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Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa & other major modern pop acts: backing tracks and miming

The information contained in the video could be conveyed so much more quickly as bullet points accompanying the sound excerpts.

This is why I hate YouTube and everyone who seeks to inform, educate and entertain on it.

This is why I hate everyone who seeks to blanket the platform in its entirety.

Yes, there's a tsunami of shit, but there's also a lot of good stuff there that isn't the sole domain of misinformationists and cranks.
 
This is why I hate everyone who seeks to blanket the platform in its entirety.

Yes, there's a tsunami of shit, but there's also a lot of good stuff there that isn't the sole domain of misinformationists and cranks.

My issue isn’t with misinformation or with cranks, it’s with the horrendous inefficiency of communication limited by the speed at which someone can talk, slowed further by making points repetitively with heavy use of rhetorical questions, and exacerbated by the commercial incentives to make content long enough to support multiple ad breaks.

If you have something worth saying, write it down.
 
My issue isn’t with misinformation or with cranks, it’s with the horrendous inefficiency of communication limited by the speed at which someone can talk, slowed further by making points repetitively with heavy use of rhetorical questions, and exacerbated by the commercial incentives to make content long enough to support multiple ad breaks.

If you have something worth saying, write it down.
Trouble is that people would then be unlikely to read it.
 
I don't really agree with that - at least not if you're trying to reach a new audience.

Well, you can’t get attention for anything unless you’re prepared to share excerpts and teasers on social platforms, but that can drive traffic to blogs as easily as it can to YouTube sites.
 
I once did the live sound for Moby for a tv show. It was no big deal because most of the acts just sung live and played one or two instruments over prerecorded backing tracks. . . But Moby, his was all backing track with the vocals mixed ever so slightly lower, which he doubled up on.
I wouldn't have cared so much, we were just a cheap arse show, but the DAT I was given was the Joolz Holland 'live' DAT for their performance on that. Joolz Holland live!
 
And I get why she might mime some of the songs, but was surprised to learn that almost everything is mimed, and the backing is all pre-recorded with the band just being seen to do stuff on top.
I’m very surprised to learn that. Makes it even more obvious people are just paying for the experience of being there and saying they were there. Basically like being in a really large karaoke bar/cheesy club.
 
Well, you can’t get attention for anything unless you’re prepared to share excerpts and teasers on social platforms, but that can drive traffic to blogs as easily as it can to YouTube sites.
Quite often Google something with a short, simple answer and get directed to youtube rather than a couple of sentences or a few bullet points. Bastards. I find the most tolerable stuff on youtube was originally created for another medium often from before the platform existed. Tv programmes, films, recorded lectures etc
 
:weed: :weed:

I guess if you're not really into the show it's good to know you're paying £90+ for the privilege of listening to a pre-recorded tape, with a high likelihood of some bellend standing nearby you yapping/waving their phone about all the way through..

<shakes fist at clouds >
 
Or even being a bellend yapping/waving their phone about all the way through :D

I have no issue with the Taylor Swifts of this world. The pupils I know who love her are in it for the experience, not to see a master musician at work. And that's fair enough.

I did see a video with Billie Eilish explaining her production process. I thought it was a little excessive to have over 70 takes of the lead vocal and have a producer splice all the best bits together into one performance. I was in the studio with my band only 3 weeks ago and nobody did more than 3 takes of anything. But then, she has more money than us so lol.
 
ABBA is not miming, though, because ABBA is not there on the stage.
I guess it's a fine but blurred line between a show and a gig. My wife went to see Taylor Swift and is still talking about it in terms of the experience, the costume changes, the scale, as well as the songs. I saw Underworld and likely there was more recorded music at that I had a much different experience.

All that matters is people enjoy what they do, eh. I can't imagine many Swifties give the tiniest of shits she mimed.

I seem to remember in his later, waning years, Pavarotti mimed Nessun Dorma (Winter Olympics?). Should he have done? Possibly not. Would the hairs on the necks of everyone present have stood on end? Of course.
 
Pretty shocking stuff this. I knew that it was common for major acts to use backing tracks, but I wasn't expecting acts like Taylor Swift to mime quite so much.




To be fair this kind of thing isn't new.
In the late 80's quite a few acts were caught miming during live performances. Big name acts like Michael Jackson had backing tracks to support his vocals when he was doing full dance routines. A video tech who was on the BAD tour I talked to said Jackson was only really singing 1/3 of the time during any one show.
 
Watching some of the pop acts at Glastonbury and with the dancing they were doing is it even physically possible to consistently sing and do all that fucking about. I was kind of in awe with what they were doing. Looked hard enough to mime tbh. I know these people are trained but just thinking of perceived effort levels when exercising. One way of assessing effort is how easy it is to hold a conversation. Even relatively low levels of exertion are marked by things like - can hold a conversation with difficulty. I notice some acts have back up singers who pick up the slack though I noticed this more with older acts who may not have the voice they used to than with the acrobats.
 
To be fair this kind of thing isn't new.
In the late 80's quite a few acts were caught miming during live performances. Big name acts like Michael Jackson had backing tracks to support his vocals when he was doing full dance routines. A video tech who was on the BAD tour I talked to said Jackson was only really singing 1/3 of the time during any one show.
Yes, it's impossible to belt out a song while you're dancing around like a dervish.
 
I disapprove of dancing, so wouldn’t want to go and see anyone play live if there was a risk of dervishish behaviour, but there are some nostalgia acts still on the road which definitely need electronic support for singers who never danced but now can no longer sing. The Sisters of Mercy for one.
 
I disapprove of dancing, so wouldn’t want to go and see anyone play live if there was a risk of dervishish behaviour, but there are some nostalgia acts still on the road which definitely need electronic support for singers who never danced but now can no longer sing. The Sisters of Mercy for one.
You might like Kraftwerk
 
Or even being a bellend yapping/waving their phone about all the way through :D

I have no issue with the Taylor Swifts of this world. The pupils I know who love her are in it for the experience, not to see a master musician at work. And that's fair enough.

I did see a video with Billie Eilish explaining her production process. I thought it was a little excessive to have over 70 takes of the lead vocal and have a producer splice all the best bits together into one performance. I was in the studio with my band only 3 weeks ago and nobody did more than 3 takes of anything. But then, she has more money than us so lol.
…or maybe you lot are 23.3 times more skilled as musicians than her
 
Or even being a bellend yapping/waving their phone about all the way through :D

I have no issue with the Taylor Swifts of this world. The pupils I know who love her are in it for the experience, not to see a master musician at work. And that's fair enough.

I did see a video with Billie Eilish explaining her production process. I thought it was a little excessive to have over 70 takes of the lead vocal and have a producer splice all the best bits together into one performance. I was in the studio with my band only 3 weeks ago and nobody did more than 3 takes of anything. But then, she has more money than us so lol.
so you don't have to sing it in one take in the studio, you don't have to sing it live... seems slightly disingenuous for a 'singer'. might as well just stick your voice in an AI and get the AI to do it. basically you're a dancer who works with music producers.
 
Do one or the other then. Don't 'lie' to people who have spent a fortune to see a live event. That said, I would rather put my testicles in a mincer rather than go and see the majority of the 'stars' of today, including Taylor Swift and particularly the screeching Adele.
[/grumpyoldfucker]
Adele is one of the few singers who can sing.
 
Do one or the other then. Don't 'lie' to people who have spent a fortune to see a live event. That said, I would rather put my testicles in a mincer rather than go and see the majority of the 'stars' of today, including Taylor Swift and particularly the screeching Adele.
[/grumpyoldfucker]
Adele is a fucking incredible singer with superb technique, and someone who has publicly stated that she would never mime live. In fact, she's cancelled big shows when she's damaged her voice.



 
Adele is a fucking incredible singer with superb technique, and someone who has publicly stated that she would never mime live. In fact, she's cancelled big shows when she's damaged her voice.




In a rare moment of agreement, both Mary and me agree that Adele is shrill, and unpleasant to listen to.

It would be a boring old world if everyone liked the same things.
 
Let people know upfront (point of sale) that parts of the show include miming and pre-recorded backing tracks, and let them decide if they want to pay for it or not.

The current touring version of the Eagles were caught miming recently and there was a backlash. I guess Eagles fans want a fully live show and they felt cheated.

I notice more Bass coming via synths these days. Dexys recent tour had no bass player, but there was Bass. I didn't feel robbed, however I prefer to see musicians on stage playing. Nick Cave this weekend had a lot of musicians up there doing it all live.

I am sure that many artists in the past have danced/gone nuts and sang at the same time. Tina Turner, throughout her career, had some pretty wild dance routines on stage while singing. Part of the excitement was seeing the band out of breath and sweating and pushing on through the set. Bands would work out a setlist that gave them breathing space between energetic songs.

It feels a bit off to me to say 'I'm miming because I dance too'. Why are the band miming or playing to backing tracks? What's their excuse? If anyone caught David Byrne's American Utopia tour then they'd have witnessed the whole band doing all the dance routines while playing instruments that were strapped to them....and that included the drummer. That was a real live show.
 
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