Which Species Matches Your Favourite Musician's Vocal Range?
13/08/2025
What do Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Lana Del Ray, and Frank Sinatra have in common with Nature? These are the species that can match the incredible vocals of our favourite artists.
Music is the universal language of humanity, or so the quote goes… but what about Nature, too? As usual, whatever we do, the animals can do just as well. Especially when we’re talking about vocal ranges – frequencies that we produce when we talk and sing, from low ones (less than 100 hertz) to high ones (above 500 hertz). We’ve broken it down into the five classical singing categories, pairing our favourite musicians with their vocal double.
Bass – Barry White & Kakapo
For us mere humans, the singers who produce the lowest, silkiest tones are called basses; they can dive down to 80-330 Hertz. A famous example of a bass singer is Barry White.
The Basses of the animal world can be much, much lower. For example, the blue whale can call potentially as low as 8 Hertz, much too low for our tiny little ears! At the slightly higher end, but more similar to a human bass is the wonderful Kakapo – a male's boom is around 100Hz, which, maybe similarly to Barry White’s love songs, is part of a mating ritual to attract females. They inflate air sacs in their chest, creating a deep, resonating boom that can be heard for miles, putting them on the map for any local ladies.
Baritone – Elvis Presley & Lions
A baritone singer is the next voice type after a bass, typically ranging from 100 to 400 Hertz. This is the most common vocal range for adult males, and you may be familiar with some famous baritones, like Elvis Presley. Other big names include Frank Sinatra and David Bowie.
None of Nature’s baritones comes as iconic as the majestic Lion. Males roar at around 180-195Hz and females around 207Hz, firmly in that rich baritone range. Unlike Frankie, Lions roar to establish and defend their territory, ward off rivals, locate their friends and family, and even attract mates. Well, that last one might be similar.
Tenor – Bruno Mars & Bees
Tenors are the next band up from baritones and sing within the typical range of 135-500Hz. One of the most famous human tenor singers is Bruno Mars – although you’ll also find Freddy Mercury and George Michael in that category.
Meet the bees: one of Nature’s proudest tenors. Although it can vary by species and individual bee, they tend to buzz between 200 and 400 Hertz. For example, Bumblebees tend to buzz at around 270 Hz, with the queens reaching the upper limit at around 450 Hz. A bee's buzz is mainly just due to the sound their rapidly vibrating wings make as they fly. Though some bees, like Bumblebees, also vibrate their wing muscles to create a buzz while on a flower to shake off pollen, science calls this buzz pollination.
Alto – Lana Del Ray & Pigeons
Next up, we have the alto singers, typically ranging from around 180 to 700 Hertz. We’re picking Lana Del Ray out of this bunch, but she’s in good company with Amy Winehouse and Cher.
One of Nature's altos is probably a song you have heard plenty of times – a Pigeon's signature coo. This usually falls between 400 and 600 Hertz. As it seems is the norm, a Pigeon’s call is used for communication, especially during courtship and territorial displays. They also coo to express contentment or to attract other Pigeons to a location, like when you drop a live location to the squad.
Soprano – Ariana Grande & Helmeted Hornbill
A soprano is the highest-pitched singer you can get, around 250-1100 Hertz. There are a few to choose from here – Billie Eilish, Whitney Houston – but we’re going with one of our favourites: Ariana Grande.
Who’s rivalling her frequency? May we introduce to the stage the Helmeted Hornbill, whose loud call rings through the forest at around 500-1500Hz. This distinctive song, which people have observed as a ‘toop’ sound, followed by a cackle, has been thought to advertise the Hornbill’s age, size, and fitness to potential mates, kind of like a dating app. The call is so unique and powerful that it can travel up to 2-3 kilometres through the forest.
The Highest Pitches in Nature
Many species can produce sounds so high-pitched we can’t even hear them. The presumed record of the highest-pitched call, perhaps unspiringly, does go to a bat. The Clear-winged Woolly Bat can produce a call at an astonishing 250,000 Hz – they are the real masters of high-pitched sound. These calls help map out their surroundings, using a technique called echolocation, which involves producing high-pitched sounds and listening to how they bounce off surfaces to help navigate.
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