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 type in women. The size and development of adult lungs also changes what the voice is physically capable of doing. From the onset of puberty, the human voice is in an in-between phase where it is not quite a child's voice nor an adult one yet. This is not to suggest that the voice stops changing after puberty. Different singers will reach adult development earlier or later than others, and as stated above there are continual changes throughout adulthood as well. Treble can refer to either a young female or young male singer with an unchanged voice in the mezzo-soprano range.