How do you classify a singer’s voice?

Six essential requirements for a good singing voice. (1) `Sraavaka' is explained as loudness or carrier of the voice, which can be heard from a long distance. (2) The voice that is loud and pleasing with out any wobble is called `ghana'. (3) The voice which does not sound harsh though loud, is described as `snigdha'. This also refers to the `fluency' of producing the notes of high octaves. (4) The voice that is pleasant at high notes is called `madhura'. (5) `avadhanavan' is explained as a voice that is neither too loud nor too soft. (6) `tristhanashobha' is that voice which is pleasant in producing the notes of all the three `sthanaas' (equivalent of registers). Requirement and merits of the singing voice (1) taara (sweetness in the high octaves). (2) anudhvani (rich on account of harmonics). (3) madhuryam (sweetness). (4) raktih (attractive). (5) gambhiryam (Full or loud). (6) mardavaih (beautiful). (7) ganata (rich). (8) kanthih (smooth and bright) Though the esthetics of voice was considered as a prime quality of a singer in many of the old literary works on music, "music - gnanam" (style of rendition) was given more importance than the voice (quality and appeal) of the singer. This idea ruled over the minds of the music critiques to such an extent that singers with not-so-good voices were more often acknowledged for their expertise in music than those with better voice quality. The importance of `Voice' to singers was not emphasized much even during their training periods. But nowadays the voice culture and improvement awareness has come to all music learners across India. read less