Jon Ivar Kollbotn (662 views)

[BassSquared]

Jon Ivar Kollbotn (08 Jun 1981 - present)
Vocal Range: A1 - F♯5
Associated Acts:: Major Parkinson (2003 - present)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Summary}For over two decades now, Norwegian experimental/prog act Major Parkinson has produced music that manages to be proudly weird yet strangely accessible, and at its heart is frontman, founder, and primary songwriter Jon Ivar Kollbotn. A naturally very low-placed singer, the influence of Tom Waits's raspy, cigarettes-and-whiskey tone is extremely apparent from the very beginning of his career, often contrasted with passages of smoother baritone singing and crazed, semi-melodic ranting in his upper register. Indeed, for someone possessed of such a low voice, he has pushed his chest range to unusually high places through seemingly nothing more than force of will, developing from off-kilter shouts and throat-shredding screams to a genuinely powerful, melodic belting register that extends to the top of the fourth octave. His falsetto, meanwhile, has changed as well, moving from a goofy, cartoon-character tone to a more intentional light mix to fit the band's shift from Cardiacs-inspired, circus-y music to the more grounded and sophisticated sound of their later work. But through all of this his powerful low range has remained the star of the show, only deepening in tone and strength with age to the point where it has started to resemble the gravelly rumble of later-career Leonard Cohen. An immensely versatile and truly one-of-a-kind singer whose music is well worth checking out by any fan of the more unpredictable side of progressive rock.
Written by BassSquared.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}Major Parkinson (2008): B♭1 - F♯5
Songs From a Solitary Home (2010): B1 - F♯5
Twilight Cinema (2014): B1 - E5
Blackbox (2017): A1 - B♭4
Valesa Chapter 1: Velvet Prison (2022): C2 - D5

Significant High Notes:

F♯5 ("The Age of the Paranoia", "Meat Me in the Disco")
F5 ("Bazooka Mirror")
E5 ("Awkward as a Drunk", "Black River", "Solitary Home", "Twilight Cinema")
E♭5 ("It's a Job")
D5 ("197", "Bazooka Mirror", "Bicycle!", "Dance with the Cookieman", "Heart of Hickory", "The Room", "Sanity Fair", "Silicon Hips", "Take the Prescription", "Teenage Mannequins")
C♯5 ("Black River", "I Am Erica", "It's a Job", "Moma", "Pretty Eyes, Pretty Eyes!", "Saturday Night", "Show Me the Money!", "Simone!")
C5 ("The Age of the Paranoia", "Bazooka Mirror", "Dance With the Cookieman", "Domestic Violets", "Irina Margareta", "Night Hitcher" Bergen Public Library 2020, "Simone!", "Trampoline Superstar", "Twilight Cinema")
B4 ("The Age of the Paranoia", "Beaks of Benevola" Bergen Public Library 2020, "Bicycle!", "Casanova", "Downtown Boogie", "The House", "Jonah", "Live Forever", "Moma", "Munchausen by Proxy", "Show Me the Money!", "Take the Prescription", "Trampoline Superstar", "Twilight Cinema")
B♭4 ("Baseball", "Behind the Next Door", "Casanova", "Death in the Candystore", "Fantasia Me Now!", "Greatest Love", "Irina Margareta", "Isabel: a Report to an Academy", "Sanity Fair", "Skeleton Sangria" Live at Ricks, "Solitary Home")
A4 ("Bazooka Mirror", "Card Boxes", "Dance With the Cookieman", "Euthanasia Roller Coaster", "The House", "Live Forever", "Meat Me in the Disco", "Moma", "Munchausen by Proxy", "The Room", "Silicon Hips", "Teenage Mannequins")
G♯4 ("Baseball", "Behind the Next Door", "Bicycle!", "Greatest Love", "I Am Erica", "Isabel: a Report to an Academy", "It's a Job", "Jonah", "Live Forever", "Sadlands", "Sanity Fair", "Saturday Night")
G4 ("197", "Card Boxes", "Death in the Candystore", "Fantasia Me Now!", "Heart Machine" Live at Ricks, "Heart of Hickory", "Irina Margareta", "Meat Me in the Disco", "Please Dial the Number!", "Pretty Eyes, Pretty Eyes!", "The Room", "Silicon Hips", "Take the Prescription", "The Wheelbarrow")
F♯4 "I Am Erica", "It's a Job", "Jonah", "Lover, Lower Me Down!, "Simone!", "Twilight Cinema", "The Wheelbarrow")
F4 ("Baseball", "Greatest Love", "Munchausen by Proxy", "Solitary Home")
E4 ("197", "Adville", "Black River", "Downtown Boogie", "Ecophobia", "Euthanasia Roller Coaster", "Live Forever")

Significant Low Notes:

B2 ("The Age of the Paranoia", "Awkward as a Drunk", "Black River", "A Cabin in the Sky", "Card Boxes", "Ecophobia", "I Am Erica", "Jonah", "Please Dial the Number!", "Trampoline Superstar")
B♭2 ("Euthanasia Roller Coaster", "Fantasia Me Now!", "Heart of Hickory", "Sanity Fair", "Saturday Night")
A2 ("The Age of the Paranoia", "Card Boxes", "The House", "Meat Me in the Disco", "Please Dial the Number!", "Show Me the Money!", "Silicon Hips", "Solitary Home", "Teenage Mannequins", "The Transient")
G♯2 ("Casanova", "Downtown Boogie", "I Am Erica", "Irina Margareta", "Live Forever", "Night Hitcher", "Silicon Hips")
G2 ("Bazooka Mirror", "Bicycle!", "A Cabin in the Sky", "Death in the Candystore", "Heart of Hickory", "Sanity Fair", "Solitary Home", "Skeleton Sangria", "Take the Prescription")
F♯2 ("Awkward as a Drunk", "Beaks of Benevola", "Black River", "Domestic Violets", "Heart Machine", "The House", "Impermanence", "Irina Margareta", "It's a Job", "Jonah", "Lover, Lower Me Down!", "Meat Me in the Disco", "Simone!", "Twilight Cinema", "Velvet Moon", "The Wheelbarrow")
F2 ("Behind the Next Door", "Greatest Love", "Irina Margareta", "Saturday Night", "Skeleton Sangria", "Teenage Mannequins")
E2 ("197", "Adville", "Awkward as a Drunk", "A Cabin in the Sky", "Before the Helmets", "Blackbox", "Casanova", "Domestic Violets", "Downtown Boogie", "The Fundraiser Song", "Heart Machine", "Impermanence", "Isabel: a Report to an Academy", "Live Forever", "Madeleine Crumbles", "Night Hitcher", "Solitary Home", "The Transient", "Twilight Cinema")
E♭2 ("Behind the Next Door", "Card Boxes", "Domestic Violets", "The Fundraiser Song", "Greatest Love", "Heroes", "Isabel: a Report to an Academy", "Heroes", "Jonah", "Lover, Lower Me Down!", "Simone!", "Skeleton Sangria")
D2 ("197", "Baseball", "Bazooka Mirror", "Beaks of Benevola", "Blackbox", "Heart of Hickory", "Night Hitcher", "The Room", "Strawberry Suicide", "Take the Prescription", "Teenage Mannequins", "The Transient", "Twilight Cinema", "The Wheelbarrow")
C♯2 ("Adville", "Heroes", "Impermanence", "It's a Job", "Jonah" live Bergen Public Library 2020, "Madeleine Crumbles", "Velvet Moon")
C2 ("Baseball", "Behind the Next Door", "Blackbox", "Dance with the Cookieman", "Heart Machine", "Isabel: a Report to an Academy", "Lover, Lower Me Down!" Bergen Public Library 2020, "The Transient")
B1 ("Baseball", "Beaks of Benevola", "Strawberry Suicide", "Trampoline Superstar")
B♭1 ("Greatest Love", "Night Hitcher")
A1 ("Baseball", "Before the Helmets")

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}
C♯6 "Trampoline Superstar" [4]
E5 "The House" [1]
E♭5 "Simone!" [2]
D5 "Greatest Love" [1], "Isabel: A Report to an Academy" Bergen Public Library 2020 [5], "The Wheelbarrow" [2]
C♯5 "Meat Me in the Disco" [2],
C5 "Death in the Candystore" [1], "Sanity Fair" [2]
A4 "Ecophobia" [2]

D2 "The Wheelbarrow" [1]
C2 "Heart of Hickory" [5], "Irina Margareta" [5], "Skeleton Sangria" [1], "Solitary Home" [5]
B1 "Simone!" [1]
B♭1 "Heroes" [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.

.......................................................
Blue marks falsetto or whistle notes.
Green marks heavily distorted notes.
Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix.
Italics mark non-melodic notes.
Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.

[Steingrim]

A naturally very low-placed singer, the influence of Tom Waits's raspy, cigarettes-and-whiskey tone is extremely apparent from the very beginning of his career, often contrasted with passages of smoother baritone singing and crazed, semi-melodic ranting in his upper register. Indeed, for someone possessed of such a low voice, he has pushed his chest range to unusually high places through seemingly nothing more than force of will, developing from off-kilter shouts and throat-shredding screams to a genuinely powerful, melodic belting register that extends to the top of the fourth octave.

Not sure how low placed his voice really is, the low bolds that were still available all seem to be fry notes.

[BassSquared]

Jun 8, 2023 8:21:09 GMT Steingrim said:

Not sure how low placed his voice really is, the low bolds that were still available all seem to be fry notes.

Nah, not all vocals that happen to be low and raspy are necessarily fry. For example this is an example of fry singing, while this is just low and raspy. Jon's approach to his lows is definitely much more in line with the second example- there's a sort of signature "burpy" sound that gives fry away, and it's not present in his work.

[Steingrim]

Jun 8, 2023 15:22:38 GMT BassSquared said:

Jun 8, 2023 8:21:09 GMT Steingrim said:

Not sure how low placed his voice really is, the low bolds that were still available all seem to be fry notes.

Nah, not all vocals that happen to be low and raspy are necessarily fry. For example this is an example of fry singing, while this is just low and raspy. Jon's approach to his lows is definitely much more in line with the second example- there's a sort of signature "burpy" sound that gives fry away, and it's not present in his work.

Both are fry, it's just that Cohen's note is much better. This is an example of an octave 1 note that's actually sung in chest voice : youtu.be/DGLm3eZ3nKY?t=176

I have no doubt that Kollbotn is an excellent fry singer, for a baritone.