Melissa Auf der Maur (5,477 views)

[Zedd Squared]

Member Of: Tinker (1993-1994), Hole (1994-1999), The Smashing Pumpkins (1999-2000), Hand of Doom (?-?), Melissa Auf der Maur (2003-present)
Voice Type: Mezzo-Soprano
Vocal Range: B2-A5

High Notes:

A5 ("Whispers and Potions")
E5 ("Black Sabbath" Los Angeles 2002, "Hot Sleeper", "Isis Speaks")
D5 ("1000 Years", "Followed the Waves", "I'll Be Anything You Want", "My Foggy Notion", "Paranoid" Type O Negative Version Magnolia Club 2010, "Taste You")
C♯5 ("Evil Angel", "Follow the Map", "Good News", "Paranoid" Type O Negative Version Magnolia Club 2010)
C5 ("1000 Years", "22 Below", "Followed the Waves", "Lightning Is My Girl", "Out of Our Minds", "Taste You", "Whispers and Potions")
B4 ("Burning Photographs", "Devil's Plaything" Chelsea Hotel w/ Karen Elson 2002, "Do Miss America", "Follow the Map", "Grammercy Park Hotel", "Green Machine", "I Need I Want I Will", "I'll Be Anything You Want", "Malibu", "My Foggy Notion", "The One", "Petals", "Shallow", "War Pigs" Los Angeles 2002, "Xmas")
B♭4 ("1000 Years", "Beast of Honor", "Brooklyn (Band Version)", "Downliner", "Fairies Wear Boots" Los Angeles 2002, "Father's Grave", "Followed the Waves", "Hand of Doom" Los Angeles 2002, "My Body", "My Foggy Notion", "Queen of the Underworld", "Willing Enabler")
A4 ("Asking For It" MTV Unplugged 1995, "Best Sunday Dress", "Boys on the Radio", "Changes" Los Angeles 2002, "Father's Grave", "Gold Dust Woman", "Good News", "Hand of Doom" Los Angeles 2002, "Hit So Hard", "Hot Sleeper", "The Hunt", "I Need I Want I Will", "Malibu", "Meet Me on the Darkside", "Megan's Law", "Mother's Red Box", "My Body", "The One", "Out of Our Minds", "Overpower Thee", "Paranoid" Los Angeles 2002, "Sergeant Politeness" Los Angeles 2004, "Shallow", "Skin Receiver", "Someone to Love", "Taste You", "Tensile", "Use Once & Destroy", "War Pigs" Los Angeles 2002, "Whispers and Potions", "Willing Enabler")
G♯4 ("Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" Rome 2009, "Do Miss America", "Downliner", "The Key", "My Foggy Notion", "TKO", "Undergrowth", "Would If I Could")
G4 ("2E", "22 Below", "Beast of Honor", "Because the Night" Bristol 2010, "Black Sabbath" Los Angeles 2002, "Boys on the Radio", "Changes" Los Angeles 2002, "Evil Angel", "Fairies Wear Boots" Los Angeles 2002, "Father's Grave", "The Fine Art of Self-Destruction", "Heaven Tonight", "I Need I Want I Will", "Isis Speaks", "Le Grand Secret", "Love Like Blood" Montreal 2011, "Megan's Law", "Mother's Red Box", "My Body", "My Foggy Notion", "Only in the Desert", "Out of Our Minds", "Overpower Thee", "Paranoid" Los Angeles 2002, "Real A Lie", "Rock and Roll (Part 2)", "Skin Receiver", "Someone to Love", "When the Music's Over" Oslo 2010, "Willing Enabler", "The World Is Darker")

Low Notes:

G3 ("1000 Years", "22 Below", "Beautiful Everything", "Black Sabbath" Los Angeles 2002, "Boys on the Radio", "Changes" Los Angeles 2002, "Doll Parts" MTV Unplugged 1995, "Fairies Wear Boots" Los Angeles 2002, "Father's Grave", "Fini", "Follow the Map", "Hang on Tight", "Head Unbound", "Here We Go", "Hot Sleeper", "I Need I Want I Will", "The Key", "Lightning Is My Girl", "Mother's Red Box", "My Foggy Notion", "Not Shocked", "Out of Our Minds", "Real A Lie", "Ridiculous, "Softer, Softest" MTV Unplugged 1995, "Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before" Montreal 2011, "Taste You", "When the Music's Over" Oslo 2010, "Willing Enabler", "Would If I Could", "You Could Ice Skate to This")
F♯3 ("Beast of Honor", "Beautiful Everything", "Black No. 1" Magnolia Club 2010, "Fini", "Followed the Waves", "Good News", "Head Unbound", "Isis Speaks", "The Key", "Not Shocked", "The One", "Paranoid" Type O Negative Version Magnolia Club 2010, "Sergeant Politeness" Los Angeles 2004, "Skin Receiver", "When the Music's Over" Oslo 2010, "Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia)" Montreal 2011, "Would If I Could")
F3 ("22 Below", "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" Rome 2009, "Black Sabbath", "Fairies Wear Boots" Los Angeles 2002, "Gnosis", "Hand of Doom" Los Angeles 2002, "Lightning Is My Girl", "My Body", "Out of Our Minds", "Sergeant Politeness" Los Angeles 2004, "Whispers and Potions", "Willing Enabler", "Yesterday's Unwinding")
E3 ("Afraid", "Beast of Honor", "Black Sabbath" Los Angeles 2002, "Changes" Los Angeles 2002, "Devil's Plaything" Montreal 2011, "Hand of Doom" Los Angeles 2002, "I Need I Want I Will", "I'll Be Anything You Want", "The Next Right Moment", "Saxon Princess", "Taste You", "War Pigs" Los Angeles 2002, "Whispers and Potions")
E♭3 ("My Foggy Notion")
D3 ("Devil's Plaything" Chelsea Hotel w/ Karen Elson 2002, "Follow the Map", "Followed the Waves", "I Need I Want I Will", "Mother's Red Box", "War Pigs" Los Angeles 2002)
B2 ("I'll Be Anything You Want")

Melissa Auf der Maur is best known for her five year tenure as bassist and backing vocalist for Hole, wherein she was the self-described "Canadian good girl" foil to Courtney Love's unhinged presence. Less known however is that she is also a formidable alt rock lead singer herself, as seen in her solo career. Driven by her signature growly bass tone and an assembly of memorable hooks, the two albums she made in 2004 and 2010 demonstrate an expressive and punk-fused vocal approach that occasionally dips into an impressively casual low register or an eerie high wail. Other vocal exploits of hers include a Black Sabbath tribute band called Hand of Doom and a smattering of guest appearances with artists such as Ric Ocasek, Ryan Adams, and Idaho. Across these other recordings she's been both an ethereal higher voice accompaniment and a brazen rock belter depending on the context. Despite being on a hiatus from music since becoming a mother in 2011 (sans the occasional guest live performance), Auf der Maur remains an influential figure in 90s-00s alternative rock and hopefully this page brings attention to her underrated vocal abilities as well.

Note: This thread is "complete" in the sense that I have checked all her studio work (both lead and backing vocal) but on a live front things are a bit more uncertain. I didn't check any of the live Smashing Pumpkins material for backing vocals nor did I go through all of the extra songs she performed live with Hole, especially since there are 111 of the latter and she doesn't even sing backing vocals on every song. So, at the end of the day, I figured I'd save some time by omitting them. Some of the key notes may be added as I (or anyone else who cares to chime in below) find them over time.
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*Underlined notes are found in backing vocals or otherwise obscured in the song mix.
*Blue marks soft and/or disconnected sounding falsetto notes.
*Grey marks vocal fry notes.
*Boldface indicates notes that are notable examples of this singer's capabilities.
*Italics mark non-sung notes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}G5 ("Skin Receiver" ^[4], "Whispers and Potions" ^[1][3])
F♯5 ("I Need I Want I Will" ^[3])
F5 ("Skin Receiver" ^[3])

C♯3 ("The Key" ^[2])
B2 ("My Foggy Notion" ^[4])
A2 ("Meet Me on the Darkside" ^[4], "Lightning Is My Girl" ^[4])

.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}Hole

Celebrity Skin (1998): G3-B4

Hand of Doom

Live In Los Angeles - Black Sabbath Tribute (2002): D3-B4-E5

Melissa Auf der Maur

Auf der Maur (2004): B2-D3-D5
Out of Our Minds (2010): C♯3-D3-C5-E5