Actually I’m not done talking about their voices lol. This is a long post so just be forewarned. I never said I was concise. 😆
Zayn is the most technically perfect vocally. But because he doesn’t really have to try (lucky bastard, voice of an angel AND he looks like THAT? God be having favorites) anyway because he isn’t really trying he can get kind of lazy. Pop music really hides the “cheating” for lack of a better word, that singers with natural talent have, because pop as a genre is wayyyyy less technically perfect. And that’s okay!
Liam’s got the ear of a god and I’m pretty sure he has perfect pitch. On the Up All Night album he opens 16 out of 18 tracks. That’s not an accident. The person who opens the track is responsible for the key in which something is sung. If Liam went up a key, for example, it would have made Zayn and Louis’ higher tones almost impossible to hit. Liam also has an incredible falsetto. Which, if you’re a belter, isn’t always the case. If you watch Liam’s auction from X Factor, you can hear how deep his voice was at like 17. Wild. So to have that head falsetto that goes into the clouds? Angelic. 🥺 Miss you always, Lima.
Harry and Niall both have very good voices for pop. Harry’s got a bit of a rasp (different from Louis’) and his sound kind of lightens right in the middle, around his break. (It’s why he shouts when he sings Sign of the Times, or why he takes it down the octave so he doesn’t shout.) Considering Harry was essentially an infant who was likely still be affected by hormonal changes to his voice, he is crazy talented! He has worked super hard and it’s obvious. His progress is obvious throughout the trajectory of his career. They always wanted Harry at the forefront, so he typically (stop typing) had some of the easier melodies during the One Direction era. Now, on his own, his voice has blossomed quite a bit! He’s a lot more technical than he used to be, he’s smart and takes things down where he needs to, and he takes very good care of his voice from what I can tell.
Niall has also done a lotttt of work on his voice. Technically, he takes the least amount of risk, even now as he is on his own. He (stop typing) has a very very good, very rich baritone/ low tenor, and I can tell that his vocal coach is teaching him a really cool style where his vocals are most often in his normal speaking range? It’s a super smart technique. In general, Irish voices (yes there’s a difference) tend to have a bit more musicality, or lilt to them, so it’s smart for him to lean into that. Niall has come CRAZY far since his X Factor audition. Niall was always (at the beginning) incredibly nervous. If you watch him, he is often watching another boy (usually Liam or Louis) because he used to be someone who couldn’t keep time (the rhythm of the song) in his head when he got super nervous. He’s so! much! better! at that now.
And then of course, there’s Louis. And when I say without Louis there is no One Direction, I mean it. And if you want to talk about someone who has worked so incredibly hard on their vocals, it is Louis Tomlinson. The thing is, unless you are completely tone deaf (which is not an insult, people use it as one but it’s truly just a thing that happens, like being colorblind) most people can sing. It’s like talking on pitch lol. The thing about Louis is… Louis’ mind is *extremely* technical. I believe most of his frustration with his voice comes from being so incredibly good at hearing things in his mind as they *should* be. It’s like Liam’s perfect pitch, but with all aspects of the song. It’s why (in my opinion) we see him fiddle so much with his mic pack or touch his inners so often. I think it’s why he closes his eyes a lot, he’s hearing literally everything. Also if you watch their SNL performance, he’s keeping time with his foot. It’s why he gets/got so exasperated when things didn’t go well, like on 1D day. He wants ✨precision.✨ Anyway! Vocally, Louis’ voice is special. It’s soft when it needs to be, scratchy in the best way (the rasp he has is not something anyone can just duplicate because it’s organic to his vocals), he can belt pretty damn high (think Bigger Than Me) and it is often at the top of the melody where he does extremely well. He’s at the top of What Makes You Beautiful, he adds so much to their entire discography. He has a beautiful tenor voice. Most importantly, I have watched his dedication and focus help him grow remarkably in his vocal training, and touring has done actual miracles for his confidence. His mic was ON this tour, and he sounded incredible the whole damn time. I could get really technical about this lol and talk about breath work and control and sound placement and the shaping of phrases but this has gone on too long already, frankly. That said, as a Certified Yapper ™ I’m happy to dive in if anyone wants more technical analysis.
