Sooo what exactly is the secret to SM Vocals??

Everyone in that company can sing even the visuals can stay on beat. I remember when Somi got help from SM’s vocal trainer and the man helped her, like helped her vocally and she sounded great in less than two days lmao.

Quote from Park_Oppa

Everyone in that company can sing even the visuals can stay on beat. I remember when Somi got help from SM’s vocal trainer and the man helped her, like helped her vocally and she sounded great in less than two days lmao.

This is on that variety show right? I remember that so well!! He also helped that one retired opera singer

They’re very strict about vocals. Like they have standards and prioritize singing abilities more than other companies that might luck out with exceptional individuals rather than teach everyone. I would say Mamamoo’s company cares about that too or started caring. Ever since Mamamoo were known for their vocals they prioritized it for their next generation as you can see in Purple Kiss.

Exercise :D

But seriously if I ever get in an sm artist fansign I am asking for the best vocal tips they got

sm has specifically scout trainees for their vocals before, like tail. so I would so the innate ability l is already higher?

they have good vocal coaches

Aside from the SM water, I think their scouts are very good at identifying potential talent (and pursuing it) and clearly their vocal training is excellent and can bring out the best.

I also think it's probably like American college sports or even professional sports teams. A team's or school's reputation attracts people. If you want to play football professionally, you try (if you're good enough) to sign at a big SEC school like Alabama. They have a legacy and tradition of success. Similarly, if you are a young talented person and you are a singer, you probably look at SM as the place where great singers come from, so it's a bit of a self-fulfilling circle. Because it has a reputation for vocals, strong vocalists go to audition there or choose to accept the offer. I remember Kun saying that's why he auditioned there. When Kun auditioned in China, 7500 people attended auditions. SM took 4.

Nonetheless, they must have a very good ear for diamond in the rough talent because while many of the mains were cast through singing competitions, someone like Jaehyun, who is also a main vocal, was street cast because he was good-looking. He auditioned as a rapper, but practiced singing and dancing ahead of his audition, and then did well enough to get cast in the end. (He even cracked on his shitty audition dancing to EXO in NCT Life Season 1). Clearly they heard something and developed it because he was a main vocal by SM Rookies too.

The other consistency they seem to have is constant support for vocal training. Even the company's best vocalists continue to go to vocal classes even when they have fully fledged solo careers. I don't follow all the social content of every SM group, just my faves - but I've seen EXO and NCT members talk about their classes or going to classes in social content. I also recall Taemin talking about his classes during SuperM content. I find that impressive - it's one thing for a weaker vocalist to continue to try and improve their skills, but impressive when someone like Baekhyun is continuing to develop his. It speaks to the commitment of the artist to improve, of course, but it seems like the company also fosters and supports and pays for this emphasis.

Quote from aespa-von

This is on that variety show right? I remember that so well!! He also helped that one retired opera singer

And Minzy from 2ne1 but she didn't need much help

Quote from Yumeku

They’re very strict about vocals. Like they have standards and prioritize singing abilities more than other companies that might luck out with exceptional individuals rather than teach everyone. I would say Mamamoo’s company cares about that too or started caring. Ever since Mamamoo were known for their vocals they prioritized it for their next generation as you can see in Purple Kiss.

Actually purple kiss vocally are not that impressive, Goeun being only one who can support really well and Swan is very stylistic and shallow in support to put in perspective Wheein Hwasa Solar all 3 Above average vocalist Goeun is average and Swan is weak

Quote from the101

Aside from the SM water, I think their scouts are very good at identifying potential talent (and pursuing it) and clearly their vocal training is excellent and can bring out the best.

I also think it's probably like American college sports or even professional sports teams. A team's or school's reputation attracts people. If you want to play football professionally, you try (if you're good enough) to sign at a big SEC school like Alabama. They have a legacy and tradition of success. Similarly, if you are a young talented person and you are a singer, you probably look at SM as the place where great singers come from, so it's a bit of a self-fulfilling circle. Because it has a reputation for vocals, strong vocalists go to audition there or choose to accept the offer. I remember Kun saying that's why he auditioned there. When Kun auditioned in China, 7500 people attended auditions. SM took 4.

Nonetheless, they must have a very good ear for diamond in the rough talent because while many of the mains were cast through singing competitions, someone like Jaehyun, who is also a main vocal, was street cast because he was good-looking. He auditioned as a rapper, but practiced singing and dancing ahead of his audition, and then did well enough to get cast in the end. (He even cracked on his shitty audition dancing to EXO in NCT Life Season 1). Clearly they heard something and developed it because he was a main vocal by SM Rookies too.

The other consistency they seem to have is constant support for vocal training. Even the company's best vocalists continue to go to vocal classes even when they have fully fledged solo careers. I don't follow all the social content of every SM group, just my faves - but I've seen EXO and NCT members talk about their classes or going to classes in social content. I also recall Taemin talking about his classes during SuperM content. I find that impressive - it's one thing for a weaker vocalist to continue to try and improve their skills, but impressive when someone like Baekhyun is continuing to develop his. It speaks to the commitment of the artist to improve, of course, but it seems like the company also fosters and supports and pays for this emphasis.

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Also Karina was casted through insta for her visuals and turned out girlie was an amazing singer she's on par with a lot of main vocalist and Winter casted through dance festival is now considered the strongest lead vocalist in 4th gen SM really got lucky

Raw talent mostly. Maybe they simply have a good eye - or ear- for talent.

SM's best vocalists, Kyuhyun and Ryeowook, barely had any training at all before debuting, like 1 month, 3 months respectively.

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Quote from chounim

Raw talent mostly. Maybe they simply have a good eye - or ear- for talent.

SM's best vocalists, Kyuhyun and Ryeowook, barely had any training at all before debuting, like 1 month, 3 months respectively.

Bada being discovered through singing at church Ning Ning from Chinese singing shows SM knows how to find them

Quote from reiusagi

Bada being discovered through singing at church Ning Ning from Chinese singing shows SM knows how to find them

I wish people would start giving these singers and their talent more credit instead of making it sound like they were surgically talentified by SM's experts.

They're probably good at searching for talent in the middle of the public.

Raw talent as well as good training. Some of the idols were already good at singing before they trained - Wendy, Ningning, Taeil, etc

It takes lot of hardwork.

Raw talent SM is known to find exceptional singers or people who show good potential and great vocal training. If there’s one thing you can expect from any SM group is that they’ll have 2 or more above average vocalist

Quote from reiusagi

Actually purple kiss vocally are not that impressive, Goeun being only one who can support really well and Swan is very stylistic and shallow in support to put in perspective Wheein Hwasa Solar all 3 Above average vocalist Goeun is average and Swan is weak

Yeah but you can tell they show they care about the importance of vocals especially after Mamamoo's rep.

There is raw talent but proper and constant training does wonders. The other companies may have resources but it doesn't mean they prioritise vocals. I think SM idols also sing more within their range.

Quote from reiusagi

Actually purple kiss vocally are not that impressive, Goeun being only one who can support really well and Swan is very stylistic and shallow in support to put in perspective Wheein Hwasa Solar all 3 Above average vocalist Goeun is average and Swan is weak

Damn RBW really lucked out with Mamamoo. I don't think there's any other group so balanced and proficient.

I think LSM cast the spell on idols that magically make them good vocalist

they scout natural talented vocalists train them hard boom

Chen Baekhyun for example had the least amount of training time from EXO at SM. I’m sure they have resources but I think they just in specific go for trainee who already display vocal talent as well.

1 word TALENT

Most people in Korea have good voices. They eat hot pepper, hot pepper makes the voice better. They generally have good voices. So even the voices of the actors are usually pretty voice. But I think SM detects people with very talented voices well. Vocal teachers are very good. It must also be from SM Water.

It's not even a secret. They have amazing vocal teachers. I remember Minzy training a little with an sm vocal teacher and that already made a huge difference compared to yg vocal teachers. They just force their vocalists to sound unique which obviously isn't good long-term.

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Quote from littlemissnoname

It's not even a secret. They have amazing vocal teachers. I remember Minzy training a little with an sm vocal teacher and that already made a huge difference compared to yg vocal teachers. They just force their vocalists to sound unique which obviously isn't good long-term.

What’s rly funny is that minzy had an innate healthy technique on her comfortable range. She’s 2ne1’s best vocalist even before that. Imagine if she kept working with SM’s coaches, she’d be able to expand her range. SM has a good track record of idols that sees improvement at X point of their career when they want to. Taeyeon, Luna, Taemin, Chen, etc. like it’s very rare for other companies (hyolyn from starship is all i could think of tbh).

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Generally it depends on the situation and what they are looking for.

There have 4 cases where SM recruited main vocals that were perfect to their standing, and they didn't necessarily improve before debut: Those 4 cases are Jonghyun, Xiaojun, Wendy, and Junsu. Granted they are all at a different level of vocal pedagogy, with both Jonghyun, Junsu and Wendy being competent, and Xiaojun being an average. I think Xiaojun was perfect for what SM was looking for, he is the strongest vocalist in WayV by far and he is also the most consistent.

Usually there are SM scouts looking for fully fledged vocalists, and all their main vocalists had solid technical foundations predebut. With the exception of MILK's Hyunjin, NCT's Jaehyun and TVXQ!'s Jaejoong, every single SM main vocalist had solid support predebut. In the past days there were legendary vocal trainers who worked with vocalists in order for them to improve one on one, for example Taeyeon's musicality is influenced by the One, probably SM's strongest vocal in-house trainer, well known for building TXVQ!'s Jaejoong up from scratch and SHINEE's Taemin.

They do insist on vocal lessons for most people inside SM, but most leads too (Seulgi, very likely Winter, Karina as a sub, Dana, Sunday as a sub) also do have training in other vocal academies.

Generally the SM vocalists that improve, do so by their own initiative outside of SM like Seohyun, Doyoung, and Kyuhyun. SM's strength is that they don't mind taking the time to vocally build up people and also because they recruit who fits their taste. That is why you get people that blend together [ie Taengsic, all of TXVQ..etc] Baekhyun is a good example, when EXO became more inactive, he improved vocally in his time.

However if you do not really have the time, you won't improve like Jessica (she's actually doing better now), Tiffany and Sunny -- note all 3 would make top 10 4th gen vocalists today. Onew is an interesting case where he improved but also has frequent pauses in his improvements (ie he reverts to his old ways often) Kyungsoo and Chen were always as good as they are today -- I sense Kyungsoo gaining some development after service though.

Now YYJ....I have a strong love-hate relationship with him. He runs classes, and he does take care of vocal pedagogy, but he also has a habit of going for a bright-style (which is fine) but then making them do the highest parts. The reason WHY he does this is because a lighter style can make some notes sound HIGHER than they usually are.

The problem with that is that when you strain, lighter/brighter voices have a greater chance of regressing. I actually don't know why but it is true. Taeyeon for example went through a regression in Twinkle because she always sang live.

That's why SM avoids singing live for several songs -- it's to minimize the strain. For example, in EXO's Wolf, Chen was very smart about his vocal layering, he sang with less force so that the strain wouldn't be as apparent but even he too, struggled. EXO had backtrack as rookies and were bashed for their songs.

NCT's Taeil went through a regression because of this high note problem in the songs NCT has but he has recently rebounded, and I believe he's returning to his regular level. The next comeback would help, he's performing well in Sticker. He also has a lighter and bright approach which helps him sound higher though.

That is currently what they are trying to do for Aespa.

Headier voices like Bada [she has strained so many times and is consistent af with her vocals though] and Ningning don't seem to have the same prone-ability to regression but they are at risk if they sing live all the time like Taeyeon. BoA as well, the literal example of someone who has been able to consistently sing and dance.

Jaehyun has probably had rigorous vocal training since one on one starting, he was already a low average by SMrookies, and the NCT vocal ranking is Doyoung/Taeil >>>> Jaehyun>Xiaojun>>>>>rest with these 4 people being standouts.

So SM training is pretty overrated, especially since we know from Yuta that many subs aren't taking vocal training anymore but they do encourage all their vocalists to learn the basics.

Quote from aespa-von

What’s rly funny is that minzy had an innate healthy technique on her comfortable range. She’s 2ne1’s best vocalist even before that. Imagine if she kept working with SM’s coaches, she’d be able to expand her range. SM has a good track record of idols that sees improvement at X point of their career when they want to. Taeyeon, Luna, Taemin, Chen, etc. like it’s very rare for other companies (hyolyn from starship is all i could think of tbh).

Minzy was not a great singer at debut, she went to a church that provided vocal training. YG's mistreatment of 2ne1 led her to seek god, and went to the church where Sunye (another very religious vocalist) got vocal training in chorus. She realised she was improving and then went for a vocal coach. She was also mislead about her voice type but once she realized, she improved quick.

YG had 4 strong vocalists in Big Mama, but all of them trained outside of YG. Winner's Seungyoon is a very impressive vocalist to me. He has improved in his career and through Winner, and he is the strongest male vocalist in YG.

There are a lot in different companies through, Wheein and Solar of Mamamoo but they did not train mostly in RBW, B1A4's Sandeul, BTOB's Eunkwang, Lee Hongki, Apink's Eunji, Ock Joohyun, Kim Yeonji, WG's Sunye, Baek Yerin, MyName's Gunwoo, After School's Raina, 2am's Changmin, Jokwon, SPICA's Bohyung...etc.

[EDIT: Oh improvements! The bolded vocalists all improved in their career]

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Minzy was not a great singer at debut, she went to a church that provided vocal training. YG's mistreatment of 2ne1 led her to seek god, and went to the church where Sunye (another very religious vocalist) got vocal training in chorus. She realised she was improving and then went for a vocal coach. She was also mislead about her voice type but once she realized, she improved quick.

YG had 4 strong vocalists in Big Mama, but all of them trained outside of YG. Winner's Seungyoon is a very impressive vocalist to me. He has improved in his career and through Winner, and he is the strongest male vocalist in YG.

There are a lot in different companies through, Wheein and Solar of Mamamoo but they did not train mostly in RBW, B1A4's Sandeul, BTOB's Eunkwang, Lee Hongki, Apink's Eunji, Ock Joohyun, Kim Yeonji, WG's Sunye, Baek Yerin, MyName's Gunwoo, After School's Raina, 2am's Changmin, Jokwon, SPICA's Bohyung...etc.

[EDIT: Oh improvements! The bolded vocalists all improved in their career]

Didnt know that happened to Minzy 😭 most of those groups you mentioned i just noticed when they were at their peak so my impression of them was stale compared to vocalist whom i followed. Did Solar and Wheein improve, i didn’t notice? In what aspect?

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that is why you get people that blend together [ie Taengsic,

My favorite voice combination in the world

Quote from aespa-von

Didnt know that happened to Minzy 😭 most of those groups you mentioned i just noticed when they were at their peak so my impression of them was stale compared to vocalist whom i followed. Did Solar and Wheein improve, i didn’t notice? In what aspect?

Solar is improving RN as we talk, I'm keeping an eye on her and she's not completely done but her lows are getting better and she's fixing her jaw belt problem. Wheein is consistent.

Quote from okeechobee

I’ve been thinking about this lately. The “Big 4” is full of amazing vocalists, but SM has always been known for their vocal talent with all idols and across all groups. A lot of the credit is usually given to their vocal instructors for teaching good technique and helping the idols develop skills, ect, but every single major company has the same access to top tier professional vocal teachers and instructors, so that can’t be all their is to it. SM consistently has some of the greatest vocalists in the industry across pretty much all generations and for both female and male idols. There’s gotta be a secret.

While they have many experienced vocalists join as trainees, there are also plenty of idols that get scouted purely based off their visuals, so it always surprises me just how good at singing they usually become with no prior training. Don’t get me wrong, the same exact thing can be said about all the other big companies. Jin (BTS) is a perfect example, but I’ve never seen another company (unless I count RBW to a lesser degree) with so many outstanding vocalists.

It’s gotta be drugs.

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it is called hiring great vocal coaches, something YG needs to do cause they are throwing their vocalists to the wolves.