User blog comment:Fanfiction2010/Surprise Halloween Blog, User Input Would Be Appreciated/@comment-1874924-20101013023205

TAU, I don't think I've heard your exact age before, although I seem to recall certain references indicating that you were one of the older users. Makes sense, for reasons that others have noted.

@ all: Concerning singing voice types: the distinction between baritone and bass is sometimes omitted in choral music, with those two types being lumped together. You may also hear of something called a "countertenor". This is simply a tenor who sings unusually high. The main demand for countertenors is in early music (i.e. medieaval and Renaissance).

Among women, soprano and alto are the main ranges. The contralto--an alto with unusual range in the lower registers--is the mirror image of a countertenor. The stereotypical contralto is the "fat lady" of opera. A soprano who can go unusually low is called a "mezzo-soprano", and is sort of a bridge between the sopranos and the altos. Like the contralto, the mezzo-soprano (or "mezzo" for short) range is mainly of interest in operas and musicals.

A "treble" is a boy soprano--a boy whose high, sweet voice hasn't changed yet. In ages past, especially in what is now Italy, certain treble boys would be castrated before puberty to preserve their high singing voices.