Pre-recorded choruses during live concerts: C or D?

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Inspired by the Phoenix live CD, first time I've neard a non-rapper/non-autotuned pop singer do this.

― Xii (Xii), Sunday, 6 March 2005 04:50 (twenty years ago)

So the verse is played live?

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Sunday, 6 March 2005 04:54 (twenty years ago)

The verse is sung live and then he sort of does an "uh-huh/yeah" thing over his own pre-recorded vocals for the chorus.

― Xii (Xii), Sunday, 6 March 2005 05:00 (twenty years ago)

This is on If I Ever Feel Better, fyi. Sometimes he haromizes with himself, but I found it strange for the backing track to be played as the lead vocal instead of the backing vocal.

― Xii (Xii), Sunday, 6 March 2005 05:02 (twenty years ago)

Well, if you don't have another person in the band who can sing that part (or as well as the perfectionists in Phoenix would want it to be), and you want to sing lead over the chorus, what else are you going to do?

I've seen Phoenix live, he's doing a lot more than just "uh huh, yeah" when they do that on "If I Ever Feel Better," and a vast majority of the show is sung live with lots of ad libs.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 6 March 2005 05:37 (twenty years ago)

Must be an Astralwerks thing cuz, Sleepy Jackson were the worst offenders I've ever seen from this as I KNOW there were just playing atop a pre-recorded CD. And it was more than just a little occasional backing vocals and stuff.

It was insulting.

If you want to sound like that live that bad, then get people to play with that help you pull it off, otherwise you're just the Banana Splits.

― Hector Savage, Sunday, 6 March 2005 11:10 (twenty years ago)

it's not so uncommon for indie/rock bands to play to synced pre-recorded tracks with vox, etc. I've seen such bastions of 'credibility' as Bjork, Jim O'Rourke, Blonde Redhead, and Super Furry Animals do it. I can't see this as any more an inauthentic performance practice then using MIDI sequencers (at least the way it was used in the above cases, where these are supplemental backing or rhythm tracks with extra vocals) though I can't personally appreciate lip-synced choreography (madonna, etc)

― william fields, Sunday, 6 March 2005 12:10 (twenty years ago)

fucking Flava Flav is the worst offender ever... oh deary me he's a ratty old crack-scorched bitch.

depressing as well as annoying.

― Nic de Teardrop (Nicholas), Sunday, 6 March 2005 12:50 (twenty years ago)

It's lame. They either need to get more musicians or adapt the songs for performance. It's a weird kind of perfectionism / stinginess that leads to pre-recorded vox in concert IMO.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Sunday, 6 March 2005 16:21 (twenty years ago)

mrjosh OTM. a major pre-requisite to a good live performance is understanding that no, the song will not sound like it does on the album.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Sunday, 6 March 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

I've seen such bastions of 'credibility' as Bjork, Jim O'Rourke, Blonde Redhead, and Super Furry Animals do it

I don't really have the indie cornerstones set like that. If they do it during their live shows, they're lame. Bjork gets a small pass because unless she clones herself 8 times, I don't know how she could do accurate renditions of her tracks without sounding like she was back in Sugarcubes.

But yeah. Can we have bands who can actually play their songs again? I miss that.

― Xii (Xii), Sunday, 6 March 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

not quite vocals, but i was really disappointed to see how much of M83's live show was prerecorded - especially all the keyboards.

― rajeev, Sunday, 6 March 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

otherwise you're just the Banana Splits.

as if that's a bad thing!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 6 March 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

There are people who make it work, Bobby Birdman, for example.

In general, though, a disheartening trend.

― charmingtedious, Monday, 7 March 2005 07:04 (twenty years ago)

oh man Dolly Parton's live version of "stairway" is marred by prerecorded vocals that come in at the climax.

― Kevin Erickson, Monday, 7 March 2005 07:06 (twenty years ago)

ten years pass...

DUD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZXb_N4mCL0

― flappy bird, Friday, 27 November 2015 18:37 (nine years ago)

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