Voice type in baroque operas. Except for a few very rare voices (such as the American male soprano Michael Maniaci or singers with a disorder such as Kallmann syndrome), singers called countertenors generally sing in the falsetto register, sometimes using their modal voice for the lowest notes. Historically, there is much evidence that the countertenor, in England at least, also designated a very high tenor voice, the equivalent of the French "haute-contre". Until about 1830, all male voices used some falsetto-type voice production in their upper range. Countertenor voices span a broad range, covering E3 to E5. Countertenor subtypes: Countertenors are often
Voice classification in non-classical music in opera classification systems many other factors are considered. Indeed, tessitura (where the voice feels most comfortable singing) and vocal timbre (the innate quality of sound to the voice) are more important factors than vocal range within opera categorization. Within opera there are several systems in use including the German Fach system, the Italian opera tradition, and French opera tradition. All of these approaches to voice classification use some of the same terminology which sometimes causes people to confuse them with each other. In the operatic systems there are six basic voice types and then several sub-types within each type.