Chart toppers no longer twist and shout! Lead singers have got QUIETER over 75 years, study finds

For pop singers with an ego, the best time to be in music may have been right after World War II.

After that, the rise of super guitarists like Brian May and Eric Clapton meant they were no longer the most important person in the room, a study suggests.

Researchers tracked the volume of lead singers’ vocals and the musicians they played with on the greatest hits from 1946 to 2020.

How loud the vocals are compared to the background music can reveal the ‘main hierarchy’ within bands.

Compared to the music, the results show that between 1946 and 1975, the volume of singers’ microphones actually decreased every decade.

The ratio of vocals to instruments has remained about the same ever since.

The results may help explain the rivalry between singers and guitarists such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

They also provide insight into how guitarists like Brian May of the band Queen, who was famous during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, achieved similar stardom to his lead singer, Freddie Mercury.

But the findings could also be explained by improvements in modern sound mixing technology, which allowed vocals to be turned down and lyrics to still be heard.

The study found that country singers, rappers and solo artists, who may have more diva leanings, managed to buck the general trend, with their vocals still relatively loud compared to the music behind them.

Dr. Kai Siedenburg, senior author of the study, from the University of Oldenburg in Germany, said: ‘You can imagine famous band members arguing or struggling over who is the loudest in the mix, to reflect their status.

“The change in vocal volume over time could indicate the rise of rock music and high-status guitarists compared to vocalists.

“It will also reflect changes in music recording technology.”

The study looked at the top four hits with lead vocals on the Billboard Hot 100 list each year since 1946.

They used sound separation software on a total of 300 songs to assess the relative volumes of the lead vocals and music.

Just after the war, when crooners like Frank Sinatra were famous for their silky-smooth voices, lead vocals in hit records averaged five decibels louder than the background music

Just after the war, when crooners like Frank Sinatra were famous for their silky-smooth voices, lead vocals in hit records averaged five decibels louder than the background music.

But in the period up to 1975, the volume of the lead vocal dropped to an average of one decibel louder.

Ever since the mid-1970s, the difference between one and two decibels has averaged.

The researchers looked separately at country, pop, rap, rock and metal genres, analyzing three songs from each category each year between 1990 and 2020.

This analysis of 414 songs found that the vocals were loudest compared to the music on country songs, perhaps because these songs use more acoustic instruments.

Vocals were also louder in pop and rock music.

While some big-haired rock gods may not have liked it, rock music tends to have the lead singer and backing instruments at about the same volume.

That’s because guitar riffs are so important, the researchers note, taking a stand in songs that are “similar to lead vocals.”

In heavy metal songs, where lead singers aren’t exactly known for their melodic harmonies, the vocals are on average kept at a lower volume than the music.

The study, in the journal JASA Express Letters, from the Acoustical Society of America, found that solo artists tend to have louder vocals on records.

That may be because they are top dog, with a backing group of “interchangeable instrumentalists” who may not yet have reached an equal bill.