Tim McIlrath (7,108 views)

[Seb]

Timothy James McIlrath (November 3, 1978)
Vocal Range: G♯2 – G5
Associated Acts: Rise Against (1999 – present), Baxter (1995 – 1999), Arma Angelus (1998 – 1999), The Killing Tree (1999 – 2006)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Discography}Rise Against
The Unravelling (F3 - C5)
Revolutions Per Minute (E3 - C♯5)
Siren Song of The Counter Culture (C♯3 - C♯5)
The Sufferer & The Witness (B♭2 - C5 - C♯5)
Appeal To Reason (B2 - C♯5)
Endgame (C♯3 - B♭4 - B4)
Long Forgotten Songs (B-Sides & Covers 2000 - 2013) (B♭2 - B4 - F5)
The Black Market (E♭3 - B♭4 - F5)
Wolves (F♯3 - B♭4 - D5)
The Ghost Note Symphonies, Vol. 1 (G♯2 - B♭4)
Nowhere Generation (C♯3 - B4 - C♯5)
The Killing Tree
Bury Me at Make-Out Creek (EP) (A3 - B♭4 - F♯5)
The Romance of Helen Trent (G3 - C5 - G5)
We Sing Sin (EP) (G3 - B4 - F5)
Baxter
Baxter (tba)
Troy's Bucket (B2 - B♭4)
Eastman & Evergreen (tba)
+ singles and other appearances

Significant High Notes:
G5 (“Prelude to Pain”)
F♯5 ("Replace My Heart" Make-Out Creek version, "The Bronze", “Violets Are Blue” Make-Out Creek version)
F5 (“Built to Last”, “Dirt and Roses”, "Jesus Christ Pose", "We Have Awakened", “Zero Visibility”)
E5 ("Mascara", "Replace My Heart" Make-Out Creek version, “Violets Are Blue”)
E♭5 (“Built to Last”, "Dressed to Fuck", "Pillow Talk")
D5 ("Everything You Had Is Gone", “Parts Per Million”, “Voice of Dissent”, "We Have Awakened")
C♯5 (“Broadcast [Signal] Frequency”, “Death Blossoms”, “Dancing For Rain”, “Dressed to Fuck", "Entertainment”, “How Many Walls”, “Made to Last”, “Making Christmas”, "Pillow Talk", “Re-Education (Through Labor)”, “Ready to Fall”, “Reception Fades”, “Replace My Heart”, "Sooner Or Later", "The Bronze", “To the Core”, “To Them These Streets Belong”, “Welcome To The Breakdown”, “Wolves”)
C5 (“Blood to Bleed”, “Boys No Good”, “Cacophony (The Death of Affection)”, “Counting to Infinity”, “Death Blossoms”, “Dirt and Roses”, “Far From Perfect”, “Gethsemane”, “Grammatizator”, “Great Awakening”, “Halfway There”, “Heaven Knows”, "Hybrid Moments", "Jesus Christ Pose", “Last Chance Blueprint”, “Little Boxes”, "Look Alive", "Mascara", "Passenger", “Prelude to Pain”, “Rumors Of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated”, “Savior”, “Sight Unseen”, “State of the Union”, “Switchblade Architect”, “The Eco-Terrorist In Me”, “To Them These Streets Belong”, “Under the Knife”, “Whereabouts Unknown”, “Zero Visibility”)
B4 (“Alive and Well”, “Any Way You Want It”, “Ballad of Hollis Brown”, “Bricks”, “But Tonight We Dance”, “Collapse (Post-Amerika)”, “Dancing for Rain”, “Dirt and Roses”, “Dressed to Fuck", "Elective Amnesia”, “From Heads University”, “Heaven Knows”, “Injection”, “Life Less Frightening”, "Look Alive", “Making Christmas”, "Mascara", “Midnight Hands”, "Monarch", “My Life Inside Your Heart”, "Passenger", "Prayer of the Refugee”, “Ready to Fall”, “Reception Fades”, “Replace My Heart”, “Rules Of Play", “Savior”, “Sight Unseen”, "Sudden Urge", "The Bronze", “The First Drop”, “The Good Left Undone”, " The Numbers", “The Perfect”, “The Strength To Go On”, “Them’s Fightin’ Words”, “To Them These Streets Belong”, “Unravelling”, “Whereabouts Unknown”, “Worth Dying For”)
B♭4 ("A Gentlemen's Coup", “Alive and Well”, “Any Way You Want It”, “Anywhere But Here”, "Attempt", “Audience Of One”, “Awake Too Long”, “Behind Closed Doors”, “Blood Red, White & Blue”, “Bricks”, “Bridges”, “Broken Dreams Inc.”, “Broken English”, “Broken Mirrors”, “Built to Last”, “Bullshit”, "Burden", “But Tonight We Dance”, ‘Chamber the Cartridge”, “Dancing For Rain”, “Dead Ringer”, “Disparity by Design”, "Display", "Dressed to Fuck", "Drillion", “Drones”, “Elective Amnesia”, “Escape Artists”, "Everything You Had Is Gone", “Far From Perfect”, “Grammatizator”, “Great Awakening”, “Generation Lost”, “Gethesemane”, “Hairline Fracture”, “Help Is On The Way”, “How Many Walls”, “Injection”, "Jesus Christ Pose", “Join the Ranks”, “Kotov Syndrome”, “Lanterns”, “Little Boxes”, “Make It Stop (September’s Children)”, “Making Christmas”, “Methadone”, “Miracle”, "Nowhere Generation", “Paper Wings”, “Parts Per Million”, "Pillow Talk", “Politics Of Love”, “Prayer of the Refugee”, “Re-Education (Through Labor)”, “Reception Fades”, “Rumors Of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated”, “Satellite”, “Savior”, "Shutdown", "Sidelines", “Sight Unseen”, “Stained Glass and Marble”, “State of the Union”, “Sweat”, “Switchblade Architect”, “Survive”, "Talking To Ourselves", “The Black Market”, “The Dirt Whispered”, “The Eco-Terrorist In Me”, “The First Stop”, “The Violence”, “This Is Letting Go”, “Tip The Scales”, “To the Core”, “To Them These Streets Belong”, “Torches”, “Tragedy + Time”, “Unravelling”, “Violets are Blue”, “Wait for Me”, “Whereabouts Unknown”, “Zero Visibility”, "Zinc Oxide")
A4 (“1000 Good Intentions”, “3 Day Weekend”, “401 Kill”, “Art Of Losing”, “Black Masks and Gasoline”, “Blind”, “Blood to Bleed”, “Bricks”, “Broadcast [Signal] Frequency”, “Built To Last”, “Collapse (Post-Amerika)”, "Drillion", “Entertainment”, "Everything You Had Is Gone", “Faint Resemblance”, "Forfeit", “Give It All”, “Grammatizator”, “Hairline Fracture”, “Halfway There”, “Heaven Knows”, “Help Is On The Way”, “I Don’t Wanna Be Here Anymore”, “I, Pessimist”, “Injection”, “Last Chance Blueprint”, “Little Boxes”, "Look Alive", “Making Christmas”, "Mascara", "Middle Of A Dream", “Midnight Hands”, "Monarch", “My Life Inside Your Hands”, “Nervous Breakdown”, “Obstructed View (demo version”, “Ready to Fall”, “Remains of Summer Memories”, “Replace My Heart”, “Sooner Or Later", "Stained Glass and Marble”, “Survivor Guilt”, “Switchable Architect”, “The Ghost Of Tom Joad”, “The Good Left Undone”, “The Great Die-Off”, “The Perfect”, “The Strength To Go On”, “Them’s Fighting Words”, “Violets Are Blue”, “Voice of Dissent”, "We Have Awakened", “Weight Of Time”, “Whereabouts Unknown”, “Wolves”)
G♯4 (“401 Kill”, “A Beautiful Indifference”, "A Gentlemen's Coup", “About Damn Time”, “Alive and Well”, “Amber Changing”, “Any Way You Want It”, “Anywhere But Here”, “Architects”, "Attempt", “Audience Of One”, “Awake Too Long”, “Alive and Well”, “Ballad Of Hollis Brown”, “Behind Closed Doors”, “Black Masks and Gasoline”, "Blood Everywhere???", “Blood to Bleed”, “Bricks”, “Bridges”, “Broken Dreams Inc.”, “Broken English”, “Broken Mirrors”, “Bullshit”, "Burden", “But Tonight We Dance”, “Chamber the Cartridge”, “Collapse (Post-Amerika), “Dancing For Rain”, “Dirt and Roses”, “Disparity By Design”, "Display", "Drillion", “Drones”, “Elective Amnesia”, “Escape Artists”, “Far From Perfect”, "Forfeit", “From Heads University”, “Generation Lost”, “Give It All”, “Great Awakening”, “Halfway There”, “Heaven Knows”, “Hero of War”, “Historia Calamitatum”, “House On Fire”, “How Many Walls”, "Hybrid Moments", “I Don’t Wanna Be Here Anymore”, “Injection”, “Join The Ranks”, “Kotov Syndrome”, “Lanterns”, “Last Chance Blueprint”, “Life Less Frightening”, “Like The Angel”, “Little Boxes”, “Long Forgotten Sons”, “Made It Last”, “Make It Stop (September’s Song)”, “Making Christmas”, “Mandatory Option”, “Megaphone”, “Methadone”, "Middle Of A Dream", “Midnight Hands”, “Minor Threat”, “Miracle”, "Monarch", “Mourning In Amerika”, "Nowhere Generation", “Paper Wings”, “Parts Per Million”, “Politics Of Love”, “Prayer of the Refugee”, “Re-Education (Through Labor)”, “Ready To Fall”, “Reception Fades“, "Redemption", "Rules Of Play", “Rumors Of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated’, “Satellite”, “Savior”, "Shutdown", "Sidelines", “Sight Unseen”, “Something Selling Out is Giving Up”, "Sounds Like", "Sudden Life”, "Sudden Urge", “Survive”, “Survivor’s Guilt”, “Talking To Ourselves", "The Approaching Curve”, “The Black Market”, "The Bronze", “The Dirt Whispered”, “The Eco-Terrorist In Me”, “The First Drop”, “The Good Left Undone”, “The Great Die-Off”, " The Numbers", “The Strength To Go On”, “The Violence”, “This Is Letting Go”, “Tip The Scales”, “To the Core”, “To Them These Streets”, Tragedy + Time”, “Under The Knife”, “Voice of Dissent”, “Wait For Me”, “Welcome To The Breakdown”, “Whereabouts Unknown”, “Wolves”, “Worth Dying For”, “Zero Visibility”, "Zinc Oxide")

Significant Low Notes:
E3 ("Burden", "Display", “Elective Amnesia”, “Everchanging (Acoustic)”, "Forfeit", “Halfway There”, “Ready to Fall”, "Redemption", “Roadslide”, "Rules Of Play", “Sliver”, “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, “The Strength To Go On”)
E♭3 ("A Gentlemen's Coup", “Elective Amnesia”, “Miracle" (Ghost Note Symphonies), “Prayer of the Refugee”, “Satellite”, “Savior" (Ghost Note Symphonies), "Shutdown", “Swing Life Away”)
D3 ("Prayer of the Refugee" (Riotfest 2020 version), “The Approaching Curve”)
C♯3 ("A Gentlemen's Coup", “Ballad of Hollis Brown”, "Burden", “Elective Amnesia”, “Everchanging (Acoustic)”, "Forfeit", “Little Boxes”, “Long Forgotten Sons”, “Miracle" (Ghost Note Symphonies), "Redemption", “Roadslide”, “Swing Life Away”)
C3 (“Satellite”)
B2 (“Ballad of Hollis Brown”, "Burden", “Elective Amnesia”, “Everchanging (Acoustic)”, “Miracle" (Ghost Note Symphonies), "Redemption", “Roadslide”)
B♭2 (“Ballad of Hollis Brown”, "Savior" (Ghost Note Symphonies), “The Approaching Curve”)
G♯2 ("Savior" (Ghost Note Symphonies))

*Underlines marks notes sung in backing vocals/overdubs.
*Italics marks non-melodic notes.
*Green marks harsh distorted notes.
*Boldface marks noteworthy passages or performances.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Description}One of the most iconic punk vocalists in the genre, tackling pressing social/political issues and heavy subject matter through the scope of abrasive yet hook laden punk rock, possessing a voice that has remained nimble and powerful for over 2 decades...one of Chicago's finest, Rise Against's Tim McIlrath.

As a singer, Tim McIlrath's voice fits his melodic/hardcore punk stylings like a glove: raw, charismatic and possessing enough control to deliver high placed melodies. His vocals reach high into the 4th octave in almost every track he's on, may it be through clean belting, energetic shouting or (slightly less commonly) distorted yelling. Tim primarily sticks to heavily distorted screams from high C and beyond. He displays great precision performing in his upper register, sustaining 4th octave vocals for extended periods of time and switching between clean and distorted vocals seamlessly. His tone is pretty consistently bold with a bit of rasp, though rather hoarse at times (which is to be expected for a punk vocalist who gives his all in every track). There's not much to be said about his lower register, which is far less utilized than the higher side of his voice. Being an averagely placed tenor, it does sound decent enough into the upper 2nd octave, but overall, it's not really an area of emphasis in his music.

Tim's voice has not been altered very dramatically since he first started as a vocalist in the 90s/early 2000s, though some changes are noticeable. While similarly charismatic and high placed, simply put, he was a fair bit more pitchy and loose with his vocals earlier in his career. He was also less sensible with his distorted upper register (specifically during his years with metalcore band "The Killing Tree", which is to be expected), using it very consistently but without the same amount of control he would soon adapt. With that said, he did push himself quite high with these screams, to mixed results (some rather great examples of false chord, some sounding more flat). Around Revolutions Per Minute and Siren Song of the Counter Culture, his singing skills strengthened further, with more pitch control than before and a solid grasp on the 4th octave without much distortion. McIlrath's vocal prowess remains to this day, still proving to be a world-renowned mainstay in punk rock.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Bold Notes}C♯5 "Dressed to Fuck", "Wolves"
B♭4 "Rumors Of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated"
A4 "Give It All", "I, Pessimist"
G♯4 "The Violence"

B2 "Everchanging" (Acoustic)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}G♯2 ("Everchanging (Acoustic)" [1])
^{[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.}

Special thanks to Hennessy Macklemore III for providing research

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

That was fast! Good work though.

What's wrong with the lows threshold anyway? E3 seems fine for him.

[Seb]

Mar 16, 2021 18:01:51 GMT Hennessy Macklemore III said:

That was fast! Good work though.

What's wrong with the lows threshold anyway? E3 seems fine for him.

For my thread-making standards, it just feels weird. Yeah E3 and his other infrequent lows do sound easy for him, but I usually try to avoid making note sections be this small compared to the other (I've done threads for vocalists with much deeper lows that still start at E flat or D). With that said, I'm not sure starting at about F sharp would add much of significance to the thread, so really, it's more just something I'm considering.

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Yeah I dunno if that would be necessary, personally. Some guys just have very small and seldom-used low ranges, and that's just a fact of the matter that is what it is. I don't think the solution is to compensate for it by adding in superfluous pitches just to make their lows section look bigger.

[sylvia!!]

my guy filled in for maynard on passenger and did a pretty good job, nailed the b4s for the most part

also did a pretty cool c5 scream

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

I think you've got the wrong timestamp linked for the G♯2 in the range listing. I'm not hearing anything below B2 there.

[Seb]

Mar 8, 2023 20:28:44 GMT Hennessy Macklemore III said:

I think you've got the wrong timestamp linked for the G♯2 in the range listing. I'm not hearing anything below B2 there.

I'm hearing the beginning of the phrase at G♯2. Too brief perhaps?

[Smitty.]

I hear it but it’s way too brief

[Seb]

I wish he G♯2'd better

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

The "Savior" ones sound pretty legit at least. Though it may be worth listing the "Ghost Note Symphonies" part in subtext rather than parenthesis, cause right now it looks like that's an alternate title for the song.

[sylvia!!]

killing tree song called dressed to fuck which has some screams up to Eb5 (including a pretty insane C#5) and melodic B4s/Bb4s (the tim mcilrath special)

[sylvia!!]

cover of hybrid moments that has g#4s and a pretty neat c5 toward the end

[sylvia!!]

not sure if you've considered this already, but i think the Bb4s in rumours of my demise are strong bold contenders

[avi]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga0-r07hkiA Lots of great A4s in this

youtu.be/4XHW7Qkk1CU?si=8zeBUNUSN45ocpIy Also he does vocals for this song, although I'm not familiar enough with his voice to discern which are him and which aren't