Girls’ Generation was created in 2007 as the female version of labelmate group Super Junior, and as Super Junior’s vocal sub-unit “Super Junior K.R.Y” which debuted in 2006, Girls’ Generation-TTS (Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun) was conceived in 2012 as its vocal sub-unit counterpart.
Arguably, the three strongest voices of Girls’ Generation (although this is still questionable by many), Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun form the sub-unit and have been taking a more active role as vocalists in Girls’ Generation since the creation of TaeTiSeo. With their first release, “Twinkle”, the object of the group became easy to tell: to showcase the three ladies singing abilities.
Although still unspecified, the members’ roles in TaeTiSeo are clear for the listener’s ears as it’s quite evident in most of the sub-unit’s songs: Taeyeon as the main vocalist tends to get the most challenging lines of the songs (see Twinkle and Holler), while Tiffany and Seohyun play the role as the sub-unit’s lead singers.
TAEYEON VOCAL RANGE: D3 – C6 (2 octaves and 6 notes)
TIFFANY VOCAL RANGE: C#3 – Bb5 (2 octaves and 5 notes)
SEOHYUN VOCAL RANGE: C3 – C#6 (3 octaves and a semitone)
Every member differentiate from each other in vocal timbre, vocal performance and, probably the most evident, vocal technique. Taeyeon possesses, without question, the most developed vocal technique among the members, with a lighter timbre than Tiffany (similar to Seohyun’s) that can also grow into a mature and a strong belting voice. Tiffany’s timbre is often referred as “husky” as she has the natural ability to shine in the lower zones of her range; however, there is clearly a preference of the singer to sing in a higher range. Seohyun has the lightest timbre out of the three ladies, and is usually used as an harmonizer.
Vocal positives: Although not great vocalists, all of the members have developed at least two of their three registers enough to be considered “decent”. Improvement is quite evident since debut. All of them have had supported C5’s, although Tiffany and Seohyun inconsistenly. All of the members are able to produce resonance in all the registers. Wise lines distribution lately, as the girls tend to harmonize well with each other showing the strongest sides of their voices (see Cater 2 U, Dear Santa). All of them can belt a G5.
Vocal negatives: Tiffany is the only member who has a chest voice that can be considered as good. Taeyeon has the only properly developed mixed register. They are not nearly as good as their counterpart, Super Junior K.R.Y. Two of the girls (Tiffany and Seohyun) have a nasal placement most of the time, although this has been fixed since their debut. There is a great disparity in between the girls’ singing abilities. Lines distribution might be unsophisticated at times, causing the girls to go out of their supported zone (see Taeyeon’s performance in Twinkle, Tiffany’s performance in Only U and Seohyun’s performance in Love Sick).
- LOWER REGISTER
Altogether, this can be considered as the sub-unit’s strongest register. Despite only one of them has proper support until G3 and ocasionally F#3, the three member’s performance in this register is somewhat similar in projection and support, with Tiffany owning the most developed chest voice of the sub-unit. With a lighter tone than the usual, Taeyeon has the least dark chest voice among the members, which shows support until G#3/A3 and does not lose its tone; however, projection is still the weakest as she goes lower than G#3 and the sound becomes airy, although she maintains a neutral larynx. Tiffany has a good projection and the notes sound connected as down as G3, showing even support up until F3 as shown in Bang Bang (duet with Key) although below G3 it commonly becomes inconsistent. Tiffany is able to show a proper support and connection when singing in a lower register as long as the notes are above G3 (see Goodbye). Seohyun falls in a place between Taeyeon and Tiffany, as she is able to show support as down as G#3 but with a more poor projection than Tiffany. - MIXED REGISTER
Probably the register where the most imbalance is present. Taeyeon possesses, by far, the most developed mixed register among the members. She presents less issues than Tiffany and Seohyun, since there is no nasality present in her singing and she is able to support a more extensive range that goes as high as D5 without losing its bright tone and oftenly achieving resonance. Her vibrato is well produced due to a healthy technique. Tiffany has the weakest mixed register of the sub-unit, although it is not completely weak. Tiffany’s mixed voice is where she puts the most weight, as she tries to achieve a louder and more raw sound, with an open throat until Bb4 (or C5 in studio settings such as Talk Talk and Holler). Notes in between C4 and Bb4 might be resonant when in good condition (and mostly in studio recordings) with a decent support, although nasal placement is present. Above Bb4, notes start to be forced and yelled, with ocassional throaty support (see Rolling in the Deep), with a missplacement of the larynx. Seohyun has a light and even thin mixed voice, that extends up to B4/C5 with a decent support, although resonance is inconsistenly achieved. Although not being the worst, Seohyun’s mixed voice is not as far from Tiffany’s as it is from Taeyeon’s, since she presents similar issues to Tiffany such as nasal placement and inconsistency in achieving resonance, although these have been fixed lately due to the singer’s dramatic improvement in the last years. As the singer goes above C5, her voice starts to become more thin with a very light weight, resembling a strained head voice. - HIGHER REGISTER
The register where the sub-unit lacks the most. In this case, Seohyun owns the most developed head voice. Taeyeon has a decent higher register, that apparently has a preference to stay in falsetto than in head voice, probably due to stylistic reasons. Taeyeon is capable of supporting her head voice up until F#5 with a decent resonance and connection, although her falsetto is airy and quiet through most of her range; however, linkage between this register and the others is effortlessly achieved. Tiffany possesses a more weighted falsetto, with a support that extends until F5 and has a good transition in between this and her other registers. There is a recent preference of the singer to substitute her higher belts with a connected falsetto, which allows her to improve the linkage and the projection of the register (which is still lacking), as shown in Mr. Mr. and the 2014’s version of her cover of Bleeding Love. Tiffany has shown ocasional decent production of a head voice, although falsetto is used more often. The range of this register is still limited though, as she does not showcase her head voice as much as it could be possible. Seohyun has the most balanced head voice of the sub-unit, with a bright tone and a proper support until F#5/G5, although notes above this are usually strained. Projection is still inconsistent, and as she ascends the sound becomes thinner and yelled (see her B5’s in First Snow).
The trio harmonizing in Cater 2 U.
Probably the most popular sub-unit in K-POP, TaeTiSeo has a very active role in the music scene since they debuted in 2012. Although being weaker than their counterpart in terms of vocal technique, the trio has shown a considerable improvement through the years, as they get to know their voices to harmonize with more accuracy. Tiffany, the one that provides the most developed chest voice of the group and harmonize well with a husky and airy tone as she descends to the third octave; Seohyun providing a thin and bright head voice that comes with a well executed resonance when in good condition; and Taeyeon, the one with the best placement, intonation and the most supported belts, who recently debuted as a solo artist.
Recommended performance(s): “Cater 2 U”, “Dear Santa”, “Winter Story.”
My vocal analysis series:
1.Tiffany, the Christina Aguilera of KPOP
2. Minzy, an emerging voice
3. Ryeowook, the main vocalist
4. SISTAR’s Hyorin
5. Park Bom, a quirky talent
6. SUPER JUNIOR VOCAL RANKING
7. JUNSU, an appealing voice
8. BIGBANG’s Daesung
9. RED VELVET’s Wendy, the next Ariana Grande of K-POP?
10. SeoHyun, the harmonizing voice of Girls’ Generation
11. KyuHyun
12. Super Junior’s Donghae
13. Kim TaeYeon from Girls' Generation
14. Taeyang from BIG BANG
15. 2NE1’s VOCAL RANKING
16. Jessica, ex-member of Girls’ Generation
17. CL, The Baddest Female
18. Sunny, no longer a hidden gem
19. Girls’ Generation: Vocal progress and vocal ranking
20. Sandara Park
21. Jonghyun from SHINee
22. 2NE1 Vocal Ranking, vocal progress and information
23. Yesung, the darkest tenor
24. SeungRi “V.I” from BIG BANG
25. Super Junior K.R.Y “The Strongest Vocal Line of K-POP”
26. The Korean Beyoncé, Ailee
27. Girls’ Generation-TTS
If you are interested in looking at any of these analysis, just type "My Vocal Analysis" in the allkpop browser Search allkpop.
