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Lip Syncing and Computer Backing Tracks


Bluewine

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My acceptance of backing tracks is in proportion to the size of the band and the size of the venue.

I have no issue with big bands using backing tracks for things like strings, brass or keys/synth when they only have one or two songs that use these - it doesn't make financial sense to pay extra musicians to come out on tour, to do minimal work when a backing track would do the job fine.

I would take issue with seeing a, for instance, Blues Brothers style act in anything larger than a pub and them using a backing track for the brass parts. But two guys in suits, sunglasses and hats pretending to be Jake and Elwood in my local and singing to a backing tape - I'd be okay with that.

Lip synching, or other miming however, I have no time for - if I've paid for a ticket to see a band, I've paid to see the band perform their instruments/sing.

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Backing tracks containing sound effects that can't easily be replicated, helicopters, machine guns, church bells, that sort of thing, is absolutely fine. Any lip syncing or instruments on backing tracks I'm not happy with. If you can't play the song properly live then move over and make way for the boys and girls that can. 

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I was very disappointed about 20 years ago when I saw Earth Wind and Fire doing this. They were one of the bands way back when who used to do it “for real” and to see them doing it made me a bit sad. I guess it’s because audiences have come to expect perfection rather than wanting to enjoy the energy and imperfection of a truly live performance.

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A couple of years ago my brother and I drove 6 hours down to Birmingham to see ZZ Top. They were one of the bucket list bands that we both wanted to see. We went, we listened and we loved the show.

The next again year they were playing in Glasgow at the Academy. This time we were in our usual position of the balcony booths which look down onto the stage. We were close enough to realise that there was another guitar track in a lot of their songs. That disappointed me. Yes ZZ Top are a 3-piece band but I would rather at the end of the night they brought on a guy that had been playing in the wings or at least introduced them during the night rather than having something prerecorded

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I always thought Kiss were a theatrical/comedy act rather than a band.

I would much rather hear real music than people playing over pre-recorded backing tracks, that's just upmarket karaoke. Live music is about the interaction between the musicians and audience, but backing tracks mean there is no room for improvisation, which kills it stone dead for me.

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8 hours ago, Graham said:

My acceptance of backing tracks is in proportion to the size of the band and the size of the venue.

I have no issue with big bands using backing tracks for things like strings, brass or keys/synth when they only have one or two songs that use these - it doesn't make financial sense to pay extra musicians to come out on tour, to do minimal work when a backing track would do the job fine.

I'm going to side very much with Graham's take on this. Groups such as The Who started incorporating synths into their albums around the early '70s, but it didn't make sense to have a couple of extra synth players drafted in to play a few tracks off Who's Next and then shuffle off the stage for the rest of their (by that point quite extensive) live set, so they had those parts on tapes triggered from the desk by Bobby Pridden. (It might also have been for the safety of any prospective synth players, given how adept those four men were at using all the available space on a big stage.)

I didn't realise Kiss had resorted to lip-syncing. I've never been able to stomach their music, but I'll freely admit they were great showmen - this seems somehow disappointing, even for a band I didn't like in the first place.

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9 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Talking of auto tune/miming/backing tracks....I saw a trailer for this pile of shite on the USA FOX Network the other night. The series is starting over there in January. I've no doubt it will find it's way over here at some point 🙄

The idea is that celebrities come on stage in disguise wearing full head masks in front of a panel who have to try and guess who they are. 

Other than what a complete waste of time and money, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

'...following a series of technical problems with the studio's sound system, most of the show was blighted by the celebrity guests' microphones cutting out. Many viewers reported that they could nevertheless discern a sound, which one described as being "similar to that of a pallet knife against the inside of a wooden barrel".'

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14 hours ago, Graham said:

My acceptance of backing tracks is in proportion to the size of the band and the size of the venue.

I have no issue with big bands using backing tracks for things like strings, brass or keys/synth when they only have one or two songs that use these - it doesn't make financial sense to pay extra musicians to come out on tour, to do minimal work when a backing track would do the job fine.

I would take issue with seeing a, for instance, Blues Brothers style act in anything larger than a pub and them using a backing track for the brass parts. But two guys in suits, sunglasses and hats pretending to be Jake and Elwood in my local and singing to a backing tape - I'd be okay with that.

Lip synching, or other miming however, I have no time for - if I've paid for a ticket to see a band, I've paid to see the band perform their instruments/sing.

I'm giving Macca a pass. When I saw him a few years ago he used backing tracks for the orchestration in "Live And Let Die" but that was it.

Blue

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Are there many touring bands that don't use a click track nowadays?

Is syncronising lighting and pyro cues to the click cheating?

Personally I would rather hear musicians doing everything live without a safety net and embrace the imperfections, but when you consider the economics of large scale touring and the inevitability of any bad gig ending up on youtube, it is understandable that bands start to use whatever tech they have at their disposal to ensure that the show runs smoothly as it scales up and increases in complexity.

Different musicians also have different personal opinions on how music should be presented to an audience - IME those that are comfortable with silence and sparser instrumentation are in a minority compared to those that feel that big wall of sound is the way forward, so it doesn't suprise me that if the the tech is available to fill out the sound with extra pre-recorded tracks then bands that don't really need to go that route are doing it anyway just because they can.

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If Rush can do it, and they used to, I see no issue with the triggering of parts from sequencer and click or organically from a drum pad or pedal, if you’ve built parts into a song you can’t physically play, and by that I mean extra guitar parts, loops or synth parts in bands with no keys player or BV’s sung by tracking up a single voice, then it makes sense to include that as part of your live show. 

If you’re lip syncing you have no business asking people to pay to see you.

I’m going to except Kiss at this point, cos they’re old dinosaurs who’re retiring shortly, I’m going to see them for the chuckle and the kitch, don’t care if Stanley’s voice has gone, it’s a miracle his face still works with the amount of work that’s been done on it....

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I don't mind a few samples. In fact I use a couple of samples on a floor pedal when we are playing.

We might be playing fairytale of new york at christmas. Today my wife asked me why I was going to take a keyboard to play it, if I was only doing the intro, rather than just play it on a recording. That hadn't even occured to me, and I don't intend to do it.

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