Meaning of Vocalist?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A vocalist is permanently wired up to a microphone. A singer isn't.

[french frank]

A vocalist is permanently wired up to a microphone. A singer isn't.

That fact is indeed included in the OED definition of 'crooner' and the word 'permanently' is significant: though 'singer' is often used also as a distinction from soprano, baritone, tenor etc., the latter may use a microphone but have voices trained not to need it.

[jean]

Vocalist has been in use for over 200 years...

I hadn't realised that, though altus, tenor, bassus were names originally applied to lines of music rather than the voices of those who sang them.

Your quote there is earlier than the first listed by the OED - you should send it to them! But they do have an earlier one which doesn't involve attempts to sing, amplified or not:

1613 T. Jackson Eternall Truth Script. ii. iv. §6 The ciuill Magistrates facilitie to countenance euery prating Discontent, or forthputting Vocalist.

It's an odd formation though, isn't it? In other cases the -ist is added to the name of the instrument played, so it ought to be voiceist.

[jean]

That fact is indeed included in the OED definition of 'crooner'...

But the distinction we're talking about here isn't recognised in the OED article on vocalist.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's an odd formation though, isn't it? In other cases the -ist is added to the name of the instrument played, so it ought to be voiceist.

Not really. The purpose of the final "e" is to soften the "c", which an "i" does anyway.

[jean]

I mean it's odd in that vocal is an adjective.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Yes. I see.

[edashtav]

A vocalist is permanently wired up to a microphone. A singer isn't.

"Permanently"!

I hadn't realised such implants had been available for so long.

Does the NHS offer it, or must one go "private"?

[jean]

But as I pointed out above, Bryn Terfel is billed as vocalist and baritone, according to the genre he's performing in.

I cannot imagine he would ever need a microphone, even temporarily.

Did the 'vocalists' at this prom use microphones and the 'soprano' not?

[edashtav]

But as I pointed out above, Bryn Terfel is billed as vocalist and baritone, according to the genre he's performing in.

I cannot imagine he would ever need a microphone, even temporarily.

Did the 'vocalists' at this prom use microphones and the 'soprano' not?

But... Jean, the two sets {baritone} and {vocalist} are NOT mutually exclusive, i.e. the probability of being a baritone AND a vocalist is not zero.

To give another example, Bryn can be termed a baritone , but also a bass-baritone, where {bass-baritone} is an intersection set.

Some "mezzos" trade as "sopranos" from time to time, especially when it's more likely to get them the "top" role!

[jean]

But... Jean, the two sets {baritone} and {vocalist} are NOT mutually exclusive, i.e. the probability of being a baritone AND a vocalist is not zero.

What I want to know is why one would choose one term rather than the other - and for that I need to know what the distinction is.

Some "mezzos" trade as "sopranos" from time to time, especially when it's more likely to get them the "top" role!

That's different, because those are two terms from the same set, and they rather overlap.

Similarly, nobody's a contralto any more.

.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

"Permanently"!

I hadn't realised such implants had been available for so long.

Does the NHS offer it, or must one go "private"?

It's part of evolution. Soon we shall have no legs - just fingers to operate mobility scooters.

[jean]

I dreamed that Jean was Mary!

I'm flattered!

[Padraig]

What I want to know is why one would choose one term rather than the other - and for that I need to know what the distinction is.

Jean, an intriguing question. Unlike yourself, I never tried to find out an answer but relied on my own observations and FWIW I came to the conclusion that it was a shorthand way of distinguishing between singers - if it was Wagner, you were SATB, if it was Jazz, you were a vocalist. In classical, the parts are sung by named sopranos etc, whilst in Jazz it's Billie Holiday(vocals). Incidentally, a programme I heard revealed the interesting suggestion that many of the women Jazz and Pop singers that we all know and love were contraltos - my favourite vocalist.

[french frank]

Bryn Terfel is doing a stint as Artist in Residence in Liverpool next month.

The first concert he's involved in is called A Night at the Musicals and he's a vocalist.

Two days later he's singing Bach, and he's turned into a baritone.

Is that just marketing? If a soloist was billed as a vocalist it would people off going to hear a recital of Bach; whereas if he was billed as a baritone it would put people off going to A Night at the Musicals (many people would consider Michael Ball had a 'better' voice than an operatic baritone for such a concert).

I discovered recently that not everyone has heard of Bryn Terfel, though in operatic circles it wouldn't be absolutely essential to add any sort of description to his voice.