Adam Lopez
Encyclopedia
Adam Lopez Costa billed as Adam Lopez (born 26 August 1972 in Brisbane
, Australia) is a pop music
ian, vocal coach, and session vocalist. He is noted for his ability to produce extremely high notes in his whistle register
and for his extensive vocal range
. He is currently a Guinness World Record
holder for singing the highest note by a male – a half step above the C in the 8th octave (C8), or a half-step above the highest note on a standard 88-key piano.
(boy soprano) by age ten. After finishing high school, Lopez studied voice at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music at Griffith University in Australia. He spent five years there studying opera
although he spent a total of 10 years developing his distinctive vocal abilities.
In addition to solo work, Lopez has worked as a session vocalist, singing backing vocals
for Mariah Carey
, Debelah Morgan
, Keith Urban
, Vanessa Amorosi
, and other Australian artists. He has also worked in television and radio.
His 2008 Latino
album titled Till the end of Time features Australian jazz
musician James Morrison
on trumpet
.
, Lopez holds the world record for highest vocal note produced by a male. That pitch is designated C8 in note-octave notation
; it is one semitone above the highest note on a standard grand piano or 4435 Hz
. Before achieving this record, Lopez held the previous Guinness World Record for singing a D7 in 2003. He broke his own record in June 2005.
He is said to have the ability to pitch an A below low C. His tessitura
, however, lies in the tenor
range.
Adam Lopez can be classified as a sopranist
, because of his ability to sing like a soprano
.
Audio samples
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia) is a pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
ian, vocal coach, and session vocalist. He is noted for his ability to produce extremely high notes in his whistle register
Whistle register
The whistle register is the highest register of the human voice, lying above the modal register and falsetto register...
and for his extensive vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
. He is currently a Guinness World Record
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
holder for singing the highest note by a male – a half step above the C in the 8th octave (C8), or a half-step above the highest note on a standard 88-key piano.
Biography
Lopez was the second of three boys, born to Spanish parents, Manuel Jesus Lopez Perez and Maria Del Rosario Costa Velasco. Both of his parents were musicians. Having started singing at the age of three, Lopez was a trebleBoy soprano
A boy soprano is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Although a treble, or choirboy, may also be considered to be a boy soprano, the more colloquial term boy soprano is generally only used for boys who sing, perform, or record as soloists, and who may not necessarily...
(boy soprano) by age ten. After finishing high school, Lopez studied voice at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music at Griffith University in Australia. He spent five years there studying opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
although he spent a total of 10 years developing his distinctive vocal abilities.
In addition to solo work, Lopez has worked as a session vocalist, singing backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
for Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
, Debelah Morgan
Debelah Morgan
Debelah Morgan is an American Singer and Songwriter. Morgan is best known for her hit single "Dance with Me," off of her third album, which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100...
, Keith Urban
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...
, Vanessa Amorosi
Vanessa Amorosi
Vanessa Amorosi is an Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist. Her combined album and single sales have reached over 2 million worldwide.-Early life:...
, and other Australian artists. He has also worked in television and radio.
His 2008 Latino
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
album titled Till the end of Time features Australian jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician James Morrison
James Morrison (musician)
James Morrison AM is an Australian jazz musician who plays numerous instruments, but is best known for his trumpet playing...
on trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
.
World record
According to the Guinness Book of World RecordsGuinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, Lopez holds the world record for highest vocal note produced by a male. That pitch is designated C8 in note-octave notation
Scientific pitch notation
Scientific pitch notation is one of several methods that name the notes of the standard Western chromatic scale by combining a letter-name, accidentals, and a number identifying the pitch's octave...
; it is one semitone above the highest note on a standard grand piano or 4435 Hz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
. Before achieving this record, Lopez held the previous Guinness World Record for singing a D7 in 2003. He broke his own record in June 2005.
He is said to have the ability to pitch an A below low C. His tessitura
Tessitura
In music, the term tessitura generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable range for a given singer or, less frequently, musical instrument; the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding texture or timbre...
, however, lies in the tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
range.
Adam Lopez can be classified as a sopranist
Sopranist
A sopranist is a male singer who is able to sing in the vocal tessitura of a soprano usually through the use of falsetto vocal production. This voice type is a specific kind of countertenor...
, because of his ability to sing like a soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
.
Discography
| Year | Album title |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Popera |
| 2006 | Showstopper |
| 2008 | Till the End of Time |
External links
Audio samples
- Adam Lopez's audio from ABC Radio interview Australia (scroll down until finding "From A7 to B7")