind his decision to retire from playback singing.

Speaking to IANS, Babul Supriyo advised all to just wait for what Arijit has in store for us.

He told IANS, "I believe he (Arijit) is an intelligent guy. He is an intense, extremely talented, and one of the best singers we have ever had. So, someone who can express his craft in such a beautiful way, it is not like he will not be able to convert his feelings into actions. So, definitely, he has put a lot of thought behind his decision."

"What is important is for us to not create noise about it but to quietly wait and see what new things we are going to see from him in the future because we all love him, that is what it is," Supriyo added.

- IANS

Share this article:

Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
True! But is it only about octaves? The whole industry needs to compose better duets and solos for women. Look at the 90s - so many iconic female-led songs. Today it's mostly male-dominated soundtracks with female vocals just for the "hook".
A
Aman W
Respectfully, I think Babul ji is oversimplifying. Music evolves. Arijit Singh's high notes connect with millions. Female singers like Neha Kakkar and Jonita Gandhi are hugely popular in their own space. The scene is diverse, not a zero-sum game.
S
Sarah B
Interesting perspective from an industry insider. The shift from pure playback to background score is global, as he mentioned with Celine Dion. But the gender disparity in vocal range allocation seems like a uniquely Bollywood problem. More power to the composers to fix this.
K
Karthik V
His comments on Arijit are very mature. Instead of creating drama, he asks fans to trust the artist's decision. That's rare. About the octave issue - maybe it's time for a new wave of music directors who can balance things out. We need another A.R. Rahman!
N
Nisha Z
As a trained classical singer, I feel this deeply. Female voices are meant to soar, not be suppressed to accommodate male tenors. This trend is harming the richness of our film music. Bring back the balance! 🙏

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Leave a Comment

Minimum 50 characters 0/50