I remember reading how Barbra Streisand once complained about her recording being manipulated by the engineers and demanded that they restore her original work (they removed the sound of her inhaling during a song).
That is one SCARY thought man, that one day this technology would be so widely-accepted, that just as one might say "I can't play guitar for you, I don't have my guitar with me" a singer would say "of course I can't sing for you, I left my laptop at home." That would be one sad day. Well, Paul Simon said it back when in "Can't run, but" (the Rhythm of the Saints) "the music suffers baby, the music business thrives". Music - and art in general - is not the same as the businesses that try to sell us said art. Their interests aren't the same at all.
Freddie Mercury predicted it; "We are in a golden age of music. There will be a time when technology becomes so advanced that we'll rely on it to make music rather than raw talent...and music will lose its soul." He was right. Dua Lipa - as good as she might be - doesn't tick any boxes for me.
They are marketed to the nth degree. They all start to look and sound the same. (Money machines) Try listening to some independent artists, like REN if you want authentic. Check out his live TV performance at the Arts Music Awards, that’s what live looks like!
This. The really great singers didn't care about pitch correctness. Quite to the contrary; their pitch being all over the place was consider "character" and if they performed live, they had good, bad and mediocre concerts, depending on how they felt that evening.
Very thorough analysis of Dua Lipa's vocal sounds. I agree pitch correction stiffles the personality and originality of the individual's voice. The natural voice is what makes me feel the performance and moves me in a way that doesn't happen when altered. Great information, Fil. 🎼🎸🤘
Thanks for your analysis and passion for real voices and artistry in music and vocals. It is precisely the human-ness that makes music and performances beautiful and compelling. People need to realize how much music is now processed and manipulated.
Fil, you are a voice in the wilderness... I decided a long time ago to forget modern music...the public gets what the public wants, let 'em get on with it...
One thing I encourage is to not allow it to persuade acts or thoughts of resentment/prejudiceness. If someone like Fil is an authentic musician the last thing you want to do is a disservice to the ones that are invaluable. Just like prejudiceness of racism, sexism, and right here musicianship, you don't want to beget ignorance with arrogance. Otherwise, you're punishing the ones that do deserve the notoriety, and it's dismissive of their situation and circumstances.
I'm so glad you're calling all this out. As a vocal coach who advocates for 'real' singing - these TH-cam vocal coaches (who don't sing and have never been hired for their voice) 'reacting' to 'amazing' vocals are misleading aspiring singers by being compliant in setting an impossible standard. And the punchline is: it sounds worse than non pitch corrected singing! I understand a couple of tweaks in an otherwise amazing recording, but the extent it is being used today is ridiculous and I can't even understand what the motive is at this point.
It is similar to photoshopping models. You know, early on pictures would be retouched-the errant hair would be removed or a shadow, or red eye, or a blemish would be smoothed out. Now the architecture of the face or body will be redone. No normal human could achieve this because NOT EVEN THE MODEL CAN!!!
I think most of the commenters here missed the point. I remember watching Adam Neely where he put voices of people like Aretha Franklin through melodyne. They were pitchy af yet people now are trying to be smartasses with comments like "modern singers suck cause they can't hit a note to a cent" while it's pretty much impossible to do that. Dua sounds great and it's what Fil said at the end in the video: singing and looking at the graph can be soooo misleading and tricky. We're not robots and slight inconsistencies can actually sound cool, give character and portray emotion. Also if you want to be technical, how much cents above and below the note is actually not on pitch anymore? If it sounds good, then it sounds good, even if it happens to be 5 or 7 cents off. There's also quite a few acoustic performances here with a guitar and people often don't realize that guitars aren't always perfect either when it comes to intonation - when you sign you adjust your vocals to the accompaniment that you have and so sometimes when isolated it might be slightly off on the pitch analyzing software but with the guitar it sounds perfect cause both are in tune relative to each other. Just a few thoughts.
Agree. One thing that annoys me is how people love to whinge but without any humility. This becomes the industry standard because of us and the expectations we have from our music. I personally don’t care for the obsessive attention to detail about intonation and stuff like that but the reality is most of us do.
You’re awesome Phil. My Mom who passed in 2020, used to tell me continuously through my upbringing….” Don’t believe everything you hear and only half what you hear” nowadays it would be……Don’t believe nothing you hear or see.
One thing that cannot be pitch corrected is the natural reverb of a live space. It does not matter how many shots or takes are used for a“ Live “ video acapella. The second video can easily be considered as having been electronically given a studio reverb, as she is in a confined “dead” space. With such it can be inferred that it has also been pitch corrected.
Listen to Beth Hart. She is GREAT and I do not detect pitch correction in her live vocals and she’s got quite a few live albums out there. Pure, natural, powerful, amazing talent!
Fake money,fake education,politics,history,food....something of a fakeocracy we inhabit these days it's becoming more apparent, why would music be exempt i guess ?
i love your videos, but i'm seriously concerned about someone in the industry (the people behind the artists you talk about) ruining your career or your youtube channel, or even your life? so thank you so much for keeping up with your content, cause i haven't seen anyone talk about this with so much accuracy and knowledge
it is the public itself that is to blame, they accept everything, have very little knowledge. do not seem to care. it sounds so extremely the same to me, almost every artist. i mostly listen to old live concerts, past century.
This videos hurt my soul ... my God... thank you for being a voice of reason. How sad what is happening .. all fake instagram life style. People are getting use to hear unreal voices..
So, as a Vocalist who HATES auto tune and pitch correction and learned to sing from the greats, I have a question. Do online platforms like TH-cam apply their OWN pitch correction? Or is it possible to be an artist who does not use any pitch correction in today's day and age? Also, as a side note, I'd love to see an analysis of P!nk's voice live and in studio recordings. She has a lot of texture and personality to her voice, so I would be curious to see if/how much of her work is pitch corrected and how much is raw. I wouldn't be surprised if she uses pitch correction, but I also think she has so much texture present in her performances that pitch correction might strip that I'd be curious to see how 'processed' her work is. Thanks for another awesome vid! ❤🎵🎶❤ Raw vocals forever!!! 🤘🤘
Lovely analysis of the tell-tale signs of multiple video takes, Fil. Even better is your explanation of the implications. 👍👍 Best Wishes. ☮ It drives me a bit nuts when people miss the obvious clues of multiple takes. For example cuts which must show another camera in view milliseconds before the cut if it were one take. Keep up the great work!
Dua on tiny desk is off the chain. Her voice shines and is on point. I can't say for sure if it is or isn't pitch corrected. Elton John performs live with her and enough said. Love her brassiness, her voice is great, different, exciting. ❤
Hi Fil, Interesting analysis on Dua Lipa’s vocals. I’m going with mostly pitch corrected on her songs. I feel I can hear a lot of processing going on. And her voice has no substance. It’s all the same sound/tone… and her diction/enunciation is not very clear or convincing. Yes, she did have some bits of good singing but questionable at best. That said she is beautiful. does have some catchy songs and is a good dancer. Thanks Fil, for looking at her voice. Nice job! Debbie☮️
@@debbier938, I hear weird artifacts, as if she’s using an auto tuned microphone. Her voice is all echoey sounding. Was that you I replied to on JHRA’s video of the anthem fiasco? I stopped replying on that thread because a troll broke the conversation.
One more thing - it’s not just ‘close enough’ when a real voice doesn’t hit the note according to A=440 on the equal tempered scale. It’s also a characteristic of individual voices that do it, to be higher or lower than ‘the line’ a certain way. And even then, a ‘perfect’ voice may not hit the line based on the pure value of the note. If there are no other instruments tuned to equal temperament for example. Maybe it’s just drums and voice, or a guitar with sweetened tuning, or strings. Now, you can actually use pitch correction software to allow for this but it’s a hell of a lot more work and the standard appears to be everything equal temperament and that’s what people are now used to. I remember when we used to tweak the pitch manually, when computer editing started in about 91-92, long before the specialised software. Of course, you could only deal with obvious and clearly delineated notes. When the first software turned up (IIRC it was Antares Autotune but now it’s everywhere, including as standard features of audio workstation software.
Hi Fil, Thank you for this interesting and informative analysis! It's a darn shame that today's music has been reduced to the tune of pitch correction. No more real voices, feelings, and emotions! SMH! On a better note, Congrats on getting 393k subscribers on your channel! Keep on rockin'! 😉👍
People today do not care, they have no interest in musicians and the skills required to be a top pro. I cannot admire people, who cannot stand and deliver, without software. It is manipulated and looses what I personally love about the real live performance.
People never cared much about the top20 top40, but people who are more interested than average in music have never gone anywhere, it`s just that the crap is so easily available that it`s easy to not see the greatness that is truly out there.
Agreed, and it’s not just the vocals that are manipulated. It seems that gone are the days where artists have to be talented. It’s a real shame that we are now at the point where we question whether we are listening to a real voice. I’d rather the odd imperfection as this is what makes for a more human experience.
When I was first developing my voice, I found a video by a young woman who had singing on pitch as #6 in order of importance. To me it seems like #1, and now four years later I have no problem singing on pitch. People need to just do it.
@@jamesfarrow6752 It has never been more competitive to be hired as a professional musician. We are constantly compared (in competition) with 100% accurate machines and software. When I entered the music business in the late 70’s most musicians could play one instrument to a decent level in one genre. Contemporary musicians are multi-instrumentalists, also skilled in composing, computer technology. There really is no ‘cheating’ it is just an arguably misguided idea that ALL imperfections however slight should be corrected.
I love playing the fretless bass. Wonder if pitch correction could help my occasional intonation issues when recording ?🤔 yeah, I know, practice, practice, practice. Just curious.
It obviously would/will... Better than with vocals... There is also nothing wrong with correcting a few notes on an otherwise great performance... It's just sad the industry does it regardless of how it sounds on everything 😢
Keep up the fight Fil! I’m so freakin fed up with this (crap) music farthest thing from music and you’re proving it every week. Auto tune, pitch correction, Lypsync. Started in the early 90s being a guy from the music of the 80s high school in 84 I was in the thick of it and we never thought it would end. I can honestly say I heard of few (artists) over the last 25 plus years. The music just sucks bad. Fil keep up the great job and exposing these SOBs be it record company’s or Again (artists) back the day it was about music now it’s about clicks and view. Back in the day today’s artists would have been chewed up and spit out By artists from the day. Sick sad part, for 20-30 they think they’re the greatest thing the best that’s ever been. It’s crap. Again I’m an 80s guy, 60s and 70s music Awesome fantastic. Again thanks Fil.. I’m done lol
Only partially true. I read this great article on a record producer from the 70s who was known for mixing/mastering live albums, and his main point in the article?? Live albums (even from the 70s) were rarely entirely live. Almost always something was re-recorded to make the album sound better, and therefore be more sell-able. It was (even then) about making some bucks.
@@ProckGnosisI think it was a little off, what was done is songs from different performances possibly at the same venue were combined to form the best album possible. Which can be considered a little deceptive, then again maybe some were being very deceptive.
@@Firemedic361 Trust me, they do everything from punch ins to full track replacements. The recording is a commercial endeavor, not an art work (although it represents the art of its creators).
Well... kinda, mostly, and it's a human thing, I think. It's in our nature to use all our senses and vision tends to be above hearing in the hierarchy. IMNSHO music performances come in one of 3 primary settings: recital, concert, and show. Recital is a direct, live, proximate performance static lighting, no video walls, and in many cases no electronic amplification; it's 100% "real." Concerts are live performances of works that will include non-music elements to enhance the listener experience or the storytelling of the music - wardrobe changes, "artful" lighting and video, electronic amplification with various effects to duplicate things from the studio recording, and electronic playback to fill in parts for which there are no live musicians. Show is just that - it's about what you see, first, and then what you hear, and it's more TV/video/movie production values than a concert, but the primary emphasis is on the whole experience rather than just the performance of the music. Carrie Underwood's flying (above the audience) pickup truck, Bon Jovi's video robots, (name I cant say due to NDAs) visual gag of "flying" from the "B stage" back to the main stage, lots and lots of video that ties directly with the live performance, etc. This includes star vocal and instrumental tracks as well as additional performance tracks (additional parts, effects, musician replacement) because "hey, we're puttin' on a show here!" If that means the audience hears an enhanced or recorded music performance from the star or other performers, that means the audience gets their show free of certain defects. Broadway has done this for years, and I can say with certainty that live music performances have done so for close to 40 years. From the up-front, like The Who having the tape machine on stage for Baba O'Reilly to Boston hiding the tape machine with its subsequent failure exposing their early formation as mostly a mime act.
Wow! Just found your channel and saw your slime analysis and had to watch another of your. Videos. Boy you are sharp at analysis. When you notice this camera person up close then see another shot with that camera person gone, thus exited…. Wow! Did not notice that. Amazing work. It is almost frightening to me because reality is being exposed! Thank you for exposing deception.
Great video once again, much enjoy your stuff. As one of the many people in your audience who suggest singers, I hope I may suggest one. Barrington Levy. He seems to take the clearest steps down, to the extent that he has made it a vocal autograph - more than a mere style flurry. Anyways, you never know. WO-O-O, seen!
I have noticed the inconsistencies in videos on utube. I have also watched a video on processing a sound video. Putting together different cuts of vocals Interesting stuff but not honest music. Thank you Professor Fil for this informative intructional analysis of the current music industry. Back to my old vinyls for real music.
We've been editing and splicing different 'takes' on tape for... as long as tape was around. Classical, jazz, pop, gospel. Then came "punch in" recording where an individual track could be recorded over to replace a word or phrase where the part was early, late, off pitch, or the singer mispronounced words. In the original vinyl release of J.J. Cale's "Cocaine" you can hear a punch in "double" where the engineer hit the record button a fraction of a beat late. The days of a single one take recording being what you bought in the store ended after WWII.
@raygunsforronnie847 Thanks for the information. I was mostly thinking auto tune and pitch correction. Also the sequencing in videos. Ah well. Live and learn. Thanks again.
The beauty and/or curse of digital media is that it is dirt cheap. You are not dealing with actual physical media (tape, film, etc.), so it costs nothing but labour to shoot/record multiple takes and edit it together seamlessly. And never mind the saving in distribution costs. Problem comes when "producers" think the market wants this flawless, soulless, hit all the right notes and beats programmed, and pass that off as music, and it becomes a self-generating nightmare.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your so SPOT ON video explanations around this topic. For many of the masses this "scientific" explanation may well beyond their comprehension - NO, I am NOT being condescending , or trying to belittle them, just stating what reality is. This next statement is a little away from above topic but just as relevant (or actually far more important). You may well not wish to consider what I say but the same thing about the masses not recognising being "mis-lead" applies to a certain medical intervention that took place. (Enough said on that issue - I just happen to be AWAKE!).
I would love to see a video like this of Chappel Roan. She's one of my new favs and I adore her voice. I think these videos are really informative and interesting. I wish more artists would have recordings that weren't corrected. I listen to a lot of post-punk, metal etc and I love the "realness" of vocals where you can hear the emotion even if it means the pitch isn't on point.
This is why I adore music from the 30s and other eras because its amazing real talent none of this false pitch correction just pure beauty, and as someone who was in a band as a singer I often started to compare myself to these pitch corrected singers until I started to learn how to produce and use a large arsenal of tools but it totally disillusioned me and I stopped with music now I just sing around the house and in the car. No one cares about real voices anymore or unique voices or skilled and honed voices. Well except the amazing followers here. Its sad what the world has become. Thanks for keeping it real mate x
Don't give up singing! Have a listen to Lisa O'Neill's Tiny Desk concert and read some of the comments there. She sounds like no one else, and her whole ethos is about connecting with the earth and with her ancestors, so there's no trickery. The comments there and the appreciation are wonderful and heartening 😊 Listening to her and others like Ren Harvieu has given me more confidence in my own singing. I don't listen to any of this mainstream rubbish 😂
I learn to sing, since 2 months. I feel better with my own voice when I see that is normal to not be perfect. I am so glad I found your channel. I want to know what you use to analyse the pitch.
HEY FIL!... check out how most big English bands( and others) used LIVE vocals,yet faked the stage performances using jumbo screens to help timing while shooting hundreds of different shots! This could be a HUGE topic for you. Just satin Zeppelin was the master of this...but check out the Who and Stones as well.
The more videos I see if the 70 and 80 s timeframe convince me that it was all staged fir good intentions...to showcase the bands performances/ talents...just saying it's ALL GOOD
Hallo Phil. I so enjoy your programmes. Thank you. Would you ever consider looking into musicians from South Africa? We had some amazing vocals during 50s, 60s, and 70s. Eg The Dream Merchants singing Time and the River, specifically Billy Forrest. Live from Cape Town.
Lol! Much appreciate trying to explore this topic, but people want to believe what they want to believe (like their favorite singer is ALWAYS AMAZING!!). I've gotten into SO many arguments with folks, pointing out how the "amazing performances" and "live vocals" in a video weren't really live (and likely re-recorded). One of the obvious give-aways something isn't live is when the vocalist pulls away from the mike, but the vocal volume doesn't drop. Another is when the singer is dancing around, bouncing up and down, yet there's zero fluctuation in the breathing or pitch of the singing. Like I implied. Folks are dying to be lied to.
It's sad that fake perfection has become the standard to aim for 😔 I like my favourite singers because they are expressive and honest (e.g. Lisa O'Neill, Neil Hannon). I know they can sometimes sing a bit off key, and I wouldn't care at all if someone pointed that out, but in the scheme of things it doesn't matter. I much prefer an expressive performance including 'mistakes' than a processed-sounding pitch-perfect performance. However, I do think that the more people hear pitch corrected music the less they are able to cope with hearing 'mistakes'! We played as part of a local folk festival earlier this summer, and there were some singers there, and there were some youngsters in the audience who looked spell-bound by what they were watching and hearing, which gives me hope 😊
@@theyouofyesterday6254 Part of the problem is that fake sells (it's also usually cheaper to deliver), and it's marketed and sold in a way that it seems real. On top of that, the vast majority of listeners just aren't discerning enough to know the difference, and another large chunk of the listening audience doesn't really care so much anyway. So, a fake product will still sell well enough to encourage further faking to occur!! Happy to hear you are seeing folks in the audience that still like a real live performance with real instruments being played!
Great video! So important to criticise pitch correction without criticising the singer, and you did that beautifully. Don't hate the player, hate the game!
That statement ("Don't hate the .." 🙄🙄🤦) is utter bullpuckey: Without "players" there IS no game! Period. Everyone allowing, causing or ignoring "wrong" is: guilty. CAN be called-out & criticized for it and, absolutely, deserves it! Go tell your friends (and everyone who's, ever, asserted that trope and quoted that idiocy to you. They, WITHOUT QUESTION, do not understand what they're talking about and THINK that they 🤷🤷(🤦) "sound wise" (🙄), or something, but: are utterly in error, on that!
@@SonicProfessor_a.k.a._T._Andra It's a metaphor. It means it's better to criticise (and seek to change) the system, not the people who have to operate within it. If Fil had spent this whole video laying into Dua Lipa, he'd have just pissed off the very people he's trying to educate.
@@Tanzi24 I wasn't attempting to argue that he "should have." No. Your concluding statement is very accurate. ...However: in the sense of: active steps to consider: one can NEVER "change a system" without altering the: behavior, thinking, 🤷🤷 who can say, exactly, what else (as I am forced to broadly generalize, here)🤷?, of those operating the system and within the system. Without that: no useful change will occur (only alterations of the prior practices to maintain the same-or very similar-function). I am (I think: CLEARLY!🤷) discussing: NOT this video or the persons in it, specifically! I am theorizing regarding: the postulates you have delineated/mentioned. I am not speaking about: Fil, here. At all. Nor am I speaking about Dua Lipa. ...what I am addressing is: the ineptitude of the phrase you presented (although, also: you made a clear and useful argument. If, both, the statement were treated as you explain and the resulting behavior were over 65% similar, even ...I think I could agree. ...however: as I am going to assume you well-know: an all-too-vast swath of humanity, neither do nor would operate that way (without manipulation, force or reward/punishment). ...and: regardless of what the system is we may be discussing/applying this to?: again: if the thinking and (thereby) the behavior (or: vice-versa, indeed!) of: those maintaining the operation of any given system/the functional perpetuation of such, are NOT changed, "the system" (whatever it may be) will not change; despite: force, power. manipulation, etc., et al.!! It will work its way back to maintaining a status quo which keeps the same results recurring. While not every party is "a direct cause" of this, without them assisting in: maintaining operation or accepting all that "comes with," the system could not, easily, maintain its continuity nor keep producing the same results. You see this, don't you? While perhaps negative criticism of "those within" does little to help change (esp. if one does not go to work upon the parameters, controls, what-have-you, of said system (and begin enforcing penalties for ill behavior or manipulation of elements (controlling behavior of others. absolutely, included)!),), it, also, is necessary and easier to effect change: on limited divisions or elements and to force rehaul of a system by causing dysfunction from within\and/or: impermissibility of continuing maintenance of corruption or purposeful error. BOTH are necessary.
@renemonroy214 Absolutely!! And no matter what they did as performers, they didn't MURDER PEOPLE. I think the fact that they were driven to REAL desperation is quite tragic. I mean look at all the so-called singers who basically do THIS from recording to live performances!!! ALL THRU THEIR CAREER!! This channel proves it wasn't SO rare at all.I am sad that the one guy committed suicide because he had no back up job...
I would have sworn that this is auto tuned. It’s got that weird, echoey, slightly robotic sound. It is awful, whether it’s her natural voice or not. Addit: Okay, I misunderstood the time stamp that said “real”. It is auto tuned. My ears were right.
Maybe the songs become awful when used to showcase the singer's talent! Where is the song in all that 'technique'? Self-conscious 'perfection' precludes emotion. It all seemed to start with Mariah showing off her range. It was neither playful nor emotional -like it is when MJ does it.
Yes we may say that hah. And maybe also if you can't sing naked or without pitch correction or backing track of vocal you should NOT be allowed to call it a LIVE performances and charge insanely high prices for it...maybe we could say that?!
This type of music is more like talking to music rather than singing,it’s as if they are following the line of the Alps with their vocals. I think that following your channel is making me more aware of how unmelodic their voices are.Thank you for enlightening me,cheers Roly🇬🇧.
Evian is a location in France where natural spring water is collected. Recent tests have shown that Evian water is slightly alkaline, and is one of the top rated bottled waters, vindicating Evian lovers worldwide.
Love this video, shows how good Dua is; that she has a good natural voice. I used to be meh about her until I started working with her (admittedly master) vocals via AI extraction/acapellas and went..yeah, these are good songs. She does have talent. it's a shame that talent gets sold short by the mass use of pitch correction.
I am curious as to whether Fil has done any analysis of the music coming out of South Korea. Not just K-pop but also quartettes from Phantom singer like Forestella? I have watched quite a few of his videos but haven't seen any from this music-prolific country. Have I just missed his analysis?
What would the old Motown artists that were recording in basements, churches and bathrooms think of all this artificial pitch manipulation? They had great pitch with warmth, depth, and human emotion.
I didn't even know about "pitch correction" until a short while ago (obviously through one of your vids). You explained it, and how it differs from auto correct, extremely well - enough that a total novice as myself could easily understand it 😊 I'm not sure if it's possible, but could you give Dimash a listen, especially the S.O.S. from the Chinese talent show (2017 - I think). His voice is phenomenal . Anyhoooo, thank you for this vid, I've learned even more!!! ❤
Given how the industry now works, I do wonder if She knows? How many artists believe their own hype not realising processing was put over their voice. So many of the bigger chart artists just roll up and do the take then leave the studio for other work, leaving stuff for the producers and engineers to work on.
@@FSHB have you thought about your comment. These "artists" dont know. Its like Rhianna and her Sony c800 mic - they think its just the professional recording chain.
@@Fl4ppersJust because *you* are only just learning about this, doesn't mean that artists who have been in the industry for over a decade are somehow unaware of this stuff. They work with high-level producers in studio and live, and they absolutely need to be *very* aware of these processes because they have to work with different variations of pitch correction technology, sometimes unable to use those technologies. You don't get to be a good singer like Dua is without having a *very* well-tuned ear; she can hear this stuff better than you can by orders of magnitude. She knows far better than anyone else would.
@@keithklassen5320 thats for that BIZARRE bloody comment. I've been an amateur musician and engineer for 30 years. I have met people who sing who do not realise it is a thing. The industry just refers to it as a "vocal chain" in the same way your car mechanic talks about your "engine" instead of the various pistons and vlaves, switches and wires.
Analogue can be manipulated, too. It's just not as convenient as with a DAW and plugins. You might be surprised to see (with your eyes) how many edit splices exist in classical and jazz recordings. Often it was to combine the best parts of multiple takes into a complete recording, but what you heard on the record was not a continuous single performance.
Fil, keep it going! I have no doubt you will accomplish your goal in this world of pitch correction, auto tune, and misinformation from the music industry! Very informative analysis video! 💜
Would love an analysis of npr tiny desks. Those to me always sound mixed by people that go to concerts. I don't know what it is about them, but they sound present if that makes sense
Pitch correction or Autotune can make almost anyone a singer. It’s that simple. Pitch correction and Autotune make time in the studio far less, as well. Even live shows are questionable. Are the artists lip syncing? Is the band playing live or not? Sure, artists of the past used multiple recording of the singer to achieve a certain sound, but it was still the singers voice. Then when the artists played live, it was live. Even when the singer was not on his game, it was live and the fans heard how bad the singer sounded. Broken guitar string, drumsticks, singers falling down all changed the sound, and fans heard it. But we loved it. Artists were giving the fans everything they could on every show, even on bad days. Then, the bands finished up on the road and they wrote, recorded and hit the road again. All that being said, as a metal head, I do like Dua Lipa’s voice. I’m just not turned on by her songs.
Fil, fine video as always, it amazes me how poor today's music actually is, but a lot of youngsters are extolling the virtues of 60's/70's/80's music and how great it really was on utube, let's face it, there is no comparison and the unfortunate thing is these so called artistes are earning millions on the back of well, basic rubbish. Keep up the good work mate and take care.
Here's a question. I assume you dont use youtube videos to analyse the sound quality or autotune. But what are TH-cam actually doing to our audio masters when they are reduced to ? kHz on TH-cam.
We are entering into the age of humanizing pitch correction, and i predict induced flatting or sharping in auto tune for live “performances” where we won’t be able to tell live, and real talent wont matter in these circumstances. The only way you’ll be able to tell is intimate acoustic settings. God help us.
There is another financial advantage of pitch correction: you spend less in recording. This is they key issue here - its not like pop audiences have all perfect pitch and there is a race to see who's more in tune. You just remove the natural (and good) variation to achieve predictability, to drive costs down and profits up. That's what's really sad.
Bro, your hair deserves some recognition.
As someone who was a teen in the late 70’s, I heartily agree. Fil’s hair rocks!! 🤘🏻🎸
It reminds me of my 70’s hairstyle.
It is crazy how quickly and easily Fil can throw examples of flat vs sharp vibrato amidst spoken sentences. What vocal control HE has.
I would pitch in, but I will no doubt be corrected!
Badum, tish! (hope you like my drum sample)
@@elvwood Hahaha. And, yes I do! It's going straight into my DAW library. 🥁
😅
Fil, I’m always amazed at your” ear” for hearing and repeating notes. .. very impressive.
I remember reading how Barbra Streisand once complained about her recording being manipulated by the engineers and demanded that they restore her original work (they removed the sound of her inhaling during a song).
The criminals demanding that should be put in jail.
Fortunately Barbra is always "on the ball". She did the same when they "straightened" her nose on an album cover.
😂 how things have changed, I still love hearing the chair creak during the wish you were here intro. She should have kept the sound.
Matt Bellamy's vocals sound like they're processed in a way that his inhalation is a loud as his singing.
@@altpropaganda7293she did. Reread the comment
That is one SCARY thought man, that one day this technology would be so widely-accepted, that just as one might say "I can't play guitar for you, I don't have my guitar with me" a singer would say "of course I can't sing for you, I left my laptop at home." That would be one sad day.
Well, Paul Simon said it back when in "Can't run, but" (the Rhythm of the Saints) "the music suffers baby, the music business thrives". Music - and art in general - is not the same as the businesses that try to sell us said art. Their interests aren't the same at all.
Freddie Mercury predicted it;
"We are in a golden age of music. There will be a time when technology becomes so advanced that we'll rely on it to make music rather than raw talent...and music will lose its soul."
He was right.
Dua Lipa - as good as she might be - doesn't tick any boxes for me.
no she’s so dull
They are marketed to the nth degree. They all start to look and sound the same. (Money machines) Try listening to some independent artists, like REN if you want authentic. Check out his live TV performance at the Arts Music Awards, that’s what live looks like!
Fil is leading a revolution. I'm in!
Cindi, I agree! I'm in also !
I’m all in!
Me too 😈
I'm in as well! 😉👍
Yep count me in 👍
Thank you for helping raise awareness of this issue. Too many people are ignorant to the fact that they are being lied to about live performances.
I don’t think the people that listen to this kind of music care about vocal prowess.
And why should they? Vocal prowess is not what it’s about.
The effort put in to make people think it's all natural is not cool. Be human, it's okay.
This. The really great singers didn't care about pitch correctness. Quite to the contrary; their pitch being all over the place was consider "character" and if they performed live, they had good, bad and mediocre concerts, depending on how they felt that evening.
Not just "ok", often better.
Very thorough analysis of Dua Lipa's vocal sounds. I agree pitch correction stiffles the personality and originality of the individual's voice. The natural voice is what makes me feel the performance and moves me in a way that doesn't happen when altered. Great information, Fil. 🎼🎸🤘
Thanks for your analysis and passion for real voices and artistry in music and vocals. It is precisely the human-ness that makes music and performances beautiful and compelling. People need to realize how much music is now processed and manipulated.
Fil, you are a voice in the wilderness... I decided a long time ago to forget modern music...the public gets what the public wants, let 'em get on with it...
Snarky Puppy are waiting for yoo.
One thing I encourage is to not allow it to persuade acts or thoughts of resentment/prejudiceness. If someone like Fil is an authentic musician the last thing you want to do is a disservice to the ones that are invaluable. Just like prejudiceness of racism, sexism, and right here musicianship, you don't want to beget ignorance with arrogance. Otherwise, you're punishing the ones that do deserve the notoriety, and it's dismissive of their situation and circumstances.
I'm so glad you're calling all this out. As a vocal coach who advocates for 'real' singing - these TH-cam vocal coaches (who don't sing and have never been hired for their voice) 'reacting' to 'amazing' vocals are misleading aspiring singers by being compliant in setting an impossible standard. And the punchline is: it sounds worse than non pitch corrected singing! I understand a couple of tweaks in an otherwise amazing recording, but the extent it is being used today is ridiculous and I can't even understand what the motive is at this point.
Hi Fil. Thank you for the great video. Makes me sad but good to know.
It is similar to photoshopping models. You know, early on pictures would be retouched-the errant hair would be removed or a shadow, or red eye, or a blemish would be smoothed out. Now the architecture of the face or body will be redone. No normal human could achieve this because NOT EVEN THE MODEL CAN!!!
I absolutely love your thoughtful, informed analysis. I learn something with every single video.
I think most of the commenters here missed the point.
I remember watching Adam Neely where he put voices of people like Aretha Franklin through melodyne. They were pitchy af yet people now are trying to be smartasses with comments like "modern singers suck cause they can't hit a note to a cent" while it's pretty much impossible to do that.
Dua sounds great and it's what Fil said at the end in the video: singing and looking at the graph can be soooo misleading and tricky. We're not robots and slight inconsistencies can actually sound cool, give character and portray emotion. Also if you want to be technical, how much cents above and below the note is actually not on pitch anymore? If it sounds good, then it sounds good, even if it happens to be 5 or 7 cents off.
There's also quite a few acoustic performances here with a guitar and people often don't realize that guitars aren't always perfect either when it comes to intonation - when you sign you adjust your vocals to the accompaniment that you have and so sometimes when isolated it might be slightly off on the pitch analyzing software but with the guitar it sounds perfect cause both are in tune relative to each other.
Just a few thoughts.
Agree. One thing that annoys me is how people love to whinge but without any humility.
This becomes the industry standard because of us and the expectations we have from our music.
I personally don’t care for the obsessive attention to detail about intonation and stuff like that but the reality is most of us do.
I love your analysis! You are so perceptive AND entertaining.
Great update as always Fil
you explain this all very well and have a great ear. your videos makes me wonder what my (human) voice "looks" like!
Thanks for continuing to expose these things. If only more people were aware of your channel to actually see this themselves and learn something
It really makes one appreciate real music when we do have the luxury to hear it.
Your work is top notch Fil. Thank you very much!
You’re awesome Phil. My Mom who passed in 2020, used to tell me continuously through my upbringing….” Don’t believe everything you hear and only half what you hear” nowadays it would be……Don’t believe nothing you hear or see.
Step one, make everyone sound like a singing robot.
Step two, replace them with singing robots.
Two major labels have already announced AI "artists".
Yeah, It's part of the transhumanist agenda.
Step three, ????
Step four, PROFIT
❤
@@beadybaby Step three is marketing I guess.
big advantage, they dont need a salary, just some maintenance, a pint of oil to drink haha
Again, great analysis and explanation Fil. Thank you. I think I’m just going to listen to classical music from now on.
One thing that cannot be pitch corrected is the natural reverb of a live space. It does not matter how many shots or takes are used for a“ Live “ video acapella. The second video can easily be considered as having been electronically given a studio reverb, as she is in a confined “dead” space. With such it can be inferred that it has also been pitch corrected.
The deception and lies in this world are abounding. Not just in voice. People believe not Truth, but rather what strokes their emotions.
Thank you Fil for showing us the differences of each vocal. Great analysis as always. 😊🎸🎵
Love the way you consistently connect with everyone.
Listen to Beth Hart. She is GREAT and I do not detect pitch correction in her live vocals and she’s got quite a few live albums out there. Pure, natural, powerful, amazing talent!
I absolutely love Beth Hart 🤩
Preach, Fil!!
Thanks for this Fil and all your hard work.🤘
Fake music, fake faces, fake lifestyles. Authenticity is gold these days ❤
...food, clothes, drugs, just anything is fake.
Nobody cares.
Welcome to the modern world.
there always has been fake, remember the tale of the emperors clothes, but yes it is so widespread now.
Fake money,fake education,politics,history,food....something of a fakeocracy we inhabit these days it's becoming more apparent, why would music be exempt i guess ?
i got some good tunes of mine on my channel
True. The one thing I like is her legs.
i love your videos, but i'm seriously concerned about someone in the industry (the people behind the artists you talk about) ruining your career or your youtube channel, or even your life? so thank you so much for keeping up with your content, cause i haven't seen anyone talk about this with so much accuracy and knowledge
Love your channel. Thanks for what you do
Another great job FIL, it's a sad commentary on the shallowness and blandness being fostered on the public.
Foisted
True, but it's also a sad commentary on the public for buying it in such large numbers.
it is the public itself that is to blame, they accept everything, have very little knowledge. do not seem to care.
it sounds so extremely the same to me, almost every artist. i mostly listen to old live concerts, past century.
@@kevinm6790 Yes, thanks
This videos hurt my soul ... my God... thank you for being a voice of reason. How sad what is happening .. all fake instagram life style. People are getting use to hear unreal voices..
So, as a Vocalist who HATES auto tune and pitch correction and learned to sing from the greats, I have a question. Do online platforms like TH-cam apply their OWN pitch correction? Or is it possible to be an artist who does not use any pitch correction in today's day and age?
Also, as a side note, I'd love to see an analysis of P!nk's voice live and in studio recordings. She has a lot of texture and personality to her voice, so I would be curious to see if/how much of her work is pitch corrected and how much is raw. I wouldn't be surprised if she uses pitch correction, but I also think she has so much texture present in her performances that pitch correction might strip that I'd be curious to see how 'processed' her work is.
Thanks for another awesome vid! ❤🎵🎶❤ Raw vocals forever!!! 🤘🤘
TH-cam does not do pitch correction. If you're not signed to a record label, you can use it or not as you please.
Lovely analysis of the tell-tale signs of multiple video takes, Fil. Even better is your explanation of the implications. 👍👍
Best Wishes. ☮
It drives me a bit nuts when people miss the obvious clues of multiple takes. For example cuts which must show another camera in view milliseconds before the cut if it were one take. Keep up the great work!
Not clueless one bit about TARJA'S vocals. Got to hear her mess around and warm up her vocals un-miked during a rehearsal . OMG BLEW ME AWAY ☮☮💘💘💥💥
Don't know who Tarja is but yes, some people sing better than others.
@@Grizazzle Part of the problem is that people don't know who TARJA is !!!!!!!!!! Or other great artists . SHE IS SO SO EPIC !!!!!!!! ☮☮💘💘💥💥
God damn, this is the biggest eyeopener I ever experienced in musical perception,
Grateful I am for that.
It would be interesting to know if NPR'S Tiny Desk Concerts are pitch corrected or not.
Great shout!!!
Dua on tiny desk is off the chain. Her voice shines and is on point. I can't say for sure if it is or isn't pitch corrected. Elton John performs live with her and enough said. Love her brassiness, her voice is great, different, exciting. ❤
I’d love for him to check the tiny desk concerts. He should do Harry Styles and Chappell Roan
I hope not. But the artists might have some input.
Given its ubiquity, you'd have to assume the answer is yes.
So good to listen to your analysis!
Thanks!
You are my one of my favorite hammers. Keep it up!
Hi Fil,
Interesting analysis on Dua Lipa’s vocals. I’m going with mostly pitch corrected on her songs. I feel I can hear a lot of processing going on. And her voice has no substance. It’s all the same sound/tone… and her diction/enunciation is not very clear or convincing. Yes, she did have some bits of good singing but questionable at best. That said she is beautiful. does have some catchy songs and is a good dancer. Thanks Fil, for looking at her voice. Nice job! Debbie☮️
She's probably lip syncing with just enough live mic for the breath sounds and talking. You'd be surprised at how many pop performers do that.
@@raygunsforronnie847 no, it doesn’t surprise me at all! Lol
@@debbier938,
I hear weird artifacts, as if she’s using an auto tuned microphone. Her voice is all echoey sounding.
Was that you I replied to on JHRA’s video of the anthem fiasco?
I stopped replying on that thread because a troll broke the conversation.
@@SuziQ. probably, but not sure. It’s OK… there was one troll on a comment I made and I just never got back to it! LOL
One more thing - it’s not just ‘close enough’ when a real voice doesn’t hit the note according to A=440 on the equal tempered scale. It’s also a characteristic of individual voices that do it, to be higher or lower than ‘the line’ a certain way. And even then, a ‘perfect’ voice may not hit the line based on the pure value of the note. If there are no other instruments tuned to equal temperament for example. Maybe it’s just drums and voice, or a guitar with sweetened tuning, or strings. Now, you can actually use pitch correction software to allow for this but it’s a hell of a lot more work and the standard appears to be everything equal temperament and that’s what people are now used to. I remember when we used to tweak the pitch manually, when computer editing started in about 91-92, long before the specialised software. Of course, you could only deal with obvious and clearly delineated notes. When the first software turned up (IIRC it was Antares Autotune but now it’s everywhere, including as standard features of audio workstation software.
So much time, effort and talent goes in to producing music that is awful.
Can't polish a turd!
Carry on Fil. Fight the Good Fight
Hi Fil, Thank you for this interesting and informative analysis! It's a darn shame that today's music has been reduced to the tune of pitch correction. No more real voices, feelings, and emotions! SMH! On a better note, Congrats on getting 393k subscribers on your channel! Keep on rockin'! 😉👍
People today do not care, they have no interest in musicians and the skills required to be a top pro. I cannot admire people, who cannot stand and deliver, without software. It is manipulated and looses what I personally love about the real live performance.
People never cared much about the top20 top40, but people who are more interested than average in music have never gone anywhere, it`s just that the crap is so easily available that it`s easy to not see the greatness that is truly out there.
Agreed, and it’s not just the vocals that are manipulated. It seems that gone are the days where artists have to be talented. It’s a real shame that we are now at the point where we question whether we are listening to a real voice. I’d rather the odd imperfection as this is what makes for a more human experience.
@jamesfarrow6752
Yes spot on 👍
When I was first developing my voice, I found a video by a young woman who had singing on pitch as #6 in order of importance. To me it seems like #1, and now four years later I have no problem singing on pitch. People need to just do it.
@@jamesfarrow6752 It has never been more competitive to be hired as a professional musician. We are constantly compared (in competition) with 100% accurate machines and software. When I entered the music business in the late 70’s most musicians could play one instrument to a decent level in one genre. Contemporary musicians are multi-instrumentalists, also skilled in composing, computer technology. There really is no ‘cheating’ it is just an arguably misguided idea that ALL imperfections however slight should be corrected.
I agree w/ your analysis of autotune being on/off. I'll point out that performance no. 3 at 10:26 is noticeably over compressed IMHO.
The modern female clipped style of vocalization has always annoyed me. Cutting out consonants and so on.
It's a weird mixture of sounding asthmatic and having Foreign Accent Syndrome (and no, I'm not making that term up).
@@RyanCMcD Thanks I'm going to look it up.
Try some metal vocalists live. Proper enunciation.
I agree. And if it's not "Foreign Accent Syndrome", it's trying to sound like a sexy baby. Makes me rather ill. That throaty, lisping thing, ugh!
Drives me bananas. It's the "Diana Vickers" syndrome; swallowing the words and chopping them off.
Congrats Fil on 393,000 subs👏❤@wingsofpegasus
I love playing the fretless bass. Wonder if pitch correction could help my occasional intonation issues when recording ?🤔 yeah, I know, practice, practice, practice. Just curious.
It obviously would/will... Better than with vocals... There is also nothing wrong with correcting a few notes on an otherwise great performance...
It's just sad the industry does it regardless of how it sounds on everything 😢
Keep up the fight Fil! I’m so freakin fed up with this (crap) music farthest thing from music and you’re proving it every week. Auto tune, pitch correction, Lypsync. Started in the early 90s being a guy from the music of the 80s high school in 84 I was in the thick of it and we never thought it would end. I can honestly say I heard of few (artists) over the last 25 plus years. The music just sucks bad. Fil keep up the great job and exposing these SOBs be it record company’s or Again (artists) back the day it was about music now it’s about clicks and view. Back in the day today’s artists would have been chewed up and spit out By artists from the day. Sick sad part, for 20-30 they think they’re the greatest thing the best that’s ever been. It’s crap. Again I’m an 80s guy, 60s and 70s music Awesome fantastic. Again thanks Fil.. I’m done lol
It all went to hell when we started looking at music instead of listening to it
Only partially true. I read this great article on a record producer from the 70s who was known for mixing/mastering live albums, and his main point in the article?? Live albums (even from the 70s) were rarely entirely live. Almost always something was re-recorded to make the album sound better, and therefore be more sell-able. It was (even then) about making some bucks.
@@ProckGnosisI think it was a little off, what was done is songs from different performances possibly at the same venue were combined to form the best album possible. Which can be considered a little deceptive, then again maybe some were being very deceptive.
@@Firemedic361 Trust me, they do everything from punch ins to full track replacements. The recording is a commercial endeavor, not an art work (although it represents the art of its creators).
Well... kinda, mostly, and it's a human thing, I think. It's in our nature to use all our senses and vision tends to be above hearing in the hierarchy. IMNSHO music performances come in one of 3 primary settings: recital, concert, and show. Recital is a direct, live, proximate performance static lighting, no video walls, and in many cases no electronic amplification; it's 100% "real." Concerts are live performances of works that will include non-music elements to enhance the listener experience or the storytelling of the music - wardrobe changes, "artful" lighting and video, electronic amplification with various effects to duplicate things from the studio recording, and electronic playback to fill in parts for which there are no live musicians. Show is just that - it's about what you see, first, and then what you hear, and it's more TV/video/movie production values than a concert, but the primary emphasis is on the whole experience rather than just the performance of the music. Carrie Underwood's flying (above the audience) pickup truck, Bon Jovi's video robots, (name I cant say due to NDAs) visual gag of "flying" from the "B stage" back to the main stage, lots and lots of video that ties directly with the live performance, etc. This includes star vocal and instrumental tracks as well as additional performance tracks (additional parts, effects, musician replacement) because "hey, we're puttin' on a show here!" If that means the audience hears an enhanced or recorded music performance from the star or other performers, that means the audience gets their show free of certain defects. Broadway has done this for years, and I can say with certainty that live music performances have done so for close to 40 years. From the up-front, like The Who having the tape machine on stage for Baba O'Reilly to Boston hiding the tape machine with its subsequent failure exposing their early formation as mostly a mime act.
Wow! Just found your channel and saw your slime analysis and had to watch another of your. Videos. Boy you are sharp at analysis. When you notice this camera person up close then see another shot with that camera person gone, thus exited…. Wow! Did not notice that. Amazing work. It is almost frightening to me because reality is being exposed! Thank you for exposing deception.
Great video once again, much enjoy your stuff.
As one of the many people in your audience who suggest singers, I hope I may suggest one. Barrington Levy. He seems to take the clearest steps down, to the extent that he has made it a vocal autograph - more than a mere style flurry. Anyways, you never know. WO-O-O, seen!
I have noticed the inconsistencies in videos on utube. I have also watched a video on processing a sound video. Putting together different cuts of vocals Interesting stuff but not honest music. Thank you Professor Fil for this informative intructional analysis of the current music industry. Back to my old vinyls for real music.
We've been editing and splicing different 'takes' on tape for... as long as tape was around. Classical, jazz, pop, gospel. Then came "punch in" recording where an individual track could be recorded over to replace a word or phrase where the part was early, late, off pitch, or the singer mispronounced words. In the original vinyl release of J.J. Cale's "Cocaine" you can hear a punch in "double" where the engineer hit the record button a fraction of a beat late. The days of a single one take recording being what you bought in the store ended after WWII.
@raygunsforronnie847 Thanks for the information. I was mostly thinking auto tune and pitch correction. Also the sequencing in videos. Ah well. Live and learn. Thanks again.
The beauty and/or curse of digital media is that it is dirt cheap. You are not dealing with actual physical media (tape, film, etc.), so it costs nothing but labour to shoot/record multiple takes and edit it together seamlessly. And never mind the saving in distribution costs. Problem comes when "producers" think the market wants this flawless, soulless, hit all the right notes and beats programmed, and pass that off as music, and it becomes a self-generating nightmare.
Would love to hear you review The Corrs recent performance at Hyde Park.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your so SPOT ON video explanations around this topic. For many of the masses this "scientific" explanation may well beyond their comprehension - NO, I am NOT being condescending , or trying to belittle them, just stating what reality is.
This next statement is a little away from above topic but just as relevant (or actually far more important). You may well not wish to consider what I say but the same thing about the masses not recognising being "mis-lead" applies to a certain medical intervention that took place. (Enough said on that issue - I just happen to be AWAKE!).
funny, people who say they are awake , usually are not, they fantasize about it.
@@wout123100 mmm, care to expand on that? I was / am AWAKE enough not to have taken the poisons!
I would love to see a video like this of Chappel Roan. She's one of my new favs and I adore her voice. I think these videos are really informative and interesting. I wish more artists would have recordings that weren't corrected. I listen to a lot of post-punk, metal etc and I love the "realness" of vocals where you can hear the emotion even if it means the pitch isn't on point.
This is why I adore music from the 30s and other eras because its amazing real talent none of this false pitch correction just pure beauty, and as someone who was in a band as a singer I often started to compare myself to these pitch corrected singers until I started to learn how to produce and use a large arsenal of tools but it totally disillusioned me and I stopped with music now I just sing around the house and in the car. No one cares about real voices anymore or unique voices or skilled and honed voices. Well except the amazing followers here. Its sad what the world has become. Thanks for keeping it real mate x
The more money, the more pitch correction is used. Don't give up on music, but look for some less well-known musicians. Check out säje, for example.
dont get too sad, there always will be a niche groupe of real music lovers.
Don't give up singing!
Have a listen to Lisa O'Neill's Tiny Desk concert and read some of the comments there. She sounds like no one else, and her whole ethos is about connecting with the earth and with her ancestors, so there's no trickery. The comments there and the appreciation are wonderful and heartening 😊 Listening to her and others like Ren Harvieu has given me more confidence in my own singing. I don't listen to any of this mainstream rubbish 😂
I learn to sing, since 2 months. I feel better with my own voice when I see that is normal to not be perfect. I am so glad I found your channel. I want to know what you use to analyse the pitch.
HEY FIL!... check out how most big English bands( and others) used LIVE vocals,yet faked the stage performances using jumbo screens to help timing while shooting hundreds of different shots! This could be a HUGE topic for you. Just satin Zeppelin was the master of this...but check out the Who and Stones as well.
The more videos I see if the 70 and 80 s timeframe convince me that it was all staged fir good intentions...to showcase the bands performances/ talents...just saying it's ALL GOOD
'' Is it live, or is it memorex'' has aged well. The age of mistrust, photoshop, lies and videotape.
Hallo Phil. I so enjoy your programmes. Thank you. Would you ever consider looking into musicians from South Africa? We had some amazing vocals during 50s, 60s, and 70s. Eg The Dream Merchants singing Time and the River, specifically Billy Forrest. Live from Cape Town.
Lol! Much appreciate trying to explore this topic, but people want to believe what they want to believe (like their favorite singer is ALWAYS AMAZING!!). I've gotten into SO many arguments with folks, pointing out how the "amazing performances" and "live vocals" in a video weren't really live (and likely re-recorded). One of the obvious give-aways something isn't live is when the vocalist pulls away from the mike, but the vocal volume doesn't drop. Another is when the singer is dancing around, bouncing up and down, yet there's zero fluctuation in the breathing or pitch of the singing.
Like I implied. Folks are dying to be lied to.
It's sad that fake perfection has become the standard to aim for 😔
I like my favourite singers because they are expressive and honest (e.g. Lisa O'Neill, Neil Hannon). I know they can sometimes sing a bit off key, and I wouldn't care at all if someone pointed that out, but in the scheme of things it doesn't matter. I much prefer an expressive performance including 'mistakes' than a processed-sounding pitch-perfect performance.
However, I do think that the more people hear pitch corrected music the less they are able to cope with hearing 'mistakes'!
We played as part of a local folk festival earlier this summer, and there were some singers there, and there were some youngsters in the audience who looked spell-bound by what they were watching and hearing, which gives me hope 😊
@@theyouofyesterday6254 Part of the problem is that fake sells (it's also usually cheaper to deliver), and it's marketed and sold in a way that it seems real. On top of that, the vast majority of listeners just aren't discerning enough to know the difference, and another large chunk of the listening audience doesn't really care so much anyway. So, a fake product will still sell well enough to encourage further faking to occur!!
Happy to hear you are seeing folks in the audience that still like a real live performance with real instruments being played!
Is this why you rarely see unplugged or a cappella performances anymore?
Modern pop is basically CGI softcore porn with a robot soundtrack.
Another very insightful video, thank you for this! I would love to hear what you think of Grace Cummings?
Great video! So important to criticise pitch correction without criticising the singer, and you did that beautifully. Don't hate the player, hate the game!
That statement ("Don't hate the .." 🙄🙄🤦)
is utter bullpuckey: Without "players" there IS no game!
Period.
Everyone allowing, causing or ignoring "wrong" is: guilty. CAN be called-out & criticized for it and, absolutely, deserves it!
Go tell your friends (and everyone who's, ever, asserted that trope and quoted that idiocy to you.
They, WITHOUT QUESTION, do not understand what they're talking about and THINK that they 🤷🤷(🤦) "sound wise" (🙄), or something, but: are utterly in error, on that!
@@SonicProfessor_a.k.a._T._Andra It's a metaphor. It means it's better to criticise (and seek to change) the system, not the people who have to operate within it. If Fil had spent this whole video laying into Dua Lipa, he'd have just pissed off the very people he's trying to educate.
@@Tanzi24 I wasn't attempting to argue that he "should have." No.
Your concluding statement is very accurate.
...However: in the sense of: active steps to consider: one can NEVER "change a system" without altering the: behavior, thinking, 🤷🤷 who can say, exactly, what else (as I am forced to broadly generalize, here)🤷?, of those operating the system and within the system.
Without that: no useful change will occur (only alterations of the prior practices to maintain the same-or very similar-function).
I am (I think: CLEARLY!🤷) discussing: NOT this video or the persons in it, specifically!
I am theorizing regarding: the postulates you have delineated/mentioned.
I am not speaking about: Fil, here. At all.
Nor am I speaking about Dua Lipa.
...what I am addressing is: the ineptitude of the phrase you presented (although, also: you made a clear and useful argument.
If, both, the statement were treated as you explain and the resulting behavior were over 65% similar, even ...I think I could agree.
...however: as I am going to assume you well-know: an all-too-vast swath of humanity, neither do nor would operate that way (without manipulation, force or reward/punishment).
...and: regardless of what the system is we may be discussing/applying this to?: again: if the thinking and (thereby) the behavior (or: vice-versa, indeed!) of: those maintaining the operation of any given system/the functional perpetuation of such, are NOT changed, "the system" (whatever it may be) will not change; despite: force, power. manipulation, etc., et al.!!
It will work its way back to maintaining a status quo which keeps the same results recurring.
While not every party is "a direct cause" of this, without them assisting in: maintaining operation or accepting all that "comes with," the system could not, easily, maintain its continuity nor keep producing the same results.
You see this, don't you?
While perhaps negative criticism of "those within" does little to help change (esp. if one does not go to work upon the parameters, controls, what-have-you, of said system (and begin enforcing penalties for ill behavior or manipulation of elements (controlling behavior of others. absolutely, included)!),), it, also, is necessary and easier to effect change: on limited divisions or elements and to force rehaul of a system by causing dysfunction from within\and/or: impermissibility of continuing maintenance of corruption or purposeful error.
BOTH are necessary.
Are you telling me that Milli Vanilli were ahead of their era?
As was Boney M , the band that Milli Vanilli's manager, put together in the 70s!! Same thing.😂
we owe them an apology!
@renemonroy214 Absolutely!! And no matter what they did as performers, they didn't MURDER PEOPLE. I think the fact that they were driven to REAL desperation is quite tragic. I mean look at all the so-called singers who basically do THIS from recording to live performances!!! ALL THRU THEIR CAREER!!
This channel proves it wasn't SO rare at all.I am sad that the one guy committed suicide because he had no back up job...
Can we at some point mention that the songs themselves are pretty awful?
We really should....
I would have sworn that this is auto tuned. It’s got that weird, echoey, slightly robotic sound.
It is awful, whether it’s her natural voice or not.
Addit: Okay, I misunderstood the time stamp that said “real”. It is auto tuned. My ears were right.
Maybe the songs become awful when used to showcase the singer's talent! Where is the song in all that 'technique'? Self-conscious 'perfection' precludes emotion. It all seemed to start with Mariah showing off her range. It was neither playful nor emotional -like it is when MJ does it.
Are they? I would say there are as many great pop songs as there have ever been. Levitating being one of them
Yes we may say that hah. And maybe also if you can't sing naked or without pitch correction or backing track of vocal you should NOT be allowed to call it a LIVE performances and charge insanely high prices for it...maybe we could say that?!
This type of music is more like talking to music rather than singing,it’s as if they are following the line of the Alps with their vocals.
I think that following your channel is making me more aware of how unmelodic their voices are.Thank you for enlightening me,cheers Roly🇬🇧.
very good Fil
Funny that it's an Evian advertisement, because "Evian" backward, is "Naive"
YES! I'd noticed that only about a year ago myself, also feeling that's not a coincidence!
Evian is a location in France where natural spring water is collected. Recent tests have shown that Evian water is slightly alkaline, and is one of the top rated bottled waters, vindicating Evian lovers worldwide.
Niiiiice!!
Do this Aurora video pleaaaase! Aurora - Running with the wolves (on German TV) on a channel called One Little Warrior
Phil, you should have a discussion with Rick Beato about autotune and AI…
That would be a great collaboration. I think they’d both have a lot to say on topic.
Love this video, shows how good Dua is; that she has a good natural voice. I used to be meh about her until I started working with her (admittedly master) vocals via AI extraction/acapellas and went..yeah, these are good songs. She does have talent.
it's a shame that talent gets sold short by the mass use of pitch correction.
I am curious as to whether Fil has done any analysis of the music coming out of South Korea. Not just K-pop but also quartettes from Phantom singer like Forestella?
I have watched quite a few of his videos but haven't seen any from this music-prolific country. Have I just missed his analysis?
What would the old Motown artists that were recording in basements, churches and bathrooms think of all this artificial pitch manipulation? They had great pitch with warmth, depth, and human emotion.
I didn't even know about "pitch correction" until a short while ago (obviously through one of your vids). You explained it, and how it differs from auto correct, extremely well - enough that a total novice as myself could easily understand it 😊
I'm not sure if it's possible, but could you give Dimash a listen, especially the S.O.S. from the Chinese talent show (2017 - I think). His voice is phenomenal .
Anyhoooo, thank you for this vid, I've learned even more!!! ❤
Given how the industry now works, I do wonder if She knows? How many artists believe their own hype not realising processing was put over their voice. So many of the bigger chart artists just roll up and do the take then leave the studio for other work, leaving stuff for the producers and engineers to work on.
come on, ofcourse she knows, she sure listens to the final product, but they cant complain,,else no money.
have you watch the whole video?
@@FSHB have you thought about your comment. These "artists" dont know. Its like Rhianna and her Sony c800 mic - they think its just the professional recording chain.
@@Fl4ppersJust because *you* are only just learning about this, doesn't mean that artists who have been in the industry for over a decade are somehow unaware of this stuff. They work with high-level producers in studio and live, and they absolutely need to be *very* aware of these processes because they have to work with different variations of pitch correction technology, sometimes unable to use those technologies. You don't get to be a good singer like Dua is without having a *very* well-tuned ear; she can hear this stuff better than you can by orders of magnitude. She knows far better than anyone else would.
@@keithklassen5320 thats for that BIZARRE bloody comment. I've been an amateur musician and engineer for 30 years. I have met people who sing who do not realise it is a thing. The industry just refers to it as a "vocal chain" in the same way your car mechanic talks about your "engine" instead of the various pistons and vlaves, switches and wires.
I’m not being flippant, but where we are right now Dua Lipa could be a creation of A.I..
How would we know any different?
I miss the analogue world.
She looks better than an AI could but you’re probably not far off.
There’s still the ability to make analogue music if people want to.
@@jonathanmarkham1998 this already happensd , look at your local bands, those tend to be authentic still.
Analogue can be manipulated, too. It's just not as convenient as with a DAW and plugins. You might be surprised to see (with your eyes) how many edit splices exist in classical and jazz recordings. Often it was to combine the best parts of multiple takes into a complete recording, but what you heard on the record was not a continuous single performance.
She does like the kind of plastic fantastic barbie doll that AI would create, but then again... all female pop singers look like that nowadays.
The Al Pacino film SIMONE is about an AI actress.
Fil, keep it going! I have no doubt you will accomplish your goal in this world of pitch correction, auto tune, and misinformation from the music industry! Very informative analysis video! 💜
Would love an analysis of npr tiny desks. Those to me always sound mixed by people that go to concerts. I don't know what it is about them, but they sound present if that makes sense
Pitch correction or Autotune can make almost anyone a singer. It’s that simple. Pitch correction and Autotune make time in the studio far less, as well.
Even live shows are questionable. Are the artists lip syncing? Is the band playing live or not?
Sure, artists of the past used multiple recording of the singer to achieve a certain sound, but it was still the singers voice. Then when the artists played live, it was live. Even when the singer was not on his game, it was live and the fans heard how bad the singer sounded. Broken guitar string, drumsticks, singers falling down all changed the sound, and fans heard it.
But we loved it. Artists were giving the fans everything they could on every show, even on bad days. Then, the bands finished up on the road and they wrote, recorded and hit the road again.
All that being said, as a metal head, I do like Dua Lipa’s voice. I’m just not turned on by her songs.
There's also live autotune, which is seemingly common.
Thank you so much!!
Fil, fine video as always, it amazes me how poor today's music actually is, but a lot of youngsters are extolling the virtues of 60's/70's/80's music and how great it really was on utube, let's face it, there is no comparison and the unfortunate thing is these so called artistes are earning millions on the back of well, basic rubbish. Keep up the good work mate and take care.
Also you could maybe do another video on Regina Spektor's vocals, please.
Thanks
Here's a question. I assume you dont use youtube videos to analyse the sound quality or autotune. But what are TH-cam actually doing to our audio masters when they are reduced to ? kHz on TH-cam.
Would love to hear you talk about people with unconventional vocals such as Jonathan Richman
I'm really curious with you analyzing Jacob Collier. And I think that would pull a lot of new people to your page.
I like your initiative and analysis. Maybe you could do Filipino singers analysis.
We are entering into the age of humanizing pitch correction, and i predict induced flatting or sharping in auto tune for live “performances” where we won’t be able to tell live, and real talent wont matter in these circumstances. The only way you’ll be able to tell is intimate acoustic settings. God help us.
There is another financial advantage of pitch correction: you spend less in recording. This is they key issue here - its not like pop audiences have all perfect pitch and there is a race to see who's more in tune. You just remove the natural (and good) variation to achieve predictability, to drive costs down and profits up. That's what's really sad.